Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 365 Value of Life

Jiang Feng's face darkened. He had previously asserted that the garrison of Biannan Valley was a rabble and dared not come to their aid, but now he was proven wrong. The garrison of Biannan Valley had not only come, but had come so quickly.

"Fellow Daoist Song, Fellow Daoist Su, let's go and meet them. Follow me." After saying this, Jiang Feng's escape light rose up, and he sped off in the south.

Song Xian and Su Zhirou exchanged a glance, then took to the air and followed behind him.

In addition, there was a group of Qi Refining cultivators, about a hundred of whom were elites selected by Jiang Feng, who also followed on flying magical artifacts.

Not long after they set off, they saw a second-tier spirit ship bearing the banner of the Windwalker Sect approaching.

Upon seeing the large, thronged crowd, the spirit ship immediately changed course and slunk away.

However, Jiang Feng had no intention of letting them go and chased after the spirit ship. Soon, he caught up with the spirit ship and used his magic to attack the spirit ship's defensive light barrier.

A massive black rock, as large as a small mountain, crashed down upon the eerie green defensive barrier. With a single strike, it twisted and deformed the barrier, shattering large sections of the runes that had surged forth from it.

By the time Song Xian caught up, the defensive light barrier of the spirit ship was already on the verge of shattering.

He wasn't idle either. He clasped his hands together and unleashed the Yang Explosion technique. The surrounding fire-attribute spiritual energy surged towards him, condensing into a huge crimson sphere, which crashed into the light barrier.

With a deafening roar, the eerie green defensive light barrier caved in extensively, and fireballs continued to rain down from its fragmented form.

With the combined efforts of the two, the light barrier on the spirit ship finally gave way and shattered with a bang. Panic-stricken screams filled the air aboard the spirit ship.

Faced with the falling boulders and fireballs, the numerous cultivators on board scattered and fled, leaping off the spirit ship.

Song Xian's expression shifted, and he turned to look at the other side of the spirit ship. He sensed the aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator with his divine sense. Clearly, someone was trying to sneak away from the spirit ship in the chaos.

Jiang Feng naturally noticed this person as well. He snorted coldly, put his hands together, and in the distance, huge black pillars appeared, crisscrossing to form a black cage that covered an area of ​​several dozen feet.

The next moment, golden light burst forth from the black cage, which creaked and groaned as if a giant beast was struggling inside.

Before long, golden rays of light pierced through the black cage.

The cage shattered with a crash, revealing a figure standing within a dazzling golden light.

The man was of medium build and at the fourth level of the Foundation Establishment stage. He was clearly the leader of the enemy forces that had come to provide support. When the defensive light barrier of the spirit ship shattered, he tried to hide and escape in the chaos, but was discovered by Song Xian and Jiang Feng.

With Song Xian's current spiritual power, if he were to unleash his full power, no movement within a 300-foot radius would escape his perception, and he could maintain this for at least an hour.

Jiang Feng's cultivation was already close to the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, not to mention the others.

Unless one is a Golden Core cultivator, or possesses a rare treasure or extremely special cultivation technique that conceals their aura, it would be impossible for them to escape right under their noses.

Jiang Feng gave him no chance to breathe. Before the black cage could shatter, he cast another spell, conjuring a black boulder the size of a mountain. Just as the man was freed, the boulder crashed down on him.

This is a high-level second-grade earth-elemental spell, "Mount Tai Pressing Down".

The man's dazzling golden light coalesced into a giant axe, which he used to meet the falling black boulder.

With a loud bang, the golden giant axe struck the black boulder. The axe shook violently and, after only a few breaths, shattered into golden light.

Taking advantage of the stalemate, the man pulled out a second-grade high-quality black talisman. As spiritual energy surged into it, the talisman shone brightly, transforming into a black light shield that enveloped him.

The black boulder fell and crashed onto the black light shield, causing the shield to visibly distort.

Song Xian was not idle either. He once again condensed the Yang Explosion Technique, forming a huge red sphere, which he then shot towards the man.

To catch the thief, first catch the king. Killing a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator is far more important than chasing down those Qi Refining cultivators.

Moreover, the enemy's low-level cultivators are being hunted down by their own Qi Refining cultivators.

Besides the Foundation Establishment Level 4 cultivator, there were about a hundred Qi Refining cultivators on the spirit ship, who had all jumped off the ship and scattered like birds and beasts.

The enormous red sphere slammed into the man's black light shield, instantly turning the area into a sea of ​​fire.

Under the attack of numerous fireballs, the black light shield was visibly twisted and deformed.

The man ignored them all. He clasped his hands together, muttered incantations, and his body gradually changed. His hands turned into claws, and his head became a bird's head.

His entire body transformed into a giant black owl, expanding as it did so. Just as the black light shield shattered, the owl let out a sharp cry, opened its massive beak, and spat out a ball of crimson light. The ball of light exploded instantly, and the dazzling crimson light engulfed everything.

The next moment, more than a dozen owls flew out from inside and scattered as birds and beasts.

Seeing the dozen or so owls scatter and flee, Jiang Feng was dumbfounded, unsure which one was the real owl and which one was the fake one.

He clasped his hands together, and huge black pillars appeared, crisscrossing to form a black cage, intending to trap all the owls inside.

However, the owls were very fast and scattered in all directions, flying far away. Jiang Feng was ultimately a step too slow and only managed to trap four of them in the black cage.

Seeing the dozen or so owls scatter and fly further and further away, Song Xian made his move.

He clasped his hands together, and several flames appeared around one of the black owls flying westward. The flames instantly swelled, turning into towering flames that connected with each other to form a huge ring of fire—the mid-level second-grade spell, Blazing City.

The ring of flames trapped the black owl inside. The sea of ​​fire had engulfed an area of ​​several dozen feet in radius. The owl's form changed, transforming into a man's figure. His face was somewhat pale, and his eyes could not hide his fear.

The raging flames burned the spiritual energy shield around him, making a hissing sound. He immediately formed hand seals and used water-based magic to resist.

Moisture condensed from beneath his feet, forming surging waves that crashed against the ring of flames.

Although this person's illusionary clone technique was ingenious, it could not fool Song Xian, whose keen eye could easily see through the illusion and the fake body.

As long as his spiritual power flows into his eyes, any illusion is useless in front of him, so he can recognize the real body at a glance.

Seeing that the man's true form was trapped, Jiang Feng immediately clasped his hands together, and a dark green water dragon condensed and rushed towards the man.

At this moment, Su Zhirou also came to Song Xian and used her magic to create an ice mirror with the image of a man imprinted on it.

Thick frost immediately formed around the man's body, spreading along his entire body.

The man continuously circulated his spiritual energy to resist the invasion of the cold into his body, while simultaneously condensing water-based spells to attack the fire circle.

Although water naturally counters fire, Song Xian's fire magic was extraordinary, with a power about three times that of an ordinary cultivator. Therefore, even after the man used several water-based spells, he was unable to break through the encirclement of flames.

Even if a cultivator were to master the second-grade mid-level Blazing Encirclement technique, their attack power would only be 250 points.

When Song Xian unleashed his attack, its power reached a staggering 700 points.

This is naturally due to his cultivation of the Profound Heaven Fusion Fire Technique, which increases the power of his fire-attribute spells by 90%. The absorption of Netherworld Cold Flame, Golden Crow Blazing Flame, and Profound Luo Yin Fire further increases the power of his fire-attribute spells by 90%. In total, that's 180% power. While others' fireballs only have 10 points of attack power, his can reach 28 points.

Just as the man was frantically trying to condense spells to fight against the raging flames, the eerie green water dragon that Jiang Feng had condensed had reached the vicinity of the fire circle and was hovering nearby, waiting for the man to break through the fire circle before delivering a final blow.

The man was already surrounded by the ring of flames. If the eerie green water dragon were to force its way in, it would only cause an impact and damage to the ring of flames, which would injure the man himself.

Seeing this, Song Xian took the initiative to open a gap in the encircling circle of flames near the emerald green cage. Jiang Feng understood, and as soon as the gap in the flame circle opened, he controlled the emerald green water dragon to enter.

The man was still using water magic, condensing waves of water to impact the ring of flames.

The emerald green water dragon plunged down, smashing through layers of water waves and striking the golden shield that had formed around the man.

The eerie green water dragon coiled around the golden shield like a giant python, then its body exploded. Instantly, a large amount of eerie green liquid poured down, visibly twisting the golden shield as it was eroded by the eerie green liquid. In just a few breaths, the shield was melted away.

A shrill scream rang out as a large amount of eerie green liquid engulfed the man's spiritual energy shield and seeped into his body. Wisps of white smoke rose as the man's flesh and blood rapidly melted away.

As the wails subsided, the man had completely lost his life. His body fell from mid-air, most of his flesh and blood had been eroded, revealing his bare bones.

This person was at the fourth level of Foundation Establishment, and his strength was not weak. However, under the combined efforts of Song Xian and Jiang Feng, he had no power to resist. His only chance to escape was when the protective owl used illusion magic to create a clone.

Although the technique was exquisite, it was unfortunately exposed by Song Xian.

In terms of individual strength, even in a one-on-one situation, he was far inferior to Song Xian and Jiang Feng, so his fate was not unexpected.

I just can't understand why he would bring over a hundred Qi Refining disciples to provide support all by himself.

There should be more than one Foundation Establishment cultivator in Biannan Valley. A camp guarded by three hundred cultivators should have at least two Foundation Establishment cultivators in charge.

His courage in coming alone is truly admirable.

The only explanation is that although the cultivators stationed in Biannan Valley knew that the Beast Taming Sect had sent a large force to attack Phoenix Mountain, they did not know the specific number of troops.

There may have been internal disagreements. Some people thought they should support Phoenix Mountain, while others thought they should hold their own camp. In the end, they only sent this person with a hundred Qi Refining cultivators to provide support, but they were directly intercepted by Jiang Feng and Song Xian.

After the man fell, Jiang Feng flashed to his side and grabbed the storage bag from his body.

Seeing this, Song Xian didn't say anything. Although he had put in a lot of effort, it wasn't worth arguing with Jiang Feng over a storage bag.

"Master Jiang, the Qi Refining disciples who came to provide support have all scattered and fled. Should we continue the pursuit?"

"Ignore them, those rabble are not worth mentioning. The most urgent task is to capture Phoenix Mountain and then order the troops to retreat."

"Yes," Song Xian replied, and ordered someone to sound the retreat horn.

The group returned to the Phoenix Mountain formation, where golden auspicious clouds surged continuously, and one restriction after another condensed and fell downwards.

A deafening battle cry erupted from inside. A short while later, a disciple escaped from the inner room seeking help. He said that they were not only under fierce attack from the array's restrictions, but also attacked by the stationed cultivators. The team had suffered many casualties and urgently needed reinforcements.

Otherwise, Pang Tong would have to lead his troops to withdraw from the formation.

Without much hesitation, Jiang Feng immediately ordered the remaining cultivators to enter the formation to provide support.

The group followed Jiang Feng into the formation. After a short while, they saw the cultivators fighting fiercely inside, with various colors of light flashing.

It turned out that the enemy cultivators stationed inside the formation had come out to harass them again. The group was originally fighting against the formation's restrictions, but as soon as these stationed cultivators came out, they immediately threw everyone into chaos.

Seeing Jiang Feng arrive with reinforcements, the enemy cultivators who had been harassing them abandoned their opponents and fled back into the defensive light barrier, leaving behind only a pile of corpses.

"Sect Leader, Senior Brother Zhang Ningyuan is finished!" Song Xian had just arrived at the scene of the battle when he heard Jiang Zichen shout.

He turned his head and saw a group of Hunyuan Sect disciples surrounding Zhang Ningyuan on his left. Blood was constantly flowing from his mouth, and a huge bloody hole was very conspicuous in his chest.

Song Xian felt a chill run down his spine. He flashed to Zhang Ningyuan's side. At this moment, Zhang Ningyuan's eyes were cloudy, his breath was faint, and he could only exhale weakly without inhaling.

"Senior Brother Ningyuan, how are you? Hang in there." Song Xian flipped his hand and took out a pill to feed him.

Hearing a familiar voice calling in a daze, Zhang Ningyuan's cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, and his unconscious consciousness seemed to awaken. He didn't know where the strength came from, but he actually reached out and grabbed Song Xian's hand as he put the pill into his mouth.

His burning eyes seemed to be ablaze with fire.

He gripped it very tightly, like an iron clamp, as if a drowning person had grasped a lifeline.

“Back…back…Tianshan.”

“Return to... Tianshan.”

"Go back to Tianshan."

"Go back to Tianshan."

……

Blood kept gushing from Zhang Ningyuan's mouth, his voice grew weaker and weaker, and his grip on Song Xian's hand slowly loosened. But he kept muttering the words "return to Tianshan" until they became indistinct and his head drooped.

“Senior Brother Ningyuan.” Song Xian felt a surge of grief, his eyes reddening slightly.

Although he had become accustomed to life and death over the years and his heart had gradually become numb, he was still deeply shaken and could not hide his grief when he saw Zhang Ningyuan die in front of him.

Zhang Ningyuan has always been his most trusted right-hand man. For the development of the sect, Zhang Ningyuan has worked hard without complaint and devoted himself wholeheartedly.

The development of Tianshan today is inseparable from his hard work. He has devoted almost all his energy to Tianshan, spending at least half of the year traveling around to work hard for the development of Tianshan gambling dens and markets, even neglecting his own cultivation.

Therefore, Song Xian could understand why Song Xian repeatedly contradicted him after leaving Tianshan.

He regarded the Tianshan Mountains as the culmination of his life's work, and to him, abandoning the Tianshan Mountains would be like asking parents to abandon their children.

When Zhang Ningyuan was in the Qingyun Sect, he was just a disciple guarding the cultivation room. Unlike Zhong Wenyuan and Lin Zixiang, who were high-ranking and powerful figures in the Qingyun Sect, he was just an insignificant and unpopular nobody.

However, within the Hunyuan Sect, he was one of the most important people in the core, and he found his value within the sect.

Therefore, deep in his heart, he regarded Hunyuan Sect as his home and Tianshan, which he had worked hard to grow, as his child, the crystallization of his life's blood.

His desire to return to the Tianshan Mountains was not to enjoy their resources, but to reclaim the career he had worked so hard for throughout his life and to preserve his own value.

(End of this chapter)