Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 495 Facing the Golden Core
Actually, after meeting Qi Yunxuan that time, Murong Teng did have some contact with him, but they just didn't meet in person.

After the Beast Taming Sect spread rumors that he was colluding with the rebels of Nanhan County, Qi Yunxuan sent another person, who found a rogue cultivator to act as an intermediary and delivered a jade slip.

The jade slip essentially advised him to secretly leave and seek refuge in Nanhan County before the Beast Taming Sect made its move and before the Xuan Yuan Sect decided to eliminate the Murong family.

After he ignored it, the Beast Taming Sect's spies obtained evidence of his collusion with the rebels in the Southern Han Commandery.

Of course, the Xuan Yuan Sect's higher-ups weren't fools. Given Qi Yunxuan's status, how could the records of his report to the high-ranking rebels in Nan Han County have been obtained by the Beast Taming Sect's spies?
It's obvious there's something fishy going on here, but the report not only has Qi Yunxuan's signature and seal, but also the approval document from the leader of the Southern Han rebels in charge of this matter, as well as various other records.

Faced with such evidence, even if it arouses suspicion, no one can guarantee that the Murong family is absolutely innocent.

Thus, the Xuan Yuan Sect tacitly approved of the Beast Taming Sect's actions.

Murong Teng knew that at this moment, the Xuan Yuan Sect was definitely watching him secretly, in case he really led people away from Xijiang County to seek refuge in Nanhan County.

That would confirm that he had colluded with the rebel army of Nanhan Commandery.

The Xuan Yuan Sect will definitely take action and intercept and kill him halfway.

There was no way he could reach Nanhan County safely. Even if he evaded the Xuan Yuan Sect's eyes and ears, he could only go alone at most.

It was completely impossible to lead the entire Murong family and the treasury's resources there.

Without financial support and without followers, even if he went to Nanhan County, he would have basically lost the chance to make a comeback.

Therefore, the only way is to defend the mountain gate to the death. As long as the mountain gate can be defended, things will take a turn for the better.

If the Beast Taming Sect fails to capture the mountain gate, a stalemate will ensue. Once it enters a protracted war, the Xuan Yuan Sect will definitely intervene and will most likely mediate, ordering the Beast Taming Sect to withdraw its troops.

The reason is that if the Xuan Yuan Sect had completely believed the Beast Taming Sect's story, they would have already sent troops to wipe out the Murong family.

Their inaction suggests that Xuan Yuan Sect is only half-convinced about the matter.

In this situation, if the Beast Taming Sect fails to achieve victory and plunges the Western Frontier County into a prolonged civil war, the Xuan Yuan Sect will certainly not stand idly by.

As long as the Xuan Yuan Sect intervenes, the Beast Taming Sect has no choice but to obey.

.........

On the east side of the formation, after Song Xian led everyone inside, they were soon met with the formation's restrictive attacks.

Lightning bolts shot out from the colorful clouds, each bolt dozens of feet in size. The overwhelming lightning poured down, instantly submerging an area of ​​hundreds of feet in radius, turning it into a vast silver ocean.

In Song Xianzhen's eyes, each lightning bolt had 1000 attack power, and the total attack power of the fifteen lightning bolts was as high as 15000.

This is the power of a third-tier superior-grade array; a single strike delivers a restriction attack with tens of thousands of points of power.

Back then, Xu Zhuoxuan's full-force attack only had 10,000 attack power.

Although the lightning's restrictive attack was powerful, it was not a significant threat to a group of nearly three thousand cultivators.

Under the command and coordination of Song Xian and Zhao Botao, the teams launched a defensive counterattack, and the lightning restriction attacks were defeated one after another under the attack of various spells.

After blocking this wave of restrictive attacks, the team continued to move forward, but soon, the next wave of restrictive attacks arrived as expected.

It was still a lightning-attribute attack, but its nature had changed; the lightning pillar had become a lightning ball, and its power was greater than before.

The power of the forbidden attack has been increased to 20,000 points.

As the team ventured deeper into the heart of the formation, the attacks from the formation's restrictions became more frequent and powerful, leading to casualties among the team.

"Look, what's that up ahead?"

"It seems that cultivators from the Murong family have been mobilized."

"Oh no, it's a Golden Core cultivator! Retreat!"

After once again blocking the attack of the array's restrictions, the group was about to move forward when suddenly, a line of faint black dots appeared in front of them. Upon closer inspection, they saw that the Murong family's garrison cultivators had arrived in groups. The leader was extremely fast; what was just a small black dot had become a close-up in the blink of an eye. He was a slender, cold-faced middle-aged man, none other than Murong Hai, a Golden Core cultivator from the Murong family.

Zhao Botao's expression changed, and he immediately stepped back.

Murong Hai clapped his hands, and a gigantic golden hand, blotting out the sky, condensed into a towering mountain, pressing down from above.

The giant golden palm, hundreds of feet in size, shimmered and shone brightly, with clearly visible lines on it, crisscrossing like ravines.

Seeing the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect fleeing in all directions, Song Xian stepped forward and shouted.

"Disciples, listen to my command! Follow me to meet the enemy!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his hands were clasped together, and flames rose up, transforming into a huge ball of fire to meet the golden giant palm that was pressing down like Mount Tai.

Under his discerning eye, all the data was clearly visible.

Murong Hai, with a cultivation level of the second stage of the Golden Core realm.

Spiritual power: 27056 points.

Divine consciousness 13860 points.

It possesses both metal and earth elemental roots.

The golden giant palm it unleashed had an attack power of 3750 points, making it a low-level, third-grade metal-element spell.

Fireballs crashed one after another into the giant golden hand, producing a deafening sound as metal struck stone.

When the members of the Hunyuan Sect saw that the enemy's Golden Core cultivators were personally leading their troops to attack, they were initially panicked, but under Song Xian's command, they calmed down and maintained their formation.

This stems from the dignity that Song Xian has maintained over the years, as well as the confidence that the disciples of the Hunyuan Sect have in him.

Many people here have witnessed his fight against Xu Zhuoxuan, and those who haven't seen it in person have heard about it countless times.

Since he could lead his sect disciples to defeat Xu Zhuoxuan and make him flee in disarray, he could naturally also fight against the Golden Core cultivator in front of him.

As Song Xian's Flame Meteor Technique clashed with the golden giant palm, Lin Zixiang shouted angrily, and the Hunyuan Sect members also launched an attack. Under the attack of various spells, the golden giant palm shattered instantly.

Murong Hai's expression darkened, and with a flash, he retreated outside the range of everyone's magical attacks, avoiding the vast ocean of magical attacks.

Even a Golden Core cultivator would be no match for a thousand people attacking head-on.

When facing lower-level cultivators, the greatest advantage of high-level cultivators is not the quantity or strength of their spiritual power or divine sense, but their mobility. Unless under extremely special circumstances, even when facing tens of thousands of Qi Refining cultivators, Golden Core cultivators are invincible; if they want to leave, no one can stop them, and no one can keep up with them.

However, if it comes to a head-on contest of spell strength, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would have to temporarily retreat when facing attacks from thousands or tens of thousands of cultivators.

Seeing that Song Xian had led everyone to defeat Murong Hai, a Golden Core cultivator from the Murong family, Zhao Botao stopped, his eyes flickering slightly, and he hesitated.

With their strength, if they could unite as one, they wouldn't be afraid of a Golden Core cultivator. However, Murong Hai didn't come alone; he was accompanied by a large number of cultivators.

After pondering for a few moments, Zhao Botao continued to flee. By this time, the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect had also scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing in all directions. It was his personal order to evacuate, and now even if they wanted to regroup, it would be difficult.

Moreover, a large number of cultivators from the Murong family have also arrived.

No matter what, my own life is the most important thing.

"Sect Leader, the Beast Taming Sect members have all fled. We should retreat quickly too!" Lin Zixiang said anxiously as he saw Zhao Botao and many Beast Taming Sect disciples fleeing.

Song Xian certainly didn't want to confront him head-on. He wasn't arrogant enough to think he could defeat a Golden Core cultivator. The reason he attacked earlier was because Murong Hai was after him.

Perhaps it was because he had the highest cultivation level, or perhaps it was because Murong Hai recognized him and knew that he was the leader of the Hunyuan Sect, so he attacked him directly.

"Senior Brother Zixiang, Xiaobao, you lead your teams and follow me. All disciples, listen to my command, stay in your respective ranks, and do not disobey." Song Xian shouted loudly, and slowly retreated.

If they scatter and flee at this point, they will be defeated one by one, and the casualties will be enormous. Only by maintaining their formation and retreating in an orderly manner can they resist the pursuit of the Murong family's garrison.

Murong Hai narrowed his eyes slightly, and with a flick of his wrist, a three-foot-long golden sword appeared in his hand. As the sword shone brightly, it transformed into a sword beam hundreds of feet in size, slashing straight down.

The chilling sword light, like a golden rainbow piercing the heavens and the earth, carried an indomitable and murderous momentum as it slashed down from the sky, as if it wanted to split the heavens and the earth in two with a single sword.

"Meet the enemy!" Song Xian shouted, and the fiery meteor condensed again, meeting the golden sword light.

The disciples of the Hunyuan Sect also gathered their spells to attack. The huge golden sword light condensed from the golden sword had an attack power of 10,000 points. Although its power was strong enough, it was no match for the attack of thousands of cultivators. The golden sword light shattered inch by inch.

Murong Hai knew, of course, that it was impossible for him alone to defeat an organized force of thousands of cultivators. His reason for doing this was simply to hold off the enemy and wait for the arrival of the majority of his own forces.

Soon, the Murong family's pursuing army arrived, and the two sides engaged in a fierce battle.

At first, the two sides fought each other from a distance, like two armies shooting arrows at each other, with various magical artifacts and spells landing in the other's camp.

Before long, the scene gradually became chaotic, and the various teams entered into small-scale melee combat.

As the two sides became increasingly chaotic, Song Xian lost control of the situation and could only command and direct a few hundred-strong teams on his left and right sides to fight around him.

At this moment, Murong Hai finally found another opportunity. He flashed past several teams that were still engaged in fierce battle, and once again used his golden sword, condensing a huge golden sword light, and slashed down at him.

This attack was even more powerful than the previous one, reaching 15000 points under the observation of Song Xianzhen's Eye of Insight.

Seeing that the other party regarded him as a thorn in their side and would not stop until he was eliminated, he no longer held back. The eerie green flames rose from his body and instantly spread throughout his entire body. Then they left his body and condensed into a huge eerie green sphere, like a sun emitting an eerie green light.

This was the Yin Netherfire; in an instant, the eerie green flames enveloped a space of several hundred feet in radius.

The next moment, the golden sword light clashed with the eerie green flames, as if mountains and rivers were crashing together. The golden light and the eerie green flames intertwined, and the world seemed to be split in two.

Lin Zixiang, Hu Xiaobao, and others standing nearby were stunned by this scene, their expressions filled with shock, and they all looked at him in unison.

Although Song Xian had used the Taiyin Netherfire once before at the mountain gate, none of them were present at the time and did not witness it firsthand; they only heard about it afterward.

As the saying goes, seeing is believing, and hearsay can never compare to witnessing it firsthand.

Seeing the enormous, eerie green fireball rise and feeling the terrifying power within it, the surrounding Hunyuan Sect disciples were deeply shocked. This was because it was a technique that no Foundation Establishment cultivator could possibly use, and its power far exceeded their expectations.

They weren't the only ones surprised and shocked; Murong Hai, their opponent, was also astounded.

During their exchange, he was amazed by the powerful fire-attribute magic that Song Xian had used. Although he did not have a fire-attribute spiritual root, he was familiar with the basic magic of various attributes and of course recognized this move.

However, in Song Xian's hands, this second-grade high-level Flame Meteor spell was surprisingly powerful, not much weaker than the third-grade low-level spell he used.

It should be noted that there is a fundamental difference between third-order spells and second-order spells. Second-order spells only require the use of one's own spiritual power, while third-order spells require the fusion of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to be performed.

To integrate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, one must reach the Golden Core realm. This is because only when a Golden Core is formed within the body can one use it to perceive and integrate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to perform spells of corresponding attributes. This is something that Foundation Establishment cultivators cannot do.

Therefore, Foundation Establishment cultivators cannot master techniques of grade three or higher.

Correspondingly, the power of a third-grade spell is much stronger than that of a second-grade spell.

Even a low-grade third-rank spell is at least five or six times more powerful than a high-grade second-rank spell. Moreover, he mainly cultivates metal-attribute techniques, which can enhance the power of metal-attribute spells.

Even so, the power of the spells he used was not much stronger than that of his opponent.

It wasn't that he lacked mastery of magic. In fact, he had already mastered the Golden Palm Print technique, but its power was only less than twice as strong as the Flaming Meteor technique used by his opponent.

Judging from the exchange, if the opponent were to use that Fiery Meteor again, he could break through his Golden Palm Print.

If it were an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would take at least seven or eight attempts to use a high-level second-grade technique to contend with his golden palm print.

This shows how powerful the opponent's magic was, which had already shocked him and made him look at the opponent with new respect.

Unexpectedly, not only was the opponent's fire-attribute magic incredibly powerful, but they also had such a trump card hidden away.

The moment the eerie green fireball condensed, he sensed the immense power contained within it. However, it wasn't until the moment their spells clashed that he realized he had underestimated the fireball's might, even though he valued it highly.

As the enormous golden sword light slowly melted under the enveloping eerie green flames, Murong Hai's expression finally changed.

What kind of monster is this? A Foundation Establishment cultivator can actually unleash such powerful spells.

At this moment, he could no longer maintain his composure, and his heart was filled with turbulent waves.

Despite being a Golden Core cultivator and aided by a magical artifact, he was actually suppressed by a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Especially under the watchful eyes of so many people, how could he possibly save face?

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P.S.: (I haven't been feeling well lately, and I've run out of drafts. I'll have to take another day off tomorrow.)
(End of this chapter)