Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 532 The situation suddenly changes
The sky was clear and cloudless. On Luoyun Mountain, the lush green forest branches swayed in the wind, making a crisp and pleasant rustling sound.

Outside the mountain gate, the grass was lush and green, butterflies were fluttering, spring was in full bloom, and life was vibrant, just like Song Xian's mood at that moment.

After leaving that secret realm, he didn't linger for a moment, traveling day and night back to Bianxi City.

He was arguably the biggest winner of this exploration of the secret realm. Not only did he obtain two spiritual treasures, but he also did not arouse the suspicion of others, unlike Ap and Abu, who were already resented by Afar and Nis.

Judging from their expressions, they clearly hate these two people to the core and will likely not let them off easily, continuing to track them down.

After all, no one wants to be made a fool of, especially since the three of them were tricked into that projection space. If they don't find a way out, they'll probably be stuck inside forever once the entrance to the secret space closes.

This is no longer a joke, it's murder.

If Song Xian hadn't obtained two magical treasures, he would definitely have searched everywhere for them to take revenge after he got out.

But now that I've received the benefits, there's no need to fawn over everyone, lest I cause unnecessary trouble.

The biggest lesson he learned from this experience was that he should never trust anyone easily.

He had always believed that he and Ap had a life-or-death bond. They had explored secret realms together and hunted down powerful figures together. In his heart, Ap was still trustworthy.

Even when he was trapped in the projection space, he thought that if Ap hadn't been involved, he would have found a way to rescue him from the outside.

Unexpectedly, the whole thing was orchestrated by him.

The moment he learned the truth, he felt an indescribable sadness in his heart. Being betrayed by someone you trusted was a truly unpleasant experience.

But by this point, he had completely let go of the past, only remembering the lesson he had learned.

"Sect Leader, you're back." Upon entering the mountain gate, Yu Lian, who was on duty, received the news and immediately came to the main hall to pay his respects.

"During my absence, has anything happened in the sect?" As always, Song Xian would inquire about the sect's affairs in detail every time he returned from a trip.

Yu Lian's expression immediately turned solemn: "Nothing has happened in the sect, but a major event has occurred in Xishu County. The Yuntian Chamber of Commerce in Ningye County has defected to the rebel army of Nanhan County, and Ningye County has now been occupied by the rebel army of Nanhan County. Xuanyuan Sect is leading the allied forces to fight them in Ningye County."

Upon hearing this, Song Xian was also shocked. He had not expected that such a big change would occur in Xishu County when he had only been away for a few months.

I never expected that the Yuntian Chamber of Commerce in Ningye County would actually side with Nanhan County.

The Yuntian Chamber of Commerce is one of the most powerful forces in the entire Xishu Prefecture. It has branches in almost every market town in Xishu Prefecture, and its headquarters are in Ningye County.

Ningye County is on the front line bordering Nanhan County. Logically speaking, at such a critical moment when a major battle is about to break out, Xuanyuan Sect should be keeping a very close watch on Yuntian Chamber of Commerce.

How could they have been allowed to seek refuge with the Southern Han Commandery?
"Bring here Junior Brother Zichen, Xiao Ling, and Huang Ye."

Yu Lian responded and left. Before long, the three of them arrived at the main hall one after another.

Jiang Zichen was in charge of the sect's specific affairs, Xiao Ling was in charge of the sect's external affairs, and Huang Ye was in charge of external intelligence and internal supervision.

No one in the sect should know the ins and outs of the Ningye County affair better than them, so he directly summoned the three of them.

"Why would the Yuntian Chamber of Commerce suddenly pledge allegiance to Nanhan County? What exactly happened?" After the three had bowed and taken their seats, he asked directly.

The three exchanged glances, and Huang Ye spoke first: "According to the intelligence we have so far, the direct trigger for this matter is the death of the grand-nephew of Qiao Hanming, the president of the Yuntian Chamber of Commerce."

"Three months ago, his grand-nephew Qiao Cheng disappeared and was murdered. The Yuntian Chamber of Commerce accused the Yueling Sect of killing Qiao Cheng because Qiao Cheng had a dispute with the sect leader before that, and even fought with him."

"The Yuntian Chamber of Commerce launched an attack on the Yueling Sect and brought in the rebels from Nanhan County. With their help from within and without, they captured Ningye County in one fell swoop."

After he finished speaking, Xiao Ling added: "The Yuntian Chamber of Commerce and the Yueling Sect have long been at odds. As the saying goes, two tigers cannot share one mountain. The two are evenly matched, and conflicts and frictions have broken out more than once or twice over the years. It's just that the Xuanyuan Sect has been keeping them in check, so they have always maintained a state of not interfering with each other."

"The imbalance of power between the two sides began with the passing of the former sect leader of the Moon Spirit Sect. Without the protection of a Nascent Soul cultivator, the new sect leader also failed to form a Nascent Soul, which led to the gradual decline of the Moon Spirit Sect's strength."

"Over the years, the two sides have been fighting openly and covertly. The Moon Spirit Sect has been gradually eroded by the Cloud Sky Chamber of Commerce. Basically, every conflict ends with the Moon Spirit Sect backing down. Many resources that originally belonged to the Moon Spirit Sect have been taken over by the Cloud Sky Chamber of Commerce."

"Everyone knows that the Yuntian Chamber of Commerce wants to replace the Yueling Sect as the leading force in Ningye County, but because the Xuanyuan Sect is above them, they cannot swallow up the Yueling Sect."

"The Yuntian Chamber of Commerce's defection to Nanhan County this time, in collusion with them from within and without, is said to be due to the fact that its nephew Qiao Cheng was killed by the Yueyun Sect. However, the outside world believes that this is just an excuse for the Yuntian Chamber of Commerce."

"The Yuntian Chamber of Commerce must have been in cahoots with the rebels in Nanhan County for a long time, and took this opportunity to monopolize Ningye County. The spiritual veins of the mountain gate occupied by the Yueling Sect are what the Yuntian Chamber of Commerce has always coveted."

"There are rumors that Qiao Cheng disappeared three years ago. The Yuntian Chamber of Commerce is bringing this up now just to find a legitimate reason."

Song Xian nodded calmly. Ningye County was rich in cultivation resources and had a large population, so its leading sect was far stronger than the Beast Taming Sect in Xijiang County.

Both the Moon Spirit Sect and the Cloud Sky Chamber of Commerce are major sects with Nascent Soul cultivators, which shows how abundant the cultivation resources are in Yunye County. The Moon Spirit Sect, in particular, has the only mid-grade fourth-order spiritual vein in the entire Western Shu Prefecture besides the Xuan Yuan Sect, which explains why the Cloud Sky Chamber of Commerce covets it.

Previously, with the Xuan Yuan Sect maintaining the overall situation, the Yun Tian Chamber of Commerce had no chance to annex the Yue Ling Sect. However, the situation has now changed drastically, so it is only natural that the Yun Tian Chamber of Commerce would collude with the rebels in Nan Han County in order to dominate Ning Ye County.

"How are the disciples we recruited in Ningye County doing? Have we received any news?"

Previously, in order to guard against the westward advance of the rebel army of Nanhan County and its attack on Xishu, Xuanyuan Sect recruited a large number of cultivators from various cities to garrison Ningye. Now that Ningye County has been captured by Nanhan County, this has severely damaged the morale of the entire Xishu County.

Jiang Zichen replied, "I have sent people to inquire about the situation, but they haven't returned yet."

"The troops recruited by Xishu Commandery were stationed behind Ningye County. Although they were caught off guard by the betrayal of the Yuntian Chamber of Commerce and the collusion with the rebels of Nanhan Commandery, it is said that the commander of the recruited troops, Senior Lu Zhenyuan, seeing the unfavorable situation, decisively led his troops to withdraw from Ningye County to avoid greater casualties. Therefore, the casualties were not significant."

"Elder Yin Ningxuan of the Xuan Yuan Sect, leading the supporting cultivators, has joined forces with Elder Lu Zhenyuan and is fighting the rebels in Ningye. The specific situation of the battle is currently a matter of much speculation and there is no accurate information."

Having figured out the ins and outs of the matter, Song Xian inquired about some details. After the three left, he sat in the main seat of the hall and fell into deep thought.

Since breaking through to the Golden Core Realm, he has stopped practicing Qi Refining. The reason is that his spiritual veins are not high enough. The second-tier high-grade cultivation room is not completely unusable, but the progress will be very slow. The time spent is not worth it compared to cultivating techniques and supernatural abilities.

He happened to have several techniques and supernatural abilities that he needed to improve and master, so he put aside his Qi cultivation practice.

At present, he is not in such a hurry for the third-order spiritual veins, as he has not yet mastered either the Gate of Revelation or the Taiji Yin-Yang Divine Power.

Both the Desolate Heaven Expansion Technique and the Profound Heaven Fusion Fire Technique are still at the late Foundation Establishment stage.

He hadn't even mastered the third-grade fire-attribute spells.

Mastering all these techniques and supernatural abilities would take a considerable amount of time; he wouldn't need to worry about the cultivation room for at least ten years.

However, in the long run, this is ultimately something that needs to be addressed.

Without a third-tier cultivation room, there is no way to cultivate. Although spirit stones can be used as a substitute, supporting the cultivation needs of a Golden Core cultivator would be an astronomical sum, which even someone as wealthy as him could not afford.

There are only seven third-tier spiritual veins in Xijiang County.

Anyuan City has two third-grade low-level spiritual veins. One was originally the mountain gate of the Fengxing Sect, but it has now been occupied by the Beast Taming Sect. The other originally belonged to the Beast Taming Sect.

Yongning City also has a third-grade low-level spiritual vein, which is now occupied by the Bright Moon Sect.

There are four spiritual veins in the western border region, and the one occupied by the Beast Taming Sect is the only third-grade high-quality spiritual vein.

There are also two other third-tier mid-grade spiritual veins, one of which was originally the Murong family's mountain gate, but has now been occupied by the Beast Taming Sect.

Secondly, there is the mountain gate of the Yunxing Chamber of Commerce.

The last third-grade low-level spiritual vein was originally occupied by the Yunxuan Sect, and it is now in the hands of the Beast Taming Sect.

If the Hunyuan Sect wants to obtain a third-order spiritual vein, it must snatch one from these families.

Needless to say, the Beast Taming Sect is powerful, and the Cloud Travel Merchant Guild is also beyond his reach.

The only hope of seizing the spiritual vein occupied by the Bright Moon Sect is that it can be taken back, but given the personal relationship between Xu Zhuoxuan and Hong Haoran, the Beast Taming Sect will never allow him to seize that spiritual vein, especially under the current circumstances.

Originally, Song Xian planned to wait for the right opportunity to assassinate Xu Zhuoxuan. As long as he killed Xu Zhuoxuan without anyone knowing, the relationship between Mingyue Sect and Yushou Sect would be severed, and he would have the opportunity to take over the third-order spiritual vein in Yongning City.

Hearing that Nanhan County had occupied Ningye County stirred up some emotions in him.

This news surprised him quite a bit, because the Southern Han Commandery had already launched a large-scale invasion of the Xianyang Commandery and deployed its troops to the border of the Western Shu Commandery. He had originally thought it was just to intimidate the Western Shu Commandery, but he did not expect that it would actually invade the Western Shu Commandery.

To be honest, fighting on two fronts like this is not a wise move.

However, this was not bad news for him. If the situation remained peaceful, it would be difficult for him to obtain a third-tier spiritual vein.

The more chaotic the situation, the greater his opportunity.

If Xishu County really falls into chaos, he might be able to join the rebels in Nanhan County in order to obtain a third-tier spiritual vein and more benefits.

Of course, these are just thoughts for now.

The specifics of how to proceed and where to go from here depend on how the situation develops.

(End of this chapter)