Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 742 Yin Qiuyun's Choice
Morag suddenly realized he couldn't feel the pain in his arm anymore, and was startled.

Looking down, he discovered a silver spiritual flower bursting from the blood, and Jin Xing's annihilating divine will paralyzed his arm.

He immediately realized the seriousness of the situation and was thankful that he had managed to dodge a fatal blow; if he had been hit in the chest, he would have suffered a severe injury.

At first, he was very confident in the strength of his demonic body, and he chose to withstand the enemy's attacks because they were too fast to dodge.

He never expected the enemy's attack to be so powerful. His demonic body could withstand the attack of a seventh-level Nascent Soul True Demon, yet it was shattered in one blow.

Morag understood that he couldn't let the metal magic cause more damage, so he immediately activated his blood energy and then, with the ruthlessness of cutting flesh to mend a wound, took out a bone dagger and cut off the part of his arm that had been directly hit by the magic.

His bones, which had been eroded by the power of metal, were scraped more than a dozen times until all the destructive forces were completely removed. His forehead was covered in cold sweat.

Morag sank into the demonic energy. He activated his blood and qi, and the muscles in his arm slowly writhed and began to grow rapidly. In a quarter of an hour, it was completely healed.

He let out a long breath and gritted his teeth. Doing this would take a toll on his body's resources, and it would take at least half a month to recover.

He wouldn't do this if he were in the midst of a true demonic tribulation; his main concern now is being seen by Zhu Changhe.

He, a cultivator at the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage, was actually injured by an enemy at the first level of the Nascent Soul stage, and the enemy escaped unscathed. If word got out, it would damage the powerful image he had built up.

If this image collapses in the minds of the conquered, it will have an adverse effect on future battles.

Morag flapped its wings and quickly returned to the scene of the battle, where it found Zhu Changhe sitting on the ground, his face pale, with a fist-sized hole in his chest.

Upon entering, he discovered that the other person's chest cavity contained an exposed heart, its edges pierced. Silvery metal energy and the other person's blood energy were engaged in a fierce battle; that was the 'main battlefield' where the two forces clashed.

"So, is it possible to maintain the status quo?"

He was well aware of the power of the enemy's magical attacks, but he did not underestimate them because of that.

If any true demon at the early Nascent Soul stage were to encounter that enemy, they would have no chance of survival.

At this moment, regret gnawed at Zhu Changhe's heart. If he hadn't cared about his reputation when he was attacked, he could have avoided the damage. But unexpectedly, even his ethereal body couldn't withstand the enemy's powerful attack.

But it's too late to say anything now. The wound is in the heart, and the damage cannot be removed by cutting. We must endure the corruption of the annihilating divine will.

Fortunately, although this destructive force is powerful and of extremely high quality, it is ultimately like water without a source and can be gradually worn down.

"Thank you for your concern, sir. I can still manage. After a period of rest, I will be fine."

"Your subordinate is incompetent; please punish me, sir."

"Although the enemy's cultivation level is not high, their magic is powerful. It's not your fault."

Zhu Changhe, his face contorted with pain, inquired:
"Sir, where is the enemy?"

"They escaped. Their flying technique was so advanced that I couldn't catch up with them. Otherwise, I would have killed them to avenge Fellow Daoist Han."

Morag's tone was quite regretful, as if the target would have been nothing more than a pig or sheep waiting to be slaughtered if he hadn't escaped quickly.

The enemy has escaped, that's a fact; we should still put on the facade.

"Can it still fly? If so, let's go back."

Zhu Changhe gritted his teeth slightly and nodded seriously:
"can."

In the Xuan Yin Palace, although Morag's body had shrunk considerably, his massive frame still completely filled the throne.

"The Western Continent has such a powerful enemy. Can we confirm the enemy's identity?"

An enemy capable of killing Han Shanyue, who was at the third level of the Nascent Soul stage, could not possibly be raised in the barren Western Continent without a fourth-order spiritual vein.

Zhu Changhe endured the pain and gently shook his head:
"I cannot confirm this either. It is very likely that they are cultivators from other continents, but that doesn't make sense."

Intelligence reports that a cultivator from the Golden Spirit Sect has broken through to the Nascent Soul level. Logically speaking, a Nascent Soul cultivator who has only been at the first level for a few years should not possess such powerful magical abilities.

Therefore, he believed that this suddenly appearing enemy could not possibly have come from the Golden Spirit Sect.

It's also unlikely to be a cultivator from another continent, because no cultivator would enter demonic energy for no reason.

Morag's face was grim. The sudden turn of events could very well affect future attack plans, which was something he could not tolerate.

What do you think the enemy's purpose is in coming here?

If we could understand the purpose, we could take targeted precautions instead of being completely clueless like we are now.

After pondering for a long time, Zhu Changhe said helplessly:

"Please forgive my ignorance, but I cannot guess the enemy's purpose."

This enemy will stay in one place without moving. If it's scouting our movements, it shouldn't be like a hibernating bear.

However, I noticed that this enemy never launched an attack; even when the disciples' patrol routes were close to his hiding place, he didn't make a move.

He couldn't understand the enemy's way of thinking at all, because when he put himself in their shoes, he felt that the enemy's actions were meaningless.

After a pause, Zhu Changhe cautiously continued:
"My lord, I think we should send a message to Yun Nianrong to come back and inform her of the enemy's situation. We should also suspend the plan to eliminate all forces, because no one can predict whether our operation will be targeted."

The forces sent out to carry out missions are all the Xuan Yin Sect's core forces. Every casualty erodes their strength. It will be a good time to launch an attack when more and more true demons gather from the Demon Cave.

Morag nodded slightly and said in a deep voice:
"I agree to recall Yun Nianrong, but the original plan remains unchanged. We can first assign lower-level disciples to besiege those forces scattered in the demonic energy."

You said the enemy hasn't shown any aggression, so we don't need to withdraw until they attack our encirclement team.

He couldn't tolerate being intimidated by an enemy that appeared and disappeared at will. Besides, it wasn't his own forces that were being depleted, so it didn't matter.

"Yes, I will issue the order to recall Yun Nianrong in a moment."

After Zhu Changhe finished speaking, he suddenly remembered what Han Shanyue had said and said:
"When Lord Han and I attacked the enemy, Lord Han mentioned the words 'Five Elements Sect' and 'Golden Light Across the Earth.' Could the enemy be cultivators from the Five Elements Sect?"

Morag frowned and said:
Do you know what kind of power the Five Elements Sect is?

"I don't know, but there are no forces with this name in the Western Continent, the far north, or the Southern Continent. It should be a core disciple from a major force in the Central Continent."

Zhu Changhe became more and more certain as he spoke, saying that only the top Nascent Soul sects in the Central Continent could cultivate such a monster, who could challenge opponents of higher levels with only a Nascent Soul Level 1 cultivation as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

"Hehe, the Five Elements Sect was indeed a powerful force in the Central Continent, a top-tier Nascent Soul sect, but it was wiped out by the Holy Alliance and several other major forces during the last Holy War."

The Five Elements Sect's mountain gate was completely destroyed; logically, no of its inheritance should have been lost.

Before the Holy War broke out, the Holy Alliance distributed the battle reports of previous battles, giving each Nascent Soul cultivator in the Holy Realm a copy.

The document mentions the war that destroyed the Five Elements Sect, which was a great achievement of the last Holy War.

Because the Five Elements Sect's core cultivation method is quite unique, its resistance to demonic energy pollution is the strongest in the cultivation world, thus it has been designated as a key target for attack.

Zhu Changhe chuckled awkwardly. He didn't know much about the history of Zhongzhou. "I don't know about that. Maybe he's one of the few who slipped through the net."

Ji An used the golden light of the earth to fly a thousand miles, and immediately summoned the plain-colored cloud banner for transportation. He checked the condition of his magical treasures and breathed a sigh of relief; they were only slightly damaged and would recover after being nurtured in his dantian for a few months.

"A true demon at the mid-Nascent Soul stage has appeared; things have changed."

Ji An sighed. The true demons most likely came from the demon cave, and Yuanhe Mountain would become a fortress of the true demon realm in the future.

The Xuan Yin Sect has completely sided with the enemy; this news must be disseminated as soon as possible.

I won't dare to go to Yuanhe Mountain to fleece people and obtain Dao essence anymore, because more and more Nascent Soul level True Demons will cross over to this realm.

This is a huge loss, severely delaying the progress of the Juyuan Tree upgrade.

He rode on the back of the white tiger, took out a high-grade spirit stone, held one in each hand, and activated his cultivation technique to quickly absorb the spiritual energy within.

A moment later, the two spirit stones turned transparent and crumbled into powder with a slight squeeze.

Ji An tossed the powder aside and took out the spirit stone again. His mana was half depleted, and he couldn't be sure if the enemy would catch up. He had to hurry and recover his mana.

At this moment, he felt a little regretful that he hadn't stockpiled some ten-thousand-year-old stone milk, which left him without any spiritual items to quickly restore his magic power.

If we encounter a war of attrition, we will be at a disadvantage. It's best to stay in the sect and not go out, otherwise we may face a dead end.

Ji An spent nearly a hundred high-grade spirit stones to finally replenish his magic power to its fullest extent.

He put away the white tiger, summoned the fire phoenix, and continued on his way; now was not the time to slack off.

Two days later, Ji An landed in a mountain forest. In this place shrouded in demonic energy, about half of the trees had withered and died, and the surviving plants all had distorted faces.

The leaves were curled up, the branches were covered with knots, and purulent green sap flowed from the trunk.

The same applies to animals; none of the living ones are normal. The three-eyed rabbit and the two-tailed squirrel are the most normal.

More often, they are grotesque monsters with all their fur gone and countless tiny eyes growing on their bellies.

If someone with trypophobia saw this, their scalp would definitely tingle.

The area around the Golden Spirit Sect is not currently shrouded in demonic energy, so it is still a pure land, but the good days are coming to an end.

Ji An's gaze swept over the large rock covered with dark green moss, and he could vaguely make out the three large characters on it—Xiaozhushan.

Wei Songnian gifted him two Soul-Nourishing Trees. Now that Xizhou is in a critical situation, he wants to preserve more members of the Wei family.

He flew into the mountains and was surprised to find that he did not sense the presence of the magic array.

I heard Wei Baiyang mention that an underground fortress had been built here. I didn't expect that the entire Wei clan had already retreated inside. The underground magic array could not be detected from the outside at all, which shows that a lot of effort had been put into it.

Ji An focused his divine sense to probe deep underground. After more than an hour of experimentation, he finally detected a faint fluctuation of a magic array in a barren land, located more than 30 feet underground.

Without a targeted search, it would be difficult to discover this hidden gem.

He shook the earth with magic, condensing his voice into a line that traveled underground, "I am Ji An, and I wish to see Qiu Yun."

After transmitting the message three times in a row, it stopped and began to wait quietly.

About fifteen minutes later, Yin Qiuyun looked around as the plane flew in from a distance, seemingly indicating that the entrance and exit were in another location.

Ji An could see clearly that the opponent's field of vision was very short within the demonic energy.

He activated the Flame Banner, and the blazing white flames soared into the air, quickly dispelling the demonic energy in the vicinity.

"I am here."

Having found her direction, Yin Qiuyun flew over on a cloud and gracefully bowed:
"Master, what brings you here?"

Her tone held a hint of confusion, but more so, delight.

"There's something I need to tell you."

Ji An briefly explained the situation at Yuanhe Mountain: "The Western Continent will become extremely dangerous. Once the True Demon Realm accumulates enough power, it will inevitably plunder all directions."

I can take a group of Wei family members with me. That way, if things go wrong at Xiaozhushan, we can leave behind more descendants. You can also seek refuge in the Jinling Sect.

The final decision is yours; think about what to do.

However, I don't have much time for you. I need to give you an answer within half an hour, and then I have to hurry back.

Yin Qiuyun's expression changed drastically. "You've encountered a True Demon at the mid-Nascent Soul stage? My God, you've become a True Monarch?"

She was unaware that Ji An had already broken through to the Nascent Soul realm. At that time, Xiaozhushan was shrouded in demonic energy, cutting off its connection with the outside world.

Ji An nodded slightly, "Yes."

Yin Qiuyun bit her lower lip and pondered for a moment, then quickly made a decision:
“True Lord, let me send ten more talented clansmen with you. I will stay here with the others. Things may not be as bad as you think.”

As for me, I have to stay. If I leave, the Wei family will immediately fall apart.

The underground fortress is very well hidden and difficult to find unless deliberately searched, as the thick layer of soil isolates most detection methods.

The Golden Spirit Sect's mountain gate may seem safe, but it's too conspicuous. If it encounters a true demon army, its only option is to fight head-on.

It seems that the Golden Spirit Sect is destined to experience a long and protracted war.

Sending ten more talented clansmen to the Golden Spirit Sect is an act of risk diversification.

If the clansmen of Xiaozhushan were to meet with misfortune, even more clansmen would thrive and multiply, and vice versa.

Ji An nodded. "I respect your decision. Send those who are leaving out quickly. I want to return to the sect as soon as possible."

He could roughly guess what the other person was thinking, but he didn't point it out. Putting himself in the other person's shoes, he thought he would make the same decision.

His friendship with Xiaozhushan ended there; from now on, they would only have an ordinary relationship.

"Yes, Your Excellency. Please wait a moment, I'll be right back."

Yin Qiuyun flew away and returned a moment later with ten young clansmen, who appeared to be between ten and twenty years old.

"This is True Lord Xuanqing. He will take you to the Golden Spirit Sect. There, you must abide by the rules and be more tolerant in all things."

After the introduction, Yin Qiuyun cupped her hands and said:

"True Lord, I entrust these children to you."

Ji An nodded slightly. "I will hand them over to Bai Yang for placement. They are still members of the Wei family. Goodbye."

Yin Qiuyun was filled with reluctance and trepidation. "Goodbye."

(End of this chapter)