Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 442 Swearing to Die
Lingyue Peak.

The azure light curtain, like an inverted ocean, enveloped the entire mountain gate.

A hundred-foot-tall azure-scaled fire python raised its head and hissed, its massive tail, covered in bone spurs and carrying a foul stench, slammed heavily into the light barrier.

"Buzz!"

The light curtain trembled violently, and ripples spread like a spider web.

Several disciples of the Shengyi Sect, dressed in azure Taoist robes, were filled with rage. Once the Tiangang Juehe Formation was broken, they, who were guarding the first line of defense, would die without a trace.

The slightly older man shouted angrily, "Duiwei, report an emergency! Quickly inform Elder Lian!"

"Yes!"

A person bit their finger and wrote words in blood in the air.

The other person took out a stick of milky white incense, activated his magic power, and chanted a spell. The blood characters turned into blood mist, which condensed at the end of the incense, adding a touch of scarlet to the milky white.

Soon, the incense was lit, and dark red mist floated in mid-air.

A bell immediately rang from the distant mountaintop.

A hundred sword lights soared into the sky, surging into the light screen and transforming into a majestic sword dragon that roamed the vast ocean, rapidly flying towards the Dui position.

"boom!!"

The sword dragon swept past the Shengyi Sect disciples below in the blink of an eye, then slammed into the Azure Scale Fire Python.

The deafening explosion was deafening.

The Azure Scale Fire Python cried out in pain, fell to the ground, and slunk away into the endless horde of beasts.

"it is good!"

The disciples of Shengyi Sect who witnessed this scene were greatly encouraged and cheered.

Just then, an even stronger tremor came.

The group suddenly turned around, looking bewildered.

"The Zhen position is in big trouble again!"

"Uncle Hao has just died in battle."

"Quickly, quickly report to Elder Lian!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the bells on the mountaintop rang continuously, and bronze cauldrons suddenly floated into the air. The inscriptions on the cauldrons shone like red stars, and the boiling magic power inside the cauldrons evaporated into mist, flowing into the light screen along the array patterns.

"It's the Heavenly Dipper Transformation Formation!"

The older disciple's legs trembled slightly: "How could it have come to this? How could it have come to this!"

Many sects set up spirit arrays as protective formations for their mountains. The reason is simple: spirit arrays have low maintenance costs. They only need to be connected to the spiritual veins to continuously charge the array.

However, Mount Dai has only one spiritual vein, located in a place called Tianmen Ridge.

When Pu County was established and Hengyue Sect distributed titles to meritorious officials on behalf of Wuliang Sword Sect, most meritorious sects and families were not qualified to receive the auspicious land of Tianmen Ridge.

Hengyue Sect then sealed off six forces, including Zhenhun Sect and Shengyi Sect, to Daishan, and agreed that they would jointly govern Tianmen Ridge.

Therefore, the spiritual veins of Dai Mountain were never private property from the beginning.

Do you want to draw upon the spiritual energy here to set up a protective array for yourself?

Don't even think about it!

Shengyi Sect itself was also afraid that the other families might have ulterior motives. After all, they were also qualified to enter Tianmen Ridge. If the spiritual veins in Tianmen Ridge had problems, wouldn't the protective array of Lingyue Peak become useless?
Ultimately, the Shengyi Sect set up a more effective but also more expensive formation on Lingyue Peak – the Tiangang Absolute Abyss Formation.

All magic arrays rely on magical power.

The magical power required for a mountain-protecting formation like the Heavenly Gang Abyss Formation, which encompasses the entire Lingyue Peak, is unimaginable.

Every disciple of the Shengyi Sect has an inescapable sect mission: to regularly supply magical power to the Tiangang Juehe Formation.

The importance of the mountain-protecting formation is self-evident.

To prevent the Tiangang Juehe Formation from failing during battle, Shengyi Sect specially requested a matching formation—the Tiangang Huayuan Formation.

Ideally, the Heavenly Gang Transformation Formation can deploy a thousand Transformation Cauldrons.

Each cauldron contains a large amount of magical power, which can quickly replenish the energy lost by the Heavenly Gang Abyss Formation. The efficiency is much higher than that of the Shengyi Sect disciples supplying energy to the mountain protection formation in an orderly manner.

However, the power of the Huayuan Cauldron did not arise from nothing.

It came from a cultivator who had entered the Nascent Soul stage!

If one is a highly skilled cultivator or a genius proficient in formations, there is a chance to break free from the Heavenly Gang Transformation Formation. However, once an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator enters the cauldron, he will become a puppet of the formation, with his mana being continuously drained, and it will be impossible for him to stop even if he wants to.

The older disciples couldn't help but feel sorrow when they thought about the large number of fellow disciples who died from exhaustion when the formation ended.

"It's Senior Brother Gao!"

A person nearby exclaimed.

The older disciple looked up, his heart filled with even greater anxiety.

Gao Xiang and he were old acquaintances. They had been in the inner sect for many years and their cultivation had once reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. Unfortunately, they failed to break through to Foundation Establishment and were depressed for several years. Now they had fallen to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Despite failing to achieve his goal of Foundation Establishment, and even being considered by many to have lost the potential to do so, Gao Xiang's efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.

Is a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining really that bad?

Not to mention the entire Shengyi Sect, even within the inner sect, many people would respectfully address Gao Xiang as Senior Brother Gao.

However, such a person was placed in the Huayuan Cauldron!
This showed that the situation with the Heavenly Gang Abyss Formation was not optimistic. He couldn't help but feel a sense of fear.

"Senior Brother Fei, the demonic beasts are launching a full-scale attack this time!"

In a daze, someone grabbed his arm and shouted.

Fei Bo quickly regained his senses and extended his divine sense to its maximum. After the Azure Scale Fire Python outside the formation retreated, a large number of demonic beasts surged up. Among them, the most eye-catching was a giant ape with golden light flashing on its back.

Moreover, the explosions around us never stopped; this was the disciples of the Imperial Sword Hall using talismans to weaken the demonic beasts.

But this frequency is simply insane.

Fei Bo swallowed hard. Demonic beasts were attacking Lingyue Peak from all directions. Could Shengyi Sect really defend Lingyue Peak?
"Don't panic!"

Just then, a middle-aged cultivator with a noble appearance flew over.

Elder Zhao!

The surrounding disciples of the Shengyi Sect quickly bowed in respect.

Zhao Zhen glanced at the array formation here and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Lingyue Peak is very large, so the Tiangang Absolute Abyss Formation is naturally quite large as well.

Although Shengyi Sect has over a thousand disciples, it is clearly impossible to attend to every single one of them.

Not to mention, Shengyi Sect already has three hundred disciples who have entered the Tiangang Huayuan Formation.

Since Duiwei had not been attacked by a large number of people for several days, Shengyimen naturally transferred some of its personnel to Zhenwei, which was in critical condition.

Who would have thought that within two days, a demon cultivator specializing in bone fusion would attack the Dui position? It nearly gave the sect's higher-ups a real fright!

His purpose in coming here is to make up for the lack of combat strength in Duiwei, and at the same time to command the battle situation in the west.

"Don't panic, everyone!" Zhao Zhen shouted. "The one who started the beast tide is most likely a Tribulation Core stage ape demon, which is why so many ape-like demons have appeared on Mount Dai. The ape demon is incredibly powerful, but not very intelligent. Listen to my command, and we will surely prevail!"

Before he finished speaking, the earthquake struck again with a violent roar, like an earth dragon turning over, causing the entire Lingyue Peak to tremble.

The Huayuan Cauldron, which was suspended in the air, suddenly became shaky and about to fall.

"Hold on!"

"Get them all pushed up!"

Countless shouts rose and fell, even transcending geographical boundaries, reaching here from the distant east.

Fibo fell to the ground, staring blankly at the sky.

As one sword dragon after another flew out, the Heavenly Gang Transformation Formation could no longer take shape. Dozens of Transformation Cauldrons fell, and the people on the cauldrons exploded with a "bang," turning into a pool of blood mist and disappearing silently into the sky.

Fei Bo could see clearly that Gao Xiang was also part of this blood mist.

Zhao Zhen's expression changed drastically. He no longer cared about changing positions and hurriedly flew eastward, leaving behind only the words: "I, Zhao Zhen, will repay the sect with my life. You should all take me as an example!"

Elder Zhao is gone!

"what should we do?"

"Senior Brother Fei Fei?"

Fei Bo slowly stood up, his gaze firm yet revealing a hint of relief. He looked at the Shengyi Sect disciples beside him and roared, "I swear to die for the sect!"

"I swear to die for my sect!!"
-
The breeze atop the mountain seemed unusually cold, causing a tall, rugged man to tighten the pale gold robe draped over his shoulders.

"Brother Yuan!"

A young woman dressed in a blue silk dress gently picked up a cup of hot tea and handed it to her.

Shi Yuan took the tea, sipped it, and asked, "Why did you come here?"

The young woman in the blue dress looked at Shi Yuan with her almond-shaped eyes and whispered, "Feng Xue said she misses her grandfather, and I want to send her to Qingju Mountain."

"Does Fengxue want to go, or do you want to go?"

Shi Yuan snorted coldly.

The young woman in the blue dress quickly shook her head: "Brother Yuan, it really is Feng Xue."

"All right!"

Shi Yuan slammed the teacup down on the table. “At this critical juncture for the sect, no one is allowed to leave.”

Upon hearing this, the young woman in the blue dress looked resentful: "Shi Yuan, Feng Xue is your own daughter! I can stay with you on Lingyue Peak, but Feng Xue is in the prime of her life and hasn't even seen the outside world yet."

"You really don't trust me at all?"

Shi Yuan clenched his fists and glared fiercely at the young woman in the blue dress.

The young woman in the blue dress was stunned for a moment, seemingly having never seen Shi Yuan with such a ferocious expression before, and was speechless for a moment.

After a long while, she said with tears welling up in her eyes, "You have to be the sect leader and fulfill your duties, but I don't need that. I just want Feng Xue to live a good life."

Shi Yuan stared blankly at her, then turned around: "Feng Xue can't leave, and neither can you. No one connected to me can leave. This is your fate. Blame me for being selfish."

The young woman in the blue dress stared at his retreating figure for a long time before silently leaving.

After she disappeared, a broad-faced young man appeared and cupped his hands in greeting to Shi Yuan: "Disciple Deng Mo greets Sect Leader!"

"Did we hold off this wave of beasts?"

Shi Yuan didn't turn around, but asked calmly.

Deng Mo respectfully replied, "Reporting to the Sect Leader, we held on! However, Elder Lian forcibly drew upon the power of the Heavenly Gang Transformation Formation to attack the Blood-Eyed Demon Ape, resulting in the deaths of thirty-six disciples. In addition, thirteen were killed and seventy-six were wounded in the Zhen position, and nine were killed and forty-five were wounded in other positions, for a total loss of one hundred and seventy-nine people!"

Shi Yuan finally turned around, his brows furrowed: "Were all the dead disciples of our Shengyi Sect?"

Deng Mo was silent for a moment before replying, "We only calculated the losses of our Shengyi Sect. If we include the disciples of affiliated sects and families, the number would be as high as 431."

Shi Yuan immediately lowered his head to hide his astonished expression. His fingers were only a step away from the cold tea, but he couldn't lift it no matter what he did.

After an unknown amount of time, his voice finally rang out softly: "Don't distribute the compensation money yet. Prioritize saving and rewarding the injured disciples."

Deng Mo hesitated, but dared not speak.

In order to ensure that their disciples would fight to the death in the face of the beast tide, Shengyi Sect has set up a high compensation policy for those who die in battle.

If someone dies in battle, their immediate family members with spiritual roots will be able to receive a batch of valuable pills, talismans, and spirit stones.

The fact that the sect leader has now stopped issuing pensions will undoubtedly shake the morale of the troops.

But he could understand the sect leader's thoughts; after all, the dead disciples were dead.

Issuing compensation will only bring a good reputation and will not salvage the current situation.

Those who are alive have more value and deserve more resources.

"How are the morale of those cultivators who were conscripted?"

Shi Yuan asked another question.

Deng Mo shook his head: "The situation is not optimistic. Almost everyone is resistant! But we have no choice but to accept it now. It's just a pity that the beast tide came too quickly, and less than half of the cultivators have made it here."

Shi Yuan rubbed his temples and asked again, "What about our disciples who are outside? Lian Hexiong told me that there are at least a hundred of them still outside."

"this."

Deng Mo hesitated for a moment before replying, "I don't think there are that many. There should be seventy or eighty, but almost all of them have lost contact."

"Why did you lose contact? Has it been determined?" Shi Yuan pressed.

"Some of them were probably attacked by demonic beasts, such as the disciples stationed in Yuanmen Town and Yuanmen Ferry in the southernmost part of the region. They warned the sect a long time ago, but the sect has been unable to spare any manpower to send reinforcements."

"Leave the outer areas alone."

Shi Yuan interrupted.

Deng Mo nodded and continued to report: "A number of disciples were attacked by the Zhenhun Sect. Demonic beasts besieged Lingyue Peak, while the Zhenhun Sect swept away our outposts and properties outside. Among them, Yuquan Ridge suffered the most damage. Elder Wang Su and his twenty-seven disciples were all wiped out."

Even though he already knew the news, Shi Yuan still couldn't suppress his anger when he heard it. He angrily cursed, "How is the Zhenhun Sect's action any different from colluding with the demon beasts? That old man Shenhun is utterly shameless. Once the beast tide recedes, I will definitely go to Hengyue Sect and file a complaint against him."

Deng Mo also looked sorrowful: "If Elder Wang Su were still alive, we wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses today."

Shi Yuan remained silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Send an order for the Foundation Establishment elders stationed at Tianmen Ridge and Ziyin Cave to return."

Upon hearing this, Deng Mo was greatly alarmed and hurriedly advised, "No, Sect Leader! Tianmen Ridge has the Daishan Spirit Vein, and the Ziyin Cave's inheritance is also extraordinary. Once we withdraw our forces, the Zhenhun Sect will surely take the opportunity to set up an entry-restricting formation to prevent us from returning to our old territory."

"Defend against the beast tide first!"

Shi Yuan said in a deep voice, "Lingyue Peak is our foundation! Although the ape demon did not appear in person this time, it summoned dozens of Bone Fusion demon cultivators. Thirty-seven of them appeared on Lingyue Peak alone, while we only have thirteen Foundation Establishment cultivators left in the sect."

“I have already asked Bailu Sect and Hengyue Sect for help. As fellow human cultivators, they will not stand by and watch us die. But even if they are fast, it will still take them some time to arrive. We will have to hold out for at least another half month.”

“If we don’t let the other Foundation Establishment cultivators return, I’m afraid the Heavenly Gang Abyss Formation won’t hold. If that happens, our sect will be destroyed, our path to enlightenment will be shattered, and we will all be sinners.”

Deng Mo sighed inwardly and did not refute further.

Shi Yuan patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "As long as we, the Sheng Yi Sect, work together, what we have lost will come back. Old man Shen Hun doesn't have much time left. Once he dies, the Zhen Hun Sect will be no threat."

After saying that, he looked at the ring in his hand again and frowned: "Why hasn't the old man Du Yin come over yet?"

(End of this chapter)