Immortality and cultivation: Heaven rewards diligence, and success is inevitable.

Jiang Shi was slightly displeased that Zhou Yuan had disturbed his seclusion.

"Yes, something terrible has happened," Zhou Yuan said, his face filled with terror and his eyes red.

His voice was hoarse, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

Seeing Zhou Yuan's state, Jiang Shi knew something serious must have happened, so he quickly asked Zhou Yuan for clarification.

"It's over at the martial arts arena. A huge monster fell from the sky... and many people died! Junior Brother Xu, Senior Brother Fang... they're all dead."

"Only Senior Brother Hu and I escaped!"

"That's terrifying...that's a Foundation Establishment stage demonic beast!"

Zhou Yuan started crying as he spoke.

A cultivator in the mid-stage of Qi Refining is already on the path to immortality. Zhou Yuan was so frightened that he cried, which shows just how tragic the situation was.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shi was also greatly alarmed, realizing that the path to immortality was indeed as precarious as walking on thin ice.

If he hadn't left with Steward Lin and Lin Yanyi today, he probably would have died at the hands of the demon beasts.

At that moment, two figures flashed over at lightning speed.

Lin Yanyi and Senior Brother Hu appeared in front of Jiang Shi.

"Junior Brother Jiang, thankfully you're alright," Senior Brother Hu said.

The training ground was in complete chaos just now, and everyone was only thinking about escaping. Senior Brother Hu didn't find Jiang Shi and was worried about him, so he quickly asked Zhou Yuan to come and check.

Fortunately, Jiang Shi was at home and did not go to the martial arts arena.

"Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother Hu." Jiang Shi knew that Senior Brother Hu was concerned about him, so he immediately thanked him.

Senior Brother Hu looked at Jiang Shi and Zhou Yuan with complicated emotions, and then looked at Lin Yanyi with great guilt.

"Senior Sister Lin, I'm sorry. I failed to protect my junior brothers... They're all dead!" Senior Brother Hu's eyes were red, and he was in low spirits.

Over the years, these menial disciples have supported each other in the outer sect and have long since developed a brotherly bond.

Senior Brother Hu also took great care of his junior brothers.

But now they are all dead, leaving only Jiang Shi and Zhou Yuan.

Upon hearing Hu's words, Zhou Yuan burst into tears again.

"What's going on?" Li Ze pushed open the door and came out.

His Daoist heart was broken, his mind was in a daze, and he lay on the bed neither eating nor drinking.

Just then, they heard a commotion in the courtyard, saying that someone had died.

This instinct compelled him to come out and take a look.

"Senior Brother Xu... Senior Brother Fang... they're all dead!" Zhou Yuan said, trembling.

Upon hearing this, Li Ze was startled. He, who had been in a daze with a broken Dao heart, suddenly regained his senses.

"Impossible! How could this be? This is the outer gate! How could they be dead?" Li Ze shook his head and stumbled as he ran out of the courtyard.

He was going to the training ground to see what had happened.

Fearing something might happen to him, Zhou Yuan quickly followed.

"Sigh." Senior Brother Hu sighed as he watched his two junior brothers leave.

"Junior Brother Hu, this is not your fault," Lin Yanyi said. Although her voice was cold and seemingly emotionless, Senior Brother Hu was encouraged.

He rallied.

"Senior Sister Lin, I'm going to collect the bodies of my junior brothers. We can't let them lie there." After saying this, Senior Brother Hu bowed to Senior Sister Lin, then walked out of the courtyard and left.

After he left, the atmosphere became cold.

Neither Jiang Shi nor Lin Yanyi spoke first; they simply stood there.

Jiang Shi wondered why a demonic beast had attacked the Qingyun Sect.

Logically speaking, this kind of thing would almost never happen under normal circumstances.

Because the Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts in the vicinity had long been eliminated by the higher-ups of the Qingyun Sect.

Otherwise, the Qingyun Sect wouldn't have been able to establish itself here for so many years.

There must be something fishy about this.

But such Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts were too far removed from him; he simply had no way to deal with them.

If we encounter this, we probably won't be able to escape.

"Do you think it's possible that he did it?"

Just as Jiang Shi was lost in thought, Lin Yanyi suddenly spoke up.

These words instantly changed Jiang Shi's expression.

"Senior Sister Lin, be careful what you say!" Jiang Shi said seriously.

The "he" that Lin Yanyi mentioned must be Steward Lin.

They both knew that Steward Lin had appeared at the outer gate today, and soon after he left, something happened there.

There might be a connection between the two.

But these words must not be spread.

Whether or not it was the forest steward who did it, they cannot say.

If others find out about this, the two of them will definitely be implicated.

He didn't know anything about Lin Yanyi, but as a former handyman disciple, if something happened to him, he would certainly not survive.

With his current low cultivation level, even if he betrays his sect, he won't be able to escape very far.

They either died on the way or were caught up by the Qingyun Sect and killed as traitors.

Only by cultivating to the late stage of Qi Refining can one have even a trace of self-protection.

The most urgent task now is to cultivate quickly.

Jiang Shi ignored Lin Yanyi and turned to walk back into the house.

He now has an idea: simply focusing on arduous cultivation will take too long to reach the late stage of Qi Refining.

He needs to show some talent in talisman making, but not too much; just revealing a mid-grade first-rank spirit talisman will suffice.

This is enough to prove his talent for talisman making, without revealing too much and arousing others' curiosity.

However, we cannot do that now.

Now that the sect has just encountered trouble, it's not a good thing to step forward now.

He needs to keep a low profile for a while first.

After Jiang Shi entered the house, Lin Yanyi also left.

She originally intended to test Jiang Shi to see how much he knew and whether he was conspiring with Steward Lin.

But now it seems that Jiang Shi was unaware of it either.

She couldn't directly ask Steward Lin either, as this matter was far too serious, and the slightest mistake could lead to utter ruin.

Lin Yanyi's pursuit of the Dao is unwavering, but being in the Qingyun Sect often makes her feel powerless.

Inside the inner gate, in the main hall.

The head of the Qingyun Sect, Headmaster Lu, stood at the head.

Ten Foundation Establishment cultivators stood beneath him.

Five of them were true disciples of the Qingyun Sect, and the other five were elders of the Qingyun Sect.

They are all core figures in the Qingyun Sect.

"It really is a demonic puppet!" Sect Leader Lu, wearing jade silk gloves, examined some of the strange bird's flesh and blood.

"With the appearance of the demonic puppet, the demonic villains must be nearby!"

After Sect Leader Lu finished speaking, the audience below began to murmur amongst themselves.

"Sect Leader, there's definitely something fishy about this. Should we send people to search the entire Qingyun Mountain and eliminate the demonic threat?"

Lu Yuanfeng spoke up, saying that he was an elder of the Qingyun Sect, whose duty was to attack and subdue enemies.

Whenever the sect needs to take action, they always send him.

Firstly, as the number one sword cultivator in offensive combat, he would never lose a fight against someone of the same cultivation level.

Secondly, sword cultivators focus on offense and combat, primarily cultivating the Qi of Slaughter, which they can use to break through to the Golden Core stage in the future.

Therefore, when a sect goes to war, sword cultivators are the first to step up.

"Junior Brother Lu, don't be impulsive. This matter is dangerous. Send an ordinary outer disciple to investigate first, and then we'll make a decision," Sect Leader Lu said.

The entire Qingyun Sect is controlled by three major families, and these families are in turn controlled by their core disciples.

They control inheritance and resources.

Disciples who perform menial tasks or are ordinary disciples cannot rise to prominence.

They will only be used as tools.