Chapter 235

“Let’s find the elders first,” Zhu You said coldly and quickly added, “Split up and search, each returning to your own sect. Be careful to avoid any ambushes.”

Given the circumstances, it was either a demonic invasion or the demons causing trouble again. Being cautious was the best course of action.

Duan Hengdao raised his hand, “I have a puppet here. We can use it to scout the situation first.”

He distributed the puppets to the members of the other four sects. “Take these; you can send them in to check the situation before entering your sects.”

The usually reserved artifact cultivators of Chengfeng Sect were uncharacteristically generous. Ye Qiao didn’t stand on ceremony, taking a small puppet and sending it to investigate the situation inside her sect.

Fortunately, the Changming Sect was very safe, and for the time being, there was no sign of any major danger. According to the information returned by the puppets, all the inner disciples had been called away, leaving only a few outer disciples in the sect.

As the five of them rushed into the Changming Sect, they realized the gravity of the situation.

Ye Qiao grabbed an outer disciple who was running out in a panic and asked, “What happened?”

“I-I don’t know,” the disciple replied, looking bewildered. Seeing their sect’s personal disciples return, he became almost ecstatic. “The elders called away all the inner disciples, leaving us to guard the place. It’s great that you’re back!”

At least the strength of this group of personal disciples could be relied upon.

Especially since they had just returned from the land of inheritance.

With them here, at least their hearts were at ease.

Ye Qiao comforted the disciple a bit more, but none of the other senior brothers could get any useful information from the outer disciples. After exchanging glances, they made a swift decision: “Let’s go to the main peak to see if our master is there and check the elders’ hall.”

“We’ll gather back here after getting the information.”

Mu Chongxi kicked open the door of the elders’ hall, finding it empty. Many elders were not present.

“Except for Yu, who manages the library, almost all the other elders and senior uncles have gone down the mountain.”

Ye Qiao turned and asked, “Did Yu say what’s going on?”

Xue Yu replied, “The demons are invading, so they all went to support.”

Ming Xuan poked Xue Yu, puzzled, “But haven’t they come before? They didn’t seem to want to start a war then. The demons fighting cultivators is quite overreaching. It shouldn’t require so many elders to lead disciples for support.”

Xue Yu took a deep breath, “What if the demons have joined forces with the monsters?”

Perhaps it was true that different races could never be trusted. Humans, monsters, and demons had never lived harmoniously. It was either killing monster beasts or monster beasts chasing after cultivators.

But this was the first time seeing the demons ally with the monsters against the cultivators.

Mu Chongxi, thinking differently from the others, was a bit excited and eager: “Does that mean we can finally kill some monsters after fighting them for so long in the secret realm?”

“Why would the monsters join forces with the demons for no reason?” Zhou Xingyun couldn’t understand.

Xue Yu suddenly recalled the worried looks from Xie Chuxue when they were in the trial ground. Clenching his fingers, he calmed down, “I feel that our junior uncle might have known something all along.”

But without a doubt, Xie Chuxue, always enigmatic, would never tell them.

Maybe it was because revealing it might touch some so-called rules.

Not only were the personal disciples of Changming Sect in a terrible mood, but the personal disciples of the other four sects were somewhat devastated too.

Damn it, went out for a while and the house got robbed?!

The demons had always been the nemesis of cultivators.

From the remaining elders, they learned that after allying with the monsters, the demons brazenly began attacking other small clans and provoking other sects. The five sects had protective formations, but other sects weren’t so lucky and almost all had fallen.

The sect had only a few hundred inner disciples, all led down the mountain by the elders to assist other cities.

No one expected a group of personal disciples to return early from the land of inheritance.

For the remaining cultivators, this was both surprising and delightful.

The personal disciples actually had the right to refuse going down the mountain to rescue, but at this moment, no one could say it out loud.

Besides some cultivators and rogue cultivators, the cultivation world had many with very poor cultivation, barely getting by with sparse spiritual energy—ordinary people.

Ye Qiao quickly checked the jade slips, and as expected, the other sects were in the same situation, with most of their inner disciples called away, leaving two or three elders to guard the sect.

There was no need to worry about the sect’s safety with the protective formation, but the question now was where this group of personal disciples should go to save people.

“Let’s gather first,” Ye Qiao said, tossing the jade slip into her storage bag, notifying the personal disciples of the other four sects to come to Changming Sect. You ask where her confidence came from?

Isn’t it common sense to gather at the first sect?

Once everyone was assembled, still in their previous clothes, the sudden turn of events left them all in their ragged outfits, looking disheveled. Qin Huai, displeased, said coldly, “The monster tribe will be exterminated sooner or later.”

Ye Qiao said, “Everyone here? Let’s go save people.”

Ye Qinghan looked at her casual demeanor, “What makes you confident you can save people?”

Not to mention that it was serious enough for the inner elders to step in, but they couldn’t even grasp the current situation.

She responded, “Where would I get confidence from?”

Ye Qinghan could see that everyone around her trusted her a lot. He blinked and said calmly, “If you have no confidence, are you sure about going down the mountain? No one can guarantee what will happen next.”

Mu Chongxi pouted, “Don’t all look so serious. Calm down. It’s just us alive now. If we don’t go, who will?”

So many elders were missing.

Moreover, this time it wasn’t a trial or a mission.

Relying neither on elders nor seniors to pave the way, just on themselves, after being sheltered by the sect for so long, they should do something now.

“And,” Ye Qiao shook her sword, her sleeve creating an arc, “in my opinion, the worst result isn’t that bad. Hesitation is useless. We’ll know the situation outside once we get out.”

“Sword cultivators, take your swords. Talisman cultivators, draw your talismans. Alchemy cultivators, grab your alchemy furnaces. Artifact cultivators, bring your artifacts.”

“We’re going down the mountain.”

Without Ye Qiao saying it, everyone silently prepared all the necessary items. The various tattered sect uniforms looked less like personal disciples descending the mountain and more like a beggar gang.

…

“Grand Master,” on the other side, Xie Chuxue, also rushing to support, asked softly, “how did they do in their training?”

He glanced twice, then respectfully lowered his eyes. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t curious, but forcibly using spells to make the other party dream would be a great disrespect.

Xie Chuxue had experienced many instances of the demons and monsters teaming up to create chaos. He had tried numerous methods in the past, but he couldn’t save the inner disciples or the lives of innocent cultivators.

And those elders who were sent to support and ultimately sacrificed themselves.

Repeated failures, watching them die in front of him, felt like fate was mocking his helplessness.

This time, he decided to place all his hopes on Ye Qiao.

The ancestor of the Changming Sect sighed. He was just a shadow, not even a proper avatar, and had been forcibly pulled out. “What’s wrong?”

Xie Chuxue lowered his eyes. “The monsters have teamed up with the demons.”

Previously, the tasks during the grand competition were all about hunting monster beasts. It wasn’t that they hated the monsters; there were just too many of them. They were everywhere in the secret realms and the cultivation world, attacking people indiscriminately without much intelligence. Even those who had gained some intelligence didn’t necessarily spare the cultivators.

Strength determined one’s status in the cultivation world.

There were many monster kings, and as a talisman cultivator, he couldn’t stop so many of them. Some elders were left to guard the sect, while the rest went to support various clans or joined rescue efforts. Xie Chuxue had no one to turn to for help; the personal disciples had all gone off chasing their romantic interests.

Xie Chuxue had gone through cycles of reincarnation so many times it made him want to spit blood.

He desperately needed some reassurance, at least to know how the personal disciples had fared in their trials.

At this moment, he was truly uncertain.

The ancestor of the Changming Sect, forcibly pulled into the dream, his shadow flickering for a moment, asked, “Are the monsters you mentioned very strong?” He had no concept of the monsters, as they weren’t a significant threat when he ascended.

Xie Chuxue’s voice was faint as he pondered for a moment, revealing some of what he knew. After all, the ancestor was no longer truly a person. “Very strong. Those mobilized are all of the monster king level, led by the monster clan’s young lord.”

If they weren’t strong, he wouldn’t fail every time. Honestly, expecting a talisman cultivator to save so many people was too much.

The teleportation formation couldn’t send everyone away at once. The outcome was either his death or those people dying while covering for others to retreat.

In every instance, he couldn’t save everyone.

The ancestor of the Changming Sect pondered for a moment, seeing the gloom that couldn’t be dispelled from Xie Chuxue’s face. He awkwardly offered some comfort, “Don’t worry. With Xiao Qiao and the others in the Five Sects, nothing will go wrong.”

Although he didn’t understand why Xie Chuxue was so gloomy, based on his long observation of Ye Qiao…

The ancestor of the Changming Sect, deep in thought, concluded that if a monster king appeared in front of Ye Qiao again, she’d probably tear it apart with her bare hands.

*

Sorry for the delay! I wrote 9,000 characters, which is 1,000 more than the 8,000 I mentioned earlier.