Chapter 519: Cloud Sky Encircled

“Alright, once we open a branch, we’ll find a place to give it a try!”
Lin Dong was enthusiastic as he lightly stepped on a mark below.
The Tianpeng Bird let out a soft chirp and dived downward toward a stretch of open land ten miles east of the city.
In an instant, it reached the skies above the open land. After scanning the area and finding no signs of anyone, it began to descend rapidly.
At about twenty meters down, Lin Dong eagerly leaped downward. Yun Lan had no choice but to jump as well.
After landing, once Yun Lan caught up, Lin Dong rushed toward Hongtu City. They found the Lin’s Inn with its flag on the roof and climbed inside one after another.
Lin Dong focused his mind outward, instantly covering the entire inn.
After a thorough search, he was stunned.
“No one!”
“No one?” Yun Lan was surprised.
“Maybe they went out for some trivial matter. Let’s wait!” Lin Dong didn’t take it too seriously. Although it was stipulated that guards assigned to establish branches should stay in the inn, there were some matters that required personal attention, such as dealing with officials or contacting suppliers of various ingredients, which were not included in this rule.
Plus, it was still morning—the best time for negotiations, so it was highly likely someone had gone out.
Although this would waste some time, there was little they could do but wait patiently. They sat on stone benches in the backyard; one continued studying pill formulas while the other focused on nurturing their undeveloped dantian.
By noon, Lin Dong couldn’t wait any longer. After signaling Yun Lan, he went alone to the closed main hall, sat at the counter, and the system prompt sounded.
Activating attributes like the transport gate and small garden, Lin Dong returned to the backyard, thought for a moment, then quickly entered the storage room. Through the transport gate, he returned to the capital city, explained what had happened to Ma Chun, and then returned to the backyard.
“Let’s go! Ma Chun will send a new manager to take over later,” Lin Dong said.
Yun Lan put the books back into her storage ring and stood up. The two of them flashed away and quickly returned to the open land.
The Tianpeng Bird, circling above, dove downward, and they climbed onto its back. Lin Dong stepped on a hidden mark, and the bird spread its wings and took off toward the next destination.
Just as Lin Dong focused his mind and prepared to meditate, soft chirping sounds arose.
Opening his eyes, he saw that Yun Lan had also put down her books, puzzled.
That wasn’t the sound the Tianpeng Bird made upon landing.
Looking down, Lin Dong felt a slight stir in his heart.

Below was a mountain range with undulating peaks. Though they were at great heights, Lin Dong could only make out faint outlines and swirling clouds with his eyes. But since the Tianpeng Bird was making noises and circling above, there was no doubt that some precious treasure down there had attracted it.

“Let’s go down and take a look!” Lin Dong shouted, channeling spiritual energy into his throat.

The Tianpeng Bird spread its wings excitedly and dived swiftly downward.

As the distance shortened, Lin Dong and Yun Lan’s vision became clearer. In a valley below, there were countless tiny black dots. Upon getting closer, they realized these dots were all people—tens of thousands of them.

“A spiritual array!” Yun Lan said in surprise.

“What spiritual array?” Lin Dong asked, puzzled.

“There are many spiritual arrays set up at the end of the valley,” Yun Lan explained.

Upon closer inspection, the end of the valley was completely different from the densely populated area behind it—empty and without a single person in sight. This could mean either that there was something terrifying that kept people from entering, or that the spiritual arrays were hiding those inside.

Looking more closely, Lin Dong exclaimed in shock, “It’s Senior Yun!”

Yun Lan was stunned. She shifted her focus from observing the spiritual arrays and looked upward. When her gaze reached the very end of the valley, she was filled with horror.

“Go down, quickly!” Lin Dong yelled. He could now clearly see a group of people gathered at the end of the valley, attacking a man and a spiritual beast.

The man was covered in blood, his face unreadable, but an eerie glow surrounded him. Even without moving, those who attacked him were torn apart. The spiritual beast was two zhang tall, lying limp on the ground, clearly badly injured.

What convinced Lin Dong and Yun Lan that the bloodied man was Yun Cangqiong was precisely this massive spiritual beast. Though covered in blood, its dazzlingly white fur remained visible. Seen from above, it resembled a giant white tiger.

This was a ninth-tier spiritual beast, the White Jade Tiger—and Yun Cangqiong’s mount was also a White Jade Tiger.

Subduing a ninth-tier spiritual beast was nearly impossible, let alone one as rare as the White Jade Tiger. Coupled with the sword lights surrounding the bloodied man, which resembled the Tianjian Art of the Tianjian Sect, the likelihood that it was Yun Cangqiong was over 90%.

What kind of strength is needed to trap a ninth-tier spiritual beast and a peak-level warrior in such a situation? It gives an idea of the strength of those people opposite us. Lin Dong hesitated for a moment, then took out the Wish Stool and said in a deep voice, “Yun Lan, change positions. You take command of the Tianpeng Bird. After I go down, immediately lead the Tianpeng Bird back to the inn and use the Transport Gate to bring the old man and Senior Feng over.”
Yun Lan slowly shook her head, gripping her Green Rainbow Sword tightly in her hand.
Lin Dong gritted his teeth, took out a Spirit Restoring Pill, and put it in his mouth. The Wish Stool suddenly transformed into a giant shield, expanding infinitely as spiritual energy poured into it, instantly covering one side of the Tianpeng Bird.
“Bad! Someone is coming down—attack!”
Among the crowd, an old man in his fifties suddenly waved his hand.
The next moment, waves of powerful energy rushed toward the rapidly descending giant shield.
Boom!
With a thunderous explosion, the half-meter-thick shield burst apart. The immense force sent Lin Dong flying backward like a cannonball, and even the Tianpeng Bird tumbled several times before stabilizing itself.
“Lin Dong!”
Yun Lan rushed forward, intercepting him halfway, then used spatial jumps to land safely.
“It almost shattered my internal organs,” Lin Dong said, spitting out blood as his chaotic spiritual energy gradually calmed down.
Yun Lan breathed a sigh of relief, called back the Tianpeng Bird, which was about to charge into the crowd, and turned her gaze toward the bloodied man.
“Lan’er?” The bloodied man was actually Yun Cangqiong. Seeing it was Yun Lan, he grew anxious. “How did you guys get here?”
“Father, how serious are your injuries?” Yun Lan released Lin Dong and flew to Yun Cangqiong’s side. After examining him, her eyes filled with tears.
Although his external injuries weren’t severe, all his internal organs were damaged, and several of his meridians were broken. He must have been holding on by sheer willpower to stay conscious so far.
“Lan’er, leave this place quickly,” Yun Cangqiong said gravely.
Yun Lan shook her head.
Lin Dong exhaled, took another Spirit Restoring Pill, and then asked, “Senior Yun, what happened? How did you and your mount end up like this?”
After taking the pill given by Yun Lan, Yun Cangqiong briefly explained the situation.
It turned out that half a year ago, Yun Cangqiong and the White Jade Tiger were passing by when they happened to encounter an anomaly caused by a ninth-tier Dream Wisdom Tree about to mature. They then came here. The Dream Wisdom Tree is a type of spiritual material used to aid cultivation, and Yun Cangqiong naturally wouldn’t miss it. After examining it, he decided to transplant it back to the Tianjian Sect.

As a result, the visions from the Dream Wisdom Tree grew more intense, attracting disciples from nearby sects. Yun Cangqiong had thought that with his peak-level strength and a ninth-tier spiritual beast, even if surrounded, he could easily escape if he couldn’t win. Other sects surely wouldn’t want to make enemies with him. Moreover, he could abandon the plan to transplant the tree and simply take the still-immature Dream Wisdom Tree away, with others at most watching from afar. Unexpectedly, there was a major spiritual array sect nearby named the Golden Vision Sect.

When the Golden Vision Sect set up spiritual arrays in the valley, Yun Cangqiong decided to hold his ground because the Dream Wisdom Tree wasn’t yet mature, and he had already sent a message using special fireworks. If disciples from the Sky Sword Sect or allied sects happened to pass by and discover them, they would return to the Sky Sword Sect for reinforcements. He hadn’t expected that the Golden Vision Sect was also one of the ancient and powerful sects. Although it lacked peak-level experts, it had a solid foundation, with numerous skilled practitioners and an endless supply of high-grade spiritual pills, artifacts, and arrays.

The open area in the valley was where the Golden Vision Sect had arranged its spiritual arrays—fifteen in total, all being eighth-tier arrays with distinct styles. With over half of the sect’s elders and elite disciples mobilized, neither Yun Cangqiong nor the hundreds of thousands of onlookers outside could break through the Golden Vision Sect’s defenses.

Realizing something was wrong, Yun Cangqiong calculated that the Golden Vision Sect had gone to such lengths surely because of the tree’s ease of transplantation. So, he decided to abandon the tree for now and try to break through later.

Unfortunately, once the spiritual arrays were in place, along with the sheer number of powerful fighters, even though Yun Cangqiong was extremely strong, he could only break through one or two arrays at a time in those ever-changing eighth-tier arrays. After forcing his way through the third array and finding it to be another different high-tier array, he was forced to retreat. If the fourth array was also a different high-tier array, entering it and emerging again would be even more difficult.

After breaking through three high-tier arrays, both Yun Cangqiong and Bai Yuhu were injured. Under the siege of numerous powerful fighters, though they wouldn’t be defeated outright, they could only hold on by clinging to the cliffside. By now, Bai Yuhu was severely injured, and Yun Cangqiong was exhausted, having used up all his spiritual pills. If Lin Dong and Yun Lan didn’t appear and the Sky Sword Sect’s reinforcements didn’t arrive, he could barely hold on for another half month at best.

“The Golden Vision Sect is acting—all outsiders, leave immediately, or face death!”

Chi Yufeng, the leader of the Jinshi Sect, roared loudly. Though he didn’t think Lin Dong and Yun Lan posed any threat, a ninth-tier spiritual bird was not so easy to deal with, so he could only try to scare them away.
“Yun Lan, take Senior Yun and the White Jade Tiger onto the Tianpeng Bird!” Lin Dong’s spiritual energy surged, and the massive shield, now broken into pieces, vanished instantly. In his hands appeared a Ruyi Stool.
With that, his spiritual energy flowed out again using the technique of Yu Tian Jue, and Yun Cangqiong and the White Jade Tiger both flew onto the bird’s back.
Yun Lan hesitated for a moment before leaping onto the Tianpeng Bird’s back.
“Want to leave? It’s not that easy!”
Chi Yufeng didn’t want a peak-level warrior and two ninth-tier spiritual beasts to escape—this would bring endless troubles to the Jinshi Sect.
Everyone thrust their palms forward simultaneously, channeling their powerful spiritual energy into a massive energy column that struck at the Tianpeng Bird.
The next moment, Lin Dong appeared in front of the Tianpeng Bird, his Ruyi Stool transforming once again into a giant shield.
With a loud crash, Lin Dong was flung backward and crashed violently against a cliff. Just as it had when they arrived, the Tianpeng Bird took advantage of this pause to staggeringly take off and soar upward.
On the stone pavilion, Yun Lan gritted her teeth but didn’t even have time to glance at Lin Dong. She urged the Tianpeng Bird to fly away at full speed. She understood that if they all stayed, or even if she jumped down, no one could escape successfully, given her knowledge of spiritual arrays. The only solution was for Lin Dong to hold off the first wave of attacks while she rushed back as quickly as possible to bring reinforcements.