Chapter 273: The Mountain Protection Array

“Over ten Yuan Ying stage cultivators?” Su Che thought to himself, “It’s indeed a joint operation by several sects.”
More than a dozen elders from hostile forces had infiltrated the sect, yet the sect’s supreme leader remained calm and composed. Zi Xiao also returned to the stands calmly; the hundreds of Zi Xiao Divine Thunder bolts he had just unleashed seemed to have had no effect on him at all.
“Guests are welcome—please sit wherever you like.”
With great magnanimity, the supreme leader waved his hand, sat down first, and instructed the ceremonial elder present, “Continue the competition. Don’t let anything disrupt it.”
“Yes, Uncle Sect Master,” replied the ceremonial elder with a bow.
The battles that had been paused resumed…
Of course, such a situation also tested the mental strength of the sect’s inner disciples.
Ji E and Yin Sha from the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sect, seeing the calm composure of the Tian Xuan Sect’s leader, guessed that they must have been prepared in advance and weren’t too worried about their dozen or so infiltrators. So, they sat down silently in the stands without wasting words, deciding to discuss everything once others gathered there.
Ji E never took his eyes off Su Che, but cultivators don’t need to rely on sight—they can use their powerful spiritual awareness to keep an eye on their targets at all times…
After waiting for over half an hour, hundreds of figures finally arrived from all directions—mostly Golden Core elders from the Tian Xuan Sect, along with the three Supreme Elders of Qing Xuan, Guang Wu, and Mu Ye. There were also a few unfamiliar figures: the Yuan Ying stage elders from several major sects in the ‘Chaos Camp.’ Including Ji E and Yin Sha from the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sect, there were thirteen in total!
If one wonders how a super sect like the Tian Xuan Sect could be infiltrated so easily by enemies, it’s because the sect’s Mountain Protection Array operates in two modes. Most of the time, it’s in a semi-activated state, allowing sect disciples to enter and exit freely using their identity jade talismans or plaques—this gives outsiders a chance to sneak in. This is true not only for the Tian Xuan Sect but also for other sects; such incidents are impossible to completely prevent.
The second mode is a fully sealed state during times of war. Then, the Mountain Protection Array becomes like an impregnable wall—even sect members can’t enter or exit, let alone external enemies.
At this moment, the thirteen Yuan Ying stage elders who had infiltrated the sect gathered at the Competition Peak, as they failed to find the secluded area where Xuan Ji and Qiu Yue were meditating. They had no choice but to wait at the Competition Peak for other opportunities.

In this invasion, there were thirteen of them, all being supreme elders from various sects, with none of them being the sect leaders, so there was no question of who was in charge. Zi Xiao looked at Patriarch Chen Xu, who was floating in mid-air, and asked mockingly, “Brother Chen Xu, how was the taste of that lotus seed? Did you become addicted and want another one?” “That’s right,” Patriarch Chen Xu said with a smile. “I’ve used that lotus seed, but it’s still not enough. I was thinking, could I get the entire immortal lotus?” “You’re hundreds of years old and still daydreaming. I really worry about you,” Zi Xiao said with a smirk. These words triggered laughter among the many disciples present. Although most of them hesitated to laugh out loud out of respect for him being a Yuan Ying elder, the combined sound of hundreds of thousands of people was quite significant. Patriarch Chen Xu didn’t seem offended and remained smiling. “See? That’s what cunning people are like,” Zi Xiao said, turning to Su Che. At that moment, the supreme sect leader spoke to the thirteen of them. “Everyone here knows clearly the purpose of your infiltration into our sect, so there’s no need to say more.” The supreme sect leader spoke calmly, “I just think you’re going through unnecessary trouble. For those at the Yuan Ying stage, various sects have many measures in place to protect them—how could they be disturbed so easily?” Patriarch Chen Xu replied on behalf of the others, “Actually, we anticipated this situation before coming. But even knowing that, we still had to make this trip. Because we must make a stance against your Tian Xuan Sect. Your sect already has five Yuan Ying elders, which we can tolerate, but we cannot accept a sixth, a seventh…” He then turned his gaze to Su Che, “Even an eighth, Tian Yu, who is 100% capable of reaching the Yuan Ying stage! With this, your Tian Xuan Sect’s strength will surely disrupt the balance among the major forces in the Qi Yuan Star cultivation world. How could we not take action to ensure safety?” “Exactly!” A senior demon from the Blood God Sect shouted, “If you don’t want to incur the joint wrath of all cultivation sects, Tian Xuan Sect must resolve this issue ahead of time and give us a reasonable explanation.” “May I ask what constitutes a reasonable explanation?” Elder Qing Xuan asked gravely. “I greet Brother Qing Xuan.”

Ancestor Chen Xu bowed deeply, showing even greater respect for Grand Elder Qing Xuan than for the supreme leader of Tian Xuan Sect. This was because, during several wars between immortals and demons in earlier years, Grand Elder Qing Xuan had established a distinguished status among the top ten sects in the path of immortality and had also provided selfless help to many. His popularity, experience, and reputation earned him immense respect in every aspect.

Only after the bow did Ancestor Chen Xu speak: “What our seven major sects propose is that if Tian Xuan Sect insists on producing an eighth Yuan Ying Ancestor, that’s fine. But it must split into two sects, with at least 200,000 miles between them.”

“Split the sect? How dare you even say such a thing!”

Zi Xiao became furious, and the supreme leader, Grand Elder Qing Xuan, and the other three ancestors also changed expressions.

No matter the reason, splitting a sect would surely make one a notorious sinner for generations, with no amount of death sufficient to atone for it. Any Yuan Ying Ancestor loyal to his sect would never make such a choice.

Yet Ancestor Chen Xu remained calm and continued, “Everyone understands the severity of splitting a sect. But if anyone is to be blamed, it’s Tian Xuan Sect for lacking restraint and ignoring the survival crises of other sects. The key in the world of cultivation lies in balance. Whoever breaks the rules will face condemnation from everyone. There’s no need to explain further—you should already be aware of this.”

“Nonsense!” Zi Xiao said coldly, giving an example: “Five thousand years ago, Tai Yi Sect had seven Yuan Ying Ancestors gathered in one hall; eight thousand years ago, Wu Ji Sect also had six Yuan Ying Ancestors; ten thousand years ago, your generation from Ling Yao Mountain had seven ancestors as well. Which of the great sects in the realm of immortals and demons hasn’t flourished at some point? Why should it be Tian Xuan Sect that’s accused of breaking balance and the rules?”

“Zi Xiao,” the sinister Jie E Ghost said, “what you’re talking about are old stories from thousands of years ago. If we go even further back, in ancient times, powerful beings were everywhere, and even those at the Yuan Ying level could be trampled to death easily. Nowadays, with scarce resources in the world of cultivation, how can it compare to the past?”

“Bullshit!” Zi Xiao showed no courtesy toward Jie E Ghost: “Just because you can’t feed yourself, does that mean we can’t have meat in our bowls? Scarce resources? I don’t feel that at all. I think we have everything we need.”

“Great,” the Jie E Ghost laughed. “Since Tian Xuan Sect is so wealthy, it’s only fair for us to divide it up so that everyone can have some meat.”

Zixiao was about to counterattack when the Supreme Patriarch waved his hand and said, “Younger brother Zixiao, arguing with words is useless. Enough!”
Zixiao nodded and said nothing more.
The Supreme Patriarch glanced at the thirteen Yuan Ying ancestors on the other side and said in a solemn tone, “Fellow cultivators, I hereby declare clearly that splitting the sect is absolutely impossible! Tianxuan Sect will never allow its disciples to give up the chance to reach the Yuan Ying stage for any reason. Perhaps not only the seventh one, but also the eighth, and even a ninth may emerge in the future.”
At this point, the Supreme Patriarch paused briefly. Su Che understood that this ninth person most likely referred to Senior Brother Yuqing.
“As for the so-called joint attack by all sects in the world, Tianxuan Sect has the courage to face it.”
The Supreme Patriarch’s tone grew colder, and he emphasized his words, “Furthermore, since you have intruded into our sect’s gates today, at least two of you must stay in Tianxuan Sect to serve a period of imprisonment as a warning to others. Tianxuan Sect is not a place anyone can come and go as they please!”
“Good!”
“Good!”
“The Supreme Patriarch speaks perfectly!”
Including Su Che, all the disciples jumped up, cheering loudly and shouting in approval.
The Supreme Patriarch’s words were firm, satisfying, bold, and full of dominance…
The disciples’ enthusiasm soared, and their morale was at its peak. At this moment, any outer sect disciple at the first level of Qi cultivation would dare to charge at those Yuan Ying ancestors to defend the sect. Even if they died in battle, they would feel no regret.
“You want to keep two of us?” Ji E, the old ghost, sneered coldly, “With just the five of you, even if you have the advantage of the sect’s protective formation, it’s nothing but delusion!”
“I don’t know why, but every time Fellow Cultivator Ji E speaks, I feel annoyed,” the Supreme Patriarch said calmly. “Well then, I’ll keep you here to help you break this bad habit.”
Without waiting for Ji E to respond, the Supreme Patriarch softly recited the character “move.”
Whoosh!
The eleven Yuan Ying ancestors on the other side simply disappeared. All that remained were Ji E from Wan Gui Sect and Chen Xu from Ling Yao Mountain.
“What’s going on?”
Ji E and Chen Xu were shocked and immediately realized that the others must have been expelled from the sect’s gates by the powerful force of Tianxuan Sect’s protective formation. But it was hard to explain…
“That’s impossible!”
Ji E’s face turned extremely ugly as he muttered, “We’re all at the Yuan Ying stage, and he’s not even in the Supreme Patriarch’s hall. How is this possible…”

“There is nothing impossible in this world.”
The Supreme Patriarch spoke calmly before adding another word: “Seal!”
Whoosh!
The protective array that guarded the Tianxuan Mountain Range, originally invisible and transparent, now rapidly formed into a pale green barrier—the second form of the protective array—fully activated.
With this, the eleven Yuan Ying ancestors who had just been transported in would never be able to break through, no matter how hard they tried. To overcome the protective array of such a powerful sect, one would need to gather the combined strength of another powerful sect.
Although activating the array required a vast amount of spirit stones each time, the Tianxuan Sect could afford it.
At that moment, the Supreme Patriarch turned around and said to Su Che with a smile, “See? Tianyu, what they consider ‘impossible’ is something you have created.”
Su Che immediately thought of the ancient mountain talisman he had once given to the sect…