Chapter 3: Returning to Xianyun Sect

In the storage bracelet, there was also a sword—Han Yue’s life treasure, the Locust Snake Sword, a lower-grade golden-element magic weapon. Undoubtedly, this sword was perfect for Bai Man. Since Bai Man had chosen to practice golden-element cultivation techniques, wielding a golden-element magic weapon would maximize its power.
“Senior sister, take this sword,” Qu Yi said with a smile as he handed the Locust Snake Sword to Bai Man.
Bai Man immediately took it and, without any guidance, learned how to use her vital energy to control the magic weapon. Instantly, a golden snake emerged from the Locust Snake Sword.
“Not bad. With this sword, it should be easy for me to cast golden-element spells,” Bai Man said happily.
Qu Yi looked at her strangely and couldn’t help but ask, “Senior sister, have you practiced cultivation before? How did you know how to use vital energy right away? And how do you know how to cast spells?”
Previously, Bai Man had never practiced cultivation. Who would have thought that after obtaining a Golden Core, she could immediately use vital energy? Qu Yi was naturally curious.
“Qu Yi, you really underestimate me. Although I’ve never practiced cultivation, I’ve read many books, so my knowledge of cultivation isn’t any less than yours. Right now, I can’t cast powerful spells, but I can easily cast some basic ones,” Bai Man said with a smile, feeling a bit proud.
Qu Yi was convinced—thanks to the help of his weapon spirit, he had progressed so quickly. But Bai Man was even more remarkable; she just read books at home and occasionally flew around on the Golden Crested Heron, yet her cultivation level was no worse than his.
At that moment, the weapon spirit interjected, “Qu Yi, there are two more lower-grade magic weapons here. Have you claimed them?”
Qu Yi quickly took a look. One was the Red Nan Sword, Huai Qing’s life treasure, and the other was the Fire Scaled Blade, Yong Chuan’s life treasure. After it was taken by the Blood-Sucking Mosquito, Han Yue retrieved the Fire Scaled Blade, which then fell back into Huai Qing’s hands.
“Great!” Qu Yi was delighted. These were lower-grade magic weapons, far better than his own upper-grade magic weapon, the Green Python Sword.
Lower-grade magic weapons could only be crafted once one reached the Yuan Ying stage. In an instant, two drops of blood fell onto the Red Nan Sword and the Fire Scaled Blade, after which Qu Yi absorbed them into his body.
After checking Huai Qing’s storage bracelet, Qu Yi faced a problem: with the sect gone, what path should he take from now on?
“Senior sister, what are your plans for future cultivation?” Qu Yi decided to first hear Bai Man’s ideas.
Bai Man seemed to have already thought it through and replied immediately, “I want to return to Xianyun Sect first to take a look before deciding where to continue my cultivation.”

Yes, when the Fire Moon Sect attacked the Immortal Cloud Sect, Bai Man was in a sleeping state the whole time. Upon waking, she heard the tragic news, and she still felt reluctant to leave, wanting to see what the Immortal Cloud Sect looked like after the battle so she could dispel the doubts lingering in her mind.

Qu Yi thought for a moment before calmly saying, “Okay, but you must follow my arrangements. I think the territory of the Immortal Cloud Sect is now patrolled by people from the Fire Moon Sect everywhere. I don’t want to reveal that we’re still alive.”

In fact, Qu Yi had already figured it out—those early-stage Outward Journey cultivators hired by the Fire Moon Sect must be after the Jade Sword, as the other resources and treasures of the Immortal Cloud Sect couldn’t possibly be the reason for an early-stage Outward Journey cultivator to come to Green Wood Planet. Now that Huai Qing was dead and the storage bracelet had been taken by Qu Yi, that early-stage cultivator surely wouldn’t give up easily and would stay on Green Wood Planet, especially with the Immortal Cloud Sect sending people to patrol until they found the Jade Sword.

“Mm!” Seeing Qu Yi’s serious expression, Bai Man obediently agreed right away.

Bai Man stayed inside the Dimensional Sphere, while Qu Yi flew alone through the Mist-Pursuing Mountains toward the Immortal Cloud Sect in the north.

…

At the same time, Cheng Chang, the leader of the Xuan Yang Temple, and Master Qing Yang were having an urgent discussion.

“Master, I’ve found out that the Fire Moon Sect has enlisted help from the Golden Cauldron Sect on Tian Feng Planet, and it’s even a high-level expert in the Fire element at the early stage of Outward Journey. If my guess is correct, it must be Master Ling Huo from the Fire Moon Hall of the Golden Cauldron Sect,” Cheng Chang said worriedly.

It had been over a month since the Fire Moon Sect attacked the Immortal Cloud Sect. Although they claimed it was to avenge Master Han Yue, bringing in an early-stage Outward Journey cultivator like Master Ling Huo made their claim untenable. Naturally, Cheng Chang had gathered some information through his spies within the Fire Moon Sect.

Master Qing Yang pondered for a while before softly saying, “It seems this matter isn’t simple. Our four major sects all originated from Tian Feng Planet and adhere to an unspoken rule: we must not break the balance among the four sects unless absolutely necessary. Now that the Fire Moon Sect is launching such a fierce attack, there must be something significant behind it.”

Cheng Chang nodded slightly and immediately said, “I think the same. Avenge Master Han Yue isn’t the main reason. There must be something in the Immortal Cloud Sect that interests Master Ling Huo, which is why he’s willing to risk being condemned by the other three sects and come to Green Wood Planet.”

Elder Qingyang was immediately shocked after hearing this and said urgently, “Chengchang, it seems you need to go to Tianfeng Star. The changes on Cuimu Star now involve figures at the Outward Journey stage; it’s no longer something the two of us can control. So go to the Black Bone Sect on the South Demon Continent and find the Master of Xuanyang Hall, telling him the truth about Cuimu Star.”
Xuanyang Temple originated from the Black Bone Sect on the South Demon Continent of Tianfeng Star.
Chengchang was also shocked and then came to his senses. The power level on Cuimu Star had changed—it was no longer something that could be decided by those at the Yuan Ying stage.
“Okay, I’ll head to Fangluo Mountain right away. If everything goes well, I can return in three months,” Chengchang decided promptly.
Elder Qingyang nodded slightly.
…
Just like the situation at Xuanyang Temple, Qiusu Sect’s leader Qiu Yu and Elder Hanbing were also in urgent discussions.
“Elder, I’ve investigated the Fire Moon Sect’s attack on Xianyun Sect. They claim it’s to avenge Elder Hanbing, but it’s actually for a precious artifact. To understand this, we need to go back to what happened in the Wuxi Sea area last time. Elder Hanbing and the leaders of our three sects went underwater together. Chengchang and I were chased by golden horn silver sharks and managed to escape. But strangely, Huaiqing escaped safely without losing a single disciple from Xianyun Sect. After they returned, they claimed that Elder Hanbing was killed by sea monsters—there are serious doubts here. Our people in the Fire Moon Sect have learned that Huaiqing possesses a powerful magical artifact,” Qiu Yu said calmly.
Elder Hanbing smiled slightly and said, “It seems this artifact has an extraordinary origin. Otherwise, the Master of Fire Moon Hall from the Golden Cauldron Sect wouldn’t have come all the way to Cuimu Star to kill Huaiqing. The Golden Cauldron Sect and Qingyi Sect coexist on the North Immortal Continent. For the Master of Fire Moon Hall to dare to attack a branch of Qingyi Sect on Cuimu Star, this artifact must be extremely significant.”
Qiu Yu’s eyes burned with interest as well. Then his expression darkened, and he said bitterly, “Elder, now that the Master of Fire Moon Hall has arrived, Xuanyang Temple and Qiusu Sect can no longer resist the Fire Moon Sect. I want to go to Tianfeng Star.”
Qiusu Sect originated from the White Moon Palace on the South Demon Continent of Tianfeng Star.
Elder Hanbing nodded slightly and said, “Set off right away. I believe Xuanyang Temple will also go to Tianfeng Star for help. Time is urgent—go quickly and return swiftly. Who knows, we might even achieve great merits.”

Qiu Yu was overjoyed upon hearing this. He certainly understood what it meant—if the people from the White Moon Palace obtained that magical artifact, they might reward him and Han Bing Shangren. Soon after, Qiu Yu arranged some matters within his sect and rushed to Fang Lao Mountain to use the spatial teleportation array there and head to Tian Feng Star.
…
After flying for ten days, Qu Yi finally returned to the territory of the Immortal Cloud Sect. What came into view was Nan Mu Peak, the southernmost peak of the sect, which had been completely destroyed. Qu Yi scanned the area with his spiritual sense and found no abnormalities before calling out Bai Man.
“Oh, this is Nan Mu Peak, Senior Brother Kang Mu’s cultivation site… It’s all ruined,” Bai Man said upon emerging, her expression darkened.
Qu Yi could only hug Bai Man and pat her back to comfort her.
“Qu Yi, hurry inside the Dimension Ball. Someone at the mid-Jin Dan stage is flying over,” the Voice of the Artifact God suddenly rang out.
Qu Yi was startled and immediately brought Bai Man into the Dimension Ball. In the air, only an imperceptibly tiny particle floated, drifting with the wind.
As Qu Yi’s strength grew, the Dimension Ball could also change at will. Though it couldn’t make itself completely invisible, it could be made very small. Sure enough, a short while later, a man in a red robe flew over on his sword. Judging from his attire, he was from the Fire Moon Gate.
“It seems the Fire Moon Gate has already taken control of the Immortal Cloud Sect. Even their patrol members are at the Jin Dan stage, showing how much they value those who might still be alive in the sect,” the Voice of the Artifact God remarked casually.
When the Fire Moon Gate attacked the Immortal Cloud Sect, the lower-ranked disciples scattered everywhere, likely hiding in various places. Naturally, in order to find Huai Qing’s storage bracelet, Ling Huo Shangren wouldn’t let any disciple of the Immortal Cloud Sect escape, so he ordered the Fire Moon Gate members to patrol strictly.
“Artifact God, make the Dimension Ball float onto that mid-Jin Dan person. I want him to take us to Zhui Yun Peak,” Qu Yi suddenly said.
Since the Fire Moon Gate patrolled the Immortal Cloud Sect’s territory so thoroughly, Qu Yi didn’t want to rely on the “Silent Art” to hide stealthily on different peaks and use the Fire Moon Gate members to reach Zhui Yun Peak unnoticed.
The Voice of the Artifact God immediately did as requested. A speck of dust landed on the mid-Jin Dan member of the Fire Moon Gate, who didn’t notice it at all. After scanning the surrounding mountains and finding no one from the Immortal Cloud Sect, he flew back.
Two days later, this mid-Jin Dan member finally patrolled near Zhui Yun Peak, when suddenly, the speck of dust on him floated up on its own.

At some point on the middle slopes of Zuiyun Peak, the dust formed from the Inch Realm Ball settled down, and then Qu Yi emerged, along with Bai Man. Neither of them showed any fluctuations in true energy, and their physical energy was barely detectable. It turned out that during these ten days, Bai Man had also learned the “Silent Art”.