Chapter 178: The Arrival of Chaos

Although Yu Qing had awakened, he was severely exhausted in every aspect and needed to rest for another two or three days. Su Che’s condition was similar, only slightly better than Yu Qing’s. The two spent their time meditating and resting in the hall. It was not until two days later that Su Che felt his energy and spirit had fully returned to normal, allowing him to take on other tasks. Seeing that Yu Qing was still meditating, Su Che left the hall alone and went to the edge of the cliff at the summit, gazing down at the Lake of Spiritual Mist surrounded by five great mountains. A thick mist indeed covered the surface of the lake, but it was distinctly different—under the golden light of the rising sun, it appeared ethereal and delicate, as if countless tiny pearls were suspended in midair, creating this dreamlike mist. During those two days of meditation, Su Che also sensed that the spiritual energy within Mount Taiyi was extremely abundant. Even with over a hundred thousand people absorbing it simultaneously, there was no shortage of spiritual energy. Having an entire spiritual vein at its disposal truly made it a sacred place for cultivation. As he was lost in thought, he noticed that the once clear sky suddenly darkened. The reason was unclear, and there was a strange atmosphere about it. What was going on? Su Che looked into the distance but couldn’t identify the source of the anomaly. Whoosh! Elder Zi Xiao appeared out of nowhere before Su Che, his expression serious as he transmitted a message, “I originally planned to keep it a secret and wait until we returned to the sect to discuss it, but I didn’t expect them to try to solve the mystery so soon… Be clever in a moment—if you can save your life, that will be a great achievement for you!” “Huh?” Su Che was stunned, completely unable to understand what he was saying. Whoosh! Zi Xiao vanished instantly, disappearing without a trace. Su Che rushed back into the hall and woke Yu Qing up. “Senior brother, I’ve received a new task.” “What is it?” Yu Qing stood up and slowly adjusted his robes. “This task is quite special—it’s to keep our lives safe,” Su Che said, half-serious and half-joking. “As long as we survive, it will be a great achievement; it’s a rare opportunity.” Yu Qing smiled faintly and nodded. “It does sound quite difficult, though.” Through his spiritual sense, Yu Qing also detected that the weather outside was extremely abnormal, as if some kind of disaster was brewing. The two brothers stepped out of the hall together. Though they knew danger was approaching, they faced it with calmness.

At the peak of the mountain, the two looked up at the sky, now turned deep red. Yu Qing said in a low voice, “It seems some powerful figures have joined forces to set up a massive array, enveloping the entire Taiyi Sect.”
Su Che nodded. “The protective array of the Taiyi Sect is completely shut down, clearly indicating they intend to open their doors to guests without any resistance.”
Boom!
A loud roar suddenly came from the heavens and earth, as if ten huge mountains were flying down from the sky and crashing onto the ground at once. Su Che and the others realized this meant the sealing array had been fully completed.
“Tai Xu Daofriend, what does the Taiyi Sect mean by this?”
With a question that echoed across the sky, nine figures were seen gathering in the high skies above the Spirit Lake from various directions, including Grandmaster Zi Xiao.
Su Che knew these nine were the nine Yuan Ying ancestors from the nine major sects of the Immortal Path who had come to assist the Taiyi Sect. The person who had asked the question seemed to be an ancestor from the Haoran Sect.
Moreover, the term “Tai Xu Daofriend” referred to Tai Xu, the supreme leader of the Taiyi Sect.
The Taiyi Sect had four Yuan Ying ancestors: besides the leader Tai Xu, there was the chief elder Tai Hao, as well as Tai Wu and Tai Hua, who had been wreaking havoc everywhere like mad not long ago.
At that moment, more than twenty figures slowly descended from the deep red clouds high in the sky.
“So many Yuan Ying ancestors?”
Su Che and Yu Qing were shocked. As the distance shortened, they could faintly make out that they were the four ancestors of the Taiyi Sect, three ancestors of the Wan Gui Sect, three ancestors of the Blood God Sect, and over a dozen other Yuan Ying-level cultivators of unknown identities.
These over a dozen unknown figures reminded Su Che of what had been mentioned in his sealed memories: “A dozen or so major sects united to form an unprecedentedly powerful force.”
Yu Qing took a deep breath and murmured, “It seems even harder than we thought…”
In other words, it seemed unlikely to survive inside the Taiyi Sect today.
The nine Yuan Ying ancestors, including Zi Xiao, saw that the ancestors, elders, and demons of the Taiyi Sect, Wan Gui Sect, and Blood God Sect had united. How could they not realize that they had fallen for their trick and been lured into a deadly trap?
The Wan Gui Sect and Blood God Sect had declared that the two Yuan Ying ancestors they claimed the Taiyi Sect had killed were actually alive and now standing right before them.
Undoubtedly, the Taiyi Sect, a major sect of the Immortal Path, had allied with the demonic Wan Gui Sect and Blood God Sect to stage a clever deception, tricking the entire cultivation world.

Of course, there are also a dozen or so other large sects…
“Fellow cultivators, what do you mean? Could you clarify?” asked the proud Swordmaster Ancestor of the Tongtian Sword Sect in a deep voice.
The Old Demon of Ten Thousand Ghosts from the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sect laughed heartily. “There’s nothing unsayable. We just find this cultivation world too peaceful and boring. We plan to stir up some chaos so that old bones like us can get active and have some fun.”
“So, you lured us nine here just to exercise our muscles?” the Old Swordmaster snorted heavily.
“Why, isn’t that good?” The Holy Patriarch of the Blood God Sect, a female Yuan Ying Ancestor with a melodious voice, took over the conversation. “Old Swordman, we haven’t fought each other before, have we? Today, I’ll test your Tongtian Sword technique!”
She giggled and gestured to the two Yuan Ying Elders of the Blood God Sect beside her. “But, it will be the three of us fighting against you at the same time.”
It was clear they intended to overwhelm them in numbers.
“And so what?” the Old Swordmaster sneered coldly in reply. “With just you lot, trying to keep us nine here is nothing but delusion.”
Although the opponents had a numerical advantage, the Yuan Ying Ancestors each possessed profound life-preserving powers. If they really wanted to escape, even one against ten, they could find a way to withdraw.
At this moment, the Master of Taiyi Sect finally spoke. He flicked his fan and said, “Fellow Swordmaster, you’re wrong. It should be seven of you.”
As soon as his words faded, two figures separated from the group of nine from the Swordmaster and Zi Xiao sides, instantly crossing a distance of a hundred feet to join the Taiyi Sect’s side.
Turning against their allies mid-battle?
These two were the Ancestors of the Spirit Medicine Mountain and the Tianxin Pavilion.
Such a turn of events shocked the Swordmaster and the others even more: What was going on? How could the once united sects suddenly turn on each other… Was chaos truly about to engulf the world?
The Master of Taiyi Sect sighed deeply and said to the Swordmaster, Zi Xiao, and the other seven, “Fellow friends, it’s not that we necessarily want to kill you today. It’s just that our sects have united to show our stance and attitude toward the entire cultivation world. Perhaps it won’t take long before you realize that what we’re doing is beneficial for all of us.”
The Ancestor of the Spirit Medicine Mountain, who had just switched sides, also said, “That’s right, fellow friends. This cultivation world really needs to change. Otherwise, those of us can only count down the days until death, facing a miserable fate of fading away in sorrow.”

The Yuan Ying Ancestor of Tianxin Pavilion also joined in loudly, saying, “Only by overthrowing old traditions can we embrace a brand-new world. After such a great transformation, the path to immortality becomes achievable!”
…
At the summit of the mountain, Yu Qing was completely confused. He sent a message to Su Che, asking, “What’s wrong with these old guys? Why are they acting so crazily? The cultivation world has always been like this for hundreds of thousands of years—what could have offended them?”
Su Che replied via message, “I do know a few clues.”
“Oh?” Yu Qing turned to look at him.
With things having come to this, there was no need to hide anything anymore. Su Che explained, “The masterminds behind these changes are likely some powerful figures from the higher realms. These so-called supreme sects in the cultivation world are merely pawns controlled by certain people in the Spirit Realm.”
“The Spirit Realm?” Yu Qing frowned and fell into deep thought…
At that moment, those old guys in the sky were still arguing back and forth in riddles. But Su Che and Yu Qing had no interest in listening any longer. If a battle broke out among the Yuan Ying Ancestors, ordinary people like them would easily perish.
But where should they go?
Just then, Su Che received a secret message from Master Zixiao: “In a moment, the two of you should leave Taiyi Mountain through the spiritual vein beneath Ling Lake.”
Su Che thought to himself, “That’s right. No matter what happens, Taiyi Sect will definitely not allow that underground spiritual vein to be damaged. That place will be the safest.”
Given the current situation, Su Che guessed that great cultivators at the Yuan Ying stage like Master Zixiao and Master Aojian would likely not perish. They were incredibly powerful and couldn’t be killed just by sheer numbers. On the other hand, the disciples from the sects who came to reinforce them probably wouldn’t be able to escape.
After a while longer, the arguments among the Yuan Ying Ancestors in the sky reached a boiling point… Finally, they heard Master Zixiao shout, “More talk is pointless. If you want to keep us here, prove it with action!”
Boom!
Hundreds of bolts of purple lightning appeared out of nowhere, enveloping all the more than twenty Yuan Ying Ancestors on the other side.
A fierce battle ensued.
Let’s go!
Su Che and Yu Qing had already made plans. Taking advantage of the thunderstorm, they flew together toward Ling Lake at the foot of the mountain.
At that moment, hundreds of Golden Dan experts rushed out from various locations. They were all powerful Golden Dan cultivators from Taiyi Sect, Wan Gui Sect, Blood God Sect, Ling Yao Mountain, Tianxin Pavilion, and several other large sects. Their task for the day was to capture, imprison, and keep under control all the reinforcements from the seven major sects on the path to immortality.

Of course, if someone has lived long enough and dares to resist to the death, the only word for it is: kill!
From that day on, the entire cultivation world fell into a chaotic era of continuous warfare.
Of course, only a few Yuan Ying ancestors were qualified to know that the phrase “the entire cultivation world” was highly inaccurate; it should be “this cultivation world” instead!
Beneath the Spirit Realm, countless cultivation worlds exist, and the one they inhabit is merely one of them.
With the arrival of chaos, it meant that for someone like Su Che, a minor figure, the path of cultivation would become even more difficult…