Chapter 225: The Power of Cooperation

Whoosh…
Just as the spiritual sword was about to touch the blue light, the old man felt his sword suddenly become unresponsive. Only when a little spiritual energy flowed into it did it return to normal.
In that brief pause, the blue light dodged the spiritual sword and headed straight for the old man’s chest.
In shock, the old man was quick-witted enough to lift his feet off the ground and rapidly spin around.
With a hiss and a trail of blood droplets, the blue light left a deep red scar on his arm.
After landing and seeing the blue light turn again, the old man took a deep breath, swung his right arm, and transformed his spiritual sword into a curtain of light to block it. He then kicked the ground hard, retreating further.
When both landed, Lin Dong saw that the old man had repelled the blue light several times. His own spiritual energy in the dantian had been greatly depleted earlier, so it seemed unlikely to make the old man’s sword pause even slightly. In the blink of an eye, a figure in white passed by him, and he almost without thinking said, “Take me with you!”
A snow-white arm reached out, grabbed Lin Dong’s shoulder, and chased after the retreating old man.
Lin Dong instinctively reached out with his left hand and wrapped it around Yun Lan’s waist. A faint fragrance filled his nostrils, and the softness of her waist sent ripples through him.
Suddenly feeling a tightness in his waist, Yun Lan glanced at Lin Dong but didn’t dare get distracted. She continued to control her blue sword to attack the old man while dragging Lin Dong along.
As they got closer, the old man grew impatient, but Lin Dong’s eyes lit up. He raised his right arm again and gave a subtle swing.
Behind the old man, a stone about ten centimeters wide suddenly shifted at the spot where he stepped.
With heavy footsteps behind the stone, the old man didn’t notice anything unusual beneath his feet and continued retreating without hindrance.
Lin Dong thought it was a pity, but since controlling immobile objects didn’t consume much spiritual energy and was fast enough, he didn’t give up. He controlled the stone to quickly follow the old man, waiting at his landing spot.
Although the old man still didn’t step on it the second time, seeing this, Yun Lan’s mind stirred, and the frequency of her blue sword’s attacks changed slightly.
Thud!
After several attempts, finally, the old man’s heel stepped on the stone.
With a crisp sound, the stone instantly turned to powder. The old man lost his balance and fell backward. His spiritual sword also deviated slightly, revealing gaps in its dense sword net.
The old man quickly regained his balance, but Yun Lan seized this fleeting opportunity.
The blue light rushed through the gaps in the sword net, aiming straight for the old man’s heart.

It was already beyond his strength to block anymore. The old man had no choice but to lean backward, barely avoiding the blue light. As the blue light flew past him from behind, he focused intently on defending against any sudden attacks. Just as he raised his head, Yun Lan released Lin Dong and transformed into a white shadow, reaching the old man’s side in an instant before slamming her palm against his chest. Bang! A gush of blood sprayed out, and the old man flew backward like a kite with its string cut. The blue light followed soon after. The old man managed to dodge a few times in haste, but each dodge brought pain to his chest, with droplets of blood flying into the air, making his dodges even more desperate. As one side weakened and the other grew stronger, the frequency of the blood sprays increased rapidly, until finally, the blue light stopped abruptly, hovering above the old man’s throat. “I never thought our combination would be so powerful!” Lin Dong remarked in admiration. Yun Lan smiled; she hadn’t expected either that Lin Dong’s aerial control skills, combined with her own sword mastery, would yield such remarkable results. She believed that given the old man’s strength—though a whole realm lower—his combat experience was considerable, so defeating him wouldn’t be difficult, but it certainly wouldn’t be this easy. “The girl seems quite young,” the old man said calmly, glancing down at the tip of the sword and speaking coldly, “To possess such strength, there can’t be more than three people like her in the entire Great Han Kingdom. You must be the heir of the Heavenly Sword Sect, right?” Yun Lan remained silent. Lin Dong stepped forward and said coldly, “Tell us, where is the disciple of the Gu Huan Sect now?” The old man glanced at Lin Dong but dismissed him as insignificant. He could tell that Lin Dong’s strength was only at the first level of the Mind Phase. Someone in their early twenties at the first level of the Mind Phase couldn’t possibly be a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect, which meant they were a disciple of the Gu Huan Sect. Disciples of the Gu Huan Sect naturally wouldn’t spare him. “Since you’re the heir of the Heavenly Sword Sect,” the old man said indifferently, “you should know the sect’s rule: no one can stay out of other sects’ conflicts for personal gain. Even if you’re friends with a disciple of the Gu Huan Sect, there’s no reason to be so ruthless.” Without personal gain, but with hatred. Yun Lan ignored the old man and looked at Lin Dong instead. “There’s no time for questioning—kill him!” Lin Dong growled. Though he wasn’t a disciple of the Gu Huan Sect, the old man had killed his inn’s employees, and Tian Hao was likely on Gu Huan Mountain as well, so there was no reason to spare him either. Tch! A flash of fear crossed the old man’s eyes. As his breathing grew more difficult, he finally realized who truly controlled his life and death. Stepping forward quickly, Lin Dong snatched the storage ring from the old man’s hand. Recalling the location of Gu Huan Mountain’s enclosure, he pointed to the misty left side: “Over there!”

Yun Lan grabbed Lin Dong’s shoulder and flew forward. The path was lined with blooming flowers, and the pleasant fragrance filled the air, but Lin Dong had no heart to enjoy it. When the two reached the arena, the sounds of fighting reached their ears, which relieved Lin Dong slightly—since the battle was still going on, it meant the Gu Huan Sect hadn’t been completely destroyed. Outside the arena, Yun Lan stopped flying, and the two advanced cautiously. From afar, they could already see many figures. “The enemy is attacking the formation!” Yun Lan looked at Lin Dong and asked, “Should we attack from behind directly, or find an unoccupied area to break through?” “Break through!” Lin Dong hesitated none. Anyway, he needed to confirm whether Tian Hao was inside first to feel at ease. Yun Lan nodded, grabbed Lin Dong’s shoulder again, and the two turned into two shadows, swiftly moving around the perimeter of the arena. After a while, Yun Lan stopped. Lin Dong looked inside and saw no one there. With blue light lighting the way, the spirit formations around the arena were only of the third or fourth level, not strong enough for Yun Lan. Breaking through each formation as they went, the two quickly entered the arena. Since spiritual beasts had different habits, the entire arena was divided into three areas: grassland, desert, and forest. As the two entered the forest and took a few steps, a gust of wind blew. Lin Dong followed the sound and exclaimed, “Jiang Zhen!” “Manager Lin!” There were two people, and one of them, upon hearing this, froze—it was Jiang Zhen. “Is Tian Hao on Gu Huan Mountain?” Lin Dong rushed forward and asked urgently. Jiang Zhen quickly called over his junior disciple and nodded, “Tian Hao is also in the arena. Manager Lin, don’t worry; there’s no danger for now.” Lin Dong felt relieved. “By the way, Manager Lin, how did you get here?” Jiang Zhen, thinking of the current situation of the Gu Huan Sect, said anxiously, “We’re under attack by the Ning Ji Sect. It’s too dangerous for you to be here.” “It’s fine. I’ve brought experts with me,” Lin Dong said with a smile. “Experts?” Jiang Zhen glanced behind the two, looking puzzled. Lin Dong didn’t have time to explain further and asked, “What’s the situation now?” Jiang Zhen shook his head slowly, looking worried, “The Ning Ji Sect has brought many elders this time. With the help of the spirit formations, we can hold out for now, but I’m afraid if this goes on too long…” As long as it hasn’t been broken, it’s fine! Lin Dong felt even more at ease and said, “Take us to see Sect Master Xiao. We can talk as we go.” Jiang Zhen hesitated for a moment, then turned to give his junior disciple a few instructions before leading the two deeper into the forest. Along the way, Lin Dong finally understood the whole situation from Jiang Zhen’s fragmented answers.

In the entire Great Han Nation, Ningjizong might only be considered a mid-to-low-tier sect, but among the major sects in Qiufeng Mansion, its strength ranks firmly in the top ten. Half a month ago, for some unknown reason, Ningjizong sent two elders and over a dozen disciples to Guhuanzong, demanding a hundred jin of meteoric iron, ten thousand jin of black iron, and countless other materials used for crafting weapons.

These materials accounted for almost half of Guhuanzong’s resources. Under pressure, Xiao Tianchi discussed the matter with several elders and reluctantly agreed to provide half of what was requested. The elders from Ningjizong initially agreed, but after receiving the materials, they broke their promise and demanded that Guhuanzong prepare the rest within three days, threatening to destroy the sect otherwise.

Furious, Xiao Tianchi and the elders sent someone to summon Huo Yuan, the strongest fighter in Guhuanzong. Together, they attacked the two elders and disciples sent by Ningjizong. All of the disciples from Ningjizong were killed, but one of their elders managed to escape.

Two days ago, Ningjizong sent six elders leading five hundred disciples to attack the mountain. Realizing they couldn’t withstand the attack, Xiao Tianchi gathered all his disciples and retreated to a fortified area protected by a spiritual array, hoping that disciples sent to seek help from allied sects would return with reinforcements.

After two days of fighting, no reinforcements arrived. Fortunately, thanks to the spiritual array and their prior preparations, although Ningjizong was strong, they lacked spiritual array masters and couldn’t break through the array immediately.

The three of them made their way to the grasslands where the fighting was fiercest. From afar, Lin Dong spotted Xiao Tianchi and Tianhao.

“Shopkeeper Lin!” As the three approached, Xiao Tianchi and the others finally saw Lin Dong and Yun Lan.

“Dad, Aunt Yun, how did you come here?” Tianhao asked anxiously.

Lin Dong patted Tianhao’s shoulder and, after noticing the blood on his clothes, smiled and said, “I heard from Zhang Ye that something happened at Guhuanzong, so I rushed over to check. Are you okay?”

Tianhao shook his head, his expression darkening. “Third Master and Sixth Master died in battle.”

Lin Dong stroked Tianhao’s head, unsure how to comfort him.

“Shopkeeper Lin…” Xiao Tianchi also didn’t know what to say. He wanted Lin Dong to leave, as there were people from Ningjizong everywhere, and even with the entire sect’s efforts, it might not be possible to help him escape. But keeping Lin Dong meant the fortified area wouldn’t hold much longer.

“Sect Master Xiao, how much longer can the spiritual array hold?” Lin Dong asked.

“About a day,” Xiao Tianchi explained. “If Ningjizong’s five elders work together to break the array, even if we send people to resist inside, it can only hold out this long at most.”

Lin Dong nodded slowly, looking at the vast grassland where not a single figure could be seen. His gaze shifted to Yun Lan as he pondered how to resolve the crisis at hand. With five elders and hundreds of disciples, even with Yun Lan’s strength, it was impossible for her to turn the situation around alone—she could at most hold off three elders at once. As for Gu Huan Sect, their strength was likely not enough to deal with two elders and five hundred disciples. To overcome this crisis, the only option was to find a way to separate those five elders and defeat them one by one. Only then would there be a chance of success.