Chapter 524: It’s Already Decided
In just a moment, Lin Dong rushed back to the Golden Vision Sect. Outside, Yun Lan was still methodically arranging the spiritual arrays, while Old Ding and Feng Yue continued to sit in meditation, restoring their spiritual energy while monitoring every move within the sect.
Inside the Golden Vision Sect, over five thousand disciples flew around, checking for any flaws in the various spiritual arrays. Even within the sect’s vast territory of nearly a hundred miles, it was somewhat overwhelming, yet their actions remained under constant surveillance by Old Ding and Feng Yue.
In the council hall, Chi Yufeng and the elders were anxiously discussing strategies. Their conclusion remained the same: to hold firm and not engage, with an added focus on self-sufficiency.
With two peak-level warriors and a major sect, their strength relied solely on ninth-tier spiritual arrays; otherwise, they had no other options. Fortunately, the Golden Vision Sect had produced two peak-level warriors and deployed countless ninth-tier arrays over time. Even with these two warriors working together, they were confident they could hold out for a decade or so.
As for self-sufficiency, it naturally meant ensuring food, water, and other necessities.
At a command, one of the elders flew out of the hall to gather some disciples to prepare for growing crops, raising livestock, and collecting large amounts of clean water.
“Damn it! I never expected Yun Cangqiong to be able to make friends with two peak-level warriors!” Chi Yufeng slammed his hand hard on the armrest of the chair, his hatred driving him to want to shout loudly.
Peak-level warriors were born elites and must always maintain a competitive spirit. Such people rarely became friends—enemies were more common. Not only Chi Yufeng but all the elders of the Golden Vision Sect never expected Yun Cangqiong, the most outstanding genius of the previous generation, to know Ding Tian Jiuzun, who had dominated the Great Han Country for nearly a century. And Ding Tian Jiuzun knew other peak-level warriors as well. Even more astonishingly, these peak-level warriors were willing to help deal with a long-established sect specializing in spiritual arrays.
After all, peak-level warriors were still human, and recovering from injuries was thousands of times harder for them than for ordinary people. Moreover, they had almost no desires—what mattered most to them was pursuing the ultimate in martial arts, striving endlessly toward that unattainable yet potentially achievable higher realm. No one knew what that realm was, nor had anyone ever reached it, but no one doubted that once achieved, one would truly transcend all limits.
No peak warrior wants to get injured. The talents they’ve possessed for decades make them believe they will be the first to surpass limits. But going against a great spirit array master increases the chances of injury significantly.
Unfortunately, the sect master and elders of Jinshi Sect never expected their enemy to have Braised Wind Spirit Grass and Yun Lan, an eighth-tier spirit array master.
“Now that things have come to this, I beg the sect master to calm down. Our top priority should be to buy as much time as possible and strengthen all defenses,” said one elder, and everyone agreed. They were all figures who had held significant power in Hongtu Commandery for decades. After the initial shock, their composure returned.
Chi Yufeng nodded and slapped the armrest hard again, his killing intent evident as he said, “During the battle, try to uncover the identity of the one who killed Cangju. Once things settle, I will grind him to dust.”
The elders remained silent. Although defense was the immediate priority, with over a decade to go, they understood the extent of Chi Yufeng’s anger and somewhat agreed with him.
Liu Cangju was too proud, even in front of the elders, which annoyed them greatly. But after all, he was the third person in Jinshi Sect’s history to potentially become a peak warrior. Logically and emotionally, they had to take revenge on his killer. This was an unspoken rule among sects—successors were second only to the sect master in importance within any sect, and if they had exceptional talents, they could even be more important than the master. Otherwise, successors would be killed, and the sect would never be able to produce a new master capable of preserving or even strengthening it.
In the history of the Great Han Nation, countless major sects had been destroyed, with over 80% of them due to incompetent new sect masters. Among these incompetencies, lack of strength was the most critical issue. A mediocre mind wasn’t that big of a problem, as each sect had its own rules. As long as the sect master wasn’t cruel and murderous toward the sect’s disciples and elders, the elders could hold him in check. If the master’s strength was weak, it meant the overall strength of the sect’s future disciples would be low. In such a situation, unless they moved to another sect, in this world of survival of the fittest, a sect with resources disproportionate to its strength would be seen as easy prey even by sects that were originally friendly.
“By the way, the weapon used by the youth who killed Cangju doesn’t seem to be a spirit sword. And…” One elder frowned.
“And it’s similar to the tactics used by Dingtian Jiuzun!” Another elder exclaimed.
The other elders all frowned deeply. They had been hesitant—killing Lin Dong to vent their anger might likely trigger another conflict with the Tianjian Sect. After more than a decade of seclusion and continuous depletion, how much strength did the Jinshi Sect still have to wage another war? If it were a disciple of Dingtian Jiuzun, the situation would be even worse. A top-tier warrior with no ties was a greater threat than a large sect. Even large sects, even those with top-tier warriors, had many concerns, but a top-tier warrior with no ties had none.
“Since everything has been discussed, I ask all the elders to take action separately!” Chi Yufeng suddenly stood up. He didn’t want to argue with the elders at such a critical moment.
The elders of the Jinshi Sect reluctantly got up. They knew Chi Yufeng was determined and understood that they needed to unite rather than fight among themselves. Fortunately, it was still early—whether Dingtian Jiuzun was still alive or not was still uncertain.
Five days later, the Jinshi Sect had arranged everything, including how Lin Dong and the others would use the Tianpeng Bird to enter the sect directly. For this purpose, all the grain planted by the sect was divided into sections about ten meters long and wide, and all the ironware in the sect was melted into iron plates, also about ten meters wide, which were placed about three meters below these grain piles. Once Lin Dong and the others flew directly into the ninth-level spiritual arrays set up in the sect using the Tianpeng Bird, these grain piles could be immediately moved to other ninth-level spiritual arrays.
On Lin Dong’s side, Yun Lan had also surrounded the Jinshi Sect with various seventh-level spiritual arrays, leaving no escape. The guards who rushed over took their positions within these arrays. Their task wasn’t to create obstacles but to send signals immediately if anyone broke in. Old Ding had made up his mind to wipe out every bird in the Jinshi Sect.
The major battle that had even caught the attention of the Tianwei Pavilion finally broke out on the sixth day. Four people and one bird stepped into the spiritual arrays of the Jinshi Sect. Whether intentionally or not, as soon as they made contact, the Jinshi Sect suffered a heavy loss. According to their plan, the priority was to delay time. Once the spiritual arrays were activated, all the elders would immediately go to reinforce them. With the strength of over a hundred elders, along with the assistance of numerous spiritual stones, even if two top-tier warriors joined forces to break through the ninth-level spiritual arrays, they would have to keep taking pills to restore their spiritual energy. Even then, it would be difficult for them to match the speed at which all the elders could channel spiritual energy toward the core of the arrays.
Although the spiritual energy of peak experts is vast and their recovery speed is astonishingly fast, it still falls short compared to that of the disciples and elders of a major sect. Therefore, to break through a ninth-level spiritual array that can already withstand such vast spiritual energy, it is necessary to first exhaust all the spiritual materials and stones used for recovery within the Jinshi Sect. The sect’s elders estimated the amount of spiritual materials and stones they had, concluding that it would take at least eight or nine years to do so.
Unfortunately, they overlooked Yun Lan, an eighth-level spiritual array master. After entering the array, Old Ding and Feng Yue continuously attacked the array to distract the enemy, while Yun Lan quietly studied the patterns of the ninth-level array. In just one day, he gained absolute confidence in locating the array’s core. After explaining all the steps to everyone and agreeing on the speed and timing, the four of them moved toward the core at a uniform pace.
When the Jinshi Sect’s elders realized through the core that the four were moving in the wrong direction, they did not retreat immediately but sent an elder to investigate. However, the result was a devastating blow. The sent elder never returned, while Lin Dong and his group got closer and closer. By the time they tried to retreat, it was too late. Under Yun Lan’s guidance, Lin Dong and his companions caught up with the Jinshi Sect’s elders halfway. Old Ding, Feng Yue, and the Tianpeng Bird all launched attacks, forcing the sect’s elders to leave over twenty of their own elders to hold off the enemy—a huge loss for the Jinshi Sect. With an eighth-level spiritual array master among their enemies, they were forced to prepare for retreat.
An eighth-level spiritual array master who could locate the array’s core in a day meant that all of the Jinshi Sect’s ninth-level arrays could at most hold back the enemy for a month or two. Dozens of elite disciples, led by a few high-ranking elders, secretly left through the cliffs behind the sect, carrying most of the sect’s minerals, spiritual techniques, and materials. But the outcome led to the complete collapse of the Jinshi Sect. The elders and disciples who went in returned with heavy losses. Every place was equipped with seventh-level spiritual arrays, and the highest-ranking elders among them were only seventh-level array masters. Although breaking seventh-level arrays wasn’t difficult, the presence of the Tianpeng Bird within them made it extremely challenging. A Tianpeng Bird that was nearly on par with peak experts could eliminate them all, even without any spiritual arrays.
Helpless, the Golden Vision Sect assembled another stronger team to break through. After leaving behind nearly half of their elite disciples and elders, those who escaped from the spiritual formation were pursued by eagle beasts, with a guard from the Lin’s Inn sitting on their backs. When Lin Dong and the others came out and received the message, Old Ding and Feng Yue took action immediately, killing all the scattered elite disciples and elders of the Golden Vision Sect within half an hour. In the council hall, Chi Yufeng waited anxiously, but no disciple sent any signal indicating they were safe. The Golden Vision Sect, with a history of over a thousand years, was doomed to be destroyed. In Hongtu County, this was big news, but it was nothing significant across the entire Great Han Empire. Every ten-odd years, one or two major sects would be destroyed; those nearby would be somewhat affected, while those far away wouldn’t care much. What no one expected was that the Heavenly Might Pavilion was paying attention to this matter—of course, it was because the ones besieging the Golden Vision Sect were two peak-level powerhouses. Of course, it was merely attention; even with two peak-level powerhouses working together, they hadn’t reached the threshold at which the Heavenly Might Pavilion would need to intervene.