Chapter 23: The Attack of Ocean Monsters

To the east of the Four Veins Continent lies the North-South trending Guiyang Mountains, which is the territory of Xuanyang Temple.
At that moment, on the main peak of the Guiyang Mountains, Lingyang Peak, inside a secret palace, the temple leader Chengchang stood before Master Xuan Gu.
“Lord, our spies inside the Huoyue Sect have reported that there are no signs of Master Linghu leaving. Wan Chang and Yongshan have also shown no unusual activity. It seems Huoyue Sect has not yet found Qu Yi,” Chengchang said cautiously.
After searching the Lu Donghai region, Master Xuan Gu and Chengchang returned to Lingyang Peak to focus on their cultivation, leaving the monitoring of Huoyue Sect to their spies.
“It seems that Qu Yi has already gathered enough demon pills. If my guess is correct, he must be using their energy to advance his cultivation level. He should now be at the middle stage of the Golden Pill realm,” Master Xuan Gu said solemnly.
Chengchang thought for a moment before speaking carefully, “Lord, should we request aid from the sect leader? Send more leaders to drive Master Linghu and Master Lingji out of Cuimu Planet, so that we can devote all our efforts to searching for Qu Yi.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a chill filled the palace, as if everything had frozen, even Chengchang could not move.
Clearly, to Master Xuan Gu, Chengchang’s words were an insult to his strength, and the idea of reporting this to the Black Bone Sect only increased his displeasure. He had come alone precisely to avoid other leaders competing for the treasures.
However, Master Xuan Gu also understood Chengchang’s intentions—to rely on the Black Bone Sect’s power to eliminate other sects and make Xuanyang Temple dominate. As for other leaders coming to seize the treasures, the Black Bone Sect would surely reward them, so they wouldn’t end up like now, with nothing to gain and only time wasted.
“Chengchang, if it weren’t for your lack of malice, I would have killed you right away. You must not challenge my authority again, understand?” Master Xuan Gu said coldly.
Instantly, the chill in the palace disappeared.
Chengchang shuddered, dispelling the chill, and immediately bowed, “Lord, I am extremely grateful for your forgiveness. I will not make such a mistake again.”
Suddenly, Master Xuan Gu, who had been listening to Chengchang, frowned and looked shocked.
“Chengchang, hurry and ring the assembly bell! It seems hundreds of ocean monsters are approaching. We don’t have time. Take away all those at the Golden Pill realm or above. We can’t protect the other disciples,” Master Xuan Gu shouted urgently.

Upon hearing this, Chengchang felt the chill that had just eased back in, only to freeze him to the bone once again; he almost fell to the ground. In an instant, Chengchang teleported away and personally went to the top of the mountain to ring the assembly bell. The loud ringing of the bell quickly spread throughout all the cultivation peaks of Xuanyang Temple, reaching every disciple and elder. The thirty Golden Core-stage elders from the cultivation peaks immediately flew toward Lingyang Peak. Meanwhile, Xuan Gu Shangren, along with his subordinate Ding Shun, flew eastward to temporarily stop the invasion of the marine monsters and buy time for the people of Xuanyang Temple. In the sky, the five leaders—Thunder Ice Crocodile, Four-Eyed Electric Crab, Sea-Turning Luo Snake, Two-Legged Kui Ox, and Arctic Ice Bear—all transformed into human forms and flew ahead of the sea monsters, marching in a grand procession toward the Guiyang Mountains. The marine monsters, determined to destroy human cultivators, openly displayed their murderous intent, gathering their killing energy and charging toward the Guiyang Mountains, clearly signaling to the people of Xuanyang Temple to flee quickly, or it would be too late. Suddenly, Xuan Gu Shangren and Ding Shun appeared in front of the sea monsters. As soon as he showed up, Xuan Gu Shangren emitted the fluctuations of his early stage of leaving the body, intimidating the marine monsters and causing them to halt. “You sea monsters, how did you come to our land? What do you intend to do?” Xuan Gu Shangren demanded directly. The Thunder Ice Crocodile immediately sent a bolt of lightning at him, shouting angrily, “Kid, where did you come from? Do you think being in the early stage of leaving the body makes you great?” Clearly, used to being the king of the seas, the Thunder Ice Crocodile could not tolerate Xuan Gu Shangren showing off his power in front of him. Xuan Gu Shangren quickly dodged the lightning strike, feeling bitter—it seemed the marine monsters were determined to deal with Xuanyang Temple. “May I ask, are you the king of the seas? Could you tell me how to address you?” Xuan Gu Shangren softened his tone to buy time. The Thunder Ice Crocodile wasn’t as cunning as humans; seeing Xuan Gu Shangren pleading with a smile, his vanity was greatly satisfied, and he immediately lost his anger. “You can call me Lei Bing,” the Thunder Ice Crocodile said with a laugh. Xuan Gu Shangren observed the Thunder Ice Crocodile and then smiled again, saying, “Brother Lei Bing, may I ask? Why have you brought the marine monsters to attack Xuanyang Temple?” Only by understanding the reason could Xuan Gu Shangren find a way to resolve the crisis; if not, at least he could buy some time, which would still be good.

“Kid, you human cultivators went to our ocean and killed hundreds of our demon beasts. You also searched our Ludong Ocean for a while, didn’t you? You human cultivators never take us ocean demon beasts seriously. This time, I will lead our ocean demon beasts to wipe out all of you human cultivators. We ocean demon beasts will rule Cuimu Planet!” The Thunder Ice Crocodile shouted excitedly.

From King of the Ocean to King of the Planet, the Thunder Ice Crocodile had great ambitions.

Upon hearing this, Xuan Gu Shangren felt even more bitter. So Qu Yi had gone to the ocean and killed so many demon beasts, and this poor guy had to bear the blame for it on behalf of Xuanyang Temple, Huoyue Sect, and Yusu School. Now, the people from these three sects would have to face the pursuit of the ocean demon beasts.

“Brother Leibing, I think there’s a misunderstanding between us. I admit I did go to Ludong Ocean, but I was there to find someone—someone who is the real culprit behind the killing of your ocean demon beasts. Brother Leibing, how about we find a place to talk properly and see if we can clarify things before discussing cooperation?” Xuan Gu Shangren suggested with a smile.

The Thunder Ice Crocodile glanced at Xuan Gu Shangren and sensed the presence of the demon beasts behind him. Immediately, it snapped, “Kid, you human cultivators are the most cunning. I won’t fall for your tricks. Now, we ocean demon beasts don’t need your truth anymore. You yourself admit you’ve been to our ocean. This time, we must exterminate all human cultivators.”

Undoubtedly, the Thunder Ice Crocodile sensed the suspicion from the demon beasts and didn’t bother to argue further with Xuan Gu Shangren. It simply declared war.

As soon as it spoke, the Thunder Ice Crocodile charged at Xuan Gu Shangren, bolts of lightning shooting from its eyes.

At the same time, the Four-Eyed Electric Crab, the Sea-Turning Python, the Two-Legged Kui Ox, and the Arctic Ice Bear—these four mighty beings immediately surrounded Ding Shun and started attacking him.

Xuan Gu Shangren dodged left and right, avoiding the lightning strikes head-on. Using his rapid movement skills, he kept evading them. When he saw that Ding Shun was struggling to defend himself, realizing enough time had passed, he immediately shouted, “Ding Shun, let’s go!”

Then, Xuan Gu Shangren and Ding Shun vanished in a flash.

The Four-Eyed Electric Crab, the Sea-Turning Python, the Two-Legged Kui Ox, and the Arctic Ice Bear all sighed suddenly, cursing themselves for not using their true energy attacks to disrupt the space. If that happened, would Ding Shun still be able to teleport away?

With the space in chaos, teleporting could easily mean falling into a spatial gap and dying.

“Alright, ocean monsters! Humans who can’t fight just run away—what weaklings! Let’s head to Xuanyang Temple now and destroy the first human cultivation sect.” The Thunder Ice Crocodile immediately shouted arrogantly after seeing Master Xuan Gu leave.
“Yes, our king!” the ocean monsters replied.
……
On Lingyang Peak, Master Xuan Gu and Ding Shun returned.
Cheng Chang, Master Qing Yang, along with thirty Golden Core cultivators, had already gathered.
“There’s not much time left. Follow me immediately to Yusu Sect,” Master Xuan Gu ordered without explaining why the ocean monsters had attacked.
Cheng Chang and the others understood how precious time was; delaying even a moment could cost all those Golden Core cultivators their lives. So they immediately took off to flee.
As for the lower-ranked disciples of Xuanyang Temple, Cheng Chang and the others had no way to protect them and could only leave their fate to chance.
Within just a few breaths after Master Xuan Gu left, the five leaders—Thunder Ice Crocodile, Four-Eyed Electric Crab, Sea-Turning Luo Snake, Two-Legged Kui Ox, and Arctic Ice Bear—teleported over. Seeing that none of the Golden Core cultivators or above were there, they realized they had fled and decided not to chase after them. Instead, they began massacring the lower-ranked disciples on each peak of Xuanyang Temple.
Soon after, the twenty Yuan Ying stage monsters and nearly five hundred Golden Core stage monsters also arrived at the Guiyang Mountains. They then flew to the cultivation peaks of Xuanyang Temple and started slaughtering indiscriminately.
Xuanyang Temple’s foundation was destroyed.
Only about thirty elite cultivators remained, indicating that Xuanyang Temple hadn’t been completely annihilated.
In less than five days, led by the Thunder Ice Crocodile, the ocean monsters made a round trip through the Guiyang Mountains, wiping out all of Xuanyang Temple’s disciples.
After discussing it, the five leaders decided to head to Yusu Sect as well and destroy it completely.
……
While the Thunder Ice Crocodile led the ocean monsters to attack Xuanyang Temple, Qu Yi had already infiltrated the Fire Moon Sect. Through investigation, he learned where Huai Jin was staying.
Ever since learning of Huai Jin’s whereabouts in the spirit stone mining area, Qu Yi and Bai Man lost interest in seizing other mining areas of the Fire Moon Sect. Filled with rage, they wanted to seek revenge on Huai Jin.
It had been almost two years since the destruction of the Immortal Cloud Sect. Qu Yi and Bai Man, who survived, practiced daily solely to avenge themselves. Now that they knew their enemy’s location, they were determined to avenge themselves first before planning further actions.

He had no objections to Qing Wu Yuan, and he understood Qu Yi and Bai Man’s feelings well, so he followed Qu Yi to the Fire Moon Gate. By this time, Qu Yi and the others, hidden inside the Inch Realm Ball, had already arrived at Fire Clear Peak. Huai Jin’s residence was on Fire Clear Peak.