Chapter 434 - 408: 3-Way Leverage

Chapter 434: Chapter 408: 3-Way Leverage

Upon returning to Liangzhou, the configuration of auras in the sky had changed.

The passive perception of Dark Evil Insight swept over the Ghost Mist Forest. The three Golden Core auras were still there, but their relative positions had shifted significantly.

Xuan Pu Master’s aura had retreated about ten li from directly above the Sub-Palace, falling back to the eastern edge of the Abyssal Rift Valley. The auras of the two Primordial Yang Sect Golden Core cultivators, on the other hand, had moved forward nearly five li, closer to the Sub-Palace than before.

The Primordial Yang Sect was pressing forward. The Celestial Peak Sect was retreating.

After nightfall, Chen Yi arrived.

As he walked in, the gloom on his face had lessened, replaced by a hint of irrepressible glee.

"Good news." Chen Yi sat down at the stone table. "Our people from the Primordial Yang Sect can now enter the Sub-Palace to stand guard."

"The Celestial Peak Sect conceded?"

"They had no choice but to concede." Chen Yi sneered. "With the Jade Bead lost, the Celestial Peak Sect has lost all face. That was a territory under their complete control—they set up the Array Masters, the surveillance arrays, and the protection arrays. The personnel were all theirs, too. And what happened? The thing vanished right under their noses, and they still haven’t found a single clue."

He leaned back in his chair, his tone laced with a touch of schadenfreude.

"So the Primordial Yang Sect seized the opportunity to make a move. The logic is simple: You, the Celestial Peak Sect, had sole control of the Sub-Palace, claiming to guard it for everyone, but you ended up losing it. Since you can’t manage it alone, everyone should manage it together. Although Xuan Pu Master’s cultivation is high, he couldn’t argue against the principle of the matter and had to grit his teeth and agree."

"Starting tomorrow, the Primordial Yang Sect can send three disciples to stand guard in the Sub-Palace on rotation. Even though it’s fewer people than the Celestial Peak Sect has, at least we’re no longer completely shut out."

Li Yuan nodded.

The loss of the Jade Bead was more than just a blow to the Celestial Peak Sect’s pride. The Jade Bead was the core of the mist array, and the mist array was one of the most valuable remnants of the Sub-Palace. Losing it severely weakened the Celestial Peak Sect’s justification for having sole control.

"Will the Celestial Peak Sect’s Nascent Soul Cultivator come in person?" Li Yuan asked.

Chen Yi thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Unlikely. The mobilization of a Nascent Soul Cultivator is a major event, involving strategic decisions at the sect level. The things here in Liangzhou aren’t yet valuable enough for a Nascent Soul Ancestor to make a personal trip."

"Then why did Xuan Pu Master come here?"

"The Earth Element Spiritual Embryo." Chen Yi lowered his voice.

"You know how hard it is to break through from Golden Core to Nascent Soul. A hundred years of bitter cultivation might not even grant a ten percent chance of success. But if one could obtain a heavenly treasure like the Earth Element Spiritual Embryo, the probability of a breakthrough would at least double. Rumor has it there are clues to the Earth Element Spiritual Embryo in the ruins of the Profound Nether Sect. That’s the real reason Xuan Pu Master went to all this trouble to come here."

"I heard he fought long and hard with his peers within the sect to get this assignment to go out. The Celestial Peak Sect’s Nascent Soul Ancestor doesn’t care about these things in Liangzhou, but he can’t ignore the personal ambitions of the Golden Core Disciples under him. Xuan Pu wants the Earth Element Spiritual Embryo to break through to Nascent Soul; this is his personal opportunity."

"As for why they didn’t send more Golden Core cultivators over... perhaps they were afraid that sect brothers would turn on each other for the Earth Element Spiritual Embryo?"

As Chen Yi spoke this last sentence, his pace slowed considerably.

Li Yuan processed this information.

"What if an even greater opportunity is found? Something that could help one break through to Divinity Transformation, for example."

Chen Yi chuckled.

"That would be another matter entirely. An opportunity for Divinity Transformation would certainly attract Nascent Soul Cultivators. But the Profound Nether Sect’s Sect Master followed the path of Spirit-Demon Unity. That path is too perverse; practically no Nascent Soul Cultivator would dare touch it."

"The risks are too great, and the cultivation systems are incompatible. If they tried to force it, they’d suffer cultivation deviation at best, or perish on the spot at worst. That’s why the Celestial Peak Sect’s ancestor is so uninterested. Even if a Divinity Transformation opportunity were truly discovered, he’d probably just come have a look."

Chen Yi didn’t dwell on the topic and brought up something else.

"Oh, right. The Sect has a mission for you." He took a transmission jade slip from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

"Escort a team to the northern edge of the Ghost Mist Forest. The team consists of five Mid-stage Foundation Establishment disciples. Nominally, they’re going to gather Spiritual Materials."

Li Yuan took the jade slip and glanced at it.

"Nominally?"

Chen Yi’s expression grew more serious.

"They’re bait. After the Evil Slaying Sect’s northern line contracted, the Primordial Yang Sect wants to find out how many people they still have left on the northern fringe. We’re sending a seemingly unprepared team over to see if any Demon Cultivators take the bait."

"Your mission is to escort them. If you’re attacked, protect the team and do your best to ascertain the enemy’s numbers and deployment. There’s no need to annihilate them. Fight if you can, retreat if you can’t."

Li Yuan put the jade slip away.

"When do we leave?"

"First thing tomorrow morning."

The next morning, five Mid-stage Foundation Establishment disciples from the Primordial Yang Sect gathered outside the market’s north gate.

The leader was a young cultivator in his early twenties with a steady demeanor, clearly handpicked by the Sect. The cultivation of the other four varied, with the highest at the peak of Mid-stage Foundation Establishment and the lowest at the initial stage.

Li Yuan, in his capacity as the market supervisor, set out with the team, positioned at the very rear.

He wore a simple gray cloth robe, with no Magical Artifacts or armor on the outside. Inside his storage pouch, the Golden Body Armor lay quietly on top, ready to be retrieved at a moment’s notice.

The team moved out along a route commonly used by demon-hunting squads in the northern Ghost Mist Forest. They moved at a slow pace, deliberately affecting a lax, unguarded formation, as if they were truly just a small team gathering Spiritual Materials.

After walking for about four hours, the team entered a sparse, mixed-wood forest.

On the outskirts of the forest, the passive sensory net of Dark Evil Insight detected four signals of Demonic Qi.

Two Late-stage Foundation Establishment, two Mid-stage Foundation Establishment. They were lying in wait in an arc to the front-right of the team’s path, about one hundred fifty zhang away.

’They’re here.’

Deeper in the woods, the four Demonic Qi signals began to move. The two at Late-stage Foundation Establishment circled around from the front-right to block the path ahead. The two at Mid-stage Foundation Establishment swung around to the left flank, forming a semi-encirclement.

The team leader was the first to notice something was wrong. His hand went to the Magical Artifact at his waist, and his steps halted.

"Someone’s here."

The words had barely left his mouth when two figures shot out from the thicket ahead.

Two Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators. One wielded a saber, the other a staff. Unleashing their Demonic Qi, they charged straight for the front of the team.

At the same time, the two Mid-stage cultivators on the left flank emerged from behind the trees, firing two intersecting Demon Qi Skills toward the middle of the formation.

The leader roared, "Formation!"

The five disciples quickly tightened their formation, standing back-to-back in a tight cluster as they raised their Spiritual Power shields. The Demon Qi Skills slammed into the shields, kicking up a shower of dark red sparks, but failed to break through.

The Demon Cultivator squad’s attack was fast-paced. The two Late-stage cultivators took turns charging forward, trying to tear an opening in the shields. The two Mid-stage cultivators on the flank continuously cast Magic to suppress them, distracting the disciples.

The team was forced back step by step.

Li Yuan stood at the very back of the team, his right hand already stealthily retrieving the Golden Body Armor from his storage pouch.

He didn’t put it on immediately. Instead, he draped the Golden Body Armor over his left arm, looking like an ordinary market supervisor trying to find cover in a fight.

Meanwhile, he held the first two fingers of his right hand together, pointing them down by his side.

Rift Slash.

A gray fissure shot out from his fingertips, hugging the ground. It avoided all the allied disciples, silently streaking sixty zhang through the gaps in the undergrowth.

The leading Demon Cultivator, a Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with a saber, was raising his weapon to strike the shield. The fissure sliced diagonally up from beneath his right foot, passing through his calf, knee, and thigh, all the way to his abdomen.

The Demon Cultivator’s motion froze mid-air. His saber flew from his hand as his body began to disintegrate from the right side, toppling to the left.

The second Rift Slash followed immediately, its angle even more cunning. It shot out from the shadow of a tree trunk to the left, slicing horizontally across the back of the second Late-stage Demon Cultivator’s neck.

This Demon Cultivator reacted half a beat faster than his companion. Sensing the threat from behind, he swung his staff back to block. The iron staff intercepted the fissure head-on, but the sharpness of a Rift Slash was not something a Foundation Establishment Magical Artifact could completely negate. The staff was severed a third of the way through, and the remaining force of the slash grazed the Demon Cultivator’s shoulder, leaving a wound deep enough to show bone.

The Demon Cultivator screamed and staggered back.

Li Yuan followed up with a third Rift Slash. This one didn’t come from the side, but went straight for the throat.

The staff-wielding Demon Cultivator was powerless to block it.

The two Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators fell one after the other.

Seeing this, the two remaining Mid-stage Demon Cultivators lost their nerve instantly and turned to flee.

The team leader wanted to give chase but was stopped by Li Yuan.

"Don’t chase them."

The two fleeing Demon Cultivators from the left flank were no longer a threat. Li Yuan’s attention was focused on something else.

During the battle, three waves of Magic cast by the two Mid-stage Demon Cultivators on the flank had flown directly toward him.

He had put on the Golden Body Armor as the first wave of Magic approached.

The Magic from the two flankers struck him several times. The Golden Body Armor’s Spiritual Light flashed, but it held firm. When the battle ended, a panel popped up.

It corresponded perfectly with the three hits required to make the Golden Body Armor permanent.

[Indestructible Golden Body (Green) Permanence Condition Met]

While the team regrouped, Li Yuan acted.

’Equip Golden Body Armor.’

[Equipped: Golden Body Armor (Complete)]

[Indestructible Golden Body (Green) has become a permanent entry.]

The phantom image of the Golden Body Armor flickered for a moment in the equipment slot, then shattered into green motes of light that merged with his body. The slot was now empty.

Defense increased by twenty percent. Spiritual Power body protection strength increased by ten percent.

These two permanent buffs stacked on top of a series of defensive entries like Three Elements Body Protection, Iron Bone Golden Body, and Body Protection. Li Yuan clenched his fists. He could feel an extremely thin yet incredibly tough Spiritual Energy Membrane forming over the surface of his muscles, like an invisible layer of armor just beneath his skin.

This defense was passive, required no Spiritual Power to maintain, and was always active.

The team gathered to assess casualties. Two of the five disciples had sustained minor injuries; the rest were unharmed.

Li Yuan walked over to the corpses of the two Late-stage Demon Cultivators and crouched down to go through their storage pouches.

The loot wasn’t much, but it confirmed one thing: the Evil Slaying Sect still had small, scattered forces active on the northern fringe, but they were much smaller in scale than before.