Chapter 550 - 511: Traces of the Five Great Strange Insects

Chapter 550: Chapter 511: Traces of the Five Great Strange Insects

The Black Mountain Range, in the Liang Country of the Northern Territory.

Viewed from high above, Tier Three Spirit Veins dotted the entire mountain range like pearls.

Towering pavilions and crisscrossing paths bustled with enthusiastic, cheerful cultivators. It was a scene of great prosperity.

"Brother Yue, is this the Sect you came from? The world is in chaos. The Elders in my sect are all in a panic, and with Elder Jiang fighting the Ancestor, he led a faction of disciples to break away... I never thought a paradise untouched by the outside world could still exist in the Northern Territory."

A pair of cultivators, a man and a woman, had stopped at the edge of Black Mountain. The man was filled with emotion as they looked around, while the woman wore a curious expression.

The Qingfeng Sect of today was a far cry from what it was during its sudden rise.

With two Nascent Soul True Monarchs presiding—both in the prime of their long lives—the Sect was in a period of rapid, visible growth.

The Black Mountain Range had long since become the forbidden territory of the Qingfeng Sect. For an outsider to enter without permission was a provocation against the Sect.

Spirit Ships constantly patrolled the skies, preventing any non-Qingfeng Sect cultivators from entering.

The Cultivation Families originally in Black Mountain had begun to voluntarily withdraw, returning their Spirit Lands to the Upper Sect.

After all, there were still many unclaimed Mountain and River Spiritual Veins near the Hejian Sect. A Tier Two Low-Grade Spirit Land here in Black Mountain could be exchanged for a Tier Two Top-Grade Spirit Land in Hejian County.

Only a few Cultivation Families with close ties to the Qingfeng Sect, who were unwilling to move far from the Sect’s core, remained in Black Mountain after receiving permission from the Upper Sect.

Examples included the Ink Bamboo Bai Family and the Monkey Mountain Liu Family.

"Yes. I grew up here with my Master... I haven’t been back in a century. It all feels a little unfamiliar."

The man was dressed in white robes, his temperament serene, carrying the calm stability of one who had weathered many storms.

Although he did not look old, his temples were frosted with white, crinkles graced the corners of his eyes, and his face was crisscrossed with faded scars that would never fully disappear.

Only his eyes remained pure and clear, a faint reminder of the handsome, jade-faced youth he once was, with sharp brows and bright eyes.

"Don’t be sad, Brother Yue. No matter where we go, I’ll be with you..."

The woman linked her arm with his, patting it gently. Her features were not stunning, but rather plain and ordinary, like a delicate white flower.

"Your Sect’s two Ancestors have already shaken the world. True Monarch Bai, with just his sword, forced the Great True Monarch of the Nine Tribulations Sect to flee in disgrace. When my grandfather heard the news and came to find me, the conflicted look on his face was something I’d never seen before. He specifically gave me several Treasures and said that since you haven’t been back to your sect in a long time, Brother Yue, you should visit the Qingfeng Sect more often when you have the chance."

"The outside world is now ravaged by war. There’s no telling when the Demon Race will attack the Northern Territory... The Far Northern Black Mountain is a much safer place to be."

Currently, the Eastern Domain was engulfed in the fires of war. Demon Beasts ran rampant, and it had already become the domain of the Demon Race.

Only scattered Human Race forces were still resisting, and if they remained in one place for too long, they were destined to be utterly destroyed.

Lankao Mountain, in particular, possessed a hidden strength that far exceeded the Cultivation Realm’s estimates.

Over twenty Transformed Great Demons had charged out of Lankao Mountain. Allied with the Outer Sea Demon Clan, they had seized every important pass and all the Spirit Mountains and Great Rivers in the Eastern Domain.

They had also amassed countless troops, facing off against the great army of Central Domain cultivators across the thousand-zhang-wide Jishui River.

The Cultivation Realm had always estimated that Lankao Mountain had only a single-digit number of Transformed Great Demons, and the strength they displayed had always aligned with that assessment.

But the appearance of so many unfamiliar Great Demons this time proved that the Jinyue Sect’s oversight of the Demon Race Sacred Land had been a complete failure.

Whether they were Tier Four demons from other domains who had sought refuge in Lankao Mountain, or those who had hidden in a Grotto Heaven and used an unknown Secret Technique to conceal the signs of their Celestial Tribulation, such a massive discrepancy in numbers was a grave dereliction of duty on the Jinyue Sect’s part.

Coupled with the death of their Supreme Elder in battle and the fact that their legendary Divinity Transformation Ancestor had, as expected, not appeared even when the entire Sect was forced to relocate, the Jinyue Sect had been stripped of its title as a Super Sect.

Now residing as guests in the Central Domain, with their disciples having suffered heavy casualties, their situation was no different from that of an ordinary Nascent Soul Sect.

The White Ape that had killed the Jinyue Sect’s Supreme Elder became famous overnight. It was now a powerhouse of the Demon Race’s new generation. Possessing such divine might at only Tier Four Mid Grade, it was sure to become a grave threat to the Human Race in the future.

According to Sect cultivators who had surrendered to the demons but secretly maintained contact with the Central Domain, the White Ape was the lost bloodline of Lankao Mountain’s Red-Eared Demon Lord.

It had passed its Celestial Tribulation and completed its Transformation on its own, only receiving its bloodline inheritance after returning to Lankao Mountain.

The Red-Eared Demon Lord had even bestowed his personal Treasure upon it, keeping it by his side for careful nurturing and treating it as the next successor of Lankao Mountain.

Faced with the massive army of the Eastern Domain’s Demon Race, the various sects of the Central Domain were all mobilizing cultivators and assembling their forces.

But with the Moral Sect’s disastrous defeat as a precedent and the Demon Race’s overwhelming show of force, not a single Divinity Transformation Great Power from the Central Domain had yet stepped forward to stabilize the situation, leaving everyone in a state of panic.

A dark cloud hung over every cultivator in the Central Domain; they could all feel the approach of a great war.

For tens of thousands of years, whether it was powerful demons or Ancient Demons from the Upper Realm, they could only run rampant in the other Four Domains.

Even if they did manage to enter the Central Domain, they would soon be suppressed by the Great Powers from the various major families and sects, their influence limited.

But the current tide of Demon Beasts was clearly not something that could be quelled in the short term. The pride of the Central Domain’s cultivators was being shattered.

In contrast, a small, resource-poor country like the Liang Country, located in the Northern Territory, was remarkably calm and peaceful, largely unaffected by the turmoil outside.

The two unfamiliar cultivators lingering at the foot of Black Mountain soon attracted the attention of the Qingfeng Sect’s Law Enforcement Disciples.

A Wind Shuttle descended, and a travel-worn Qiu Jingrong stepped out, leading a team of disciples.

As the first cultivator in the Qingfeng Sect in the last decade to be granted the title of Elder immediately upon achieving Foundation Establishment, some said he had caught the eye of a major figure within the Sect and was being groomed for greatness.

Only he knew in his heart that this status was something he had exchanged for his Clan’s legacy.

’Only by using this Elder position to grow quickly can I establish a foothold in the Sect, rise to a high position, and get a chance to avenge the destruction of my clan.’