In a large residence within the City Lord’s Mansion, a man dressed in white Daoist robes and wearing an evil ghost mask sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion in the center of the house.
Suddenly, a streak of light flew to the entrance of the residence.
It was the communication talisman Bai Yumo had thrown out earlier.
The man inside reached out with one hand and drew the floating talisman into his palm.
After reading the information within the talisman, a smile appeared beneath the man’s mask as he slowly spoke.
“The Blood Fiend Sect… was it that mysterious Foundation Establishment little girl who found it? Interesting.”
Then he stood up, stretched his seemingly lean yet powerfully muscled body a little, walked to the doorway, and glanced up at the clear night sky.
“Looks like things are about to get interesting.”
***
Three days later.
On an open field outside Ningzhou City, Bai Yumo and Ye Xinghua, both clad in black robes, stood in the center.
Behind them stood Shucao, Xiao Simeng, and Yu Qing.
“Speaking of which, I’ve been wanting to ask ever since we got here. Who is that person?”
Looking at the two Foundation Establishment cultivators waiting for the others to arrive, Shucao couldn’t help asking the two beside her in a low voice out of curiosity.
“To be honest, I haven’t been here long either, so I’ve never seen her before. Do you know, Fellow Daoist Yu Qing?”
With the topic tossed her way, Yu Qing quietly explained to the two beside her.
“Ah, this one is the other Foundation Establishment cultivator who founded this loose cultivator gathering together with Senior Bai Yumo. Her name is Ye Xinghua. She rarely appears normally, and no one has ever seen her make a move. Even I am only meeting her for the third time. You could say she’s quite mysterious.”
After hearing Yu Qing’s explanation, An Qianhua in the Heart Realm spoke as if recalling something.
“Right, right. Back when you first met Bai Yumo, wasn’t there someone who guided you into seeing what happened in the village at that time? It should have been this person who did it.”
“So that’s how it is. By the way, Fellow Daoist Yu Qing, have you repaid your loan yet?”
After leaving the gathering yesterday, Yu Qing had mentioned to Shucao how she had gathered the spirit stones for the materials needed to refine the Spirit-Resolving Jade.
It turned out that in order to refine the Spirit-Resolving Jade faster so she could analyze arrays, she had left Ningzhou City while Shucao was heading into the secret realm and gone to Dragon City, where she took out a small cultivation loan from the local Tianjin Trading Company.
That was how she had managed to gather the material costs so quickly.
Seeing Shucao ask about her matter, Yu Qing hurriedly replied.
“Absolutely no problem. I originally had some savings, plus those high-value spirit herbs you gifted me. It’s more than enough. Moreover, I even mortgaged the original array manuals inherited from my sect there. The short-term interest won’t amount to much. I also have to thank that ancestral master I’ve never met. The array manuals he left behind are of such high value. Otherwise, as a mere Qi Refining cultivator, the other party might not even have lent to me.”
Shucao didn’t quite understand matters of borrowing money, but since Yu Qing said there was no problem, she didn’t ask further.
After a while, seeing the Qi Refining cultivators who had accepted the commission arrive at the open field one after another, Bai Yumo stepped forward and said loudly to everyone.
“Everyone, the Blood Fiend Sect has repeatedly committed evil deeds in the mortal villages near Ningzhou City, harming living beings. Although we are merely loose cultivators, I absolutely cannot tolerate demonic cultivators acting so arrogantly near the city where we gather. Just a few days ago, we found their strongholds.”
“Today, we will thoroughly uproot their bases and eliminate any future threat! For this operation, Ye Xinghua, another Foundation Establishment cultivator, and I will personally go to suppress them and face their Foundation Establishment cultivators. Your task is to clear out the Qi Refining demonic cultivators in the strongholds, while also checking whether any captured mortals or cultivators are inside. If there are, rescue them safely. This is a dangerous mission, so everyone must be extremely careful and not lose your lives.”
As soon as her words fell, the dozen or so Qi Refining cultivators gathered responded loudly, clearly having their morale boosted by Bai Yumo’s pre-battle mobilization.
“Let those demonic cultivators see what we’re made of!”
“How dare they run wild near Ningzhou City, looking down on us like this! If we don’t deal with them now, they might run into Ningzhou City next!”
At this moment, Shucao asked Bai Yumo.
“May I ask, Senior Bai, you said there are three Foundation Establishment cultivators leading the teams, but right now there are only the two of you. Where is the other one?”
“About that, he should be here soon.”
As soon as her words fell, a strong gust of wind blew over from the direction of Ningzhou City.
The intense wind pressure directly forced some of the weaker cultivators to lower their bodies, leaving everyone a bit at a loss.
“What’s going on? Is an enemy coming!?”
Seeing everyone start to panic a little, Bai Yumo first sighed, then shouted loudly to the crowd.
“Everyone, quiet!”
Along with her voice, a wave of golden spiritual energy was released, completely neutralizing the incoming strong wind.
After the cultivators calmed down, Bai Yumo immediately spoke toward the direction the strong wind had come from.
“Fellow Daoist Wumian, even the wind pressure generated just from running over has such momentum. It seems your physical body has made great progress. However, could you not scare these junior cultivators?”
Looking closely, a figure clad in light armor and wearing a white evil ghost mask suddenly appeared there.
“Seeing so many Qi Refining cultivators for once, I had to test their levels a bit. But there are a few decent ones among them.”
In the next moment, that person suddenly arrived beside Bai Yumo.
The extreme speed startled the three people behind, and the aura he emitted brought an invisible pressure upon them.
This made Xiao Simeng and Yu Qing think in unison.
Foundation Establishment cultivator! And this spiritual energy fluctuation is even stronger than Senior Bai’s!
Although she couldn’t sense the other party’s spiritual energy, Shucao beside them could tell from the aura that the other party was no ordinary person, so she said to An Qianhua.
“Sister Qianhua, this person looks a bit powerful.”
“Mm, looking at this aura and the attitude of those two seniors toward him, he might be the strongest among the three Foundation Establishment cultivators.”
“With such a powerful person coming to help, it seems Senior Bai really wants to thoroughly deal with the Blood Fiend Sect.”
While Shucao was conversing with An Qianhua, Bai Yumo also took half a step back, allowing the masked man to stand at the front, then introduced the newcomer to everyone.
“This fellow Daoist is a court enshrined of the imperial court that Ningzhou City belongs to. His name is Chun Wumian, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator who holds the position of guarding Ningzhou City as a cultivator. In this operation, he will also provide us assistance, heading to one of the three strongholds to face the opposing Foundation Establishment cultivator.”
Hearing this, everyone below was astonished without exception.
“Heavens, it’s actually a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. This is the first time I’ve seen a cultivator of such profound cultivation!”
“With such a great expert leading, this mission should be a piece of cake. Senior Bai’s spirit stones are too easy to earn!”
“Hey hey, thinking about spirit stones at a time like this? That’s a cultivator only one step away from the Golden Core stage. Just being able to see him make a move would make it worth it even if I die.”
Seeing the crowd gradually grow noisy, Chun Wumian at the front of the group suddenly released his aura, instantly silencing the still-conversing people.
“What the hell are you babbling so much for? In this operation, all of you better do your own jobs properly and not hold me back.”
At this time, Shucao couldn’t help saying to An Qianhua again.
“Hiss, this person doesn’t seem very friendly.”
“Aiya, he’s the one with the highest cultivation here after all. Being a bit arrogant is normal. Anyway, he should make this operation a lot easier for you all.”
Seeing the crowd suppressed by Chun Wumian’s aura and not daring to speak, Bai Yumo released a strand of spiritual energy to relieve the pressure Chun Wumian had applied on everyone, then spoke again.
“Alright, for this operation we will divide into three groups, each led by one of us three Foundation Establishment cultivators, to raid the three strongholds of the Blood Fiend Sect. The grouping information and the locations of the strongholds have already been marked on these jade tokens. Everyone, please pay close attention.”
Bai Yumo then waved her hand, and several jade tokens flew out from her sleeve and landed in the hands of the cultivators present.
“At the same time, after one group resolves a stronghold, if the other strongholds have not yet been breached, that group must go support the other two strongholds to relieve the pressure on the others. Remember, although our goal is to suppress the demonic sect, if you encounter something beyond your capabilities, you must prioritize preserving your lives. After all, only if we survive can we bring actual information about the demonic sect to the outside world. Understood!”
Seeing that no one present had any objections, Bai Yumo nodded and shouted loudly again.
“Then now, the Blood Fiend Sect Suppression Operation officially begins!”
As Bai Yumo’s words fell, the cultivators present also took out their flying artifacts one after another, trailing streaks of spiritual light as they flew into the air, then scattered according to the positions marked on the jade tokens.
It was quite a spectacular sight.
“Looks like everyone is quite motivated.”
Looking at these cultivators, Ye Xinghua said with a smile. Beside her, Bai Yumo also said to the remaining few.
“Everyone, we should set out as well.”
Thus, the three Foundation Establishment cultivators and Shucao’s group of three also flew into the sky, heading quickly toward their respective targets.