A Sect from a Spirit Vein

Chapter 98 - 95: Roles Reversed in Offense and Defense

Zhang Shouchang hurriedly said, "Elder Qian is injured? Quickly take him down to rest."

Qian Ruyi glared at Wan An angrily and said in a deep voice, "Just some superficial wounds, nothing serious. I’ll take some elixir to recuperate. We must hurry to break the array and capture that Lu Qian to grind his bones to ashes!"

Wan An chuckled lightly, "Fellow Daoist Qian, you’re too anxious, some sense is missing. Haven’t you noticed? This is an unhosted array, what array cultivators call a death array. Lu Qian is certainly not inside it."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shouchang and Qian Ruyi were both taken aback.

Qian Ruyi reflected carefully and indeed found it to be true.

The grand array’s operations were somewhat rigid, the attacks didn’t follow smoothly, and even the power of that Gui Water Divine Thunder was less than what we sensed last time.

After consulting the Third Elder of the Zhou Family, it was confirmed that the First-Level High-Tier Spirit Vein here couldn’t support the array’s full operation; clearly, the Gui Water Divine Thunder drew spiritual qi from the Earthly Branch Ding Metal Divine Lock, reducing the array’s power even further.

If this truly is a death array, does it mean Lu Qian alone isn’t here, or have all the people from Lotus Peak fled?

The group deliberated for a moment and decided to lead the elite directly to break the array. The more people enter the array, the more dispersed the attacks become, thus increasing the pressure on the grand array.

An hour later, Qian Ruyi had finished ingesting elixir and adjusting his breath, donning a clean robe, finally freeing himself from his disheveled state.

Even then, he felt a faint stabbing pain in his meridians, sighing inwardly over the insidious and domineering nature of that lightning. Seeing his Mid-Tier Spiritual Artifact, the flying sword, had sustained significant damage, he was both frustrated and resentful.

His anger burned fiercely within, causing him to also resent Wan An.

At that moment, the group rode their escape light, along with thirty elite disciples, rushing into the array.

They saw clouds and mist churning, chains crossing the sky, black lightning emitting sharp humming. The disciples within the array exclaimed in alarm, their magic techniques, magical artifacts, and talismans enveloping the entire Lotus Peak in colorful light.

Their judgment was accurate; for a death array, facing so many powerful array breakers, it would neither adapt nor focus its attacks, unable to sustain for long. After just a stick of incense’s worth of time, under the leadership of three Foundation Establishment cultivators, streams of light protruded from the grand array, landing on the ground of Lotus Peak, with only a few disciples suffering varying degrees of injuries.

Zhang Shouchang sensed briefly, leading the charge toward the spirit vein. Along the way, building after building and courtyard after courtyard were eerily vacant without a sign of life.

Within an instant, he flashed to the side of the Spirit Vein Lotus, reaching out to seize the jade array map. In that instant, spiritual qi went into turmoil, the Five Elements Grand Array in mid-air dissipating completely, revealing a brilliant starry sky.

Qian Ruyi and Wan An also flew over to his side, scanning with divine sense, discovering no one here either, immediately showing utter confusion.

It’s illogical; did the people from Lotus Peak just abandon the Mountain Protection Grand Array and flee?

Zhang Shouchang stared at the array map in his hand and murmured, "Where did everyone go?"

Just then, an item in his arms shuddered, emitting a beam of light.

Zhang Shouchang was greatly shocked, an ominous premonition soaring within him. He hurriedly took out the item, which was the Thousand-Mile Mirror used to communicate with the cultivators guarding the mountain gate.

The mirror revealed the tense, terrified face of a cultivator who, upon seeing Zhang Shouchang, shouted anxiously, "Sect Leader, something terrible has happened! The enemy is attacking, dozens of escape lights are heading straight for Bichao Mountain, please return quickly, Sect Leader!"

Zhang Shouchang felt a chill run through him, instantly understanding everything.

Damn it, Yunshan Sect and the remnants of the Zhou Family have gone to Bichao Mountain!

He shouted, "How many enemies are there?"

The disciple stammered, "Too many, a full seventy or eighty escape lights! Sect Leader, please return quickly, we who remain can’t repel them on our own!"

Seventy or eighty escape lights, that means over two hundred cultivators!

Blast it, where did the mere Yunshan Sect get so many cultivators? He suddenly recalled the rumors the Third Elder had investigated earlier, saying Yunshan Sect had the backing of a Golden Core Master and two Foundation Establishments in their sect, a considerable force. He had scoffed at the time, dismissing it as enemy exaggeration.

But now, could it be Zhou Chao has indeed brought reinforcements from Yunshan Sect?

The more he thought about it, the more fear crept in, and now the mountain gate was genuinely in danger!

Zhang Shouchang shouted, "I’m returning now, activate the Mountain Protection Grand Array immediately! It’s only a little over six hundred miles, I can be there in less than half an hour, hold steady for me!"

The disciple hastily agreed, and with a flash of the screen, the Mountain Protection Grand Array activated, severing inside and outside, and cutting off communication.

Zhang Shouchang shouted, "The mountain gate is under siege, urgent! Elders, the three of us go to the rescue first. The two Floating Battleships and Qi Cultivation disciples move slowly, they will follow behind!"

Qian Ruyi and Wan An nodded in agreement. Zhang Shouchang arranged for a team of cultivators to guard Yuqing Mountain, with the remaining members immediately flying at full speed towards Bichao Mountain under the lead of a few elders and the Sect Leader’s disciples.

With everything settled, the three Foundation Establishment escape lights burst brilliantly, cleaving through the night sky like meteors toward Bichao Mountain.

At this time, Bichao Mountain was already surrounded by seventy or eighty escape lights.

Lu Qian saw the rising Mountain Protection Grand Array and chuckled softly, "My plan has succeeded!"

In the night sky, these escape lights hovered outside the grand array, making it impossible for Bichao Mountain’s cultivators to see clearly. But closer observation showed that these seventy-plus flying spiritual artifacts had, at most, one hundred thirty cultivators, some with two sharing a ride, some operated alone.

This was the strategy of increasing the number of stoves.

By custom, an army of cultivators attacking would have three to four or four to five people on a single artifact. Bichao Mountain’s cultivators, thinking in their usual way, assumed the same this time, seeing seventy-plus artifacts and believing there were two to three hundred enemies, causing immediate panic.

Upon hearing this information, Zhang Shouchang would undoubtedly become anxious and leave the army behind to rush for rescue.

Now that the grand array has risen and communication cut off, Zhang Shouchang can no longer assess Bichao Mountain’s situation in real-time. His next plan could now commence.

Jiang Qingfeng stood beside him, feeling her heart leap uncontrollably, everything like a dream.

More than three hours ago, she received a communication from Lu Qian. Originally, Lu Qian was just over ten miles from Lotus Peak when he spotted Chaosheng Sect’s army on the horizon and quickly sent an inquiry.

The two of them had several sets of communication talismans prepared, exchanging a few urgent words. After understanding the situation, Lu Qian’s thoughts ran swift, immediately forming a plan, instructing all cultivators of Lotus Peak to disperse and retreat secretly, then activate the grand array to draw attention.

The gathering place, however, shifted from Jiang Qingfeng’s initial mention of Meihua Square to Spirit Snake Peak.

Afterward, everyone converged on Spirit Snake Peak. Before they could express their shock at Guh Niqiang’s presence next to Lu Qian, he solemnly asked Zhou Chao, "Young Master Zhou, do you still wish to restore the mountain gate?"