English Novel
Chapter 66
Chapter 66
Chapter 66
“Elder Li, all the disciples sent to investigate have vanished, including one at the mid-stage of Foundation Building. It seems likely that the demon cultivators
deliberately destroyed the city to lure our disciples into a trap,” Elder Huang, second only to Li Su in strength within the Flying Immortal Sect, voiced his concerns.
Upon receiving news of the city’s destruction by demon cultivators, the Flying Immortal Sect promptly dispatched disciples for investigation. However, these disciples, led by one in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment and several in the Energy Refinement stage, never returned and seemed to have completely disappeared.
The Sect then sent an Energy Refinement stage disciple to gather information cautiously, but he vanished as if he had evaporated. This led Elder Huang to suspect that the demon cultivators intentionally destroyed the city and lured the Flying Immortal Sect’s disciples into investigating, aiming to capture them all in one fell swoop.
It was highly likely that the captured disciples were now enduring torment at the hands of these demon cultivators. Using this brutal method, these malevolent cultivators sought to assess the strength of the immortal sects in the region.
While Li Su possessed knowledge about the Flying Immortal Sect’s situation, his insights were limited, and wandering cultivators knew little about the three major immortal sects. Even those expelled from the sects lacked comprehensive information. Ordinary disciples rarely had the chance to witness their sect leaders, let alone discern their true strength.
These demon cultivators couldn’t rely on capturing wandering cultivators for information, so they initiated a large-scale operation. By targeting a mortal city and involving tens of thousands of casualties, they drew the immortal sect disciples’ attention and inadvertently fell into their trap.
Elder Huang emphasized the likelihood that the captured disciples might not possess in-depth knowledge of the high-ranking members of the Flying Immortal Sect, which could work in their favor.
Demon cultivators were known to employ excruciating torture methods, often beyond the endurance of ordinary cultivators. It was uncertain whether they were affiliated with the Heaven Demon Palace. Regardless, their audacity was concerning.
Elder Xue interjected, cautioning against disturbing the sect leader in seclusion, attempting to reach the Nascent Soul stage. Another elder suggested activating the sect’s grand formation, sealing the mountain gate, and adopting a defensive posture until the sect leader emerged from seclusion.
The consensus among the elders was to take a cautious approach, especially if Nascent Soul stage demon cultivators were involved. The decision was made to fully activate the sect’s protective formation, seal the mountain gate, and await the sect leader’s emergence, making dealing with the situation more manageable.
Elder Huang sought Li Su’s opinion, who had been listening attentively to the discussion. However, before he could respond, another urgent report was interrupted.
“Elder Li, Elder Li, another city has been destroyed,” the disciple urgently reported. The news of yet another city’s destruction by the Heaven Demon Palace had just arrived, causing a dark expression on Elder Huang’s face. This time, it was the second city to fall within a short period, and the audacity of the Heaven Demon Palace was becoming increasingly concerning.
The Flying Immortal Sect, as cultivators, couldn’t remain indifferent to such events, even if they occurred in the realm of ordinary people.
Moreover, this was the Flying Immortal Sect’s territory, and the Heaven Demon Palace’s actions directly threatened them. While ordinary people had their uses, the sect couldn’t continually produce new disciples.
“The Heaven Demon Palace has gone too far. I’ll investigate and see how strong they truly are!” Elder Xue exclaimed with righteous anger, fueled by his youthful enthusiasm despite his injuries and his cultivation stagnating at the mid-Golden Core stage.
“Elder Xue, please don’t fall into their trap,” Elder Huang cautioned, well aware of Xue’s limitations. The Heaven Demon Palace could easily dispatch cultivators at a higher level of the Golden Core stage to deal with him.
The other two elders shared the frustration and stifling feeling of helplessness. It was infuriating to witness the Heaven Demon Palace acting so audaciously on the Flying Immortal Sect’s territory, destroying cities one after another in the martial nation. At the same time, they were unable to take direct action. Clearly, the demon cultivators were trying to lure the sect’s disciples into a trap.
This time, given the magnitude of their actions, it was highly likely that the Heaven Demon Palace had deployed cultivators at or above the Golden Core stage, with the potential presence of their Holy Maiden. Rushing into action without a plan would be foolish and could easily lead to falling into the demon cultivators’ trap.
“You should seal the mountain gate and wait for the sect leader to emerge from seclusion. I will investigate,” Li Su’s calm voice cut through the discussion.
“Elder Li, you mustn’t—”
“Yes, Elder Li, this is a trap set by the Heaven Demon Palace—”
“Elder Li, even if we must take action, can’t we inform the other two immortal sects and face this threat together?”
The four elders continued to advise against Li Su’s plan. The Heaven Demon Palace’s interest in the Sacred Command remained unknown to the other two immortal sects, and their willingness to assist might not be guaranteed. Li Su had no intention of surrendering the Sacred Command, as it held substantial potential advantages.
Li Su responded firmly, “Now that this matter has occurred within the martial nation and involves the Heaven Demon Palace, those two immortal sects may not be willing to assist. So be it.”
Seeing that Li Su had made up his mind, the other elders had no choice but to accept his decision. The flying vessel embarked in a specific direction, with Li Su standing at the bow, his demeanor composed, and his spiritual awareness scanning the surroundings.
After some time, they approached the location of the second destroyed city, a relatively short distance in Li Su’s terms but considerable for ordinary people.
Li Su’s spiritual awareness meticulously swept the area for any anomalies. Finding none, he identified a favorable terrain nearby and swiftly arranged array flags, establishing an array base embedded directly into the ground. Numerous spirit stones were placed in various directions.
This marked the third time Li Su had set up the Great Expansive Sword Formation. After dismantling it, he practiced it twice to enhance his proficiency. This time, he established the formation quickly. Before long, a new and improved Great Expansive Sword Formation was in place, benefiting from the terrain and more meticulous setup.
This version of the formation was larger in scale and exhibited greater power, as Li Su’s expertise and precision surpassed the previous array master’s hasty arrangement. The same formation, when set up by different array masters, could yield significantly different results.
Over the past few years, Li Su had fully mastered the fourth level of the Great Expansive Sword Formation. However, he hadn’t dared to attempt the fifth layer because it had a fundamental requirement to reach at least the peak of the Golden Core stage, and possibly even Nascent Soul cultivation, to set it up. Additionally, it demanded the expenditure of some true energy during the setup. Apart from spirit stones, manipulating the formation disk to enhance the power of the sword formation also necessitated the use of true energy.
After arranging everything meticulously, Li Su didn’t immediately activate the lethal formation. Instead, he conducted another thorough inspection and then departed from the area. Before long, he approached the ruined small city.
“Heh, it seems there are still some hidden adversaries.”
Though the small city was still a considerable distance away, Li Su had already detected the presence of demon cultivators lurking in the shadows. Their numbers were few, just a handful, each concealing themselves in different directions. The enemy remained oblivious to Li Su’s reconnaissance.
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