Chapter 356: White Pool Mountain

The West Peak of White Pool Mountain was larger than Han Li had imagined.

Not only was there an ancient temple built on the peak, but there were also more than ten stone pavilions of various sizes, where cultivators were already chatting in groups of three or five.

Of course, outside the pavilions and the temple, there were also some cultivators walking back and forth sparsely.

It seemed that some people had already arrived early for this White Pool Mountain gathering.

Han Li looked around the peak for a while before circling around and landing in a remote corner of the peak.

Afterwards, Han Li took Qu Hun and walked casually toward a few nearby stone pavilions.

With Han Li's powerful spiritual sense, it didn't take long for him to hear the content of the cultivators' conversations in the stone pavilions clearly.

Among them, a stone pavilion with four cultivators chatting loudly caught Han Li's eye.

Han Li listened intently for a moment; they were talking about the battle between the Yue Kingdom's seven sects and the demonic path, which made his spirit lift, and he walked over without hesitation.

"This crushing defeat by the demonic path not only forced the six sects of the Yue Kingdom to flee their homeland one after another, but even our Yuanwu and Zijin nations will face disaster in the future. Now it just depends on whether the demonic path will attack Yuanwu first or Zijin." A middle-aged man with a pale face among the four said with a sigh.

"That's right, in the last great battle, the six sects' strength was indeed greatly damaged. Five or six out of ten of the cultivators from the two nations who went to help were also buried! This time, the Heavenly Star Sect and other immortal sects will be in a terrible state!" Another young man in his twenties added with schadenfreude.

Hearing the young man's words, the two old men among the other three had normal expressions and no reaction. But the middle-aged man who had started speaking couldn't help but let out a few bitter laughs, opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something more.

But just then, voices from others came from the side.

"I'm afraid that while the Heavenly Star Sect and other large sects are in a sorry state, the days for us loose cultivators and cultivation families will become even worse. People of the demonic path emphasize the law of the jungle. When that time comes, we won't be as relaxed and at ease as we are today." Han Li walked over slowly, but his words revealed the true meaning of the middle-aged man's bitter laugh.

Upon hearing that there were outsiders nearby, the four were startled and immediately stopped talking.

But after discovering that they couldn't see through Han Li's cultivation, they all revealed a look of unease and bowed respectfully to Han Li one after another. The middle-aged man even hurriedly tried to excuse the young man:

"This senior, my nephew Yu was just speaking casually; he had absolutely no intention of disrespecting the sects. I hope Senior will not take offense!"

These people had actually mistaken Han Li for a high-level cultivator from one of the immortal sects in the Yuanwu nation.

The young man's expression also became tense.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoists, don't misunderstand. I am just a loose cultivator! I was just casually adding a sentence earlier." Han Li explained gently with a smile.

Upon hearing Han Li say this, they finally felt relieved. Although they didn't know whether Han Li's identity was true or false, it was clear that the other party didn't intend to pursue the young man's earlier rash words.

Thus, amidst the respectful welcome of the few, Han Li also sat down at the stone table in the pavilion.

"It is an honor for us juniors that Senior could come to this place. However, with Senior's cultivation, why would you participate in this level of exchange?" The red-faced old man with the deepest cultivation among the four asked somewhat cautiously.

It was no wonder this person was so surprised; after all, small local gatherings like White Pool Mountain were generally difficult to attract Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. If high-level cultivators wanted to exchange, there would naturally be other gatherings at a higher level.

"For some time, I have been practicing in a barren mountain not far from here. It was only recently that I heard the news of our nation's cultivators being defeated in the Yue Kingdom, and I felt that there would be a major change in the cultivation world, so I came out of the mountain to inquire about the news. Do you fellow daoists have any latest news about the demonic path and the Yue Kingdom?" Han Li said lightly.

Hearing Han Li say this, the four looked at each other for a while, but immediately, three of them looked at another thin, dry old man.

"When it comes to being well-informed, of course, it has to be Brother Ding. After all, the Ding family has many secular industries opened directly in the Yue Kingdom!" The red-faced old man gave a dry laugh and said lightly.

The other two also agreed in unison, which made a flash of strange color appear in Han Li's eyes.

The old man surnamed Ding saw this, and a look of embarrassment appeared on his face, so he had to say helplessly:

"Our Ding family's disciples in the Yue Kingdom did indeed send back some of the latest situations in the Yue Kingdom to the family recently. Originally, the family didn't want this news to spread, but since you are all Ding's close friends, and this Senior also wants to know, then I will say a little. However, I ask that you do not easily leak this."

Hearing the old man's words, the other three couldn't help but feel their spirits lift and agreed repeatedly. Han Li also nodded slightly.

Thus, the old man coughed lightly and began to speak slowly:

"News received just a few days ago says that the current Yue Kingdom is very chaotic. Although the demonic path defeated the six sects' coalition, there are still many retreating cultivators from the six sects who haven't left the Yue Kingdom, but are relying on the terrain to constantly attack the demonic path's people. I heard that there are even a few Core Formation stage cultivators who haven't retreated, which has kept the demonic path busy. After all, Core Formation stage cultivators are not so easy to deal with. Plus, the six sects have been rooted in the Yue Kingdom for many years, and their potential influence is not small, making it quite troublesome for the demonic path to take over the Yue Kingdom's cultivation world."

"As for the cultivation families in the Yue Kingdom, they now have three attitudes. One is to see that the six sects have been defeated and immediately defect, actively submitting to the demonic path's six sects. Another is because they were too close to the six sects and are afraid of the demonic path settling scores later, so they simply retreated from the Yue Kingdom along with the six sects. The last type of family is still in a wait-and-see stage, preparing to see how the situation develops before deciding."

"As for the sect strongholds that the seven sects occupied for many years, I heard that except for the Yanyue Sect and the Jujian Sect, which haven't been breached by the demonic path's six sects yet, the other four sects have been completely occupied. But the spoils are said to be very few, as most of the rare items were taken away by the retreating disciples of the six sects."

"In my opinion, the demonic path won't attack our nation or Zijin until they stabilize the Yue Kingdom. After all, no matter how many people they have, occupying two small nations and one medium-sized nation at once is probably a bit overwhelming for them. That's why they can't do anything about those six-sect cultivators who are constantly causing trouble."

The old man spoke slowly and revealed some of his own insights.

"Brother Ding, how long do you estimate the demonic path can give us to catch our breath? Can the sects of our nation still resist the other party's attack now?" The red-faced old man on the side couldn't help but interrupt and ask.

"That's hard to say? After all, what I know is only some superficial news. As for the true situation, I'm afraid only the high-level members of the sects know." The old man surnamed Ding shook his head and stole a glance at Han Li.

Clearly, he still believed that Han Li was a cultivator from a sect in their nation, which made his words somewhat evasive.

Afterwards, the old man surnamed Ding seemed not to want to continue discussing related issues and suddenly smiled, telling a story that surprised Han Li.

"This time, because the six sects of the Yue Kingdom retreated in a hurry, they all adopted the method of a gecko cutting off its tail, only taking away the elite disciples with better aptitude and leaving many other disciples in the dark to be sacrificed. Among them, the most ruthless one is said to be the high-level members of the Huang Feng Valley. In order to let the true elite confidants escape the Yue Kingdom safely, they actually sacrificed two batches of disciples in a row, which was almost all the cultivators in the Huang Feng Valley besides the retreating disciples. Tsk tsk, the methods are truly extraordinary!"

Although the old man spoke casually, Han Li's heart sank, and his expression changed slightly.

However, fortunately, no one dared to stare at Han Li, so no one noticed his strange expression.

"Fellow Daoist Ding, what is this about the Huang Feng Valley sacrificing two batches of disciples? I am quite interested!" Han Li suppressed the shock in his heart and asked calmly.

"Hehe, since Senior asks, I will naturally tell the truth. The situation is like this: I heard that the high-level members of the Yue Kingdom received news of the defeat at the front and immediately thought of a trick to escape like a cicada shedding its skin. They first let a batch of disciples retreat first, but secretly leaked this news to the demonic path's spies, saying that these disciples were the elites of their Huang Feng Valley, and they carried a large amount of spirit stones, raw materials, and other wealth. This caused the demonic path's pursuers to be completely attracted. At the same time, they left another batch of disciples in the sect who were kept in the dark, letting them use the great formation to form a stalemate with the remaining demonic path members. After these two batches of disciples attracted all the enemy's attention, the high-level members of the Huang Feng Valley let the true elite confidants, carrying the sect's thousand-year accumulation, retreat in the opposite direction."

"It is said that although the number of people who safely retreated from the Huang Feng Valley was the smallest, they were the ones who walked the easiest path among the six sects' retreat. While the other five sects concentrated their manpower to retreat together, they were still pursued by the pursuers one after another and fought many battles. Much of their wealth fell into the hands of the demonic path. Because the demonic path was fooled, this matter has already spread widely in the Yue Kingdom's cultivation world." The old man didn't dare to neglect and told Han Li the whole story.

"Oh! So that's how it is. That group of abandoned Huang Feng Valley disciples is truly stupid enough!" Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and he said slowly in a low voice.

(Webnovel site link) ===== CHAPTER 357 =====