Chapter 2301: Down the Mountain, Into the City

The stone-skin grass spirit was, after all, a monster of insufficient intelligence; being a living thing, it would slack off, and accidents would happen.

But just then, the disciples pointed at the water mirror and cried out:

"Eh, there's another one."

The ripples on the water surface gradually dispersed, the image gradually cleared, and the water mirror technique resumed functioning.

It was still that same Xunyang Mountain, still the brilliantly lit Wei'an City; nothing had changed.

The forests around the entrance were quiet as before; the image showed nothing different — no people, no armies, and no monsters approaching.

Yuan Xilin let out a breath of relief.

If it were Cangyan experts who had eliminated the stone-skin grass spirit, the water mirror could not have recovered now.

Sure enough, the stone-skin grass spirit had developed another glitch — just at the wrong time.

But after this incident, he grew increasingly anxious at heart, feeling that crisis was right before his eyes.

A sudden impulse.

Elder Chu shared the feeling, pacing back and forth without stop: "How much longer until the Giant Spirit God awakens?"

"Soon." Yuan Xilin suppressed his own restlessness. "Half a quarter-hour. Send a few people out first to thoroughly patrol the surroundings."

Although the water mirror technique had already recovered, a vague unease lingered in his heart.

He looked toward the sky well; above the Xunyang Mountain and Wei'an City in the image, dark clouds pressed low, lightning smoldering within the cloud masses — green, red, purple, white.

A violent storm was fast approaching.

……

Before long, the disciples reported back: everything was normal around Butterfly Ravine; water flowed gently, insects and birds chirped, and there were no warning signs of any strangers approaching.

They had also released the Xuling sentries. This thing investigates suspicious persons and events not by eyesight, but by tracking the vital qi on living people and creatures — quite reliable.

It appeared the surroundings were peaceful.

A quarter-hour later, the Reclining Ox Stone flashed with several streaks of green light in succession, and Yuan Xilin led the remaining members of Qixia Sect out.

The four fields were silent; the disciples stepped forward to report: "Sect Master, we've patrolled the mountain — no one."

Yuan Xilin nodded, his taut nerves relaxing slightly.

Indeed, only two quarter-hours had passed since Elder Xu's passing. Even if the Parallel Yuan Office dispatched people to rush to Xunyang Mountain, the journey alone would take more than this little time.

They had dealt with the mortal nations before; official reaction speed wasn't that fast — he really was being a bit paranoid.

The words had just fallen when several bolts of lightning descended in succession from the horizon, illuminating the mountains and fields bright as broad daylight again and again.

The sudden shifts between bright and dark made eyes very uncomfortable for a moment; quite a few disciples simply closed their eyes.

Fortunately the power of these few lightning strikes passed quickly. Sect Master Yuan raised his head to look at the sky and gave a solemn order: "Down the mountain, into the city!"

They had all already changed into common clothes, the style similar to Wei'an City's.

Elder Chu pulled out a plantain leaf and threw it straight ahead.

This leaf was glossy green, two sizes smaller than an ordinary plantain leaf — pocket-sized and cute — but just as it was about to fall to the ground, its volume suddenly swelled until it measured three zhang from end to end!

This length could rival a painted pleasure boat; it could easily accommodate the sect's thirty-odd people.

"Up."

Everyone leapt onto the plantain leaf; it rose on the wind, tilting upward until it reached five zhang off the ground, then flew steadily.

This height nearly grazed the forest treetops as they advanced; the speed was fast, and it conserved more energy than high-altitude flight — when they occasionally encountered a few especially towering big trees, they simply went around them.

A great battle was imminent; Elder Chu saved every bit of strength he could.

Each time they crossed a dangerous cliff, they could see the brilliantly lit Wei'an City drawing ever nearer. A few days ago everyone still felt it would be a bit of a pity if such a beautiful great city were destroyed by war, but now — Qixia Sect only wanted to let the Cangyan nation properly witness their methods!

The city's conventional defensive measures certainly could not stop them.

On the plantain leaf boat, Yuan Xilin arranged matters for everyone: "After entering the city, we'll release Xuling in the southeast and southwest, letting them exert themselves fully — the bigger the chaos they stir up, the better."

This operation was retaliation, deterrence, and also venting spleen!

An immortal's fury — the whole city shaken.

"Yes." Everyone answered in unison, and a disciple asked, "Where should the Giant Spirit God be placed?"

"Naturally, the Wei'an City Office." Yuan Xilin's eyes shone with cold light. "But don't rush — after the other Xuling create two rounds of chaos, then release the Giant Spirit God!"

The headline act naturally goes on last.

"At that time, Liu Qingdao and the others should be busy suppressing chaos everywhere, and the City Office will be empty instead. The Giant Spirit God can make its entrance then." Yuan Xilin spoke word by word: "I want to smash the Wei'an City Office into flat ground, to let the people of Wei'an City see just how flimsy the official martial force they rely on truly is!"

If Cangyan's great powers arrive to obstruct, all destruction produced by the battle will be borne by Wei'an City.

Fighting on someone else's turf — Qixia Sect doesn't lose out.

He further instructed his disciples: "You control the Xuling to fight; don't expose yourselves first. This battle with Wei'an City won't be easy to fight — in the early stages, hold back."

Previously Wei'an City had dispatched the Jin Jia Divine Generals and monsters to excavate the mountain, already showing off a wave of strength. Yuan Xilin had watched with secret wariness and originally did not wish to clash head-on with Cangyan.

But with Elder Xu's death, everything changed. If Qixia Sect continued to cower behind closed doors, they would only be stifled to death by the opponent! Better to bare their fists and feet — on one hand to avenge Elder Xu, on the other to use Wei'an City as a hostage to obtain better bargaining chips for negotiations with Cangyan!

Actually everyone understood: the safest method was to not enter the city themselves, but control Xuling to wreak massive destruction within the city.

But the Xuling's remote-control distance was at most fifteen li; Wei'an City's area was too large — if they merely stood outside the city, the Xuling could not damage the key buildings and high officials and nobles in the city center.

As for how to get out after entering… hmph, fight our way in, then fight our way out. Qixia Sect has dealt with cities before; not a single one's defensive capability could withstand their Xuling.

The leaf boat sped along the treetops, and before long left Xunyang Mountain, entering Wei'an City's outer jurisdiction.

Night had already deepened, but there were still carriages and horses on the official road; seeing something flying overhead, they all raised their heads to look.

However the leaf boat's speed was too fast; before they could get a good look, it had already flown ahead.

The Qixia Sect disciples glanced casually at the ground — naturally they wouldn't put these mortals below in their eyes — and thus failed to notice anything unusual.

Before long, Wei'an City's tall walls appeared in their field of vision.

Flight was prohibited ahead, so Qixia Sect descended in a nearby woods, then stowed the leaf boat and walked toward the city gate.

Though it was deep night, the city gate was still open; carriages and horses passed through from time to time, over half of which should be water transports.

The lights at the city gate were dim, with two rows of guards, five in each row, standing expressionless on the gate tower, their postures a little slack, probably tired from holding out until midnight. They stood in the darkness where the light did not reach, and did not step forward to interrogate carriages and pedestrians, simply letting them pass through on their own.

The Qixia Sect split into three groups, mixed into two convoys of carriages, and entered the city gate smoothly, likewise not stopped for questioning.