Chapter 68

Wei Yuning was still asleep.

He was trapped in the dream.

In the afternoon, a sudden urgent knocking sounded; seeing no response inside, the visitor slammed the door open with a bang.

Inside the mountain cave dwelling there is a small protective array; the protective array includes a soundproof array, which is generally activated during cultivation or sleep.

Such a small protective array has weak defensive power; it mainly represents the owner's territorial range.

The protective array does not block the entry of message‑carrying birds; beside the sleeping Wei Yuning, a dozen or so birds circled his head, while five or six paper birds exhausted of spiritual power fell beside the bed and on the floor.

The visitor was Qing Yun.

Something happened at the mountain gate, related to the Qing Demon; they couldn't contact anyone there. Finally Hong Le contacted Qing Yun, asking him to come see what was going on.

Qing Yun stood at the bedside, his expression complex; after a while, he reached out and patted Wei Yuning's shoulder.

"Wake up, wake up, junior brother!"

Wei Yuning, who was in the dream‑garden, suddenly saw a gray hole appear in the sky; then a twisted beam of light enveloped him, and immediately a tearing force emerged.

He was pulled out of the dream world.

Opening his eyes, Wei Yuning discovered that Senior Brother Qing Yun was standing right in front of him, startling him so much he almost retaliated. Fortunately he remained rational, realized he showed no signs of imprisonment, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Does Junior Brother Qing Demon have some misunderstanding about me?" Wei Yuning's reaction was too obvious; if Qing Yun didn't ask, that would be the problem.

"No, no. Just now… I was having a nightmare; thank you, Senior Brother, for waking me up!"

"Dreaming?" Qing Yun looked at the paper birds scattered on the ground, his face full of disbelief.

Wei Yuning didn't want to argue further with Qing Yun; he hurriedly asked, "Senior Brother, what do you need from me?"

"I don't know either; it was Uncle Hong Le who sent for you, saying something happened at the mountain gate—you'll find out when you get there!" Qing Yun said.

Wei Yuning glanced at the outside sky, his face changed dramatically; he knew what it was.

"Thanks for the heads‑up, Senior Brother—I'm off first!"

Qing Yun watched Wei Yuning's retreating back and muttered to himself, "Think about it—this guy has been afraid of me since the day we first met; does he have some special ability that lets him know my identity?"

At the mountain gate of the Half‑Mountain Villa on Guest‑Coming Peak.

Wei Yuning rushed over in haste and was immediately startled by the scene before him.

Outside the mountain gate lay two hulking figures nearly three meters tall, covered in blood, motionless, alive or dead unknown.

The situation inside the mountain gate was even more gruesome. A dozen or so familiar fellow disciples lay wounded, heads bleeding and bodies strewn about; a huge winged tiger had one of its wings torn off and was letting out mournful cries. Hong Le, Hong Zhi, Qing He, Qing Fu, Qing Niu, Qing Wu, and others—none escaped unscathed.

Elder Xu Ye stood there with a calm expression, one arm limp at his side, the other hand holding a cluster of dark spiritual energy, which he swept over the fallen disciples.

Hong Feng and another unfamiliar female cultivator were setting the wounded's bones; the female cultivator had a green spiritual butterfly embroidered on her chest, indicating she was from the sect's infirmary.

Seeing Wei Yuning arrive, Hong Feng actually smiled and said, "Good lad, you finally showed up!"

"Sorry, Uncle Hong Feng, Senior Xu Ye—are our people alright?" Wei Yuning didn't need to guess to know what had happened.

"I knocked them unconscious; it helps recovery, they're just external injuries, nothing serious!" Xu Ye said, gritting his teeth. Hong Feng was helping Xu Ye set his bones, but Xu Ye refused the medic's aid.

The sect's healers are mainly water‑spirit‑root cultivators; they can use innate healing water to wrap wounds, lessening the pain of treatment. Of course, a master like Xu Ye doesn't need that, but the slight pain of bone‑setting is unavoidable, especially since he suffers not only dislocation but also fractures.

"Last night I had a slight mishap during my cultivation, so I've been unconscious until now—sorry!" Wei Yuning's face flushed with shame.

"It's fine; I suppose there was some reason you couldn't come. Besides, it's lucky you didn't—otherwise Qing He's suffering would have fallen on you, hahaha!" Xu Ye bore no blame and even joked.

Wei Yuning looked at Qing He on the ground; his body bore no bloodstains, but his right leg was bent backward at the thigh, a sight that looked painful.

"Those Divine Martial Sect scoundrels—how vicious they are! I'll tear them to shreds!" Wei Yuning cursed.

"No need; their bodies are already destroyed—even a Great Luo Golden Immortal couldn't save them. These two, sigh, I never expected them to be so tough; if not for my newly grasped Dao method, I might not have matched that middle‑aged man." Xu Ye sighed.

"How… did you end up fighting them?" Wei Yuning asked.

"The Divine Martial Sect folks are all battle maniacs—I heard Hong Le say that, and I didn't believe it at first. Qing He merely provoked them with a couple of remarks, and that guy called Yun Long immediately challenged him to a life‑and‑death duel! Yun Long is a lunatic; though their strength was roughly equal, he traded injury for injury and crippled Qing He's leg. Our disciples, unwilling to accept that, rushed forward to gang‑up on him, but Yun Long single‑handedly severely injured them all. Two junior brothers then stepped forward, only to be blocked by the middle‑aged cultivator called Ba Hu; Hong Zhi gave his all to severely wound Yun Long, yet he too was severely wounded by Ba Hu. At the critical moment, Elder Xu Ye intervened—Ba Hu's strength was lacking; he not only failed to advance or retreat, but kept using moves that trade injury for life. Elder Xu Ye, enraged, risked injury himself to slay that villain!" Hong Feng explained.

"So that's how it is! But with their behavior, how could they still be alive?" Seeing that the two seniors bore no blame, Wei Yuning relaxed and couldn't help but tease.

"With their strength, on Bixi Island they could probably walk sideways unchallenged. If it weren't for Elder Xu Ye coming in person today, we'd have only suffered losses! It seems our Cloud Hidden Sect has underestimated the local cultivators." Hong Feng sighed. His words made sense: normally, a cultivator at the Integration stage is only two major realms away from Nascent Soul, with a chance at longevity; few waste time on reckless bravery unless they are those madmen who pursue martial arts as a path to the Dao.

"Junior nephew, don't lose heart—body cultivators facing spiritual‑sense cultivators in close combat are inherently at a disadvantage. Actually, if you respond correctly, the difference isn't that great. It's just that our Cloud Hidden Sect, over time, has fewer disciples skilled in combat. Even a talent like Qing He, compared to those battle maniacs, lacks a bit of the killing edge in life‑and‑death fights. It seems sending disciples to the outer‑region battlefield can't just be a perfunctory gesture toward Beast King City; the outer‑region battlefield is the best way to forge strong cultivators, and even with some losses, the benefits to the sect's development far outweigh the drawbacks." Xu Ye said.

"This… the Cloud Hidden Sect is rather special; I think we might not need to do that!" Upon hearing this, Hong Feng's face changed; he glanced at Wei Yuning before speaking cautiously.

"Ah, it's you people!" Xu Ye sighed.

Hong Feng lowered his head in shame.

"But, for the sake of the sect, I still intend to bring this up to the sect leader; as for how the sect leader decides, that's not my concern." Xu Ye lifted his head and spoke firmly.