Chapter 500

The light screen was brilliant, standing between heaven and earth.

Demon wolves were like a tide, one after another.

A tragic defensive battle was unfolding between the mountain gullies.

"Senior brother, I'm going; take good care of Huan'er for me!"

"Junior brother Ruan!"

Cheng Yan's eyes were splitting with rage as he watched the Luoyun Sect's Sect Master Ruan Jing, known as the pillar of the sect, be submerged in the rolling beast tide.

When he fell into the wolf pack, there was first a silence, followed by the blooming of immeasurable light.

The power of that self-detonation actually lit up most of the night sky.

On Qianye Peak, Han Zhan watched this scene coldly, pursing his lips and gritting his teeth tightly.

It was as if his teeth were about to be shattered.

Aoxiao, who stood in the void with the bright moon as his background, saw this and revealed a brilliant smile.

"Fellow Daoist, until this moment, do you think you were restraining me, or was I restraining you?"

Han Zhan slowly raised his head, looking directly at the undisguised mockery.

"Was all this planned by you?"

Aoxiao shook his head, "How can plans keep up with changes? All of this... to use your human words, is merely following the trend."

"You tried to eliminate all the demon beast strongholds in the Xiaoyue Mountain Range, leading to dispersed forces."

"And you were afraid of my Wolf Court reinforcements, so you concentrated all your elites on that Sword-Holding Hall."

"In this way, I only needed to abandon the Huangshan point and concentrate my forces to strike at the heart. Thus, severely damaging your sect was a matter of course."

Han Zhan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but took a deep breath and held it back.

Arguments were of no use to the overall situation.

He had already seen that the opponent had no intention of fighting him at all.

A trace of regret permeated his entire body.

If he had known this earlier, he wouldn't have been in such a hurry to reveal his Nascent Soul puppet.

Handing it over to Qi Qi Shixiong Cheng Yan to control would have surely stabilized the front-line battlefield.

It's just a pity that during the first exchange, he lost three moves to the opponent, and under the pressure of the opponent's sudden arrival, he had to reveal his means in advance to deter the opponent.

When all is said and done!

It's still that the Luoyun Sect's foundation is insufficient!

The killing moves that could hold the field were all concentrated on him.

At this moment, he was unable to divide his attention and was instead restrained.

Seeing Han Zhan not speaking, Aoxiao raised an eyebrow.

With his hands behind his back, after a moment of contemplation, he suddenly said: "If Fellow Daoist is willing to make a Great Dao oath to declare the opening war a failure and withdraw from the Xiaoyue Mountain Range, I will immediately order my clansmen to stop and leave a lineage for your Luoyun Sect."

"Impossible!" Han Zhan refused flatly without even thinking.

Aoxiao frowned slightly, "Why go so far! If we keep fighting like this, your Luoyun Sect disciples will all die; even if you occupy the Xiaoyue Mountain Range, what of it? Do you want to be the weakest Nascent Soul sect in history?"

Han Zhan thought of that scene and couldn't help but shudder.

But in an instant, he returned to a state of calm.

The Wolf Emperor Aoxiao was rebuffed but didn't mind.

"Since that's the case, then continue to sit and watch your disciples die wailing! Don't dream of making a move to help; you know very well that you are only barely able to contend with me now because you occupy the geographical advantage. As long as you show the slightest flaw, killing you will be as easy as turning over my hand!"

"Boastful!" Han Zhan let out a low shout, his magic power shaking, and the Nascent Soul pressure soared into the sky.

"You can try!" Aoxiao let out a cold snort, and his overbearing aura pressed down without yielding.

Two terrifying pressures collided in an instant.

Aoxiao's sleeves fluttered, his golden hair moved without wind, and he couldn't help but take a step back.

Han Zhan let out a muffled groan but remained in his original seat, motionless.

Looking at it this way, it was Aoxiao who had suffered a loss.

However, the opponent was not angry at all, his eyes shining with golden light as he looked at the black puppet sitting opposite Han Zhan, which was trembling.

"So that's how it is!"

"No wonder last time we fought, you clearly lost three moves to me but were unscathed."

"You actually refined this puppet into an external incarnation. Not only is it controlled as easily as an arm, but it can even transfer damage."

"Tsk tsk, you truly have great fortune; you've only formed your Nascent Soul for less than a hundred years and already possess two major killing moves: an external incarnation and a sword array."

"Since that's the case, why persist in stubborn resistance? Withdraw early to preserve the sect's foundation; with your means, you might be able to make a comeback later..."

Han Zhan stared at him and spoke abruptly, interrupting the opponent's chatter.

"Do you really think you've got my Luoyun Sect in the bag?"

Aoxiao frowned.

But soon, he sensed something.

Because of this, he held Han Zhan in even higher regard.

"Your realm is not as high as mine, but your spiritual sense is stronger than mine; I really underestimated you."

"Since that's the case..."

A corner of the defensive array.

A third-rank early-stage demon wolf was wreaking havoc.

Even though there were layers of puppets in front of it, spitting out balls of energy light and magic tools dancing wildly, erupting with layers of killing intent, it was not afraid at all.

Relying on its thick skin and flesh, it kept bombarding the light screen guarding the position.

"As long as I open a gap first and lead the crowd to charge in, it will be a great merit."

"The Wolf Emperor will surely be overjoyed and might even reward me with the wolf clan's secret inheritance technique!"

Just as it was fantasizing.

From outside the sky, cyan sword light suddenly descended like a meteor.

The demon wolf was greatly alarmed and spat out an earthy-yellow demon power shield regardless of everything, attempting to block this sword.

However!

Swish!

With a soft sound, the cyan sword light pierced through the shield like a knife cutting through tofu, stabbing directly into the demon wolf's massive body.

At that instant, the demon wolf caught the main body of the sword light.

It was a sword pill!

The next moment!

Endless cyan sword light, like butterflies, broke out of its cocoon from within its body.

Silently, the demon wolf turned into countless small fragments and fell to the ground.

The sword light suddenly merged into one, turning into a sword pill, and flew back in the direction it came from.

And in the direction the person came from, ten figures rushed over like lightning.

Before they even arrived, heaven-shaking attacks had already been struck heavily.

Flying swords, nails, steel needles, puppets, five-element spells...

Just one round of attacks greatly relieved the defensive pressure on the Luoyun Sect members.

And seeing this scene, everyone knew that reinforcements had arrived.

The experts of the Sword-Holding Hall had returned!

Whoosh!

A figure, moving extremely fast like a rainbow, went straight into the array.

Just after landing, the person frowned and looked at the massive body embedded in the ground, which was extremely miserable and could even be called tragic.

The faint features on the massive face allowed him to recognize the opponent's identity.

"It's Dan Chenzi!"

He was about to step forward, but a sharp cry came from behind.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, don't move him!"

Lin Qingxuan turned around, "Fellow Daoist Jueqing, why can't I move him? Dan Chenzi is seriously injured, and this place is not a place for recuperation; it's better to send him to a safe place."

Fairy Jueqing said with a heavy face: "Pay attention to his chest!"

Lin Qingxuan looked in the direction of the sound, and surprise appeared on his face.

He saw layers of armor plates shattered, flesh and blood rolled outward, and bones and blood vessels clearly visible.

And countless golden lights permeated them, attempting to erode Luo Chen's massive body.

Fortunately, there were clusters of cyan firelight burning continuously, preventing the golden light from spreading.

The golden light was powerful but was a rootless object; it diminished the more it was burned.

The firelight was weaker but of an extremely high grade and was inexhaustible, already slowly gaining the upper hand.

The two were deadlocked, forming a strange state of balance.

If Luo Chen's body were moved at will, it would surely break this state of balance, and that would turn into good intentions leading to bad results.

"Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist; Qingxuan almost made a big mistake."

Jueqing waved her hand, "Let's deal with this beast tide first!"

Lin Qingxuan nodded.

Relying on the advantage of a sword cultivator's speed, he had previously launched a full-strength strike in advance, capturing a third-rank early-stage Wolf King on the spot.

Now, after a slight rest, his magic power was flowing freely again.

It was just right for fighting again!

Just as he was about to return to the battlefield, the countless demon beasts besieging the base camp seemed to have received an order and were retreating with a clatter.

Advancing and retreating in an orderly manner, not at all like savage creatures without wisdom.

Lin Qingxuan revealed a look of surprise, "I have also heard sect elders recount the war that opened up the Yuding Domain; although it took a hundred years, the demon beasts were never this united and cooperative. It's simply like an army of a mortal kingdom! This level of organizational strength is even better than us sect cultivators!"

Fairy Jueqing also had a heavy expression.

"That Wolf Emperor Aoxiao is indeed an unparalleled genius of the demon race, actually able to twist the demon wolf clan into a single rope. If this opening effort hadn't been several times greater than before, I'm afraid the Luoyun Sect would have suffered a heavy blow."

Not just afraid!

But already suffered a heavy blow!

As a genius of the younger generation of the Yuding Sword Sect, Lin Qingxuan had long since reached the realm of Sword Heart Clarity.

Controlling the sword with the heart, proving the intent with the sword.

At this moment, under the perception of his sword heart, he could clearly feel the immense sorrow of the remaining Luoyun Sect disciples.

In this battle, the Luoyun Sect was led by Wolf Emperor Aoxiao to strike at the heart, resulting in countless deaths and injuries.

Not to mention anything else, just the Core Formation cultivators alone saw at least five fall!

The survivors, apart from Cheng Yan, were almost all injured.

Even those who looked uninjured were pale and listless, clearly in a state of excessive puppet manipulation and weak primordial spirits.

You must know that the Luoyun Sect definitely could not be considered a Nascent Soul sect with a deep foundation.

In the early years, there were only a dozen or so Core Formation cultivators.

During the fifty years of preparation, they spent countless foundations to forcibly give birth to three Core Formation cultivators.

But in total, it was less than twenty.

After this battle, it could be called a heavy blow to their vitality!

If the Sword-Holding Hall cultivators had returned any later, I'm afraid they would have been wiped out.

Lin Qingxuan sighed and cast his gaze toward that towering mountain peak.

"Why didn't that one make a move?"

On Qianye Peak, Cheng Yan was full of anger, staring fixedly at Han Zhan.

"Junior brother, why didn't you make a move!"

Han Zhan looked at him calmly, "How do you want me to make a move? To expose my flaws to Aoxiao?"

"Then you just watched the junior brothers and sisters, the sect elites, die one by one in front of us? Being so stingy with your own life, you are unworthy of being a Supreme Elder of a sect!"

"Senior brother, your words are excessive."

Cheng Yan's eyes were red, and his fingers pointed at him tremblingly.

"Excessive? You were afraid of exposing flaws, then fight that beast Aoxiao! Didn't you tell me that with an external incarnation, forming the Two-Yi Five-Element Array, you could fight a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator? For this killing move of yours, I spared no expense in consuming the sect's foundation, intercepting outer-domain sword cultivators, ambushing the Sword Sect's Ren Pingsheng, and even letting Linghu Jie release three Ghost Kings to seize Pang Renxiong's body. Now that the killing move is refined, you don't dare to use it; what kind of logic is this!"

Cheng Yan felt immense pain in his heart.

In this battle, he watched his fellow sect members die one by one beside him.

Even if he had killed five third-rank Wolf Kings and countless low-rank demon wolves by himself, he couldn't save any of this.

If the Luoyun Sect's foundation killing moves were still there.

How could this battle be like this?

Those foundations were either destroyed in the battle against the Sword Sect's top Core Formation expert Ren Pingsheng, or they were all supplied to Han Zhan to help him achieve the Nascent Soul stage and refine a Nascent Soul-level incarnation puppet.

It was precisely because of this that he, Cheng Yan, was a clever woman unable to cook without rice, feeling powerless in the face of the wolf pack.

Facing his senior brother's accusations, Han Zhan remained calm.

"I am also heartbroken, but I really couldn't move at the time, and I didn't dare to move."

"It's not that I'm stingy with my life, but the aftermath of a Nascent Soul-level battle is too great."

"In one battle, before the external beast tide could rush in, Aoxiao alone could have affected thousands of our sect's members here."

Speaking of this.

He paused, and a bitter smile appeared on his meticulous face.

"Being able to fight a mid-stage Nascent Soul and being able to kill one are two different things."

"Even if I severely injured Aoxiao, so what? If he wants to leave, a Nascent Soul escape is a thousand miles, and I can do nothing to him."

"Senior brother, you are not a True Person, you don't know the means of a Nascent Soul; I don't blame you."

Cheng Yan was stunned, standing still on the spot.

After a long while, he walked down the mountain in a daze.

In his mouth, he was just muttering one sentence.

"I am not a True Person... I am not a True Person..."

Han Zhan sighed; he knew that his sincere words, spoken truthfully, had unintentionally poked at his senior brother's most painful spot.

However, there was really no other way at the time.

At least, under the mutual restraint, the Luoyun Sect finally waited for the elite troops to return, preserving the sect's vitality.

"Don't worry, senior brother!"

"As long as we take down the Xiaoyue Mountain Range, the Luoyun Sect will sooner or later flourish, not only returning to its peak but even ten or a hundred times more than before."

"That Aoxiao will also sooner or later pay the price for this battle!"

"I, your junior brother, will never lie to you!"

The muttering voice, along with the night wind, reached Cheng Yan's ears.

I don't know if he could listen to it.

Han Zhan pursed his lips, his gaze overlooking the battlefield forged in blood and fire below, finally stopping on that massive body lying on the ground.

His gaze moved slightly, and then he raised his hand.

A faint light descended from the sky, seeping into the body.

Luo Chen, whose whole body was covered in gold, shuddered under this stimulation.

Then, the countless golden lights gathered toward the center and were slowly wrapped by the cyan flames.

Luo Chen opened his eyes, held his hands in front of his chest, and formed a magic seal.

Instantly, his body began to shrink rapidly.

With the support of Fairy Jueqing, he struggled to climb up and put on his coat.

Although he was seriously injured, Luo Chen still bowed toward the direction of Qianye Peak.

"Thank you, True Person!"

There was no response.

Luo Chen, whose face had no trace of blood, straightened up, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings.

Seeming to know what he was thinking, Fairy Jueqing said softly: "You go and recuperate; I will help you find the Luotian Alliance cultivators."

"Then thank you, Fellow Daoist."

Luo Chen smiled reluctantly, not refusing the other party's kindness, and walked toward the cave dwelling with a stumbling gait.

Watching his back, Fairy Jueqing couldn't help but shake her head.

It's like this again!

He was miserable enough last time, and this time he made himself like this again.

It was just good luck; otherwise, if he had stayed on the battlefield, he would have been torn apart and devoured by demon beasts long ago.

Why show off!

An alchemist, how good it would be to hide in the rear.

However, when Fairy Jueqing wandered the battlefield looking for the Luotian Alliance cultivators, she learned the details of the previous battle from others.

"Senior Dan Chenzi?"

"We really have to thank him for this battle; not only did he kill three Wolf Kings in the formation, but he also personally blocked that third-rank late-stage Jin Langwang, otherwise I'm afraid we wouldn't have had the chance to set up the array."

"With a Core Formation early-stage body, resisting a late-stage Wolf King without dying, Senior Dan Chenzi is truly amazing!"

Fairy Jueqing blinked, somewhat incredulous.

Before the Nascent Soul stage, because cultivators have many means and can borrow external forces, they are not afraid of demon beasts of the same rank.

But this also has a limit.

If one crosses a middle realm, this advantage is already wiped out.

And if one is two middle realms apart, early-stage versus late-stage... that is absolutely ten deaths and no life!

Luo Chen actually resisted the Jin Langwang head-on and survived?

"I underestimated him."

Struggling back to the cave dwelling.

Luo Chen looked down at the large hole in his chest and the mass of golden light entrenched in his body, which, even though heavily wrapped by his natal true fire, was still stuck to him like a maggot on a tarsal bone.

He let out a bitter smile.

"In the end, I was still careless!"

(End of chapter)