Chapter 73: Crisis

Our top priority now is to find a way, break the formation, and let the remaining three thousand cultivators leave the formation.

If we try to intercept them now, who knows how many talismans and magical artifacts they still have; pursuing them would be too late.

The siege at Dragon City ultimately ended in failure.

Those three thousand surviving cultivators were completely trapped inside the formation for seven days before barely managing, with the help of a few formation masters, to locate the formation's eye and dispel the formation.

After escaping the formation area, they immediately set out toward the Azure Abyss Sect.

At this moment,

Su Chen is still one hour away from reaching Cloud Sea City.

The three thousand cultivators garrisoned at Cloud Sea City have exhausted their spirit stones in half a day; the violent spiritual energy frenziedly erodes their bodies, and the cultivators defending the city gate must also fend off the beast tide.

Ahhh!

From time to time, cultivators blocking demonic beast attacks with their swords, affected by the surging spiritual energy, experience internal spiritual energy chaos and are devoured completely by the demonic beasts.

Without spirit stone supplies, the Spirit Gathering Formation also begins to fail; the supplied spiritual energy is nowhere near enough for cultivation.

Now, without spirit stones to keep the Spirit Gathering Formation running, they can't hold on much longer.

"Sect Master Su, you told us to wait before; we believed you and waited, but what about now?"

"Has anyone sent spirit stones?"

A young cultivator, having carelessly inhaled violent spiritual energy while cultivating, can't now refine it; his body begins to weaken, and even his vital energy is not as strong as before.

Their voices grew hoarse: "The cultivators resisting the beast tide below the city mostly didn't fall because they were outmatched, but because…… they lacked sufficient spiritual energy."

"Now the three thousand cultivators have started to complain; if we still can't get spirit stone supplies, they will abandon the city."

"Tonight will be the longest-lasting surge of the spiritual eruption; are we just going to watch helplessly as they get devoured by the demonic beasts?"

"Cough cough!!"

The young cultivator coughs violently, feeling utterly stifled, helpless and unable to do anything.

They resent Su Changfeng for doing nothing, turning a blind eye, and not even trying to obtain spirit stones.

Asked why there are no spirit stones, he just says, "Wait, wait, wait."

Not to mention the young disciples; even other former elder-level figures of the Heavenly Mystery Dao Sect are growing anxious, unable to sit still: "Sect Master, he's right; go up to the city walls and see what state the violent spiritual energy has reduced our disciples to."

"One careless mistake and they'll end up in the belly of a demonic beast."

"Half a month ago, you said this problem could be solved and told us to wait."

"Fine, we listened to you, but now half a month has passed and our disciples are about to burst to death from being overfilled with unrefinable spiritual energy inside them—"

An elder, having said this much, swallowed the harsh words.

He paused,

then angrily flicked his sleeves and left, saying before departing with heartfelt anguish: "Sect Master, are you really just going to watch as those disciples who spare no effort and willingly follow you get devoured by demonic beasts?"

"Have you truly become so heartless?"

Su Changfeng stood on the city wall, feeling the violent spiritual energy rushing at him like a blade, deeply stabbing his cheeks.

He could see the disciples fighting desperately below the city, their bodies swollen and bursting from the spiritual energy.

He could also sense that the three thousand cultivators were nearing their limit.

"Honored elders."

Su Chen closed his eyes, then opened them again, his confidence returning as before: "Our cultivation spirit stone resources are completely exhausted, and another wave of beasts will come tonight."

"I am more anxious than any of you, but please trust me and trust yourselves; hold on a few more days, and salvation will surely come."

The words fell.

The young cultivator could bear it no longer; risking being struck down by Su Changfeng, he lunged forward, grabbed the other's collar, his eyes bloodshot, and shouted: "Su, Chang, Feng! Enough!"

"Is it that as long as it's not you who dies, you can calmly keep waiting?"

"Ye Xuan slanders you for colluding with extraterritorial demons, claiming you're a demon descendant who wants to annihilate the entire Heavenly Mystery Dao Sect; who, unafraid of death, still chooses to believe you and follow you without hesitation, knowing they'll face eternal condemnation and be rejected by their clan!"

"Speak up! We could have, like the other disciples and elders of the sect, taken our stipends and left to join Ye Han or the Azure Abyss Sect; at worst our conscience would bother us, but that's still better than dying ignominiously in a demonic beast's belly due to the violent spiritual energy."

"Many of them are my fellow senior disciples; we used to be from the same sect. I can't coldly watch them be devoured by demonic beasts—I've had enough! I no longer believe a single word you say."

Su Changfeng did not use his Martial Sovereign realm cultivation to blast this person away.

He knew that these disciples and elders could, at this moment, choose to follow him, so they are certainly not greedy for life and afraid of death.

They could have their heads cut off by Ye Xuan or the Ye family's disciples, or be unable to endure and die ignominiously in a demonic beast's belly.

"I know you might not believe me."

"But I believe, my son! He will certainly bring spirit stones and rush here."

Su Changfeng lifted his gaze, his eyes earnestly fixed on the young heaven's pride cultivator, whose gaze was filled with resolute certainty: "Once my son arrives at Cloud Sea City, every problem will cease to be a problem."

"When we left Primordial Origin City, my son personally promised that within half a month he would definitely come to Cloud Sea City to meet with me."

"There are only two days left."

"He will surely keep his promise."

Upon hearing this news, the elders and disciples were all stunned.

"What?"

"That good-for-nothing who spends all day chasing after women's backsides?"

Everyone in the Eastern Wasteland knows about the ridiculous things Su Chen has done.

Su Changfeng… actually dared to say that as soon as Su Chen arrives at Cloud Sea City, whether it's constructing the Spirit Gathering Formation or consuming spirit stone resources, everything will be solved?

To the many cultivators, this is nothing short of a joke.

As for what kind of person Su Chen is, we'll set that aside for now.

Just speaking of thirty million spirit stones—even if stored in spatial rings, they'd number in the thousands or tens of thousands; moreover, building a Spirit Gathering Formation requires a Saint-level formation master to accomplish.

Su Chen, who only knows the basics of martial arts and formations, how could he solve it?

Good!

Let's not discuss these for now; even if we give Su Chen the benefit of the doubt and suppose he managed to obtain all these, but once he got outside Yunhai City...

Not to mention the occasional beast tide outbreaks, all the exits outside the city are guarded by Ye family disciples under Ye Han's command.

How can Su Chen enter the city?

Absurd, simply absurd!

The young cultivator slowly loosened his grip; his eyes instantly turned disappointed and dim, and for the first time he felt that following Su Changfeng was a joke: "So..."

You do nothing but pin all your hopes on Su Chen, right?

Waiting for a spoiled good-for-nothing second-generation heir who does nothing but chase after women, right?

Entrust the lives of the three thousand senior disciples to Su Chen's hands.

You... hehe!

He's likely already been captured by Ye Xuan and made a hostage.

You think, relying on his cultivation, after leaving the Tianxuan Dao Sect's support and being surrounded by tens of thousands of Qingming Sect cultivators, he still has a chance to gather the supplies for ten Spirit Gathering Arrays and the spiritual stones needed for several thousand cultivators' practice, flaunt himself openly, and come to Yunhai City to meet you?

Su Changfeng still chose to remain silent; he understood that a few words of his could not convince everyone.

He knows his son's image as a spoiled second-generation heir is deeply ingrained in the eyes of all cultivators in the Eastern Wasteland.

He also knows how laughable it is to bring those spirit stones and formation masters to Yunhai City.

But precisely for that reason, Su Changfeng has delayed until now, forced with no alternative, to reveal the truth to everyone.