Chapter 112: Chaos Ensues

For this operation, neither Yuqing Hall nor Longmen Mountain dared to show the slightest bit of procrastination or a spectator's mentality; they went almost all out, deploying nearly half of their respective sects' Core Disciples, which also allowed many small sects and rogue cultivators to breathe a sigh of relief.

Of course, this was both a tribulation and, at the same time, a good opportunity for the disciples of various sects to gain experience and make a fortune.

Especially for Spirit Realm Great Cultivators who primarily cultivate their Primordial Spirit, Soul Beads are simply treasures for cultivation.

That Spirit Transformation Great Cultivator in the Eastern Wasteland was already over nine hundred years old and had long since lost hope of reaching Spirit Transformation, but after obtaining a large number of Soul Beads, his cultivation began to loosen and grow within a few days, which was what made him resolve to go deep into the Void Abyss and decide to take a gamble, wanting to obtain more Soul Beads to strengthen his Primordial Spirit.

Unfortunately, however, not long after entering the Void Abyss, he was buried within it.

With the arrival of a large number of cultivators, Xuanchen Zhenjun also breathed a sigh of relief and summoned several Danyuan Realm and a group of True Essence Late Stage Elders and Sect Leaders from various sects to discuss countermeasures.

After another few days of preparation, the Danyuan Realm Elders from Yuqing Hall and Longmen Mountain who had brought teams to assist began to open a gap in the Array.

All the arriving cultivators had also been divided into eight teams according to their cultivation strength, respectively under the jurisdiction of Yuqing Hall and Longmen Mountain, and together with the Danyuan Realm Elders and Sect Leaders of several other medium-sized Immortal Sects, they were divided into two groups to be responsible for clearing out Soul Beasts in Spirit Fox Valley and Black Wind Ridge respectively.

As the Great Cultivator with the highest cultivation, Xuanchen Zhenjun sat in command at Taiyuan Sect to coordinate and direct; in addition, each team had personnel specifically responsible for transmitting messages and recording merits for rewards, so on the whole, it was still quite orderly.

However, cultivators are a relatively loose and independent group; apart from the few large and medium-sized Immortal Sects that were still relatively disciplined and followed instructions, the remaining small Immortal Sects and rogue cultivator families were much more chaotic, and there were even a large number of rogue cultivators at the early Kaiyuan Realm among them, with low cultivation, trash Magic Treasures, and they couldn't even scrape together a bottle of Small Yuan Pill.

Xu Chen followed along, running back and forth for several days to help coordinate and direct, his face twitching constantly as he watched.

These people looked like they were watching the fun, but in reality, they were completely like cannon fodder; once they entered the Black Wind, facing those elusive Soul Beasts, it was unknown how many would ultimately survive.

Among them, most didn't even know what entering the Black Wind meant, let alone the terror of the Soul Beasts.

Xu Chen's status and position in Taiyuan Sect were completely different now, and everyone from top to bottom treated him like a mascot, so he was actually excluded from this grand and bustling event.

Great Elder Xuanchen Zhenjun personally gave the order that unless it was an absolute last resort, Xu Chen was not allowed to enter the Array to kill Soul Beasts.

As for other disciples, any who were on the verge of advancing were also not required to participate and were to focus all their efforts on cultivating to improve their strength.

And under the summons of the Immortal Alliance Order, several disciples who had been out gaining experience also returned to the mountain one after another and were assigned to join the teams exterminating the Soul Beasts.

However, after learning of the heaven-defying efficacy of the Soul Pills refined by Xu Chen, they all beat their chests and stamped their feet in regret; they all ran to find the Third Elder to get the Taiyuan Soul-Entering Pill, and ignoring the clearing order, they instead secretly hid in the mountain gate to begin cultivating with all their might to improve their cultivation.

Xuanchen Zhenjun just pretended not to see this matter.

Better a Daoist friend dies than oneself; Taiyuan Sect had a sparse population, totaling only a dozen or so people, and with the two great Immortal Sects of Yuqing Hall and Longmen Mountain respectively responsible for guarding the two major Arrays, this bit of strength from Taiyuan Sect was completely dispensable.

And the Elders and Sect Leaders of several large and medium-sized Immortal Sects like Yuqing Hall and Longmen Mountain also turned a blind eye.

With so many small Immortal Sects and rogue cultivator families participating right now, hundreds of cultivators together coming and going like fireworks in the sky, it was completely unnecessary to tear faces with Taiyuan Sect over a few mere True Essence or Kaiyuan Realm cultivators.

Moreover, with Xuanchen Zhenjun sitting in command, if things got too big, not only might they be given the cold shoulder, but it wouldn't look good for the several True Monarchs when they returned.

Furthermore, although entering the Array was dangerous, the benefits were also great; whoever killed more Soul Beasts would naturally get more Soul Pills, and no one ever thought they had too many of such treasures.

The reason why Yuqing Hall and Longmen Mountain were so enthusiastic and active was actually because the four True Monarchs had secretly instructed them to be sure to seize the good positions within the Array first and strive to kill the most Soul Beasts to accumulate wealth for their mountain gates.

Once a large number of Soul Beads were obtained, the strength of the four True Monarchs of Yuqing Hall and Longmen Mountain would soon advance by leaps and bounds.

Perhaps the final outcome of this Nether Qi leak would be the cultivation of several True Monarchs skyrocketing and their strength increasing dramatically; if they were lucky enough and obtained enough Soul Beads, there might even be a possibility of reaching Spirit Transformation and Void Breaking.

Therefore, for small and medium-sized Immortal Sects and ordinary cultivators, this might cost them their lives.

But for the Sect Leaders and Elders of large and medium-sized sects, why was it not a heaven-sent opportunity for advancement?

On the day the Array was opened, Xu Chen followed along to Spirit Fox Valley to watch the fun.

The Great Elder of Longmen Mountain, Dongyun, who was at the Danyuan Late Stage, led eight of his disciples at the True Essence Late Stage to stand at the eight Array Eyes of the Eight Extremes Array, and then together they pinched magic seals and input True Essence to activate the Array.

Amidst the light and shadow of the Array rising into the air, the Array began to shake violently; as one Array Eye was opened, a surge of uncontrollable Black Mist like ink shot into the sky, emitting a whistle that shook the heavens and earth as it rushed hundreds of feet into the air; the Array could not suppress it at all, and the Black Mist rolled and scattered, the heavens and earth changing color in an instant.

And accompanying the spitting and venting of this pressure, one after another, black shadows of Soul Beasts were also sprayed out mixed in the Black Wind; while they fell down with a crackling sound amidst the roaring and howling of the black smoke, there were also many species capable of flight that directly spread their wings and wrapped themselves in the Black Wind to head in all directions.

"All Daoist Friends, listen to the order: strike together to intercept and kill these Soul Beasts; you must not let them break into the mortal realm."

Xuanchen Zhenjun's thick and clear voice rang out in the minds of all the cultivators watching from all directions.

"We obey the order of Xuanchen Zhenjun!"

All the cultivators bowed and accepted the order together, and then, led by the Danyuan Realm cultivators at the head of their respective teams, they either rode their Flying Swords, soared into the air, or rode their Spirit Beasts, whistling as they killed their way into the rolling black mist.

Although Xu Chen had been ordered not to enter the Array, he was duty-bound at this moment, and together with a group of senior brothers and sisters who had also come to watch the fun, he rode his Flying Sword into the air and joined the team killing the Soul Beasts.

For a time, within a hundred miles of Spirit Fox Valley, there were colorful Escape Lights crisscrossing everywhere.

One after another, the light and shadows of Flying Swords, Magic Treasures, and Magic Spells exploded across the mountains and plains; a large number of Soul Beasts carried and sprayed out by the Black Wind were killed in mid-air before they could even land, and the Soul Beads that fell out were naturally snatched up by quick-eyed cultivators who couldn't help but laugh excitedly and impatiently pounce on other Soul Beasts again.

Dongyun and his eight disciples at the True Essence Late Stage were still concentrating on controlling the Array at this time.

They had to wait until the power of this long-suppressed Black Wind had weakened, and the Array was stabilized and resealed, before they could stop.

As for the disciples of Longmen Mountain, they all guarded the surroundings of the cultivators opening the Array, killing Soul Beasts while protecting the safety of the personnel opening the Array.

At this time, Xuanchen Zhenjun was over a hundred miles away, sitting in the main hall on the peak of Taiyuan Sect, his Divine Sense like a torch, observing a thousand miles; his powerful Divine Sense monitored the changes in the entire Spirit Fox Valley and Black Wind Ridge like a sieve, and once an uncontrollable situation appeared, he would go all out to help.

Almost at the same time, Yuqing Hall also opened a gap in the Five Elements Illusion Cloud Array at Black Wind Ridge.

The situation there was even more intense.

The Black Wind, which could already not be suppressed, usually sprayed out hundreds of feet high, and after the Array was restarted and the Array Eye opened, a black smoke column a hundred feet thick instantly shot straight into the sky like a black beam of light; the sharp whistling sound shook the surrounding ten thousand miles like thunder, and even Taiyuan Sect and Spirit Fox Valley could feel the fluctuation of this terrifying aura.

The rift at Black Wind Ridge was the main passage for Nether Qi, so the pressure was greater and there were more Soul Beasts.

As the Black Mist sprayed out like ink, hundreds of black Soul Beasts wrapped in black smoke like a terrifying and ferocious giant tentacle monster dragged thick black smoke trails as they roared out in all directions; a large number of Soul Beasts howled and smashed onto the mountain ridges below, then ran wildly across the mountains and plains, among which there were a large number of flying Soul Beasts circling and charging in the air like strange-looking giant birds, and many more directly pounced on the cultivator teams already waiting in the surroundings.

"All Daoist Friends, kill the Soul Beasts with all your might; do not let them escape and break into the mortal realm!"

Xuanchen Zhenjun's voice likewise rang out in the minds of all the cultivators at Black Wind Ridge.

"We obey the order of Xuanchen Zhenjun!"

The cultivators who had been waiting for a long time bowed and accepted the order one after another, and then rode their Escape Lights, whistling up from all directions to begin chasing and killing the appearing Soul Beasts across the sky and mountains.

The five Danyuan Realm cultivators of Yuqing Hall were fully presiding over the Five Elements Array, each with an extremely serious expression.

The scene before them made everyone's scalp tingle.

If it hadn't been discovered early and handled in a timely manner, it was feared that the entire Five Elements Array would not have lasted another half a month before completely collapsing.

Even so, the power of the Black Wind spraying out now that it had found a vent was like a dam bursting, with no sign of weakening at all; according to this state, it was estimated that it would take several days for the Array to stabilize again, so no one dared to be the slightest bit careless.

But fortunately, with Xuanchen Zhenjun, a Spirit Transformation Mid-Stage Great Cultivator, sitting in command, it was unlikely that any major accidents would occur.

However, there were truly too many Soul Beasts coming out with the Black Wind spray before their eyes; the number could no longer be counted, at least a thousand, and as the Black Wind continued to spray, there were still endless Soul Beasts appearing behind them, so the several Danyuan Realm powerhouses leading the teams also felt somewhat powerless, only able to barely stabilize the Array and completely unable to help.

They had thought that the more than five hundred cultivators summoned were enough, but looking at it now, it was still far from enough.

Moreover, it was split into two locations, with only about three hundred at Black Wind Ridge, leaving manpower stretched thin in an instant.

It was not just that these Soul Beasts were numerous; the main issue was that the Black Wind erupted too quickly, completely breaching the Five Elements Grand Array, and the area covered by the Black Mist was too vast. In less than two quarter-hours, the core area of Black Wind Ridge had become as pitch-black as the arrival of night, making it impossible to see one's own fingers. The Divine Sense of most cultivators in the Kaiyuan Realm was compressed to within a few yards, rendering them completely blind and forcing them to begin retreating to the outer perimeter in large numbers.

Under such circumstances, casualties soon appeared.

Amidst the ear-piercing, vibrating howl of the Black Wind and the roaring of Soul Beasts, the screams and cries for help from cultivators began to ring out one after another within the black fog.

But by this time, the entire area within a radius of several hundred miles of Black Wind Ridge had already fallen into complete chaos.

Because the number of Soul Beasts far exceeded the number of cultivators, everyone was overwhelmed. In the rolling Black Wind, they fought the Soul Beasts in the sky and on the ground; some were chasing and killing, some were being chased and killed, and others, surrounded by three or four Soul Beasts, could only struggle to call for help and fight back. Roars and screams resounded throughout this wilderness that had once been rarely visited by humans.

(End of this chapter)