Chapter 156: Emergency Summons

……

The canyon where the Golden Toad Palace discards its toads is very long and deep.

Below flows a stream, along with waterfalls and churning pools; the place is rarely visited year-round, and the thorns and trees almost completely shroud the entire canyon, making it airtight.

Xu Chen, Lan You, and the others entered the bottom of the valley directly and released their Divine Sense to search carefully; sure enough, they found toads everywhere—in rock crevices, tree hollows, earthen burrows, and even in the stream.

Furthermore, because there were so many toads, they naturally attracted a large number of snakes, rats, foxes, and weasels to forage, so as far as their Divine Sense could see, there were sounds of wild beasts, insects, and snakes slithering and scurrying everywhere.

These degenerated Seven-Star Golden Toads varied in size, their colors were a chaotic mess, and their temperaments were not at all like the golden toads seen in the Golden Toad Palace; they were actually extremely ferocious, with many biting and fighting each other upon meeting, and when facing natural enemies like snakes, rats, foxes, or weasels, they would even lash out in counterattack, often not coming off second best.

From this, it can be seen that the wild nature of these degenerated golden toads is also constantly strengthening.

A normal Seven-Star Golden Toad is entirely golden yellow, with seven emerald green spots on its back.

The pairs at the Golden Toad Palace have all begun to degenerate, but most of their colors are still golden yellow, with only their heads and feet showing some other mottled colors.

But these degenerated wild toads in the canyon were completely different; they were a chaotic mix of red, yellow, blue, and green, and their sizes also varied, with the small ones the size of a fist and the large ones reaching two feet.

Although Xu Chen only wanted to catch some degenerated toads to conduct experiments, he was somewhat dumbfounded at the sight of so many bizarre-looking toads; in the end, he decided it was best to try and find ones with standard body types and at least some gold color.

Thus, the group of female cultivators all released their Divine Sense to help Xu Chen search separately throughout the valley.

However, because these toads had been degenerating in the wild for a long time, they came in all sorts of colors, but it was rare to see any with golden stripes or spots, so finding suitable ones was not easy.

In the blink of an eye, half an hour passed, and all of them combined had only found five that were barely acceptable.

Just as Xu Chen and the others continued to search with their heads down, suddenly, a low and urgent bell tolling came faintly from somewhere.

Xu Chen hadn't paid it any mind at first, but Lan You, Ling Shuang, and the others all had their expressions change drastically.

"Daoist Friend Xu, it is an emergency summons from the Elder Hall; we must return to Cuihua Mountain immediately!"

After the group converged, Lan You said with a face full of anxiety.

Although Xu Chen was full of confusion, he knew that such an emergency summons from the sect must mean something of great importance had occurred, so he dared not delay; the group hurriedly rode their swords out of the canyon and headed toward Cuihua Peak.

At this moment, the entire Yuqing Hall, both inner and outer gates, had been startled by the bell; among the undulating mountain ranges for a thousand miles, one could see streaks of colorful Magic Treasure Escape Light heading toward Cuihua Peak, a scene that looked both grand and lively, yet also revealed a sense of tension and oppression.

A quarter of an hour later, the group arrived at the plaza of the main sect hall.

By now, hundreds of people had already gathered here, and a large number of cultivators were still arriving via Escape Light from all over the sky; in the few dozen breaths before and after Xu Chen and the others landed, another hundred people had appeared on the plaza, a dense, surging crowd of heads, all of them looking confused yet extremely solemn, and after landing, they all quickly gathered according to their respective inner or outer gate halls.

Lan You, Yun Xi, Yu Qingxuan, Ling Shuang, and the others were all Personal Disciples of Elders and naturally did not belong to any specific hall, so they headed toward the area near the entrance of the main hall where there were the fewest people.

More than a dozen people had already gathered here, most of them wearing black or white robes.

Those in black Daoist robes with a black-and-white Taiji pattern on their chests were Core Disciples; aside from Elders, only about twenty people were allowed to wear them, including Lan You, Yi Zhen, and Xu Wen, who had the potential for Golden Core and Spirit Transformation and were all being groomed as future successors to the Elders; their status and position were only slightly inferior to the few Danyuan Realm Elders, and their various benefits were naturally the best among all disciples.

Those in white Daoist robes with a golden lotus flower on their chests were Personal Disciples of Elders; Ling Shuang, Yu Qingxuan, Yang Ying, and Xiao Mingyue were all among them, though female cultivators were more concerned with beauty, so their daily attire had many more decorations, making them look a bit more cluttered, whereas the male cultivators didn't care much about clothing, so they looked more uniform.

As for the other disciples, they were distinguished by Daoist robes of different colors—cyan, blue, gray, etc. —according to their cultivation level and whether they were inner or outer gate, and the lotus emblems on their chests also differed.

The Yuqing Hall had vast resources, and not only were there strict grade distinctions for all cultivators' food, clothing, housing, and usage, but there was also a world of difference in their benefits.

From new disciples entering the sect to Danyuan Realm Elders, there were ten grades in total, with an insurmountable chasm between each grade; the hierarchy of superior and inferior was relatively clear, and anyone who overstepped would be severely punished by the Law Enforcement Hall once caught.

This situation simply did not exist in the Taiyuan Sect; aside from the hierarchy between Elders and disciples, peers were basically equal in status, and their relationships were very harmonious and friendly.

Therefore, while the luxury and foundation of the Yuqing Hall made Xu Chen envious and jealous, he also felt somewhat weary of the strict hierarchy and the complex, faction-ridden relationships within such a large sect.

Having stayed at the Yuqing Hall for over twenty days, this feeling made him increasingly resistant, and he even slowly began to feel that the Yuqing Hall was nothing more than this.

One reason was that he had defeated the Yuqing Hall twice in a row, which gave him more confidence to look down on them.

Another was that after gradually learning about the Yuqing Hall's grand architectural scale and deep foundation, he had become accustomed to it and no longer felt the initial shock.

Xu Chen appearing with Lan You and the others naturally attracted the attention of most people.

Many people glared with gnashing teeth, but there was nothing they could do.

"Second Senior Brother, what has happened?" Lan You walked up to the group and asked anxiously.

Yi Zhen glanced at Xu Chen and shook his head slightly: "It is not clear yet, but it is rumored that the Supreme Elder Yuyang Zhenjun has returned from investigating the news of the Soul Beast mutation."

Lan You and Xu Chen looked at each other, their expressions becoming extremely solemn.

"Second Senior Brother, what is a Soul Beast mutation? How come we have never heard of it?" Yun Xi asked with a face full of surprise.

Yi Zhen frowned: "Very few people know about this; you are with Daoist Friend Xu and Junior Sister Lan every day, how could you not know?"

Yun Xi shook her head, completely bewildered.

Even Yu Qingxuan and the other three women had blank expressions, turning their heads to look at Xu Chen and Lan You together.

Xu Chen gave a dry laugh and briefly recounted how he and Lan You had discovered the Soul Beasts rampaging and mutating in the mortal realm on their way to the Yuqing Hall; only then did the group suddenly realize, and the surrounding people, including other Core and Personal Disciples, crowded over upon hearing this, asking for more details in a cacophony of voices.

By now, there were more and more people on the plaza; in just under two quarters of an hour, a crowd of thousands had gathered.

Escape Lights were still arriving from all directions, but the numbers had begun to trickle off.

Xu Chen, Lan You, and the others were surrounded by a group of Core and Personal Disciples, and news of the Soul Beast mutation quickly spread, immediately attracting the attention of even more people; a large number of Yuqing Hall disciples swarmed over, making the scene increasingly noisy and boisterous.

"Dang, dang, dang, dang..."

Suddenly, a low and urgent bell tolling came from above the main hall again, ringing like muffled thunder in everyone's Soul, and the entire plaza instantly fell silent.

Almost simultaneously, a powerful pressure descended from the sky, and two elderly men in their fifties wearing gray-white Daoist robes appeared suddenly on the steps in front of the main sect hall, accompanied by six Danyuan Realm Elders.

"Two Supreme Elders?"

A violent commotion and clamor broke out among all the Yuqing Hall disciples, and the expressions of Yi Zhen and the others instantly became extremely solemn.

For the vast number of low-level cultivators, the three Supreme Elders were completely like legendary figures; they couldn't see them once in several years, and a large number of outer gate disciples didn't even have the chance to see a Supreme Elder in over ten years of being in the sect.

Even for the few Danyuan Realm Elders, they basically couldn't see the three Supreme Elders whenever they wanted without a summons.

It was slightly better for Personal and Core Disciples like Yi Zhen and Lan You; after all, they shouldered the inheritance of the Yuqing Hall, and the three reclusive Supreme Elders would occasionally summon them to offer a few words of guidance, but this had nothing to do with ordinary disciples, who still never got to see them.

But today, two Supreme Elders appeared together, and with such an urgent bell summons, it was feared that today's matter was of no small significance.

Xu Chen and Yi Zhen had exchanged a few words, and although he was somewhat prepared in his heart, he still felt a bit nervous and uneasy.

On the day he arrived at the Yuqing Hall and reported the Soul Beast mutation, Yuyang Zhenjun had gone down the mountain to investigate the truth.

And he had been gone for a full twenty days.

It was evident that Yuyang Zhenjun had gone far beyond the borders of the Great Song to investigate, and must have traveled to very distant places.

Just as everyone was wildly speculating in their hearts, Yuyang Zhenjun suddenly spoke, his Divine Sense carrying his voice to resonate within the minds of all the cultivators throughout Yuqing Hall:

"A few days ago, young friend Xu Chen of the Taiyuan Sect discovered that Soul Beasts were ravaging the mortal world, slaughtering and devouring mortals and wild beasts, and beginning to mutate. I dared not delay, so I went down the mountain for a trip. I went to the territory of Great Song and the surrounding Shu Kingdom, Ming Kingdom, Xiang Kingdom, Wu Kingdom, and various places in the Eastern Wasteland, and I also contacted the Supreme Great Elder. The situation outside is not optimistic. Apart from Great Song being slightly more peaceful, countless Soul Beasts have appeared in all the surrounding countries, causing a large number of casualties among mortals and cultivators. The Soul Beasts have even begun to mutate on a large scale, starting to fuse the flesh and blood of mortals and wild beasts to forge true physical bodies. These mutated Soul Beasts possess the dual abilities of Soul Beasts and Demon Beasts, and if a cultivator is devoured, some Soul Beasts can even evolve to use Magic Spell attacks, making them even more formidable than Demon Beasts..."

"Whoa—"

The entire plaza erupted in exclamations and uproar, and the thousands of cultivators became violently agitated.

Xu Chen was also taken aback, and Lan You's expression was even more nervous and unsightly than his; she turned her head and whispered via voice transmission: "Daoist Friend Xu, I didn't expect the situation to be even worse than what we saw initially."

Xu Chen nodded slightly, but did not speak.

(End of this chapter)