Chapter 316: Fighting for Survival

With the assistance of the Great Sun Divine Flame, the disciples of the Artifact Saint Palace greatly accelerated the speed of repairing spatial rifts.

At the same time, the Central Sacred Land took the lead, with the Talisman Saint Pavilion and the Array Saint Sect assisting from the side, jointly setting up a huge spirit energy shield that completely sealed off the area where spatial rifts spread, as well as regions flooded with fire spirit energy and demonic aura, preventing the 'calamity' from spreading to other places.

Meanwhile, the Medical Department was not idle either; the Spirit Realm Pavilion and the Qi Huang Pavilion both dispatched physicians and alchemists to the scene, bringing large quantities of spirit pills and spiritual medicines to rescue the wounded.

All five sacred lands mobilized fully, and with the major sects and noble houses permanently stationed in the capital extending a helping hand, by the time Hua Changxi emerged from the space within the Artifact Saint Palace ruins, the situation had been initially brought under control.

The situation did not worsen further, which made Hua Changxi breathe a sigh of relief.

The place where she emerged was precisely the area with the densest concentration of spatial rifts, where large amounts of fire spirit energy and demonic aura were still continuously spilling out.

Demonic aura disturbs the mind; absorbing too much can cause one to lose reason and become berserk. Hua Changxi did not linger long and quickly flew towards the edge of the spirit energy shield.

Due to the overflow of fire spirit energy, many places had been burned into pitch-black scorched earth, completely devoid of life, as if doomsday had arrived.

Hua Changxi looked at all this with a heavy heart. For the common people living around the Refining Workshop district, wasn't this sudden accident exactly a doomsday calamity?

Along the way, she saw a large number of Demon-Suppression Army soldiers shuttling within the spirit energy shield area, constantly searching for the wounded. As soon as they found a living person, they immediately transported them to a flying ship; once there were enough people, they shipped them out of the shield.

"Ah~"

"Watch out~"

Outside a burnt and collapsed house, a Demon-Suppression Army soldier was about to pick up a little girl curled up against a wall when a spatial rift suddenly appeared, severing both of his arms cleanly.

Hearing the commotion, just as the spatial rift was widening and about to engulf that soldier, Hua Changxi waved her hand, condensing spirit energy into a long whip, and pulled him away from the danger zone.

Then, with a flicker, she appeared beside the little girl, picked her up, and moved far away from the spatial rift.

"Many thanks to the fellow Daoist for saving us!"

Yue Yuan, the centurion of this Demon-Suppression Army squad, stepped forward and expressed his gratitude to Hua Changxi with a face full of appreciation.

Hua Changxi tapped several acupoints on the soldier who had lost his arms to stop the bleeding, then quickly scanned this squad. The highest cultivation level was merely mid Core Formation, and more than half of them were injured. She sighed inwardly and said, "I'll join you in the search and rescue afterward."

Hearing this, all the Demon-Suppression Army soldiers present showed joy on their faces.

More people mean more strength. They could also tell that this female cultivator before them was more powerful than them. With her around, they could not only save more people but also gain a bit more safety for themselves.

Yue Yuan ordered someone to send the armless soldier and the little girl to the flying ship behind them. "We've already rescued nearly a hundred people. Let's send this batch out first."

Hua Changxi saw this and asked, "Is there someone outside treating them?"

Yue Yuan nodded. "The Medical Department has sent out a large number of physicians and alchemists to treat the wounded."

Hua Changxi nodded, asked no further questions, and then followed this squad of Demon-Suppression Army soldiers to search everywhere.

With Hua Changxi's assistance from the side, the search and rescue speed increased considerably. They searched area after area until they had thoroughly covered the entire region within the spirit energy shield, and only then did she part ways with this Demon-Suppression Army squad.

Outside the spirit energy shield, various major forces had set up camp tents.

Yue Yuan led his men back to the Demon-Suppression Army camp to report their mission. This time, their squad had completed the search and rescue task remarkably well, saving tens of thousands of people—a number more than ten times that of other squads. As soon as they appeared, they attracted a lot of attention.

"Fourth Brother!"

Yue Heng smiled as he walked up and hooked his arm around Yue Yuan's shoulder. "This time you've really brought glory to our Xiping Prince Manor."

Yue Yuan was the fourth son of the Xiping Prince, and Yue Heng, the head of the Sixteenth Qihuang Hall under the Medical Department, was his half-brother (same father, different mother).

With spirit energy revived and the situation restructured, the children of powerful nobles and aristocratic families all understood that now was a good time to expand their families outward. With internal strife set aside and unity against external threats, naturally, brothers united can cut through metal.

Yue Heng was quite satisfied with Yue Yuan's outstanding performance this time.

Why did all major forces support the Artifact Saint Palace's sudden upheaval and show such enthusiasm? Wasn't it because this was a rare opportunity to gain fame?

Anyone with even a bit of ambition understood the importance of winning the people's hearts.

Yue Yuan looked at his younger brother, fifth-born Yue Heng, who seemed to be basking in reflected glory, and his expression was somewhat unnatural. Saving so many people this time was not his own achievement.

"Brother Yue, quickly tell us how you conducted your search and rescue. How did you manage to find so many people?"

People from the North Garrison Prince Manor, South Ding Prince Manor, East An Prince Manor, as well as various major sects and noble families, all crowded around, looking as if they wanted to learn from Yue Yuan's experience.

Yue Yuan knew that these people were trying to probe him. He did not take the credit and directly said, "The reason we could save so many people is that we received help from a certain Miss Hua of the Dan Saint Hall."

As soon as these words were spoken, the scene instantly fell silent.

Yue Heng paused for a moment, then said with a wooden expression, "That Fellow Daoist Hua, she wouldn't happen to be a woman, would she?"

Yue Yuan looked over and asked in surprise, "How do you know?"

Yue Heng's face twitched. "Don't tell me her name is Hua Changxi?"

Yue Yuan shook his head. "She only said her surname was Hua. As for her given name, I don't know."

Everyone: "......."

Not far away, Chu Junling, the Right General of the Demon-Suppression Army in charge of the search and rescue mission, also had a slight change in expression.

Hua Changxi was a well-known figure in Dan Saint Hall. When the disaster struck, all the notable Qihuang Hall masters and Secret Realm masters from the Medical Department had arrived, except for her.

In response, there was no shortage of discussion among all parties, and quite a few slanderous words about her spread. It turned out she had gone to rescue people.

On the other side, after parting ways with Yue Yuan and the others, Hua Changxi did not leave directly but went to check on the place where the wounded were being sheltered.

"Ah—"

The painful screams stirred up one's emotions, and the gruesome scene of broken arms and legs was hard to look at.

The injuries of the wounded were mainly of three types: one was being cut by spatial cracks, causing severe damage to the physical body; another was being burned by fire spiritual energy and poisoned with fire toxin; and the third was inhaling demonic energy, leading to confusion and uncontrollable manic symptoms.

The main force treating the wounded was from the Medical Department.

Almost all the personnel from the Lingjing Pavilion and Qihuang Pavilion were dispatched, but even so, compared to the large number of wounded, it was like trying to put out a cartload of burning firewood with a cup of water.

Most of the wounded were too severely injured; they died before they could even receive treatment.

Watching this scene, Hua Changxi let out a heavy sigh. There were still too few physicians and alchemists!

For now, all she could do was buy more time for these wounded.

Without hesitation, Hua Changxi flipped her wrist, and a verdant, dripping Immortal Divine Wood branch appeared in her hand.

As soon as the Immortal Divine Wood branch appeared, the life force in the air instantly became rich, causing countless cultivators to perk up.

Then, Hua Changxi began to quickly weave through the wounded, swinging the Immortal Divine Wood branch every few steps.

Green light scattered, enveloping the wounded. Some who were on the verge of death, seemingly about to breathe their last, now had their dull eyes light up.

Bathed in the abundant life force, the injuries of the wounded were somewhat repaired, and at the same time, the loss of their vitality was slowed.

"Swish—"

"Swish—"

"Swish—"

After a few consecutive swings, the originally verdant Immortal Divine Wood branch became dim, and the life force it emitted grew less and less.

After the eighth swing, all the wounded had been nourished by the life force once. By then, the Immortal Divine Wood branch in Hua Changxi's hand had completely lost its luster, like a withered branch.

Hua Changxi looked at the withered Immortal Divine Wood branch in her hand. Though her heart was bleeding, she did not regret it.

Most of the wounded were too severely injured. Under the severe shortage of medical personnel, she could only use the life force of the Immortal Divine Wood branch to buy these people a chance at survival.