Chapter 478

Having received the news from Mount Huoyun that a great victory had been won against the spirit beasts, the hearts of everyone in Jin Shan Market finally settled.

Although the forces at Mount Huoyun had temporarily blocked the vanguard of the spirit beast army heading south, they were facing six or seven hundred spirit beasts gathering to head south once more. Cao Rongxue and her people on the mountain had fewer than three hundred cultivators in total, and most of them were the old, weak, sick, and disabled left behind to guard the place. The gap in strength was still vast, and for the moment, they could only barely rely on the Mount Huoyun mountain-protecting formation to hold them off.

Fortunately, Song Yuanfang had just arrived in the vicinity with dozens of cultivators from Qinghe County who were transporting supplies north. He arrived at Mount Huoyun in time to provide support, which bought the Mount Huoyun cultivators the time to summon support from family cultivators in the south, helping Cao Rongxue and her people slowly stabilize their position.

Compared to the constant minor skirmishes between the main forces at Jin Shan Market, the fighting here at Mount Huoyun was becoming increasingly intense. After several major battles, both sides had suffered significant losses. Even Song Yuanfang, who was originally responsible for transporting supplies, was extremely unlucky and suffered severe injuries in this great battle.

Including Song Yuanfang, who had come to provide support, the Mount Huoyun side only had five Foundation Establishment cultivators. Even though Cao Rongxue and her people had used a strategy to kill one of the spirit beasts on the spirit beast side, there were still nine second-tier spirit beasts remaining. Not only was the number of low-tier cultivators on Mount Huoyun far inferior to the spirit beast side, but there was also a huge gap in high-tier combat power between the two sides.

After Song Yuanfang arrived at Mount Huoyun to provide support, he was immediately forced into the fray by Cao Rongxue. Although Song Yuanfang had successfully reached Foundation Establishment a few years ago and possessed two second-tier magic treasures, he did not have much experience in actual combat and was considered relatively weak among Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After clashing with the spirit beasts several times, the weaker Song Yuanfang was quickly targeted by a mid-stage Foundation Establishment spirit beast. During the chaotic battle, he was ambushed from behind by this spirit beast, which swiped him to the ground with a claw, and he was nearly roasted alive on the spot by the true fire spewed by that spirit beast.

Fortunately, Song Yuanfang still had a second-tier mid-grade defensive talisman given to him by Song Qingming, which helped him absorb most of the damage in time, preventing him from losing his life on the battlefield and allowing him to escape back to Mount Huoyun in time.

Although he managed to save his life in time, this injury directly damaged several important meridians in Song Yuanfang's body. Even if Song Yuanfang could slowly recover in the future, it would greatly affect the progress of his cultivation, and if things went poorly, he would have no hope of Core Formation in this lifetime.

It was precisely because he knew that Song Yuanfang had just successfully reached Foundation Establishment and lacked combat experience that Song Qingming had specifically left him in the relatively safe rear of the family. He had not expected that this arrangement, which Song Qingming had intended as a way to look after the weaker Song Yuanfang, would result in him encountering the even more dangerous great battle at Mount Huoyun by a twist of fate.

Just like that, the two battlefields of Jin Shan Market and Mount Huoyun once again fell into a stalemate. The spirit beast army led by the White Lion Spirit King dared not continue heading south without capturing the two strongholds of Jin Shan Market and Mount Huoyun; otherwise, once they penetrated deep into human territory, their rear would be cut off by the Jin Shan Market cultivators.

After the Mount Huoyun cultivators, led by Cao Rongxue, fought several major battles against the spirit beast side, although they suffered some losses and casualties, they ultimately did not disappoint Song Qingming and the others who were far away at Jin Shan Market. They gritted their teeth and held onto this important position of Mount Huoyun, preventing the spirit beasts here from continuing to head south.

The low-tier spirit beasts below with low intelligence could die if they died, but the White Lion Spirit King and the other high-tier spirit beasts did not have the guts or stupidity to take this risk, so they could only confront Song Qingming and his people here at Jin Shan Market.

Just like that, the two sides remained in a stalemate near Jin Shan Market for more than half a year. During this period, the human cultivators and the spirit beast army fought several more major battles, but in the end, neither side could do anything to the other. After several duels between Song Qingming and the White Lion Spirit King, although he could gain some upper hand, he had no great way to deal with this cunning Spirit King.

After all, although the White Lion Spirit King's combat ability was no longer as good as Song Qingming's current ability, its cultivation base was still slightly higher than his. The gap in strength between the two sides was not that large, and it was still somewhat impossible for Song Qingming to kill it head-on by himself.

——

Xiaoyao Sect, in the Xiaoyao Hall on Mount Guyang.

After receiving the news that Song Yuanfang had been severely injured and sent back to Mount Funiu, Song Qingming, who was at Jin Shan Market, also revealed a look of helplessness. In this cultivation world filled with crises everywhere, there was almost no place that could enjoy eternal peace.

Even someone like Song Yuanfang, who was very lucky to be born into the Song family, which already intimidated one side, and who had successfully reached Foundation Establishment under the care of Song Qingming, the family's Jin Dan ancestor, would still encounter these suddenly appearing crises. If they wanted to continue cultivating better, every cultivator had to find a way to make themselves stronger as quickly as possible.

Li Mufeng stood above the great hall, listening to True Person Daoist Guangling, who had a look of sorrow on his face below, report on the war situation on the various fronts in Wei Guo.

More than half a year had passed since the spirit beast turmoil in the northern border began. Here in Wei Guo, apart from Jin Shan Market, which was still in a stalemate with the White Lion Spirit King, the situation on the other battlefields was even worse.

Here at Guiyun Market, Bai Yuxian led the main force of Xiaoyao Sect cultivators. Although they relied on the mountain-protecting formation to block the siege of numerous Spirit Kings from Mount Jinyu, they could only hide in the market and be passively beaten, completely without any power to counterattack.

Now, although the third-tier spirit vein of Guiyun Market, which was very important to the sect, was still in the hands of the Xiaoyao Sect, in order to hold onto this spirit vein over the past half year, the Xiaoyao Sect had not only lost thousands of Qi Refining disciples, but even forty or fifty Foundation Establishment cultivators had died in battle.

These low-tier cultivators were all extremely precious fresh blood within the Xiaoyao Sect. Once the losses in dealing with the spirit beast turmoil were too great, the overall strength of the Xiaoyao Sect in the future would inevitably be greatly affected.

What was even more worrying was that on the Xiaoyao Sect side, two Jin Dan Elders had already been injured in the great battle at Guiyun Market and had temporarily lost their combat power and returned to the sect to recuperate. Although Chen Xuanxin, who was used as a reserve force within the Xiaoyao Sect, had already rushed to Guiyun Market to help, there was still a significant gap in Jin Dan-level combat power between the two sides on the battlefield.

This time, a total of ten Spirit Kings from Mount Jinyu came to attack Guiyun Market, which was even more than the previous spirit beast turmoil. Just the powerful great Spirit Kings at the late stage of Jin Dan numbered three. In contrast, there were only five Jin Dan cultivators from the Xiaoyao Sect who could come out to fight in Guiyun Market now.

After the spirit beast army surrounded Guiyun Market, several Spirit Kings among them had already led some spirit beasts to cross Guiyun Market and enter several counties south of Guiyun Market. Recently, True Person Daoist Guangling had also been leading the important mobile forces left in the sect to put out fires everywhere in the north of Wei Guo.

Although with the support of True Person Daoist Guangling and the others, the Xiaoyao Sect side held onto many important spirit mountain strongholds, most of the counties in Gao Yun County south of Guiyun Market had fallen into the hands of the spirit beasts. For a time, this place also became a tragic scene of devastation, just like Pingyang County back then.

Over at Feng Yangde on Mount Tuoyun, although it had always looked precarious, no one knew what powerful trump card Feng Yangde had used, but he had actually managed to find a way to injure that Cloud Crane, temporarily resolving the crisis.

Although Mount Tuoyun was still surrounded by spirit beasts even now, and the situation was very critical at any time, they were currently still holding onto the spirit mountain firmly and had not let the spirit beasts there cross Mount Tuoyun on a large scale.

Although there had been no news from Tiexian Castle, the Xiaoyao Sect could also judge that the Ma family was still resisting because they had not seen a large number of spirit beasts cross Tiexian Castle. As for what the specific situation inside Tiexian Castle was like, they did not know.

Now, the Xiaoyao Sect was already feeling powerless just dealing with the main force of spirit beasts at Guiyun Market, and they had no extra power to help them. Even if the Xiaoyao Sect knew their difficulties now, they were also unable to help and had no way to do anything.

"Uncle Li, although the losses on the side of Junior Sister Bai and the others look very heavy at the moment, they can still hold on for a while. However, our losses here in Gao Yun County are truly too great. Now there are already two Spirit Kings appearing in Gao Yun County, and it is truly somewhat difficult for me alone to deal with them."

"Daoist Guangling, I understand what you mean. Did you intend to go to the treasury this time to take away that third-tier puppet beast of the sect!" After hearing True Person Daoist Guangling's complaints, Li Mufeng calmly stated the thoughts in his heart directly.

The third-tier puppet beast that Li Mufeng spoke of was the only third-tier puppet beast in the Xiaoyao Sect. This puppet beast had already reached the mid-grade of the third tier, and under the control of two Foundation Establishment cultivators, the strength it could exert in a short time could rival that of an early-stage Jin Dan cultivator.

Seeing Li Mufeng directly expose him, True Person Daoist Guangling was embarrassed for a moment before nodding and saying: "Although this disciple has the heart to defend the sect's territory, I am also troubled by my own insufficient strength and truly have no confidence in being able to block those two Spirit Kings."

Li Mufeng turned his face and pondered slightly for a moment before turning around and speaking slowly to True Person Daoist Guangling with a normal expression: "I know your difficulties, but I have already planned another use for this puppet beast, and there is no way for you to take it to Gao Yun County now. You will have to find a way to deal with the situation there yourself first."

"This... Uncle Li, the situation here in Gao Yun County is so critical now, and Junior Sister Bai and the others at Guiyun Market can currently still hold on. This disciple truly does not understand why you still want to take this puppet beast to Guiyun Market?"

Looking at the confused look on True Person Daoist Guangling's face, Li Mufeng hurriedly shook his head and said: "I am not going to take this puppet beast to Guiyun Market, but intend to transfer it to Jin Shan Market to first help Qingming's side repel the spirit beasts at Jin Shan Market, so that they can free themselves up to support Guiyun Market at that time."

"Support Jin Shan Market? Hasn't Junior Brother Song already blocked the spirit beast army in the east? Even if they can free themselves up, with just Junior Brother Song and those few people at Jin Shan Market, it won't be of much use when they go to Guiyun Market."

After hearing Li Mufeng's explanation, True Person Daoist Guangling seemed even more confused than before, and he truly could not guess what Li Mufeng's intention was in doing this.

(End of chapter)