Chapter 736: At Daggers Drawn, Attacking Bai Shiling

After the "Mount Mount Funiu" family council decided on the strategy of expanding northward, the entire Song family immediately began to mobilize.

Cultivators outside began to return to "Mount Mount Funiu" to await the family's deployment, and the family "Cangjin Pavilion" also opened its treasury to distribute materials useful on the battlefield to the cultivators who were confirmed to be setting out.

In addition to "Mount Mount Funiu," almost all the cultivation families under the Song family received the "Mount Mount Funiu" mobilization order, requiring them to send some cultivators to follow the Song family to expand territory northward.

After receiving the mobilization order, the Foundation Establishment families in Qinghe and Pingyang counties immediately began to mobilize following the Song family.

Not only that, several markets within the Song family's territory, such as "Chiyan Market," "Jin Shan Market," and "Qinghe Market," also began to post notices to hire rogue cultivators to participate in this expansion of territory.

In order to invite many rogue cultivators to participate, the conditions offered by the Song family this time were very generous. As long as they killed demon beasts and made contributions, they could not only get certain rewards.

Those with outstanding contributions could also freely choose a third-tier or lower spiritual pulse in these newly expanded spiritual pulses for cultivation or create a new cultivation family, and they could also be vassals of the Song family in the future and get the protection of "Mount Mount Funiu."

This notice was just posted, and it immediately received a response from many rogue cultivators within the Song family's territory.

Hearing that following the Song family to expand territory could give them a chance to seize spiritual pulses and create a cultivation family, even some veteran rogue cultivators in the neighboring counties who had this idea rushed to Qinghe County to join in the fun.

Soon, two months passed in a flash. At this time, on the square west of "Chiyan Market," hundreds of rogue cultivators who had heard the news from all over had gathered.

Under the arrangement of the Song family cultivators, these people honestly stood in several rows, patiently accepting the roll call by several cultivators from the market law enforcement team.

On the other side of the square, hundreds of cultivators had also gathered. However, compared to those rogue cultivators with disorganized formations, these people were organized into several groups, and their cultivation quality was clearly much higher.

At this time, a team of cultivators wearing uniform costumes walked toward this side from the east street of the market. The middle-aged man leading the team had just brought the cultivators behind him to an empty space on the side when he heard a somewhat familiar voice behind him.

"I thought it would be Xinyun leading the team from Mount Lianhua this time, but I didn't expect Fellow Daoist Gao to come in person. Long time no see, Brother Gao!"

Gao Gao Changjin turned around immediately upon hearing this, saw Li Chengyue and Luo Hu Daozhen walking toward him, and immediately stepped forward to cup his hands and return the greeting to the two.

"Fellow Daoist Li, Fellow Daoist Luo, greetings. It should have been Xinyun coming, but he happened to have some gains in cultivation a few days ago and went into closed-door cultivation, so I had to come down the mountain."

"Oh! Fellow Daoist Xinyun is in closed-door cultivation again. This time, is he preparing to break through to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment? This is to be congratulated in advance, Brother Gao. When Fellow Daoist Xinyun comes out of closed-door cultivation, you must let us know, so that we can have a chance to go to Mount Lianhua to have a drink."

"Hehe! Easy to say, easy to say. My Mount Lianhua always welcomes friends from all over. Fellow Daoists can go whenever you want. I happen to have several jars of good wine collected for many years to treat the two."

"Fellow Daoist Gao is generous, then it's a deal..."

Gao Gao Changjin and the three were chatting very happily, but several Foundation Establishment cultivators standing not far away, led by the "Taiyuan Mountain" Huang family, showed a look of disdain.

"Hmph! I said why the market business has been targeted by the Gao family recently. These old guys really got together early. Brother Huang, I said long ago that the Gao family's relationship with the Li family is unusual, but you didn't believe it. You can see it now!"

"Gao Gao Changjin, I really misjudged him before. This person looks honest on the surface as if he doesn't dare to do anything, but his courage is not small behind his back, actually daring to walk with the Li family openly."

"Don't worry, Li Chengyue's aptitude is good, but wanting to form the core is not so easy. As long as Mount Mount Funiu doesn't come forward to help him, it is wishful thinking for him to want to break through to the Core Formation realm."

The speaker was named Huang Huang Leping, a mid-stage Foundation Establishment elder of the "Taiyuan Mountain" Huang family, and the person talking to him was Chen Chen Ziliang, the head of the "Tiexianshan" Chen family, another Foundation Establishment family in Qinghe County.

Decades ago, the previous head of the Chen family, Chen Yun'an, brought his family from "Mount Tuoyun Mountain" to "Qinghe County" as a rogue cultivator and created the "Tiexianshan" Chen family.

After the Chen family took root in "Qinghe County," their development had been quite good. Chen Yun'an had always been relatively low-key in his conduct. Although he was a cultivator from afar, his relationship with other local cultivation families was quite good.

It was just that later, Chen Yun'an was somewhat unlucky. During the demon beast unrest years ago, he, like Huang Huang Sipo, was unlucky enough to encounter a powerful demon beast and died directly in "Jin Shan Market."

Fortunately, the Chen family received compensation after the war and used the Foundation Establishment pill to cultivate another Foundation Establishment cultivator, Chen Chen Ziliang, which slowly eased the embarrassment of the Chen family having no Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Although Chen Chen Ziliang successfully established his foundation and took charge of the Chen family, the Chen family's status in "Qinghe County" dropped significantly because of Chen Yun'an's sudden departure, and the market business that the family relied on for survival was often squeezed by other families such as the Li family and the Luo family.

In order to get rid of the predicament the family was facing, Chen Chen Ziliang took the initiative to find the "Taiyuan Mountain" and formed an alliance with the Huang family to fight against the step-by-step pressure of the Li family and the Luo family.

After the demon beast unrest, the Chen family and the Huang family secretly formed an alliance, and the Li family and the Luo family had also been wearing the same pair of pants for a long time. The several Foundation Establishment families in Qinghe County slowly divided into two factions.

One side was led by the old Foundation Establishment family "Taiyuan Mountain" Huang family, followed by the "Tiexianshan" Chen family and the "Mount Fengtou Mountain" Wang family.

The other side was the alliance formed by the emerging Foundation Establishment family "Cuilong Mountain" Li family, "Mount Lianhua" Gao family, and "Gaoping Ridge" Luo family, whose strength was not weak either.

Among them, the "Cuilong Mountain" Li family in Li Chengyue's hands had also developed very rapidly in just over a hundred years. The family not only had the clan head Li Chengyue, who was at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, but also two other newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivators and nearly two hundred Qi Condensation cultivators.

Now the "Cuilong Mountain" Li family had three Foundation Establishment cultivators, and its strength had already faintly exceeded the Gao family when Gao Gao Yubai was still there, and it had the confidence to challenge the first Foundation Establishment family in Qinghe County, the "Taiyuan Mountain" Huang family.

Huang Mengde of the Huang family and Li Chengyue of the Li family both had cultivation levels that had reached the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment. Both seemed to have some hope of forming the core, but it was not yet clear who among them had a greater chance of forming the core.

Although the two sides were currently hindered by the Song family of "Mount Mount Funiu" and had not fought openly, they had long been displeased with each other in secret, competing for every inch in the market and being at daggers drawn.

This time, receiving the mobilization order from the Song family of "Mount Mount Funiu," the six major Foundation Establishment families of "Qinghe County" all sent many cultivators to "Chiyan Market" to participate in the northward expansion of territory.

After both sides arrived here, they naturally divided into two teams and stood in groups. Although they seemed to be chatting, their eyes had been staring at each other from afar.

Just as the many cultivators in the middle of the square were bustling, a huge figure suddenly flew from the sky outside the market, and then a huge large flying boat passed through the market's mountain-protecting formation and arrived above the square.

Seeing this scene, the many cultivators in the square immediately quieted down slowly, locking their gazes firmly on the large flying boat in front of them.

After this huge flying boat arrived above the square, it stopped, then slowly descended and stopped directly on the open space in the middle of the square. Before long, three Foundation Establishment cultivators wearing Song family costumes walked down from the flying boat.

At this time, Liu Liu Yuxin, who had been waiting for a long time below, saw Song Song Changze walking in front and immediately

"Fellow Daoists, the Ancestors are already up there. Everyone, please hurry up and board!"

Hearing Song Song Changze's instructions, Li Chengyue, Huang Huang Leping, and the others did not dare to say more. They hurriedly greeted the cultivators they had each brought along to board the flying ship. Afterward, Liu Liu Yuxin arranged for the market's law enforcement team to lead the way in batches, bringing all the rogue cultivators who had accepted the mission and were hired onto the flying ship. Once everyone had arrived, Song Song Changze and the others returned to the flying ship and issued the order to advance north.

This large flying ship was specially rented by Song Song Qingming after he made a trip to the sect's "Mount Mount Guyang" to find Elder Xu Cheng Ziyan of the Hall of General Affairs, specifically for the purpose of quickly transporting these low-tier cultivators.

Otherwise, relying solely on their own legs, it would take them more than a month just to walk from "Chiyan Market" to their destination.

Moreover, such a large group moving in a grand manner would easily be detected by spirit beasts in advance. If the enemy fled beforehand, everyone's hard work would have been in vain.

After the cultivators from Qinghe County boarded the flying ship, it traveled a long distance and arrived at "Jin Shan Market" in the north. At this time, hundreds of cultivators from Pingyang County had already gathered in the market.

As soon as the flying ship stopped, the many cultivators from "Pingyang County," under the arrangements of Song Song Changze and the others, quickly boarded the flying ship together.

Not until the large flying ship was packed full and could truly hold no more did it, under the command of the Song family, begin to ascend and head north, aiming straight for their primary destination this time: "Bai Shiling."

"Bai Shiling," a third-tier low-quality spirit vein, is located northeast of Pingyang County, about three thousand miles away from "Jin Shan Market," and is already considered to be deep within the Fuyun Mountain Range.

"Bai Shiling" was originally a nameless immortal mountain. It was only renamed by cultivators after it was occupied by a White Lion Demon King that had just formed its core not long ago.

Later, the "White Lion Demon King" was jointly slain by Song Song Qingming and the sect, and "Bai Shiling" slowly became a paradise for a group of second-tier spirit beasts. Previously, Foundation Establishment cultivators would occasionally come here to hunt spirit beasts.

Regarding the "Bai Xi Demon King" that attacked "Jin Shan Market" last time, Song Song Qingyu chased it the whole way and saw that the direction it finally fled toward was also "Bai Shiling," leading to suspicions that this demon might be hiding there.

This is also one of the reasons why Song Song Qingming made up his mind to wipe this place out. If this demon keeps hiding here, it poses a huge threat to "Jin Shan Market," which is closest to that area; it must be eliminated to prevent future trouble.

Otherwise, the territory the family has worked so hard to expand to the north will always be under the enemy's nose, and life in the future will certainly not be easy. After traveling north for half a day, the flying ship, having crossed thousands of miles of high mountains and great rivers, finally arrived at the foot of a massive mountain peak thousands of feet high.

Standing at the front of the flying ship, Song Song Changze saw the mountain piercing the clouds before him, then immediately turned and walked to the outside of a cabin in the middle, knocking softly on the door.

"Come in!"

Hearing the instruction from inside, Song Song Changze immediately opened the door and walked in slowly. Seeing Song Song Qingming and the other two tasting tea and chatting not far away, he hurriedly stepped forward and bowed in salute.

"Reporting to the Ancestor! We have already arrived near Bai Shiling; there is less than twenty miles left ahead."

Upon hearing this, Song Song Qingming put down the teacup in his hand and nodded slightly, saying: "Hmm! Tell Song Yuanhao and the others to act according to the plan decided earlier. After surrounding Bai Shiling, you must immediately split up and attack the mountain.

Warn them that whoever encounters the Bai Xi Demon King must immediately send the designated signal; absolutely do not let this demon have a chance to escape.

Anyone who dares to disobey orders on the battlefield and ignore commands will be severely punished according to family rules without exception."

"Rest assured, Ancestor, I will go arrange it immediately."

After Song Song Changze left, Song Song Qingming stood up, walked to the side, opened the window, and swept a glance at "Bai Shiling" in the distance.

Because the Song family had used the sect's large flying ship to launch a surprise attack this time, the spirit beasts at "Bai Shiling" had not detected the arrival of the Song family cultivators in advance.

It was not until a large number of cultivators suddenly emerged from all directions at the foot of the mountain to surround "Bai Shiling" that the low-tier spirit beasts hiding at the foot of the mountain hurriedly began to flee in all directions.

This time, in order to wipe out "Bai Shiling" in one fell swoop, the Song family had sent out all its elites. Including the subordinate cultivation families and the rogue cultivators recruited from the market, they had dispatched nearly 1,500 cultivators in total.

The cultivators sent on this expedition were basically carefully selected, with cultivation bases of at least the fifth layer of Qi Condensation or higher.

Besides them, at the forefront of these cultivators were nearly thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators, including Song Song Changze and others, who had already led the army of cultivators, now divided into four teams, to charge rapidly toward "Bai Shiling" from different directions.

"Leave one team to guard the intersection below, everyone else follow me and charge up!"

Song Song Changze, who was charging at the very front, killed two low-tier spirit beasts fleeing before him with a single sword strike. After issuing an order to the cultivators behind him, he took the lead in controlling his flying sword to continue chasing up the mountain.

Soon, the many spirit beasts on the mountain also reacted and began to organize resistance against the attacks of the several armies of cultivators. For a time, the entire "Bai Shiling" was filled with deafening shouts of battle, breaking the original tranquility of the mountain.

"Bai Shiling," this third-tier low-quality spirit vein, still had quite a few spirit beasts on it. There were over a dozen spirit beasts of the second tier or higher alone, and the number of first-tier spirit beasts was no less than that of the human cultivator army attacking.

However, the human side clearly had the advantage in Foundation Establishment combat power, and they had six late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, including Song Song Changze, Song Song Yuanhao, Liu Liu Yuxin, and Li Chengyue, who were far more powerful than the spirit beast side.

Under their leadership, after less than half an hour of engagement, the spirit beast armies coming to resist from all sides began to retreat in defeat, slowly fleeing toward the summit.

Just as Song Song Changze and the others continued their pursuit and were about to reach the mountainside, a deafening roar of immense pressure suddenly came from above the summit of "Bai Shiling."

Immediately afterward, Song Song Changze and the others, who were attacking upward, felt a pressure far exceeding that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator bearing down on them, causing them to hurriedly stop in their tracks.

The "Bai Xi Demon King" was a mid-stage Jin Dan demon king, standing five or six feet tall. Charging down from the high summit, it felt like a giant mountain pressing down, making the many cultivators below feel somewhat terrified at the sight.

Some timid Qi Condensation cultivators, now intimidated by the demon king's pressure, found their hands and feet trembling uncontrollably, and they couldn't help but want to retreat.

"Not good! A third-tier demon king has arrived. Song Xuanyu, quickly send a signal to the Ancestor! Fellow Daoists, form a formation to block the demon king; everyone else, go block those low-tier spirit beasts first. Anyone who dares to flee the battlefield will be dealt with by the law enforcement team according to battlefield rules."

Seeing the "Bai Xi Demon King" suddenly appear and charge straight toward them, Song Song Changze hurriedly shouted to the others beside him who were still stunned, quickly conveying orders to stabilize the morale of the army.

Song Song Linfeng, who had reacted, hurriedly took out a golden spirit talisman from his body and cast a spell to turn it into a golden beam of light that flew rapidly into the sky.

Afterward, he and the other six Foundation Establishment cultivators beside him, including Song Song Changze, each held a silver formation flag, and they quickly formed a second-tier top-quality "Seven-Star Green Dragon Formation."

This formation was refined by Song Song Qingming in his spare time and could be jointly activated by three or more Foundation Establishment cultivators. With the seven of them united, Song Song Changze and his group could resist the attacks of an ordinary Jin Dan demon king for a quarter of an hour.

After the seven activated the formation flags in their hands, a huge light shadow of a coiled green dragon soon appeared before Song Song Changze and the others. At this time, the "Bai Xi Demon King" had also rapidly killed its way to them, releasing a fierce golden light directly from the single horn on its head.

Seeing the golden light strike, Song Song Changze and the others immediately waved the formation flags in their hands rapidly, injecting magic power into them to control the green dragon light shadow in front to open its giant mouth and spit out a ball of green flames, blocking the "Bai Xi Demon King's" attack directly.

Seeing that Song Song Changze and the others could actually block its full-force strike, the "Bai Xi Demon King" was somewhat surprised. Somewhat annoyed, it lifted its foot and stomped heavily on the ground, then charged directly toward the group.

Under the frantic charge of the "Bai Xi Demon King's" massive body, the nearby ground shook violently, making it difficult for some Qi Condensation cultivators with lower cultivation bases to even stand steady.

Facing this fierce strike that shook the earth, Song Song Changze and the others showed no signs of panic. They changed the formation again, causing the green dragon in front to grow several times larger, and took the initiative to step forward to block the "Bai Xi Demon King," intending to intercept it halfway.

However, the "Bai Xi Demon King" was, after all, a mid-stage Jin Dan demon king, and its physical body was extremely powerful. Although the green dragon light shadow controlled by Song Song Changze and the others looked equally massive, it was not as formidable as the demon king's physical body.

After the two sides collided, the green dragon light shadow soon showed signs of decline. After resisting the opponent for only a short while, it was smashed into mid-air by the "Bai Xi Demon King" with a single headbutt.

Seeing this scene, Song Song Changze and the others also revealed a look of surprise; they had not expected the green dragon phantom they had summoned with such difficulty to be defeated so quickly.

Seeing the "Bai Xi Demon King" let out an excited roar after resolving its opponent, it gathered its strength again and charged toward them once more.

Song Song Changze and the others could only bite the bullet and desperately inject their remaining magic power into the formation flags in their hands, using the formation to conjure a final defensive shield to block the front.

This defense was the final resort of the "Seven-Star Green Dragon Formation." If it were quickly broken by the "Bai Xi Demon King," the fate of the group would inevitably be death.

Therefore, the group did not dare to hold anything back and desperately drove the formation flags in their hands to cast spells, resisting the "Bai Xi Demon King's" next attack.

Song Song Changze, standing at the very front, seeing that the group was in a very dangerous situation, moved the spirit light in his hand and threw out a blue second-tier top-quality spirit talisman, which turned into a shield and blocked the very front, adding an extra layer of defense for everyone.

However, this second-tier top-quality spirit talisman was clearly unable to block the full-force strike of the "Bai Xi Demon King," which was already at the mid-stage of the Jin Dan realm; it was only slightly delayed before being smashed directly by the opponent's horn.

The "Bai Xi Demon King," having charged through the spirit talisman shield, soon slammed head-on into the final shield.

In this clash, both sides used their full strength. Only a loud "Boom—" was heard; the "Bai Xi Demon King" was blocked by the shield and failed to achieve its goal in one strike, instead being shaken back several steps.

The situation for Song Song Changze and the others was even worse. They were scattered by this massive impact, and several Foundation Establishment cultivators with lower cultivation bases, such as Song Song Xuanyu, had already been knocked flying over a dozen yards away.

The formation flags in the hands of Song Song Changze and the others had also been knocked out of their grasp and fallen to the ground nearby. All seven of them spat out a mouthful of blood, clearly having been severely injured by this strike from the "Bai Xi Demon King."

The only formation capable of resisting the demon king had been broken, and Song Song Changze and the others no longer had any means to resist. Seeing the "Bai Xi Demon King" gathering strength again to prepare for another attack, a look of despair suddenly appeared on everyone's faces.

Just as Song Song Changze and the others were preparing to scatter and flee, a sharp sword light suddenly descended from the sky and landed in front of the "Bai Xi Demon King," forcing the demon king, which was gathering strength, back dozens of steps.

Sensing a familiar aura within this sword light, the "Bai Xi Demon King" immediately looked up into the air and discovered that the person who had arrived was none other than Song Song Qingyu, who had chased it for over a hundred miles a few months ago. A look of anger could not help but appear in its eyes.

"You all retreat first, leave this to me!"

Seeing Song Song Qingyu arrive in time to rescue them, Song Song Changze and the others, who were still tense, instantly relaxed. A look of joy appeared on their faces, and after responding, they hurriedly left the spot together.

After Song Song Changze and the others retreated, Song Song Qingyu turned to look at the "Bai Xi Demon King," then cast a spell to summon her natal magic treasure, the "Xuanming Jin Guang Sword."

"Last time I didn't fight enough and let you run away. Today, you have nowhere left to retreat. Come and try the power of my sword again!" (End of chapter)