Chapter 304

"The Immortal Sects want to borrow disciples, naturally, to keep secrets."

"Then, since it is a secret that must be kept even at the cost of tearing up the Immortal Rules, how can they possibly return alive as the Immortal Sects promised?"

"This..."

Danyangzi opened his mouth, suddenly rendered speechless by the question.

He had indeed felt that the five major sects, including the Questioning Dao Sect and Spirit Sword Mountain, had been quite amiable upon their arrival this time; aside from the somewhat forceful confrontation at the Jade Balance Hall, there was no aggressive posturing, so he felt that perhaps lending out disciples wouldn't be a big deal.

Yet he had overlooked that if there was a real need to borrow Pill Sect disciples back to the mountain, then once these Pill Sect disciples were used up, how could they possibly have the chance to come back down?

Sure enough, after a long period of peace in the world, one's vigilance truly does get worn away.

Patriarch Yuan Li tilted his hand slightly, igniting the sandalwood incense with a white candle, and said: "If the Pill Sect compromises today, what we will get in return will be endless, step-by-step pressure. Moreover, what they want to refine is not a benevolent object, and it runs contrary to our Pill Sect's ancestral teachings..."

"What exactly is it that those Immortal Sects want to refine?"

"You only need to know that if it were a good thing, there would naturally be no need to hide it from others."

Patriarch Yuan Li murmured as he blew out the incense, watching the white smoke curl, his deep eyes resembling a pitch-black vortex.

Danyangzi and the others looked at each other after hearing this, and finally nodded lightly.

It seems the Abbot Senior Brother must be clear about the origin of those precious materials, which is why he is so resistant.

At this moment, Patriarch Yuan Li inserted the sandalwood incense into the incense burner before him, bowed down, and then stood up: "Back then, our Pill Sect was torn apart and fell into pieces, and the disciples within the sect were enslaved by others for a hundred years. If we lend out disciples today, what face would we have to see our ancestors? People of the Pill Sect should be like this: if not born, then dead."

"What the Senior Brother says is absolutely correct..."

As the ancestral hall suddenly fell silent, the sandalwood incense also began to burn slowly downward.

Before long, the sky gradually darkened, and the clear wind circling the mountain began to grow intense, blowing the lush greenery atop the mountain peak to sway toward the west.

And under these gusts of strong wind, more than twenty in-law families, including the Jin, Jing, Xu, and Bie clans, had already appeared in the mountains, standing between the Danxia Terrace and the Jade Balance Hall.

Not long after, the sect Elder Dan Xunzi stepped into the incense-filled ancestral hall and bowed toward Patriarch Yuan Li, who was kneeling on a prayer mat.

"Abbot, the Lian, Gong, Sha, and Pu families have left the mountain."

Upon hearing this, Patriarch Yuan Li couldn't help but look up: "Seeing that the storm is coming, they just left?"

Dan Xunzi nodded: "Not long after the discussion at the Kaiyang Hall, they left from the back mountain; they didn't let our Pill Sect know before they left."

Before Patriarch Yuan Li could speak, Danyangzi was the first to furrow his brows in anger: "The Gong and Pu families I could understand; they were already on the decline and didn't have many strong individuals. But how could the Lian and Sha families do this? The pills we give them every year are enough to make even the Immortal Sects covetous!"

"Yang Senior Brother, some families are not necessarily grateful for kindness."

"Ungrateful wretches! It's a pity that the Senior Brother even married his two granddaughters to them!"

Seeing this, Dan Xunzi pursed his lips: "Yuan Cai and Yuan Jie were also taken down the mountain by them."

Upon hearing this, Danyangzi clenched his fists directly: "Do they think that our Pill Sect will surely be destroyed and its people killed this time, and that they will still have pills to use if they take the two of them back?"

Dan Xunzi did not respond, but this could be considered a form of tacit agreement, and thus a fierce wave of cursing erupted throughout the entire ancestral hall.

After a long silence, Patriarch Yuan Li waved his hand at the crowd with a gloomy face: "Forget it, everyone has their own aspirations. Seeing the Immortal Sects coming together to attack, it is human nature to feel timid. We have no right to ask them to die for our Pill Sect."

Danyangzi's anger was hard to quell: "When we were forming the alliances, we gave people and pills; that's not what they said back then."

"In this kind of battle, the strong are the key. Among these four families, there is no one worth relying on; losing them won't hinder the battle. It's just a pity that my Caiwei is, after all, a bit too willful..."

"This can't be blamed on Caiwei either..."

Hearing this, Patriarch Yuan Li sighed lightly: "I don't blame her either, I am just helpless that when disaster strikes, we have no support and can only lead the disciples to their deaths."

In the past, the Pill Sect had always used the method of forming alliances to win over surrounding small families to strengthen their ability to resist risks, but they also harbored a sense of caution and dared not form alliances with families that were too powerful.

In stable times, this was indeed a good method, ensuring their own independence while preventing some petty people from harboring malicious intentions.

But when the world became chaotic, the drawbacks of this approach were exposed completely.

Because in front of powerful forces, the forces they had won over appeared too insignificant.

In fact, Patriarch Yuan Li had long been worried about this problem, so he had put a lot of thought into Yuan Caiwei's marriage, hoping to change the Pill Sect's situation.

Especially as the chaos in the Azure Cloud World became more frequent, it made him feel that he had to be on guard.

You Buyu was not the first one he had chosen for his daughter; there had actually been countless others before, all of them people of noble status, all for the sake of gaining greater support.

It is just a pity that his daughter kept dragging it out and refusing to marry, leading to the point today where there is no way out when disaster strikes.

After regaining his composure, Patriarch Yuan Li stepped out of the ancestral hall, led a group of Elders to the top floor of the sleeping quarters, and then looked toward the distant mountains, waiting for the arrival of night.

While waiting, they suddenly saw a figure appear on the distant mountain.

He held a long sword, drifting in white robes as he strolled along the mountain ridge, his head lowered as if looking for something, looking like someone intending to bring back some mountain goods.

After recognizing him, the Pill Sect Elders all couldn't help but look back at Patriarch Yuan Li, only to see the Abbot also watching that figure.

The Heavenly Tian Shuyuan has a rebellious disciple named Ji You, and many people feel that he fits the Pill Sect's previous criteria for a son-in-law very well.

Because he has no family background and no one to rely on, and his natural talent is quite good, he could be directly recruited as a son-in-law to the mountain. Moreover, he and his daughter seem to be in mutual affection, so marrying his daughter to him would indeed be quite good.

But the reason Patriarch Yuan Li later disagreed was precisely because he was worried about the current situation.

At this moment, the sun was slowly descending in his pupils, and the last trace of brilliance dyed the horizon in a heart-stopping way.

And following this last bit of daylight, the night slowly climbed along the horizon.

At the same time, at the Yaoguang Hall on the peak of Dan Mountain.

All the female alchemists of the Upper Five Realms were looking out through the windows, anxiously watching the light on the horizon being swallowed bit by bit, the poison pills in their hands gripped tightly.

At this time, Yuan Yuanchen walked out from the deepest seclusion chamber, his face pale.

He had only just learned of the situation the Pill Sect was currently facing. Now, walking into the front hall and looking around, he saw Yuan Bingqing standing in front of the hall door: "Sister Qing, where is my elder sister? Have you seen my elder sister?"

Yuan Bingqing turned to look at him: "Follow me."

Yuan Yuanchen immediately followed Yuan Bingqing out of the main hall and saw Yuan Caiwei standing in front of the hall door: "Elder sister..."

Hearing the sound, Yuan Caiwei turned to look at Yuan Yuanchen: "What are you doing out here?"

"I... I am worried about you and Father, and my mother."

"Aunt Rong has been sent away, and Father is fine too. Those Immortal Sect disciples waited for a day hoping he would come to his senses on his own, precisely because they also dare not kill everyone, and they have even less courage to kill an Abbot of an Immortal Sect."

Yuan Yuanchen opened his mouth: "Really...?"

Yuan Caiwei nodded: "Young Master Ji said that even for the supreme Immortal Sects, having been hypocritical for so many years, they will not easily expose their dirty hearts. The result they want most is to capture the Pill Sect disciples they need, and let the Pill Sect remain unharmed for the world to see, even if it is just an empty shell."

"Brother-in-law? Where is brother-in-law now?"

"I don't know either..."

The Yaoguang Hall does not only have female disciples; Hong Zhen, Wen Bin, Lu Ze, and a group of male disciples are also guarding outside.

Hearing the conversation between the sister and brother at this moment, they couldn't help but look back slightly.

The Pill Sect is now facing a great disaster, and murderous intent is rising at the foot of the mountain, yet their own Saintess Yan Shimei is still treating the words of a Heavenly Tian Shuyuan disciple as a straw to clutch at, which makes them feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Admittedly, this statement is indeed not false.

If one of the Seven Great Immortal Sects were to be destroyed because of this, it would absolutely be a major event that would shock the world, and the Azure Cloud World, seeing such behavior from the Immortal Sects, would also feel endangered.

So even if it is an empty shell, they will leave the Pill Sect behind.

But with a great enemy at the gates, what is the use of just an empty word of comfort?

Hong Zhen and Wen Bin turned to Yuan Caiwei at this moment: "Yan Shimei, hurry and take Junior Brother Yuan Yuanchen and Yan Shimei Bingqing back into the hall; it's not safe outside the hall."

Hearing this, Yuan Bingqing also grabbed Yuan Caiwei: "That's right, Elder Sister, let's go back into the hall first."

"You all go back, I want to stay here..."

"Yan Shimei, don't be willful; staying here won't change anything."

After hearing this, Yuan Caiwei did not reply, only gripped her jade hands tightly, her intention to guard this place unwavering.

In fact, this was not the first time Hong Zhen, Wen Bin, and others had tried to persuade her.

When all the female disciples entered the hall at the Shen hour, she was also standing in front of the hall door, looking down the mountain the whole time, unwilling to enter the hall.

Hong Zhen and the others could not understand her behavior, but seeing that she would not change her mind, the persuasion in their mouths stopped.

In their view, if the Immortal Sect disciples killed all the Pill Sect's in-law families and captured the Abbot to this place, then there would be no difference between inside and outside the hall.

They could use life and death as a threat to force the Abbot to withdraw the protection of the Holy Artifact, or directly kill the wielder of the Holy Artifact.

The Immortal Sects indeed have to consider the world and are unwilling to kill everyone.

But that is the best result they need, not their bottom line, because if they were truly pushed to the last moment, no one knows what would happen.

So for these disciples guarding the perimeter, if the end is death anyway, then dying together with Yan Shimei Caiwei would be a decent choice.

While pondering, Wen Bin suddenly pinched a jade pendant from his pocket: "Yan Shimei..."

The sound had just appeared and had not yet fallen into the ears of those around when it was instantly drowned out by a roar that rose into the sky.

At this moment, everyone's eyes reflected countless immortal lights splashing from the foot of the mountain, crashing down onto the Danxia Terrace.

The people of the five major Immortal Sects truly chose to take action at nightfall.

Just as they were stunned, a gust of wind stirred up by the spell rolled back through the mountain forest, bending countless thousand-year-old pines, and the powerful force of the Qi directly caused the disciples guarding the hall door to stagger, their faces instantly turning pale.