Chapter 331: Immortal Sects Converge

At the border of Yongzhou and Liangzhou, high mountains encircled the land on all sides.

Howling qi surged into a violent wind, spreading outward in rolling waves of muck, thick with the stench of blood and thunderous roars that shook the earth.

In a river valley on the eastern flank of Nanhuashan, blood had dyed the entire river surface a vivid, eerie red.

The Shanhai Pavilion disciples and the families from Yongzhou had torn open the northern front, retreating steadily at great cost.

On the other side, at the southwestern border of Qingzhou, the Wenda Zong group had altered course eastward under ambush, carving through the only weak point in the black fog of corpses, gasping as they curved northwestward.

Then came the Xuanyuan Immortal Mansion and the Chen Clan.

Both great immortal sects lay on the western side of Qingyun Continent, their paths drawing near.

Amid ambushes, the two sects tore open the encirclements along their adjacent routes, using each other's momentum to head toward the same destination.

Then came Lingjian Mountain, where howling sword qi blazed like a sky full of moonlight, racing north, then circling west, dragging countless wounds as they climbed upstream along the banks of Wujiang.

All of them had been ambushed while under siege by the Tian Shu Academy, losing several high-level Elders deemed vital to their foundations.

The families who had come with them were either wiped out entirely if small, or shattered into fragments if large.

This was a situation they had never anticipated; suddenly realizing their opponent was far more formidable than they'd believed, their lofty arrogance collapsed instantly, their faces now grim, the weight never fading.

In their first encounter, before even approaching the ruins, they had seen countless Shenyou-level demonic creatures appear—what would come next, they dared not predict.

"Where is Elder Qi?"

"Elder Qi… has perished…"

"Those damned demonic cultists…"

The original plan had been for the Six Immortal Sects to converge from all directions, surrounding the seven ruins—but now they were scattered, fleeing in disarray along detours.

On Lianshan, south of the Great Wilderness Forest, a dark figure rolled a letter into a scroll, tied it to a black bird's leg, and released it into the sky.

As the bird suddenly spread its wings and flew deep into Liangzhou, dozens more figures stepped onto the mountains.

Some among them were wounded, but not severely; they now stood along the ridge, scanning the surroundings.

The ambush tonight had been planned in advance, yet certain things had slightly exceeded their expectations.

In short, the enemy arrived too quickly, and too uniformly.

From the moment this plan was conceived, all their movements had been kept utterly secret.

Everyone who needed killing had been killed; before departure, they had used the corpse tide to erase all traces. Logically, no one should have known what they intended.

Especially since Qingyun's immortal sects had always operated independently, and the families were outwardly civil but inwardly hostile—unity had never existed, so their response should not have been this swift or coordinated.

Yet no one anticipated that the Six Immortal Sects and the Qingyun families would move in unison, with organization and purpose—so though they slaughtered countless tonight, many still escaped in dispersed retreats.

This outcome truly surpassed their expectations.

As they pondered, they recalled the furious shouts they had heard during the siege of the Chen Clan.

"The Chu, Li, Zhuang, Du, Li families… you have lured the immortal sects to awaken the ruins, disrupted the Dao, and brought calamity upon the world. You have already caused great disaster—surrender now, and you may receive leniency."

The list recited was not exhaustive, yet every name was precise.

The problem was, before the plan began, they had never even met each other—yet the immortal sects knew so clearly.

Undoubtedly, the sects had long suspected their actions and vaguely understood their intentions.

Yet their experiments, their killings—all had taken place at the lowest strata of Qingyun.

Given the immortal sects' lofty detachment, blind and deaf to the lower realms, they should never have pieced together such a clear pattern so swiftly.

"Just now, the Tian Shu Academy group withdrew. Bai Zhengze's eldest son seemed to be among them—it's surprising."

As these words fell, every brow tightened.

Soon after, another figure arrived on the mountainside, accompanied by two cold crows, speaking in a low tone.

"Chucheng has sent word: several disciples dressed in Tian Shu Academy robes have been wandering the city for days for no clear reason."

"Fengzhou has also reported: someone ordered a full investigation into the missing immortal villas on the ground, and inquiries into the abandoned residences they once occupied."

After the plan was enacted, the corpse tide erupted first, cleansing the Nine Provinces—making communication extremely difficult and inefficient.

Many distant reports only reached them tonight.

Upon hearing the reports, the figures on the mountain instantly grew dark-eyed.

Tian Shu Academy, Bai Rulong, Fengzhou—these pointers made it easy to identify who was behind it; they now faintly understood the source of the Six Immortal Sects' knowledge of them.

No one in this world cared for the lower strata; Fengzhou was a remote, impoverished backwater where anything done went unnoticed—except for one person.

"BOOM!!!!"

A thunderous punch echoed quietly beneath the night.

Turning, they saw a figure under the dark sky smashing his fist into the right mountainside, his face exposed through the malevolent qi—furious beyond measure.

He was one of those who had besieged the Tian Shu Academy; his body, covered in sword wounds when he arrived, had already drawn attention.

Even in the immortal sects, Shenyou-level cultivators were rare and rarely wounded—but the longest cut on his body had exposed bone; his nearly severed wrist showed hardened, flayed flesh, from which malevolent qi surged relentlessly outward.

Tian Shu Academy was not like Lingjian Mountain, where sword arts reigned supreme—yet here was one man wearing Tian Shu Academy robes, wielding Lingjian Mountain sword techniques—his identity matched precisely the figure they had suspected.

A Tian Shu Academy inner disciple, raised as a private cultivator from the countryside, with no family backing, never favored by the sects; he had entered the academy alongside Chu He, regarded as a mere appendage, later entered the inner academy to reduce tax burdens by eliminating immortal villas, and was sent to the Snow Realm to claim the top spot on the Dao List.

Tonight, he slew a Shenyou.

After a brief silence, the grotesque figures on the mountain stepped off once more.

Instantly, the corpse tide surged again across Liangzhou and Qingzhou, like toxic fluid howling relentlessly, chasing the scattered immortal sects along their escape routes.

From afar, one could see the demonic creatures, once ravaging every corner of Qingyun, now converging toward the central lands—like a slowly forming black bowl, swallowing heaven and devouring earth.

In Shengjing City, the gate commander guarding the city's great array slowly widened his eyes, then immediately seized his blade and rushed down the tower.

Soon after, the officials of the Si Xian Jian, Prince Chong, the families remaining in the capital, and many Tian Shu Academy disciples climbed onto the walls, gazing outward with grim expressions.

The vast corpse tide had already left Shengjing, as if guided by unseen will, surging densely southward.

They knew well—that direction was where the Tian Shu Academy and the great families had headed.

In truth, their mindset mirrored that of the families who had departed with the Tian Shu Academy: they had believed that with the Six Immortal Sects united in retribution, the heretics disrupting the Dao would surely be exterminated.

But now, watching this torrential tide flowing against the current, they faintly sensed this was a trap—a deliberate enticement into slaughter.

At this moment, the Tian Shu Academy group was detouring southward, pausing briefly after crossing the Liangzhou border.

Disciples with remaining strength continued clearing demonic creatures in all directions, while the Elders hurriedly took elixirs to heal their wounds.

Though Yu Danzong had sealed its mountains, every immortal sect and family had stockpiled healing medicines from before.

Now, with spiritual energy activated, these could stabilize injuries and accelerate wound healing.

Shi Junhao, He Lingxiu, and Chai Ze were all wounded, but their protective techniques had spared their foundations; after swallowing a few pills, their pain had lessened considerably.

When healing ended, He Lingxiu lifted his head and looked toward Yu Shiliu and Wang Gaocen beneath the opposite tree.

"How is Elder Wang?"

"His spiritual origin was nearly shattered—he is now severely wounded and unconscious, his breath extremely faint."

He Lingxiu frowned slightly: "Yu Shiliu… why again?"

Shi Junhao lowered his voice: "Elder Yu has perished. The three chief stewards just said his team was ambushed before reaching the border—six Elders among them died and lost their cultivation."

"It seems we truly underestimated our enemy—we nearly caused a great disaster."

"Last night, during our first encounter, a Shenyou-level demonic cultivator struck out. Lord Zuqiu and Lord Chai both seemed to have fought yesterday—only a full-strength top-five realm cultivator could have matched them."