A Sect from a Spirit Vein

Chapter 51: Chapter 48: Zhou Family Vassal

A hundred miles away from Yuqing Mountain, there is a Spirit Snake Peak, one of the three vassals of the Yuqing Zhou Family.

A yellow-hued defensive array envelops Spirit Snake Peak, with a large expanse of buildings erected at the mountaintop. On the sect’s square, thirty or forty Qi Cultivators gathered in small clusters, engaged in heated discussions. In the great hall behind the square, four individuals were seated, the atmosphere between them was peculiar.

Seated at the head was a middle-aged cultivator with a fair complexion. He leisurely leaned back in the principal seat, taking a sip from a teacup: ”Sect Leader Zhao, Sect Leader Wang, Sect Leader Sun, what are you hesitating over? The Zhou Family’s downfall is imminent, Yuqing Mountain is about to belong to our Chaosheng Sect. If you pledge your allegiance now and attach yourselves to the Royal Army, the timing couldn’t be better.”

The two men and one woman seated below exchanged looks, their faces serious. After a moment of silence, Spirit Snake Peak’s master, Zhao Xianzong stood up, bowing as he spoke: ”Special Envoy Wu, our Chaosheng Sect has always been admired by us. Still, the Zhou Family, as a former Sect Leader, has never treated us unfairly. It’s unsettling for us to attack them now. Could Special Envoy Wu perhaps grant us a few more days?”

Special Envoy Wu coldly sneered. Unsettled? It was nothing more than a pretense; these few fence-sitters were merely watching the situation; unwilling to take sides before knowing the outcome. He then turned to the other two and asked: ”Is this also what you’re thinking?”

”Our three families have always shared a common path,” Sect Leader Sun, the woman, responded, and Sect Leader Wang nodded in agreement.

Special Envoy Wu’s face suddenly hardened; he slapped the table and shouted: ”Why are you playing games with me? If you truly have no intentions, then why gather your three families’ elite disciples here? You just want to express your loyalty quickly if Chaosheng Sect wins and then follow the main force for some leftovers. If Chaosheng Sect retreats, you’ll sit with your forces, watching the changes, fantasizing about maintaining independence!”

Having their true intentions exposed, the three sect leaders were not embarrassed. Zhao Xianzong replied with a forced smile: ”Special Envoy, you can’t understand the hardships of small families like ours, comfortably situated in a great sect as you are. By the way, as the Special Envoy has come from afar, enduring the travel, we have a small token of appreciation to cool the heat.”

As he spoke, he clapped his hands, and a disciple stepped forward, respectfully presenting a jade box to Special Envoy Wu.

Narrowing his eyes, Special Envoy Wu opened the jade box, where a blast of frosty air greeted him; it was a three-hundred-year-old jade ginseng.

This ginseng was worth no less than five hundred Spirit Stones, equating to nearly half a year of output for a Qi Cultivation Sect.

Accepting the jade ginseng, Special Envoy Wu’s expression softened somewhat, sitting down with a cold snort: ”Don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you pledge allegiance now, you may earn a merit, with benefits following you. But if you insist on waiting for us to destroy the Zhou Family, your future annual tribute might have to double.”

”This...” The words left the three sect leaders with a bitter expression, exchanging several looks among them. Zhao Xianzong cautiously asked: ”Special Envoy Wu, could we discuss it briefly among ourselves?”

Special Envoy Wu smiled and waved his hand, and the three sect leaders exited in single file, setting up a Silence Talisman in a side hall.

After discussing for the duration of an incense stick, Zhao Xianzong finally sighed: ”Fellow Daoists, resisting would be futile. The Zhou Family doesn’t have a Foundation Establishment combatant. Even if they barely hold on in this battle, they can’t escape their fate of being wiped out eventually. Pledging allegiance is a must; we should strive to see if joining now can reduce the annual tribute somewhat.”

Wang and Sun nodded helplessly.

The three returned from the side hall, ready to return to the main hall, when they suddenly felt a violent fluctuation of spiritual energy within the mountain, and their expressions drastically changed.

Looking up, they saw an Escape Light had already intruded into the array! The Grand Array instantly activated, drawing spiritual energy from the Spirit Vein, gathering into the forms of the Cyan Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, stirring the wind and clouds within the array, unleashing attacks towards the intruder.

Zhao Xianzong hurriedly shouted: ”Report your name, the one in the array! Why suddenly intrude into my mountain gate?”

Just as his words fell, the Cyan Dragon’s shadow disintegrated with a crash, and the Four Symbols Grand Array had already lost one symbol!

Zhao Xianzong’s face showed fear, and the disciples on the square gathered around, gazing upwards, at a loss of what to do.

Zhao Xianzong lifted his hand to release a Flying Spiritual Artifact and was about to ascend, when Sect Leader Wang suddenly held him back: ”Sect Leader Zhao, this... this array was broken so swiftly, could it be a Foundation Establishment taking action?”

Zhao Xianzong was about to reply when they suddenly heard their disciples cry out, and that Black Tortoise projection too was shattered with a crash!

The three sect leaders were filled with fear, while the Escape Light performed an unknown method, bypassing the remaining Vermilion Bird and White Tiger projections, breaking through the array, landing before the main hall!

Everyone only felt a blur before them, as four figures leapt down from a White Jade Flying Ship.

The leading young cultivator, with sword-like brows and starry eyes, stood with his hands behind his back, surveying the three sect leaders with a faint smile. Behind him, a wiry elder cheerfully put away a few Command Banners. Beside him, a graceful and pretty female cultivator, holding a Treasure Sword, was capturing a terrified-looking cultivator.

Upon seeing Zhao Xianzong, the captive cultivator immediately shouted: ”Sect Leader, save me! Sect Leader, save me!”

This was the disciple sent to scout Yuqing Mountain’s battlefield situation! What on earth was happening?

Despite a brief glance, it was clear that none of the three intruders were Foundation Establishments, but the means by which they easily dismantled the Four Symbols Defensive Array left the three sect leaders of Zhao, Wang, and Sun highly apprehensive.

Zhao Xianzong, with a stern face, forced himself to remain calm, bowing as he spoke: ”From where have these three Daoists come? Why force your way into my Spirit Snake Peak and abduct my sect’s disciple?”

Lu Qian, with his hands quietly stowing away a half-consumed Spirit Crystal behind him, returned the greeting: ”Is this the master of Spirit Snake Peak, Sect Leader Zhao? I am Lu Qian, the Sect Leader of Yunshan Sect, currently an ally of the Yuqing Zhou Family, entrusted by the Zhou Family to visit.”

With that, he clapped his hands, and Jiang Qingfeng released the disciple back.

Lu Qian’s target was indeed the three vassal sects of the Zhou Family. Originally planning to approach from near to afar, it turned out that all three sects’ disciples were concentrated at Spirit Snake Peak, the closest to the Zhou Family, saving the trouble of visiting the other two places.

After observing outside the array for a moment, noticing the array was a ”Death Array” without an Array Cultivator presiding, Master Xuan Ji confidently declared that with enough spiritual energy, it could be breached.

Just as Lu Qian intended to forcefully enter, delivering a shock to the three sects’ cultivators for easier follow-up actions, an Escape Light rushed towards the array, it was the disciple returning with the news.

The other party did not hesitate and was about to enter the array. If so, he must possess a token allowing passage through the array!

At that moment, Lu Qian decided, and they suddenly attacked, capturing the disciple.

Although a token could only shield one person, Master Xuan Ji, with his extensive experience, coupled with insights from Li Zhenru’s array expertise, saw his array attainments advance significantly. For an Array Cultivator of such skill, having this token greatly reduced the difficulty of breaching the array.

Also, powered by the immense spiritual energy provided by a Spirit Crystal, this remarkable feat of instantly disrupting and attacking, breaking through the array, left a heavy shadow on the three sects’ leaders.