Cultivation Starts with Rejuvenation

Melancholic music plays, the True Man falls.

The mourning music of Biyun Sect has sounded four times over the years, corresponding to the fall of four Fake Pill True Men.

This time, it is the fifth!

"Another elder has fallen, has the great battle begun?" The Soul Token shattering within the sect is always timely, often faster than frontline intelligence.

Just arriving within the sect, Li Ji’an’s brow furrowed, distinctly feeling a cloud of sorrow unlike the previous four times.

"Could it be that the True Pill Elder has fallen?" His heart tightened suddenly.

Instinctively, he felt some concern for Xiao Changfeng.

Quickly entering the sect’s main hall, he met Master Jade Pill.

"Elder Fang has fallen!" Master Jade Pill shook his head sadly and spoke.

Li Ji’an’s expression was grave; Elder Fang was the fourth True Core Cultivator to fall in this ongoing righteous-demonic war lasting over a decade, differing from three other True Pill Masters who fell in the Fiery Sun Sect and others; Elder Fang was of middle-stage Core Formation and had established his core for hundreds of years, with very strong magical abilities and treasures.

To be able to kill Elder Fang, it would at least require a powerful cultivator of the late Core Formation stage.

Specific details can only wait for the subsequent messages to come back.

Until two months later, frontline news was relayed back to the sect through the Celestial Origin Province.

Two months ago, in the great battle between the Two Domains, the Golden Puppet Holy Monarch took the initiative to strike against the True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws.

Subsequently, the demon cultivator army of Boundless Domain forcefully invaded Celestial Cyan Domain, the battle unprecedented.

All cultivators at the frontline of Celestial Cyan Domain were passively engaged, with countless deaths and injuries.

The death of Elder Fang was also clearly revealed.

Because the Saint Child of the Corpse Puppet Sect, Lin Xiuzhu, targeted Xiao Changfeng for assassination, at the critical moment Elder Fang saved Xiao Changfeng, only to be ambushed and killed by the Sect Leader of Blood Spirit Sect during a battle with Lin Xiuzhu.

The Sect Leader of Blood Spirit Sect was at the peak of late Core Formation, a quasi-True Monarch level expert, and the sneak attack led to no chance of survival for Elder Fang, who was in middle-stage Core Formation.

Biyun Sect’s Supreme Elder, Master Yun Qing, rushed over at the first moment but was too late, ultimately just saving Xiao Changfeng.

Intelligence also mentioned that this time the demon cultivator’s attack was completely fearless, relying on corpse puppets, yin ghosts, blood fiends, and other demon technique secret skills, though outnumbered by Celestial Cyan Domain’s army, they managed to tear a gap in the border array of Celestial Cyan Domain and pressed inside by a hundred miles.

But eventually they still lacked endurance and were driven back.

The entire decisive battle lasted only seven days, but the number of dead and injured was several times what it had been in the prior ten years.

Ultimately, mutual injury occurred, and the demon cultivators of Boundless Domain were repelled.

The only relief for the cultivators of Celestial Cyan Domain was that in the duel between the True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws and the Golden Puppet Holy Monarch, the former showed superiority, damaging the latter at the cost of self-exploding a Third Grade Magical Treasure, which will take decades for the latter to recover from the injuries.

"Self-exploding Magical Artifact?" Upon receiving this intelligence, Li Ji’an felt a slight pressure.

Though the intelligence praised the Celestial Cyan Domain’s leader, the True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws, with various adjectives, seeing through the surface to the essence, the self-exploding of the Magical Artifact that injured the opponent shows that the True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws was on the lesser side in magical combat and felt a crisis; otherwise, how could one willingly explode a Third Grade Magical Treasure?

"If the latter recovers and reenters Celestial Cyan Domain, would the True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws still be willing to fight hard?" This time the Golden Puppet Holy Monarch led the cultivators of Boundless Domain with an invasive intent, so the True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws could fully obstruct it, but if next time the Golden Puppet Holy Monarch merely comes to devour him, the True Monarch of Ten Thousand Laws might not turn a blind eye.

A year later, the outcome of the Two Domains’ battle spread throughout the domain.

As the surviving cultivators of Celestial Cyan Domain breathed a sigh of relief, countless families, forces, and households wailed.

Half of the four major families in the Desert suffered casualties, and two Foundation Establishment Ancestors fell; the only Foundation Establishment Ancestor of the Zheng Family fell, and the elder generation ancestor of the Yan Family fell.

The Qin Family suffered even greater losses, losing six of its nine Foundation Establishment Elders, and even Qin Henian was severely injured.

Nameless loose cultivators suffered even worse.

Returning from the frontline, there was no celebration, only countless families’ mourning, the world draped in white.

On this day, Biyun Sect hung white flags throughout the sect, and mournful music pierced the skies.

Although Li Ji’an was an Honored Guest Elder, he was still required to attend the memorial ceremony on the sect’s rear mountain.

The Foundation Establishment force that had benefited greatly from the Great Marsh Mountain relics and had been growing for decades now only retained forty percent.

Four Fake Pill Elders fell, and even one of the three True Pill Elders fell.

This caused a major decline in Biyun Sect’s overall strength.

After paying respects to the sect’s heroic spirits who died in battle, the Supreme Elder, Master Yun Qing, publicly announced that Xiao Changfeng, as Middle Level True Pill, would take the place of Elder Fang among the three True Pill Elders, protecting the sect with his duties.

Furthermore, from this day forth, Biyun Sect would open its doors wide, recruit talents extensively, and increase efforts to cultivate new disciples, setting a centennial plan.

Also, in light of Biyun Sect’s performance at the frontline this time, the Ten Thousand Laws Palace retracted the law enforcement cultivators in Cangyun State, transferring state affairs completely back to Biyun Sect, with the admonition to maintain the principled rules against demon cultivators at all times.

Subsequently, the Sect Leader once again announced future enforcement rules and assigned the Law Enforcement Hall to be in charge of a Fake Pill True Man.

To Li Ji’an’s surprise, after the memorial ceremony, the Sect Leader called Li Ji’an into the sect’s main hall alone.

"Honored Guest Elder Li Fan, greeting the Sect Leader." Li Ji’an solemnly bowed with respect.

The Sect Leader nodded with a smile, "Alchemist Li, no need to be formal, please sit."

"Thank you, Sect Leader." Li Ji’an thanked and then took a seat.

Only then did he have the chance to gaze so closely at the Biyun Sect Sect Leader, whom countless cultivators in Cangyun State revered as the supreme.

In this world, whether family or force, almost everyone who manages internal and external relations, or even holds full control of the rules of the force, is often not the one with the highest cultivation level of the force.

Besides these chores being exhausting and impacting cultivation, full management of a force is also a capability, which sometimes is even rarer than the talent for cultivation.