I Have an Omen System

"He wasn’t reincarnated."

Huang Xu explained, "There’s something you don’t know, Master Qin. Just a month ago, Steward Zhao went to the Jade Wind Country to carry out a Sect mission."

"Jade Wind Country..."

Qin Xuan seemed to recall something and asked, "The Jade Wind Country that borders our Holy Sect, is located on the frontier of Daqian, and was once home to the Foundation Establishment Sect, Taiyi True View?"

"That’s the one."

Huang Xu swallowed hard and said, "Because of his outstanding performance, Steward Zhao was specially appointed to go to the Jade Wind Country and kill a First-Layer Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivator."

Qin Xuan was quite surprised. "Old Zhao broke through to Foundation Establishment?"

Huang Xu shook his head with a bitter smile. "Steward Zhao hadn’t reached Foundation Establishment yet. He was only at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer."

A Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer killing a First-Layer Foundation Establishment?

That was basically a suicide mission.

Qin Xuan realized that there might have been a huge change within the Sect.

"Come, let’s go to the Demon Disciple Dormitory. Tell me the details on the way."

"As you command!" Huang Xu said, cupping his hands.

「Inside the Cave Mansion.」

Huang Xu told Qin Xuan everything he knew, pouring it all out in a rush.

Because Qin Xuan and the others had been traveling back to the Sect on a Demon Boat from the Outer World Celestial Realm, they had basically been in closed-door Cultivation for the past few months.

As a result, they knew nothing about what had happened in the Holy Sect.

He had thought it was just an assessment for Stewards.

However, after listening to Huang Xu, Qin Xuan suddenly lost his composure, his voice rising sharply.

"A war in the Cultivation Realm?!"

"That’s right." Huang Xu’s expression was grim.

"Just two months ago, the Cyan Cloud Sect, in its capacity as the Leader of the Righteous Path, suddenly declared war on our Holy Sect... They not only allied with the Thirteen Righteous Sects, but also mobilized the Southern Border Gu Race and the East Sea Demon Race!"

If the Cyan Cloud Sect joining forces with the Thirteen Righteous Sects to attack the Blood Demon Sword Sect’s mountain gate was merely a conflict between the upper echelons of the two sects, it wouldn’t have had much to do with the lower-level Cultivators.

But a full-scale Cultivation Realm war was a fierce confrontation between the Righteous Dao and the Demon Dao that would sweep across the entire Cultivation Realm!

"To respond, everyone in our Holy Sect, from top to bottom, has been mobilized."

"At first, our Holy Sect was at a disadvantage. It was Lord Blood Tyrant Sword Demon who personally supervised the battle, fighting tooth and nail on the front lines...

Under the pressure of his Sword Domain, he risked Curse Killing to forcefully slay three Golden Core True Monarchs from the Cyan Cloud Sect. More than half of the Red Flame Country was turned to scorched earth. During that time, countless Incense Masters and Stewards died at the hands of the enemy, their souls returning to the Blood Pool. Only then did the situation on the battlefield begin to turn in our Holy Sect’s favor..."

Huang Xu said, trembling with fear.

In just a few words, the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, the sheer cruelty of this Cultivation Realm war, became vividly apparent.

Between the Daqian Dynasty and the Blood Demon Sword Sect, there were hundreds of smaller countries acting as a buffer.

The largest among them were the Jade Wind Country, Canglin Country, Red Flame Country, and Cloud Dream Country, each presided over by a Golden Core True Monarch.

It was estimated that Canglin Country had likely been completely wiped out by now.

"So the conflict has escalated!"

Qin Xuan sighed and asked, "Do you know what reason the Cyan Cloud Sect gave for starting this Cultivation Realm war?"

"It’s said to be because..."

Huang Xu suddenly paused, his eyes darting around as if he was afraid to speak of something.

With a wave of his hand, Qin Xuan set up a sound-insulating Array.

Only then did Huang Xu breathe a sigh of relief. He took half a step forward and lowered his voice. "It’s said to be because of our Holy Sect’s newly ascended Nascent Soul, Lord Nether Flame Blood Prison Demon Monarch... His Lordship used a Secret Technique in the Outer World Celestial Realm to blood-sacrifice tens of millions of mortals and over a hundred thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators."

"Even the Cyan Cloud Sect’s chief True Inheritance disciple has gone missing..."

Huang Xu continued, "The Righteous Dao was in an uproar, vowing to hunt down and exterminate all Holy Sect Cultivators. We were suddenly short on manpower.

"That’s why the Sect specifically dispatched Steward Zhao to kill an enemy of a higher cultivation level..."

In a Cultivation Realm war, the ones who die the most are low-level Cultivators like Zhao Youliang and Huang Xu.

The next to fall are the mid-level forces like Foundation Establishment Incense Masters and Purple Mansion Altar Masters—people like Qin Xuan.

’So that’s what this is all about.’

The corner of Qin Xuan’s mouth twitched slightly.

’Those bastards from the Cyan Cloud Sect are truly shameless! The entire Foundation Establishment and Chaos Suppression Conference had less than ten thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators, yet now they’ve inflated the number more than tenfold. Forget the Foundation Establishment Cultivators—where did tens of millions of mortals come from?’

’Ji Boyan, that old geezer, probably took the fall for the Cyan Cloud Sect and became their scapegoat...’

Qin Xuan thought to himself.

"It’s not just Steward Zhao."

Huang Xu forced a smile that was uglier than a crying face. "In a few days, I’ll have to sneak into Yunlan Marketplace in the Red Flame Country to gather intelligence for the Sect."

As he spoke, he was overcome with sorrow.

Huang Xu wiped away his tears, dropped to his knees with a THUD, and said with genuine emotion, "My lord, if I die, you must bring my Lifebound Iron Sword back to the Holy Sect! In my next life, I still want to serve under you!"

"Don’t worry. Go back."

Qin Xuan’s tone was calm as he casually tossed over two dull-colored, longan-sized Tier One Rejuvenating Pills.

He couldn’t remember which unlucky bastard’s Storage Pouch he had looted these Pills from, but they weren’t worth much anyway.

But Huang Xu reacted as if he’d received a priceless treasure. Surprised and overjoyed, he knelt again and kowtowed repeatedly, spouting many words of loyalty before finally leaving reluctantly.

"Once a Cultivation Realm war starts, it can easily last for decades. All I want is to live a peaceful life. Why is that so hard...?"

Qin Xuan let out a long sigh.

According to the Sect’s records, the last Cultivation Realm war was over a thousand years ago.

Still, it had to be said that whenever a great war began, it was also often an era when geniuses emerged in droves.

The former Golden Core Blood Demon Ji Boyan, the Holy Sect’s bald Blood Demon Ming Zhan, as well as other Golden Core True Monarchs like the Thousand-Faced Blood Demon and the Ten Thousand Corpses Blood Demon, all of them had risen to prominence during that time.

’Whatever. I’ll just take it one day at a time. I’ll worry about missions when they come.’

Qin Xuan focused his mind and sat cross-legged back down on the stone bed.

He resumed his study of the fragment of the Blessed Land he had obtained from Ye Lan.