Chapter 229 : Minor Sects
The climate on Mount Mingzong was quite peculiar. Previously, it had been clear skies without a drop of rain, but now that it had started raining, it drizzled continuously without end, and it was unclear how many days would pass before the clouds dispersed and the rain ceased.
The three sects had agreed to launch a surprise attack on Nine Abyss Sect on a rainy night, with deep darkness and misty drizzle.
Peak Master Qingyu stood on the spirit ship, watching as her two Senior Brothers led disciples away—she had been assigned to remain at the base. Firstly, the disciples' cultivation levels varied greatly, with most not suitable for tonight's operation. Secondly, there was concern that the Nine Abyss Sect Leader hiding in the shadows might suddenly strike; even with Elder Mingxi stationed on the spirit ship, the remaining disciples might not be able to handle the people brought by the Nine Abyss Sect Leader.
Peak Master Qingyu had no objection to this arrangement. After watching everyone depart, her gaze swept downward, seeing the base below brilliantly lit, appearing no different from usual.
Elder Liu Feng, also remaining on the spirit ship for the night, saw Peak Master Qingyu standing at the bow and called out: "Would Peak Master like to come and have some tea?"
Peak Master Qingyu stood in place for a long while, but on this dark, rainy night, even with her Fusion realm cultivation, she could no longer see the others with her naked eye. As for the demonic vessels opposite, although they were quite distant, the lights in the darkness were bright, and a faint glow could still be seen... She gazed fixedly for a while before finally turning to sit across from Elder Liu Feng.
Elder Liu Feng had already prepared the tea and smiled as he poured her a cup: "This is new tea I gathered from Mount Qianyuan this year. The flavor is quite good. Peak Master should try it properly."
Peak Master Qingyu wasn't close to him but knew that Elder Liu Feng was a tea enthusiast. After thanking him, she had no interest in savoring it carefully.
For some reason, she felt uneasy tonight, sensing that something was about to happen. But thinking carefully, tonight's surprise attack on Nine Abyss Sect wasn't just her Xuanqing Sect's action; with the three sects united, even if news had leaked and Nine Abyss Sect was prepared, they shouldn't be able to detain them. At worst, it would change from a surprise attack to a direct confrontation. Unless all four demonic sects reached a consensus to surround and attack them in this short time, they couldn't pose a real threat.
As for whether the four demonic sects would join forces... Peak Master Qingyu suddenly frowned, emptied her teacup in one gulp, and didn't want to think further, though in her heart she had already reached a conclusion.
Seeing her gulping down his fine tea, Elder Liu Feng shook his head regretfully, then refilled her cup.
The tea had just been poured, and Peak Master Qingyu hadn't yet thanked him when suddenly the sound of fighting came from afar. Elder Liu Feng, still holding the teapot, turned his head toward the demonic vessels: "Has the fighting started already?"
Peak Master Qingyu quickly realized something was wrong and stood up: "No, the sound isn't coming from the direction of the demonic vessels."
Elder Liu Feng saw it too. The distant demonic vessels still emitted only that faint light, without the spiritual glow that would accompany a battle. Instead, behind them, various colors of light suddenly appeared, like fireworks blooming in the rainy night, clear and bright yet hazy... That area didn't belong to Xuanqing Sect's base, nor to any of the three sects, but was the gathering place of minor righteous sects.
These minor sects had arrived here a year ago. Initially, they came due to the demonic cultivators' enticement to disrupt the situation. Later, when the secret realm's opening was no longer a secret, the three sects simply sent messages to their affiliated minor sects, and many arrived one after another.
Some minor sects had caught the opportunities of the Canglán Secret Realm, while others had not. However, when they reached Mount Mingzong and found the demonic sects openly confronting the righteous path, the vast majority of minor sects stayed—though their strength was truly lacking, with high-end combat power entirely dependent on the three major sects, staying to bolster numbers was still worthwhile.
Overall, when confronting the four demonic sects, the three major sects had never counted on these minor sects. In fact, to protect some special Dao traditions of minor sects, such as sound cultivation, the three major sects would even protect them in return.
This was evident from the current base layout, and everything had been peaceful until tonight's unexpected incident.
Elder Liu Feng stood up immediately. Even through the night, he could see the surging demonic energy on the battlefield behind them. His expression immediately darkened: "It's demonic cultivators. They're actually going to attack the minor sects. I wonder which demonic sect it is?"
Peak Master Qingyu only looked for a moment before saying: "We can't allow this."
Hearing this, Elder Liu Feng immediately volunteered: "Peak Master, I'll lead people to assist."
Peak Master Qingyu thought briefly and shook her head, then left the spirit ship herself, leaving behind these words: "I'll go personally. You and the other elders gather all disciples onto the spirit ship and activate the defensive formation to prevent anyone from taking advantage."
Elder Liu Feng, with only a Golden Core cultivation, naturally couldn't stop Peak Master Qingyu. He didn't even have time to object before she disappeared from sight. With no choice, he followed her instructions, quickly summoned all the guarding elders, then called the disciples from the base below to board the spirit ship, instantly filling it to capacity.
As the disciples boarded the spirit ship, they also saw the disturbance at the minor sects' base and anxiously asked: "Elder, the minor sects behind us are under attack. Aren't we going to help?"
An elder replied: "Peak Master Qingyu has already gone. You just stay obediently on the spirit ship."
Well, in terms of combat power, one Peak Master Qingyu was already equivalent to all of them combined. The disciples obediently fell silent, and shortly afterward, they saw spiritual light flare up in the direction of the demonic vessels, indicating that the group sent for the surprise attack had also engaged in battle.
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The results of Qingxu and the others' surprise attack weren't good. First, they fell into a trap and were nearly caught on the demonic vessel. Then, after finally leaving the vessel to return, they were ambushed even over this short distance.
Fortunately, the four demonic sects weren't unified. Tonight, only Nine Abyss Sect had set the trap for them, and with insufficient manpower, they couldn't detain the righteous cultivators.
Even so, having their surprise attack fail and falling into an ambush left them not only disheveled but also thoroughly demoralized. As they approached the base, the three sects separated with bellies full of frustration. When Qingxu and Qingyuan led their disciples back to the base, they saw an empty base and a fully packed spirit ship with all defensive formations activated.
Qingxu was momentarily stunned, then urgently asked: "Why is everyone on the spirit ship? Has something happened?" Could it be that while they went to surprise attack Nine Abyss Sect, the demonic side really sent people to raid their home?!
Elder Liu Feng understood and immediately stepped forward to answer: "Peak Master, please don't worry, we're all fine." Then he pointed to the minor sects' base behind them: "It's those minor sects that have a problem. Demonic cultivators went to attack them, and Peak Master Qingyu went to help. Before leaving, she instructed us to bring all disciples onto the spirit ship to prevent further incidents."
This was a precautionary measure with no issues in the arrangement. Hearing this, the two men also relaxed.
However, they had clearly returned quite late, as the battle at the minor sects' base had already ended. Now, all was silent behind them, the spiritual light had disappeared, and only a few scattered lights shone in the base, giving it a somewhat desolate appearance.
Peak Master Qingxu frowned after a glance and said with concern: "Junior Sister hasn't returned. I'll go check."
Peak Master Qingyuan was about to nod when a familiar voice sounded behind them: "No need. I've already returned."
The two looked and indeed saw Peak Master Qingyu returning with her sword. The usually ice-cold person now emanated a dense killing intent, with traces of blood on her sword tip and the corners of her clothes, appearing somewhat intimidating at first glance.
The two Peak Masters were fine, but the other disciples, seeing her like this, all fearfully lowered their heads slightly, not daring to look too much.
Peak Master Qingxu's expression softened somewhat, and after scanning and seeing that Peak Master Qingyu was uninjured, he asked with relief: "What happened? Which sect launched the attack? And those minor sects, are they alright now?"
Peak Master Qingyu wiped the blood from her sword blade while explaining what had happened, concluding: "The attackers were just a motley crew. The minor sects suffered some losses, but they're fine..." She herself was confused as she spoke. She had originally thought it was a diversion, but neither had anyone come to attack the base, nor had anyone specifically targeted her. Tonight's events were quite perplexing.
After hearing this, Qingxu and Qingyuan looked at each other, equally unclear whether tonight's events were coincidence or conspiracy.
However, now that the three sects' elite forces had returned, they only needed to remain vigilant and defend strictly. Presumably, nothing major would happen. So after some deliberation, the two said to Peak Master Qingyu: "Since that's the case, let's not overthink it for now, and observe what happens next."
Peak Master Qingyu nodded, and the killing intent around her gradually subsided.
Then she noticed everyone's disheveled appearance and couldn't help asking: "How was tonight's operation?"
Hearing this question, both Qingxu and Qingyuan found it hard to express—to say the surprise attack was successful would be false; in fact, they had struck at emptiness and fallen into a trap. But to say they returned without achievements wouldn't be accurate either, as they had fought with Nine Abyss Sect on their way back, with losses on both sides, and the other side hadn't gained any advantage.
In the end, they couldn't clearly assess tonight's gains and losses, but the night was already deep, and the situation seemed to have calmed. So after some discussion, the three didn't rush to investigate further. After resettling the disciples, the night passed peacefully.
༻༺❀༻✧⋆｡°✩☽༓☾✩°｡⋆✧༺❀༻༺
The next day, surprisingly, the clouds dispersed and the rain stopped. The rainy days that had persisted for so long finally ended, and a ray of sunlight fell upon the land through gaps in the clouds.
The elders of the three sects had all learned about the attack on the minor sects the previous night, so after the rain stopped, they went together to check. Qingxu and Qingyuan were relatively relaxed because Qingyu had intervened the night before and had told them upon her return that the minor sects hadn't suffered significant losses.
However, when they arrived at the minor sects' base, they found a scene of gloom, with an atmosphere of panic spreading in the air. Qingyuan immediately sensed something was wrong and pulled over a disciple from one of the minor sects to ask: "What's happening? Wasn't the damage from last night's attack minimal? Why is the atmosphere in the base so heavy?"
That minor sect disciple didn't recognize Peak Master Qingyuan but knew this group represented the leadership of the three major sects. Hearing Qingyuan's question, his entire body trembled, his face turning deathly pale: "The—the people from Gui Yi Sect and Changyin Gate are all—all dead..."
These two sects were inconspicuous minor sects, but both were ones the three major sects had intentionally protected—Gui Yi Sect practiced the art of merging the five elements into one, considered a special Dao tradition, while Changyin Gate was one of the rare sound cultivation sects in the cultivation world. Although both sects still had successors remaining in their respective sects, the annihilation of those who had come to Mount Mingzong was undoubtedly a severe blow to the face for the righteous path.
More importantly, Peak Master Qingyu had clearly said last night that there was no problem...