Chapter 458 : A Spectacular Scene
458: A Spectacular Scene
Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue didn't delay. They returned to Purple Cloud Peak to collect the first two groups of people they had thrown there, then headed directly to the lightning pool at the back of Mount Tianyang.
Unlike last time, when the Sect Leader had specially sent disciples to guide them and open the lightning pool, this time when Jiang Mo and the others arrived, the stone wall serving as the barrier was already open, revealing the deep tunnel behind it. Two elders were guarding the entrance to the lightning pool. Seeing the two, they politely greeted them, their gazes lingering a moment longer on Yun Qingyue.
Perhaps they recognized this former top disciple of Mount Mingxia and knew that she hadn't appeared in the sect since her background was exposed eighty years ago. But they might not have expected that after eighty years, Yun Qingyue's cultivation would have advanced so tremendously.
In any case, the two elders' gazes were quite complex for a moment, but in the end, they didn't stop them.
After just one day, Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue once again entered the lightning pool. Yesterday when leaving, Jiang Mo had thought she would never come here again, but she hadn't expected to be proven wrong so quickly. Her mood was a bit strange, and she was glad she hadn't mentioned this to Yun Qingyue. As they entered the tunnel, she randomly found a topic: "Ah Yue, what do you think the scene inside will be like now?"
Yun Qingyue glanced at her, then withdrew her gaze: "I don't know, but we'll see soon enough."
The two walked very quickly, and almost the moment Yun Qingyue's words fell, they had already walked out of the long, dark tunnel, and their view suddenly opened up—there was no natural light source in the lightning pool, but the flashing lightning was enough to illuminate the situation inside clearly. Thus, the two immediately noticed the enormous change in the lightning pool.
When they left yesterday, the lightning pool had been gathered together in one large expanse, looking like a lightning lake at a glance. But today, this "lightning lake" had been transformed into many small pools, truly living up to the name of lightning pools.
Jiang Mo's gaze quickly swept across the entire area, and she quickly counted in her heart—the once-large lightning pool had been transformed into ninety-nine small lightning pools.
Of course, dividing one lightning pool into ninety-nine wasn't simply to increase the number. With one glance, Jiang Mo had already noticed that the power contained in the lightning of these pools varied greatly, and the most obvious manifestation of this difference was in their color.
In some lightning pools, the lightning was blue. In others, the lightning had a whitish tint. Still others had purple or even deep purple lightning. The energy contained in these lightning pools differed in magnitude, naturally targeting disciples of different cultivation levels. Those with high cultivation soaking in low-level lightning pools would derive no benefit, while those with low cultivation soaking in high-level pools would be courting death.
Looking at the numerous heads visible in those lightning pools, Jiang Mo couldn't help but comment to Yun Qingyue beside her: "I thought the Sect Leader and the others would just throw people directly in. I didn't expect them to divide the pools."
Yun Qingyue didn't show any surprise, casually replying: "It doesn't take much effort."
Jiang Mo nodded. Fine, she was just inexperienced.
The two had just exchanged these few casual words when Peak Master Qingyuan, who was supervising here, came over to greet them: "You're here? How many disciples did you rescue? Release them all. I don't know if they can survive this."
Peak Master Qingyuan's tone was somewhat heavy, his mood low, clearly not in the mind for small talk.
Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue exchanged a glance, not wasting words, and together swept their sleeves to release the people they had stored in their dimensional spaces...
The lightning pool of Mount Tianyang was originally in the mountain's belly, perhaps with a space-expansion formation set up, giving Jiang Mo the impression that it was very spacious. But that was before. Now, with ninety-nine lightning pools distributed within the mountain's belly, it naturally felt somewhat crowded. And Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue were extremely efficient, capturing many disciples and binding them all without distinction.
So Peak Master Qingyuan's expression changed from calm to surprise, then from surprise to shock, and finally he had to call for a stop: "Wait, wait, wait! There's no more room. If you release any more, they'll fall into the pools."
The nearby pools were not high-grade, so disciples falling in wouldn't face life-threatening danger. But to prevent those infected with demonic patterns from escaping, each pool had a formation placed on it, basically allowing only entry and no exit. Peak Master Qingyuan could open these formations, but was it necessary to fish people out of each pool one by one?
Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue reacted quickly, immediately stopping their actions.
Peak Master Qingyuan looked at the disciples piled up like small mountains, secretly wiped away sweat, then asked the two: "How can there be so many disciples? How many people did you capture in total?"
There was nothing to hide here. Jiang Mo immediately said boldly: "We captured everyone we encountered. I have about two or three thousand people here."
After speaking, she looked at Yun Qingyue, who continued her words: "Two thousand seven hundred and eighty-two people."
Peak Master Qingyuan immediately drew in a sharp breath, clearly not expecting these two to be so capable at capturing people—they had seized nearly a tenth of the sect's disciples. However, beyond his surprise, he also felt some relief. He was relieved that the two had acted swiftly, not allowing these disciples to cause more trouble, and also relieved that they had shown mercy—these disciples were mostly captured alive. Whether they could be saved or not, they at least had to try.
"Good, good, good. Many people were missing from the sect today. I thought they had all perished." Peak Master Qingyuan was somewhat excited, speaking while looking at the two with approval.
Within Xuanqing Sect, there was a Soul Lamp Hall containing soul lamps for disciples and elders, allowing the monitoring of their life status, with disciples specifically assigned to guard these lamps. However, with the multitude of disciples in Xuanqing Sect, not everyone had this treatment. At the very least, only inner disciples with masters were qualified to light a soul lamp. The sect had difficulty monitoring the condition of the majority of disciples.
Jiang Mo, being praised, raised her lips with a hint of pride, but still remembered to remind him: "We bound and captured everyone who was fighting. We haven't had time to distinguish who is infected with demonic patterns and who isn't."
Hearing this, Peak Master Qingyuan wasn't concerned, waving his hand: "No matter, it will be sorted out soon."
In a short while, Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue understood what they were waiting for—the space with ninety-nine lightning pools had already formed a certain magnetic field. Even without being placed in the lightning pools, the released disciples quickly came under the influence of the lightning. Among them, ordinary disciples with no problems merely received an electric shock, while those infected with demonic patterns were deeply affected, with patterns unconsciously crawling up their faces as they struggled.
About a quarter of an hour later, half of the disciples were unbound, while the other half were thrown into lightning pools matching their cultivation levels.
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After witnessing the grand spectacle of the ninety-nine lightning pools, Jiang Mo became extremely concerned about Xuanqing Sect's current predicament. After all, just one night had passed, and so many disciples in Xuanqing Sect had been affected. Even if all problematic individuals were now being soaked in the lightning pools, there was no guarantee that the infection of demonic patterns wouldn't spread. What if the lightning pools had no effect? Would such a large sect fall?!
Perhaps due to having crossed over and having already formed her worldview as an adult before crossing over, Jiang Mo always had a sense of detachment from the cultivation world. Even knowing that the people around her were living beings, she always felt a sense of unreality about them, with only Yun Qingyue being the exception.
However, at this moment, Jiang Mo developed concern for Xuanqing Sect and the cultivation world, and her typically carefree face also showed a trace of worry.
Suddenly, a fair finger touched her brow, gently smoothing out that slight wrinkle. Yun Qingyue's somewhat cool voice sounded in her ear: "What are you thinking about, to be so worried?"
At this moment, the two were walking on the path back to Purple Cloud Peak, and with Yun Qingyue's movement, they stopped.
Jiang Mo naturally stopped as well, feeling the slight coolness on her brow, and somewhat reluctantly reached out to hold Senior Sister's hand. She had never hidden anything from her, and now she expressed her concerns: "We don't know how those demonic patterns spread, but in one day so many people have been infected. What if the lightning pools don't work, and the demonic patterns resurge tomorrow..." She didn't think Xuanqing Sect could hold out much longer.
However, Yun Qingyue, born in Xuanqing Sect, showed little concern upon hearing these words, instead persuading her: "This is something the Sect Leader should worry about. The sect elders have their own plans. It's not our turn to worry yet."
This statement made sense, but it didn't sound like something Senior Sister would say, after all, Xuanqing Sect was her home.
Jiang Mo looked at Yun Qingyue with a surprised gaze, the question escaping her lips: "Ah Yue, aren't you worried at all?"
Yun Qingyue's hand was still being held by Jiang Mo. She didn't pull it away, but instead turned her fingertips and inserted them between Jiang Mo's fingers, interlocking them. Her unexpectedly proactive gesture momentarily dazed Jiang Mo, but Yun Qingyue had already casually spoken: "It's not that I'm not worried. But haven't you noticed what kind of people were infected and taken to soak in the lightning pools today?"
What kind of people could they be? Of course, they were all disciples under Xuanqing Sect...
Jiang Mo thought this naturally, then suddenly had a flash of insight, feeling something amiss. After a good while, she tentatively said: "Apart from Elder Liu Feng, I don't recognize any of the people infected with demonic patterns today."
Jianbing's identity was special—everyone in Xuanqing Sect knew Jiang Mo, but the people she knew were limited. Firstly, she often secluded herself for cultivation, and secondly, she had no interest in socializing. As a result, despite staying in Xuanqing Sect for over eighty years, she still knew very few people—some elders looked familiar, but as for disciples, she only knew those who had shone brightly in the sect's grand competition years ago.
Undoubtedly, the disciples that Jiang Mo could remember were all the outstanding ones in the sect—in other words, they were the future pillars of the sect. But none of these people had been infected. Was it a coincidence?
Jiang Mo wasn't stupid; how could she believe in such a coincidence?
Her tense mood immediately relaxed. Then she recalled the day's chaos—the three Supreme Elders hadn't been alarmed, and Divine Lord Zhiming hadn't appeared either. None of these sect pillars had intervened.
What did this indicate? It indicated that the situation was still under control, at least the Sect Leader didn't yet feel that the situation was critical.
Yun Qingyue didn't speak much, often acting rather than talking, but she saw things clearly.
With her guidance, Jiang Mo also set aside her worries. Her eyes bright and shining, she excitedly raised their clasped hands and, without thinking, kissed the back of Senior Sister's hand: "I was being foolish. Ah Yue is so perceptive and wise."
Yun Qingyue's fingertips curled slightly. The hand that had been kissed remained as fair as ever, only slightly warm.