Journey to the head

Chapter 714 New Master
When the sky was just getting light, Mianlong Mountain was in complete silence.

Most of the disciples are still in meditation and cultivation. The busy production work, task execution, competitions, teaching and various courses have not yet begun.

At the turn of spring and summer, the Mianlong Mountains are covered in lush green, especially the Longshou Peak, where the mist is floating and the air is full of spiritual energy. Various buildings of different shapes and functions are built against the mountain, and pavilions and towers are hidden in the mist. The winding mountain roads wind around the peaks, appearing and disappearing among the dense woods.

It is truly a fairyland and a wonderful place for practicing Taoism.

At the foot of Longshou Peak, a waterfall falls from the sky and pours into the deep pool below, stirring up a vast mist. On a huge rock beside the pool are several ugly characters "Linglong Waterfall" and "Yujiao Pond" carved crookedly.

It's just that Yu Jiao has followed Lu Qian to conquer the Sikong family, and now the pond is empty. Only various magical melons, fruits, snacks and candied fruits piled high on the shore can vaguely reflect the style of its owner.

Near Yujiaotan is the gate of Yunshan School. A tall white jade archway rises from the ground. The three large characters "Yunshan School" are written in a vigorous and majestic manner, proudly narrating the glorious splendor of Yunshan School.

Two figures were standing in front of the mountain gate. One of them looked up silently for a long time, then turned around and looked at the Mianlong Mountain in the mist.

He is strong, tall and powerful, with a pair of pure black eyes without any whites, which makes people feel intimidated.

It was Wang Yu.

The people around him couldn't help but urge him, "Elder Wang, hurry up and leave. If someone finds you, then—"

Wang Yu glanced at him coldly, and he immediately fell silent, not daring to say anything.

After a few more breaths, Wang Yu finally withdrew his gaze and walked out of the mountain gate. Not long after they walked, a faint, misty formation appeared before them.

"The headmaster's cultivation has improved, and his skills have reached a new level. The mountain protection formation should have been replaced with a Nascent Soul level formation." Wang Yu suddenly spoke, as if talking to himself, "It's a pity that the spiritual vein of Mianlong Mountain is at the third high level. If a Nascent Soul level formation is set up, it can only be said to be barely functioning, and it will consume all the spiritual energy in the spiritual vein, so this mountain cannot be used for cultivation."

The people around Wang Yu were puzzled and didn't know what he was talking about. Then they heard Wang Yu mutter, "My sect should have a stronger spiritual vein, and my sect should have a better future. It can't be because of me..."

He stopped talking, took out the pass token of the mountain protection formation from his arms, and shouted in a low voice: "Follow me!"

Take the lead and enter the formation.

Unexpectedly, the great formation suddenly flashed with light, and it actually sensed someone breaking in. It instantly switched from being hidden to being active, and it began to operate with a hum. Five-colored light shot straight into the sky, and the formation changed suddenly!

Wang Yu reacted quickly, his foot stopped in the air, and he quickly stepped back.

But the entire formation had already started to move, and the disciples on duty immediately began to act. Magical weapons flew across the sky, and streams of light surrounded it.

Wang Yu stared at the pass token in his hand and suddenly understood.

In just a blink of an eye, many lights of light came around, and the guard on duty at the foundation building position shouted from a distance: "Who is it!"

The person beside Wang Yu shouted, "Elder Wang, kill them quickly!"

"How dare you!" Wang Yu suddenly shouted, "Kneel down!"

The man's face changed drastically, he groaned as if struck by lightning, and fell to his knees.

The disciples on duty finally saw clearly that it was Elder Yunshan, the head senior brother, and Director of the Punishment Department Wang Yu, but something was fishy and they did not dare to relax. Instead, they surrounded the two under the command of the Foundation Building Team Leader. More and more escape lights were pouring in to support them.

Wang Yu said in a deep voice: "I have something important to do and need to leave the mountain. Open the formation immediately."

As the director of the Punishment Department, Wang Yu enforced the law very strictly. Anyone who entered the Punishment Department would be punished. The disciples feared him like a tiger and usually took a detour when they saw him from a distance. In addition, he had a very high status and prestige. Who would dare not obey his orders?

But now, the leader of the foundation-building team bowed from afar and said, "Elder Wang, the Jindan next to you is an important prisoner brought back by Elder Jiang. Are you being coerced by him? Don't worry, Elder Jiang and Elder Wu will be here soon."

It turns out that the golden elixir beside Wang Yu was the corpse slave Du Yeming!
At this moment, Du Yeming wanted to burst into curse. He was kneeling and Wang Yu was standing. Who was coercing whom? Are you blind?
"No, I am taking the prisoner away under the order of the headmaster." Wang Yu said, "Let him go quickly."

The captain of the foundation-building team did not give in. "Then why can't the pass token on you pass through the formation? Or do you have a handwritten order from the head of the sect?"

Wang Yu nodded in satisfaction at how clever the Yunshan disciples were. He knew he couldn't leave, so he could only stand there quietly without saying anything else.

In just the time it took to say these few words, two beams of golden elixir light had arrived together and landed in front of Wang Yu.

"Junior Sister Jiang, Wu Yan, you are here." Wang Yu nodded lightly.

Wu Yan waved away the other disciples. Jiang Qingfeng took a step forward and saw Du Yeming kneeling beside Wang Yu. Her expression became solemn, and with a soft hum, an octagonal silver mirror rose from above her head. In an instant, the cold wind was howling, and frost was on the ground. Her eyes had turned into bright silver.

She stretched out her hand and squeezed it gently, and a ball of frosty air mixed with lightning suddenly burst out from Du Yeming's Shenting, Tanzhong, and Dantian. He screamed and fell to the ground, rolling in pain.

Jiang Qingfeng was relieved: "The Ice Thunder Immortal Locking Needle is still there. He is just a mortal and cannot hurt Senior Brother Wang."

Du Yeming rolled his eyes in pain and said, "Please, can you please figure out who hurt whom first?"

"Junior Sister Jiang, you don't have to do anything." Wang Yu said, "Now, I am his master."

Jiang Qingfeng and Wu Yan were both shocked, and Wang Yu explained a few words. It turned out that after the cultivators were implanted with the corpse clan's true seal and transformed into corpse slaves, they would regard the caster as their master and could not disobey any orders.

However, when the master dies, the true seal on the corpse slave's body will not be removed, nor will he die with him. Instead, he will no longer have a fixed master from then on, and under the control of the corpse seal, he will automatically obey the strongest corpse in the clan he encounters.

Now, on the Mianlong Mountain, the one with the strongest corpse evil power is the half-human, half-corpse Wang Yu!

So Du Yeming became Wang Yu's corpse slave in a daze.

Jiang Qingfeng understood: "Brother Wang, did you learn what happened from him and are you planning to leave the mountain?"

Wang Yu said calmly, "Although I have been living in seclusion for many years, I am not blind or deaf. The nine counties in the northwest are shaken, and soldiers from all directions are gathering. I have sent out all my experts. How could I not notice such a big commotion?"

"Then I followed the corpse slave's senses and found Du Yeming in prison. He could no longer disobey me and told me everything."

"The Corpse Clan has come to our door. Yunshan cannot be robbed because of me. I will take Du Yeming away from home, and then deliberately expose my whereabouts, so that the Corpse Clan's scourge can be diverted to another place. Junior Sister Jiang, there is no need to stop me."

Jiang Qingfeng sighed deeply: "Junior brother had anticipated this. He knew he couldn't hide it from you, and he also knew you would choose to bear it yourself. So before we set out, he adjusted the mountain protection formation to make the token in your hand invalid, and told us to keep you in the mountain."

"Uncle Wang, don't worry." Wu Yan said, "The entire Cangzhou is full of masters. The Xuanwei Sect, the Spirit Beast Sect, the Qinglian True Sect and our army from the nine northwestern counties have surrounded the Sikong family and the evil corpse clan, and are about to annihilate them in one fell swoop."

Jiang Qingfeng nodded: "That's right. Since we are being targeted by the corpse clan, even if we leave Mianlong Mountain, where can we hide? The only way to put an end to it is to kill them all."

"Besides, have you ever thought that your departure cannot really reduce the disaster? Rather than going to a faraway place and taking unknown risks to capture you, the Corpse Tribe may choose to directly attack Mianlong Mountain and use the Yunshan Sect as a hostage to force you to come back and surrender."

"What's more, the Corpse Tribe's target this time is not just you, but also Junior Brother! Can Junior Brother, the head of the sect, escape the disaster? Completely destroying these evil Corpse Tribe monsters is the only way."

Wang Yu was silent for a while: "I know these principles. But I learned from this corpse slave that the strength of the corpse monsters is really amazing. In addition to those who were killed, they still have four Yuanying level people and nearly thirty Jindan level people." "If they sneak attack, how can my sect deal with it? So it would be better for me to go somewhere else and disperse some of the corpse monsters' strength."

Wu Yan smiled: "Uncle Wang, we already knew the information you got. Weren't you wondering why the head of the sect wanted to take the remains of Jade Tiger Master from you?"

She told the story of Zhao Yunchang, the son of Jade Tiger Immortal.

Are there such magical Taoist patterns in the world?
Wang Yu thought about it and nodded slowly.

What Zhao Yunchang sensed was consistent with what I asked from the corpse slave, and the fact that I had successfully exterminated the lurkers around Mianlong Mountain under his guidance was enough to prove this pattern.

Wu Yan continued.

"With the corpse-chasing Dao pattern, I can sense the position and strength of the corpse clan, and I will be invincible."

"We have now surrounded those corpse demons. In a few days they will be annihilated along with the Sikong family."

As the sun rose, Wang Yu looked towards the Mianlong Mountain which was gradually waking up.

Jiang Qingfeng struck while the iron was hot: "Brother Wang, whether it's protecting you or protecting my junior brother, or even changing to an ordinary disciple, our choices are the same."

"Protecting every disciple is the responsibility of Yunshan Sect. It is the meaning of Yunshan Sect's existence. Sacrificing a disciple in exchange for peace may seem to be for the greater good, but it is actually shaking the foundation of the sect."

"I sacrifice you today, I sacrifice him tomorrow, will it be my turn the day after tomorrow?"

"Every Yunshan disciple should do their best to protect their fellow disciples, even at the cost of sacrifice. Because this is also protecting themselves."

Wang Yu looked at Jiang Qingfeng. Lu Qian had said similar words to him before.

If the headmaster were here now...

Wang Yu closed his eyes and suddenly asked seriously, "How is the defense of the mountain gate now?"

Jiang Qingfeng and Wu Yan looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. They finally stopped Wang Yu and completed Lu Qian's instructions.

"Uncle Master, don't worry. We still have unexpected guests." Wu Yan blinked.

At this moment, Jiang Qingfeng suddenly remembered something and said hurriedly, "Brother Wang, please ask this corpse slave about the Corpse Pill Planting Demon Technique!"

……

No matter how many things happened that night, how fierce the battle was, and how much blood was shed on the earth, the sun still rose as usual.

The sunlight spread out, illuminating the Hushou Mountain, which had already collapsed more than half, and a small island floating quietly on the mountain.

I have never seen it before. It turns out that Miaomiao Xuanjun’s vehicle or "flagship" when he went on an expedition was such a small floating island.

Although it is small, it is much larger than an ordinary airship and several times larger than the Sikong family's Chibao Thunder Boat.

Although the island is small, it has everything, including a meeting hall, a palace, a banquet hall, an arsenal and a pill room... all the necessary buildings are built very delicately. In addition, in wartime, it will be powered by spiritual essence to activate the island formation and attack and defense system.

But Lu Qian had neither the mood nor the time to visit this floating island.

Now he was crowded in the conference hall with Lin Le, Taoist Wudi and a group of Xuanwei Sect's high-level leaders. Everyone listened to Qiancheng Lingjun's statistical report with serious expressions.

"… As for the Spirit Beast Sect, one Jindan was killed and two Jindan-level spirit beasts were killed. One subordinate and independent Jindan was killed and one was seriously injured. A total of 31 people were killed and seriously injured in the foundation-building battle. The number of Qi training deaths is still being counted."

"As for the Qinglian Zhenzong, one Qinglian Zhenzong Jindan was killed and one was seriously injured. Two subordinates and independent Jindan were killed. A total of 34 people were killed or seriously injured in the foundation-building battle. The temporary estimate of the casualties of the Qi training monks is about a thousand."

"In my Xuanwei Sect, two Jindan were killed and two were seriously injured. One subordinate and independent Jindan was killed and one was seriously injured. Forty-six people were killed and seriously injured in the foundation building stage. The number of people practicing Qi is still being counted."

After hearing such a battle report, everyone felt heavy in their hearts. Miaomiao Xuanjun had a blank expression on his face, and the golden Ruyi in his hand was twisted into a dough twist.

The first night of the battle, the first round of attack and defense caused such heavy casualties!
The serious injuries mentioned in the battle report are all limb injuries or above, which means they need to withdraw from the battlefield!

Although they finally accomplished their set goal and completely captured the forty-three spiritual veins outside the Sikong family, they surrounded them from all sides and completely locked them down.

But such a victory is not worth celebrating.

Their side fell into the trap and was misled by the wrong information, sending many golden elixirs directly into the ambush circle of the Sikong family. What greeted them were the high-level golden elixirs and even Nascent Soul Spirit Lords concentrated in one place by the Sikong family.

Even if the Xuanwei Sect's subsequent response was timely and reasonable, the Sikong family attacked with a thunderbolt attack and retreated very quickly after success. The spiritual veins are always separated by more than a hundred miles or even hundreds of miles. Even if the party mobilized the combat forces that had missed the target to provide support, it was often too late.

For example, last night Lu Qian dispatched Nascent Soul Golden Cores from the nine northwestern counties to carry out rescue operations, and in the end only the Taoist Wudi and Lin Le's team riding on the cloud chariot successfully rescued the target. When the others arrived, the enemy had already withdrawn, leaving only a bloody scene.

The same is true in several other directions.

"As for Yunshan Sect, no one in the nine northwestern counties suffered heavy casualties from Jindan or above, 17 people were killed or seriously injured in the foundation-building battle, and more than 600 people were killed or seriously injured in the Qi training battle."

Lu Qian sighed inwardly. The ones who suffered the greatest losses were not the teams sent out for support, but the cultivators who stayed with him in Hushou Mountain. They were badly affected by the double Nascent Soul raid of the Sikong family and suffered a lot of damage.

Even two of the Lingxu Zhenyuan Shenzhou ships crashed and one was damaged. Among the six hundred Yunshan disciples of the "Mianlong" combat brigade, more than fifty were killed or seriously injured.

Compared to other factions, the losses of the nine counties in the northwest can be said to be negligible. Under normal circumstances, I am afraid that other factions, especially the Xuanwei faction, would have great opinions and would question Xuanjun for handing over this good mission to Lu Qian.

But now, knowing the story of Miaomiao Xuanjun and Lu Qian setting an ambush together, no one dared to say a word.

Who else should I blame? Why did Miaomiao Xuanjun let Sikong Sheng run away, and even didn't keep the two Sikong family Yuanying?

The hall was quiet for a moment. Lord Yichen looked disheartened and knelt down to pay his respects. “The losses in this battle were so huge. The responsibility lies with me. I am willing to accept the punishment.”

Miaomiao Xuanjun frowned and was about to speak when a cultivator came in to report.

"Lord Xuan, the Sikong family has issued a letter of proclamation that has spread throughout Cangzhou and surrounding prefectures!"

Manifesto?!
Everyone in the hall craned their necks.

What qualifications does a traitor who was being conquered have to issue a manifesto? What kind of manifesto did he issue?
Miaomiao Xuanjun's face darkened and he took the letter in his hand.

"The triumphant Xuan Jun Sikong Sheng calls on the righteous men of Cangzhou to attack the Xuanwei Sect together!"

(End of this chapter)