The Wandering Immortal

Chapter 109 Rescue
When Jiang Yuan emerged from the small space, his eyes were dark-rimmed. The Yoga Sutras were indeed powerful; he couldn't resist them.

Cui Qinghe, however, made great progress in her cultivation. She continued to practice her boxing in the small space. The Yoga Sutras were even beneficial to the Vajra Mantra. After practicing all night, she gained many insights.

As soon as Jiang Yuan arrived at the council hall, Li Shouzhong hurriedly said, "Fortunately, Brother Guan has come out of seclusion. The talismans of the sect leader and the elder who transmits skills have stopped responding. I'm afraid something has happened."

When did you contact them?

"I contacted them five days ago, saying they were preparing to return to the sect from Tianshan. Today I wanted to go out and check the talisman book, but the mark is gone."

Jiang Yuan took out the Wanghailou talisman book from his body and looked at it; indeed, it contained no information.

This talisman was personally crafted by Shen Wangzhi. Each person in the sect received one, and each talisman was imprinted with their aura. By simply activating it with magic power, one could determine the approximate location of the talisman holder.

If there is no information, there are only two or three possibilities: the talisman book was destroyed, the person has perished, or they went to some secret realm, isolating themselves from spiritual energy. Of course, powerful formations can also block the talisman book's ability to sense energy.

"If we had returned to the sect from Tianshan five days ago, we would have arrived long ago by air. Something must have happened along the way, and it happened suddenly. It could only have been along the grassland to Changbai Mountain."

"Brother Li can go ahead and check the northern foot of Changbai Mountain. Qinghe and I will follow on the southern foot. We will keep in touch and meet on the grassland."

After Li Shouzhong left, Jiang Yuan greeted Lao Lu and called Qinghe to head straight for Changbai Mountain.

Jiang Yuan had a bad feeling. Shen Wangzhi was an extremely steady person. If he discovered the secret realm, he would definitely send back a message first and would never take the risk on his own.

Jiang Yuan traveled the route from Tianshan to Changbai Mountain, but he did not see a single disciple of the Sashen Cult, and he was unaware of their style of doing things.

Since they were searching for clues, Jiang Yuan and Qing He split up and did not use flying vehicles, but instead used stealth techniques close to the ground.

Upon arriving at the southern foot of Changbai Mountain, Jiang Yuan sensed something was amiss. Several hundred cultivators had gathered at the foot of the mountain, and although most of them were not highly skilled, something significant was definitely happening.

Jiang Yuan sent Qinghe a talisman and waited in seclusion, while he himself sneaked into the foot of Changbai Mountain to take a look.

These hundreds of people were all disciples of the Sashen Cult, most of whom only had Qi Refining cultivation and were unable to detect Jiang Yuan's presence.

Jiang Yuan listened in the crowd for a long time. The gist of it was that the main altar of Changbai Mountain had been attacked, the mountain protection formation had been activated, and they, as low-level disciples, were sent to patrol outside the formation.

This is rather unusual. If a sect is attacked, it should usually protect its lower-level disciples within the formation. Why would they release the formation to their deaths?

This grand formation is certainly capable of isolating the spiritual power of the talisman. Jiang Yuan wondered if Shen Wangzhi and Liu Caiwei had been captured by the Sa God Cult.
If that's the case, it's unlikely that he could break through the formation to rescue people.

Changbai Mountain is the headquarters of the Sashen Cult, which inherits ancient witchcraft and has a cultivation system that differs from Buddhism and Taoism. As a major sect that has existed for thousands of years, it must have some foundation. The high priests are at least at the late Nascent Soul stage; otherwise, given Laoshan's previous domineering style, they would have wiped them out long ago.

Jiang Yuan quietly withdrew from the crowd and contacted Li Shouzhong. As expected, Li Shouzhong said that several hundred disciples of the Sashin Sect had also gathered at the northern foot of Changbai Mountain.

Jiang Yuan instructed Li Shouzhong to detour to the south and to be careful, as it would be difficult to explain if he were mistaken for an enemy by the disciples of the Sa Shen Cult.

Li Shouzhong, having the ability to escape through wind, arrived at the southern foot of Changbai Mountain in just over an hour.

"If Brother Shen and his companion were to fly back from the sky, they would arrive near Changbai Mountain in two or three days. They would very likely mistakenly enter the mountain and be detained as enemies."

Jiang Yuan pondered for a moment. He realized that while he was capable of breaking through the formation and infiltrating, rescuing people would be extremely difficult.

After much deliberation, the only option left was to risk seeking help from Chu Yunfei. When Luofu Mountain attacked Laoshan, they had made contact with the Sa Shen Sect; they weren't allies, but they weren't enemies either. If Chu Yunfei, as the young master of Luofu Mountain, were to send a letter with a talisman to inquire, it wouldn't be unreasonable.

Jiang Yuan wasn't very interested in what was happening inside Changbai Mountain; he was content as long as he could rescue Shen Wangzhi and Liu Caiwei.

Jiang Yuan then sent a letter to Chu Yunfei in the names of Guan Canghai and Cui Qinghe, explaining the situation. He immediately received a response, and Chu Yunfei said he would come in person.

Jiang Yuan was a little surprised. Why make a trip when he could just ask the Sassa Cult?
Chu Yunfei arrived in just two hours, traveling on the True Dragon Talisman Boat from Mount Luofu. Qin Feihong naturally came as well, along with Gongye Yu and two other early-stage Golden Core cultivators, a man and a woman, presumably Chu Yunfei's disciples.

Jiang Yuan and his two companions boarded Chu Yunfei's talisman boat. Cui Qinghe naturally greeted Chu Yunfei with the respect due to a junior. Qin Feihong, however, gave Guan Canghai a deep bow with a shy expression, leaving her disciples bewildered—the seniority was a bit confusing!

Chu Yunfei also felt awkward, "No need for such formalities, let's address each other as fellow Daoist from now on, business is more important!"

Chu Yunfei naturally came with many questions. He had finally met Guan Canghai in person, but he couldn't discern Guan's cultivation level at all. This made him even more determined that he would never dare to act as an elder.

Jiang Yuan then stopped being polite and explained the whole story: the two sworn brothers, Shen Wangzhi and Liu Caiwei, were likely trapped in Changbai Mountain.

Chu Yunfei definitely wanted to get this done so he could have more opportunities to interact with Guan Canghai, so he carefully inquired about Shen Wangzhi and Liu Caiwei's appearance, cultivation level, and the characteristics of their martial arts techniques.

Subsequently, Chu Yunfei sent a talisman to the headquarters of the Sa God Cult.

Chu Yunfei could only say that the two Golden Core disciples from Luofu Mountain had lost contact near Changbai Mountain. They had sect missions to complete and had to conceal their identities. If the Sashen Sect captured two people with such characteristics, they should not harm them.

About the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn, the Sa God Sect sent back a letter, inviting Chu Yunfei to their headquarters for a meeting, but did not mention whether they had captured the two men.

Chu Yunfei didn't feel there was anything wrong with it. The two sects had never been enemies, so they wouldn't resort to underhanded tactics.

Jiang Yuan was somewhat wary. It was strange that the lower-level disciples were driven out of the formation, and they didn't say whether they had captured anyone. So he discussed it with Chu Yunfei via telepathy.

Chu Yunfei thought it made sense, so he had Gongye Yu move the talisman boat thirty miles away and hover it outside.

Jiang Yuan also had Li Shouzhong, Gongye Yu, and others with him.

Chu Yunfei and his wife went to the headquarters of the Sashen Sect, and Jiang Yuan and Cui Qinghe disguised themselves as disciples of Luofu Mountain and followed them.

Even Chu Yunfei had never been to Changbai Mountain. Luofu Mountain had no connection with this ancient sect. In fact, the Sashen Sect had always kept a low profile. At least in the last few hundred years, no Sashen Sect disciple had ever caused trouble in the Central Plains.

Two people from the Sashen Cult came to greet them and opened a door in the mountain-protecting formation.

Jiang Yuan noticed that the two of them were roughly at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, but they practiced ice-type magic, which was somewhat sinister.

Jiang Yuan had never witnessed the so-called ancient witchcraft, and having heard that the disciples of the Sa God Cult were skilled at manipulating the weather, he did not think too much about it.

Normally, when entering or leaving a major sect, there is always a certain distance where flying is not allowed, and solemnity must be maintained.

The Sassa Cult seemed to have no such rules. The two men got up and flew towards the main altar, and Chu Yunfei and the others had no choice but to follow.

Upon arriving at the main altar, Jiang Yuan immediately sensed that the spiritual energy here was quite chaotic, indicating that there must have been a battle between high-level cultivators recently. The altar was filled with a sinister aura, making it seem unlike a normal major sect.

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(End of this chapter)