Mountain Venerable and Sea Immortal

Unbeknownst to anyone, this massive conflict served as perfect cover for the Blood Fiend Sect. Meanwhile, Bone Demon, far away on Black Abyss Fog Island, had already foreseen the discord among the three sects. He also calculated that the attention of everyone in Laoshan was focused on the meeting at Taiqing Palace. Taking advantage of this, he dispatched several elite sentries, disguised as Laoshan's menial disciples, to evade the gatekeepers and, using the complex terrain of the Laoshan mountain range with its towering peaks and ancient trees, quietly infiltrate the sect's heartland.

These sentries were all elite assassins meticulously trained by the Blood Fiend Sect over a century. Their auras were concealed to the extreme, and their bodies were shrouded in a faint black mist, allowing them to perfectly blend into the shadows of the mountains and forests. Even the warning lights and spiritual vein array eyes set up by Laoshan Mountain could hardly detect their presence. They evaded the patrolling disciples and the array eyes, stealthily following the faint fluctuations of the Laoshan spiritual veins, their target being the spiritual vein node deep within the Spirit Immortal Valley—the key hub of the Guixu Seal and the core source of the Laoshan spiritual veins. If it were destroyed, the Guixu Rift would expand again, unleashing countless evil spirits, plunging the entire East Sea cultivation world into an irrecoverable catastrophe.

Lin Yan, having just settled Su Lingyue, felt somewhat relieved to see her breathing steady and her life force becoming increasingly stable. He had personally witnessed the massacre of Haitu Village since childhood, his parents murdered, and only his master, Guanhai of Laoshan, saved him. Because of this past, he harbored an intense obsession with the Guixu Seal, vowing to protect the spiritual veins and prevent evil spirits from harming the world again. He carefully instructed Yunxi and Qingyao to stay in Xuanshui Cave to protect him closely, preventing the resurgence of the remaining poison. He himself planned to go to Taiqing Palace to participate in discussions about the mine—he was well aware of the hidden dangers of discord among the three sects and worried that this endless conflict would give lurking evil spirits an opportunity to cause a great disaster.

As soon as Lin Yan stepped out of the Xuan Shui Cave, the Ink Inkstone and the Ding Yuan Pearl simultaneously manifested spontaneously, their two beams of spiritual light, one black and one blue, flickering faintly and echoing each other, carrying a subtle warning. The Ink Inkstone was already connected to the Gui Xu spiritual energy, making it most sensitive to yin and evil energy, while the Ding Yuan Pearl, being a sealed core treasure, was especially vigilant against the intrusion of evil spirits. Lin Yan's heart tightened, and he instantly suppressed his own spiritual energy, focusing his senses on his surroundings. Sure enough, he detected a wisp of extremely faint, extremely sinister evil energy, drifting from the direction of Ling Xian Valley on the mountain wind—it was the unique, putrid evil energy of Black Abyss Mist Island, chilling and piercing.

"Oh no! An evil spirit has infiltrated!"

Lin Yan inwardly cried out, not daring to delay for even a moment. He immediately contacted Chen Dagang and Ye Qing with a communication jade talisman, ordering them to quickly bring ten elite disciples from Laoshan to provide support. He himself, following the wisp of malevolent energy, leaped up and quietly sped towards Lingxian Valley. He concealed his spiritual energy completely, his steps light, skillfully avoiding the disciples on duty and the watchtowers along the way, traveling swiftly, afraid of alerting the enemy and giving the sentries a chance to relay messages.

As they ventured into the dense forest on the outskirts of Lingxian Grass Valley, the sinister aura grew even stronger. Lin Yan slowed his pace, using the branches and foliage of ancient trees for cover as he quietly probed. He saw four cultivators dressed in the attire of Laoshan laborers, crouching beside a rock in the forest, conversing in hushed tones. Their palms were shrouded in a faint, dark gray aura, and they held a yellowed animal hide map. The map clearly marked the exact locations of the spiritual vein nodes with cinnabar, indicating the core of the sealed area deep within Lingxian Grass Valley—the Guixu Seal.

"Lord Bone Demon has ordered that we ascertain the defensive deployment of the spiritual vein nodes and mark all the warning array points before midnight. Once Vice Elder Blood Shadow arrives with the army, we must immediately launch a surprise attack, destroy the nodes, tear the seals, and trigger turmoil in the Void!" One of the sentries lowered his voice, his tone sinister and cold. "Currently, the disciples of Laoshan are focused on the conflict at Taiqing Palace, and their guard is at its most lax. This is the perfect opportunity for us to investigate; we must not reveal our presence!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Lin Yan made his move.

His figure flashed like a ghost, soaring into the air. With a flick of his golden finger, the inky light surged instantly, transforming into several sharp ink blades. Carrying the oppressive aura of the Void Realm, they hurtled towards the four sentries. Caught off guard, the sentries cried out in alarm and hurriedly activated the black mist and malevolent energy around them to defend themselves. However, the ink blades, containing pure Void Realm spiritual energy, were specifically designed to counteract malevolent energy. They instantly tore through their protective barriers and pierced their vital points.

"It's Lin Yan, the inheritor of the Laoshan lineage!"

One of the sentries, his face deathly pale, realized the newcomer's identity and immediately tried to crush the communication jade talisman in his palm to report to Blood Shadow. Lin Yan reacted swiftly, conjuring innate pill fire at his fingertips. A crimson flame shot out, instantly scorching the sentry's hand. The communication jade talisman fell to the ground with a "crack," and Lin Yan stomped on it, completely severing their chance to report. The remaining three sentries, seeing this, knew they were outmatched and tried to scatter and flee, but Chen Dagang and Ye Qing, who had arrived shortly after, blocked their path, leaving them with no escape.

The honest and brave Chen Dagang activated the Laoshan Rock Armor Secret Technique, his figure charging forward like a boulder. He swung his stone hammer, imbued with immense earth-elemental spiritual energy, smashing one of the sentries away with a single blow, instantly dissipating his malevolent aura. The calm and meticulous Ye Qing, meanwhile, channeled her Azure Wood spiritual energy, weaving a fine net that tightly bound the two sentries. The net tightened continuously, instantly shredding the black mist and malevolent aura surrounding them. In a matter of moments, all four Blood Fiend Sect sentries were slain. Their corpses, deprived of their malevolent aura, transformed into wisps of black mist, dissipating into the forest. Only their servant's clothes, stained with sinister malevolent energy, and the animal hide map marking the spiritual vein nodes and the raid plan remained.

Lin Yan bent down to pick up the blueprint, his fingertips tracing the vermilion markings and raid plans on it, his expression growing increasingly grave. The blueprint not only precisely marked the locations of the spiritual vein nodes and the defensive array eyes, but also detailed the Blood Fiend Sect's complete raid plan—Blood Shadow would lead a hundred elite evil cultivators of the Blood Fiend Sect to launch a surprise attack on the Spirit Immortal Herb Valley at midnight, under the cover of the Black Abyss's black mist. They would first destroy the spiritual vein nodes and tear apart the Returning Void Seal, then seize the Returning Void Treasure amidst the chaos, and incidentally massacre the heart of the Laoshan spiritual vein.

"There's no time to lose. We must immediately head to Taiqing Palace and inform the elders and experts of the three sects of this matter!" Lin Yan said in a deep voice, his tone filled with an undeniable urgency. "The Guixu Seal concerns the safety of the entire East Sea cultivation world. If it succeeds, the consequences will be unimaginable. Even if the three sects continue to fight over the mines, they cannot withstand the catastrophe!"

After speaking, Lin Yan, along with Chen Dagang and Ye Qing, clutched the animal hide blueprint tightly and sped off towards Taiqing Palace. Inside Taiqing Palace, the conflict between the three sects continued unabated, with heated arguments and oppressive auras swirling around them. Unbeknownst to them, a deadly sneak attack was brewing in the shadows, and the blueprint in Lin Yan's hands would be the key to breaking the stalemate and enabling the three sects to join forces against the evil spirits.

Lin Yan rushed to the Taiqing Palace council hall with the blueprints. Ignoring the arguments among the crowd, he went straight forward and truthfully informed the elders of Laoshan and the experts of the three sects about the Blood Fiend Sect's conspiracy, the spies' investigation, and the surprise attack plan shown on the blueprints. The experts of the three sects and the elders of Laoshan, who had been arguing endlessly, instantly became extremely solemn upon seeing the clear markings and detailed plan on the blueprints. They knew all too well the Blood Fiend Sect's insidious ruthlessness and were even more aware of the terrifying consequences of the broken seal of Guixu. Once the evil spirits of Guixu were unleashed, whether it was the Ten Thousand Ren Cloud Peak of the Qingyun Sect, the Misty Water Marsh of the Shuiyue Pavilion, or the mountains and seas of Laoshan, all would suffer annihilation, and the three sects would have no place to stand.

In an instant, all suspicion, selfishness, and disputes were set aside. The elders of the three sects all expressed their willingness to temporarily put aside past grievances and join forces with Laoshan to fight against the evil Blood Fiend Sect. The group immediately gathered together and, according to the raid plan on the blueprints, quickly deployed a defensive formation: Qingyun Sect disciples patrolled the mountain on their swords, responsible for aerial surveillance and interception; Shuiyue Pavilion female cultivators set up a water array to heal and provide support from the center; Laoshan disciples guarded the spiritual vein nodes, facing the enemy head-on. Once the deployment was complete, elite disciples from each side quickly rushed to key positions, ready for any further attacks from the Blood Fiend Sect.

At midnight, a dark mist swept in, enveloping the Lingxian Valley area of ​​Laoshan Mountain. Blood Shadow, the vice elder of the Blood Fiend Sect, led a hundred elite evil cultivators in a surprise attack on the spiritual vein node of Lingxian Valley as planned. Lin Yan, who had been waiting in full force, led twenty elite disciples of Laoshan Mountain, setting up an evil-slaying formation centered on the spiritual vein altar, and engaged in a life-or-death struggle with the evil cultivators—for him, protecting the spiritual vein was not only a sect mission, but also a way to prevent a repeat of the massacre of the village years ago.

The battle was exceptionally fierce. Although the disciples of Laoshan suffered heavy casualties, they all held their ground and refused to retreat, forming a defensive line with their flesh and blood. The honest and brave Chen Dagang confronted the evil cultivator head-on, smashing down several enemies with his stone hammer as it flew, never backing down even when slightly injured. The calm and meticulous Ye Qing moved through the formation, replenishing the spiritual energy net, trapping those who slipped through, and healing his wounded fellow disciples. Lin Yan engaged in a head-on battle with Xue Ying, relying on the Guixu spiritual energy of his two treasures, the Ink Inkstone and the Dingyuan Pearl, combined with his innate Dan Fire, pressing forward relentlessly. Xue Ying activated the evil technique of the Blood Fiend Sect, "Blood Shadow Soul-Devouring Claw," the claw wind carrying a dense evil aura, repeatedly putting Lin Yan in grave danger. However, Lin Yan stabilized his mind with the Canglan Heart Method, pouring all the Guixu spiritual energy into the Ink Inkstone. The ink-colored spiritual light intertwined with the innate Dan Fire, transforming into a crimson and black spiritual blade, which pierced deeply into Xue Ying's heart.

The moment the Blood Shadow was slain, the remaining dense malevolent energy within its body surged forth, attempting to scatter and flee, but was completely absorbed by the Ink Inkstone on Lin Yan's shoulder—the Ink Inkstone was connected to the Origin of Returning to Nothingness, perfectly suited to purify malevolent energy. This purified malevolent energy transformed into strands of pure spiritual energy, flowing through the Ink Inkstone into Lin Yan's body, nourishing his meridians, which had already been largely depleted. Lin Yan felt his dantian heating up, his spiritual energy surging throughout his body. His previously stagnant mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation suddenly began to loosen, his meridians widening continuously with the spiritual energy, and the speed of his spiritual energy circulation becoming increasingly rapid. In a short time, he broke through the bottleneck and successfully advanced to the late-Foundation Establishment stage.

The power of the innate elixir fire also increased greatly, with the crimson flames faintly emitting an orange glow, and its scorching power was even greater than before; the inkstone's ink-colored spiritual light also became more intense, and it could faintly condense into a more stable defensive barrier.

Lin Yan quickly regulated his breathing for a moment, suppressing the restless spiritual energy within his body. Without daring to delay, he immediately unleashed an enhanced ink blade, sweeping across the entire area. The remaining evil cultivators, seeing this, were all terrified and scattered in all directions. Lin Yan took the opportunity to lead his troops in pursuit, completely defeating all the invading evil cultivators, successfully protecting the spiritual vein node, and temporarily resolving the crisis.

But Lin Yan knew in his heart that this was just a surprise attack by the Blood Fiend Sect. The Bone Demon of Black Abyss Mist Island had already ignited his rage, and a larger and more dangerous sneak attack was brewing in the shadows. The joint defense line of the three sects was about to face an even more severe test.