I'll make you the furnace and the cauldron, so you can refine Yin and Yang and prove the Great

"Ambush...the Immortal Alliance army?"

The Ninth Elder was dumbfounded, almost thinking he had misheard.

"Elder, are you kidding me? The Immortal Alliance has tens of thousands of troops currently attacking the Yinquan Sect's territory, including three Dao Integration Realm experts and dozens of Void Refinement Realm experts—and you're going to ambush and kill them all by yourself?"

"Who said they were robbed and killed?"

The Grand Elder stood with his hands behind his back and said calmly, "I am going to meet the Sect Leader."

"Use your brains," he said, his gaze sweeping over the elders. "Those three Dao Integration Realm cultivators from the Immortal Alliance must have already set off for the Myriad Spirits Secret Realm to intercept the Sect Leader. With those three gone, what will be left of that tens of thousands of troops?"

"A group without a leader."

"Without a Dao-Merging expert to oversee them, their army is nothing but meat on a chopping board. I will slaughter them—the flying boats will be destroyed, the array weapons shattered, and the Void Refinement cultivators will be wiped out—you tell me, what will their Immortal Alliance have left?"

"There are still three Dao Integration Realm cultivators left," the Third Elder said subconsciously.

"Yes, three lone cultivators at the Dao Integration stage." The Grand Elder sneered. "Dao Integration is strong, but ultimately, a Dao Integration cultivator only has two hands. The Immortal Alliance spans dozens of countries and controls hundreds of thousands of miles of territory in the Southern Frontier, relying on its tens of thousands of cultivators, its countless teleportation arrays, its spirit mines, and its flying ships. Without its army, the three of them are like toothless tigers—not only are they powerless to attack, but they can't even defend their territory. In that case, even if the Sect Leader fails to fuse with the laws, the Immortal Alliance will still suffer a severe blow in this battle."

"But Elder," the Third Elder hesitated, "if you also go to the front lines, the sect... will be completely wiped out. What if the Immortal Alliance sends one of its own to attack our sect..."

"They can't tell the difference," the First Elder said calmly. "Even three Dao Integration Realm cultivators are short-handed to stop a single gatekeeper, let alone dare to divide their forces. Besides—" He glanced at the Third Elder, "The sect's protective formation was left behind by the founding patriarch himself. Without the combined efforts of at least two Dao Integration Realm cultivators, it won't be able to be shaken for ten days or half a month."

"To strike at the heart of the problem," the Fifth Elder said softly. "That's what 'striking at the heart of the problem' truly means."

The elders exchanged glances, and the more they thought about it, the more they realized it made sense, so they all nodded in agreement.

"But—" the Fifth Elder frowned again, "The Immortal Alliance might not be unprepared. Even without a Dao Integration Realm expert in charge, they still have dozens of Void Refinement Realm experts in their army. With the help of array artifacts, they might be able to stop you, a single Dao Integration Realm expert. Moreover, under the influence of Heavenly Secrets, those three from the Immortal Alliance might not be unaware that we intend to attack their large army—what if they have a backup plan…"

"Even if you have a backup plan, you still need someone to use it," the Grand Elder said calmly. "A thousand soldiers are easy to find, but a good general is hard to come by. Elder Gong, that old formation fanatic, is a master at setting up formations, but when it comes to fighting—ha."

"Besides, when did I ever say I was going alone?" He glanced at her. "That old bastard from the Yinquan Sect has been fighting with me for a thousand years. I know his true intentions better than he does himself."

"If our own ancestor is attempting to reach the Dao Integration stage at the bottom of the Cold Pool, and the three traitors of the Immortal Alliance go to stop and kill our sect leader, would the Yinquan Sect Master sit idly by? He must be plotting the same thing—taking advantage of the Immortal Alliance's complete Dao Integration efforts to ambush and kill their army, thus relieving the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao."

"Two Dao-Merging cultivators slaughtering an army that has lost its leader." The Grand Elder's voice was as cold as ice. "Enough."

He said no more and with a flick of his sleeve, he finished speaking.

"Stand guard. Seal the mountain gates, activate the full array—from this moment on, the Hehuan Sect is closed."

As soon as he finished speaking, a beam of light shot into the sky and disappeared into the southern horizon in the blink of an eye.

The elders in the hall stared in the direction where the streak of light had disappeared, remaining silent for a long time.

"With the First Elder's departure..." the Seventh Elder murmured, "the fate of Central Continent is truly about to change."

"Whether it changes or not is not up to us." The Fifth Elder slowly sat back in his chair, gazing at the surging spiritual light outside the hall, and said softly, "From the moment the Sect Leader pushed open that door, the world changed."

There's only one thing we can do—

She glanced around at the elders, speaking slowly and deliberately:

"Live on. Live until the day you see the outcome."

"Disperse, everyone." She stood up, taking one last look towards the south. "Seal off the mountain and guard the formation. From tonight onwards, the Elders' Hall will be on duty in shifts; no one is allowed to close their eyes."

-

Within the escaping light.

The Grand Elder tore through the sky at the fastest speed he had ever seen, the wind roaring in his ears.

His eyes were as cold as ice that had stood for millennia.

The ambush on the Immortal Alliance army, touted as a strategic maneuver to relieve the siege of Wei and rescue Zhao, was all rhetoric meant for the elders. Only he himself knew his true intentions.

The sect leader's lineage cannot be suppressed or killed. They are the banner of the Hehuan Sect, and as long as the sect stands, this banner cannot fall.

But if the sect leader really succeeds in fusing with the laws...

One sect, two paths to enlightenment. From now on, will there still be a place for him, the Grand Elder, to speak in this Joyful Union Sect? Although he is also a Dao-integrating cultivator, he knows very well that with the sect leader's monstrous talent, once he breaks through, his combat power will far surpass his.

The Elders' Council's centuries-long efforts and his lineage's centuries-long plans are all about to vanish into thin air.

Therefore, he had to go on this trip.

Not to save the sect leader—but to sever the roots of the Immortal Alliance before that "new Daoist" is born, and to seize this tremendous achievement for himself.

Credit can be stolen.

The timing for a rescue can be chosen.

Of course, he really didn't want to go and rescue the sect leader; it would be far too dangerous for him to do it alone.

"Sect Leader, oh Sect Leader," he chuckled softly in the wind, "you must hold on a little longer."

"Hold on until I finish this battle."

The wind howled, and no one heard those words anymore. Only the surging light in the south shone silently, like an unattainable answer.

-

Meanwhile, the Yinquan Sect.

The Yinquan Sect Master stood in front of the sect's main hall, with all the Yinquan Sect's elite troops behind him.

"Reveal my order." His voice echoed throughout the entire sect, "Activate the mountain-protecting formation. All elders, take your positions. From this day forward, the sect is only for entry, not exit—"

Not even a mosquito is allowed in.

After giving his last words, he rose from the ground, transforming into a streak of light, and sped towards the front lines.

"Ancestor," he murmured to himself as he traveled a thousand miles, "you can focus on your mission."

"Leave the affairs outside to your disciples."

"Those traitors of the Immortal Alliance want to ruin your breakthrough? Well then, I'll cut them off at the root first!"

-

Inside the Yinquan Sect's protective array, the elders who remained looked up at the direction where the sect leader had left, their expressions complex.

"With the sect leader gone... and the ancestor in seclusion, there truly isn't a single Dao Integration cultivator left in the sect."

"What's there to be afraid of!" The chief elder, who was left behind by the Grand Elder, stamped his foot. "With the mountain-protecting formation fully activated, passed down for thousands of years, without a Dao-Merging master to oversee it, those three from the Immortal Alliance won't be able to break through it anytime soon! The sect leader said—not even a mosquito is allowed to get in!"

"Everyone, perk up!"

"This is the critical juncture for our ancestor's breakthrough, and also a critical juncture for the survival of our Yinquan Sect—we cannot afford to lose this battle!"

The elders responded in unison.

The light screen of the mountain-protecting formation brightened even more.