Volume 4 Chapter 83

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Volume 4 Chapter 83: Tian Sha

Although he felt that the righteous path coming together now was somewhat late, Xu Qingfan couldn’t help but feel a little relieved.

Recently, Xu Qingfan had been constantly facing the purple-clad members of the "Ming" organization alone. Although these purple-clad members were low-level operatives of "Ming," Xu Qingfan still found himself in great danger. As he learned more about the "Ming" organization, Xu Qingfan increasingly felt that its true power was unfathomable. After encountering the purple-clad members one after another, Xu Qingfan felt as if he were fighting the entire "Ming" organization by himself.

But now, the grandmasters of the righteous path finally noticed the danger of "Ming" and united together. Xu Qingfan, whose nerves had been tense due to the attacks from the purple-clad people, was able to relax a little. After all, over ten Mahayana Stage grandmasters coming together should be enough to make even the "Ming" organization hesitate to confront them directly, right?

Thinking of this, a thought stirred in Xu Qingfan’s mind, and he asked Ninglingzi, "Taoist friend Ninglingzi, before you left ‘Ronghua Mountain,’ did those grandmasters leave after giving orders?"

Ninglingzi shook his head and said, "No, before I left, Master Uncle Zizhen arranged for some of the best caves for the grandmasters to stay in. It seems they intend to reside permanently at our Qingxu Gate."

Hearing Ninglingzi’s words, Xu Qingfan nodded slightly. It seemed that this time, the command center for the righteous path’s resistance against "Ming" was indeed "Qingxu Gate." And the operation to eliminate the "Tian Sha" set up by the "Ming" organization, which could influence mortal hearts, was the Righteous Alliance’s first action against "Ming," but it was also an attempt to gauge the organization’s strength and depth.

But thinking of this, Xu Qingfan felt a vague sense of unease in his heart. It seemed that Liu Ziqing sealed the "Sky Light Pearl" back then to prevent the "Ming" organization from discovering that the infiltrator they had placed in "Qingxu Gate" had already been removed by him. However, now that Immortal Zizhen had escaped and regained control of "Qingxu Gate," the people in the "Ming" organization should have anticipated that the matter of "Tian Sha" would be uncovered. Yet, judging by Ninglingzi’s words, it appeared that the "Tian Sha" still existed throughout various parts of the Shenzhou Continent even before they descended the mountain. This was undeniably too strange.

Could it be that the "Ming" organization also knew about the righteous path’s alliance and was using "Tian Sha" as bait to ambush the righteous path cultivators?

As soon as the thought appeared, Xu Qingfan was startled. If it were true, then all elite cultivators of the Righteous Alliance below the Condensed Core Stage would be wiped out.

But then Xu Qingfan thought, if he could come up with this idea, wouldn’t the masters of the Righteous Alliance have thought of it too? So why did they divide their forces into small squads to eliminate the Tian Sha?

With this in mind, Xu Qingfan expressed his doubts to Ninglingzi.

Ninglingzi laughed and said, "The masters have obviously anticipated this. There’s a reason for the divisions. Firstly, it allows the ‘Tian Sha’ spread across the Shenzhou Continent to be eliminated more quickly. Secondly, eliminating ‘Tian Sha’ all at once can severely impact the power of those using it against us. If they realize our strength is too great, they might flee. Additionally, it helps us gauge the true power of those setting up the ‘Tian Sha’. As for potential ambushes, the masters have taken that into account by giving each team certain items before we left. With these items, even if the enemy is much stronger, we can still escape. Plus, this time we have elite members from nearly twenty major sects, the chances of the opposing side being stronger are slim."

Hearing Ninglingzi’s words, Xu Qingfan wisely decided not to inquire about the items given to them by the masters, but seeing Ninglingzi’s confident smile, he figured they must be something substantial.

Yet for some reason, Xu Qingfan still felt a sense of unease. Considering the power and cunning that the "Ming" organization always displayed, could things really be so simple?

Seeing Xu Qingfan frown, Ninglingzi knew Xu Qingfan doubted the power of these items, but he didn’t explain further. He simply smiled and asked, "Taoist Friend Xu, since you have accepted the son of the general’s palace as a disciple, we shouldn’t forcibly search it. However, given the gravity of the situation, I ask you to personally persuade General Bai."

Hearing Ninglingzi’s words, Xu Qingfan nodded slightly. At this point, he had no reason to stop Ninglingzi from searching the general’s palace. So, he returned to the main hall with Ninglingzi but said nothing to Bai Lianye. Instead, he transmitted a message to Chou Xuan, "There’s good news. If I take you to ‘Qingxu Gate’, you can meet not only Immortal Zizhen but also other great masters. However, before that, you must convince Bai Lianye to allow Ninglingzi and others to search the general’s palace."

Upon hearing Xu Qingfan, Chou Xuan’s eyes brightened. Without saying much, he immediately stood up and pulled Bai Lianye to a corner of the hall for a private talk. He didn’t question Xu Qingfan’s reasons. Chou Xuan was smart and knew the difference between questions that should be asked and those that shouldn’t.

Under the gaze of everyone, Chou Xuan kept speaking to Bai Lianye about something. At first, Bai Lianye argued back a bit, but gradually fell silent, and finally, with a reluctant expression, he turned to Ninglingzi and said, "Go ahead."

His voice carried a hint of humiliation and powerlessness.

Hearing Bai Lianye’s words, Ninglingzi’s expression did not change at all. He just nodded slightly, and then, along with a group of cultivators, stood up, took a white spiritual jade from his sleeve, and began flying around or walking through the general’s palace, constantly investigating.

According to Ninglingzi, these white spiritual jades had traces of the "Sky Light Pearl" on them, and would turn red once they came close to "Tian Sha."

Xu Qingfan, Chou Xuan, and Bai Lianye watched as Ninglingzi and the others moved around the general’s palace, occasionally stopping to carefully examine the white jade in their hands.

Eventually, led by Ninglingzi, over ten cultivators, following the color change of the jade, gathered in front of a large courtyard in the general’s palace. There stood a flag, guarded solemnly by over ten personal guards. When they saw Ninglingzi and others intending to inspect the flag, they disregarded Bai Lianye’s orders and tried hard to block them, but were easily immobilized by one of the cultivators.

When Xu Qingfan and others arrived, Bai Lianye and his men had pale expressions.

This flag was the military banner that the Bai family had protected since joining the army. As the Bai family’s status rose and they won countless battles, the flag became, to some extent, the soul of Bai Lianye’s army. Bai Lianye had once publicly declared, "As long as the flag stands, our army will not be defeated."

They never expected Ninglingzi and the others to target this flag. In an instant, disregarding the earlier promise to let Ninglingzi and others search, they tried to stop them, but were immobilized by the same cultivator.

However, Bai Lianye truly lived up to being a descendant of the Qiongqi family. Despite his scholarly appearance, he possessed incredible strength. Once he realized he was restrained, he could no longer remain calm. With a furious shout, a fierce aura erupted from him, and solely through his martial prowess and the aura accumulated over years, he managed to break the "Art of Immobilization" that trapped him.

Although freeing himself from the "Art of Immobilization" left Bai Lianye exhausted and lying on the ground, the cultivator who had used the "Art of Immobilization" was only in the early stage of the Lingji Stage, yet Ninglingzi and the others were still taken aback.

This Bai Lianye was actually able to oppose Daoist techniques with a mortal body?

For a moment, Ninglingzi and the others forgot about the "Tian Sha" matter before them, and just stared in amazement at Bai Lianye, who lay on the ground before them.

Xu Qingfan did not want others to know that the Bai family had Qiongqi blood, so he quickly instructed Zhang Long and the others to arrange for Bai Lianye to rest, and then approached Ninglingzi, asking, "Have you discovered anything?"

Ninglingzi watched as Zhang Long helped Bai Lianye away, a look of puzzlement in his eyes. Hearing Xu Qingfan’s question, he finally recalled the main issue and turned his gaze to the military flag, softly saying, "The ‘Art of Tian Sha’ should be within this flag."

"Oh?" Hearing Ninglingzi’s words, Xu Qingfan also turned his gaze to the military flag. The flag appeared very old and quite worn, its surface stained black with blood from battles.

However, no matter what, this flag still looked like an ordinary military flag. Although it had a faint aura, any flag that had seen many battles would have this, so it didn’t draw much attention.

Seeing Xu Qingfan’s puzzled look, Ninglingzi gestured, gathering all the white spiritual jade from the cultivators. Then, as Spirit Qi gathered within him, Ninglingzi’s imposing presence suddenly grew, his eyes shining with brilliance. As Ninglingzi’s Spirit Qi flowed, a sacred aura began to emanate from the dozen pieces of white jade and converged onto Ninglingzi.

Meanwhile, Chou Xuan had already reassured Counsellor Liu and the others, so even though they saw Ninglingzi manipulating the military flag, the other soldiers merely looked angry and did nothing to stop it.

Finally, all the holy energy gathered at the tip of Ninglingzi’s finger, and Ninglingzi shouted, "Break!"

With Ninglingzi’s gentle shout, a strong yet gentle white light shot from her fingertip towards the military flag.

As soon as the flag was hit by the white light, a thick, powerful blood mist began to rise from it. After devouring the white light, it disappeared silently, as if it had never appeared.

Facing the malice contained in the blood mist, even people like Xu Qingfan and Ninglingzi couldn’t help but step back a few paces, showing surprise on their faces.

On the other side, Chou Xuan frowned slightly and turned to ask Counsellor Liu, "As far as I know, this military flag was passed down by the old general. Do you know where he got it from?"