Chapter 421: Senior brother, the method of provoking generals
The sky was obscured by black clouds, and the desert sand was flying. The smoke and beacon fire formed a long fiery red snake on the horizon that stretched for hundreds of miles, dividing the heaven and the earth.
Because he couldn’t see the rotation of the sun and the moon, he didn’t know how much time had passed. But, like the wood in a campfire, it would eventually burn out.
Huhu——
On the tower of Donghuang Great Wall, the dragon flag symbolizing the Heavenly Execution Court fell off from the flagpole erected on the Great Wall under a gust of wind and fell into a pool of blood, stained with a bright red.
Wearing a golden Daoist robe, Zhou Muhe stood in front of the city gate, holding a spiritual sword full of gaps, surrounded by the broken limbs of his subordinates. His eyes were as firm as they were a few days ago, but the hand holding the sword couldn’t help but tremble.
To buy time for the remnants of the Heavenly Execution Court and the casual cultivators in Donghuang Immortal City to escape, Zhou Muhe took the initiative to ask for orders and led his 126 Heavenly Execution Court disciples to guard the Great Wall alone, relying on the protective formation and countless magic weapons.
He alone killed nearly three hundred demonic cultivators. The gaps on the sword blade made of meteorite iron in his hand were proof of this.
And now——
Zhou Muhe looked around, looking at the long dilapidated street with no living things around him, smelling the rusty smell of blood, sand, and dust in the air, and understood that he was the only one left now.
Boom–!!
The 10,000-pound iron gate under the city tower suddenly trembled, and cracks appeared on the three horizontal beams used to block the gate.
Boom–!!
The ground shook, and bricks and tiles from the Great Wall flew down, hitting the ground and stirring up dozens of feet of dust.
Boom–!!
After the third sound, Zhou Muhe held his breath and clenched the spirit sword in his hand. At the same time, two iron doors weighing ten thousand kilograms collapsed, and countless ghost-like cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect wearing iron masks rushed in.
Zhou Muhe’s eyes narrowed, he immediately stepped forward, rushed in, raised his sword, and waved it. For those rotten shrimps who only had the Foundation-Establishment stage cultivation, the spiritual sword of a Nascent Soul sword cultivator like him was like a meat grinder.
Every time he swung his sword, several Ghost Spirit Sect disciples would turn into pieces of flesh and scatter on the heads of his senior brothers and sisters. But when he swung his sword for the third time…
Click——
The sword body made of meteorite iron instantly turned into fragments, disintegrated, and dissipated.
Zhou Muhe looked up and saw a middle-aged man in a black robe standing in front of him. However, just the moment he saw his face, Zhou Muhe felt a cramp in his abdomen, and uncontrollably knelt on the ground and lay down.
“Hmph, a sword cultivator in the middle stage of Nascent Soul led more than a hundred people to guard for four days. Do you want me to praise you?”
Zhou Muhe held his bleeding abdomen, gritted his teeth, and raised his head. Seeing that the man in front of him was just a cultivator in the middle stage of Nascent Soul, he smiled and said, “Oh, thank you for informing me. Because the sun and moon are not visible under the dark clouds, I didn’t know that four days had passed.”
“Thanks?”
Clang——
The remaining sword hilt in Zhou Muhe’s right hand fell to the ground. He seemed relieved and replied with a smile, “I respect the order of the Master Heavenly Execution Court Pavilion, and I will delay your waiting for these little demons for three days. Heavenly Execution Court has left, and the casual cultivators in the city have also fled. Even if this Donghuang Immortal City is rewarded to you… Don’t worry, I didn’t leave anything for you, all I left for you was this deserted city and the ruins all over the land…”
When the middle-aged man heard this, he gritted his teeth, stared, and raised his hand. In an instant, a purple spiritual energy enveloped Zhou Muhe, and his flesh rotted rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, revealing his bones. However, Zhou Muhe still smiled until his Nascent Soul shattered and fell to the ground.
“Shout——!”
Seeing this, the middle-aged demon cultivator kicked Zhou Muhe’s bones apart.
At that time, drums suddenly sounded from behind him. A luxurious sedan was driven through the city gate by dozens of skeletons dressed in black brocade. Ghost Tomb Seven, wearing a ghost mask, leaned on the armrest with his face raised, and his body rose and fell with the sedan.
When the middle-aged demon cultivator saw this, he immediately knelt:
“Father…”
The sedan stopped in front of him, and Ghost Tomb turned his eyes to look at him with a little disappointment in his eyes. The middle-aged demonic cultivator “Gui Qinghe” was the biological son of Ghost Tomb Seven. Before attacking the city, Ghost Tomb Seven asked him to break through the Donghuang Great Wall in three days. However, Zhou Muhe resisted stubbornly and led only more than a hundred people. He just relied on using formations and magic weapons, he defended three waves of attacks.
In the end, it was Ghost Tomb Seven himself who took action and broke the protective formation of the Great Wall. Only then was he able to lead the disciples of the Ghost Spirit Sect to open the city gate and enter Donghuang.
Now facing his father’s expression, Gui Qinghe was trembling all over. However, when the elder of the Ghost Spirit Sect who was following the sedan chair saw this, he quickly stepped forward and helped him speak:
“Sect Master, Young Master Gui only has a few Nascent Soul cultivation and more than a thousand disciples of the Ghost Spirit Sect who are in the foundation building and core formation stages. I can’t blame him for not being able to attack them in the past three days.”
Ghost Tomb Seven did not speak, and turned his attention to the great elder:
“…”
The Great Elder of Ghost Spirit Sect nodded in greeting and then said, “According to the reports from the spies sent into the Central Domain before, Heavenly Execution Court did what I heard before. The troops were divided into four groups and went in four directions. The intention was probably to escape. One group was one team, how about letting Young Master Gui lead some people to chase the team of Heavenly Execution Court cultivators heading toward the Seven Dragons Valley?”
⑤.②.⑥.⑥.⑤.②.②.⑤.①.
Ghost Tomb Seven thought for a while, nodded, and then raised his finger to signal the ghost soldier to continue moving forward. Seeing that his father didn’t say anything, Gui Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the elder beside him:
“Thank you, Great Elder.”
The Great Elder of Ghost Spirit Sect stroked his long beard, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile, “Young master, there is no need to be polite. I really can’t blame you for this. The sect master probably didn’t expect you to capture the Donghuang within three days, haha…”
“Well, if you dare to ask the great elder, who is Heavenly Execution Court going to the Seven Dragons Valley…”
“According to internal reports, the team going to Qilong Valley are all foundation-building cultivators, about 3,000 people. The leader seems to be a young man in the early stage of core formation, and there are also young masters from the Xuanxing Sect and Moon Shadow Sword Sect beside him. The young master of Xuanxing Sect is only in the early stage of core formation, and Miss Yun is only in the late stage of foundation-building.”
“That’s it… Then I can lead fifty disciples in the Core Formation stage.”
Based on experience, one Demonic Cultivator in the Core Formation Stage was equivalent to ten ordinary Immortal Cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage. However, if fifty Demonic Cultivators of the Core Formation Stage, under the leadership of someone, formed a formation to attack together, it would be impossible for tens of thousands of Immortal Cultivators of the Foundation Establishment Stage to be able to defeat them together.
What’s more, Gui Qinghe was still a cultivator in the middle stage of Nascent Soul.
The Great Elder of the Ghost Spirit Sect felt that he was trying to kill a chicken with a knife, but the Ghost Spirit Sect had sufficient combat power, so he said nothing and nodded in agreement:
“Well, go ahead…”
Gui Qinghe bowed his hands and agreed: “Disciple, accept the order!!”
At that moment, a female voice interrupted the two of them:
“Elder Kong Da… Can you let this junior go with Young Master Gui?”
After the sound fell, the Great Elder and Gui Qinghe were slightly surprised and looked toward the direction of the sound. When they saw it was Gu Mingxin, they both couldn’t help but frown.
The great elder “Kong Xiangmo” narrowed his eyes and said, “Young Master Gu should have received the order before, and it is the disciples who are at the core formation stage of Heavenly Execution Court Division who will accompany your elder Fu to catch up…”
Gu Mingxin just passed by and heard Kong Xiangmo say that the leader was a young man who was in the early stages of core formation. He immediately thought of Ye Anping, so he mustered up the courage to step forward and propose.
She was silent for a while and then said quickly, “Younger generation…”
But he was interrupted again by Kong Xiangmo and refused directly, “No!”
The aura of the divine transformation stage leaked out from his body. After Gu Mingxin felt it, she couldn’t help but feel that her whole body could not move, and her hands cupped into fists made a “clicking” sound.
However, Fu Yuanhua quickly stepped forward and interrupted, “Young Master Gu, please don’t be rude.”
Seeing Fu Yuanhua arrive, Kong Xiangmo took back his spiritual energy, cupped his hands, and said, “People you brought, will do.”
Fu Yuanhua glared at Gu Mingxin fiercely, pulled her by the shoulders, and was about to leave, but after Gu Mingxin swallowed, she still raised her hands and shouted, “Then please at least ask Young Master Gui to bring one more cultivator of the Transformation Stage or a few elders of the Nascent Soul Stage to accompany you!!”
Hearing this, Gui Qinghe, who had been silent until now, showed uncontrollable anger on his face and asked, “Young Master Gu, are you looking down on me with this statement?”
Gu Mingxin raised her eyes slightly and looked directly into his eyes:
“It took Young Master Gui three days to attack the Great Wall guarded by a hundred people. If I lead the people, this Great Wall can be broken in one day. I’ll put it here. If you only bring fifty core formation disciples, you will only be able to break it…”
Kong Xiangmo on the side stared angrily and interrupted again:
“Presumptuous!!”
Gu Mingxin did not lower her head this time. Instead, she gritted her teeth and met his gaze. She used her spiritual energy to forcefully bear down on Kong Xiangmo’s spiritual power of the god-transformation stage cultivator. She only took a step back and stood firm.
Fu Yuanhua felt a little uncomfortable when she saw this and quickly stepped forward, stood between the two of them, helped Gu Mingxin salute, and apologized to Kong Xiangmo:
“Elder Kong Da, this junior will discipline her in the future…”
“…”
Fu Yuanhua glared at Gu Mingxin, then forcibly pulled her shoulders, turned into a stream of light, and quickly flew towards the city. After seeing the two people leaving, Kong Xiangmo narrowed his eyes slightly, then took a deep breath, calmed down his expression, and looked at the frowning Gui Qinghe beside him:
“Young Master Gui, you don’t need to pay attention to what the girl just said. Fifty cultivators at the core-formation stage are enough. If you bring a few elders along with you and return with success, the sect master will not think that you have accomplished the task. Do you understand? Fifty core-formation cultivators are enough.”
“…”
“As for the Heavenly Execution Court team of nearly 20,000 people, they are young cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage and casual cultivators from Donghuang. Once you have eliminated the group of Immortal Cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage, you can take a detour there. By the way, the sect leader means not to let any immortal cultivator leave the central domain…”
Gui Qinghe nodded and said, “Disciple understands.”
…
————
Whizzing–
The scorching sun was high and in the wild desert where birds and animals were forbidden, the team, nearly ten miles apart from the beginning to the end, was like a dragon, winding forward in the yellow sand.
The leader was a wooden sandbank about ten feet long. Many Heavenly Execution Court disciples were slumped on the deck at this moment, wiping their foreheads and necks with towels soaked in cold water to fight against the flame spirit energy underground in the Central Domain.
In the cabin, Ye Anping was wearing the uniform of the Xuanxing Sect, holding a jade slip in his hand, and writing a string of names on it with an ink pen.
——Heavenly Execution Court Town Fu Envoy, Zhou Muhe.
Then, he put the jade slip on the table, took out another brand-new jade slip, and wrote another name:
——Heavenly Execution Courti Xiaoqi, Liu Yucheng.
… …
After a while, the cabin door was pushed open from the outside. Wearing a golden sword-sect dress, Yun Yiyi carried a plate of cold water, walked into the cabin, and came to Ye Anping’s side:
“Anping, drink some water, we will arrive at the Seven Dragons Valley soon.”
Ye Anping nodded slightly, put down the jade slip in his hand, and asked, “How’s it going? There’s no trouble, right?”
“No… But some of the core-formation stage cultivators from the Heavenly Execution Court can no longer hold on any longer. Young Master Xiao went and ordered those cultivators who are weak in the spiritual sea to rest on the immortal boat.”
“Well, you should go out and show your face more. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Yun Yiyi glanced at the dozens of jade slips on the table, sat next to him, and poured him a glass of water:
“Anping, you let Young Master Xiao and I hang out in front of the Heavenly Execution Court disciples every day along the way, are you afraid that they will cause trouble??”
“That’s right.” Ye Anping nodded and replied, “Although Heavenly Execution Court is now at my disposal, except for a few people who have met me before, ordinary disciples do not trust me. I have to let them know that you, the eldest lady of the Sword Sect, And the Young Master of Xuanxing Sect are still in the team, so they won’t feel like they are being abandoned.”
“Use my and Young Master Xiao’s identities to appease the morale of the army?”
“Almost.” Ye Anping shrugged slightly and said with a smile, “But among the three thousand people, there must be spies from the Demon Cultivator. Now that Donghuang has been broken, most of the Ghost Spirit Sect’s pursuers have also started to chase us. ”
“Is there a way to deal with it?”
“Of course, there is.” Ye Anping looked down at the map hanging on the wall next to him and said, “It takes nearly five thousand miles to reach Jiannan Pass. If we continue to travel like this day and night, tiredness and the fear of chasing troops behind us, sooner or later It will cause civil strife in the team.”
“So…”
“Seven Dragons Valley.” Ye Anping stared closely at the circled location on the map, “We have to kill all the pursuers here. After passing the Seven Dragons Valley, it will be a flat plain, but…”
Speaking of this, Ye Anping showed a little uneasiness.
Seeing his expression, Yun Yiyi lowered her eyes and thought for a while, then gently held his right hand:
“What’s wrong?”
“The situation is changing rapidly. Now I am afraid that the Ghost Spirit Sect will not follow common sense and send one or two cultivators who have transformed into gods to catch up. If that is the case, I am afraid that nearly 80% of the three thousand Heavenly Execution Court disciples will die.”
Yun Yiyi thought for a while, as if suddenly enlightened, nodded and said:
“No wonder you knew that there were demon cultivators’ spies in the team, but you didn’t pay attention to them…”
“Well, the demon cultivator’s spies will report that these three thousand people are all foundation-building cultivators. Therefore, if the elders of the Ghost Spirit Sect know our combat power, they will send only one Nascent Soul cultivator with dozens of core-formation cultivators to chase…”
Ye Anping lowered his eyes and touched his chin:
“As for who it is… maybe it’s the elder of the Ghost Hall of the Ghost Spirit Sect, or maybe it’s the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect, Gui Qinghe, or maybe Chi Ming… I hope it’s Gui Qinghe who catches up, so he can be easier to deal with… ”
“Is there anything I can do for you?”
“It’s nothing, just show your face in front of the Heavenly Execution Court disciples more often.” Ye Anping looked at her sideways, “Your cultivation is not as good as Yun Luo, so you won’t be of much use.”
Yun Yiyi was stunned, immediately frowned, and pinched him:
“Anping…”
“Just kidding, I just don’t want you to take risks, otherwise your father will kill me then.”
Yun Yiyi suddenly felt helpless when she heard this, but she was also aware of herself. If she wanted to start a fight, it would only be because the magical weapons and spiritual swords in her bag were better than those of ordinary late-stage foundation-building cultivators. But it couldn’t be done to the extent of Ye Anping and Pei Lianxue.
Yun Yiyi looked at the jade slips with names on the table, hesitated for a while, then called out a harp from her storage bag, sat down to one side, and put the harp on her lap:
“Since my husband is writing the spiritual tablets, I will help to soothe the spirits with the harp.”
“…Um.”
Ye Anping didn’t say much and nodded in agreement.
And just after Yun Yiyi plucked the strings with her fingers, the door was suddenly pushed open again.
Yun Yiyi quickly touched the strings with both hands and turned her head to look at the door.
Xiao Yunluo opened the door with her shoulder while carrying a plate of teapot, and walked in. She seemed to want to give Ye Anping a cup of tea, but when she entered the room and saw Yun Yiyi with a teapot on the table, she also understood:
——I came late.
“…”
Yun Yiyi smiled and said: “I’m sorry, the little girl is a step ahead.”
Xiao Yunluo pursed her lips, looked at Ye Anping, and didn’t care. She stepped forward and put the teapot on his table, glanced at the harp in Yun Yiyi’s hand, and said, “Miss Yun is so elegant… On the march, she still has the leisure to play the five strings elegantly.”
“I just saw my husband writing a spiritual tablet, so I played the string music to soothe the spirit.”
“Ah?”
Xiao Yunluo was stunned for a moment, then looked at the spiritual cards on the table, her face showed embarrassment, and she quickly knelt on the tuanfu with her head bowed, clasped her hands together, and softly recited the sutra:
“The dojo will be successful, and the relief will be completed…”
Seeing the two of them like this, Ye Anping suddenly let out a breath and said nothing more. The sound of a harp ended, and the sutra was finished three times.
Ye Anping put the 127 jade slips written on them into a special storage bag and put them away, then looked at the map hanging on the wall next to him and asked, “Yunluo, do you know why Seven Dragons Valley is called Seven Dragons Valley?”
Xiao Yunluo recalled for a while and nodded:
“Well… I remember it was written in the book that there were seven dragons entrenched there thousands of years ago, but later it seemed that because of the collapse of the spiritual veins, the originally lush valley turned into a wilderness, and the dragons were gone…”
Ye Anping pretended not to know and nodded, “I see…”
Xiao Yunluo smiled happily, glanced at Yun Yiyi proudly, and said, “I have a photographic memory when reading. If you don’t know anything, Anping, you can ask me.”
Yun Yiyi didn’t say anything. She always felt that Xiao Yunluo was like a child and was easily fooled. It was obvious that Ye Anping was just pretending not to know.
Ye Anping shook his head slightly and thought to himself.
Xiao Yunluo in the game had been through life and death many times with Feng Yudie, and even when her life was hanging by a thread many times, she also understood the destiny of her black dragon body.
But now, perhaps because of his problems, Xiao Yunluo was a pile of gold, but she just had no chance to shine.
He should take this opportunity to give her a little push.
Thinking this, Ye Anping frowned seriously and said, “Yunluo, my life is in your hands at the Seven Dragons Valley.”
“Ah?”
“Do you remember what I said that night in Yu Guan? You are a black dragon. If you can’t understand the meaning of my words by then -”
I have no choice but to use the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal.
Ye Anping was thinking this in his heart, but he said, “——I will die.”
After hearing these words, Xiao Yunluo froze on the spot. She was stunned for a long time and lowered her head nervously:
“Anping… Are you serious?”
“Um.”
“You put your life in my hands?”
“Um.”
Xiao Yunluo was quite unsure and asked in a low voice, “…Don’t you have any other options? I…”
Ye Anping frowned and shook his head: “No, there is only one way. Whether I live or die, it depends on you.”
Although Yun Yiyi next to her could tell at a glance that Ye Anping was just trying to scare Xiao Yunluo, she did not expose it and instead smiled:
“Young Master Xiao, my qualifications and cultivation are not as good as yours, Young Master Xiao, so my husband’s life is at your mercy.”
“Ah…” Xiao Yunluo came to her senses and quickly raised her head and said, “That… Of course! He is also my husband!”
Just after she finished speaking, Xiao Yunluo saw Ye Anping’s extremely serious face and suddenly lost her confidence again. Her lips and teeth were slightly open as if she wanted to say something else, but she didn’t say it. Finally, she nodded:
“Anping, I will try my best!”
“If you don’t try my best, my life is in your hands this time…”
“Ah… um, I will do it… I will… um.”
…
