Chapter 508 - 508 514

Chapter 508: 514 Chapter 508: 514 “Elder Liang, are you alright?”

Li Huan’an was covered in wounds from head to toe, with blood steadily flowing out, looking like a man made of blood, which greatly concerned the surrounding cultivators.

Perhaps before today, only a few knew of Li Huan’an, but his battle with the demon cultivators was enough to turn him into an idol in the disciples’ hearts!

“It’s nothing serious, just some superficial wounds,” Li Huan’an said, forcibly suppressing the tumultuous energy and blood within his body while responding to everyone.

“Protector Elder, you should go and rest for now, and after this battle is over, we’ll commend your bravery,” the Sect Leader said, sensing that something was amiss and quickly spoke.

“Alright.” Li Huan’an turned into a streak of Spirit Light, vanishing without a trace in an instant.

“Pfft!”

The moment he returned to his cave dwelling before he even closed the door, Li Huan’an couldn’t help but spew out a mouthful of dirty blood.

Although his combat ability was formidable, he was, after all, just a Golden Core cultivator. How could he not struggle against the siege of dozens of demon cultivators?

His nonchalant demeanor was merely to bolster morale, as he had been forcing himself to continue.

——

“It’s no wonder a sect with a thousand years of inheritance still has such powerful cultivators hidden away,” the demon cultivator who previously suggested wearing down the Spiritual Cloud Sect stated, vindicating his earlier words.

“If we keep dragging this out, more unforeseen changes will occur!” a certain Golden Core suddenly said, “If the Spiritual Cloud Sect holds this place, and we fail to take complete control of Green Mountain State, I don’t know how many of us will survive the Holy Sect’s punishment.”

Many were aware of this, but resolving the Spiritual Cloud Sect quickly would require their direct intervention.

However, that would inevitably lead to casualties.

They had not easily cultivated to the Golden Core Realm to throw away their lives so willingly. So they sent puppets and lower-ranked demon cultivators to attack the Mountain Protection Array, considering them mere expendables that were of no consequence if lost.

All they needed to do was wait for the Great Array to be breached and then swoop in to plunder.

“Elder Brother Pei makes a good point. Why not lead the way and let us witness your grandeur?” A sardonic voice broke the hushed silence.

The crowd looked towards the source of the voice, only to see a man with a face covered in rotten flesh, sparse hair, and menacing yellow teeth—a ghastly sight indeed.

While it was known that demon cultivators practiced various nefarious techniques that damaged their physical appearance, it was rare to encounter someone as hideous as this.

Yet, none of the present demon cultivators dared to show even a trace of mockery.

This man was known as Evil Ghost Tong. Having practiced a powerful but dangerous technique, he almost destroyed his own body when it backfired. On the verge of collapse, he managed to survive and even succeeded in mastering the Six Tao Malevolent Ghost Technique, which allowed him to summon six evil ghosts of the same realm.

With this spell alone, Evil Ghost Tong stood above the rest in strength and was exceptionally ruthless. Countless Golden Cores died at his hands every year—how could anyone dare to voice any objection to him?

A flicker of dissatisfaction crossed Elder Brother Pei’s eyes. Confident in his abilities, yet he knew that he more often lost than won against Evil Ghost Tong.

Besides, his suggestion was to unite everyone’s strength, not to go to the Array on his own.

“Junior Brother is strong and adept—far surpassing me. It should be you who leads,” Elder Brother Pei said with a gentle expression.

“Tsk!” Evil Ghost Tong scoffed disdainfully, “Shall we go then, fellow elder brothers?”

He scanned the faces of everyone, without waiting for a response, turned into a black light, and shot towards the forefront of the battlefield.

The Golden Core demon cultivators exchanged glances, uncertain who moved first, but all eventually followed suit.

Falling behind, Elder Brother Pei gritted his teeth as he watched the scene unfold. He hadn’t expected Evil Ghost Tong, that bastard, to actually take up the challenge—now he was stealing all the limelight!

The most important thing was that even if the attack on the Spiritual Cloud Sect failed in the end, his performance might spare him from punishment!

And the reason why everyone followed suit was that they had also seen this point, thinking that even if they couldn’t take the lead, they might be able to lighten their punishment by putting in more effort, right?

“Damn it! When did this ugly freak become so cunning!?” Pei grumbled under his breath in frustration.

Despite his reluctance, in the end, he still followed along.

The battle that had just ended less than an hour ago erupted into a climax with the arrival of the Golden Core Demon Cultivators!

The elders of the Spiritual Cloud Sect could only select an opponent each and confront them within the Formation, passively defending in order to reduce the pressure on the Mountain Protection Array.

But it was more of a passive defense than a combat, just to alleviate the pressure on the Mountain Protection Array.

——

Meanwhile, on a desolate, uninhabited land, a cultivator was fleeing desperately.

This person was none other than Elder Xu Changle of the Spiritual Cloud Sect, who had miraculously escaped from right under the noses of the demon cultivator army.

While passing by the fleet of demon cultivators, Xu Changle didn’t dare to make the slightest noise, for fear of being discovered.

After his narrow escape, Xu Changle’s firm belief also started to waver due to the overwhelming power of the demon cultivators.

‘With the demon cultivators being so formidable, even if I seek assistance from the Li family, can I really save the sect?’

‘Perhaps by the time I get back, the Mountain Protection Array would have already been breached by the demon cultivators, and all the disciples turned into skeletal corpses.’

Thoughts like these were constantly cropping up in his mind.

Fortunately, Xu Changle, who was able to cultivate to the Golden Core Realm, possessed a decent state of mind. He wasn’t affected by these thoughts and instead, used his greatest speed to fly towards Wanxian Island.

At the same time on Wanxian Island.

The clan members were caught up in the busy preparations for the imminent battle, with the earth fires burning day and night. In order to refine more Spiritual Objects, they even arranged for the clan members to work in shifts.

Various Spiritual Objects were continuously sent into the Alchemy Hall, Array Hall, and Talisman Hall. What came out were bottles of Spirit Pills, Array Plates, and Talismans.

Under the guidance and coordination of the elders, the Li family functioned like a complex and precise giant machine, operating in an orderly manner.

During this process, the originally somewhat inexperienced elders received a great deal of training and significantly improved their abilities.

“The cultivator coming from the Spiritual Cloud Sect to seek help should be arriving soon, right?”

“How are the family’s preparations coming along?”

“Have all the clan members been notified?”

As the moment approached, Li Shiqing became increasingly restless, repeating these questions several times within just half an hour.

Li Zhirui was not in the great hall at this moment but was in the Pill Room of his cave residence, refining precious fourth-tier Precious Pills.

His state of mind was very serene, not worrying at all about the upcoming battle.

Having allied with the Water Spirit Sect and Wuya Mountain’s two Nascent Soul forces, as long as the demon cultivators did not have several Nascent Souls attacking, they would stand invincible!

It was just a question of how many more would be lost during the process.

Li Zhirui did not dare to guarantee that all the clan members would safely return, but he was determined to do everything in his power to protect the family and strive to minimize the family’s losses.