Translator: AnubisTL
Squeak, squeak~
A naive and innocent divine sense entered Li Qing's mind. Within his cave abode, a cyan war spear darted about like a playful child, soaring and diving with boundless energy.
"It's done! This is the Artifact Spirit of the magic artifact? I actually succeeded!" Li Qing stared in astonishment at the autonomously flying cyan spear.
Indeed, through the Treasure Artifact Spirit Fusion Method, his wind spear had nurtured its own Artifact Spirit.
Whoosh!
The sound of air splitting echoed as the wind spear swiftly flew before Li Qing, its shaft swaying as if trying to ingratiate itself.
Seeing this, Li Qing gently stroked the spear's surface before extending his divine sense.
He soon perceived the Artifact Spirit of the wind spear—a bat-like creature, pale cyan in color, with four legs and constantly blinking eyes.
"Hmm, since you have a spirit now, I'll give you a name. Qingfeng, from now on, I'll call you Qingfeng."
TL/N: Literally meaning Azure Wind.
Sensing Li Qing's divine sense, Qingfeng darted about the cave abode in joyous, celebratory flight.
Remarkably, all this occurred without Li Qing expending any of his own mana or mental power. The Artifact Spirit was entirely self-propelled.
After all, the spirit body had been personally created by Li Qing, and the two shared a deep affinity, as if they were destined to be connected.
It was truly remarkable that he had succeeded in spirit fusion with a magic artifact on his first attempt—an exceedingly rare feat.
With the Artifact Spirit, the wind spear had become incredibly agile, like a lively, playful little beast.
Li Qing immediately began testing Qingfeng by sending simple commands through his divine sense, instructing it to carry out tasks such as flying him through the air, executing offensive strikes, and retrieving spirit letters sent from outside the cave abode. Qingfeng executed these commands flawlessly.
Of course, more complex orders were beyond its capabilities. After all, the Artifact Spirit had been nurtured using the Demon Spirit of a Second-Tier Demonic Beast. Achieving even this level of functionality was already quite impressive.
"Who could have sent this spirit letter at such a critical moment?" Li Qing frowned slightly as he began to read the letter's contents.
The very first line struck him like a bolt of lightning, freezing him in place:
"The Heavenly River Sect's mountain gate has fallen. The Heavenly River Grand Formation has been completely breached. In this war between cultivation sects, the Shangqing Sect has ultimately emerged victorious."
"..."
Yes, the Heavenly River Sect had been utterly annihilated. From this day forward, the Azure Ridge Domain would no longer bear witness to the glory and prosperity of this once-mighty cultivation sect.
Eight days prior, on the eve of the Heavenly River Sect's fall, all disciples and elders had gathered within the magnificent mountain gate.
"What's happening?"
"Are we going to fight to the death? Let the Shangqing Sect's trash come!"
"Who are those people behind the sect leader? Are they the sect's Ancestors? Why do they look so grim?"
"..."
In the square before the council hall, the assembled disciples exchanged uneasy glances, whispering among themselves.
Sect Leader Qing Xuan sighed deeply before stepping forward.
"Everyone, our Heavenly River Sect now faces a life-or-death crisis. Rather than await our doom, let us carve a path to survival through battle."
"The Shangqing Sect has pushed us too far. At this point, there is no room for negotiation or reconciliation."
"Even if we are utterly destroyed today, we will make the Shangqing Sect pay dearly!"
Sect Leader Qing Xuan's voice burned with fury, yet sorrow welled in his eyes.
As the sect's foremost leader, he would undoubtedly be the Shangqing Sect's primary target, along with the other core formation ancestors.
In this desperate situation, where survival seemed impossible, their only hope lay in preserving a few fire seeds—nothing more.
"Fight! To give up is to choose death. Fight, and there remains a chance to survive."
"When the long night finally breaks, whether we live or die will depend on what we fight for."
"The Ancestors and I will prioritize blocking the Shangqing Sect's key figures. After that, your fate rests in your own hands."
At that moment, a profound sense of sorrow filled the hearts of everyone in the Heavenly River Sect, from the highest elder to the lowliest disciple.
The disciples wore desolate expressions, realizing the moment they had dreaded had finally arrived: their sect was truly on the brink of destruction.
Trapped within the Heavenly River Grand Formation, they were protected for now, but not forever.
Rather than wait until their resources were exhausted, they resolved to strike back while they still had the strength, inflicting a painful blow on the Shangqing Sect.
This was the unanimous decision of the Heavenly River Sect's leadership, and it was their only hope of preserving some fire seeds for the future.
In the rear mountains, a woman with a gentle, water-like demeanor and an elegant figure clutched her plain white sleeves, her eyes reddened as she declared:
"Why? When the sect faces annihilation, how can I flee without fighting?"
Her features were refined and captivating, her eyes and brows like a poem or painting, her skin as smooth as jade. Even in anger, she retained an air of graceful composure.
Had it not been for the urgency in her eyes, it would have been difficult to sense her anger.
Sect Leader Qing Xuan spoke solemnly, "Junior Sister Su Xin, this is a decision made by me and the Ancestors. The sect cannot truly perish; we must preserve a fire seed."
"The sect gave me life and nurtured me," Su Xin said mournfully. "If it falls, what meaning would my survival hold?"
Sect Leader Qing Xuan replied firmly, "For the sect, your survival is the greatest meaning!"
"Since childhood, you have been fused with the Water Spirit Pearl fragment. To some extent, you are the Water Spirit Pearl itself."
"The Lingyun Sect is currently facing the great calamity of the ancient demons and has no time to spare for other matters. This is why the Shangqing Sect dares to directly invade our Heavenly River Sect!"
"The five elements spirit pearls are the supreme treasures of this realm. The ancient demons invaded this world in the Ancient Era precisely because of them, as the pearls possess a natural restraint against the demons."
"From here, you must travel south to seek refuge with the Lingyun Sect. Given the Water Spirit Pearl fragment you carry, they will undoubtedly take you in."
Upon hearing these words, tears welled up in Su Xin's eyes, and crystalline droplets fell to the ground.
"Why... why..."
Seeing this scene, Sect Leader Qing Xuan sighed deeply. "Go. The sect cannot be completely destroyed in my hands. We must leave some hope."
"If you achieve cultivation success in the future, the burden of rebuilding the Heavenly River Sect will fall upon your shoulders."
"Haven't you always wanted to purify the sect's atmosphere? The future of the Heavenly River Sect will be yours to shape."
"..."
At the end of the long night, a sliver of dawn pierced through the darkness.
At the Heavenly River Sect's mountain gate, the Heavenly River Grand Formation fully awakened, its terrifying aura resonating across the entire region.
"Harness the power of heaven and earth to forge a path to survival for our sect!"
At the Formation Core, Sect Leader Qing Xuan soared into the air, taking control of the Grand Formation's core.
"Kill!"
Like a cascading Heavenly River, brilliant silver light erupted across the ground, instantly obliterating the entire area before the Heavenly River Sect's mountain gate.
This was the Heavenly River Grand Formation's final, devastating strike. After this attack, the Grand Formation would be completely exhausted, leaving the Heavenly River Sect with no retreat.
Waves of disciples surged from the mountain gate, their faces etched with either grief and fury or stark terror.
"Fight on! Death is not the end, nor is it meaningless! Our sacrifices will be remembered by the survivors, and it is they who will give meaning to our deaths!" Sect Leader Qing Xuan of the Heavenly River Sect roared, his voice amplified by his divine sense, carrying an overwhelming force of conviction.
"Kill! Slaughter the Shangqing Sect's mongrels!"
In that moment, every Heavenly River Sect disciple became fearless. Tears streamed down their faces, yet they charged forward with unwavering courage.
"Hahahaha! Good, good! Finally crawled out of your turtle shells, have you?"
An old crone soared into the air from the Shangqing Sect's stronghold, her face dark with malice.
The Heavenly River Grand Formation's devastating strike had indeed inflicted heavy losses on the Shangqing Sect. Many disciples who failed to escape in time had perished.
"Old Wen, your opponent is me!"
Ancestor Wanshan of the Heavenly River Sect stepped forward, directly confronting his aged opponent.
"Old Ghost Wanshan, you've been hiding for so long, I thought you were dead!" Old Crone Wen Xia cackled, flipping her hands to reveal a stone pagoda in her grasp.
"Where's True Lord Kong Ming? I'm here to settle accounts for the injuries he inflicted last time," another elder from the Shangqing Sect declared, a core formation realm cultivator.
"Hahahaha, I'm here!"
As his voice faded, a thunderbolt flashed across the sky, and Ancestor Kong Ming, the thunder spirit root cultivator, materialized.
With each surge of powerful auras, the core formation realm cultivators from both sects clashed fiercely, instantly becoming the focal point of the battle.
Yet the Shangqing Sect's reserves proved overwhelming. Even with all their core formation realm cultivators deployed, the Heavenly River Sect couldn't match their strength.
Suddenly, a colossal turtle materialized, its overwhelming presence sweeping across the battlefield and engulfing the remaining elders.
The Shangqing Sect's sect-protecting sacred beast: the Mountain-Bearing Turtle!
The presence of this third-tier demonic beast was overwhelming for the foundation establishment realm elders, each strike capable of easily killing a Heavenly River Sect foundation establishment cultivator.
Moreover, a slender figure in a crimson robe soared into the battlefield. Her face was strikingly beautiful, yet radiated a dangerous aura.
Exquisite True Lord!
Instead of engaging the Heavenly River Sect's core formation elders, she seemed to be searching for something.
"So the disciple with the heavenly spirit root isn't on the front lines after all. Are they planning a desperate sacrifice?" Exquisite True Lord sneered, then unleashed her divine sense, beginning a thorough search.
With the Heavenly River Sect's core formation true lords fully engaged, no one could stop her. She understood the importance of eliminating threats at their roots.
The Shangqing Sect had long compiled a list, marking Heavenly River Sect elders and disciples with exceptional potential. This time, she would personally execute them all, leaving no survivors.
"They're good at hiding, but I've deployed a vast network of second-tier formations around this area. Let's see how long they can remain concealed!"
As she spoke, Exquisite True Lord continued to glide through the air above the battlefield, completely ignoring the ongoing battles of her disciples and elders, her focus solely on finding her target.
Occasionally, she glanced back, her eyes burning with icy hatred.
"Heh, Old Ghost Wanshan, you'd better hold out a little longer. How can I find satisfaction if I don't personally slaughter you?"
With that, Exquisite True Lord unleashed her divine sense, scouring the battlefield below. Yet she showed no urgency, maintaining an air of absolute confidence.
Meanwhile, Su Xin was on the verge of tears.
"No..."
"Senior Sister Su Xin, we must leave now! The sect's vengeance will be exacted another day!" Liu Huai'an declared, his face twisted with murderous intent.
Elder Nine Heavens of the Law Enforcement Hall sighed. "The journey ahead is long and we can't afford any delays. Moreover, the Shangqing Sect has deployed numerous second-tier formations around us. We must avoid detection at all costs!"
"Since the sect leader and Ancestor have chosen us, we cannot betray their trust. We must survive," Liu Hanyue said, her beautiful face etched with sorrow as she clasped Su Xin's hand.
Shi Nantian spoke calmly, his voice utterly composed. "Indeed. Survival is paramount. After all, death truly means the end of everything."
As he finished, a strange glint flickered in the depths of Shi Nantian's eyes.
(End of the Chapter)
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