Seeing that her sister had laid the groundwork, Ye Yuchen spoke up.
"Ran Xi Zūnzhě, you once told my sister that if we were willing, Haoran Sect would accept us to cultivate. Does that offer still stand?"
Yunxi looked at the earnest Ye Yuchen and arched a brow. "If the two of you wish to transfer to Haoran Sect, I welcome it. If you plan to bring the remaining disciples of Medicine King Valley to merge into Haoran Sect, that is a separate matter."
Yunxi did intend to poach them, but she would not beg. With Medicine King Valley's sole Divine Transformation Ancestor fallen, they were eager to find a reliable backer, and Haoran Sect was a good choice.
Haoran Sect had a strong reputation in the Western Region, and now it had her, an Out-of-Body Zūnzhě, to rely on. Yunxi had some history with the Ye siblings. If they joined Haoran Sect, they would also leave the Central Region, a place of trouble, and conserve their strength.
After this war, the Central Region would surely be reshuffled. Whether to attach themselves to another or to preserve Medicine King Valley's remnant inheritance and disciples was a choice the Ye siblings needed to make.
Ye Yuchen cupped his hands. "Ran Xi Zūnzhě, my sister and I have already discussed this with the remaining disciples of Medicine King Valley. We are willing to join Haoran Sect and accept the entrance assessments. Whether we pass depends on our own fortunes. Which peak we join will depend on our abilities.
We do not wish to cling to the empty name of 'Medicine King Valley' and deprive the remaining disciples of their chance at the Dao. Nor do we want them to shoulder responsibilities that were never theirs to bear.
This war in the Central Region is only the beginning. Once the four Zūnzhě leave Weiyu Realm, we will face even greater trials. With my current strength and my sister's, we cannot protect them."
He did not mince words. They had come to throw in with Haoran Sect, willing to be incorporated and to give up the name of Medicine King Valley in exchange for shelter.
Yunxi was not surprised. Ye Yuchen was woven into the karma of this war. Her intervention had simply nudged him onto another path.
As long as it weakened the evil cultivators and reduced the number of swayed cultivators, Yunxi had no reason to turn them away. After a short silence, she took out a blank jade slip, recorded her intent, and pushed it toward the siblings.
"Go find Hao Qing Zūnzhě. When the war ends, he will arrange your placements."
Ye Yuchen received the jade slip with both hands and bowed. "Many thanks, Ran Xi Zūnzhě, for accepting us. From today on, my sister and I will follow your lead. Anything within our power, we will not refuse."
Yunxi smiled and nodded. "Good. I will remember your words."
The two took their leave at the proper time. After they departed, Yun Chen entered the cultivation abode.
The two spoke for half an hour. Then Yun Chen went to see Han Lian and Xun Kun in turn, explaining the formation plan in detail. The matter of destroying the teleportation passage was settled for the moment.
At dawn the next day, thanks to Ran Xi and the others opening the way with their words, the cultivators of the regions could no longer stall. After two days of rest, they had recovered a measure of strength. They pressed forward in a single push, joined forces, and stormed into Huaxian Gate for the final battle with the remaining evil cultivators.
The fighting raged for a full day and night. Under tireless, rotating assaults by the sect cultivators, the evil cultivators finally collapsed and were cut down to the last.
Some tried to drag others down with them. With a mindset of "If I suffer, none of you leave unscathed," they attempted self-detonation to grievously wound the righteous. Ran Xi, Han Lian, Yun Chen, and Xun Kun, stationed in the rear, intervened each time. In the end, the evil cultivators could not even self-destruct. They died in frustration, and the righteous cultivators vented their fury at last.
Han Lian flashed to Bai Feng's side the moment the battlefield stabilized. She had promised to fetch her spirit beast personally and would not break her word.
Luckily, Bai Feng's hide was thick and his thoughts uncomplicated. After killing a few evil cultivators who tried to ambush him, he guarded the shattered teleportation formation steadily. Whenever he sensed the array foundation stirring toward recovery, he slammed a paw down and smashed it to pieces again, denying the Upper Realm evil cultivators any chance to rebuild the passage.
"Bai Feng, I am here to pick you up."
Han Lian appeared smiling at his side. Bai Feng lifted an eyelid, confirmed it was his not-so-reliable master, yawned, and rose lazily.
"The evil cultivators from the Upper Realm have already tried twice to reconstruct the passage. I ruined both attempts. The rest is up to you."
"Good work. You have earned your rest."
Han Lian praised him, then circled the broken array foundation once. Feeling the lingering spatial fluctuations, she confirmed that the evil cultivators were still unwilling to give up and meant to use this spatial node to invade Weiyu Realm again.
A chill flashed across her handsome face. She sat cross-legged beside the array foundation and waited for her companions to arrive.
Bai Feng no longer needed to stand guard. He wandered off through Huaxian Gate's grounds to relax.
An hour later, Yunxi led the Snow Wolf King pair back onto Huaxian Gate territory and was the first to rendezvous with Han Lian. Moments later, Yun Chen arrived with the Buddhist cultivators of Yunmen Temple. Xun Kun was the last to come.
Seeing everyone assembled, Han Lian summoned Bai Feng back. They began as planned.
Yun Chen and the Buddhist cultivators of Yunmen Temple arranged the formation first. Then the four of them each took a formation node aligned with a star position. Bai Feng held one node. The Buddhist cultivators, with Master Yun Yi at the center, held one node. Finally, the Snow Wolf King pair combined their strength to sustain one node. The "Heavenly Gang Big Dipper Demon-Execution Grand Array" took shape.
Everyone sat in meditation at their respective nodes, adjusting to peak condition. They would wait for the Upper Realm to take the initiative and rebuild the passage. Once the channel connected, they would activate the demon-execution array.
Worried that her soul injury might flare, Yunxi held a soul stone and absorbed it while refining it further. Even if she could not finish in a short time, she would suppress it and prevent the soul thunder from causing trouble at a critical moment.
By now, Huaxian Gate's mountain gates had been cleared. All cultivators withdrew from its territory and watched the half-collapsed main peak in silence.
Hua Yu, Xian Yao, and Xian Feng stared anxiously toward the peak they knew best, with the disciples of Huaxian Gate standing in grim silence behind them.
Nothing happened the entire first night, yet no one left early. Everyone waited.
At last, on the second night, when the moon hung high, space ripples rose from the direction of the main peak.
Yunxi opened her eyes and put away the soul stone. She looked toward the array foundation, which was slowly repairing under an external force. Two quarters of an hour later, the foundation was as good as new, and the runes upon it began to shine.