Chapter 239: Chapter 157: The One Who Kills You Is Cao Wunian of the White Bone Sect

The casualties had been catastrophic, and the repercussions were dire.

To this day, only a small town remains there, never having regained its former prosperity.

For many Foundation Establishment Cultivators, the events of eighty years ago didn’t feel particularly distant. Some of the older Cultivators had even personally participated in the subsequent rescue operations.

Now, at almost the same time, a Demon Cultivator had also stolen a large quantity of Flame Crystal Stones.

This immediately led many Cultivators to worry if a similar tragedy was about to repeat itself.

The Foundation Establishment Cultivators in smaller towns were especially worried that their own homes would be the Demon Cultivator’s next target.

"Xiao, you must be extra careful these next few days."

Qiu Qichen saw Xiao Chen out, not forgetting to add a warning, "I heard you’re on Qingyang Mountain. It would be best not to go into Qingyang County recently."

"You can never be too careful."

He meant well, of course, but the matter was truly unpredictable.

When Xiao Chen heard the three words "White Bone Sect," he felt it was highly probable they were coming for him.

He nodded. "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Qiu. I will be careful."

At the same time, he made a silent decision: he would stay away from Qingyang County for the next month. It wasn’t that he feared retaliation from the White Bone Sect; he just didn’t want to get innocent people involved.

.

「Inside the Lingyuan Sect.」

Master Gongliang from the Celestial Secret Pavilion was sitting cross-legged, his brows tightly furrowed.

Several Golden Core True Men waited quietly to the side, focused on the result of this divination.

In the vast main hall of the sect, besides the Golden Core True Men, there were only the Lingyuan Sect Leader and two children responsible for serving tea.

The remaining Cultivators, including Grand Elder Yao Dehai, were kept outside the hall to await news.

Originally, the Cultivator the Lingyuan Sect had invited to perform the divination was merely Master Gongliang’s disciple.

Their lineage of Cultivators practiced the art of precognition.

Through specific rituals, they could glimpse future events.

As long as they could pinpoint the location of the incident, the Lingyuan Sect could, of course, dispatch men to set up an ambush ahead of time.

But yesterday, while divining the whereabouts of the Flame Crystal Stones, the disciple had suddenly foreseen something terrible.

He suffered such a severe backlash on the spot that he vomited blood and remained unconscious for the entire night.

The first thing he said upon waking was that he had miscalculated the time, but had accidentally foreseen the fall of Luoyan Mountain.

This was no laughing matter and immediately alerted the Lingyuan Sect’s Golden Core True Men.

Thus, Master Gongliang from the Celestial Secret Pavilion also rushed over, wanting to understand what was going on.

After the master and disciple conferred in private, Master Gongliang prepared the ritual again and performed the divination himself.

"PFFT!"

Master Gongliang’s eyes suddenly flew wide, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood.

When the blood hit the floor, it immediately turned black and even began to emit wisps of black smoke.

"Master Gongliang, are you alright!"

Thunder Sound True Man hurried forward, asking with concern.

Behind him, Master Yusha of the Four Seas Sect and Master Ming Yan exchanged a grave look.

For a Tier Three Divination Master to suffer such a severe backlash, something incredibly serious must have occurred.

"COUGH! COUGH, COUGH!" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Master Gongliang bent over and coughed several times, a look of shocked anger in his eyes.

He collected his thoughts for a moment before speaking carefully, "I saw something... not good."

"The one who took the Flame Crystal Stones is a Demon Cultivator from the White Bone Sect. He will destroy Qingyang County, causing tens of thousands to perish in a sea of flames."

Thunder Sound True Man nodded, acknowledging the location.

The other True Men remained silent, awaiting the more important news that was sure to follow.

Merely predicting the actions of a single Foundation Establishment Cultivator would never have been enough to injure a Tier Three Divination Master.

Master Gongliang paused for a moment, a trace of hesitation flashing in his eyes.

Divination has two costs. The first is paid when the Divination Master himself peers into the future.

The second is paid when he reveals the results to others.

The more important the prophecy, the steeper the price for revealing it.

After a moment’s hesitation, however, Master Gongliang continued speaking slowly, "Right after the calamity in Qingyang, Wangyan Mountain will be besieged by the Divine Fire Sect."

At his words, Thunder Sound True Man was stunned.

Currently, the front line of the standoff between the Lingyuan Sect and the Divine Fire Sect was at Luoyan Mountain, a full five hundred li from Wangyan Mountain.

If the divination was true, it meant that before the Lantern Festival, the Divine Fire Sect would breach the Defense Array at Luoyan Mountain and advance five hundred li in a single push.

Warfare between Cultivators was different from that of mortal armies.

Since all combatants were Cultivators, there were no natural strategic advantages like difficult terrain to rely on.

Instead, they used important Spirit Veins as strategic chokepoints. By setting up Defense Arrays along these veins, they created strongholds that were incredibly difficult to breach.

The Lingyuan Sect currently only had three lines of defense: Luoyan Mountain, Wangyan Mountain, and Elemental Magnetic Peak.

Once Luoyan Mountain falls and Wangyan Mountain is besieged, the Divine Fire Sect can directly threaten the Lingyuan Sect’s very gates.

As he finished speaking, a shocking amount of white hair appeared on Master Gongliang’s head. In an instant, he seemed to have aged a dozen years.

At the same time, he began to gasp for breath, and it was a long while before his breathing eased.

The surrounding Golden Core True Men looked as if they had been struck by lightning, rendered speechless by the dreadful news.

After a long moment, Thunder Sound True Man simply made a grasping motion with his hand. The two children serving tea nearby collapsed to the floor without a chance to react.

Only then did he turn to the Lingyuan Sect Leader. "Leave us. Act as if you heard nothing. Do not breathe a single word of this to anyone outside."

Under normal circumstances, Luoyan Mountain should never fall so suddenly.

The most pressing matter now was to lock down this information while figuring out what the unexpected variable was.