Chapter 246: Chapter 159: Steward Xiao, There’s an Anomaly in the Spirit Ore

The emissary sent to investigate was Du Mingjie again. He rushed to Qingyang Mountain early the next morning.

He also brought a full four thousand Spirit Stones as compensation for the lost Flame Crystal Stone.

Honestly, Xiao Chen hadn’t expected it to be so valuable.

He later found out that the Lingyuan Sect’s Sect Leader had intentionally paid double.

At the same time, Du Mingjie also gave him double the Points Jade Tokens, along with a special Seal. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

As soon as this garrison mission was over, he could take the Seal to the Lingyuan Sect and officially become a Demon-slaying Guard.

Apparently, he could also use the Seal to claim a Cultivation Spiritual Object from the Sect’s Warehouse.

This was a good thing, of course; no one would ever complain about having too many Spiritual Objects.

Furthermore, Du Mingjie had also brought several invitations from various families.

With the defeat of the White Bone Sect, word of Xiao Chen’s mastery of Escape Techniques had spread far and wide.

As a result, numerous families sent invitations, asking him to attend various tea parties and banquets once he became a Demon-slaying Guard.

The Qiu Family even extended a special invitation for him to attend Riding the Clouds on Lishan in late February.

It was supposedly a competition of Escape Techniques, which would be attended by numerous Foundation Establishment Cultivators from Hezhou who specialized in the art, all gathering to exchange insights on their practice.

Furthermore, the annual winner would receive Flowing Cloud Dew, a substance that only materialized on Li Mountain once a year.

This Spiritual Liquid was said to be immensely beneficial for cultivating any kind of Escape Technique.

Xiao Chen carefully stored the Seal and invitations, then once again immersed himself in his cultivation.

Because he was using two grains of Purple Gold Spirit Sand per day, his cultivation was now progressing by leaps and bounds.

Every day, he could feel his mastery over Vertical Earth Golden Light improving and could tangibly sense himself getting faster.

To be honest, such rapid improvement was intoxicating.

This clear sensation of growing stronger bit by bit was especially intoxicating, and Xiao Chen found it almost mesmerizing.

During this time, Chang Shunping arranged a meeting for Xiao Chen with the vice president of the Huidong Commerce Association, an elderly man with a long beard.

Originally, the vice president’s mission had been to demand an explanation from Xiao Chen.

In the past six months, the Huidong Commerce Association had recruited quite a few Foundation Establishment-level Loose Cultivators, and Vendor Zhang had been one of them.

However, after learning that Xiao Chen had taken care of the Demon Cultivators from the White Bone Sect, the vice president had a last-minute change of heart.

The Huidong Commerce Association had no desire to offend this up-and-coming master of Escape Techniques over a single Vendor Zhang.

Instead, he invited him to a Lantern Festival banquet on the fifteenth day of the first month.

Of course, Xiao Chen flatly refused. He had no real interest in watching fireworks.

’Wouldn’t that time be better spent cultivating my Escape Techniques?’

However, these good days lasted for a mere eleven days.

On the sixteenth day of the first month, the day after the Lantern Festival, vast numbers of Demon Cultivators returned in force, once again advancing on Luoyan Mountain.

At the same time, many other groups of Demon Cultivators bypassed Luoyan Mountain, striking directly at the rear.

This behavior was strange, as if the Divine Fire Sect was already convinced that Luoyan Mountain was about to fall.

The Lingyuan Sect immediately issued a warning, and several Golden Core True Men even came to Luoyan Mountain personally to take command.

In the time since learning of the divination results, they had considered every possibility.

But no one could guess what game the Divine Fire Sect was playing.

Xiao Chen, for his part, was also a little puzzled after receiving the warning.

He wasn’t the ignorant newcomer he’d been upon arrival; he had gradually learned a great deal about Hezhou.

For instance, the Divine Fire Sect had never dared to launch a full-scale invasion in the past, for fear of having their escape routes cut off.

Luoyan Mountain possessed two entire Tier Two Spirit Veins, over which the Lingyuan Sect had established a Tier Three Defense Array with an effective range of dozens of miles.

If they ignored the Grand Array and charged straight in, even a Golden Core True Man could easily be trapped within Lingyuan Sect territory.

Thus, they still needed to shatter the Grand Array in a frontal assault to remove the barrier.

But when it came to that, Xiao Chen was left somewhat speechless.

According to the information he’d gathered, the war had been raging for over a year, yet the Golden Core True Men from both sides had clashed fewer than ten times in total.

To date, not a single Golden Core True Man had been injured.

What was even more ridiculous was that these battles were also incredibly brief; the longest exchange had lasted no more than a Quarter Hour.

Afterward, the Divine Fire Sect’s Daoist Qian Hong had voluntarily retreated, and Master Yusha had made no move to pursue.

They were just going through the motions.

In short, for more than a year, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators had served as the backbone of the fighting, while vast numbers of Qi Refining Cultivators were relegated to being cannon fodder.

Even some of the Early Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators dispatched by the Divine Fire Sect seemed like nothing more than cannon fodder.

Xiao Chen could actually guess at some of the reasons for this.

Self-preservation, for one.

After working so hard to reach the Golden Core realm, they were certainly unwilling to risk their lives so easily.

Mutual suspicion was another factor.

If one Sect suffered a devastating blow while fighting the Divine Fire Sect, then after the Demon Sect was eliminated, that weakened Sect might just become the next target.

The Lingyuan Sect could lose any number of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and it would only diminish its influence.

But if a single Golden Core True Man fell, their border with the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers would likely have to be completely redrawn.

Strangely, however, no Golden Core True Man was willing to intervene and clean up the Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators who had invaded Lingyuan Sect territory.

This was something Xiao Chen couldn’t quite wrap his head around.

’Could there be some other reason preventing the Golden Core True Men from acting?’

But for now, there was no one who could answer that question for him.

In the days that followed, incomplete reports from the front lines indicated that at least forty Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators and hundreds of Qi Refining Demon Cultivators had crossed Luoyan Mountain and poured into the Lingyuan Sect’s heartland.