"Abyssal Invasion?!"
A wave of hushed exclamations immediately rose from below.
Even the elders who had lived for several centuries could not help but change expression when they heard those four words.
It was a nightmare carved into the bones of every cultivator on the Heavenly Profound Continent!
Every few hundred years, Spatial Rifts would appear out of thin air across the continent.
The Abyssal Demons would surge out of those rifts!
These demons loved to feast on human flesh and devour the souls of living beings. Wherever they passed, all life was plunged into misery!
"Sect Master, how large is the invasion this time?"
The Second Elder asked in a deep voice, his fingers clenched tightly around the jade table before him.
Li Qingyun sighed and slowly said, "The Wasteland Heaven Divine Sect detected that the energy fluctuations of these Abyssal Fissures are thirty percent stronger than last time."
"According to the rules, our Azure Cloud Sect must send ten Profound Comprehension elders and two Nascent Soul Old Ancestors to the Demon Extermination Holy City to fight."
"At the same time, we must guard the three small rifts within our sect's territory to prevent the demons from infiltrating."
Hearing this, Bai Ye turned his head toward the elder beside him.
This elder's beard and hair were half white, and he was fairly familiar with Bai Ye under normal circumstances.
Seeing the puzzled look Bai Ye cast over, the elder lowered his voice and explained, "Elder Bai Ye just entered the Ancestral Hall, so you may not know the origins of the Demon Extermination Holy City."
"It was a super-city built by the Wasteland Heaven Divine Sect beside the largest Abyssal Fissure in the Wild Domain after generations of painstaking effort. Its walls were built from Demon-Slaying Stone, and nine divine-tier defensive arrays had been laid there. It was the core line of defense against the demons throughout the entire Wild Domain."
"Every time an Abyssal Invasion occurred, all the major powers sent experts to provide reinforcements. If the Holy City fell, the entire Wild Domain would suffer."
Bai Ye nodded slightly, but his heart remained unmoved.
He was now in the Tribulation Crossing Realm. Even if he faced the Devil Master of the Abyssal Demons, he had the strength to fight, so naturally, he had no need to worry like the other elders.
The discussion lasted an hour, and the candidates heading to the Demon Extermination Holy City were finally decided.
The two Nascent Soul Old Ancestors would personally lead the group. Of the ten Profound Comprehension elders, Bai Ye was assigned to guard the small rifts near the sect because his cultivation was "still shallow," so he did not need to go to the most dangerous Holy City.
After the meeting ended, Bai Ye rode his sword back to his own mountain peak, Night Cloud Peak.
The peak stood on the western side of the Azure Cloud Sect's Seventy-two Peaks. Clouds and mist wound around it all year round. At the summit stood an exquisite bamboo courtyard, with several thousand-year-old pines planted outside. It was a quiet cultivation ground specially prepared by the sect for inner elders.
He stepped into the Bamboo Courtyard, waved his hand to set up a Concealment Array, took out the God Transformation Tower, and continued his secluded cultivation.
Compared with sect affairs, raising his cultivation was the most important matter.
Time flowed on, and ten years passed in the blink of an eye.
Throughout those ten years, Bai Ye performed his system check-in every day without fail.
Sometimes, luck was on his side, and he obtained a "Ninth-grade Thunder Tribulation Pill" from the check-in, helping him safely survive a heavenly tribulation!
Sometimes, he obtained "Chaos Spiritual Liquid," which tempered his physical body and divine embryo, adding yet another layer to his already profound foundation.
The most precious time was when he checked in on the day the Tribulation Lightning descended and actually triggered a super reward, obtaining a "Low-grade Divine Tier" Thunder Dao Secret Canon!
Relying on these resources and the profundity of the Chaos Sword Canon, Bai Ye successfully survived three heavenly tribulations, and his cultivation steadily rose to the third level of the Tribulation Crossing Realm.
His divine embryo grew increasingly solid, while the Divine Realm Power coiling around his body grew increasingly vigorous. Even without activating the [All Character Secret], he could easily kill ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators in an instant.
During those ten years, the Azure Cloud Sect also struggled amid the flames of war brought by the Abyssal Invasion.
At first, the three small rifts within the sect's territory remained relatively calm. Bai Ye occasionally intervened, using his "early Profound Comprehension" strength to casually kill a few demonic commanders who had slipped through the net. He concealed his true cultivation while helping the sect escape danger.
But as the invasion intensified, the fighting at the Demon Extermination Holy City grew ever more tragic. The two Nascent Soul Old Ancestors sent by the Azure Cloud Sect repeatedly sent distress letters, forcing the sect to dispatch Profound Comprehension experts as reinforcements again and again.
After ten years of war, the Abyssal Invasion finally subsided, but the Azure Cloud Sect had paid a grievous price.
Twenty-one sect disciples in the Primordial Core Realm had fallen, among them many young disciples of outstanding talent!
Three Profound Comprehension elders had died in battle, all long-serving members who had followed the sect for decades!
Even the two Nascent Soul Old Ancestors sent to the Demon Extermination Holy City had exhausted themselves and fallen while sealing the rift at the very end, covering the retreat of the other cultivators!
When the news reached the Azure Cloud Sect, grief filled the entire sect from top to bottom.
The square before the Ancestral Hall was packed with the spirit tablets of the fallen disciples. White mourning banners snapped in the wind, and even the clouds and mist between the mountains seemed dyed with a layer of sorrow.
Bai Ye stood at the summit of Night Cloud Peak, gazing at the mourning hall below, and sighed inwardly.
Although he had not been familiar with those disciples, he still lamented the cruelty of war.
If he had not been strong enough, he might have become one of the names on those spirit tablets as well.
But misfortune had not stopped there.
A year later, the Azure Cloud Sect's last Nascent Soul Old Ancestor...
That Old Ancestor, who looked like a young man when Bai Ye had once seen him, entered secluded cultivation in the Forbidden Zone on the Main Peak in an attempt to break through to a higher realm.
Who could have known that he would suffer a backlash from inner demons during the breakthrough? With little lifespan remaining to begin with, he died in meditation on the spot within the Forbidden Zone.
When the news spread, the entire Azure Cloud Sect fell into complete panic.
The Nascent Soul Realm was the cornerstone that supported the sect's standing in Azure State.
Previously, with a Nascent Soul Old Ancestor suppressing the sect, even in its decline, the other enemies had not dared provoke it lightly.
Now that the Nascent Soul Realm was completely vacant, those enemies who had lain dormant for years were likely to start stirring restlessly.
"Someone must break through to the Nascent Soul Realm and stabilize the sect!"
Amid the hopes of the entire sect, Sect Master Li Qingyun resolutely decided to attempt a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm.
He was already at the peak of the Profound Comprehension Realm and had been stuck there for decades. His accumulation was sufficiently deep, and with one "Earth Nascent Pill" preserved by the sect to assist him, he was originally the person with the greatest hope of success.
But Heaven did not bend to human wishes.
On the day he attempted to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm, earth-shaking Spiritual Energy fluctuations erupted from the Forbidden Zone on the Main Peak, followed by a dull, thunderous explosion!
Li Qingyun's breakthrough failed. His Spiritual Energy rebounded, and he fell on the spot!
After losing three Nascent Soul cultivators and one sect master in succession, the sky of the Azure Cloud Sect had completely collapsed!
At that time, Bai Ye had been wholly immersed in secluded cultivation inside the God Transformation Tower, breaking through his realm. He had no idea about the tremendous changes that had taken place in the outside world over the past year.
Several days later, the surviving Grand Elder, leaning on a cane, stood in the square before the Ancestral Hall. His voice was hoarse, like silk being ripped apart: "From this day onward, the Azure Cloud Sect will seal the mountain. Anyone who is not a disciple of our sect is forbidden from entering."
"Unless there is an urgent matter, disciples of our sect may not leave the mountain. The mountain-sealing order may only be lifted once the sect produces another Nascent Soul cultivator!"
As his voice fell, the Mountain Protecting Array at the sect gate rumbled into action. A pale azure curtain of light enveloped all Seventy-two Peaks of the Azure Cloud Sect, completely cutting the thousand-year-old sect off from the outside world.
The disciples in the square hung their heads dejectedly, while the elders looked ashen. The once-bustling Azure Cloud Sect now had only a stretch of deathly, declining silence left.
The Grand Elder stood before the gates of the Ancestral Hall, gazing at the curtain of light enveloping the mountain peaks. Thoughtfulness and solemnity flickered through his eyes.
He knew that the Azure Cloud Sect's crisis had only just begun.
Those hostile powers would never let this chance pass—the chance to strike while the Azure Cloud Sect was at its weakest!
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