Unexpected Change

Just as Yang Qingyun was shut away in seclusion, bitterly cultivating,

in order to deal with any possible unforeseen changes, the Sacred Extremity Sect once again drew its forces back in.

Apart from the spirit stone veins that truly could not be abandoned and the places where spirit veins producing precious resources were located, nearly everything else was abandoned outright.

Even the many fallback routes the sect had prepared in various places throughout Eastern Province in case the Heavenly Capital Sect launched an attack were, with the exception of one or two well-managed hidden strongholds that truly could not be abandoned, all temporarily given up.

The Void Realm Ancestors who had secretly gone to those places to stand guard and oversee their operations were also recalled one after another, returning to the sect to add a few more hands to its defenses.

Since even these painstakingly prepared fallback routes had been abandoned, the others went without saying.

For example, the stronghold in Wu Mountain City, which had gradually begun to develop in recent years because of the deterrence created by Yang Qingyun's possible feat of killing and repelling three joined Cave-Heaven experts, had also been completely evacuated.

Although, because of the methods Yang Qingyun had left behind, that stronghold still possessed the ability to protect itself even without support from the sect,

and could continue to develop on its own, while the wave of development in the Death Forbidden Zone had already allowed it to bring the Sacred Extremity Sect considerable profits,

it had still abandoned everything and withdrawn.

Although those profits were important,

there were clearly things even more important than them.

Large numbers of sect disciples and Sect Ancestors returned.

The strength gathered at the entire Sect Gate had now reached an unprecedented level.

However,

the Sect Ancestors