Heavenly Ruins Mountain, Battle on the Horizon

The Bright Abyss Dao-Grace Art was a water-element cultivation method, and it also contained the forging method for the Bright Abyss Void Spirit Sword. It could be considered a supplement to the clan's techniques. With this method, the clan's water-element cultivators would have a much smoother path of cultivation in the future.

If they could find an earth-element Foundation Establishment technique later on, then the Chen Clan's five-element techniques for the Foundation Establishment Realm would be complete.

Zuo Mingxu had dared to bring this set of techniques with him to take part in a vendetta. He probably never imagined that five Foundation Establishment cultivators would strike together, that two of them would carry three Tier 2 High-grade artifacts and talismans, and that they would still die in this battle.

It was not entirely their fault. The Old Clan Leader had obtained the Divine-Burning Separation Fire Banner, while Chen Nianzhi had broken through to Foundation Establishment on his own. With these two unforeseen variables combined, matters had completely exceeded their expectations.

Returning to the main matter, they had seized several sets of artifacts and more than five thousand Spirit Stones in this battle. The Chen Clan cultivators swept away the gloom of many years, their faces brimming with joy.

They knew that once this trip to Heavenly Ruins Mountain was over, life for the Chen Clan cultivators would begin to improve.

Now that Heavenly Ruins Mountain was nearly in sight, he let out an even deeper breath of relief and quickened his pace.

"What is going on?"

The moment Chen Nianzhi arrived at Heavenly Ruins Mountain Market, he noticed that something was amiss.

He found that the cultivators in the marketplace were all hurrying along. Most of them looked either alarmed or delighted, but each wore a trace of gravity on their faces.

The two exchanged a glance. The Old Clan Leader shook his head and quietly sent a voice transmission.

"Let us first go to Heavenly Ruins Pavilion, settle the Five Elements Essence Qi business from this journey, and inquire about the situation while we are there."

"Alright."

Chen Nianzhi nodded. Heavenly Ruins Pavilion was Patriarch Jiang's property, so the information it released was certainly the most reliable.

The group hauled their goods onward and soon reached Heavenly Ruins Pavilion. The cultivators of Heavenly Ruins Pavilion spotted them from afar, and a woman quickly came out to receive them.

The woman wore red robes and had rather handsome features. She appeared to be in her twenties, and she smiled from a distance.

"By my reckoning, the Five Elements Essence Qi from Yu Commandery should have arrived by now."

"I had been wondering which fellow Daoist would deliver the goods this time. I never expected it to be Fellow Daoist Chen."

"I heard earlier that Fellow Daoist Chen had been injured and wanted to visit you, but unfortunately I could not get away." As she spoke, the woman looked smilingly at Chen Changxuan. "Now that you have come to Heavenly Ruins Mountain, it seems your injuries have healed."

The Old Clan Leader smiled faintly and replied politely, "Thank you for your concern, Liu Fairy."

The woman smiled slightly, glanced at Chen Nianzhi, and asked in mild surprise, "And this is?"

"This is my grandnephew, Chen Nianzhi." The Old Clan Leader introduced him. "This is Patriarch Jiang's distinguished disciple, Liu Rumeng Fairy."

Chen Nianzhi looked up and saw that the woman was at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. She was not Lin Qianshu, whom he had met several years ago. He hurriedly stepped forward and saluted her. "Greetings, Senior Liu."

"You are also a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. I cannot accept being called senior." Liu Rumeng hastily stepped aside, then teased, "Your bone age should not exceed thirty. A Foundation Establishment cultivator at such an age is surely destined to become a figure who stirs the winds and clouds of Chu Kingdom."

"With talent as exceptional as yours, perhaps I will have to call you senior someday."

The Old Clan Leader smiled somewhat at those words, but he quickly said, "This boy did not know better and rashly broke through to Foundation Establishment."

"He was merely fortunate enough to survive odds of nine deaths and one life. How could he compare to Fellow Daoist Liu's vast future?"

After exchanging a few pleasantries, they began discussing serious business.

The Five Elements Essence Qi trade concerned Patriarch Jiang's cultivation, and Heavenly Ruins Mountain attached great importance to it. Every year, it spared no expense in spending twenty thousand Spirit Stones to purchase the Five Elements Essence Qi from Yu and Feng Commanderies.

After both sides took inventory, they ultimately settled on a transaction price of more than nine thousand five hundred Spirit Stones. This was because refining the Scarlet Flame Spirit Blade had consumed over two thousand strands of Geng-Metal Essence Qi and Lihuo Essence Qi. Otherwise, the transaction price would have been slightly above ten thousand Spirit Stones.

Money and goods changed hands at once. After receiving the Spirit Stones, Liu Rumeng invited the two into Heavenly Ruins Pavilion for tea.

Within the pavilion, Chen Changxuan smiled faintly and finally could not resist asking, "Why was everyone hurrying about when I entered the marketplace today?"

"Could something have happened at Heavenly Ruins Mountain?"

Hearing this, Liu Rumeng revealed a slight smile. "That is precisely what I wished to tell you."

As she spoke, her expression grew grave. "Counting carefully, there are only another thirty-one or thirty-two years before the Beast Turmoil that comes once every century erupts."

As she explained, Chen Nianzhi's pupils contracted slightly. He soon understood why the people of Heavenly Ruins Mountain were so restless.

North of Heavenly Ruins Mountain, the Vast Expanse Marshes stretched across the Eastern Wilderness for hundreds of millions of miles.

As one of the most terrifying regions in the Eastern Wilderness, the Vast Expanse Marshes were home to countless Demon Race creatures that bred and thrived there. Among them were no shortage of dreadful existences such as Golden Core realm Demon Kings and Nascent Soul realm Demon Emperors.

There were even rumors that in the deepest reaches of the Vast Expanse Marshes lurked an ancient Black Dragon Demon Ancestor that had endured through the ages. Its Black Dragon bloodline was astonishing beyond measure, and it had already cultivated to the Near-Immortal Realm, where its attainments rivaled creation itself. Even Primordial Spirit Dao Lords on the verge of ascending as immortals could do nothing to it.

Naturally, all of that was far too distant for them, and even for Chu Kingdom.

But close at hand was an existence that posed an immense threat to Heavenly Ruins Mountain: Heavenly Python Lake, four hundred thousand miles north of Heavenly Ruins Mountain.

Heavenly Python Lake was the territory of the Heavenly Python Demon King. A great number of Demon Race creatures lived within its domain, constantly breeding and multiplying, producing countless descendants.

Whenever the number of Demon Race creatures within the hundreds of thousands of miles surrounding Heavenly Python Lake became nearly too great to bear, the Heavenly Python Demon King would command the Demon Race creatures within its territory to launch an assault on Chu Kingdom.

If they succeeded, they could seize vast tracts of Human Race territory and expand their domain.

If they failed, they could still greatly reduce the number of low-level Demon Race creatures, avoiding ecological collapse and the predicament of demons slaughtering one another.

The reason this occurred once every century was an unspoken rule established under the standoff between the Ji Clan, the Nascent Soul immortal clan of the Great Wilderness Human Race, and the Demon Emperor.

With only around thirty years remaining before the Beast Turmoil erupted once more, Heavenly Ruins Mountain, as one of Chu Kingdom's three defensive lines against the Demon Race, would naturally bear the brunt of it.

In order to ease the pressure of the Beast Turmoil, Patriarch Jiang had decided to strike first and kill several Purple Mansion realm demonic beasts to weaken the Demon Race's strength.

"This time, Master is preparing to attack Demon Wolf Mountain and has decided to conscript the cultivators within Heavenly Ruins Mountain to join the battle."

"As Foundation Establishment cultivators, you two must also answer the call and take part in the assault on Demon Wolf Mountain."

As Liu Rumeng spoke, her gaze settled on the two of them.

Chen Changxuan gave a bitter smile, but still said firmly, "Fighting the Demon Race in advance is better than being besieged by them thirty years from now."

"For this battle, I will lend my support. The two of us will also fight with all our strength."

He paused slightly before continuing, "However, we were besieged by Demonic Cultivators on our way here. Several Qi Refining realm juniors of the clan were seriously injured and likely cannot participate in this battle."

"The two of you are enough." Liu Rumeng smiled faintly. The only ones she valued were the two before her. "As for those six Qi Refining Cultivators, let them remain at Heavenly Ruins Mountain to stand guard."