Tongtian did not leave immediately.
At least, not until he had confirmed that Yuanshi's aura had completely receded.
He remained standing outside the Nine-Twist Yellow River Formation.
This made Lin Yuan feel quite satisfied.
What did it mean to protect one's own?
This was what it meant to protect one's own.
It was not just saying, "Your master believes in you,"
Then returning to one's cave dwelling to wait for news.
He was right here.
If you dared come back again,
Then they could keep talking.
Only after confirming that Jade Clarity's Saintly might had completely vanished did Tongtian look at Yunxiao.
"Dismiss the formation."
"Go back."
Yunxiao nodded.
"Yes."
The Nine-Twist Yellow River Formation truly began to withdraw.
The formation diagram folded up.
The Primordial Golden Dipper fell back into her hand.
The yellow sands filling the sky gradually settled.
This supreme formation, which had caused the Twelve Golden Immortals to suffer a collective defeat, soon reverted to an ordinary formation diagram.
With the formation no longer concealing them,
The Three Cloud Sisters' auras completely stabilized as well.
The three flashing death warnings in Lin Yuan's mind finally began to fade bit by bit.
Yet they still did not settle directly.
That surprised him somewhat.
Yuanshi had already left.
Why had it not been completely determined that they had escaped this death calamity?
Did the Three Cloud Sisters truly have to leave the battlefield first?
Having thought of this, Lin Yuan did not urge the system.
In any case, the most dangerous hurdle had already passed.
As long as they did not deliberately stir up more trouble,
The Three Cloud Sisters were basically safe this time.
Bixiao clearly had not completely come down from her excitement.
The first thing she did after dismissing the formation was run over to Lin Yuan.
"Martial Nephew."
"You did well just now."
Lin Yuan glanced at her.
"Which part are you referring to, Martial Aunt?"
"Daring to reason with Martial Uncle Yuanshi."
The more Bixiao spoke, the happier she became.
"I thought you would at most secretly clutch the Sword Token."
"I never expected you to question him first."
"Whether the Twelve Golden Immortals entered the formation willingly."
"Whether anyone had been killed."
"Why Master personally stepped in."
"You questioned Martial Uncle Yuanshi until he could not speak for ages."
Lin Yuan coughed dryly.
"Martial Aunt."
"Second Martial Uncle may have left."
"But a Saint's hearing should be quite good."
Bixiao's expression stiffened.
She subconsciously looked up.
"He probably cannot hear us, right?"
Lin Yuan said seriously:
"At this distance,"
"I think it is hard to say."
Bixiao immediately stopped talking about it.
Zhao Gongming stood beside them, laughing so hard his shoulders shook.
"So you have things you fear too?"
"Brother!"
Bixiao glared at him.
"Isn't it all because of you?"
"If you had not nearly been cursed to death by Lu Ya, would we have come down the mountain?"
Zhao Gongming was immediately left speechless.
He truly had to take the blame for that.
Qiongxiao smiled.
"Enough."
"It is already over."
"Elder Sister said before that we would only compete with the Elucidation Sect."
"Now that victory and defeat have been decided,"
"We should return to Three Immortal Island."
Yunxiao nodded as well.
"The aura of the Karmic Tribulation here is growing heavier."
"There is no need to remain any longer."
Upon hearing that, Lin Yuan was completely satisfied.
Right.
Leave after the fight.
Staying at the enemy's doorstep to celebrate for three months after winning, waiting for them to call in more reinforcements, was simply failing to quit while ahead.
Yunxiao had always been steady by nature.
In the original story, if Zhao Gongming had not died so miserably, she might not have taken matters so far.
Now that Zhao Gongming was alive,
The three of them had come down the mountain more to vent their anger for their fellow disciples.
Their anger had been vented.
Naturally, there was no reason to keep fighting to the death.
Tongtian clearly did not intend to stay long either.
"Gongming."
"Return with them."
Zhao Gongming froze.
"Master."
"This disciple was still planning to..."
"Planning what?"
Tongtian glanced at him.
"Continue wandering around West Qi?"
"You were just plotted against with the Treasure-Dropping Coin."
"Then you were cursed with the Nail-Head Seven-Arrows Book."
"Have you learned no lesson yet?"
Zhao Gongming awkwardly rubbed his nose.
"But isn't this disciple fine now?"
"You are fine because Lin Yuan discovered it quickly."
Tongtian said flatly.
"If it happens again,"
"Who knows what the next method will be."
Lin Yuan silently nodded.
That made far too much sense.
In his eyes, Zhao Gongming was probably the typical high-value, high-risk user.
His combat strength was absurdly powerful.
And his ability to attract hatred was truly consistent.
If he remained on the front lines,
Who knew when another new death calamity might appear.
Though the system offered rewards,
Lin Yuan did not want to use Zhao Gongming as an endlessly respawning monster spawn.
If things truly went wrong once,
It would be too late for regret.
Zhao Gongming ultimately agreed.
"This disciple understands."
Then Tongtian looked toward the Ten Heavenly Lords.
"You should return for now as well."
Qin Wan and the others were stunned.
"Master."
"The Ten Ultimate Formation..."
"It has done enough."
Tongtian said:
"The Investiture of the Gods Calamity is not just this one battle."
"The formation has already been revealed."
"If you remain here,"
"Others will always devise new methods to break it."
"Go back."
"Fully master the things Lin Yuan modified earlier."
"Use them next time."
The Ten Heavenly Lords exchanged glances.
Then they bowed together.
"Yes."
Lin Yuan listened with secret admiration.
It was not that Tongtian could not think.
At least, after the series of events earlier,
He had clearly begun taking the initiative to adjust.
The greatest pitfall of the Interception Sect had originally been that one batch of people would descend the mountain.
Die.
Then another batch would come.
Then die again.
Like lining up to deliver themselves to the Investiture of the Gods.
But now Tongtian was actively pulling back the core members who had already fought one round.
The Ten Heavenly Lords all withdrew.
Zhao Gongming withdrew.
The Three Cloud Sisters withdrew.
The Four Sages of Nine-Dragon Island had no need to remain on the front lines either.
This way,
The Interception Sect's combat strength would not be worn down batch by batch.
This was the change Lin Yuan had truly wanted to see.
Wen Zhong naturally understood as well.
Although these experts leaving would weaken the Shang Camp's strength in the short term,
he raised no objection.
Wen Zhong himself was a disciple of the Interception Sect.
He could not possibly let all his fellow disciples die here for a single war of Great Shang.
"This disciple will redeploy the Qi Practitioners in the army."
Tongtian nodded.
"The struggle between Shang and Zhou will continue."
"But remember this."
"As for mortal wars, resolve them with mortal methods first."
"If the Elucidation Sect sends Immortals into battle again,"
"send word back."
Wen Zhong solemnly accepted the order.
"This disciple understands."
Hearing this, Lin Yuan
suddenly felt something very clearly.
The plot had truly changed.
When Shiji survived,
it had only been one person.
When the Four Sages of Nine-Dragon Island survived,
they became a small group.
After all Ten Heavenly Lords survived,
the Interception Sect began to realize for the first time that formations, coordination, and retreat were more important than blindly charging ahead.
Zhao Gongming escaped his tribulation.
Tongtian began to take seriously the fact that "disciples could be schemed against by means other than direct confrontation."
By the time it came to the Three Cloud Sisters,
Tongtian had even taken the initiative to adjust how the Interception Sect would intervene in the Investiture of the Gods.
Every time someone was saved,
it was no longer just that one person's fate being changed.
The entire Interception Sect's way of thinking was changing along with it.
That was more important than Lin Yuan simply increasing his cultivation.
Because he could not possibly remain by everyone's side forever.
Teaching everyone not to throw their lives away
was the most worry-free solution.
"Lin Yuan."
Tongtian suddenly called to him.
"This disciple is here."
"Return to Golden Turtle Island with us."
"Yes."
Lin Yuan had not intended to remain much longer anyway.
The Three Cloud Sisters' death tribulation had not yet been formally settled.
It would be best to personally watch them return safely.
Tongtian was the first to turn into a streak of sword light and vanish.
Zhao Gongming and the Three Cloud Sisters prepared to leave afterward.
The Ten Heavenly Lords also began gathering the formation flags and spiritual treasures they had left behind.
The four led by Wang Mo were clearly reluctant to leave the Shang Camp after spending so many days there.
Gao Yougan even went into the army to find several jars of immortal brew.
"Drink it on the way back to Kowloon Island."
Yang Sen glanced at him.
"Could you act a little more like an Immortal?"
"Immortals can't drink?"
"They can."
"Then what's the problem?"
Lin Yuan stood to the side, watching with the urge to laugh.
If things had followed their original course,
many of them would already be gone by now.
Yet now, they were still arguing over who would take a few jars of wine.
That kind of ordinary liveliness
instead made everything feel especially real to him.
Yunxiao walked over to Lin Yuan.
"Martial Nephew."
"I owe you another favor this time."
Lin Yuan shook his head.
"Martial Aunt."
"If we start counting favors, there would be far too many."
"We are all fellow disciples."
"This disciple simply does what he can."
Yunxiao looked at him for a moment.
Then she suddenly smiled.
"No wonder Master listed you as a candidate for Dao Child."
Before Lin Yuan could respond,
Bixiao leaned over from the side.
"Big Sister."
"I think the word 'candidate' can be removed."
"Bixiao."
"I was only saying it casually."
Bixiao immediately shut her mouth.
Lin Yuan did not care too much about the position of Dao Child.
His greatest attention remained fixed on the system.
Everyone left the battlefield of West Qi
and flew toward the Eastern Sea.
Lin Yuan was still carried along for part of the journey by Wen Zhong's lightning.
Wen Zhong then returned to the Shang Camp.
Lin Yuan continued onward with Zhao Gongming and the others.
The farther they got from West Qi,
the fainter the system's warning concerning the Three Cloud Sisters' death tribulation became.
Until they completely left the battlefield region where the Karmic Tribulation was most intense,
the first notification finally sounded.
[Target Yunxiao's designated Death Node has been escaped.]
Lin Yuan's eyes lit up.
Immediately afterward,
the second notification appeared.
Then the third.
They appeared in succession.
The Three Cloud Sisters' death tribulation—
had truly begun to settle!
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