Jiang Jingnian stood at the crossroads, holding his horse's reins as he reminded everyone what to watch out for on the journey back.
"Demonic calamities have been frequent lately."
"If you travel at night, don't enter any villages you come across, and certainly don't stop in the mountain forests."
"Rogue cultivators who have succumbed to cultivation deviation are nothing to worry about, but there's no telling whether you might encounter experts from the Demon Sect."
Out in the wilderness.
Rogue cultivators who had turned demonic, or wandering martial masters from the Demon Sect, were of little concern.
What they feared was running into those wounded Demon Sect titans.
Even with Xue Xiuxiu working undercover, she had failed to uncover the whereabouts of the demonic grandmasters who had escaped the Stockade.
If these people ran into a Demon Sect titan, they would not even have a chance to flee.
"Yes, Daoist Master. We'll keep your advice firmly in mind!"
The Burning Cloud elder nodded repeatedly, then added, "Lin'an is now a place where dragons and fish mingle, unlike before. Grandmasters from all the major sects have gathered there. Daoist Master Jiang, you must be extremely careful."
As he saw it.
If Daoist Master Jiang remained on Cloudpool Cliff, drawing on the sect's momentum and fighting on home ground, he could still wield a grandmaster's strength.
But here in Lin'an, where experts were everywhere, it was better to keep a low profile.
After all.
Even True Disciple Liu and True Disciple Hong had to swallow their anger in Lin'an.
That, however, was something he could not say outright.
He could only hope the other man understood.
"...Hmm?"
Jiang Jingnian abruptly lowered the hand holding the reins, sweeping his gaze toward a disturbance in the distance.
Over a hundred meters away.
Hooves thundered,