Heavenly Void Pass!
"None of the Five Demonic Dao Sects in the Jin Kingdom are to be underestimated."
The two men and the bear returned to the camp. True Person Qingshan was holding a cup of spiritual tea, the steam obscuring the sharp glint in his eyes.
Shi Jian's massive body sat coiled on the main seat, his lightning contained, like a lurking giant beast.
Yun Du sat to one side, his face ashen from a prolonged illness, occasionally letting out a suppressed cough...
True Person Qingshan took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and continued:
"Of the Five Demonic Dao Sects, the Blood Bone Devil Sect is the most prominent. It specializes in the Blood Dao, extracting bones and peeling skin, and it particularly enjoys Human Race cultivators to nourish its demonic embryo."
"The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect plays with poisonous miasma and Gu worms, leaving nothing but desolation in their wake; the Hehuan Valley's method of 'replenishing life' is extremely insidious, and if they target you, even Golden Core True Person can be drained dry."
"The Yin Corpse Sect digs up ancestral graves to create bronze and iron corpses; the Heavenly Sha Sect draws in Earthly Sha, and every member is a madman who disregards life and death."
Yun Du coughed again, frowning, and said, "The four main passes, including Heavenly Pivot and Shaking Light, directly face the main force of the Jin Kingdom..."
"The Blood Bone Devil Sect and the Heavenly Sha Sect will most likely be targeting those tougher opponents. Our Heavenly Void Pass is located in a remote corner, so the attackers are most likely to be the Yin Corpse Sect or the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect."
Who cares who he is?
Shi Jian didn't even lift his eyelids, his claws fiddling with a piece of thunder jade gemstone, making a crisp cracking sound, "Anyone who dares to come will have to leave something behind."
"Fellow Qingshan, enough of the small talk. Shouldn't you fulfill your promise?"
True Person Qingshan laughed heartily upon hearing this.
"Fellow Daoist Shi speaks frankly; I am not one to break my word."
He waved his sleeve.
Three jade boxes, each bearing Spirit Sealing, appeared out of nowhere on the table.
True Person Qingshan flicked his finger, and the first jade box opened instantly.
An intense, almost overwhelming, vitality instantly filled the entire tent.
Inside the jade box lay two pills, each the size of a longan. On the surface of the pills were three mysterious cloud patterns, which seemed to be slowly flowing with life.
"Three-Transformation Longevity Pill." True Person Qingshan stroked his beard. "One pill can extend one's lifespan by sixty years. One for each of you. Keep them safe."
Without any hesitation, Shi Jian scooped up one of the pieces with his large paw and swallowed it whole.
This thing is also a treasure for his Demon Race, capable of defying fate. Keeping it to save his own life or rewarding his subordinates would be extremely useful.
Or it could be used to prolong his life when his lifespan is nearing its end, which would also be a good thing.
Yun Du looked at the remaining one, a hint of undisguised fervor flashing deep in his eyes, and carefully put it away.
True Person Qingshan then pushed two more jade boxes in front of Yun Du.
"Fellow Cloud Dao, I know you damaged your origin in the North Sea."
True Person Qingshan spoke sincerely, "These two boxes contain ' Nine Heavens Cloud Marrow ' and ' Spirit-Nurturing Wood,' both of which I painstakingly extracted from the Qingzhou Commandery's treasury at great cost—top-tier Cloud Dao resources."
"With these two things, your injuries should be mostly healed within half a month."
Yun Du a deep breath, stood up, and True Person Qingshan.
"Fellow Qingshan, your kindness is truly admirable. I will remember this favor. I am deeply grateful and will never refuse any request from White Cloud Temple in the future."
With these treasures, Yun Du finally felt relieved.
With the national war imminent, dragging his heavily injured body into battle would be tantamount to suicide. Now that his essence is expected to be restored, his chances of surviving this meat grinder have naturally increased significantly.
"We're just going through the motions together."
"I already owed you a favor, fellow Daoist, and I've only repaid it now. Why should you owe me something in return?"
True Person Qingshan waved his hand and said, "The Heavenly Void Pass still depends on the concerted efforts of our two families to ensure we have no worries about the future."
That's all.
The two people and the bear then exchanged pleasantries and shared their insights on cultivation.
It also helps to deepen relationships and form a group.
Over the next three days, the atmosphere inside Heavenly Void Pass grew increasingly oppressive and suffocating.
Not a single person dared to slack off in the slightest.
The troops from White Cloud Temple and Azure Light Gate were incorporated into the left flank defense line. Sun Mao and Zhao Yanshan each led their clan's elite forces, occupying a section of the city wall that stretched for ten miles.
On the city wall, array masters worked day and night to inscribe defensive array patterns. Boxes of Spirit Stone were transported up the city wall and filled into the array's core.
And underground, hundreds of feet below the surface, where no one can see.
The army of rat demons led by the Lord Rat had quietly taken their positions. A complex network of tunnels, like a spider web, stretched from below Heavenly Void Pass all the way to the plains dozens of miles outside the pass.
Shi Mo and Kuang Dou transformed into the size of ordinary mortal beasts, concealing all their Yao Qi. Like two ordinary mountain guardian beasts, they lay in the shadows of the White Cloud Temple Temple's defense zone, coldly watching the area beyond the pass.
Shi Jian stayed in his tent, breathing in and out the rich Spiritual Qi within Heavenly Void Pass, adjusting himself to his peak condition.
The calm before the storm is always fleeting.
Noon on the third day.
The scorching sun beat down on the earth.
"Waaaaah--!"
A mournful and desolate horn call suddenly shattered the tranquility above Heavenly Void Pass. The sound was extremely penetrating, piercing everyone's eardrums.
"Enemy attack!"
"Enemy attack!"
"The demonic cultivators have arrived!"
On the city wall, the vigilant monks shouted at the top of their lungs.
Tens of thousands of cultivators stood up in unison, unsheathed their Law Artifact, and lit up the array patterns. Instantly, the multicolored spiritual light illuminated the entire Heavenly Void Pass as if it were daytime.
Shi Jian, Yun Du, True Person Qingshan, and Hua Tong rushed out of the camp, transforming into three streaks of light and landing on the highest point of the city wall.
A thin black line appeared on the distant horizon.
At first, the thin line was inconspicuous, but after only a few breaths, it quickly thickened and transformed into a vast, black ocean that blotted out the Heavenly Void Pass.
That was a vast and mighty army of Devil Cultivator!
The sky was dyed a dark red.
Intense Blood Sha, dark green poisonous miasma, and grayish-white corpse energy intertwined to form a thick, leaden demonic cloud.
The demonic clouds rolled and obscured the blazing sun, Heavenly Void Pass into darkness in an instant.
Below the demonic cloud, tens of thousands of the Jin Kingdom Devil Cultivator, clad in black and gray robes, swarmed like locusts, their numbers stretching as far as the eye could see.
In mid-air, dozens of enormous white bone flying boats shuttled through the clouds.
The boat was entirely constructed from the bones of an unknown behemoth, and its masts were laden with human skulls. When the wind blew, it emitted a mournful, eerie howl, sending chills down one's spine...
On the ground, thousands of giant bronze and iron corpses marched forward like an army.
These reanimated corpses were over ten feet tall, covered in green hair or copper rust, and every step they took caused the earth to tremble violently.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The perfectly synchronized footsteps thundered like lightning, striking the hearts of the soldiers guarding Heavenly Void Pass.
In the center of this vast army of Devil Cultivator stood two terrifying illusory figures, each a hundred feet tall, gazing towards Heavenly Void Pass.
On the left is a figure shrouded in a grayish-white aura of death.
The dharma image had a blue face and fangs, and its eyes were like two eerie green flames. It held a huge white bone scythe upside down in its hand.
Countless wailing vengeful spirits surrounded the giant scythe, like judges who had just crawled out of the deepest hell.
The one on the right is entirely dark green.
It was coiled atop a giant venomous python with nine heads.
The Dharma Image's face was blurred, with only a pair of vertical pupils revealing a cold murderous intent. The venomous python spewed out green poisonous mist, and wherever the poisonous gas passed, the void was corroded, emitting a piercing "sizzling" sound.
Two Nascent Soul Devil Lord!
The terrifying pressure, like a tangible Shan Yue, slammed into the protective array of Heavenly Void Pass, spanning a hundred miles.
"Click--"
The light screen of the fourth-order city-protecting formation suddenly shook violently, rippling outwards and emitting a tooth-grinding groan.
Inside the pass, cultivators at the Qi Refining Realm turned deathly pale under this oppressive aura.
Some people's legs buckled and they collapsed to the ground, unable to even hold onto their Law Artifact; others felt as if they had been struck in the chest, and blood spilled from the corners of their mouths.
"The Yin Corpse Sect, the Heavenly Corpse Old Devil!"
"The Nine-Headed Poison Lord of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect!"
Fang True Lord Fang Yi of the Supreme Purity Sect appeared beside the array hub at the highest point of the city wall.
His white robes fluttered even without wind, and his face was ashen and gloomy. Facing two Nascent Soul True Lord, he naturally felt considerable pressure.
Two Nascent Soul Devil Lord, leading tens of thousands of Devil Cultivator.
It slowly came to a stop on a plain a hundred miles away from Heavenly Void Pass.
Instead of attacking the city immediately, they set up camp on the spot.
One after another, tents exuding demonic energy rose from the ground, white bone flying boats hovered in mid-air, and bronze and iron corpses lined up in front of the formation.
The demonic energy surged to the heavens, obscuring the clouds and the sun.
The entire Heavenly Void Pass seemed to be shrouded in a shadow of death; the war was destined to be bloody and brutal even before it began.