Choosing a Side

Cold Mountain Valley.

Upon returning from Mosquito Immortal City, Zhuang Yun stood before the tea Mosquito Immortal City and recounted in detail everything he had seen, heard, and experienced there:

"... Mosquito Immortal City has declared its support for the rogue cultivators of Chu and will attack the Cloud Spirit Sect of Chu immediately. That Thousand Insect Daoist forced the representatives of the seven Foundation Establishment families of Chu to make a statement on the spot, which is an attempt to sow discord between us and the Cloud Spirit Sect. I don't know what the Cloud Spirit Sect will do now. If they use this as a pretext to attack us, it will be a great disaster."

Fang Yu slowly sipped his tea, not taking Zhuang Yun's concerns to heart. He was just a guest here, and no matter what the Cloud Spirit Sect's attitude was, he would resolutely not come out. What could they do? Did the Fairy Cloud Spirit really come to fight in person? Even if she did come, he was not afraid. Once the third-order formation was activated, it could hold them off for a while.

Moreover, Mosquito Immortal City has already started a war with the Cloud Spirit Sect. If Fairy Cloud Spirit were to leave the sect's formation at this time, she would be surrounded and attacked by two or even four Golden Core Golden Core. It would be even more impossible for her to leave the sect's formation for such a trivial matter.

If he were Fairy Cloud Spirit, he should be appeasing the seven Foundation Establishment of the Chu Kingdom at this time to put their minds at ease, and then mobilize manpower and resources. He would never do something so foolish as to force people to rebel.

"At this turbulent time, the Zhuang Household only needs to close the gates and seal off the mountain. Neither the Cloud Spirit Sect nor the Mosquito Immortal City need to be concerned. With me here, regardless of who wins or loses between the two, this Old Cold Mountain will still belong to the Zhuang Household."

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Yun's anxious heart finally settled down. "With the Ancestor here, it is truly a blessing for our Zhuang Household!"

Go!

After dismissing Zhuang Yun, Fang Yu activated his Divine Sense, and the Storage Bag that Zhuang Yun had just presented on the tea table was opened, from which a large number of various spiritual materials flew out.

Most of these spiritual materials are first- or second-tier, and none are particularly precious, but they are all basic materials needed for refining weapons and alchemy. Such a large quantity is enough for him to use for many years.

With these two major Golden Core forces at war, the Chu Kingdom is bound to descend into chaos, making it much harder to collect materials. That's why he had Zhuang Yun dispose of all his properties and exchange them for spiritual materials to ensure that his supply of spiritual materials wouldn't be affected by the war.

"I've developed resistance to most of the pills that can enhance cultivation, and their effects are getting worse and worse. This time, the spiritual materials can be used to refine a new kind of pill, which should allow my cultivation to continue to improve steadily."

Fang Yu murmured, and the Yuanchen Pearl spun around. His aura transformed into the Dao Foundation of ' Molten Edge Flow '. A wisp of flame appeared in the void in front of him, and with the fluctuation of his Divine Thought, one spiritual herb after another was thrown into the Flowing Flame True Fire for tempering.

After years of alchemy, he has combined the techniques of Dao of Qi Ingestion and Dao of Qi Refining. Through the wonders of his Dao Foundation, he can master the control of fire to the extreme, and the success rate of pills has also increased dramatically. While not every batch is perfect, eight or nine out of ten are genuine pills.

Several months later.

A fragrant aroma of medicine filled the Cold Mountain Valley, and another batch of genuine pills was produced.

"Nine pieces from one batch, all genuine, excellent!"

Fang Yu swept eight of them away with a flick of his hand, threw the last one into his mouth, and then began to refine it using his Cultivation Method.

After an unknown amount of time, he raised an eyebrow slightly. 'People from the Cloud Spirit Sect have arrived!'

*****

Outside Old Cold Mountain, a barrier resembling an inverted bowl protected the entire Zhuang Household's Spirit Vein. Once the second-tier Five Directions Raging Fire Array was fully activated, the temperature of the entire area began to rise sharply.

At this moment, outside the barrier, several cultivators dressed in the uniform of the Cloud Spirit Sect were suspended in mid-air.

"Where is Zhuang Danyangzi? Come out at once to receive the imperial decree!"

Although the leading cultivator's aura was only at the Qi Refining Late Stage Great Perfection, he exuded arrogance, and his eyes revealed deep dissatisfaction.

This Zhuang Household is incredibly audacious! When someone from the upper sect came, he actually activated a grand formation to shut them out. It's truly despicable. No wonder he made those kinds of remarks in Mosquito Immortal City. It seems he really has rebellious intentions and wants to collude with Mosquito Immortal City.

"Your Excellency, please calm your anger. My Zhuang Household's Grand Elder is currently in seclusion, and it is truly difficult for him to welcome you. I am Zhuang Yun, the head of the Zhuang Household family. May I ask what decree Your Highness has issued?"

Zhuang Yun led several disciples of the Zhuang Household into the air and bowed to the Cloud Spirit Sect disciple across the barrier.

"Hmph!" The man snorted coldly, even more dissatisfied, "Cloud Spirit Ancestor has ordered that your Zhuang Household immediately send one Foundation Establishment and three Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators to the Cloud Spirit Sect to receive orders."

Zhuang Yun looked troubled and said, "Please forgive me, Your Excellency. My Zhuang Household has no Foundation Establishment. As for the Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators, they all have important matters to attend to and are unable to leave. Please forgive me, Your Excellency."

"How dare you!" The man could no longer contain himself and shouted, "Zhuang Yun, do you think we don't know what you said in Mosquito Immortal City? Cloud Spirit Ancestor and doesn't hold your coerced words against you, but now you dare to defy the imperial decree? Are you rebelling?"

Zhuang Yun sighed and said, "Your Excellency is mistaken. It's not that I'm resisting, it's simply that I have no resistance."

"Very well, it seems your Zhuang Household is truly plotting a rebellion. I will return and inform the clan, and we will dispatch a large army to wipe you out. Your Zhuang Household can just wait to be exterminated!"

The man flicked his sleeve and shouted, "Let's go!"

Seeing this, Zhuang Yun sighed deeply. As expected, Cloud Spirit Sect had begun to mobilize the fighting forces of various factions. This great battle was truly about to begin.

Suddenly, a voice rang in his ears, "Impersonating an envoy of the superior sect, you shall be killed!"

Zhuang Yun's body trembled slightly. 'Ancestor Danyangzi wants my Zhuang Household to completely betray the Spirit Cloud Sect.'

He didn't entirely agree with this. Although refusing to send someone would offend the Cloud Spirit Sect, they hadn't truly broken off relations yet. Killing the envoy now would leave no room for maneuver. He could only hope that the Cloud Spirit Sect would be destroyed, otherwise, once the Cloud Spirit Sect had the time, they would certainly not let the Zhuang Household off the hook.

However, now that Ancestor Danyangzi has spoken, he has no choice but to obey.

The next moment, an array plate appeared in his hand, and the range of the barrier immediately expanded, instantly bringing the Cloud Spirit Sect envoys who were about to leave into the range of the array.

This sudden turn of events startled the envoys. The leader shouted, "Zhuang Yun, what are you trying to do? Are you really planning a rebellion? Quickly activate the formation!"

Zhuang Yun's smile vanished completely. "Disciples of the Zhuang Household, listen to my command! This group of Bandit Cultivator dared to impersonate envoys from a superior sect; their crime deserves death. Execute them immediately!"

"Yes!" Although many of the Zhuang Household members were somewhat surprised that the clan leader had given such an order, they had long been impatient with the arrogant attitude of these people. Now that they had received the order, they immediately charged forward.

The highest-ranking member of the envoy team was only at the Qi Refining Late Stage. Now that they had fallen into the great formation, they were no match for it and were all surrounded and killed in a short time.

Fang Yu, sensing the situation in the Cold Mountain Valley, smirked coldly. At the moment of impending battle, the worst thing one could do was to be a fence-sitter, especially one without the strength to back down—these were usually the first to die.

The Zhuang Household wants to protect himself and not help either side, but how is that possible? The Cloud Spirit Sect is already exhausted after the previous war with the two countries, so where would it have the strength to suppress the seven Foundation Establishment Lineage?

Moreover, he had already calculated that this battle would bring great fortune to Mosquito Immortal City and great misfortune to the Cloud Spirit Sect. If he didn't choose a side now, when would he?