A Sect from a Spirit Vein

Chapter 53: Chapter 50: Leading the Squad in a Surprise Attack

It’s 5:00 PM, and the sun reluctantly sinks into the distant mountains, casting vast swathes of rosy clouds across the mortal realm.

In the serene woods at the foot of Qingli Mountain, a pair of cultivator lovers are whispering their heartfelt feelings, cheek to cheek.

In the depth of their affection, the male cultivator gazes at the jade beauty before him, saying infatuatedly: ”Junior sister, this time our Sect Leader accompanies Chaosheng Sect to fight Zhou Family and is sure to gain a great victory. Once he returns triumphantly, in high spirits, I’ll seize the opportunity to propose marriage; he will surely agree.”

Upon hearing this, the female cultivator lets out a low sigh: ”Senior brother, my Sect Leader Master is very strict. Our cultivation levels are still low, and we’ve been reprimanded several times for merely wanting to become Dao companions. If we wish to go a step further...”

The male cultivator grabs her hands, urgently saying: ”But I’ve progressed to Mid-Stage Qi Cultivation. Isn’t that enough?”

The female cultivator shakes her head: ”For this expedition, the Sect Leader Master took all the elite members, leaving only a dozen or so of us behind. Do you think, in his heart, our cultivation levels mean anything?”

The male cultivator is rendered speechless, his face red with embarrassment as he stands up, gazing into the horizon, full of unwillingness: ”I must try, and even if it doesn’t work this time, I will cultivate painstakingly for ten more years. When I reach Late-Stage Qi Cultivation and become a core member of the sect, I will then propose... huh? Sect Leader is returning already?”

The female cultivator quickly raises her head, and in the last glow of the sunset on the horizon, suddenly sees more than ten beams of light swiftly approaching Qingli Mountain.

The male cultivator gulps nervously, trying to organize his words in preparation to meet the Sect Leader when he hears the female cultivator exclaim: ”The numbers are wrong! The numbers are wrong! Those aren’t our people!”

A beam of Escape Light indicates a Flying Spiritual Artifact. In a collective action of Qi cultivators, typically several people would ride together, taking turns to maneuver the artifact.

Qingli Mountain, being a vassal of Chaosheng Sect, has only about thirty Qi Cultivators, with the Sect Leader taking half of them, amounting to only four or five Escape Lights.

In front of them, these ten or so beams could mean some forty cultivators!

The male cultivator remains in a daze, while the female cultivator is already shouting anxiously: ”Quick, let’s go into the Mountain Gate!”

Hastily, the two retrieve their Flying Spiritual Artifacts, wobbly flying towards the mountaintop. Upon glancing back, those Escape Lights are shockingly closing in.

Approaching a sect, if they were normal guests, they would invariably slow down, announcing themselves to the sect via the Guest Reception Pavilion in front of the Mountain Gate. But these cultivators surge aggressively, speeding towards the sect’s mountain top territory, clearly malicious!

The female cultivator straightforwardly shouts at the top of her lungs, ”Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”

The male cultivator, sweating profusely, wishes he could sprout wings. He hurriedly stuffs a bunch of Spirit Stones into the Array on his Flying Spiritual Artifact, trembling hands dropping a few stones in the process, too time-strapped to pick them up.

”Hurry up, senior brother! Get into the Mountain Protection Grand Array!”

Qi Cultivation sects are weak in power, typically their Mountain Protection Arrays can only cloak a single hill, unlike Foundation Establishment Sects that can shield most of the entire mountain. The two flee desperately, until Qingli Mountain’s Mountain Protection Array is finally in sight.

They even see several disciples within the Array leisurely chatting on the stone steps, feeling completely untroubled.

Almost there! So close! Once inside the Array, safety is assured!

Before the expression of joy rises on the female cultivator’s face, her vision suddenly blurs, a flash of five-colored brilliance!

The male cultivator screams miserably, dropping down. The spiritual artifact, left unattended, twirls above, while magic techniques roar and torrents surge, with her hands firmly bound by a Water Whip.

As she’s about to shout, a Flying Sword wrapped in chilling mist is already placed against her neck, the biting cold making her shiver like a cicada at wintertime, her stomach clenched tightly.

Looking up, thirty or forty cultivators gaze upon her murderously, scaring her to freeze in terror.

”Enemy attack! Enemy attack!” The disciples within the Grand Array finally recognize the abnormality, shouting chaotically and scattering in panic.

”Do not shout randomly, cooperate well, and your life will be spared!” A graceful and pretty female cultivator says coldly; it is none other than Jiang Qingfeng.

The female cultivator nods hastily. Master Xuan Ji reaches out, and before she can react, a token from her waist has been seized.

Master Xuan Ji laughs heartily: ”Lu the Kid, you really have hit the jackpot today; you’ve got another Array Token, it seems this woman isn’t of ordinary status. With this token, breaking this Array will be a cinch!”

Cultivators around overhear this, seemingly having already glimpsed the Grand Array being broken open, exposing Qingli Mountain’s two centuries of treasure before them, and all show flushed faces, emotions stirred.

Lu Qian, however, turns around, solemnly addressing the leaders of the Three Sects: ”Three Sect Leaders, I reiterate. Before departing, we agreed that the surprise attack on the vassal sect of Chaosheng Sect would set their backyard ablaze, forcing them to retreat and defend. The ultimate aim is to compel Chaosheng Sect to withdraw, not to pillage the treasure of the Three Sects!”

”We shall stay here for no more than two sticks of incense time, after which we will head to another vassal sect, Liuhua Valley. As soon as that time is up, regardless of whether the Three Sects have looted enough, we must depart immediately! If you refuse to heed orders, Zhou Family will come to settle accounts with you afterward!”

Lu Qian’s icy gaze sweeps over the three Sect Leaders, forcing them to calm down.

”Moreover, the idea came from me, and breaking the Mountain Protection Grand Array will be done by me. Afterward, everyone must aggregate all the looted items together; Secret Manuals are to be shared among everyone, while all types of resources shall be first selected by my side for thirty percent!”

The leaders of the Three Sects all nod; Zhao Xianzong hurriedly says: ”Rest assured, Sect Leader Lu, before we set off, everyone has already sworn the Dao Heart Oath; there is no daring of violating it. Please quickly deploy your means to break the Array!”

Lu Qian nods toward Master Xuan Ji, and the two join forces entering the Array, contracts of spiritual energy roaring as array operations activate, accumulating streaks of spiritual energy.

”A mere Death Array...” Master Xuan Ji hangs the token at his waist, handing Lu Qian the Gold-Water Two-Sided Command Banner with his hand, ”Lu the Kid, how did you deduce another Death Array here?”

Lu Qian takes the Command Banner, shaking his head: ”Just a gamble. Studying arrays requires incredibly high Divine Sense; apart from those possessing Consciousness Collection, ordinary people typically begin learning them at Qi Cultivation Perfection or even Foundation Establishment. The odds of having an Array Cultivator in such a Qi Cultivation minor sect are too slim. Should an Array Cultivator actually exist, we would simply shift to Liuhua Valley. Ultimately, they only have weak old guards to leave behind at the Mountain Gate, while we have close to forty elites from the Three Sects here, which could collectively, slowly grind even the Array to pieces!”

While speaking, a glint of light flashes before them; streams of fiery meteors flow towards Lu Qian, but upon nearing Master Xuan Ji, due to the influence of the Array Token, they quiver unsteadily.

”This is the Sun, Moon, and Star Three Talents Array whose features are high-attacking frequency and fast speed,” Master Xuan Ji says hurriedly, ”Though a Death Array of a Qi Cultivation Sect, how many changes can it have? I’ve already imparted the Array Breaking Essentials to you. I’ll support you by array while you attempt to break it!”

With that, remaining three Command Banners gleam before him, intercepting fiery meteors.

Lu Qian nods, recalling many key points in his mind. He already knows that the more inherent combination changes an array embraces, the more elaborate it is, yet it doesn’t directly equate to greater power. Assuming only attacks, this Three Talents Array and his practiced Five Elements Array have their respective strengths, hence he dares not treat it lightly.

He raises his hand, lifting the Gold and Water Two-Sided Command Banner high, white Gold Spiritual Qi and black Water Spiritual Qi billowing.

An unsupervised Death Array keeps the Array Base and Array Map stationary; to fight back with brute force is unschooled approach.

Array Cultivators each have their array-breaking tactics. Just now, Master Xuan Ji broke the array with another array; such methods he hasn’t learned yet. Presently, he can only go with the flow; after enduring the attack, he merges spiritual energy with Divine Sense, within the array spiritual energy fluctuations, locating the Array Base or even Array Map before smashing both to break the array.