A Sect from a Spirit Vein

Chapter 601: Chapter 481: Upheaval at the Divine Flood Dragon Sect

The flying ship approached a little closer, and Li Da and Wang Ruoyu could clearly see that the Mountain Protection Grand Array of Hidden Dragon Stream was not in a concealed state—it had completely disappeared.

This was very abnormal. Unless a sect had abandoned its mountain gate and moved elsewhere, such a situation was impossible.

But given the current stable and safe geographical position of the Divine Flood Dragon Sect, there was absolutely no reason to relocate.

Master Cangfeng always had great trust in Ji Yunrou. The two were as harmonious as a sovereign and his ministers, and would never commit any act of treason.

The matter was suspicious. The Divine Flood Dragon Sect was not far from Shuangye Square; if anything changed here, it might affect Shuangye Square. Furthermore, Ji Yunrou was an old acquaintance of their Sect Leader, so the two landed their flying ship and approached the valley entrance to investigate.

The valley’s sides were eerily silent, with not even a single patrolling disciple in sight.

”Li Da and Wang Ruoyu from the Yunshan Sect have come to pay respects. We kindly ask the fellow Daoists of the Divine Flood Dragon Sect for an audience.”

Li Da bowed and announced loudly. His voice echoed through the valley, yet there was not a single response.

”Li Da and Wang Ruoyu of the Yunshan Sect have come to visit!”

He shouted again, and the valley was deathly silent. Li Da was shocked; something must have happened to the Divine Flood Dragon Sect.

He quickly untied a fist-sized golden cage from his waist, where a tiny golden sparrow chirped joyfully inside.

The Sleeve Golden Sparrow, a method of communication that had been widely implemented in the Yunshan Sect in recent years, was said to have been obtained from the Spirit Beast Sect.

As the sect’s jurisdiction expanded and disciple missions became further afield, they relied on an increasingly large intelligence team to establish communication points covering Chongming County and parts of Sanshan, Liangxiang, and Tieyuan. However, this only allowed for fixed-point message transmission. Reporting information required finding a local communication point, which was quite inconvenient.

With the successful breeding of the Sleeve Golden Sparrow, this situation was greatly alleviated.

This small, exquisite spirit bird was resilient and adaptable to various weather conditions. When in good health, its escape speed could even rival Foundation Establishment cultivators. It had a strong sense of direction and possessed the ability to recognize and find its way back to its nest. As long as it was released within ten thousand miles, it could return to its nest, carrying messages back with it.

Li Da quickly jotted down a few lines, rolled them into a scroll, and tucked it into the message tube on the sparrow’s slender leg.

”Go, take the message back.” Li Da waved his hand, and the Sleeve Golden Sparrow transformed into a streak of golden light, shooting northward.

”Shitou,” Li Da said solemnly, ”let’s go inside and be careful.”

Wang Ruoyu nodded, and with a surge of spiritual power, large streams of Earth Essence Qi coalesced around his vital torso, forming a hard armor plate.

He lightly swung his left hand, and a round shield covered with spikes unfurled, sturdy and weighted, with a matte sheen. His right hand gripped the axe handle at his waist, and his stance lowered.

Meanwhile, Li Da had taken a box from his storage pouch, gently opening it.

A heap of mechanical parts came into view. Li Da quickly activated a spell and infused it with divine sense and spiritual power, resulting in a series of clicking sounds as the mechanical parts turned constantly, combining with crisp sounds.

In the next moment, a raven entirely made of mechanical parts spread its wings and flew out, hovering above Li Da’s head.

Li Da’s hands didn’t stop. He continued to control and maneuver, and another clinking sound was heard as a fist-sized spider sprang out, its eight legs moving quickly, darting out.

The eyes of the two puppets, carved from ruby, glowed brilliantly, with everything they saw appearing in the small mirror in Li Da’s hand.

Puppetry.

Having cultivated for over twenty years, Li Da wasn’t like Wang Ruoyu, who was skilled in overpowering others by force, or Su Yan, who excelled in hidden weapons, or Cui Linglong, who loved studying magic techniques...

He had learned a wide range of skills, but through countless battles, missions, and adventures, he had gradually found his own position and combat style.

Trapping enemies, providing support, reconnaissance, interdiction... These were the tactical tasks he excelled at.

Especially since he started studying puppetry in recent years, he used most of his merit points to exchange for advanced secret manuals like ”Spirit Puppet Manipulation” and ”Thousand Mechanisms Transformation,” as well as rare materials for making puppets.

This made his combat techniques much more flexible.

The raven soared in the air, the spider crawled swiftly on the cliff, their reconnaissance overlapping, the situation ahead was clearly visible.

In this empty valley, only the deep and serene stream water flowed slowly, with not a single cultivator in sight.

Li Da’s heart sank; there wasn’t even a single snake here!

Once, on these rock walls, amidst the slippery moss, and at the entrances of various stone caves, there were innumerable venomous snakes of all sizes and colors. When outsiders approached, these snakes would swarm together, their scales scraping against each other, their tongues entwining, sending chills down one’s spine, making one’s limbs weak.

But now the whole valley was empty. Where had the people gone, where had the snakes gone?

”Be cautious, let’s go down.”

Wang Ruoyu nodded, using the half-human tall round shield as the front guard. The two once again took to their flying ship, slowly descending along the cliff face.

The cliffs on both sides here were carved with various square and round stone caves. Originally, many lights flickered within these caves, where disciples of the Divine Flood Dragon Sect lived and worked. But now, they were all pitch black, as if sunlight had been swallowed upon entering the cave mouths.