Watching the Mountain

Chapter 424: Chapter 220: Wuchen’s Divinity Transformation

Xu Ran looked at the expression on Li Daoyi’s face. After a moment of silence, he nodded.

Li Daoyi let out a soft breath, his voice tinged with complex emotions as he spoke.

”So this is the first time we’ve had to welcome home a defeated party, isn’t it?”

Xu Ran said quietly, ”This isn’t your responsibility.”

Li Daoyi nodded. ”I understand. But no matter what, defeat is always a painful experience.”

He took a deep breath, his gaze fixed resolutely on the world outside the main hall, and continued.

”I don’t want to go through something like this a second time...”

He paused for a moment, then looked at Xu Ran and asked.

”If we had been defeated and hadn’t returned, what would you have done, Martial Uncle?”

Hearing this question, Xu Ran answered without much hesitation, laying out his plan directly.

”If I heard news of your deaths in battle, I would immediately take the Dust-covered individuals and a portion of the disciples, leave the Sect, and find a place to hide.”

He was not one to be ruled by emotion. Having always cherished his life, he understood the principle of staying alive to fight another day better than anyone.

Li Daoyi’s expression didn’t change at Xu Ran’s answer. Instead, he asked curiously.

”Now that the flames of war have spread throughout the entire Cultivation Realm, where could you hide to ensure your safety, Martial Uncle?”

”There is a place.”

”Where?”

”The Mortal Realm.”

Hearing this answer, Li Daoyi’s expression froze for a second. His eyes flickered as he fell into thought for a moment before speaking slowly.

”That’s right. I almost forgot about that absolutely safe place.”

He nodded. ”Attacking the Mortal World is the bottom line and an iron-clad rule of the Cultivation Realm. The Overseas Archipelago must understand this as well. If they were to make a move on the Mortal World, the Dust-covered experts would be awakened immediately. At that point, the war would spiral beyond their control.”

”The reason they waited until now to make their move is that they want to keep the war contained within a certain scope. They are unwilling to face our strongest experts.”

”Even now, they haven’t started plundering wantonly. They’re likely trying to avoid crossing our bottom line. As soon as they achieve their objective, they will quickly cease hostilities.”

”To flee to the Mortal World to escape the war means completely severing ties with the Cultivation Realm, never to return, and living out one’s days there. However, sending the already Dust-covered individuals there can ensure they survive the Dao Concealment Era safely and return when the Great Dao flourishes once more in the future.”

Only Yue Qingyu knew about Xu Ran’s immortality; Li Daoyi was unaware. Therefore, in his eyes, Xu Ran’s choice to go to the Mortal World wasn’t an act of desertion, but a sacrifice of his own cultivation path and life in exchange for the chance for his Dust-covered sect-mates to return.

A ripple of emotion appeared in his eyes. He stared at Xu Ran for a long while before slowly asking.

”Martial Uncle, have you already made preparations?”

Xu Ran nodded lightly. ”I have.”

After learning from Qin Yufeng that the acceleration of the Heaven and Earth Dao Concealment was the work of the Overseas Archipelago, and suspecting they might be plotting something, he had already begun thinking about an escape route.

Now, he had already set up a Teleportation Array. If the Sect were to encounter a crisis it couldn’t handle, they would be able to leave at a moment’s notice.

Hearing this answer, Li Daoyi nodded gently, his expression earnest as he said.

”If... it truly comes to that, I implore you, Martial Uncle, do not hesitate. Leave immediately.”

Although he hoped such a situation would never occur, as the Sect Leader, he had to consider the worst-case scenario and plan for a retreat.

He wouldn’t pin his hopes on the people from the Overseas Archipelago not harming the Dust-covered. Rather than trust them, he was more willing to trust his Martial Uncle’s method.

Xu Ran glanced at him upon hearing this. After a moment’s contemplation, he nodded and said, ”I will.”

His eyes flickered.

’Of course, if it really comes to that, I’ll definitely find a way to take Li Daoyi with me.’

’I have no desire to see my martial nephew playing the hero here, vowing to live or die with the Sect.’

Most of the Profound Pure Sect disciples believed that even if the Overseas Archipelago were to attack the Sect, they would still follow the Cultivation Realm’s long-standing rules and not dispatch forces beyond the Sect’s upper limit.

They thought they only needed to worry about dealing with Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.

However, the people of the Overseas Archipelago were not native to the Cultivation Realm. They couldn’t care less about its local rules.

Ten days after Li Daoyi and the others returned, an unbelievably oppressive aura suddenly descended upon the Profound Pure Sect.

Then, a loud laugh echoed across the sky:

”HAHAHA, so this is the Profound Pure Sect? It truly seems blessed by the heavens, to be able to produce figures like Sword Dao Ye Shan and Master Vermilion Bird, and to have a continuous stream of various prodigies. This mountain gate must be a place of excellent feng shui.”

”Not bad, not bad. I’ll be taking this place. From now on, this will be my Daoist temple.”

As his voice faded, the man shouted toward the Profound Pure Sect in an even more domineering tone:

”I am the Vast Sea Daoist Monarch. People of the Profound Pure Sect, do me a favor and clear out.”

Hearing this voice, the faces of the Profound Pure Sect disciples instantly turned deathly pale.

They stared in despair at the figure in the sky, dressed in a fiery red robe.

A sense of powerlessness washed over them. A Divinity Transformation Daoist Monarch! How could they possibly deal with such a figure?

Li Daoyi, Chu Lingxiao, and Chen Chang’an also gripped their weapons, their gazes fixed on the Vast Sea Daoist Monarch in the sky, but... they remained motionless.

They were all chosen ones, unafraid of any enemy or challenge, but...

Even they had to admit that the enemy before them was not one they could defeat.

The gap between them was simply too vast.

But just as despair settled in everyone’s hearts, a majestic aura suddenly erupted from within the gates of the Profound Pure Sect.

The soaring momentum pierced the clouds, instantly dispelling the despair in their hearts and filling them with a comfortable warmth.

Then, a figure emerged from the Profound Pure Sect’s gates and ascended into the sky, stepping through the air toward the Vast Sea Daoist Monarch.

The Vast Sea Daoist Monarch sensed the sudden change. His expression shifted, and he cried out in disbelief, ”How can the Profound Pure Sect have a Divinity Transformation Daoist Monarch?”

He then stared intently at the figure that had suddenly appeared.

This person was dressed in robes whiter than snow, their temperament extraordinary. They looked like a Banished Immortal descended upon the world, regarding him with a look of aloof pride.

’Such an air...’ the Vast Sea Daoist Monarch’s heart skipped a beat. ’This one will be difficult to deal with,’ he thought to himself.

”Who are you?” he asked.

The white-robed figure heard him and replied faintly, ”Shen Wuchen.”