Chapter 330
“Okay, I’ll give you an hour to pack your things. We will then gather in the main hall and set off to Liu Guang sect immediately.” Xu Ziyan stood on a high platform and said in a deep voice.
“We will abide by the decree of senior Xu!” The disciples of the Xuan Jia sect below and the cultivators of other sects all responded respectfully. Since the last battle, Xu Ziyan had established an absolute authoritative image among these people.
It’s not only because he’s a nascent soul cultivator, but the fact that he first rescued these disciples back then.
Without his intervention, less than a hundred of these people would have survived. These cultivators were always respectful towards their savior.
With Xu Ziyan’s order, everyone started packing up their things, and Xu Zirong also left. He had just discussed with his brother the issue of the protective array, and he said that he could move the entire array to the nine-leaf cloud shuttle. Therefore, Xu Ziyan let him try.
Protective arrays were usually based on the mountain. If it was separated from the mountain, its power would decrease dramatically.
It’s just that Xu Ziyan was worried that their return journey might not be smooth, and even having a weakened version of the protective array could make them feel more at ease.
Xu Zirong led a group of disciples to dismantle the array, while Xu Ziyan discussed with elder Qi and elder Liu the route to return to the Liu Guang sect.
The jade slip passed to him by Wuchen just now was not a simple jade slip, but it also imprinted the distribution of power in the middle of the Xuan Yu realm in his mind.
The location guarded by cultivator Chi happened to be in the west of Xuan Yu realm, some distance away from Xuan Jia sect, but no one could guarantee that the demon race could just guard at the same place.
If they spread westward, then the cultivators of the extreme west would meet them first. However, because of the battle with blood-sucking worms, the war in the extreme west had stopped for a long time recently. The demonic cultivators didn’t seem to like things such as the blood-sucking worms, so they took the initiative to apply for a truce, and they seemed to hope that these cultivators would focus all their attention on blood-sucking worms.
Because of the above reasons, the extreme west had become very peaceful. There were only a small number of cultivators staying to monitor the demonic cultivators. If the demon race spread to the west, then things would definitely become more dangerous for these cultivators, but it would make them easier to dodge as well.
The Xuan Jia sect was in the south of the area where cultivator Chi was stationed. If the demon race went southward, then he would definitely encounter them. That’s why Wuchen specially sent a little phoenix to report to Xu Ziyan and the others. It was to let them leave as soon as possible, so as to avoid being blocked by the demon race.
An hour later, all the disciples of Xuan Jia sect had gathered in front of the main hall of the main peak.
The Nine-leaf cloud shuttle floated in front of the main hall under elder Qi’s control, Xu Ziyan stood at the bow of the shuttle and waved towards the crowd below.
Everyone started queuing up to board. Before boarding, Xu Ziyan was extra careful and winked at Xu Zirong.
Xu Ziyan nodded slightly, then arranged a small array under the cloud shuttle.
The purpose of this array wasn’t to attack. Its only function was to transmit the spiritual power fluctuations of people passing through the array to its owner.
Because of the battle a few days ago, the spiritual veins at the foot of Xuan Jia sect were also affected to some extent. In the past few days, the spiritual fluctuations did not die down a bit. Xu Zirong couldn’t check whether there were blood-sucking worms in those people under such circumstances, so he found a special opportunity to check everyone without them knowing it.
After everyone boarded the cloud shuttle, Xu Zirong winked at his brother. Xu Ziyan’s eyes sank, as he didn’t expect his preparatory measures to be effective. Xu Zirong did discover two cultivators with spiritual fluctuations of blood-sucking worms.
Xu Ziyan didn’t explode immediately. He lowered his eyes and wondered if he could use these people to set a trap for the blood-sucking worms. Unfortunately, he gave up this tempting idea after thinking about it for a while. It’s obvious that they were on the weaker side, and with this plan, his bait might even be killed. It would be best to return to Liu Guang sect to avoid more incidents.
With a decision in his mind, Xu Ziyan stood at the bow of the shuttle, looking down at the three hundred cultivators below.
Elder Qi and two other elders of Xuan Jia sect stood behind him, looking respectful.
As soon as Xu Ziyan communicated with Xu Zirong, he quickly determined the location of the two cultivators. He looked at everyone with a solemn expression and said slowly, “the Xuan Yu realm has been invaded by the demon race. From today onwards, we are going to face an even more brutal battle.”
He slowly glanced around, “I know that everyone here has been through a hundred battles, but what I want to say is that this is not enough! To survive this war, you must be ready to sacrifice. Perhaps the demon race is unfamiliar to you, but it’s an extremely powerful race! I won’t downplay it just because they’re our enemy. I can guarantee you that the demon race is even stronger than you imagine.”
When Xu Ziyan said so, the cultivators immediately looked at each other in blank dismay. He’s supposed to encourage everyone to raise their morale, so why would he do the opposite?
“Elder Qi, is it wrong for senior Xu to say that?” The old woman in grey clothes frowned and thought that Xu Ziyan shouldn’t be discouraging everyone at this critical moment.
Besides, there were two nascent soul cultivators and three golden core cultivators among them. The rest of the cultivators also had countless experiences to fight against the blood-sucking worms. Is it really true that they couldn’t defeat the demon race?
“Let’s decide later.” Although elder Qi felt puzzled by Xu Ziyan’s actions, he knew that he’s from the Liu Guang sect, and since there was no expertise about the demon race inside the Xuan Jia sect, those news were naturally spread from Liu Guang sect, and Xu Ziyan just might have some reliable news.
He quietly glanced at the silent Xu Zirong, who clearly didn’t have the slightest trace to object his brother. Since the two nascent soul cultivators found it appropriate to stress on the strength on the demon race, then why should he, as someone who’d never encountered this race before, refute them?
Elder Qi didn’t say anything. The old woman in grey clothes and elder Liu looked at each other and kept silent. They tried their best not to stir up any disagreement with Xu Ziyan, unless it’s something that would hurt their sect.
Xu Ziyan noticed that although the cultivators were in a heated discussion, they showed no signs of refrain. He nodded with satisfaction, “I am not saying so to pressurize you. I just want it to be a reminder so that you won’t underestimate them. I know that many of you think that the blood-sucking worms win by their number, yet they’re far, far more inferior to us in terms of strength.”
The cultivators below nodded one after another, as it was indeed what they thought.
Xu Ziyan smiled slightly, “that’s what I want to remind you of. Blood-sucking worms are just the lowest level of sacrifice for the demon race. You would be completely wrong if you think that each individual of demon race is as weak as the worms. Their living environment is incredibly harsh and they need to constantly fight to survive and to get resources. Those who are sent as soldiers have all gone through countless battles, the remaining elites.”
“Are they really that powerful?” A cultivator frowned and whispered.
Xu Ziyan glanced at him and nodded, “yes.”
“Then, senior Xu, what do you think we should do? Should we run when we see them?” A tall and slender cultivator asked in confusion.
Xu Ziyan laughed, “of course not. I wanted you to understand our advantages by emphasizing on the strength of their individuals!”
“What advantages do we have? According to senior Xu, these are all elite fighters from the demon race. If we fight one-on-one, how can we beat them?” A female cultivator in blue clothes frowned and asked.
Xu Ziyan snapped his fingers, and Xu Zirong popped out three bright green light spots, which kept moving in mid-air. The cultivators below looked at it for a while, and the one who reacted faster asked suspiciously, “senior Xu, is this… the array of three talents?”
“That’s right.” Xu Ziyan nodded, “and this is our advantage.”
What kind of advantage is this?
Many cultivators looked at each other, feeling puzzled. The array of three talents was just the simplest one among the arrays, but it also had the lowest effectiveness. They could only form a simpler array for defense.
This kind of array was not very useful for them. The only good thing about it was that it’s easy to build. Almost every cultivator knew how to build it.
“As I said just now, the strength of individuals of the demon race is extremely strong. When fighting one-on-one with them, we cultivators do not have any advantages, but since they’re so strong physically, it might also mean that…” Xu Ziyan burst into laughter and pointed at his head, “that they are stupid.”
The cultivators below immediately laughed when they heard so.
Xu Ziyan also laughed along, “they only know how to cooperate with each other, and they have to be of the same race. If there is a different kind of demon race on the battlefield, then they won’t have an idea of what to do. However, the same doesn’t apply to us. No matter how stupid we might be, we’re still way smarter than those fools who’re only strong physically. If we know how to cooperate among each other, there might be a way out.” ,
“Senior Xu, do you mean to let us learn the array of three talents?” the female cultivator in blue asked.
“What? Are you telling me that you can’t?” Xu Ziyan blinked deliberately and joked.
The female cultivator in blue immediately blushed, making those around her laugh too. She couldn’t help muttering in a low voice, “that’s a bit inappropriate for you to say so. Although I’m a cultivator focused on physical training, I can’t be stupider than the demon race.”
