Guardian of Cangwu

Cangwu Commandery, Mount Biluo.

Inside the Biluo Sect's discussion hall, the atmosphere was so heavy it felt as if water could drip from it.

The Sect Master, Perfected Biluo, sat in the main seat with an ashen face.

He had been in secluded cultivation for many years and had finally broken through to the late Nascent Soul stage. He was just about to lead the Biluo Sect to greater heights, but bad news came one after another.

A sect that had emerged less than three months ago had stepped on the Biluo Sect's face to ascend to the heavens.

"Speak up, what should we do?" Zhou Tianxing swept his gaze over the crowd in the hall.

The First Elder sighed, "Sect Master, even the Han family has conceded. What do we have to fight the Tianyan Sect with? Their Sect Master is an existence who can scold away heavenly tribulations with a single sentence."

The Second Elder's face was pale and defeated, "How about... we go apologize? We can bring generous gifts to Mount Qingyun to make amends and beg them to show mercy."

The Third Elder sneered, "Apologize? With what?"

The Fourth Elder suggested, "I think we might as well just move away. Leave Cangwu Commandery and establish our sect somewhere else."

"Easy for you to say. Which of the nearby commanderies around Cangwu doesn't have its own overlord? If you take the whole sect to snatch territory, won't they beat you out?"

"If we don't leave, are we supposed to wait to be exterminated? Even the Han family couldn't defeat the Tianyan Sect; if we go up against them, we'd just be serving ourselves on a silver platter!"

"I finally cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage and still have five hundred good years to live. I don't want to die here!"

Everyone spoke at once, arguing in a chaotic mess.

Some suggested surrendering, some suggested moving, some suggested spending wealth to avert disaster, but not a single person dared to say, "Fight the Tianyan Sect to the bitter end."

The Han family had lost so miserably. Even if they were given ten times their courage, they still wouldn't dare raise a hand against Lin Yan.

Right at this moment.

"Om—!"

The sect's grand array suddenly vibrated violently. The piercingly sharp alarm rang out, echoing throughout Mount Biluo.

"Someone is trespassing on the mountain!"

"The grand array has been triggered!"

"Who is so bold?"

Everyone's expressions changed drastically. They all stood up and rushed out of the discussion hall.

In front of the Biluo Sect's mountain gate, a young man in white stood with his hands behind his back.

He looked to be in his early twenties, with a handsome face and a placid expression, as if taking a stroll in his own backyard.

Perfected Biluo's pupils shrank rapidly. He hurriedly stepped forward and bowed in greeting, his voice trembling:

"May I ask... is this the Sect Master of Tianyan?"

Lin Yan nodded.

The higher-ups of the Biluo Sect looked at each other, their faces deathly pale.

Perfected Biluo gritted his teeth and squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying.

"Senior's arrival brings light to our humble Biluo Sect! We have offended you greatly before, and we beg for Senior's magnanimity! This junior is willing to prepare generous gifts and personally visit to apologize..."

Lin Yan couldn't be bothered to listen to this nonsense and directly interrupted him.

"Where is the spirit vein?"

Perfected Biluo's mouth twitched violently.

He had thought of countless possibilities. He thought the other party might come to condemn them, demand compensation, or even directly wipe out the Biluo Sect.

But he never expected that the other party wouldn't even bother with a single pleasantry, directly demanding the spirit vein right off the bat.

This was too tyrannical!

But he didn't dare resist.

The elders behind him were even more terrified, trembling all over and not even daring to lift their heads.

Perfected Biluo gritted his teeth and finally raised a trembling hand, pointing toward the back mountain: "It's... in the back mountain."

Lin Yan looked in the direction he pointed and nodded.

The next second, he raised his hand and waved.

"Rumble—!!!"

The entirety of Mount Biluo suddenly began to shake violently. The earth cracked open, and rocks tumbled down.

A dazzling cyan light shot up into the sky from the back mountain. A spirit vein hundreds of feet long, resembling a giant dragon, was uprooted from beneath the earth by an invisible force!

Dense spiritual energy flowed along the spirit vein, and wherever it passed, the vegetation instantly grew wildly.

The people of the Biluo Sect stood frozen in place, dumbfounded. Their legs went soft, and they almost collapsed to the ground.

They looked at the massive crater in the back mountain, and then at Lin Yan's calm and breezy demeanor, not even daring to breathe loudly.

What kind of method was this?

Moving a spirit vein barehanded?

This was no longer something a Soul Formation Venerable could achieve!

This was simply a god!

Lin Yan clapped his hands, not even sparing them a glance. With a flash of his figure, he vanished from the spot.

It wasn't until Lin Yan's aura had completely disappeared that the people of the Biluo Sect let out a long sigh of relief, their bodies drenched in cold sweat.

"Has Senior... left?"

"He's gone."

"Then... is this matter over now?"

The First Elder took a deep breath, looked at the empty back mountain, and then at the unharmed crowd, slowly nodding.

"Senior didn't touch us, so we should... be fine now, right?"

Everyone let out a long breath. Some went weak in the knees and sat directly on the ground, some leaned against pillars gasping for air, and others wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads.

"Phew... scared me to death... I thought we were all going to die here today."

"Thank goodness, Senior only took the spirit vein and didn't take our lives."

"Yes, yes, we finally managed to keep our lives."

Having survived a disaster, everyone rejoiced endlessly.

But as they smiled, their expressions turned ugly again.

The good news: they were alive.

The bad news: the spirit vein was gone.

The Biluo Sect had been established for hundreds of years, relying entirely on this spirit vein.

Without the spirit vein, the concentration of spiritual energy would plummet off a cliff. The disciples' cultivation speed would drastically decrease, and the production of pills, magical treasures, and arrays would all be affected.

Let alone developing, even maintaining the status quo would be difficult.

"Sect Master, what do we do now?" an elder asked with a miserable face. "Without the spirit vein, we simply can't maintain our sect here."

Perfected Biluo sighed, stood up, dusted himself off, and said in a deep voice, "What else can we do? We move."

"Move? Move where?"

"In Cangwu Commandery, other than us, which sect has the best quality spirit vein?" Perfected Biluo asked.

Everyone exchanged glances, and someone answered quietly, "The Black Wind Sect in the Black Wind Valley. They have a sixty-percent new low-grade spirit vein that can produce over five hundred low-grade spirit stones a year."

Perfected Biluo's eyes lit up, and his expression instantly became one of righteous awe:

"Everyone, the Biluo Sect has been established for hundreds of years. We never bully the weak, but we also never allow ourselves to be bullied."

"The Black Wind Sect colludes with the demonic path, slaughters commoners, and brings chaos to Cangwu. Their crimes are unforgivable!"

"Elders, follow me to eradicate the Black Wind Valley, eliminate demons, and defend the righteous path!"

The crowd in the hall was stunned at first, but they quickly realized what he meant and shouted in unison:

"We will strictly obey the Sect Master's decree!"

...

The Great Qian Capital, the Han Family.

"Patriarch, bad news! Something terrible has happened!"

"Panicking like this, what kind of decorum is this? Take your time and speak!"

"Patriarch, during the morning court today, imperial censors jointly impeached our Han family! They said we form cliques for private gain, collude with local sects, engage in illicit transactions, and help people evade annual taxes!"

Han Zhentian sneered and carelessly picked up his teacup to take a sip. "Are they talking about the Tianyan Sect? Isn't it just the annual tax for two defective low-grade spirit veins? It's not worth much."

"Which censor has so much free time that they dare meddle in my Han family's affairs?"

"No, Patriarch! It's not just two defective spirit veins. It is said that the Tianyan Sect Master personally made a trip to the Biluo Sect!"

"He... he took away the Biluo Sect's complete low-grade spirit vein!"

Han Zhentian froze, and then his expression changed drastically.

"Pfft—!"

Han Zhentian spat out a mouthful of tea directly.

"What did you say?"

"He took away the Biluo Sect's spirit vein?"

"How... how could he do such a thing!"