The Sect is in Danger, Return Quickly

At noon on May 17th, inside the spiritual herb greenhouse by the Sword Washing Lake at Dan Peak of the Dao Sword Sect, Qin Ran took several Crane Crown Immortal Grass seeds from his Universe Bag and showed them to Long Qiqi, saying:

"Let's start with the Crane Crown Immortal Grass. To verify the authenticity of the water-based spiritual plant technique, we'll first try its rapid germination method to see if we can use dan water to sprout the Crane Crown Immortal Grass."

"Alright," Long Qiqi responded.

She held a notebook as big as her head in her left hand while quickly writing with a small brush in her right hand. She was recording this first experiment.

The notebook read:

"Time: Noon, May 17th; Location: Dan Peak spiritual herb greenhouse cultivation area; Temperature: 24 degrees; Weather: Sunny; Experiment content: Verifying rapid germination authenticity; Seeds: Crane Crown Immortal Grass; Quantity: Four..."

While writing, she signaled to Qin Ran: "You can begin."

"Are you keeping time?" Qin Ran confirmed.

"I am."

"Good, I'm ready." Qin Ran took a deep breath and, following the technique recorded in the water-based spiritual plant manual, circulated his spiritual power through specific meridians while controlling the dan water in his dantian, letting them flow together and gather at his palm's acupoints, ready but not released.

"Ready..." Long Qiqi called out while writing, "Begin!"

"Huff~" Qin Ran exhaled, and immediately his spiritual power intertwined with the dan water, flowing from his meridians into his palm. Under his control, they enveloped the four Crane Crown Immortal Grass seeds.

In an instant, a transparent white water sphere containing the four seeds appeared above his palm.

He continued controlling his spiritual power output, gradually infusing the dan water into the seeds.

According to the manual, once the dan water completely permeates the seeds, the practitioner can activate them with the technique, making them rapidly absorb nutrients along with the dan water and spiritual power to quickly germinate.

Clearly, the core of this method was using the spiritual energy and essence in dan water to replace spiritual soil.

Qin Ran's control over spiritual power and dan water was impeccable - he could output exactly the amount he wanted, never erring by even a fraction. So this delicate work of infiltrating seeds with minute amounts of spiritual power was child's play for him.

And then...

"Pop!"

"Pop! Pop!"

In quick succession, three of the seeds in the dan water burst.

The sound startled Long Qiqi, who quickly looked up to see the tragic scene in Qin Ran's palm.

In the blink of an eye, three of the four seeds were ruined, with only one trembling and struggling to survive in the water sphere.

Shocked and flustered, she couldn't help but cry out: "Hold on, keep it steady, don't shake!"

Her shout only made things worse - the last seed couldn't hold on either and exploded.

Qin Ran relaxed his tense nerves, and the dan water in his hand fell through his palm, splashing onto the ground with a "splash splash" sound, even getting Long Qiqi's skirt wet.

"Hey..." Long Qiqi complained while patting her skirt, "What happened? I hadn't even finished writing the pre-experiment records, and you've already failed?!"

Qin Ran shook the water from his hand, shaking his head, at a loss for words.

"So..." Long Qiqi looked at him, "Was the method fake?"

"The method isn't fake..." Qin Ran shook his head, pondering the experiment process, "During the experiment, I could definitely feel life force stirring within the seeds.

"I think the problem is due to the different cultivation systems between the Lingnan Region and the Ocean Region - our spiritual power is different from their true qi. The timing, quantity, and speed recorded in the method are for true qi and don't apply to spiritual power. We need to readjust."

As he spoke, he took out another four Crane Crown Immortal Grass seeds.

"Wait!" Long Qiqi stopped him, "Let me record the failed experiment first."

Qin Ran paused, waiting for her to make her notes.

"Germination times: first seed, 29 seconds... third seed, 30 seconds, and fourth seed, 36 seconds," Long Qiqi wrote while reading aloud, "Qin Ran observed signs of life force awakening, Qin Ran's hypothesis for failure: difference between spiritual power and true qi..."

As she wrote, she couldn't help but tease, "Such a grown man, and you only lasted 30 seconds."

Qin Ran's face darkened, "Can you please speak properly?"

"Did you even make it to 40 seconds?" Long Qiqi looked up, giving him a disdainful glance. Qin Ran couldn't be bothered to answer.

After Long Qiqi finished recording, Qin Ran began circulating his spiritual power again, preparing for the second experiment. He reminded her, "Ready to time."

Long Qiqi looked at him again and asked, "Are you sure you want to keep using Crane Crown Immortal Grass seeds?"

"Why?"

"Crane Crown Immortal Grass is quite expensive..." Long Qiqi said, "Why not try some radish seeds instead?"

Qin Ran gave her a helpless look, saying, "I may not be rich, but I'm not so poor that I can't afford spiritual herb seeds for experiments."

"What if you can't get the right amount right away and keep failing?" Long Qiqi asked, "Wouldn't that waste a lot of precious herb seeds?"

Qin Ran's helpless expression froze. After some thought, he quietly put away the Crane Crown Immortal Grass seeds and pulled out a handful of radish seeds from his Universe Bag.

"Starting now..." Long Qiqi said with a suppressed smile, counting down, "Three, two, one, wait!"

"What?!" Qin Ran's spiritual power had just reached his wrist, and his momentary lapse of attention nearly burst his meridians.

"The identity token is reacting..." Long Qiqi replied.

Ignoring Qin Ran, she tucked her brush behind her ear and took out an identity token from her Universe Bag... the Dao Sword Sect identity token that Qin Ran had acquired for her through trading.

The token was trembling continuously. She held it firmly in her hand and looked carefully, seeing five blood-red characters appear: "Sect in danger, return immediately."

She raised her head blankly, looking at Qin Ran and asked, "What's happening to the Dao Sword Sect?"

Qin Ran took out his own identity token, glanced at it, tossed it back into his Universe Bag, and replied to Long Qiqi, "It's going down."

"What?"

"There's going to be a fight," Qin Ran said, "Ah, it's not your concern, don't worry about it."

Long Qiqi tilted her head and thought for a moment, realizing it really wasn't her business. After all, with her low cultivation level and small stature, there were taller people to handle such matters.

"Alright..." she put away her identity token and said, "I didn't know the Dao Sword Sect identity tokens had this function."

"It's a magical tool, a multi-functional composite one. In dangerous situations, it can even be used as a defensive artifact," Qin Ran explained, "What did you think it was?"

"I hadn't noticed..." Long Qiqi genuinely didn't know, "Okay, let's continue our radish seed germination experiment!"

Naturally, Long Qiqi wasn't the only one who received this urgent notification. Every cultivator who possessed a Dao Sword Sect identity token received it.

Chasing Wind, who was napping on the cat-climbing frame by the lake, received it; Li Shiyin, who was comprehending sword techniques while standing on the lake surface, received it; Liu Baixuan, who was teaching sword techniques to sect disciples in the Sword Peak plaza, received it; Yan Yi, who was recording the sect's remaining medicinal pills in the Chief Alchemy Hall, received it; Tian Wenjin, who was executing sect missions outside, received it...

At this moment, anyone who possessed a Dao Sword Sect identity token, no matter how far away they were or where they were, saw these characters appear on their token.

"Sect in danger, return immediately!"

These days, Tian Wenjin had taken on a new sect mission to escort a box to Great Yan.

This box was clearly special, as she wasn't the only one assigned to this task - there were five people including her.

Sure enough, as soon as they entered Great Yan territory, they were ambushed by enemies.

Currently, they were in the heat of battle.

There were eleven people trying to steal the box, including four Golden Core stage cultivators, with one even at the late Golden Core stage.

Tian Wenjin's group of five only had three Golden Core stage cultivators, with the other two at late Foundation Building stage. So even though Tian Wenjin was formidable in battle, they were only managing to hold their own.

Tian Wenjin alone was fighting three Golden Core cultivators, including the late Golden Core stage master.

Two of the Golden Core cultivators were body cultivators, while the late Golden Core stage one was a qi cultivator. The two body cultivators engaged Tian Wenjin in close combat while the qi cultivator stayed at a distance, controlling a golden ring to attack.

The golden ring was extraordinarily hard, impervious even to Tian Wenjin's sword strikes. It could change size at will - expanding to the width of a water bucket or shrinking to the size of an eyeball. Most troublesome was its ability to split into dozens or even hundreds of rings to launch coordinated attacks.

Tian Wenjin found herself struggling against this onslaught.

At that moment, her identity token began to vibrate, warning of impending danger.

She first slashed apart more than ten connected golden rings with her sword, then forced back two close-combat cultivators who had approached her. After creating some safe distance, she finally took out her identity token to check.

"Sect in danger, return immediately!"

Five blood-red characters cast their crimson glow upon her beautiful face. She looked up at the other four people, who had also seen the characters on their tokens. The five of them tacitly acknowledged Tian Wenjin as their leader. Seeing the situation, they exchanged glances, and Tian Wenjin stepped forward to address the eleven cultivators who were preparing to launch another attack. She spoke coldly, "I'll give you one chance - leave now, and we'll let bygones be bygones."

During the previous fighting, both sides had traded blows fairly evenly, with the eleven even having a slight upper hand. Being eleven against five, they didn't believe they could lose and thought Tian Wenjin was just bluffing.

The late Golden Core stage cultivator controlling the golden rings laughed, "Little girl, don't make empty threats. You might bite your tongue."

"You seem half-asleep, unable to see the situation clearly," someone mockingly said.

A pale-faced man with a degenerate air sneered, "Girl, you think too highly of yourself! I must say, you're quite beautiful. If you become my Dao partner and leave the box behind, I might consider letting you all go."

Following his lead, the others began directing vulgar comments at the beautiful Tian Wenjin.

Tian Wenjin took a deep breath, giving up on persuasion.

"Divine Thunder... Sword of Lightning!" she called out, raising her Imperial Thunder Sword.

As she spoke, crackling blue electric arcs began appearing around her, one by one.

Seeing this, her four fellow Dao Sword Sect disciples instinctively backed away. Feeling that even that wasn't safe enough, they retreated more than thirty meters.

An oppressive force began to fill the air, and the eleven opponents sensed something was wrong.

"Intent!" the late Golden Core cultivator exclaimed, feeling the cold pressure weighing on his heart, "It's Sword Intent!!"

He hurriedly cast his spell, hurling his golden rings at Li Shiyin.

Some sought a chance for survival, while others, sensing the subtle yet sharp intent in the air, turned to flee.

But... whether they ran or fought, it was too late.

Tian Wenjin shouted, "Thunder, Ten Thousand Miles of Flying Snow!" and brought her sword down.

"BOOM!"

A thunderclap exploded in the sky out of nowhere.

The sound startled the eleven, who were already preparing for death. However, after waiting a moment, they noticed that apart from the exceptionally loud thunder, this sword strike seemed to have no effect.

The pale-faced man who had run halfway turned back, laughing, "All thunder and no rain, little girl. Could it be you're not up to it?! Come, let brother teach you."

Tian Wenjin didn't even glance at him. She casually sheathed her sword on her back. Her Imperial Thunder Sword had some issues during its forging that prevented it from being stored inside her body for nurturing. Later, with Qin Ran's help, this was improved, and she could now store it freely, but she had grown to prefer carrying it on her back.

She turned and called to her teammates in the distance, "Let's go. The sooner we deliver it, the sooner we can return."

"Still thinking of leaving?" the pale-faced man sneered, preparing to use his unique movement technique to chase Tian Wenjin.

But as he took a step, he suddenly noticed something wrong...

Around them, throughout this space, blue snow was floating everywhere, densely packed both above and below. More blue snow was falling from the sky.

He finally noticed their late Golden Core stage leader standing frozen, trembling for some unknown reason.

"What is this?" he asked.

No one answered.

A single blue snowflake landed on his hand.

"Bzzt!"

In an instant, lightning coursed through his entire arm.

He felt no pain, only curiosity. Looking down at his arm, he discovered it had been completely blackened by electricity, and the blackened surface was covered in countless sword marks.

He couldn't tell if his arm had been sliced by sword energy or struck by lightning.

Or perhaps it had been sliced while being electrocuted.

"So cold..." someone cried out - a cultivator sensitive enough to feel the merciless sword intent permeating the space.

"Ah!" Another person screamed as snow landed on them.

Thunder, sword energy, sword intent, cold, snowflakes...

Tangible sword energy and intangible sword intent.

All contained within this single sword strike.

As the snow fell, the eleven people, amid screams of agony, were reduced to eleven mutilated, charred corpses.