Chapter 399 - 393: Wanlong the Chu Family, the Chaotic Battle of Day Flame
BZZZT!
An icy, silver light bloomed in Su Ye’s eyes.
His Divine Sense surged forth like a steel needle, piercing into Mr. Xuan’s sea of consciousness.
A faint resistance met him, but Su Ye didn’t even bat an eye as he easily suppressed it... With his current Divine Sense, he had a fifty percent chance of successfully performing a Soul Search on even a Mid-stage Golden Core cultivator!
’A mere Mid-stage Crystal cultivator wants to resist?’
’How laughable!’
However, even if he was powerless to resist... he could still kill himself!
Su Ye’s brow twitched. He saw numerous restrictive seals appear within Mr. Xuan’s sea of consciousness, like tiny bombs about to detonate!
He was no stranger to such seals!
’A Divine Sense restriction?’
Many cultivators from major sects had such restrictions placed within their seas of consciousness.
These restrictions lay hidden deep within the sea of consciousness, remaining dormant in normal times. But the moment they detected an external Divine Sense attempting a Soul Search, they would activate instantly, destroying the target’s soul!
This ensured that the sect’s Cultivation Techniques would not be leaked, or rather, that certain key secrets would be protected!
At that moment.
CRACK!
A crisp snap echoed out!
It was like a mirror shattering.
Under the effect of the restriction, Mr. Xuan’s sea of Divine Sense shattered!
It broke into countless fragments and rapidly began to annihilate itself!
However, Su Ye remained calm. He had already anticipated the possibility that this Crystal-stage cultivator would have a restriction in his sea of consciousness.
He pushed his Divine Sense to its limits, adjusting the focus of his Soul Search to ignore memories related to Cultivation Techniques and Secret Techniques.
Instead, he focused on retrieving the man’s memories from the last three years.
Soon, under the combined assault of the Divine Sense restriction and Su Ye’s Soul Search...
...the Crystal-stage zhenren’s soul was utterly scattered, obliterated from the face of the earth.
"So that’s how it is."
Su Ye’s expression was impassive as he released his grip.
He let the ice sculpture crash to the ground, where it shattered into a pool of crushed ice mixed with red and white matter.
Through the Soul Search, he had already extracted the information he needed from the man’s soul!
First, there was the man’s identity.
Phantom Zhenren’s assessment had been correct.
This Crystal-stage cultivator was indeed Master Yufeng.
And the power that had sent him was, just as suspected, the Wanlong Commerce Association!
Of course, to be precise, it was one of the Wanlong Commerce Association’s ruling families: the Chu Family.
In this Cultivation World, those in high positions possessed immense personal power, long lifespans, and lived for ages.
If such a person intentionally favored their blood relatives, it was easy for them to foster a clan-centric faction within their organization and form a monopoly.
The Wanlong Commerce Association was a prime example.
However, because multiple ruling families kept each other in check, the association still had systemic advantages over a purely family-run power, and Loose Cultivators had a certain amount of room for advancement.
Thus, in the middle and lower echelons of the association, the rules were still relatively fair, with rewards based on merit.
But the upper echelons, without exception, all came from the ruling families or were connected to them by marriage!
The Chu Family was one of these ruling families.
And a particularly powerful one at that!
The reason was simple.
The Chu Family had a Golden Core Ancestor!
This fact caught Su Ye’s attention.
’Chu Wunian, Mid-stage Golden Core...’
Su Ye murmured the name of the Chu Family’s Golden Core Ancestor.
’Mid-stage Golden Core isn’t too bad... Still within the realm of what I can kill.’
However, compared to the distant Golden Core Ancestor, Su Ye was more concerned about why Master Yufeng had appeared here.
According to his memories, two years ago, Candle Python Cave had invaded. An overwhelming fleet cluster and tens of thousands of evil cultivator pirates had swarmed into the Day Flame Sea Region like a school of bloodthirsty sharks.
Their assault was ferocious!
Fortunately, however, the Wanlong Commerce Association had sensed the coming danger years in advance and made preparations.
Therefore, in the initial stages of the war, the cultivator alliance of the Day Flame Sea Region—the Flame Alliance—managed to leverage their geographical advantage and did not suffer too badly in the exchange ratio.
Even when the master of Candle Python Cave, the notoriously vicious Golden Core Perfection cultivator, Chiyou, personally took action, he was blocked by the combined efforts of two Late-stage Golden Core cultivators from the Flame Alliance, who relied on their trump cards to hold him off!
Under these circumstances, the Flame Alliance paid a heavy price but won the initial battle!
But their good fortune was short-lived, as the situation took an unexpected turn.
Just as the Flame Alliance was about to press its advantage and drive the bloodthirsty sharks of Candle Python Cave out of the Day Flame Sea Region, another race within the Day Flame Sea Region joined the war: the Day Flame Variant Race—the Dragon-folk!
For some unknown reason, this strange race, which typically huddled within the volcanoes, chose to aid Candle Python Cave and attack the Flame Alliance’s forces... Master Yufeng was not privy to the complex interests and backroom deals that led to this.
But the facts were undeniable.
The Dragon-folk had joined the war, and they weren’t holding back—they fought with all their might.
An army of several thousand powerful Dragon-folk, all at least Second-Order in cultivation, descended upon the battlefield... and among them was a Late Fourth-Order Dragon-folk.
It was strong enough to fight a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator!
It was this very Dragon-folk who relieved the pressure on Chiyou by blocking one of the Flame Alliance’s Late-stage Golden Core cultivators, turning the tide of battle!
His combat power unleashed, Chiyou went on a rampage. Wielding his Crimson Nether Demon Flame, he incinerated the land for a thousand li, and the brilliant glow of the fire could be seen from ten thousand li away!
In that battle.
The Flame Alliance forces were utterly defeated!
Of the two great Late-stage Golden Core cultivators, one was gravely injured and has not been seen since.
One Early-stage and one Mid-stage Golden Core cultivator also perished, causing the number of Golden Core cultivators in the Day Flame Sea Region to drop to five—the same number as Candle Python Cave.
Even the lofty Golden Core zhenrens fell in battle!
Over ten Crystal-stage cultivators also fell!
As for the lower-level Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators, the casualties were catastrophic, numbering in the thousands!
Only because the Day Flame Sea Region was profoundly powerful and rich in resources, with a constant influx of cultivators from multiple Outer Sea regions, could it withstand such losses.
Although the Chu Family’s Golden Core Ancestor, Chu Wunian, did not die, he had grown pessimistic about the war’s future. Thus, for the sake of his family’s survival, acting on the principle of a clever rabbit having three burrows, he decided to find a backup plan for his family. After some investigation, he set his sights on the Nanyaoguang Corporation, which was currently in a state of internal turmoil!
"This internal turmoil..." Su Ye raised an eyebrow.
He now had a general understanding of Master Yufeng’s origins and the state of the war in the Day Flame Sea Region.
But the Nanyaoguang Corporation’s internal turmoil still puzzled him.
Just then, Phantom Zhenren finished inscribing the jade slip.
Su Ye took it, and with a stir of his Divine Sense, he peered inside.
A moment later.
A strange look crossed his face, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. "Absurd!"
After Su Ye’s disappearance, the balance of power within the Nanyaoguang Corporation had been disrupted.
The main lineage, represented by Weiyuan Immortal City and the Luo Family, was completely unable to suppress the Cyan Profound Sect and the Spirit Control Sect after losing Su Ye.
Both of these factions were deeply entrenched and held an advantage in terms of combat strength.
They had Crystal Perfection cultivators!
The Spirit Control Sect, in particular, had two!
In response to this, however, Su Ye’s official Daoist companion, Luo Qing’e, proposed a crazy plan!
"We strike first to gain the upper hand!"
"Let’s kill them!"