Chapter 198: CH. 198 | Man with His Responsibilities
"Are you the mysterious cultivator?" the Core Formation man asked.
Lin Tian chose not to answer. He raised his hand and drew the spiritual energy orb back to his fingertip, right as the last of the city’s repairs finished up.
The mortals all looked overjoyed, wide smiles spreading across their faces.
Quite a few of them dropped straight to their knees and bowed low, thanking the mysterious Immortal for his blessing.
"I heard the Lingxian Sect is fighting back. Who’s actually involved in this counterattack?" Lin Tian asked.
"Every alliance member at the Nascent Soul stage. They left under Master Ying’s leadership," the Core Formation man answered.
Lin Tian went quiet for a moment, taking in what the man had told him. But something about it left him uneasy, though he couldn’t quite place why.
The Lingxian Sect’s counterattack was, in theory, a great development, a real turning point in the war against the Yuanmo Sect.
Still, the man in front of him had made one thing clear: every single Nascent Soul cultivator had left, leaving the Lingxian Sect without full protection.
He wasn’t overly worried about the sect itself though, since its protective barrier dome should easily hold against any cultivator below Soul Formation.
"Do you know where their first target was?" Lin Tian asked.
The man nodded. He explained that they’d split into two large groups to attack separately.
One group, led by Cao Ying, went after the demon tower in the southeast, while the other, led by Yun Zhan, Sect Leader of Yuntian, targeted the demon tower in the southwest.
Once both towers fell, the plan was to regroup and move on the tower in the south to finish the job entirely.
It sounded solid, optimistic even. But unfortunately, they were up against a demonic sect notorious for its cunning and its endless tricks.
I should go catch up with them. After what happened at the black lake tower, the Yuanmo Sect’s bound to have tightened security around their remaining disciples and elders.
He shot off fast, leaving Huangtian City behind, heading straight for the demon tower in the southwest, its location sitting directly along his path.
His Soul Formation level senses could pick up the qi aura radiating from ahead, even from thousands of miles away. But something about it felt off.
Lin Tian’s flight slowed to a stop as he took in the strange feeling coming from that tower. He kept his distance, watching from far enough away to avoid detection.
Something’s not right with that tower...
Three things stood out as strange. First, the demonic energy radiating from the crimson qi pillar wasn’t nearly as strong as it should be.
Second, the protective dome guarding it looked far too easy to break through.
And third, the strangest of all, the tower was being guarded only by young elders, fewer than ten of them.
The Yuanmo Sect was a legendary sect with thousands of years of history, an incredible inheritance, and a deeply rooted doctrine and ideology.
They’re not a sect run by fools.
Lin Tian froze, suddenly realizing exactly what was happening here.
A trap! This is a trap!
In short, the Yuanmo Sect had used the momentum from losing two demon towers to stir up the righteous cultivators’ fighting spirit, pushing them toward launching a counterattack.
Once they left to fight and abandoned the Lingxian Sect, the sect itself would be left completely unprotected.
Now the strange setup at the southwest tower made perfect sense.
They’d stationed young elders there deliberately, because their senior elders had a different plan entirely.
The Lingxian Sect is the only real hope the righteous cultivators have left. Without it, they’ll be utterly destroyed.
I need to get there now!
Lin Tian shot off fast, abandoning his position and heading straight back to the Lingxian Sect. He pushed his flying speed to its limit, desperate to arrive as quickly as possible.
But unfortunately, he was too late.
His eyes went wide as he saw three pillars of crimson light rise up around the Lingxian Sect.
The pillars were massive, shaking the very sky, drawing the attention of both Cao Ying and Yun Zhan.
At their respective locations, the demon towers vanished in an instant and reappeared around the Lingxian Sect.
A powerful gust of wind swept through, and a heavy sealing barrier sprang up around the area.
"Damn it! They set us up!" one of the cultivators shouted.
Yun Zhan clenched his fist, pointed forward, and ordered every cultivator on his team to head straight back to the Lingxian Sect.
Cao Ying did the same, flying back at full speed, racing to make it in time.
Inside the Lingxian Sect, An Yue and the other disciples gathered in the front courtyard, channeling their spiritual energy into the sect’s protective barrier wall.
Ya Fei realized something troubling, the three demon towers surrounding the Lingxian Sect weren’t just there to suffocate them, they were also draining spiritual energy directly from the natural Spiritual Vein beneath the land.
"I’ll seal the gap in the formation with a new rune array!"
"Everyone!"
"Lend me your spiritual energy!" Ya Fei called out urgently.
A man in black robes appeared on the sky floor, flanked by three grand elders and five senior elders.
Their eyes locked onto the Lingxian Sect, taking in the Core Formation cultivators defending it.
"I never imagined I’d have to come down here myself to destroy your sect!" the black robed man declared, his voice deep, his hair white, his qi aura radiating with tremendous power.
The white haired man raised his hand, then swept it downward, unleashing a demonic hand attack.
It struck the barrier dome, instantly triggering its defensive mechanism.
Four mountains and a white dragon shot forward to meet the crimson demonic hand, but the man’s strength proved far greater, and the protective dome shattered into shards of glass.
A powerful gust tore through the entire sect grounds, leveling every building except the main hall.
An Yue and the others were left wounded, their sect robes torn to shreds, their bodies injured, their spiritual energy in chaos.
"You shouldn’t have gone off to attack us!"
"Now, it’s time the Lingxian Sect falls!"
The man struck forward again with another crimson demonic hand attack.
An Yue stood at the very front, summoning a blue rune to unleash a barrage of a thousand swords.
"I’ll protect this sect, even if it costs me my life!" An Yue declared firmly.
Cao Ying and Yun Zhan’s teams pushed forward, closing the distance to the Lingxian Sect, but neither of them would make it in time to save everyone.
An Yue closed her eyes as the crimson demonic hand loomed right in front of her face. But then, something happened.
A black orb shot past An Yue and collided head on with the crimson demonic hand belonging to the Yuanmo Sect Leader.
"W-What is that...?"
The black orb absorbed the energy, pulling the crimson demonic hand straight into the void.
Behind her, Ya Fei and the other disciples turned and saw a man arrive, his body transformed, a golden ring surrounding him.
Their eyes welled up with tears, overwhelmed with emotion, their mouths hanging open, unable to say a single word.
The man stepped forward quickly to stand beside An Yue, and she turned to look at him instinctively.
Her heart pounded, her eyes went wide, and her gaze fixed clearly on the man now standing right next to her.
"M-Master... Lin Tian?"