The Demon with Holy Radiance

After teleporting via the familiar vessel, Yang An returned to his true body in the Forbidden Land of the Golden Dipper Divine Sect in Chongwen State.

Within the Moon Talisman, there was still no response from the Bow Lady. She seemed to have reached a critical juncture in her advancement.

Yang An wasn’t sure what kind of Cultivation System the Bow Lady relied on; it seemed to have no direct connection to conventional cultivation.

All he could do was wait quietly for the Bow Lady to fully recover.

After leaving the Quiet Chamber, Yang An immediately summoned the members of the Scripture Defector Association. He had decided they needed to quickly devise a plan and take action—this place was no longer safe.

A good deal of time had passed while he was away helping the Bow Lady recover. Now, the completion of the Golden Soul Sect’s Array near Broken Armor was drawing ever closer. They had to come up with a viable plan.

Yang An had learned of the Golden Soul Sect and Great Virtue Temple’s plan from the Third Elder at Earth Demon Cliff, and he’d wanted to change their strategy.

Instead of trying to sabotage the Golden Soul Sect’s plan while they had a large force gathered, he thought it would be better to take advantage of their empty headquarters and wreak havoc at the Central Sect.

Both options were high-risk, but the potential payoff of the latter was far greater.

But the Workshop Master had vetoed that idea, so Yang An could only defer to his judgment.

He wanted to hear what the other members of the Scripture Defector Association thought.

The members of the Scripture Defector Association were soon gathered, and everyone began to voice their opinions.

First, they established one thing: the target of this operation wasn’t the Golden Soul Sect’s people, but their plan. Therefore, destroying the sect’s Array was the primary objective.

If they could destroy the Array deployed by the Golden Soul Sect, it would directly impact the situation in both the Fusheng and Treasure Temple Domains.

The Workshop Master and Yang An’s initial plan was for the Scripture Defector Association to cause trouble in the Fusheng Domain—the more chaos, the better. This new objective was perfectly in line with that.

With the Golden Soul Sect unable to provide support, Great Virtue Temple would inevitably blame them—as long as the temple didn’t fall to the Golden Thread Pavilion’s offensive. This alone would be enough to create an advantage for the Scripture Defector Association.

But the challenge lay in two questions: How would they do it? And who would do it?

All eyes turned to Yang An. His Cultivation Level was the highest in the Scripture Defector Association; only he possessed the power to pull it off.

Anyone else would likely be blasted to smithereens by the Golden Soul Sect’s forces before they could even get close.

Therefore, the most viable plan was for the others to provide support while Yang An led the main assault.

As for how to do it, that would depend on a particular member of the Scripture Defector Association: White Bird, the Saintess of the Golden Soul Sect.

After weighing their options, a coordinated attack from the inside and out seemed to be the best strategy. It might even be possible to protect White Bird’s cover after the plan was executed, preventing her from being exposed.

After deliberating for over an hour and finalizing the plan, Yang An began contacting White Bird through the Tree of Flesh and Blood.

At this time, White Bird was at the Golden Soul Sect’s Central Sect, a distance of more than three State Territories from Chongwen State, so she couldn’t be reached through the ring the Workshop Master had given them.

Just as everyone’s consciousness entered the Tree of Flesh and Blood and Yang An prepared to contact White Bird, a fruit suddenly materialized on the tree before he could act.

The fruit was shaped like a white bird—it was a message from White Bird!

Seeing the fruit appear, everyone’s expression grew grim.

White Bird was deep within the Golden Soul Sect’s headquarters. For her to send a message unprompted meant she had obtained critical information about the sect—information that could even implicate the Scripture Defector Association.

Coming at such a critical time, they were all anxious to see what she had sent. Filled with questions, they each opened the message from White Bird.

Yang An was the last to open it. His first thought was that he had killed the Golden Soul Sect’s Third Elder, and a terrible premonition instantly surfaced in his mind.

He’d already had a feeling that the secret would get out and their hiding place would be exposed. Now, that premonition was growing stronger.

"The Golden Soul Sect’s Third Elder is dead. Grand Elder Xuan You has left the Central Sect. Be careful!"

White Bird’s message was a single, concise warning. Everyone, except for Yang An, was utterly confused.

’The Golden Soul Sect’s Third Elder is dead? What does that have to do with us?’

’Shouldn’t the death of a major figure from the Golden Soul Sect be a good thing for the Scripture Defector Association? Why is White Bird warning us to be careful?’

Just as the others were puzzling over the message, Yang An spoke, his expression grim.

"Everyone! Scatter and leave this place immediately! We’ll make contact later!"

’All plans have to be put on hold for now. Escaping is the priority.’

’Jishan was the Golden Soul Sect’s Third Elder, and I only managed to kill him by going all out. Now the sect has dispatched Grand Elder Xuan You, who is certainly even stronger than Jishan.’

’Someone of that rank is usually second only to the Leader. Even though I can fight against those from the Insect Dao, it’s best to avoid a direct confrontation with a figure like this.’

Everyone quickly withdrew their consciousness from the Tree of Flesh and Blood and looked at Yang An.

"Why?"

"The Golden Soul Sect is coming for revenge."

"But we haven’t made any moves yet, other than the attack on their Chongwen State branch."

"I killed the Golden Soul Sect’s Third Elder."

"But what does that have to do with... huh?!"

Yang An answered their questions so quickly that everyone was stunned into silence before they could fully process his words.

’White Bird’s message mentioned the death of the Golden Soul Sect’s Third Elder. Grand Elder Xuan You must have left the Central Sect because of it.’