Chapter 104: Chaos Begins
“It's started! The Golden Core cultivators are fighting!”
Countless cultivators within Tianxuan City panicked in alarm.
“This is bad, the two major sects—Lihuo Palace and Xuanyin Pavilion—have disabled the formation.”
“Damn it!”
Tianxuan City had always been jointly governed by the three major powers, and the Mountain Protection Formation was naturally under their collective control.
Now with internal strife, the formation had instead become the weakest link.
However, the moment Tianxuan City’s formation was dispelled, Tianxuan Peak formed its own formation, creating a defensive barrier.
Within the city, the cultivators who had been secretly waiting to take a gamble saw this and chaos erupted.
“It’s started! This is our chance as rogue cultivators!”
“Master Lu is being held back. Attack Tianxuan Mountain! Everyone has a chance at the Golden Core spiritual item!”
As the great battle broke out, petty villains caused havoc inside the city, and those looking to fish in troubled waters naturally were not few.
However, thanks to Master Lu’s earlier arrangements, several hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators within the city were tightly guarding their respective regions.
Any robber cultivator who appeared would be immediately besieged by Foundation Establishment cultivators from all directions.
Because they themselves were tempting rewards.
If faced alone, rogue cultivators might panic, but they had the Thousand Mechanism Technique. Their allies surrounded them on all sides.
“Don’t let him get away!”
“Stop right there!”
“Damn it! You remnants of the Demonic Sect must be crazy—we’re on the same side!”
“Pah! Who’s on the same side with you? We are the Divine Sect, fighting for Tianxuan City!”
No one could have expected that the notorious remnants of the Demonic Sect would furiously pursue the robber cultivators at this time, each bearing the Thousand Mechanism Technique on their arms.
They looked every bit like they had already joined the ranks of Tianxuan City’s peacekeepers.
Watching this scene unfold from the rooftop of Juxian Tower, Lin Chang’an let out a sigh of relief.
“As expected, in the world of cultivation, there is no such thing as righteous or evil—only interests.”
The Xuanyin Divine Sect didn’t want to see Yue Kingdom dominate alone, so they naturally would not allow Master Lu to fail.
“Fellow Daoist Lin, Master Lu indeed has great foresight.”
In the adjacent sector, Chen Qing showed an excited expression upon seeing that the robber cultivators had not caused unrest.
Tianxuan City was his home, so naturally he was pleased.
Hearing Chen Qing’s voice-transmission, Lin Chang’an nodded in admiration, full of respect for Master Lu.
Worthy of a Golden Core cultivator who had lived for five hundred years—such methods were truly beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators.
—
“Excellent! I didn’t expect you, Old Ghost Huang, to silently break through to late-stage Golden Core. Today I’ve witnessed it for myself!”
Amid the great battle outside the city, the Golden Core elder surnamed Huang from Lihuo Palace revealed a domineering grin.
“Haha! Lu Turtle, your era has long passed, yet you still live under the name of the number one rogue cultivator. You should know that the world always produces new talents. I am now in the late Golden Core stage!”
Yue Kingdom had been thrown into turmoil ever since a late-stage Golden Core cultivator emerged from the Shensword Sect. Now Lihuo Palace had produced one as well.
This Elder Huang of Lihuo Palace was in high spirits. So what if Lu had once been the number one rogue cultivator in Yue Kingdom? In the end, he was just a rogue who relied on a spirit beast.
His own cultivation was only at mid Golden Core.
But just as Old Ghost Huang of Lihuo Palace was reveling in triumph, a figure suddenly launched an attack from behind.
“Xuanyin Pavilion! Have you gone mad?!”
In the battlefield of Golden Core cultivators outside Tianxuan City, a cultivator from Xuanyin Pavilion had suddenly backstabbed him.
The Golden Core cultivator of Lihuo Palace was full of rage.
The Xuanyin Pavilion cultivator who launched the sneak attack shouted coldly:
“Old Ghost Huang, stop pretending! At the frontlines, can you deny that it was your Lihuo Palace who betrayed our Xuanyin Pavilion’s location, causing my senior sister to suffer serious injuries?!”
The moment the veil was lifted, the Huang Realman of Lihuo Palace laughed in fury:
“Very well! Lu Turtle, don’t get cocky. You think Lihuo Palace would dare turn against you without full preparation?”
At this moment, Master Lu remained calm. His gaze swept the surroundings, then he sneered:
“Everyone, since you’re here, come out already.”
As Master Lu’s voice fell, three soaring sword intents rose in the distance—alongside two more Golden Core cultivators from Lihuo Palace.
“So it’s true. Your Lihuo Palace has long colluded with Shensword Sect!”
Upon seeing all six Golden Core cultivators from Shensword Sect and Lihuo Palace arrive, the elder from Xuanyin Pavilion was furious, yet secretly thankful.
Luckily, they discovered this early. Otherwise, had they truly expelled Master Lu’s faction, Xuanyin Pavilion alone would have been no match for the combined forces of Lihuo Palace and Shensword Sect.
Among the three major sects in Yue Kingdom, Lihuo Palace and Shensword Sect each had three Golden Core cultivators, while Xuanyin Pavilion was the weakest with only two.
And now one of them was gravely injured.
“Today, the six of us Golden Core cultivators join forces. As long as Master Lu withdraws his disciples from Yue Kingdom, Lihuo Palace and Shensword Sect will ensure you receive satisfactory compensation.”
Lihuo Palace and Shensword Sect didn’t want to fight to the death either. After all, that man still had a late-stage third-rank demon beast.
As long as Master Lu exited Yue Kingdom, the profits from Xuanyin Pavilion alone would be enough for the two sects to digest for some time.
Old Ghost Huang from Lihuo Palace spoke with confident arrogance.
But Master Lu only sneered.
“Haha, truly shameless! First you invited me to hold the line, then the moment you broke through to late Golden Core, you want to kick me aside. Truly worthy of remnants of the Demonic Sect.”
At that moment, a wildly arrogant laugh echoed from afar, causing Huang Realman of Lihuo Palace to frown deeply.
“Zheng Centipede! Don’t you have a grudge against Master Lu?!”
Flying over on his Thousand-legged Centipede, the Golden Core cultivator of Liang Kingdom, Zheng Centipede, laughed boisterously:
“Fool! Fellow Daoist Lu is a third-rank alchemist—what grudge is worth more than the friendship of a third-rank alchemist?”
That wild laugh caused the corners of Master Lu’s mouth to curl up in a smile as he stood atop the Xuan Shui Turtle.
Zheng Centipede hadn’t changed one bit.
Grudges in the cultivation world were all too common, just as many alliances were forged once again for the sake of profit.
Weren’t Lihuo Palace and Shensword Sect the same? They had fought for decades, and now under the lure of benefit, allied once more.
Now, on Master Lu’s side, the mid Golden Core cultivators included the Xuanyin Pavilion elder, Zheng Centipede, and himself, with the third-rank spirit pets Thousand-legged Centipede and Xuan Shui Turtle.
Five against six. Although battles between cultivators had many variables…
“Hmph! Lu Turtle, the outcome is far from decided!”
In the end, conflicts always boiled down to two words—profit.
In a flash, Golden Core cultivators on both sides engaged in a fierce battle.
—
Within Tianxuan City.
“Golden Core cultivators are battling outside the city, but neither side will fight to the death. The real outcome lies within the city.”
Amid howling winds and snow, Lin Chang’an stood firmly on the rooftop, gazing solemnly at distant Tianxuan Peak.
Outside the formation of Tianxuan Peak, the battle had already begun.
“Fellow Daoist Lin, do you think Master Lu’s disciple will successfully form a core?”
Chen Qing couldn’t help but ask. Beside him, Lin Chang’an shook his head and said, “That’s no longer something we can speculate on.”
Thanks to Master Lu’s prior arrangements, the robber cultivators trying to fish in troubled waters within Tianxuan City were swiftly eliminated before they could stir up trouble. Others also dared not act rashly.
However, the battle on Tianxuan Peak made the rogue cultivators hesitant to take risks.
The final showdown would still be on Tianxuan Peak.
“But this Golden Core phenomenon… why does it feel so unusually powerful? Does a mid-grade spirit root have such depth?”
At this moment, Lin Chang’an was full of doubt. Through his Spiritual Eye and powerful cultivation method, he could clearly sense the Golden Core phenomenon atop Tianxuan Peak.
He had never witnessed a Golden Core phenomenon before and couldn’t tell by experience whether the process was smooth, but he could clearly perceive the mana fluctuations.
“The mana from Su Miaoyin doesn’t feel like this. Could it be that the one forming a core atop Tianxuan Peak isn’t her?!”
He had encountered Su Miaoyin several times before and could distinguish her mana.
Thus Lin Chang’an was secretly startled. He couldn’t guess what Master Lu was planning, but he hoped everything would proceed smoothly.
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