Chu Xuan spoke calmly, "Junior Brother Xu may go if he wishes, there's no need to ask me. As for myself, with this major issue at the Extreme Yin Cave, I must keep watch. I cannot leave," he continued.
Xu Ming looked somewhat disappointed and hurriedly persuaded, "Senior Brother, but the remnants of the Nether Dao Sect are there!"
"Once we find some treasures..." he trailed off.
Chu Xuan waved his hand dismissively, "I need to focus on my cultivation."
With that, he vanished in a flash.
Xu Ming felt even more disappointed, glancing at Li Xiaoman. "Senior Sister, shall we go together?"
After careful consideration, Li Xiaoman shook her head. "No, I will stay here to teach the disciples."
Sighing deeply, Xu Ming muttered, "We cultivators should strive forward courageously! I didn't expect both Senior Brother and Senior Sister to retreat..."
He controlled his flying magic tool and left in the blink of an eye.
Li Xiaoman cast a few more glances at Chu Xuan's cave, lost in thought, before departing in the opposite direction.
Chu Xuan sat cross-legged in his cave, smiling lightly.
You can't reason with a mad dog. He could see it at a glance; no matter what he said, Xu Ming would go to the Ghost Palace.
As for Li Xiaoman, she truly lived up to her background as a demonic cultivator refined from a loose cultivator. Only those who know how to avoid danger and seek fortune can live long.
...
Five days later.
Chu Xuan, who had been closely monitoring the situation, received two pieces of new information from Chen Ge.
A large number of disciples from small sects and loose cultivators had entered the underground ruins, and most of them had not returned.
However, a small number of cultivators brought back treasures from the ruins.
The cultivators from the Righteous Five Sects immediately decided to enter the underground ruins.
"Wan Wuying, Xu Ming, they should have gone in," Chu Xuan mused.
"The Ghost Palace... I wonder how many more lost souls it will claim," he sighed lightly.
Another five days passed.
Chen Ge personally came to the entrance of Chu Xuan's Water Curtain Cave to pay respects.
Chu Xuan was somewhat surprised. "Why did you come by yourself?"
Chen Ge's face was solemn as if shrouded in an unbreakable dark cloud.
He said gravely, "Uncle Master, something big has happened!"
Chu Xuan prompted, "Go on."
Only then did Chen Ge speak in a grave tone, "Around the underground ruins, there's a dense black mist covering the sky, even shrouding half of the Misty Mountains. Some demonic beasts trying to escape were instantly drained of their essence by the black mist, turning into dried corpses."
It's said that a cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment stage tried to save his fellow daoist, rushed into the black mist, and within a few breaths, he was drained of flesh and blood essence. The informant I had placed there is already dead. I learned this from a surviving cultivator."
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Chu Xuan's heart raced.
A major event! Indeed, this was a colossal matter!
The Ghost Palace was definitely not a treasure trove easily accessible to just anyone. Even if there were treasures, they were not something ordinary people could take.
Chen Ge continued, "There's also..."
Chu Xuan furrowed his brow and then relaxed it. "I understand. Is it the Northern or Southern sects? Which one has shown movement?"
Chen Ge looked at Chu Xuan with reverence, nodding repeatedly. "Several days ago, a team of cultivators from the Heaven Burning Sect stormed into the Wu Province. The main halls of the Heavenly Seal Sect, located in the southern reaches of the Wu Province, have already been occupied by the Heaven Burning Sect.
From their direction, they are heading straight for the main hall of the Heavenly Seal Sect. Whether there are Golden Core experts among them is still unclear. But I guess there must be."
Chu Xuan sighed lightly.
The situation had become clear. Adjustments were indeed necessary.
Anxious, Chen Ge asked, "Uncle Master, what should I do? Could you please give me some guidance?"
Chu Xuan replied calmly, "You are a mortal without an immortal family."
Chen Ge paused, then realized, "I have married four concubines, and own six mansions and over a dozen shops..."
Before he could finish, realization dawned on him, a deep sorrow flickering in his eyes. "I understand now, Uncle Master."
With that, he turned and left.
As he departed, he wiped away tears and said in a heavy voice, "Chen Ge is leaving. Uncle Master, please take care."
Chu Xuan merely nodded slightly.
Chu Xuan piloted the Green Shadow Shuttle to the highest peak of the boundary in the Extreme Yin Cave.
Here lay the cemetery of fallen cultivators from the Extreme Yin Cave. Now, there was only one grave mound here. On the tombstone were engraved a few large characters.
Senior Brother Liu Zhenxiong's Grave — Erected by Junior Brother Chu Xuan.
Chu Xuan had never been proficient in calligraphy since childhood, so the carved characters weren't very pleasing to the eye. They couldn't be called elegantly flowing; at best, they were crooked and slanted.
"Senior Brother, it's rare for me to visit you. Please don't blame me. Now that there's been a change, I'm also planning to leave. In our Extreme Yin Cave, Li Xuanming was killed by me, Wu Teng betrayed us, and Xu Ming has reached Foundation Establishment and probably won't last long.
Among the former Qi Refining disciples, only Chen Ge is still alive. I don't know if he can survive this catastrophe. Maybe when I come back next time, even Master might be gone."
Chu Xuan shook his head incessantly.
Cultivation was so cruel. Those around you would disappear one by one. Perhaps only those who understood the art of survival could endure till the end.
Chu Xuan dismantled most of the formation in the Water Curtain Cave, leaving only the simplest mist array. As for the Formation Soul(twin-headed python), he naturally took it back.
Chu Xuan piloted the Green Shadow Shuttle northward all the way. He stopped only when he was about to reach the boundary of the Imperial Spirit Mountains.
"It's just you."
Chu Xuan looked at the towering mountain in front of him, took out the Evil Soul Chain, and vigorously pounded it, quickly smashing open a cave in the mountain.
The cave was very rudimentary, with only a stone bed. Then he arranged various arrays such as the mist array, warning array, gathering spirit array, and killing array. Only then did he sit cross-legged.
Chu Xuan traveled between the two realms through the Blood Mirror, with each drop-off point fixed.
If he crossed from the Water Curtain Cave to the Blue Star. Then the next time he returned to the Mystic Azure Realm, he would still appear at the Water Curtain Cave.
Who knew what awaited him then? So he chose to establish a rudimentary cave in this remote and thinly inhabited place with sparse Spiritual Qi.
"Leaving the Mystic Azure Realm again. Setting a small goal for myself: reaching Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer before returning."
Chu Xuan didn't linger, immediately using the Blood Mirror to cross over to the Blue Star.
...
Shortly after Chu Xuan left the Mystic Azure Realm, a team consisting of four Golden Core experts and thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Heaven Burning Sect swept through the Wu Province like a sharp blade, heading directly for the main camp of the Heavenly Seal Sect.
Most of the Golden Core cultivators of the Heavenly Seal Sect had entered the Ghost Palace in search of treasures. The remaining Golden Core cultivators left behind were nowhere near enough to resist the well-prepared and well-equipped team from the Heaven Burning Sect.
In the end, the Nascent Soul master of the Heavenly Seal Sect came out of seclusion.
The long-awaited Nascent Soul master of the Heaven Burning Sect immediately engaged in battle.
The two sides fought fiercely for seven days and seven nights, breaking mountains, cutting off rivers, and altering countless landscapes.
Ultimately, the Nascent Soul master of the Heavenly Seal Sect was slightly inferior in strength, severely injured, and managed to escape.
The morale of the Heaven Burning Sect cultivators soared, and under the leadership of their Nascent Soul master, they directly attacked and shattered the mountain protection formation, annihilating the main hall of the Heavenly Seal Sect!
Subsequently, the Heaven Burning Sect launched a massive invasion, completely occupying all the halls and strongholds wherever they passed.
The ordinary people, who worked by sunrise and rested by sunset, had no idea that the colossal entity looming over them had been completely replaced by an even larger one in just over ten days!