An ordinary day.
Su Qianqian was still instructing Luo Siqian and Su Nuonuo in their cultivation, gently tapping the absent-minded Su Nuonuo’s head.
Time flowed peacefully, as if tranquility could still last forever…
But all of a sudden, Su Qianqian sensed that the sect seemed to have entered some kind of emergency state.
She noticed that all the Peak Masters and Elders were rushing toward the main peak!
Su Qianqian frowned. Had something happened?
“Chu Youtong, help me watch over the two children. I’m going to see what’s going on.”
As Su Qianqian’s words fell, Chu Youtong, who had been watching in the shadows, revealed herself and folded her arms in a somewhat sulky manner:
“Now you remember me? Just a few days ago you had me strung up and beaten, and now you want me to play nanny?”
“Chu Youtong, I trust you. Sorry to trouble you.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Su Qianqian flew off on her sword toward the main peak! Chu Youtong and the two children were left staring at one another.
“Trust me, huh… Heh, is this how you think of a Saintess from the Demon Sect?” Chu Youtong’s lips curled up.
“Alright, children, come here to Sister You~”
Su Qianqian arrived at the Residence and saw Lin Muxue and all the Peak Masters and Elders wearing grave expressions.
Lin Muxue saw Su Qianqian arrive and nodded slightly, but now was not the time for warmth—she had to make decisions and plans as the Sect Leader.
“The seal of the Demon Suppressing Cave suddenly broke. Prison Suppressing Buddha Sect suffered heavy losses in a short time. They used the last of their strength to activate the contingency plan left long ago, using the full heritage of their sect and the lives of several abbots to temporarily trap the Demon Clan—but it can only last three hours.”
“There’s no time to mourn our Buddhist friends now. We must send out enough strength as soon as possible to reinforce the seal before it breaks, or else the surroundings will be plunged into endless suffering!”
“And, as for methods to repair the seal, I remember there are still records preserved deep in the Book Repository. Peak Master Lin, you should be familiar with them by now, right?”
“Naturally. To become the Peak Master of Jiang Peak, mastering those techniques is part of the inheritance.”
Lin Muxue nodded and continued,
“Our Ancestor attained enlightenment in the struggle against the Demon Clan. In fact, our sword techniques were originally developed largely to fight the demons. Now, we must not shame the name of our Ancestor!”
“Within the sect, dispatch half of the Nascent Soul Stage and Golden Core Stage elite Elders and disciples. I will personally lead the team, and together with our fellow sects, we shall let the Sword Protect All Living Beings!”
“Sword Protects All Living Beings!”
Lin Muxue then ordered the other Peak Masters to return and quickly assemble their disciples, while she sent a voice transmission into the Transmission Hall:
“Master, while I’m gone, I’ll trouble you to oversee everything.”
“Go. Leave the rear to me, and… don’t be reckless.”
“Mm…”
With the arrangements complete, Lin Muxue also went off to make preparations.
Just then, Su Qianqian approached and asked worriedly, “The seal of the Demon Suppressing Cave broke?! This mission is dangerous. We need to prepare carefully. When do we depart? I need to arrange things for Nuonuo and Siqian first…”
“Qianqian, you’re to stay in the sect.” Lin Muxue spoke directly.
“What? But with something like this, as Senior Sister, how can I not go? I can’t let only the Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters face this. I should take the lead and rally them!”
“You’re only the Senior Sister of your cohort. Except for Su Lingling, the other disciples from your batch are at most at late Foundation Establishment Stage. You’re to stay in the sect with them.”
Then, Lin Muxue crouched down to look Su Qianqian in the eyes, her expression stern.
“And… I don’t want you involved in dangerous matters anymore. This is my selfish wish, and the sect’s as well. Your future is limitless. You can’t throw it away for something like this. Leave it to us—just wait for me to return inside the sect.”
“But… Then be careful. Everyone must be careful.”
“Mm.” Lin Muxue smiled softly again and ruffled Su Qianqian’s hair, then flew away without looking back.
In truth, Lin Muxue still bore some scars in her heart. Last time she left the sect and Su Qianqian, Su Qianqian was abducted.
That made Lin Muxue subconsciously reluctant to leave Su Qianqian’s side.
But now wasn’t the time to care about such things. She couldn’t turn a blind eye to a calamity that would lay waste to countless lives, and Su Qianqian was much safer within the sect…
Not long after, everyone was fully prepared and arrayed themselves on the enormous Immortal Shuttle.
As the Immortal Shuttle swiftly vanished from sight, countless disciples who didn’t know the details began to discuss it among themselves.
Though they were unclear on the specifics, they knew the sect was off to subdue monsters and demons, to uphold the Dao!
“So cool! I’ll definitely become one of them someday. I want to rid the world of evil too!” Some unknown disciple voiced their ambition.
Of course, some disciples were also deeply worried. Although they didn’t know what kind of power the enemy possessed, the current commotion meant it was bound to be formidable, which also meant the losses would not be small…
“May all the Senior Brothers, Senior Sisters, Masters, and Aunts return safely…”
Watching Lin Muxue’s distant figure, Su Qianqian was full of worry.
In her previous life she had been a rogue cultivator, but well-read, with some knowledge of the Demon Suppressing Cave.
The Demon Clan that once plunged all races of the world into a struggle for survival ten thousand years ago—its true nature was now unknown, but it was certainly extremely dangerous!
“Trust in Muxue’s strength. Trust in Muxue’s strength. I’ve never met anyone stronger than her. She’ll be fine as long as she doesn’t act recklessly—there’s no one in the world who can stop her!” Su Qianqian tried to comfort herself with such thoughts…
But as she worried over Lin Muxue, she didn’t know that a crisis aimed at herself was already silently approaching…
Elsewhere, Luo Wuhen was still running herself ragged over domestic matters when she too received the news of the Demon Suppressing Cave’s seal breaking.
She massaged her temples helplessly. How could so many troublesome things happen in such a short time!
Under normal circumstances, she would definitely lead troops to reinforce them, but now her country was plagued by a horde of “rebels” and all sorts of problems. She really couldn’t act rashly at this time.
Suddenly, a thought struck her. Wait… How could so many things happen in such a short time…
Was it just coincidence? The Abyssal Force had leaked into the world, and now the Demon Suppressing Cave’s seal had failed.
Both were extremely low-probability events, yet they happened at the same time.
If both events happened simultaneously, one had to consider their connection!
“Could the Demon Suppressing Cave’s seal have been sabotaged by those who were corrupted? For them, it’s not impossible. If they managed to corrupt one of the Prison Suppressing Buddha Sect’s abbots, then using their bizarre powers, they could very well destroy the formation.”
Luo Wuhen followed this line of thought further.
“If that’s the case, then what is their real plan?”
“We’ve already uncovered quite a bit. First, their goal is to destroy the world. Different corrupted ones have different reasons for wanting destruction, but it’s likely their inner desires are being pushed toward annihilation by some influence. Either way, their ultimate aim—destroying the world and all living things—will not change.”
“Then this all makes sense. Unleashing the Demon Clan would create chaos and help them achieve their goal. But I still feel this isn’t all… That meeting must have been important.”
Luo Wuhen quieted her mind and sensed: many of the corrupted were beginning to gather. She couldn’t pinpoint the exact place, but she could confirm two directions…
One direction was, most likely, the Demon Suppressing Cave. As expected, there was a strong connection—perhaps the cave’s anomaly was their action signal.
The other direction…
Luo Wuhen’s heart began to race. That direction was too coincidental—it was where Sword Sect was! By now, that Lin Muxue must have led a team to deal with the escaped demons. Sword Sect’s defenses would be much thinner. If the corrupted were converging on Sword Sect—
A chilling realization struck Luo Wuhen:
“If their ultimate goal isn’t the Demon Clan in the cave, but to tie down Sword Sect’s main force and target something within Sword Sect itself…”
From Luo Wuhen’s point of view, Sword Sect’s two most precious people were her daughter and Su Qianqian! And those people’s target was probably Su Qianqian!
Even if it wasn’t her two dearest, as long as the target was Sword Sect, they would inevitably be in danger!
With this thought, Luo Wuhen no longer cared about being exposed and immediately darted toward Sword Sect’s direction.
As she rushed, she contacted Shun and Ying, instructing them to pass the message to Lin Muxue—warn her not to act recklessly!
Unfortunately, her warning was too late…