Chapter 497: Eastern Domain, War Erupts
Clang—
A phoenix cry pierced the sky, cutting through the clouds.
The brilliance of tens of thousands of flying swords surged from above the city walls, and the sounds of slaughter and spell explosions made heaven and earth seem to tremble.
A fire phoenix, wings spread, soared a thousand zhang high in the sky above Donghuang. After circling the city twice, it flew directly towards the deck of an immortal ship outside the city, landing on the outstretched right arm of Li Longling.
Ever since Dan Yue Shang Xian ordered the city to be purged, disciples from various sects in the Western Domain, following their elders, had poured into Donghuang to eliminate the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators within the city.
After the death of Kong Xiang Mo, the Ghost Spirit Sect had three remaining Deity Transformation Stage elders. Two were killed by elders and sect masters from various sects led by Lei Wan Jun, while the last one, having lost all his magical treasures and half his spiritual sense, fled.
The remaining demonic cultivators in the city were like candles in the wind, insignificant.
A personal guard beside Li Longling looked at the smoky ruins within the city and nodded, reporting, “Prefect, the clean-up should be completed in another two days.”
“Mm…”
Li Longling responded with a nod, but her face showed a hint of helplessness. She couldn’t quite believe it; an immortal city guarded by four Deity Transformation cultivators had been conquered by them in just five days.
And…
“Casualties?”
“About seven Nascent Soul Stage cultivators sustained minor injuries, and twelve Core Formation Stage cultivators perished.”
“Demonic cultivators?”
“So far, we have killed two Deity Transformation Stage elders and twenty-seven Nascent Soul Stage cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect, along with over 1,400 Core Formation Stage disciples. If we include Young Master Ye’s actions before we arrived, that number might increase by two to three thousand.”
Li Longling let out a soft sigh and couldn’t help but exclaim, “As expected of him, conquering an immortal city single-handedly.”
“Indeed, it’s also thanks to Young Master Ye; otherwise, who knows how many disciples we would have lost taking Donghuang…”
“I’d quite like to see him lead tens of thousands of immortal cultivators with a sword in hand.”
Li Longling smiled slightly, as if joking, “I even specially altered the armor left by my father so he could wear it. But Anping is elusive, alas… truly surprising.”
With that, Li Longling walked to a birdcage hanging nearby, took out a black hawk with sharp eyes, and retrieved a jade slip from her storage bag. She inscribed a message with spiritual energy, tied it to the hawk’s leg, and released it outside the railing, shaking her hand slightly.
“Southern Domain, Seven Star Pass.”
With her gentle voice, the hawk spread its wings and soared into the air, letting out a cry that spread for a hundred li. It then transformed into a black streak, rapidly flying towards the southeast.
The black hawk flew over a thousand li of yellow sand east of the Central Domain, passed through snow-capped plateaus and desolate plains abandoned for thousands of years, heading south. After a journey of seven days, it arrived above another immortal city.
This immortal city was named “Seven Star Pass,” located at the border between the Southern and Eastern Domains. Due to its special geographical location, demonic cultivators had set up numerous formations and spiritual artifacts here, with many Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation Stage demonic cultivators stationed year-round to prevent the immortal sects of the Southern Domain from invading the Eastern Domain.
However, when the black hawk reached the skies above Seven Star Pass, countless immortal sect immortal ships were already docked within the pass, and above them, a grand palace stood on a massive floating stone.
In a pavilion at a corner of the palace, Yun Yiyi, wearing the sect uniform of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect’s young mistress, looked at the jade slips presented by her disciples with a hint of distress on her face.
Unlike Donghuang, the conquest of Seven Star Pass in the Southern Domain came at a heavy price.
Her Moon Shadow Sword Sect alone had seven Nascent Soul Stage cultivators injured, and many disciples had suffered casualties. Even Yun Tianchong, in a battle with the sect master of the East Domain’s Blood Flame Sect, had his kidney pierced and was now recuperating in bed.
“Sigh… Just taking Seven Star Pass has resulted in this. If we were to enter the Eastern Domain, who knows how many people would die.”
Yun Yiyi couldn’t help but sigh.
Just then, with a *bang*, the door to her room was violently kicked open from the outside.
Yun Jiujiu, with a bandage wrapped around her forehead, walked in with a resentful look. She glanced around, her gaze falling upon Yun Xi, who was currently wrapped entirely in bandages on the bed within the room.
“…”
After staring at Yun Xi for a moment, Yun Jiujiu, with a look of disdain, walked up to Yun Yiyi, jumped onto her desk with small steps, and asked, “Big sis, what the hell were you thinking?! Why did you agree to let Yun Xi come along?!”
“To draw fire,” Yun Yiyi shrugged slightly. “Didn’t you notice how the demonic cultivators’ spells were all targeting her when we broke through the pass? It greatly relieved the pressure on the elders of the Taibai Sect.”
Hearing this, Yun Xi, lying on the bed, rolled her eyes, flipped over, and gave her elder sister a big glare.
Zhang Yihe, who was accompanying Yun Xi by the bedside and helping her focus with a wooden fish, quickly chimed in, “Third Miss, you are a great contributor!”
“…”
Yun Yiyi pouted with a hint of sadness. Her earlier words were actually a joke. During the attack on the city by the Southern Domain sects, she had specifically arranged for Yun Xi to travel on a Sword Sect immortal ship, hiding behind the ships of other sects.
The Taibai Sect was at the forefront. Upon seeing them, the demonic cultivators in Seven Star Pass immediately gathered tens of thousands of people and formed a collective malevolent art to counterattack.
Under normal circumstances, this first spell would be like the first arrow, mainly serving as a deterrent, not specifically aimed, and generally missing.
However, this first collective malevolent art of the battle directly selected the immortal ship Yun Xi was on from nearly a thousand immortal ships in the sky.
Fortunately, Yun Yiyi had made preparations for unforeseen circumstances, having other Moon Shadow Sword Sect disciples travel with her and Yun Jiujiu on a different immortal ship. That particular ship only had Yun Xi and Yun Tianchong on it; otherwise, the consequences would have been dire.
“Zhang Yihe, once Yun Xi has recovered a bit, escort her back to the Moon Shadow Sword Sect. After we go to the Eastern Domain, who knows what kind of messy things she might encounter.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a sound like a bird pecking at wood came from the direction of the room’s window.
Tap tap tap tap tap…
Yun Jiujiu jumped off the desk and went to the window to unlatch it.
Li Longling’s carrier pigeon used its hooked beak to push open the window, peeked inside, and then flew onto Yun Yiyi’s desk, lifting the jade slip tied to its leg.
“A message from Prefect Li… It should be about the situation in Donghuang.”
Yun Yiyi pursed her lips slightly, reached out, took the jade slip, and read it with her spiritual sense.
Yun Jiujiu also quickly ran over, raising an eyebrow curiously.
“…How are they over there?”
“They took Donghuang in five days with almost no casualties…”
“Huh?!”
“The Ghost Spirit Sect lost three late-stage Deity Transformation cultivators, including the Grand Elder… As for the immortal cultivators, only a few Nascent Soul Stage cultivators suffered minor injuries, and twelve Core Formation cultivators perished.”
Yun Jiujiu was stunned. “Is that true?”
“Most likely,” Yun Yiyi said, shrugging slightly as if not surprised. “After all, Anping was there. With him, taking Donghuang was bound to be smooth sailing.”
“…”
Yun Yiyi’s eyes showed a hint of admiration.
“It’s just a pity that Anping cannot be in multiple places at once. Otherwise, our Southern Domain wouldn’t have suffered such heavy casualties. Even the Hantian Kingdom in the Northern Region fared better than us.”
This Eastern Expedition by the immortal families was a joint effort by the immortal sects of the Western, Southern, and Northern Domains. The first step was to conquer the three immortal cities bordering the Eastern Domain: “Donghuang,” “Seven Star,” and “Bei Han.”
The immortal families currently knew very little about the situation in the Eastern Domain. The geographical map of the Eastern Domain they held was an old one from the previous war between immortal families and demonic cultivators.
Moreover, thousands of years had passed, and no one could clearly describe the current state of the Eastern Domain.
Therefore, what the immortal families needed to do now was use the three immortal cities as strongholds and send disciples into the Eastern Domain from three directions to investigate, advancing step by step, and gathering as much information as possible about the Eastern Domain.
In other words, they needed a lot of immortal family cannon fodder to act as vanguards in the Eastern Domain.
Before the situation in the Eastern Domain was clarified, Dan Yue Shang Xian, Sun Juehu, and Taishang Wusun would not dare to enter directly. If any one of them were to fall into an ambush or trap, the immortal families would be defeated.
Yun Yiyi had not experienced the previous great war, but she had read through all the ancient texts in the Sword Sect’s library in recent days.
In the previous great war, it took the immortal families nearly sixty years to clarify the situation of the demonic cultivators.
How long it would take this time was unpredictable.
However, there was no doubt that the next step was a contest of patience with the demonic cultivators.
Thinking of this, Yun Yiyi suddenly felt a wave of pressure. After all, she was now the young mistress of the Sword Sect, and her father would surely head into the Eastern Domain to fight the demonic cultivators. This meant she would have to lead the Sword Sect disciples within Seven Star City.
She really wished she could relieve some of this pressure, but unfortunately, Ye Anping wasn’t here…
“Sigh…”
Yun Yiyi sighed softly and asked, “Jiujiu, I definitely have to stay in Seven Star City. How about you…”
“Don’t worry~” Yun Jiujiu waved her hand. “I’m not the type to sit behind and strategize. Besides, I’m a Nascent Soul cultivator now, so I’ll definitely be leading the Sword Sect disciples into the Eastern Domain.”
Yun Yiyi frowned slightly, seeing her like this.
However, seeing her elder sister’s troubled expression, Yun Jiujiu grinned and asked, “What’s wrong? Worried about me?”
“I only have two younger sisters. One committed a heavenly infraction and is undergoing eighty-one trials in her past life, and the other is carefree and only knows how to drink. How can I not worry?”
“Hey!” Yun Jiujiu laughed heartily, patting Yun Yiyi’s shoulder. “Didn’t you used to wish I’d die, sis?”
“…”
“Don’t worry! I promise to come back alive. Didn’t I come back alive last time in Donghuang, even in that state?”
Yun Jiujiu grabbed her wine gourd, took a big gulp, and said, “Besides, heroes emerge in times of chaos! Wasn’t our grandfather famous during the war between immortal families and demonic cultivators? Who knows, maybe I’ll make a name for myself! I’ve even thought of my title! ‘Wine Sword Shang Xian’!”
“You’d better be more careful. Sigh…”
“Alright, alright, why the sigh… You sound like a nagging old woman.” Yun Jiujiu pouted and offered her wine gourd, “Want some?”
Yun Yiyi didn’t usually drink much, but seeing Yun Jiujiu offer it, she accepted and took a swig.
Gulp gulp…
“Haa…” Yun Yiyi wiped her mouth with her sleeve and cautioned, “Be careful with everything, proceed cautiously, and don’t be as careless as usual.”
“Got it, nagging old lady! We were supposed to have one Nascent Soul cultivator leading five Core Formation cultivators, right?”
“Yes, a team of six. The best ones will split up and venture into the Eastern Domain.”
“Alright! Then I’ll go gather the people…”
“Gather people for what?!” Yun Yiyi was startled, frowning and interrupting. “You first completely recover from the injury on your head, you hear me!!”
“It’s nothing! Just a minor injury…”
Yun Jiujiu pouted, took back her wine gourd, and hurried out.
Yun Yiyi stood up and shouted after her, “Hey! Jiujiu! Come back!!”
“…”
Unfortunately, by the time Yun Yiyi chased after her, Yun Jiujiu had already vanished.
She looked at the Sword Sect disciples standing guard in the corridor and sighed slightly before returning to her desk, her gaze falling upon a geographical map in the center of the pavilion.
Yun Yiyi wondered if Ye Anping knew about the situation in the Eastern Domain, he should have told her what he knew. But up until now, Ye Anping hadn’t said anything to her.
She didn’t think Ye Anping was unwilling to share what he knew.
Therefore, Yun Yiyi guessed that the reason Ye Anping hadn’t told her was simply because he didn’t want her to become a target for those demonic cultivator spies.
In other words, there were likely still quite a few demonic cultivator spies within the immortal families.
“In any case, apart from Yun Xi, Jiujiu, and my father, everyone else should be on guard.”
Yun Yiyi murmured, and her gaze unconsciously drifted towards Zhang Yihe, who was by the bedside tapping a wooden fish.
Tap tap tap…
“Blessings, blessings~ May Third Miss gain what she desires!! Blessings!!”
Yun Xi, with a somewhat lifeless expression, said in a faint, weak voice, “Zhang… Shut up.”
“Oh~~”
Tap… Tap… Tap…
Yun Yiyi sighed. Although she had felt that Zhang Yihe was unusual before, she didn’t think he was a demonic cultivator spy.
If Zhang Yihe were a bad person, Ye Anping would have definitely warned her.
Yun Yiyi shook her head slightly and returned to her desk to sit down, continuing to handle the Sword Sect’s affairs.
…
