Chapter 44: Beast Spirit Sect

Inside the main hall, Ling Jie stood in place, a contemplative look in his eyes.

Even with the death of a Heaven-Spiritual Root disciple within the sect—an event of such magnitude—they were not permitted to go out and investigate. This was enough to demonstrate the extreme danger of this operation.

"Go and instruct the disciples outside: no one is allowed to leave the spirit mine!"

After Zi Ling spoke, she walked directly toward the rear of the hall.

Ling Jie bowed in salutation, then turned and left.

He knew clearly in his heart that Zi Ling must know the inside story.

Although both were inner sect disciples, there was a massive difference in their status.

He was merely an ordinary inner sect disciple.

Zi Ling, however, was a true chosen one of heaven, possessing a profound background.

Ling Jie understood that the reason Zi Ling had not revealed the truth was undoubtedly due to sect orders.

On the other side.

Zi Ling arrived at the back of the hall and sat quietly upon a spiritual chair.

Her gaze drifted toward the distance.

That direction was exactly where the distress signals from several spirit islands were coming from.

"The Beast Spirit Sect..."

Zi Ling murmured, her red lips parting slightly.

The Haoyuan Sea was vast and boundless.

Countless islands were scattered across it like stars in the sky.

Among them, five great powers stood at the pinnacle of this world.

No matter how many eons passed, these five powers continued to rule this realm, even controlling the life and death of the countless living beings throughout the entire Haoyuan Sea.

The five great powers were: the Thousand Water Spirit Control Sect, the Beast Spirit Sect, the Purple Cloud Sect, the Earth Fire Gate, and the Guiyuan Sword Sect.

Looking across this world, all five great powers were presided over by legendary Nascent Soul True Monarchs.

Among them, the Beast Spirit Sect was a major sect that bordered the Thousand Water Spirit Control Sect.

Because they shared a border, there was frequent friction between these two terrifying sects.

She had received a secret message from the sect instructing her not to leave the spirit mine.

This was because people from the Beast Spirit Sect would be launching ambushes outside.

As for why the Beast Spirit Sect would take the initiative to provoke a great war, she did not know the specific reason yet.

In the past, the friction between the two great sects had always been met with great restraint from both sides.

Even among inner sect disciples, they would never easily strike one another.

Most conflicts occurred between outer sect disciples.

After all, as the core strength of a sect, once inner sect disciples became involved, it could easily trigger an uncontrollable war.

In truth, Zi Ling deeply wished to support the sect disciples on the surrounding islands.

But she could not disobey the sect's orders.

The siege of the many spirit islands outside was a deliberate tactic employed by the Beast Spirit Sect.

Their goal was to lure out the personnel guarding the spirit mine on Huangyu Island.

Once they went out to provide support, they would certainly encounter ambushes. At that point, let alone supporting other islands, even the spirit mine on Huangyu Island would be difficult to defend.

"I hope the sect's reinforcements arrive quickly,"

Zi Ling's face showed a look of worry.

During this inspection of the spirit mine, they had discovered that the reserves of Clear Spirit Gold—the companion mineral found within the Grade 2 Blue Goldstone vein—were even larger than the sect had anticipated.

She had already transmitted this news back to the sect.

It wouldn't be long before the sect dispatched a Golden Core True Person.

She only hoped that the Golden Core Elders of the sect could arrive quickly, so as to reduce the casualties among the sect disciples on the external spirit islands.

Zi Ling sighed softly and shook her head, then walked briskly out of the hall toward the spirit mine tunnels.

The current danger had not yet passed; she had to remain vigilant.

***

White Jade Island.

Inside a pavilion.

Li Qing regained consciousness from his coma.

"The Immortal Master has awakened."

At that moment, a soft voice rang out.

A beautiful mortal woman was walking toward him, carrying a bowl of spiritual tea.

"Immortal Master, please have some tea!"

"This servant will go notify Immortal Master Meng immediately..."

Li Qing took the tea and drank it in one gulp, then dismissed her.

The constant stinging pain in his body caused his brow to furrow.

"It seems the situation is not good."

Fortunately, his divine sense had recovered somewhat.

Li Qing began to carefully examine his own condition.

The result was as he expected: his physical injuries were very severe.

The meridians within his body had withered; fortunately, this was only caused by the exhaustion of magic power during the previous battle, and could be recovered through gradual recuperation.

However, the damage to his spiritual apertures was far too severe.

The twenty-four apertures he had already opened all showed cracks.

More critically, he could not practice immediately.

He needed to repair and nourish the spiritual apertures before he could practice the Thunder Spirit Manual.

Under these circumstances, unless he could use some special treasure to repair his body, he could only rely on the Blood Spirit Fish and Blood Replenishing Pills in his possession to slowly recover.

Li Qing's soul was also significantly damaged.

Currently, his divine sense range was only about twenty yards, less than half of its peak state.

"Wei Xuan."

A cold glint flashed in Li Qing's eyes.

This battle had been fraught with peril; a single mistake could have cost him his life at any moment.

For now, he could only pin his hopes on the spoils of war from Jue Hen and Jiao Yujian.

He had to see if the loot could compensate for his losses this time.

Li Qing slowly narrowed his eyes.

He began to slowly circulate the Water Control Manual within his body.

A moment later, the sound of footsteps approached from outside.

"Fellow Daoist Li."

"I wonder if it is convenient to enter now?"

Meng Kan's voice came from outside.

"Fellow Daoist Meng, please enter,"

Li Qing said weakly.

After the door opened, Meng Kan and three others entered the room.

"It is currently inconvenient for me to perform formal salutations to you all."

"Please, sit,"

Li Qing bowed to them from his jade bed.

"Not at all, we feel deeply ashamed for disturbing Fellow Daoist Li's recuperation!"

Meng Kan bowed and said hurriedly.

Looking at Li Qing's still-pale face, a look of embarrassment appeared on Meng Kan's face.

It was primarily because Jiao Yujian's matter was too urgent for him to delay.

"Have you all come because of Senior Brother Jiao?"

Li Qing asked softly.

"Indeed,"

Meng Kan nodded in affirmation.

"We should not have disturbed Fellow Daoist Li's recovery at this time," Meng Kan continued sheepishly, "but as you know, Senior Brother Jiao's matter is of utmost importance, and we did not dare to delay!"

"As soon as you fell unconscious, we immediately went to rescue him."

"But upon arriving at the location, we failed to find any trace of Senior Brother Jiao."

Meng Kan proceeded to recount the situation to Li Qing.

In fact, the four of them had conducted an investigation several hours later.

Unfortunately, they found nothing at the scene but the wreckage of a battle.

Aside from that, there were no other traces of Jiao Yujian.

Li Qing nodded slightly on the jade bed.

"At that time, I was following Senior Brother Jiao's arrangements..."

After concealing certain details, Li Qing told a half-truth about what had happened.

He claimed a group of men in black had launched a sudden attack, that he had been rescued by Jiao Yujian after being injured, and that Jiao Yujian had then ordered him to flee and seek help.

The group believed Li Qing's words without suspicion.

Mainly because Li Qing's physical injuries appeared so authentic that there was nothing to doubt.

"Do you know who these people were?"

(End of Chapter)