CHAPTER 122: CHAPTER 120: CAO WENJIN’S DECISION

Red Tiger Mountain Oasis.

When Zhouyang sliced through the pouch space inside the "Earth Dragon Worm" with his sword, a large amount of acid poured out from the gash. The "Earth Dragon Worm," which had been greedily devouring mud and stone, immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, and its massive body quickly shriveled up.

In no time, this enormous demon beast, with a body length of nearly eighty yards, was left with less than twenty meters of its form remaining on the ground.

"Indeed, the legends are true; the ’Earth Dragon Worm’ does possess a divine technique for survival, akin to the ’Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell’!"

Underground, Zhouyang looked down at the less than twenty-meter-long body of the "Earth Dragon Worm" at his feet, his face full of regret.

When he sliced through the pouch space inside the "Earth Dragon Worm" with his sword, it caused the beast severe, unhealable injuries. With a bit more effort, defeating it wouldn’t have been difficult!

Unfortunately, upon sensing the threat of death, the "Earth Dragon Worm" resolutely used its divine technique "Tail-Breaking Escape," abandoning part of its body to flee underground.

In these depths, trying to pursue the escaping "Earth Dragon Worm" was futile, especially for Zhouyang, who had restored his magical power using the Demonic Secret Technique. Even a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator might not stop it if it was determined to escape.

However, the "Tail-Breaking Escape" does come at a price. Although the "Earth Dragon Worm" managed to escape with its life, its cultivation dropped by two levels, downgrading to Tier Three Lower Grade. It remains uncertain whether it will ever reach adulthood.

Even though Zhouyang didn’t capture the extremely rare Tier Three High-Grade demon beast "Earth Dragon Worm," he did obtain a portion of its body, so it wasn’t a total loss.

Although only a portion of the "Earth Dragon Worm’s" body, it’s still larger than many Tier Three demon beasts, barely compensating for the losses incurred from performing the "Blood Boiling Technique."

The demon beast’s body was too large for any of Zhouyang’s storage bags to contain wholly. Therefore, he had to maintain the "Blood Boiling Technique" a bit longer, slicing the corpse into several segments with his flying sword to fit into multiple storage bags.

After completing this, Zhouyang swiftly moved from the underground to the surface.

Without pausing to check his location, he hurriedly retrieved from his storage bag a Tier Two High-grade Array "Small Five Elements Maze Array," which he set up on the spot. Then, he sat down and cast a spell to disperse the effects of the "Blood Boiling Technique."

Puff!

As soon as the "Blood Boiling Technique" was dispelled, Zhouyang spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. His face, previously flushed with blood-red hue, instantly lost all color, becoming paler than snow.

Yet, that wasn’t the worst of it. Zhouyang quickly realized that numerous tiny blood vessels inside his body had ruptured, causing internal bleeding, and even his meridians exhibited faint cracks!

If such conditions aren’t managed appropriately, they could leave him with unhealable internal injuries, completely halting any future progress in his cultivation!

This discovery made Zhouyang’s face turn extremely grim.

Had he known the severe consequences of using the "Blood Boiling Technique," he might still have used the Demonic Secret Technique to save himself but definitely wouldn’t have maintained its effects after escaping to handle the spoils.

Regretting this now is pointless for him, and he had no choice but to accept the harsh reality.

He silently took out some healing elixirs from his storage bag and consumed them, channeling his cultivation technique to refine the elixir’s power and heal his injuries.

However, the healing elixirs he possessed were only Tier Two grade, with limited effectiveness for someone at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Fully recovering optimistically could still take several years.

While Zhouyang hid to heal, two "Golden-winged Thunder Eagles," realizing they couldn’t break the Mountain Protection Array of Red Tiger Mountain, began frantically attacking every visible human cultivator on the oasis, even the mortal families Yellow Sand Sect had relocated there.

This drove Cao Wenjin of the Yellow Sand Sect to action.

While he could disregard the attack on Red Tiger Mountain, he absolutely couldn’t tolerate these beasts slaughtering mortals!

It’s not that Yellow Sand Sect couldn’t afford the loss of hundreds of thousands of mortals at Red Tiger Mountain Oasis. What couldn’t happen was setting a precedent. Once established, cultivators like Zhang Yunpeng, who climbed from ordinary mortal families, might lose faith in the sect.

Those cultivators, originating from mortal families, accounted for nearly half of the Yellow Sand Sect disciples and were the most loyal and reliable.

If Cao Wenjin had to choose, he’d prefer battling the Tier Five demon beast "Golden-winged Thunder Eagle" from the Broken Cloud Mountain Range, rather than erode the trust of the sect’s loyal followers.

Thus, Jiang Ming, a Second-Layer Golden Core Cultivator of the Yellow Sand Sect, who had returned not long ago from the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, was once again tasked with heading to Red Tiger Mountain, the spirit mountain he had previously helped establish.

Upon arriving, Jiang Ming, a Second-Layer Golden Core Cultivator, merely released the aura of a Golden Core Stage cultivator from afar, causing the two "Golden-winged Thunder Eagles" to flee the oasis range like startled birds.

However, what surprised both Cao Wenjin and Jiang Ming was that while the "Golden-winged Thunder Eagles" were intimidated by Jiang Ming’s aura at the Golden Core Stage and fled the oasis, they lingered around the oasis instead of showing signs of returning to the Broken Cloud Mountain Range.

"What’s going on? Have these creatures truly gone mad, or is there something in the oasis attracting them?"

The two Golden Core Ancestors of Yellow Sand Sect were bewildered. The abnormal behavior of the "Golden-winged Thunder Eagles" increasingly complicated the situation, making it harder to understand.

No choice, faced with these two "Golden-winged Thunder Eagles" that couldn’t be killed or driven away, the two Golden Core cultivators of the Yellow Sand Sect had to continue letting Jiang Ming maintain his presence at Red Tiger Mountain to intimidate the two "Golden-winged Thunder Eagles," while secretly investigating the storage bags of all cultivators on Red Tiger Mountain and the entire Spirit Mountain, to find what exactly was attracting these two "Golden-winged Thunder Eagles."

However, at this moment, the demon cultivators, silent for some time, appeared once again.

This time, the victim of the demon cultivators’ vile acts was another Foundation Establishment clan, precisely the renowned Liu Family of Chixia Mountain in the Baisha River Oasis Cultivation Realm.

The Liu Family originally had several Foundation Establishment cultivators, and during the exchange meetings at Baisha River Oasis, they lured three Foundation Establishment loose cultivators to become honored guest elders of their clan, jointly guarding the clan’s Spirit Mountain, Chixia Mountain.

Yet, despite having up to seven Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding, Chixia Mountain quickly fell under the attack of demon cultivators. By the time the Chen Family Ancestor stationed at Baisha River Oasis arrived with reinforcements at Chixia Mountain, the once picturesque Chixia Mountain had been stained red with the blood of hundreds of Liu clan cultivators and countless mortals.

A powerful clan with a legacy of six to seven hundred years was annihilated overnight!

"Don’t stop me, I must see Elder Cao and Elder Jiang. I must ask both ancestors, why we, the Yellow Sand Sect, as the hegemon of the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm, cannot even deal with a few Purple Mansion demon cultivators?"

"Our Liu Family has served the Yellow Sand Sect faithfully for hundreds of years, across eighteen generations, with every generation sending at least ten Liu Family members to join the Yellow Sand Sect and serve the sect. Throughout, over three hundred Liu Family members sacrificed their lives for the sect, and the tribute resources paid to the sect total more than thirty thousand spirit stones..."

"As a disciple, I boldly ask both ancestors, why does my Liu Family, which has diligently served the sect for hundreds of years, face the complete annihilation of our clan? If the sect cannot even protect vassal clans, how can it demand vassal clans to submit and pay tribute to the sect?"

"Please, both ancestors, answer my question! Please, sect, give an explanation to me and the Liu Family!"

Outside Cao Wenjin’s cave abode, Liu Zhitao, the only remaining Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Liu Family from Chixia Mountain, knelt down at the entrance of the cave abode, his face full of grief and anger, as he lamented bitterly.

Behind him, Hall Master Guo Shuyun of the Yellow Sand Sect Ministry Hall and twenty to thirty Purple Mansion and Foundation Establishment cultivators within the mountain gate watched this scene, their eyes showing both admiration and regret.

Liu Zhitao’s courage was undoubtedly admirable, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he dared to question the sect’s top Golden Core Ancestor, a courage unmatched in the entire Yellow Sand Sect.

But his action of challenging authority akin to palace coup seriously violated the sect’s rules. Even though he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he would certainly face severe punishment according to sect rules afterward.

Inside the cave abode, Cao Wenjin listened to Liu Zhitao’s sorrowful cries outside, his face turned as dark as charcoal.

He had cultivated for over eight hundred years, and since opening the Purple Mansion six hundred years ago, it was the first time he had been questioned so rudely by a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Under normal circumstances, not to mention Foundation Establishment cultivators, even if a Purple Mansion cultivator dared to question him like this, he would have slapped them dead on the spot.

But now he couldn’t do that. The Yellow Sand Sect was facing an unprecedented crisis of a thousand years, and the entire sect, including all cultivators in the Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm, were watching him.

If he rashly slapped Liu Zhitao dead outside, it might vent his anger, but it would also fulfill the wishes of those demon cultivators, causing many cultivation clans aligned with Liu Zhitao to distance themselves from the Yellow Sand Sect, ultimately driving these original allies and followers into the enemy camp.

"Regarding this matter, the sect will handle it. The Foundation Establishment cultivators lost by the Liu Family will be compensated with Foundation Establishment Pills by the sect, and the sect will certainly avenge the Liu Family’s annihilation!"

"I cannot guarantee the safety of every clan affiliated with the sect, but I can guarantee here that if any clan loses Foundation Establishment cultivators due to resisting demon cultivators, the sect will compensate the surviving members of their clan with the corresponding number of Foundation Establishment Pills free of charge, and assist the surviving members in rebuilding the clan!"

"Would my handling of this be satisfactory to you?"

Above the mountain gate of the Yellow Sand Sect, the heavens suddenly changed color, and Cao Wenjin sat solemnly within the cave abode, his lips slightly parted. The words he spoke instantaneously exploded like thunder in the ears of all cultivators within the mountain gate.

"Disciple, satisfied!"

Outside the cave abode, Liu Zhitao heard the thunderous words, and a genuine smile appeared on his face.

The words spoken by a Golden Core cultivator carried supreme authority; given Cao Wenjin’s identity and status, once he uttered those words, they were impossible to retract without facing insurmountable consequences.

Then, he turned to look at fellow sect members like Guo Shuyun behind him, grinned, and said, "It’s a great fortune to be fellow sect members with all of you; if there’s truly reincarnation, I wish to join the Yellow Sand Sect again in the next life for cultivation!"

After speaking, he shifted his gaze, fiercely staring back at the cave abode of Cao Wenjin, and shouted loudly, "Disciple Liu Zhitao, challenged authority, offended the ancestor, willing to accept punishment!"

With that, he unleashed all his magical power, directly shattering his dantian, meridians, and heart.

"Alas! Why do this!"

Guo Shuyun sighed deeply, then bowed to Liu Zhitao’s corpse on the ground and left the scene.

Other cultivators witnessed this, and one by one, shook their heads in lament, bowed silently, and descended the mountain.

Once everyone had left, a thunderbolt suddenly descended from the sky, instantly reducing Liu Zhitao’s corpse on the ground to ashes.