CHAPTER 35: SURPRISE OF THE CLAN ELDERS

Throughout the city, all the Moon Shadow Cult members received the same command.

They disengaged from their fights and began fleeing in all directions like shadows dispersing at dawn.

Within minutes, the coordinated attack was over. The cult had withdrawn, taking the Crimson Soul Orb but leaving behind the broken formation and many of their fallen members.

Xian Tiandi stood in the plaza, breathing heavily. Exhaustion weighed on him now that the adrenaline was fading.

He had used multiple trump cards and a completely experimental technique. The victory had been hard-won.

But it was a victory nonetheless. Hundreds of civilians had been saved. The ritual had failed.

Footsteps approached from multiple directions. Zhou Kang appeared first, covered in blood but walking steadily. Behind him came Xian Long, who was also bloodied but had an expression of fierce satisfaction on his young face.

"Big Brother!" Xian Long called out, running over. "Are you alright?"

"I’m fine," Xian Tiandi replied, managing a small smile. "You fought well."

"I killed two of them!" Xian Long said proudly, then immediately looked concerned. "Are you hurt? You look tired."

Zhou Kang approached more slowly, his red eyes assessing Xian Tiandi’s condition. "You fought Golden Core cultivators," he stated. It wasn’t a question.

"Something like that," Xian Tiandi replied vaguely.

Elder Feng and Elder Qiu arrived next, moving with the speed of Golden Core experts. Both were uninjured but looked grim.

"The enemy Golden Core cultivators fled," Elder Feng reported. "We managed to wound one severely, but the other two escaped." His eyes fell on the broken formation and then on Xian Tiandi. "You... defeated three Golden Core cultivators? How is that possible?"

Xian Tiandi maintained his calm expression despite his exhaustion. "I got lucky," he said evenly. "It appears their evil technique backfired and weakened them significantly. I simply took advantage of their vulnerable state."

It was a plausible explanation. Evil cultivation techniques were known to have dangerous side effects, especially when interrupted.

The elders seemed to accept this reasoning, though they still looked at Xian Tiandi with newfound respect.

Even if Golden Core Cultivators become weakened, they are still as strong as powerful foundation establishment realm cultivators.

With the young Master having just broken through to the Qi Condension Realm and defeating foes like that, it goes to show how much of a genius he was.

Ying Yue suddenly burst into the plaza, having left the protected room once the fighting stopped. Xiao Ming clung to her as she ran toward Xian Tiandi.

"Young Master!" she cried out, her voice filled with worry. "Are you hurt?"

She reached him and immediately began checking him over for injuries, her hands moving across his arms and shoulders with gentle urgency. Behind her veil, her eyes were wide with concern.

"I’m not injured," Xian Tiandi assured her. "Just tired."

But Ying Yue didn’t seem convinced. She fussed over him, insisting he sit down, offering him water and pills from her bag. Her worry was obvious and genuine.

Xian Long watched this interaction with bright eyes. "Big Brother is invincible!" he declared loudly. "He defeated so many enemies!"

City guards finally arrived in force, flooding into the plaza. They were late—the battle was already over. But they immediately began helping the rescued civilians and securing the area.

The guard captain, a gruff man with a scar across his face, approached Xian Tiandi’s group. When he learned they were the ones who had stopped the cult’s ritual, his expression transformed into deep gratitude.

"Thank you," he said, bowing deeply. "You saved hundreds of lives tonight. Bluestone City is forever in your debt."

Xian Tiandi nodded in acknowledgment but said little. He was more interested in examining the remnants of the formation.

He walked over to the broken array, kneeling down to study the remaining intact portions. His fingers traced the blood-inscribed lines carefully. This formation was sophisticated—far more advanced than what the local Moon Shadow Cult branch should possess.

’Someone powerful designed this,’ he thought. ’This isn’t the work of mere Golden Core cultivators. There’s a higher power behind this operation.’

He pulled several formation flags from his storage ring and carefully extracted some of the intact formation fragments, storing them for later study. These remnants might provide valuable information about the cult’s methods and goals.

As he worked, his mind turned inward, analyzing what he had learned tonight.

’The Supreme Taming Dao... the theory works. I successfully tamed an abstract concept—the connection between cultivators and a formation. The principle is sound.’

But he was also aware of the technique’s limitations. It had cost tremendous Qi to maintain even for those few seconds.

Against stronger opponents or more complex formations, it might not work at all. The path ahead was long.

’Taming abstract concepts, not just physical entities,’ he thought. ’This path has limitless potential. But I’ve only scratched the surface. There’s so much more to explore and refine.’

He stood up, the formation fragments safely stored. The city was beginning to recover from the attack. Healers were tending to the injured. Guards were searching for any remaining cultists. The chaos was gradually settling into order.

Ying Yue appeared beside him again. "Young Master, you should rest. You’ve pushed yourself too hard tonight."

"I will," he agreed. "But first, we need to ensure the city is secure."

He spent the next hour coordinating with the city guards, helping them establish proper defensive measures in case the cult returned.

His knowledge from his past life proved invaluable—he knew exactly what kind of formations and patrols would be most effective against cult tactics.

Of course, it was nothing too outstanding, but this also revealed that he had the skills of a formation master.

Which shocked the Elders from the clan once more.

Finally, as the first hints of dawn began to appear on the horizon, the group returned to the Azure Cloud Inn.

The building had suffered some damage during the attack, but it was still standing and functional.

Xian Tiandi went to his room, sat on the bed, and entered meditation to recover his Qi. But before he fully dove into cultivation, he allowed himself a moment of reflection.

’The Moon Shadow Cult will return,’ he thought. ’They didn’t get what they wanted tonight. Their ritual was disrupted. They’ll try again, probably in a different location.’

’That’s not my problem to manage for now. I wonder what the Red Leaf Kingdom is doing about it.’