Chapter 1659: Formidable Enemies Arrive Suddenly

Just as the two were about to start a real fight, Yan Longzi from the nearby Old Monarch Peak sensed the disturbance and hurried over. Although he was no longer the Sect Master, his prestige remained. He scolded them both. After hearing Wang Tian’s story, he gave Wei Chituo a harsh lecture. Facing this fellow disciple from the same generation as Wei Zhongran, Wei Chituo could only nod like a chicken pecking grain, agreeing repeatedly.

Yan Longzi found such people a headache. He had served three generations of Little Bamboo Peak, but what could he do since he had reached the Nascent Soul stage so late? Wei Zhongran and Mo Qing were already searching for nodes, while he was still guarding the sect with Wang Tian and the others. He truly wanted to ascend early. But he had reached the Nascent Soul stage even later than Zhao Min. It looked like Li Wuyi would be looking for nodes soon if nothing went wrong. Li Wuyi only stayed because he wanted to see Miao Wangqing reach the Nascent Soul stage first.

As they were talking, several people looked toward the mountain gate. Within the hall, Wei Zhongran’s figure blurred, and he was the first to take to the air, vanishing in an instant. Then, Zhao Min, Gong Chenying, and Li Wuyi flew high. These three were the strongest among the remaining group.

Simultaneously, an invisible power suddenly covered the Ghost-Severing Sect. No one below the Nascent Soul stage could sense this power. At that moment, in a spirit-plant garden, Yu Xiaofan had a spirit fruit in his mouth and was watering the plants with a ladle, humming a tune under his breath. Suddenly, his expression changed drastically, and he looked up at the sky.

‘Such a massive spatial prison. Who has come?’ he thought.

At the same time, he sensed six figures appearing at the mountain gate. Three of them were remarkably Spirit Transformation powerhouses. Their Divine Senses were sweeping into the Ghost-Severing Sect without restraint. Yu Xiaofan was shocked; he didn’t recognize any of them.

‘They aren’t cultivators from the Barren Moon Continent. When did they enter? Why didn’t I sense them at all?’ He felt that Spirit Transformation cultivators had become far too common lately, with so many appearing at once. A terrible premonition rose in his heart.

Such a large group of strange experts arriving and immediately sealing the sect could not mean anything good. The most critical issue was that the other Spirit Transformation cultivators of the Barren Moon Continent knew nothing. Only he was here; Su Changyang had been gone for years, searching for an ascension node.

At the mountain gate, everyone—whether they were patrolling or flying in and out—was suddenly frozen in the air. Their postures varied, and the expressions on their faces remained as they had been a moment before.

“Who are you? Why have you come to my Ghost-Severing Sect?” Wei Zhongran’s voice echoed across the land. But inwardly, he was stunned. He sensed three Spirit Transformation cultivators, and the remaining three were all late-stage Nascent Soul experts.

Wei Zhongran and the others arrived at the gate in a flash. Simultaneously, many more figures arrived. Mo Qing, Yan Longzi, Li Yuyin, the meditating Chu Weili, Li Wuyi, Baili Yuan, Du Sanjiang, and others appeared. Beside Zhao Min and Gong Chenying stood the two beasts. All the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Ghost-Severing Sect had gathered outside the gate.

They all felt the seal on the area, and each had their own thoughts. But one common realization was that the enemy was far too strong. They had sealed the entire sect in an instant. Did they intend to destroy the sect without alerting the outside world?

As Wei Zhongran asked his question, the six people in the air were exchanging secret transmissions.

“I don’t see the person from the jade slip.”

“Is he in seclusion or away?”

“There are quite a few Nascent Soul cultivators here…”

Seeing the six ignore him, Wei Zhongran and Mo Qing looked at each other. These people were far too strange.

“Fellow Daoists, you have sealed our sect. Do you seek a life-and-death struggle with us?” Mo Qing asked. The Ghost-Severing Sect had stood on the Barren Moon Continent for ages. They had faced many disasters but had always overcome them.

While one side questioned and the other discussed why the target wasn’t there, a voice reached the hearts of the six intruders.

“No need for words. Capture all the Nascent Soul cultivators immediately. There is only one Spirit Transformation cultivator here; it would be best if you capture him alive as well. Try not to kill them if possible. We will search their souls one by one!”

The grey-robed elder was hiding in the air. He frowned. Li Yan was not here. However, based on the information he had gathered, several people here were Li Yan’s closest kin. The Ghost-Severing Sect had intentionally hidden news of Li Yan, and the low-level disciples certainly wouldn’t know where the mysterious ancestor was.

The elder didn’t want to kill the sect’s cultivators; he only wanted to find Li Yan and confirm the information in his memory. He would search every Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation cultivator to see if anyone knew about the Five Immortals Sect. If someone did, he wouldn’t be merciful. Otherwise, he would wipe their memories of today afterward. As for the disciples frozen in the air or the low-level ones in the sect, their thinking had already stopped. When they woke up, they would only feel a momentary daze.

After Mo Qing asked, the six people glanced at them. Some eyes flashed with light, while others’ lips curled into a sneer. Just as Mo Qing felt a chill, the figures of the six blurred.

“Kill them with all your might! None of them are from the Barren Moon Continent!” Almost simultaneously, an old voice rang out. From the back of the Ghost-Severing Sect, a powerful aura surged toward the heavens. An elder appeared, looking exactly like Gu Jiuqi from Little Bamboo Peak.

He had dropped Yu Xiaofan’s disguise and returned to his form as Gu Jiuqi. In truth, that wasn’t his original appearance either. Now that the enemy had acted to seal the sect, he knew there was no point in talking. Their goal was clear: they likely wanted to wipe out the Ghost-Severing Sect. He returned to this form because he had appeared in it during the conflict at the Yin-Demon Cliff fissure, and all these Nascent Soul cultivators had seen him then. By releasing his powerful aura now, he didn’t need to explain his identity.

As for his command to kill them, he actually had little confidence. He couldn’t exert his full Spirit Transformation power. There were three Spirit Transformation experts on the other side. As a clone, he might not lose if he just fought them, but he feared they would split up to deal with the others. Since the enemy had sealed the place, they clearly didn’t want the other local guardians to know.

But the Ghost-Severing Sect never feared any enemy. When Mo Qing, Wei Zhongran, and the others sensed the powerful aura and saw Gu Jiuqi in the air, they were all overjoyed. ‘He really was still in the sect!’

However, in that same moment, all the Ghost-Severing Sect cultivators, including Gu Jiuqi, turned pale.

“How is there a fourth Spirit Transformation cultivator? This… this is an upper-realm cultivator…” Gu Jiuqi’s resolute face turned pale instantly.

As both sides moved, two of the enemy Spirit Transformation experts—the strongest late and mid-stage ones—immediately pounced on Gu Jiuqi. The remaining three late-stage Nascent Soul enemies smiled cruelly and attacked the other Nascent Soul cultivators. The initial-stage Spirit Transformation enemy made a sweeping motion with his sleeve, attacking the two strongest Nascent Soul cultivators.

These two were Mo Qing and Wei Zhongran, who had reached the late-stage of the Nascent Soul realm after years of training and looking for nodes. One was a man of deep accumulation, and the other was a genius of his generation.

From the direction of the attacks, it was clear they intended to resolve everyone at once. Gu Jiuqi was strong, but he couldn’t be in multiple places at once. Furthermore, the greatest anomaly occurred as they charged. A force like thick mud suddenly appeared within the already sealed sect. The moment this force emerged, Mo Qing and all the other Nascent Soul cultivators felt as though they had fallen into a swamp.

The massive magical power they were funneling into their artifacts or spells was suddenly covered by a layer of suction. The power that was supposed to be surging through their meridians slowed to a crawl at the most critical moment. Meanwhile, the attackers were brimming with momentum, unaffected in the slightest.

Gu Jiuqi knew the fourth hidden person was the most dangerous. Even if he went all out, he might not be his match; after all, he was just a clone.

“What… what is happening?”

“Someone else is in the shadows!” Wei Zhongran and the others roared.

Even Gu Jiuqi was affected. He only appeared to move freely, but he was actually consuming magical power at double the rate. Everyone else, including the body-refining Gong Chenying and Zhao Min, and the late-stage Nascent Soul Wei Zhongran and Mo Qing, could not break free.

“This is the Gravity Art of a late-stage Spirit Transformation!” Gu Jiuqi cried out in shock. He performed a hand seal and pointed toward the sky. But the two Spirit Transformation enemies already knew of the plan. The moment they took to the air, they intercepted him, preventing him from breaking the Gravity Art.

Simultaneously, the other four reached the heads of the Ghost-Severing Sect’s Nascent Soul cultivators. Wei Zhongran and the others were filled with fury. Yet, while the enemy was upon them, their power and movements were as slow as a tortoise.

“Who is plotting against my Ghost-Severing Sect!” Yan Longzi’s eyes were bloodshot. As the former Sect Master, his feelings for the sect were profound.

Gu Jiuqi’s aura surged. He planned to use his full Spirit Transformation power to kill the two in front of him or take them with him. But with that hidden Spirit Transformation expert still there, the sect would still be destroyed even if he were gone. He didn’t roar again, but he swore in his heart to find the person responsible once he returned to the upper realm. He could sense that the first three were mortal-world cultivators, but the hidden one was the true master. Had he not been an upper-realm clone who also reached the Spirit Transformation stage here, the enemy would have suppressed him entirely.

Just then, a sudden explosion rang out.

Boom!

In an instant, the seal covering the Ghost-Severing Sect and the irresistible Gravity Art vanished like melting snow.