An endless, vast forest stretched for thousands of miles, lush and verdant.
Mo Tiange stood on a high cliff, silently gazing out. This was the southern end of the Kunwu Mountain Range, bordering part of the forest. Countless demon beasts lived here. Some had been tamed by cultivators and became spirit beasts, but most lived freely within this forest—living, cultivating, and transforming. It was said that deep within the forest, near the sea, lived many demon beasts that had already achieved human form. They generally did not leave the forest, but every so often, unable to resist, they would drive lower-ranked demon beasts to attack the regions occupied by human cultivators.
Of course, under normal circumstances, they couldn't seize these areas. However, by launching such attacks periodically, they could obtain many pills to aid their cultivation, so they never tired of it.
Each time this happened, it was a gamble. Sometimes the human cultivators suffered heavy losses; other times, they obtained many fine demon beast corpses to use as materials for artifact forging.
Mo Tiange had never experienced such an event. She was merely a low-level minor cultivator who had only been in Kunwu for ten years. The last recorded resistance against demon beasts was at least fifty or sixty years ago.
Standing with her on this high cliff were one Core Formation cultivator, over a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators, and several hundred Qi Refining cultivators.
The consequences of the Zixia Sect's annexation of the Yunwu Sect were now evident. During the last minor competition, the Yunwu Sect had over four hundred disciples above the seventh level of Qi Refining. Now, there were probably fewer than three hundred, perhaps even less. Among these cultivators, Mo Tiange saw few familiar faces. Senior Brother Zhou hadn't come. With his Qi Refining Level 11 cultivation, a Foundation Establishment Pill was practically guaranteed. With the sect having just suffered a great calamity and him not wanting to draw attention, he simply didn't participate. Wang Qianyi and Shen Bing were also absent. They had gone to the main branch of the Zixia Sect, and it was said they had already been internally allocated Foundation Establishment Pills. For this, Mo Tiange felt slightly better—at least their sacrifices weren't in vain. Murong Yan, however, had come. She stood alone in the crowd, her expression pale, her body gaunt and emaciated, her face devoid of any emotion. Not a trace of her former beauty remained. Seeing her like this, Mo Tiange sighed inwardly. Perhaps this was for the best; at least she wouldn't follow in the footsteps of Wang Qianyi and Shen Bing.
Not long after, another group flew in from the horizon, landing on this flat, high cliff. These were the disciples of the Golden Blade Sect. Like the Yunwu Sect, although they hadn't changed the color of their robes, they had added the Zixia Sect's insignia. A rough glance showed only about a hundred Golden Blade Sect disciples. It seemed they too had undergone a purge. Everyone wore a dazed, distracted expression. Not a single person showed excitement over competing for Foundation Establishment Pills, indicating that what they had witnessed was even more tragic than what the Yunwu Sect disciples had endured.
Their leading Core Formation cultivator was a Daoist dressed in mundane attire. Mo Tiange glanced at him a few extra times. Among righteous path cultivators in the immortal cultivation world, although they all practiced Daoist arts and many dressed as Daoists, it differed from the mundane world. Mundane Daoists mostly wore heavy, unlayered blue or dark blue robes with overlapping fronts. In contrast, the Daoist robes of the cultivation world were mostly beautified—deep robes, overlapping-front robes, cloaks—layered and adorned with patterns of the Eight Trigrams and Tai Chi clouds, with colors further distinguished. This made them both elegant and dignified, appearing far more transcendent and immortal compared to mundane Daoists. Therefore, they rarely wore mundane Daoist robes, as it failed to convey the aura of an immortal cultivator. This Daoist before them, clearly a Core Formation cultivator, paid no mind to his attire, showing he was a man of firm Daoist heart.
As soon as this person arrived, the current Branch Master Jiang of Yunwu Mountain warmly greeted him: "Senior Brother Lin, it's been a long time."
The Daoist, however, showed him little courtesy, merely giving a light hum before closing his eyes to rest.
Branch Master Jiang, having been snubbed, looked somewhat embarrassed.
Mo Tiange noticed that the Yunwu Sect disciples' faces held a hint of secret satisfaction—like Xu Jingzhi's. Jiang Shanghang, however, showed concealed anger, seemingly quite displeased with his elder's behavior. He stared at a cultivator beside Branch Master Jiang, his face flashing with hatred. Mo Tiange recognized him—it was Jiang Chengxian, the Jiang family junior who had once bullied him. This Jiang Chengxian appeared to be Branch Master Jiang's direct descendant, always following at his side, a look of smugness on his face.
Although Mo Tiange wasn't close to Jiang Shanghang, seeing this scene, she also felt a measure of contempt for Jiang Chengxian. A profligate son relying on his bloodline elders to act recklessly, neither dedicated to cultivation nor possessing true talent—no wonder Jiang Shanghang found him disagreeable.
A while later, another group flew in from the horizon. Their numbers far exceeded those of the two sects combined. These were the disciples of the Zixia Sect.
The Zixia Sect's leader was quite amiable, though he was also rather indifferent toward Branch Master Jiang, while being very courteous to the Daoist.
After the three conversed for a while, they each summoned their magic treasures. Instantly, a teleportation array materialized in mid-air. It seemed to be of the same method as the one in Mist Valley, likely used in past disciple trials.
"All disciples, enter one by one! No pushing or shoving!"
Having experienced the sect's tragic upheaval, the original Yunwu Sect and Golden Blade Sect disciples naturally remained quiet and orderly. The Zixia Sect disciples, however, were lively and eager, rushing to the front. The disciples of the other two sects didn't mind, simply waiting their turn.
Mo Tiange glanced around at her fellow disciples. Liu Yidao was eager and ready. Xu Jingzhi's face was dark and heavy. Qin Xi still wore his usual calm, steady expression. Jiang Shanghang was frowning tightly. She touched her own face, feeling somewhat stiff, then slowed her breathing to adjust her mindset.
She was determined to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill. In the future, if she found the Zixia Sect's ways disagreeable, she could find a pretext to leave the mountain and simply not return. The Zixia Sect wouldn't have time to bother with a low-level disciple. Before that, it was best to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill within the sect to establish her foundation. Otherwise, with only Qi Refining cultivation and her second uncle's lifespan nearing its end, she wouldn't dare to leave casually.
Lost in these random thoughts, she noticed that Xu Jingzhi, who stood nearest to her, seemed to be trembling. Mo Tiange called softly, "Senior Brother Xu?"
Xu Jingzhi turned his head. His face was pale and sweating, his voice also trembling slightly. "Hmm?"
Mo Tiange sighed. "We haven't even entered yet. Don't collapse on me."
Hearing this, Xu Jingzhi hurriedly wiped his sweat, pretending nothing was wrong. "Junior Brother Ye need not worry."
"Even if I worried, I couldn't worry about everything," Mo Tiange said. "You must pull yourself together. That forest is dangerous, and we can't travel in groups."
Xu Jingzhi nodded. After a long moment, he still seemed unsettled. He whispered to her, "Junior Brother Ye, I'm truly worried. Our three sects clearly hold grudges against each other. Putting us all into the forest like this... could it lead to conflict?"
Mo Tiange was puzzled. "Why?"
Xu Jingzhi fell silent for a long while, then suddenly said through gritted teeth, "If I run into that Jiang Chengxian in there, and if I can do it cleanly, I'll—"
A fierce, ruthless look flashed across his face. It was easy to guess what he meant. Mo Tiange was startled. She looked around, ensuring no one was paying attention to them, then relaxed slightly and whispered, "Senior Brother Xu, you mustn't speak such nonsense. You're just too tense."
Xu Jingzhi closed his eyes and nodded, wiping the sweat from his face again. "Junior Brother Ye is right." Having said that, he simply closed his eyes to rest, regulating his breathing to calm his mind.
Mo Tiange thought for a moment, then pulled something from her robe and handed it to him. "Senior Brother Xu, this is a Calming Talisman. If you feel you can't control yourself, stick it on your body."
Xu Jingzhi opened his eyes. Without further ado, he accepted the talisman. "Thank you, Junior Brother Ye."
Mo Tiange smiled slightly and said no more, turning her gaze to the teleportation array.
In this short time, most of the Zixia Sect disciples had already gone through. Steadying herself, she stepped toward the teleportation array.