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Chapter 448: Chapter 448: Return to the Sect

Seeing Liu Shuyue in person, Chen Xuan finally felt relieved.

"Thank you. Shen Governor, you may leave now." He turned to Shen Fang beside him.

"Ah, okay... okay... I’ll take my leave then." The other party said, yet his eyes were darting around, eager to imprint the interior of the Divine Beast into his memory in an instant. He dawdled for about four or five minutes from the entrance chamber to the ship’s ladder outside.

"I entrust Immortal Master Lord to take care of her," the Governor didn’t forget to bow before he left.

Closing the hatch, Chen Xuan then frowned and walked over to Liu Shuyue with displeasure—she was sitting in a wooden wheelchair, looking innocently at him.

Pretending to be pitiful won’t work!

"What were you thinking?" Chen Xuan reprimanded sternly, "Charging out of the city alone to challenge the enemy one-on-one? And getting yourself beaten all bruised and battered; had I not arrived in time, wouldn’t you have been in grave danger? Couldn’t you have retreated back to Hot Pepper Village first and called me at the shop for help?"

Liu Shuyue’s voice was very soft, somewhat guilty, "Things happened suddenly, I didn’t expect them to come so quickly, and to target Zhangwei City for attack. At the time, I truly couldn’t leave... Once I left, Lan Qin wouldn’t even need to set up a grand array; they’d directly send people to invade, and the Hunting Team wouldn’t be able to stop them alone."

"This army is led by Lan Qin?" Chen Xuan was momentarily stunned, "Your fellow sect member?"

She nodded, her eyes showing a hint of melancholy, "I prepared for the possibility of conflict among Lotus Cloud Sect disciples long ago, yet I didn’t expect her right after Song Wei. She excels in arrays and pills; if she remained hidden within the military formation, I’d have no way to deal with her, so I had to take a gamble."

The so-called Burning City Array is not an immortal technique for sieging cities; it’s actually a protective mountain array from Lotus Cloud Sect, named the Inverse Fire Demon Banishment Array, which turns the outside of the formation into a searing purgatory upon activation, to safeguard the sect from harm.

Lan Qin, however, used it offensively.

She anchored the army at the heart of the array, putting Zhangwei City precisely in the purgatory spot. Once the array was set, the whole city would be consumed by a fire without smoke, buildings turned to char, and people into skeletons, with no ability to resist.

Liu Shuyue also recognized this array.

Therefore, she promptly launched a surprise attack, but unfortunately, the effect was minimal.

Helpless, she could only take a risky attempt, using herself as bait to lure Lan Qin out. As long as Lan Qin exposed herself even momentarily, the Hunting Team had a chance to assist in killing her.

"That Lan Qin, is she..."

"Already dead. She chose to merge with a Demon Fiend, and her soul won’t return to Lotus Cloud Sect," Liu Shuyue said softly.

Oh, so that’s how it is?

It’s no wonder he found the enemy’s appearance strange, directly emerging mid-air, with a mass of blood mist gathering below, not resembling normal immortal technique at all.

In this regard, she essentially lost another fellow sect member.

Among the six Mountain Disciples who descended, now at most only three remain.

Chen Xuan was about to comfort her with a few words but suddenly realized it wasn’t right; he should be very angry now!

"Even so, you shouldn’t gamble with your life!"

"I must seize every opportunity; launching an attack is better than waiting to be slaughtered..."

"If worst comes to worst, you can abandon Zhangwei!" Chen Xuan raised his voice.

"But..."

"Alright now, she’s still injured, keep your voice down." Lin Qing’s voice suddenly interjected. She squeezed into the cabin, standing between them, "She couldn’t possibly leave the residents of the city at the mercy of the enemy. Don’t you understand her? Besides, the result now is a win-win: Shuyue is still alive, Luo Kingdom’s troops are defeated, and Zhangwei’s civilians are safe and sound. Stop nagging."

What side are you even on? Chen Xuan glared; in this Ability Store, who is in charge here, you or me?

Turning around, he saw Honglian was also at the door.

Clearly, they had been eavesdropping for a while.

But upon meeting Chen Xuan’s questioning gaze, Honglian immediately turned her eyes away, clearly indicating: I’m not involved in this.

Faced with two against one, Chen Xuan could only relent. "Ah, I’m just worried about her."

"I see you just want her to go to Lotus Cloud Sect with you." Lin Qing carefully examined Liu Shuyue’s injuries, "Nothing major, they look like piercing wounds but avoided critical areas... Not a coincidence, was it?"

"I just tried to shift around; if another wave of sword shadows came, I’d certainly be unable to dodge." Liu Shuyue replied truthfully.

Shift around?

She’s putting it too simply.

In fact, when Chen Xuan piloted the ship and arrived at Zhangwei City, he witnessed the divination disc shooting out a large number of sword shadows, and Liu Shuyue was held in place by Lan Qin, unable to escape for a moment. Under such circumstances, still calmly judging the trajectory of the sword shadows and adjusting her body position so non-critical parts got hit—such combat ability is truly extraordinary.

It was also after confirming Liu Shuyue hadn’t sustained a fatal injury that Chen Xuan decided not to land, but instead continued flying to the other towns in Qing State to defeat the remaining marching troops of Luo Kingdom, completely eliminating the threat to Hot Pepper Village.

"Is this steel spaceship... borrowed from the future?" she asked curiously.

She actually guessed it.

Chen Xuan nodded, "Mm, without supplies, it can operate for ten days half a month without issue. I plan to take it to Lotus Cloud Sect, but I don’t know the sect’s exact location, so I need a navigator."

Liu Shuyue was slightly taken aback, realizing he meant her as the navigator. "But the Luo Kingdom army..."

"They’re finished. At least those daring enough to set foot in Qing State are done for." Lin Qing replied for Chen Xuan, "Just now we flew consecutively to three cities: Tuoshite, Changqi, and Luo Sha, scouting several Luo Kingdom armies. Some were gathering at Zhangwei, others laying siege to Qing State towns, but now those armies’ camps, supplies, and personnel no longer exist."

"Ah?" Liu Shuyue stood dumbfounded.

Has it only been two hours?

Rumor has it Luo Kingdom’s invading troops numbered in the hundreds of thousands!

Of course... these people couldn’t all be cultivators; most were mundane troops, but even that is massive. Even if the enemy stood still for the Hunting Team to kill, it would take until each warrior’s hands were tired.

"If you don’t believe me, I can take you for a spin. The equipment and bodies they abandoned during their escape should remain untouched by anyone."

The disparity in combat power between the two sides was simply too vast. Chen Xuan had the Wind Song deploy reconnaissance drone swarms to search for any active targets along the way, letting AI determine if they fit soldier profiles. Confirmed images were forwarded to the three of them for final approval; once confirmed as enemies, a fire command was issued, and missiles flew straight over— the whole process was remarkably automated, hardly requiring much effort from the decision-makers.

However, for the Luo Kingdom’s troops, such long-range attacks were tantamount to an annihilating disaster. Missiles detonated at a height of fifty to sixty meters, dense fragments covering ten football fields. For ordinary troops, without defenses and protective structures, two or three missiles were enough to obliterate their formation.

"No need." Shuyue, returning to her senses, shook her head slightly, "I believe you."

"You also shouldn’t pity them. Along the road, we saw many refugees who suffered at their hands, families ruined... Several outlying villages were slaughtered clean, their fate well-deserved." Lin Qing said indignantly.

"I don’t feel sorry for the enemy; I’m sorry for Lotus Cloud Sect." She closed her eyes, her tone full of yearning, "The Mountain Disciples haven’t made the Six Kingdoms better; immortal techniques meant to benefit mankind instead become accomplices in conflict. The sect clearly sees it all, yet chooses to ignore it— in some sense, it’s Lotus Cloud Sect that created this world."

"You want to know why they did this." Chen Xuan said softly.

"Precisely, this completely contradicts the ethical tenets the sect taught us; I cannot understand. If peace is meant to be upheld, why send out just a few people once every century? If intending to detach from the mundane world, standing high above, why pass down the legacy of the Immortal Master?" Liu Shuyue opened her eyes, speaking word by word, "I want to directly ask my teacher, and ask every sect elder!"

"Then let me take you to Lotus Cloud Sect." Chen Xuan offered his hand to her.

She placed her hand in his palm, "I trust you."

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