Volume Five: Ancient Legends - Chapter 53: Provocation from Demonic Sect Disciples

As time passed, Chen Chen and his companions finally returned to the Immortal Mountain, continuing their spiritual cultivation within the Misty Sect.

The hierarchical system within the Misty Sect on the immortal mountain finally came to light.

There was a single sect leader in the Misty Sect who, together with his disciples, anchored and guarded the Qingfeng Tribe.

The tribe of the Misty Sect had achieved modest merits over years of warfare within the Great Xiu Kingdom and the broader Qingfeng Continent.

Surnamed Chen and given the personal name Qingfeng, he was revered as a Ninth-Rank Immortal King. Although his strength did not quite match that of the contemporary Sovereign of the Great Xiu Kingdom, within the Qingfeng Tribe—and indeed the entire Great Xiu Kingdom—he was a figure second to none, commanding over ten thousand people.

The Misty Sect had two vice sect leaders, one male and one female.

They were respectively in charge of the cultivation affairs of the male and female disciples within the sect.

One of them was known as Azure Cloud Li Qingyun, and the other as Bright Moon Liu Mingyuan. Both were Seventh-Rank Immortal Kings, infinitely close to the realm of the Eighth-Rank Immortal King.

The two vice sect leaders managed the cultivators of their respective genders. Because strength and age requirements had not yet been met, the disciples under their supervision were generally forbidden from romantic entanglements.

Beneath the two vice sect leaders were the elders of the Misty Sect.

Even the weakest among them possessed the strength of a First-Rank Immortal King, while others possessed even greater power.

There were five elders in total. Most of them had stopped at the Seventh-Rank Immortal King realm, having chosen not to break through this bottleneck for many years.

Naturally, many of these elders had established their own immortal households beneath the Misty Sect.

When there were matters to attend to, they would ascend the Misty Sect to manage affairs.

When all was quiet, their residences within the tribe served as their sanctuaries for rest and recuperation.

There, they tended to businesses and raised children.

The Misty Sect had become the spiritual territory they felt compelled to protect and uphold, playing a crucial role in enabling them to lead ordinary and peaceful lives within the Qingfeng Tribe.

Below the elders were the stewards.

Each elder had one steward whom they employed to manage sect and daily affairs.

Following the stewards were the direct disciples, core disciples, inner disciples, and outer disciples.

Within this organizational framework, Chen Chen temporarily played the role of an inner disciple.

Other cultivators, such as Chen Xianyu and fellow immortals, temporarily held only the strength and status of stewards within the Misty Sect.

Their strength was second only to the elders, yet they lacked the current capacity to shake the elders' positions.

Chen Chen was still striving to maintain his strength as an inner disciple. Most members of the sect possessed their own unique growth backgrounds.

There were few miraculous encounters or sudden ascents to greatness; instead, there was only individual toil within the Misty Sect to carve out survival and harvest meager gains for self-improvement.

On the future stage, many more trials awaited them to participate in and endure.

Presently, the once-every-century beast siege was drawing near, and the spatial portals between realms were gradually opening.

A great war was about to unfold, and every tribe was intensively cultivating fresh talent and bolstering its own strength.

There were the various demonic cultivators in the Jiuli Tribe, the various astrological officials in the Big Dipper Tribe, the various celestial officials in the Southern Dipper Tribe, the numerous external legacy cultivators in the Palsis Tribe, the descendants of the old guard handed down from the Yandi Tribe, the few human elites of the Huangdi Tribe inherited down to the present day, and the numerous ghostly cultivators in the Jiuyou Underworld Tribe, among others.

The central tribe of the Great Xiu Kingdom maintained closer ties with the Big Dipper Tribe and the Southern Dipper Tribe.

Each of these two tribes had their own heavenly duties, firmly establishing themselves within the Great Xiu Kingdom while preserving their respective heritages.

The central tribe of the Great Xiu Kingdom referred to the Huangdi Tribe. It established its capital there, representing the Qingfeng Continent alone as it took root upon this land.

Wars for the survival of civilization frequently erupted within the imperial court and among the common folk, occasionally even spilling directly into the halls of government.

Since its heritage began, the Qingfeng Continent had harbored, alongside the numerous tribes of the Great Xiu Kingdom, the far more ancient Great Wu Kingdom.

Ancient legacies existed there as well, said to be tribes passed down from figures such as Wu Xian, one of the Ten Ancient Shamans from the time when Pangu cleaved apart the heavens and the earth.

Beyond these traditions, the Qingfeng Continent also contained the Western Magic Alliance in the west and the Square State in the south.

Thus, the regions of the Four Nations of the Qingfeng Continent gradually became clear: the Great Wu Kingdom to the north, the Western Magic Alliance to the west, the Square State to the south, and the Great Xiu Kingdom to the east.

Beyond the Qingfeng Continent, outside the mountains and seas, there might well be other civilizations, races, and tribes.

To Chen Chen and the others today, perhaps everything had only just begun.

Chen Chen slowly closed the *Outline of Continental Geography*, reflecting that the world was vast, and a greater stage might await in the future, requiring even greater strength to walk among mortals.

Following this came another round of daily cultivation—refining techniques and expanding knowledge.

Chen Chen usually loved lingering in the Scripture Pavilion of the Misty Sect to broaden his understanding.

By now, midday had passed, yet evening had not yet arrived.

A group of disciples was practicing martial arts within the sect when suddenly, a disciple guarding the mountain gate rushed into the sect in a panic to report.

"Terrible news! Terrible news! The people of the Demonic Sect have attacked!" the gate-guarding disciple reported frantically.

Hearing this, the group guarding the sect flew into a terrible rage.

"As the dignity of the Misty Sect holding sway over the Qingfeng Tribe, how dare outsiders of a demonic sect assault our mountain gate?!" the sect leader and others felt this as a supreme humiliation upon hearing the news.

The arriving members of the Demonic Sect were no weaklings either. Earlier that day, the two factions had engaged in a fierce battle among the mountains over a handful of spiritual herbs.

Later, the Demonic Sect members had been defeated by the Misty Sect disciples, harboring lingering resentment and frustration that they had failed to secure that batch of heavenly treasures.

Upon returning, the Demonic Sect members immediately rallied their subordinates and struck at the mountain gate, eager for a head-on clash to test the true strength of the Qingfeng Tribe.

"You members of the Demonic Sect, not staying put in the Jiuli Tribe, what brings you to my Misty Sect?" demanded an elder of the Misty Sect, burning with rage and shouting sternly when he saw the massive and aggressive turnout of the arrivals, who had even injured the disciple guarding the mountain gate.

"What brings us here? Naturally, taking advantage of this interval to pay a visit to your Misty Sect," the Demonic Sect members replied, utterly unconcerned.

The Jiuli Tribe was not far from the Qingfeng Tribe, with their respective domains neighboring one another. Crossing the boundary to visit the Qingfeng Tribe this time was naturally done to probe their strength.

"I hear the once-every-century beast siege is approaching, and your Qingfeng Tribe has already begun making defensive preparations. Although our Jiuli Tribe inherits the legacy of antiquity, our generation is, after all, not the Jiuli Tribe of old. We simply wonder whether the intelligence your Qingfeng Tribe received this time is accurate?" asked the Demonic Sect member, hailing from the Jiuli Tribe of another region that carried the lineage of Chiyou.

The Jiuli clan had existed ever since the historic war between Chiyou and the Huangdi Tribe.

Now that Chiyou had been dead for many years, the newly reconstructed Jiuli Tribe merely commemorated those past deeds to herald the return of Jiuli.

"As for the intelligence, I cannot say for certain! Yet where there is smoke, there is fire. I hear the recent actions of the Demonic Sect have been lawless and wanton, slaughtering the innocent and filling several tribes with dread. I ask that you conduct yourselves properly!" retort a disciple of the Misty Sect, causing the members of the Jiuli Tribe to furrow their brows.

"How we Jiuli conduct ourselves is not for you meddlesome outsiders to judge," declared Mo Qianxun and the other Demonic Sect members, showing waning interest as they prepared to descend the mountain.

"Hold on! You make such a grand fuss coming to our Misty Sect, arriving whenever you please and leaving whenever you wish—you hold the Misty Sect in far too little regard!" commanded the First Elder of the Misty Sect, demanding that the Demonic Sect members provide a proper explanation.

"What does it matter if we came or if we leave? As fellow guardians of the tribes in the Great Xiu Kingdom, do you actually think you can keep us here?" With that, the demonic cultivators of the Jiuli Tribe said no more, ordering their unit to turn back toward the Jiuli Tribe.

At this point, some of the guardians of the Jiuli Tribe who had crossed boundaries realized they needed to return to their own homeland to guard it, cultivate fresh talent, and construct defensive fortifications.

The other tribes of the Great Xiu Kingdom were not idle either. Coinciding with the arrival of the Great Xiu Kingdom's fateful war, a trial of destiny was about to begin to test whether the human race remained as steadfast and powerful as ever.