NOVPUBChapter 952: Chapter 505 Qingyun Mountain Range_2 Chapter 952: Chapter 505 Qingyun Mountain Range_2 Hearing this, everyone refocused their minds, and their gazes pivoted back.
Thereafter, Lu Xingfeng also sighed, “I never expected our journey to be so smooth, and now we’re about to reach our destination.”
As soon as he had spoken, Chen Jingtian agreed, “Exactly… I thought we might encounter some trouble, but it’s been surprisingly easy.”
Having said this, Chen Jingtian also asked, “What do we do next?”
Hearing his fellow disciple inquire, Lu Xingfeng smiled faintly, his expression quite calm.
“Since we’re here, we might as well take a look at Qingyun Sect first!”
“Um…”
...
Zhou Yunxiao nodded, then suggested, “Let’s have a few of us scout the situation first, and the rest can stay here and wait for news.”
“Mm… That does seem safer!”
Lu Xingfeng quickly agreed and then turned to Lin Tianming, “Daoist Lin, you come with the two of us to take a look around Qingyun Sect’s mountain gate, then return here. How does that sound?”
Hearing this, Lin Tianming thought it over for a bit, feeling that this was indeed a safer approach.
After all, they were in foreign territory, the heartland of Qingyun Sect, which certainly couldn’t be compared with the native lands of Wei Kingdom.
Fortunately, both Zhou Yunxiao and Lu Xingfeng were Late Stage Golden Core experts, extremely formidable beings in their own right.
With the three of them scouting for news together, they likely weren’t in much danger.
Thus, they decided to investigate the situation first, get a hold of some basic intelligence, and then make a detailed plan.
Conversely, if there was anything amiss, they wouldn’t be putting themselves into a crisis where they might all be wiped out.
Understanding this, Lin Tianming naturally wouldn’t refuse, and he soon replied,
“We should all suppress our cultivations, go out to gather some information, and then regroup here.”
“Um…”
Zhou Yunxiao nodded, then took the lead in altering his appearance, transforming into a middle-aged brawny man carrying a longsword, with his cultivation also suppressed to the Seventh Layer of Foundation Establishment Realm.
Seeing this, Lu Xingfeng also transformed, taking on the appearance of a frail scholar, with his cultivation similarly suppressed to the Seventh Layer of Foundation Establishment Realm.
Lin Tianming didn’t dawdle either, changing his appearance to that of a young man dressed in a green shirt, his realm suppressed to the Foundation Establishment Fifth Level.
The three of them altered their appearances, now vastly different from before, with their realms also suppressed.
Following these changes, even if they encountered cultivators of the same realm, it would be difficult to discern their true identities.
In this way, they set out on their walk around, and it was unlikely that anyone would recognize them.
“Let’s go!”
After Zhou Yunxiao said this, he casually took out a Second Order longsword magical artifact, jumped on it, and swiftly disappeared into the valley.
Seeing this, Zhou Yunxiao did this also to mask his identity; not only did he change his appearance and cultivation level, but he also changed the weapons used by Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Otherwise, a Foundation Establishment cultivator using a magical treasure for travel would be far too conspicuous, nearly a self-accusation.
Knowing this, Lin Tianming and Lu Xingfeng followed suit, each taking out a Second Order magical artifact to ride, and hastened after Zhou Yunxiao.
Half a day later, the trio appeared together on a mountaintop outside the Qingyun Sect’s mountain gate.
Here, one could already glimpse at a towering peak entering the clouds in the distance, which was the main peak within Qingyun Sect.
At the same time, quite a few cultivators passed by this place. Some were heading toward Qingyun Sect, while others had passed by here after coming out of Qingyun Sect.
Lin Tianming and his companions stopped for a moment, soon encountering two male cultivators coming together.
Both of them were at the Medium Stage of Foundation Establishment, one at the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer, the other at the Fifth Layer, both dressed in ordinary garb, flying in the direction of Qingyun Sect.
Judging by their attire, they were probably not disciples of Qingyun Sect, possibly part of a family clan, or perhaps Independent Cultivators.
At this moment, seeing the new arrivals, Lin Tianming and his companions promptly approached, blocking the two men’s path.
Seeing this, the expressions of the two cultivators changed, their faces bearing a wary look.
“Several Daoist friends, I am Meng Tiannan from the Meng Family of the Wenxiu Mountain Range, and this is my good friend Song Chengfeng,”
“Do you three block our way for some particular reason?”
Meng Tiannan began by stating his own background, seemingly intending to announce his household, to make Lin Tianming and the other two wary.
At the same time, he gestured towards the person beside him, introducing his companion’s name.
Hearing Meng Tiannan’s words, Lin Tianming also responded with a smile and a cupped fist gesture, saying apologetically,
“Please don’t be alarmed, fellow Daoists. We three are all independent cultivators with no fixed abode, recently traveling together in the Qingyun Mountain Range to gain experience. We haven’t emerged in a long time and are somewhat unclear about the recent events in the cultivation world over the past two years.”
“We stopped you just to inquire and catch up on news, that’s all!”
Upon hearing Lin Tianming’s explanation, indeed, the depths of the Qingyun Mountain Range were a fine spot for training, with many independent cultivators and disciples of Qingyun Sect favoring entering the mountain range to seek treasures and gain experience.
The dusty and travel-worn appearance of these three people before them seemed to suggest they had been on the move for a long time or had been in battle.
With this in mind, and combining what Lin Tianming had said, Meng Tiannan and his companion heaved a sigh of relief.
They had truly feared that Lin Tianming and his two companions were some old enemies or desperate bandits.
After all, in the cultivation world, it was not unusual for those who have cultivated to the Foundation Establishment Stage to have some enemies.
And it wouldn’t be surprising for some independent cultivators to rob others, engaging in life-threatening crimes.
Such incidents were all too common in today’s cultivation world, and they were always on guard.
Luckily, they were near the mountain gate of the Qingyun Sect, only about a hundred miles apart, almost within reach of the Qingyun Sect’s territory.
With Golden Core forces stationed in the area and Qingyun Sect cultivators regularly patrolling the vicinity,
the security in the nearby area was reasonably well-controlled; at least assaults or ambushes were rare.
After all, if anyone happened to witness an attack or if the Qingyun Sect caught the perpetrators, the consequences would be dire.
In this way, with the Qingyun Sect in place, the chances of encountering desperate criminals were quite small.
Aside from these factors, the cultivation levels of Lin Tianming and his companions were not excessively high; at least they did not possess the overwhelming strength to casually intercept them.
Knowing this, Meng Tiannan and his companion relaxed considerably, easing up altogether.
Subsequently, Meng Tiannan returned the gesture with cupped fists and said with a smile, “I see!”
“Then, what would you like to inquire about, fellow Daoists?”
Hearing this, Lin Tianming smiled and replied, “Daoist Meng, before our training journey, it just so happened that the three great sects of the Qingyun Sect were attacking the Wei Kingdom’s Cultivation World.”
“Given the situation in the Wei Kingdom at that time, with the major Golden Elixir Forces suffering from severe internal strife, several Golden Core Stage experts had fallen, and the country was completely preoccupied with its own troubles.
Under such circumstances, Wei Kingdom’s two major Golden Core sects were unlikely to withstand the combined assault of the Qingyun Sect, Qingmu Sect, and Forging Sword Valley.”
“Now that so much time has passed, there should be some concrete outcomes, right?”
Hearing these words, Meng Tiannan had a look of surprise, as it seemed he did not expect Lin Tianming and his companions to be so out of touch.
After all, that invasion battle had taken place almost two years ago, and it was widely known throughout the Huangyang Kingdom.
At that time, the deaths of Xu Zhi and Meng Qingfeng on the outskirts of the Wei Kingdom in the Luoyun Mountain Range had already caused a huge stir.
Who could have imagined that in the following year, the three sects of the Huangyang Kingdom would suffer heavy losses?
Especially the Qingyun Sect, which had allocated two more Golden Core experts to the war, only to have them die within the Wei Kingdom as well.
In just a couple of years, eight Golden Core Stage experts had entered the Wei Kingdom, with only Ren Feihong of the Qingmu Sect escaping back.
Such a massive loss was unforeseen by all the cultivators in the Huangyang Kingdom.
Yet, that was the reality, catching everyone by surprise.
Since then, the three major sects of the Qingyun Sect had suffered a significant loss without any retribution, as if frightened, or perhaps due to other reasons, the upper echelon of the three sects remained silent, eventually calming down amidst heated discussions.
…
