Chapter 482 - 285: Profound Flame Tier 3, The Song-Jin Change (2)
Chapter 482: Chapter 285: Profound Flame Tier 3, The Song-Jin Change (2)
Moreover, as the demon beast extermination progressed, a wide variety of Demon Beast Materials flowed into the market. They were then transformed into Elixirs, Talismans, Spiritual Food, Magical Artifacts, and Spiritual Artifacts, further enhancing the power of the Human Race.
Under these circumstances, the Beast Tide had, on the contrary, become a gift from the heavens, a blessing!
...
The third major event was the war between two Sects and Daoist Schools, Profound Ice Valley and Yellow Maple Cliff. Their relationship was like fire and water, and they had clashed violently multiple times, with both sides suffering casualties.
Just as the situation was about to escalate, and with the Cultivators of Song Country watching to see how things would unfold, the ever-stable Extreme South Palace finally intervened to mediate.
They dispatched a single Golden Core Cultivator, who forcibly suppressed the two major influences.
Both publicly pledged to no longer fight one another!
The clouds of war were swept away in an instant.
An insider later recalled that the Golden Core Cultivator dispatched by the Extreme South Palace, who went by the Daoist title Master Mysterious, had not brought a grand entourage. He traveled alone, first visiting Profound Ice Valley before arriving at Yellow Maple Cliff.
It is said that when Master Mysterious stepped through Profound Ice Valley’s Mountain Gate, the Profound Ice within—ice that had not melted in ten thousand years—trembled, and the frigid air reversed its flow.
He and the Profound Ice Valley Master spoke privately within the Ice Hall for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. No one knows what was said, only that when Master Mysterious departed, the Valley Master personally saw him to the Mountain Gate, his expression complex as he bowed deeply.
Following that, Master Mysterious arrived at Yellow Maple Cliff.
At that time, Yellow Maple Cliff’s Sect Protection Array, the Ten Thousand Flames Flowing Fire Formation, was already fully activated. Crimson maple leaf shadows blotted out the sky, radiating a chilling killing intent.
Yet Master Mysterious treated it as if it were nothing. He strode into the Array, and wherever he passed, the flowing fire parted and the maple shadows withered. He moved as if through an empty realm.
After meeting with the Yellow Maple Cliff Master for no more than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the Cliff Master himself dismantled the Grand Array and respectfully saw him off.
Following this event, the two Major Sects, previously poised with drawn swords and sworn to a life-or-death struggle, actually lowered their banners and silenced their drums. They each pulled back their forces and publicly declared an end to the conflict. Though small, private frictions were unavoidable, large-scale warfare never broke out again.
This incident became a widespread legend in the Cultivation Realm of Song Country, with numerous versions of the tale.
Some claimed Master Mysterious had crushed them with absolute power, making the two Sects realize that in the face of the Extreme South Palace, they were as fragile as infants.
Others said Master Mysterious held some secret leverage over the two Sects, forcing them into submission.
Still other rumors suggested that Master Mysterious had made a promise or offered a benefit so great that neither Sect could refuse, thus temporarily pacifying the conflict.
If Lin Changheng were to emerge from seclusion and hear these rumors, he couldn’t help but laugh. ’The so-called miraculous signs of Master Mysterious’s arrival are just tired old tropes from the biographies of founding emperors in my past life.’ Things like "treading in a giant’s footprint," "a serpent coiling around the body," or "dreaming of the sun entering one’s embrace"—there were just too many to count.
Not only did such stories spread more easily, but they also served to further elevate the power and prestige of Master Mysterious and the Extreme South Palace!
Of course, this fact was undeniable, as the results spoke for themselves.
In just one short year, the turmoil in the Song Territory had quickly settled down. Within the borders of the Jin Country, however, the fighting had grown truly vicious, and the upheaval was relentless!
「Just three months later.」
An even more shocking piece of news, one tinged with the scent of blood and gunpowder, erupted from the Jin Country’s border like a long-awaited thunderclap, spreading rapidly to the neighboring kingdoms!
The Cultivation Realm of Song Country, seizing the opportunity presented by Jin Country’s internal turmoil and relaxed border defenses, had quietly assembled an elite force of Cultivators. They brazenly crossed the border and launched a surprise attack on the Jin frontier!
This force—a mix of elites from Song Country’s various Major Sects, and even including some Cultivators with backgrounds connected to the Extreme South Palace—had a clear target and acted with decisive resolve.
Moving with lightning speed, they broke through a city and two vital Resources Marketplaces on the Jin Country’s border in quick succession: Red Gold Valley and Liuhuo District!
These two Marketplaces, in particular, were renowned for producing specific Gold Attribute ore and Fire Element Spiritual Materials. They were a crucial source of revenue and a key supply point for the Jin Country borderlands.
However, their Guardian Arrays proved pathetically weak in the face of the meticulously planned raid. The Cultivators left to defend them were either cut down or fled in disarray. All inventoried materials and ore were plundered, leaving nothing behind.
But this was only the beginning!
After successfully taking out these two forward positions and clearing the obstacles, the vanguard force did not push deeper. Instead, they fortified the captured area. And then, a scene that struck even greater fear into the hearts of Jin Country’s Cultivators unfolded—
Massive, fully-organized armies of Song Country Cultivators began to cross the border in a methodical, orderly fashion, pouring into the domain of the Jin Country!
Banners unfurled and Escape Lights filled the heavens!
These Cultivator armies were obviously well-trained, a far cry from common wandering mercenaries. They divided into several echelons, constructing makeshift fortifications and Defense Arrays in the occupied zone. They were posturing as if to establish a forward operating base and advance methodically! The tip of their spear was aimed directly at the major Jin Country border town: Iron Wall City!
Meanwhile, a separate detachment employed even more ruthless tactics to annihilate a Cultivation Clan situated at a strategic pass—the Helian Family. They utterly erased the clan’s territory from the map, a clear warning to intimidate any nearby influences who might dare to resist.
"A cross-border strike, the fall of the Marketplaces, the annihilation of a clan, and a massive army bearing down on the border!"
This rapid series of combination punches was so sudden it left the Jin Country completely dazed!
It was only then that the Major Sects of Jin Country, still embroiled in their internal conflicts, realized with a start that their next-door neighbor had been deploying countless smokescreens to numb them. In reality, their neighbor had long since sharpened its blades, intending to take advantage of their sickness to deliver a killing blow!
This move by Song Country was no simple border skirmish or resource raid; the strategic intent behind it was terrifying. They were seizing this opportune moment to devour the lands and resources of the Jin Country, to avenge past humiliations, and to expand their own territory!
Urgent Communication Talismans from the front flew like snowflakes to the various Major Sects and the Royal Family. Jin Country’s already chaotic internal affairs descended into even greater turmoil. Faced with a common external enemy, however, the many warring factions were paradoxically forced to the negotiating table to discuss cooperating to repel the invaders.