Chapter 250 Black Moon Dispelled, Light Ignited

Inside the main command tent of Azure Profound Sect, the image-recording stone was still running, but much of the picture had already gone blurry. Only vague outlines of the terrain could still be made out.

Even so, many elders still kept their vigil there. As long as they could see even one disciple alive, it was worth it.

Sect Master Yin Chongyang of Crimson Sky Sect had already been standing here for a long time, without taking a single step away. He was trying to find Lu Feishuang’s figure in the few remaining fragments of image.

Ever since Shen Minglu went in, he had been unable to sit still. He knew that with his relationship with Shen Minglu, Shen Minglu would never make a move to help their sect.

He did not know how long he had been waiting. The hand Yin Chongyang had placed on the table gradually clenched tight. His pressure bore down so hard on everyone in the tent that they could hardly breathe. The very air felt dead and still.

Although Yin Chongyang was the most carefree and unrestrained among the Four Great Sects’ sect masters, always smiling and seemingly easy to talk to, his fist was anything but soft. If you truly angered him, it was entirely possible to return to your sect one day and discover that the mountain behind it had been flattened.

“Hua Qiuxin still hasn’t come back. Did she die in the Shifang Nether Soil?” Yin Chongyang said to the assembled Azure Profound Sect elders.

Forced down by his pressure, sweat poured from the elders like rain. Even those who did not fear him in their hearts were suppressed into unwilling submission.

Even Cheng Ling of Crimson Sky Sect had sweat in his palms. “…”

Their sect master was genuinely furious this time.

Anyone who understood Crimson Sky Sect’s situation knew how important Lu Feishuang was to them. Her status as Young Master of the Lu Family alone was enough for the sect to hold her up in the palms of their hands. Not to mention that Crimson Sky Sect had gone to great lengths back then, sending people to the Lu Family again and again before Lu Feishuang finally agreed to join.

Before the Immortal Sect Grand Competition, when Crimson Sky Sect selected their Chief Disciple, they made an exception for her and broke precedent. For the first time, they allowed a sword cultivator to serve as Team Leader. Before her, Crimson Sky Sect’s Team Leaders had always been body cultivators.

Ever since one of Crimson Sky Sect’s main pillars, Wen Ya, died, the sect had been urgently searching for the next promising talent who could support their reputation. Lu Feishuang might still be young now, but given time to grow, she absolutely had the potential to become a figure who could overawe an entire region.

Among the well-known powerhouses of the Four Great Sects, Mei Chengyu could rank in the top three, but her heart had never been with Crimson Sky Sect. She did as she pleased, rarely bothered with any arrangements the sect made for her. She was either sleeping drunk all day or off killing Demonic Creatures in some corner where no one could find her.

Mei Chengyu felt no real sense of belonging to Crimson Sky Sect, treating it more as Penglai Sect’s shadow. But what Crimson Sky Sect needed was a true “Crimson Sky Sect powerhouse.”

Wen Ya’s death had dealt Crimson Sky Sect a heavy blow. Her son Wen Yun had chosen Returning Immortal Sect, and Crimson Sky Sect was left with only Lu Feishuang as their one outstanding seedling.

The other Chief Disciples might have Heavenly Spiritual Roots, but their comprehension could not compare to Lu Feishuang’s.

Azure Profound Sect had chosen an accursed time and plunged the sect’s hope for the future into dire peril. The fact that Yin Chongyang had not already torn Azure Profound Sect apart while Hua Qiuxin was away was already a show of restraint on his part.

None of the Azure Profound Sect elders present could beat him, so they could only endure in silence.

Just as the atmosphere reached its most strained point, a new wave of spiritual power surged from outside the tent. It blocked Yin Chongyang’s pressure and greatly eased the burden on everyone present.

Sensing this spiritual fluctuation, Yin Chongyang lifted his gaze toward the entrance. The curtain was lifted and an elder with white hair stepped inside, the Azure Profound Sect sect robes on his body.

“Sect Master Yin, don’t take your anger out on the innocent.”

Yin Chongyang narrowed his eyes. “Xie Yunshan, instead of staying in the sect with that sword-bone disciple of yours, what are you doing here?”

Xie Yunshan smiled. “The disciple insisted on coming to the Shifang Nether Soil to broaden their horizons. As the master, I naturally had no choice but to follow. The sect master is tied up elsewhere for the moment, so I happen to be able to handle things here in her stead.”

Yin Chongyang said, “How many years has it been since you last left your mountain? This time is mostly for that disciple of yours, isn’t it? Since you have spoken up, then open the barrier now and let me in.”

“As far as I know, the current teleportation barrier has been modified. After Senior Shen went in, he set restrictions at the entrance. Since you did not go in before, you cannot go in now either,” Xie Yunshan said. “You are a step too late, Sect Master Yin.”

Yin Chongyang said, “I knew Shen Minglu had nothing good in mind.”

“I do not think Sect Master Shen was deliberately targeting you,” Xie Yunshan said. “He is probably just worried that some hot-headed disciples might risk their lives going back in.”

“In the entire exploration zone, Clear Thought Sect and Azure Profound Sect have the most people. Shen Minglu favors Returning Immortal Sect, and now he has sealed the way in as well. Is that not clearly squeezing Crimson Sky Sect out?” Yin Chongyang snorted coldly.

Xie Yunshan spread his hands. “What can we do? That is Senior Shen we are talking about. He is not someone of our generation we can compete with. Besides, your sect has Elder Mei inside. Things will not be too bad.”

It would have been better not to mention Mei Chengyu. At the mention of her name, Yin Chongyang’s temper flared even more.

If Mei Chengyu had been busy saving people from her own sect, he would not be this anxious.

The problem was that Mei Chengyu, for some drunken reason, had Returning Immortal Sect’s Lian Mu on her lips every time she opened her mouth. She had already run back and forth several times for her sake, and had not once considered that Lu Feishuang and the others were also in the midst of water and fire.

Then there was Shen Minglu. Yin Chongyang knew he had never liked meddling in other people’s affairs, so his reluctance to help other disciples of Crimson Sky Sect could be understood. But even Crimson Sky Sect’s Chief Talisman Cultivator had the surname Shen, and he was ignoring his own people as well.

Shen Wuxie was his real nephew. Was Shen Wusang not also his real nephew? What was the logic in saving one and not the other?

Since they were all acting like this, they could not blame him for taking things to the next level.

As a sect master, the current situation made it inconvenient for him to act personally, so he chose to send a message about this to the Lu Family in Lingchuan.

Once the Lu Family patriarch heard, he would definitely rush over. At that time, he wanted to see how Hua Qiuxin would withstand the pressure from the foremost sword cultivator clan.

Seeing him fall silent, Xie Yunshan guessed that he must be plotting something else, so he said, “There is no need for you to be so anxious. About a quarter of an hour ago, it seems the situation took a turn.”

“Then say less of this nonsense meant to fool people. You and I are not naive youths who are easy to trick,” Yin Chongyang said coldly. “Once you are done, do not block my way.”

Xie Yunshan said, “A quarter of an hour ago, a powerful fluctuation of spiritual power erupted from within the exploration domain. It almost swept across the entire Shifang Nether Soil.”

Yin Chongyang replied, “I know Shen Minglu’s strength perfectly well. I don’t need you to remind me.”

“It wasn’t just in the area under my sect’s jurisdiction. It spread through the whole domain of all four regions.”

Yin Chongyang froze for a moment, then his brows knit tightly. It spread through all four regions…

The only one who had ever shaken the entire Shifang Nether Soil with a single burst of spiritual power was that man from the Heavenly Return Palace in days past.

“It wasn’t him. That spiritual power was very pure, more like what a Spirit Artifact would release. And the area it came from was precisely the Red Scorched Circle.”

Yin Chongyang also sensed something was off. “Someone has climbed the Heavenly Return Palace.”

He immediately thought of Hua Qiuxin. She had been gone for so long without returning, not a single piece of news, and those people from Azure Profound Sect were being so secretive it was clearly abnormal.

“Did your sect master really launch an attack on the Heavenly Return Palace?” Yin Chongyang asked.

If it was true, then Hua Qiuxin would become, in the truest sense, the strongest sect master among the Four Great Sects. At least while she was in power, no one would be able to wrest the title of number one sect in the world from Azure Profound Sect.

That was exactly what Yin Chongyang did not want to see. Crimson Sky Sect had put in so much effort over the years precisely to suppress Azure Profound Sect. They were finally about to catch up, and now something like this happens. Who knew how many more years Crimson Sky Sect would have to wait.

“Our sect master is at the Inner Source Circle in another region. She has probably heard of it by now.”

Yin Chongyang let out a breath of relief. The implication was clear: the one who had climbed the Heavenly Return Palace was not Hua Qiuxin.

Then he suddenly reacted. If it was not Hua Qiuxin, who else could it be?

Xie Yunshan seemed to read his thoughts. “That is exactly what we need to investigate. I did not expect someone to reach the Heavenly Return Palace ahead of all the sect masters.”

The passage barrier of the Heavenly Return Palace and the twin Spirit Beasts in front of the hall, any one of them taken alone was unimaginably terrifying.

“Moreover, that person seems to have lit the Bright Pearl before the hall. The Black Moon has begun to disperse.”

Yin Chongyang fell silent.

Could it be that the one in the Thousand Mechanisms Pagoda had escaped?

“I do not think it is him. If it really were, those rampaging Demonic Creatures inside the exploration domain would already have been hacked into mince. The Black Abyss Demon Race would not possibly still be making waves.”

After all, the man from the Heavenly Return Palace had always been vicious in his methods. He never showed mercy to anyone, especially not to any demon race that dared stir up trouble within his domain.

Corpse Mountain Scorched Forest was the price Black Abyss had paid for provoking him back then.

“I am very curious who that person is as well,” Xie Yunshan said, his gaze distant. “But no matter whether that person is friend or foe, at the very least they lit the Bright Pearl of the Heavenly Return Palace, and that has given the Immortal Sects a chance to catch their breath.”

Once the Bright Pearl shone, the black miasma shrouding the moon would gradually be driven away.

This Black Moon night really was going to end ahead of schedule.