Chapter 182: The War to Annihilate Red Blood Mansion

Chapter 182: Chapter 182: The War to Annihilate Red Blood Mansion

Ji Bufan’s scheme, over three years in the making, had long since planted moles in the various sects of the Eastern Domain.

The Celestial Sect mobilized its full strength, and the same was true for the Celestial Derivation Sect and the Wuji Sect.

Ultimately, those with lower cultivation levels slowed the advance.

The ancestors of these sects were already at death’s door. They had left their Spirit Veins to avenge their Sect Leaders and chosen prodigies before they died, and to salvage some honor for their sects.

Therefore, they simply could not afford to wait.

After traveling for some distance, they had no choice but to leave a few Steward Elders to lead the Golden Core and Heartbeat Realm disciples toward Celestial Wave Lake.

Meanwhile, the ancestors themselves took the disciples at the Nascent Soul Realm and above, flying at top speed toward Celestial Wave Lake.

Celestial Wave Lake was a vast, misty expanse, but in the eyes of cultivators at the Nascent Soul Realm or higher, it was little more than a pond.

Three Mountains Island was one of many isles within Celestial Wave Lake. The surrounding area was a dense constellation of islands, making it impossible for ordinary people to find the Red Blood Mansion’s headquarters on Three Mountains Island.

But under the guidance of Void Realm ancestors, this was no issue at all. After flying hundreds of miles across the lake, they only needed to sense the ambient aura to lock onto the location of the Red Blood Mansion’s headquarters among the myriad islands.

The first to arrive was the contingent from the Celestial Derivation Sect, composed of their ancestor, a Supreme Elder, and various Elders and Stewards—twenty-one people in total.

However, before they could even set foot on Three Mountains Island, their ancestor sensed two powerful auras rushing toward them from the east.

Guessing the identity of the newcomers, he ordered his party to wait.

Sure enough, in less than fifteen minutes, the members of the Celestial Sect arrived.

"Brother Mingzhi," the Celestial Derivation Sect’s ancestor sighed, speaking to his counterpart from the Celestial Sect. "I never imagined that after more than a hundred years, we would have the chance to fight side-by-side again. It is truly the work of fate."

"Brother Minde, the younger generation has failed us. What could we do?" the Celestial Sect’s ancestor, Yu Mingzhi, said with a hearty laugh. "But this is for the best. Today, we two brothers will fight until the heavens themselves go dark, and then we shall walk the road to the Yellow Springs together. What greater fortune could there be!"

"Hahaha, well said, Mingzhi!" exclaimed Wu Minde, the ancestor of the Celestial Derivation Sect. "But it won’t be just the two of us. I imagine Brother Jiqing is on his way as well. With the three of us for company on the Yellow Springs Road, we could even take on the Netherworld King Hall itself!"

The two of them spoke with immense bravado, but the faces of the sect members standing behind them were etched with sorrow and hatred.

The sorrow was because their ancestors would surely die this day, and their sects would lose their Stabilizing Needle. The hatred, of course, was for the Red Blood Mansion.

Just as the two ancestors were speaking, Cen Jiqing, the ancestor of the Wuji Sect, arrived with his contingent.

"Hahaha! I knew it! I knew you two old monsters would get here before me! You were waiting for me, weren’t you? You two old coots haven’t changed a bit over the years, still refuse to be at the slightest disadvantage."

"Brother Jiqing, you’re missing the point," said Wu Minde. "We came here today with no intention of returning. Knowing an old friend was on his way, it was only natural to wait. This way, we won’t be lonely on the Yellow Springs Road."

Cen Jiqing roared with laughter. "What you say makes sense, Old Wu! Then let us end this life with a glorious slaughter! To be honest, after being cooped up in that Spirit Vein for so many years, I’ve been bored out of my skull. The disciples of my Sect are useless, and there’s nothing to be done about it. If not for them, I would have gone to see the Nether Monarch long ago! I might have even been reincarnated by now, roaming the Jianghu once more!"

As Cen Jiqing spoke, the members of the Wuji Sect behind him all lowered their heads in shame.

"Enough," said Yu Mingzhi. "The young will have their own fortunes. We have stood guard for so many years; we have answered to our ancestors above and fulfilled our duty to these unworthy descendants below. Let’s not speak of it further. I only wonder, can the blades in my two old brothers’ hands still taste blood?"

As his voice fell, Wu Minde and Cen Jiqing drew their weapons and laughed. "They haven’t tasted blood in decades, but they’re still plenty sharp. More than enough to kill a few arrogant rats."

"Then what are we waiting for? To battle!" Yu Mingzhi drew his Long Sword and pointed it toward Three Mountains Island.

All sixty-nine of them flew toward Three Mountains Island in unison.

"Who dares approach Three Mountains Island?"

Yu Mingzhi sneered. "We tolerated your Red Blood Mansion for so many years, only to realize we were nursing a viper. Today, this old man will give his life to make the Red Blood Mansion pay its blood debt in blood!"

"Yan Qi, fall back! Gather the disciples and prepare for battle!" From the depths of Three Mountains Island behind Yan Qi, several figures shot into the sky, with one shouting the order to him.

"Yan Qi respectfully greets the three Great Ancestors!"

Although Yan Qi didn’t recognize the old men leading the enemy forces, he recognized several of the Elders from the three sects standing behind them. He never would have imagined that the Stabilizing Needles of these three sects would mobilize together and descend upon Three Mountains Island.

A thousand thoughts raced through his mind. He finally reached a conclusion: their plan at Taiyue Mountain had succeeded, but somehow, the news had leaked and reached these three sects almost instantly.

What he couldn’t understand was, even if these sects learned what had happened, how did they dare mobilize their full strength to attack Three Mountains Island? ’Shouldn’t they be consumed by infighting over the now-vacant Sect Leader positions?’

’And those three old relics, with one foot already in the grave... they’ve been clinging to a thread of life in their Spirit Veins for so many years. How could they be willing to throw their lives away and come here?’

’Aren’t they afraid that once their sects lose old monsters like them, their prestige will plummet?’

A selfish schemer like Yan Qi could never comprehend such motivations. Besides, how could he know that another hand was secretly pushing all these pieces into place?

Many of Three Mountains Island’s experts had been dispatched to Taiyue Mountain. Left on the island, besides the three ancestors, one Supreme Elder, and Yan Qi himself, were only four other Elders. There were merely twenty-some cultivators at the Soul Emergence and Nascent Soul Realms. And while another seven or eight thousand people remained, the strongest among them had only reached the Golden Core Realm.

And their opponents? Aside from the three Void Realm ancestors, they had three Integration Realm Supreme Elders, four at the Divine Separation Realm, over twenty at the Soul Emergence Realm, and the remaining thirty-plus were all at the Nascent Soul Realm.

How could they possibly win this fight?

For the first time in his many years of glory as the Sect Leader of the Red Blood Mansion, Yan Qi felt the chilling touch of a true life-and-death crisis.

He had thought he could play the entire Eastern Domain like a fiddle, but only now did he realize how wrong he was.

Disastrously wrong.

This single mistake was enough to bring about the Red Blood Mansion’s utter destruction.

Yan Qi didn’t obey the ancestor’s order to retreat. As his mind raced, he tried to figure out a way to carve out a sliver of hope for survival.

He looked up at the invading host and said, "You’ve come here with such a massive force. May I ask why? Though my Red Blood Mansion may have acted a bit arrogantly over the years, we have never offended your three sects, have we?"

A Soul Emergence Realm Elder from the Wuji Sect snorted. "Yan Qi, your ability to tell bald-faced lies grows more impressive by the day! Have you forgotten when you led an attack on our Wuji Sect just two years ago? We haven’t even settled that score with the Red Blood Mansion yet, and now you’ve set a trap and murdered our Sect Leader and our top disciples! This is a feud that cannot end until one of us is destroyed!" ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Elder Fan, surely there has been some misunderstanding," Yan Qi denied vehemently. "What do you mean, set a trap to murder your Sect Leader? My people haven’t taken a single step off Three Mountains Island. How could we possibly have done such a thing?"

"What? You’re a Sect Leader, for heaven’s sake. Do you not have the courage to admit what you’ve done?" the Wuji Sect Elder sneered, his anger rising. "Or do you take everyone for a fool? Do you think you’re the only clever person in the entire Eastern Domain?"

"Why are you wasting breath on him?" Cen Jiqing said, his voice thrumming with manic energy. "This brat is clearly bad news. He’s just denying everything to stall for time, hoping my last bit of life force will flicker out!"

"Enough talk!" Cen Jiqing roared. "Even if he talks the heavens down, I’m going to get my fill of killing before I die!" Gripping his saber, he charged directly at one of the Red Blood Mansion’s ancestors.

The great battle was about to erupt...