Chapter 540: City Destroyed, Red-Eyed Strife

At midnight, the three great Daoist Lineages launched their attacks in a moment of uncanny consensus. And then, the entirety of Guiyun City was torn to shreds.

Before dawn, the battle was over. No one was victorious. All sides returned with heavy casualties.

Fortunately, their top combatants did not perish, but the casualties among those in the first, second, and Third Realms were catastrophic.

The city’s common folk also suffered immense losses. The members of the three Daoist Lineages, their eyes red with slaughter, had long forgotten their so-called monastic rules and disciplines.

“Let’s hit them with a surprise counterattack,” Huixin said coldly. He was missing an arm, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

Huiyun, on the other hand, looked exhausted. His physical injuries weren’t severe; after all, he was a Buddhist Family disciple of the Fourth Realm.

What truly wore on his spirit was the death of Ming Jue.

But it wasn’t just Xingdu Temple’s heir who had died. The heirs of Zhu Huan Academy and Pear Blossom Temple had also fallen in the night’s battle.

Even if they won this time, Xingdu Temple was fated to decline. Raising another heir with abilities comparable to Ming Jue’s would be no easy feat.

Ming Jue’s aptitude was only slightly inferior to Huiyun’s own.

Hearing Huixin’s words, Huiyun lifted his head. “What are our chances?”

With that question, he was asking what the odds of winning were if they were to bet everything.

As for the consequences? He had long since stopped caring. Having fought to this point, there was no path of retreat.

The current peace was only temporary. In four hours, at most, the fighting would begin anew.

“None. But there’s a chance we could win.” Huixin had no confidence in victory; after all, the enemy was in roughly the same condition as they were.

Not to mention they would be fighting two against one, and a third party could easily swoop in and steal the fruits of their victory.

“Then we’ll gather for one more free-for-all,” Huiyun said at once, his expression sinking.

Not fighting was impossible. Only the ultimate victor would receive the protection of the Buddhist Daoist Lineage. Otherwise, even if he escaped the Court’s warrant, he would be in for a world of hurt.

It was truly a case of winner-takes-all, while the loser ends up on the menu.

In a war between Daoist Lineages, only the victor could receive the protection of their own lineage. The fate of the loser was, naturally, annihilation.

And deserters were naturally classified as traitors; the Daoist Lineage itself would not concern itself with them.

Either win or die fighting. There was no third option.

“Right, just like that. Gather everyone and make our move,” Huixin agreed without hesitation. Then, he added hesitantly, “Before we leave, I want to see Brother Qi one more time.”

Huiyun wasn’t surprised. He rubbed his temples. “I’ll give you a quarter of an hour. Go and return quickly.”

Even though Huiyun was a Daoist Lineage expert of the Fourth Realm, he had no confidence he would return alive.

Huixin was, for all intents and purposes, going to settle his final affairs.

As for coming back alive, that was another matter entirely.

“Thank you, Abbot Senior Brother.” Huixin was inwardly delighted, having thought Huiyun would refuse.

“Heal what you can of your injuries on the way. Missing an arm will affect your fighting, but recover as much as you can,” Huiyun said with a helpless glance at Huixin’s severed limb.

Only eminent monks who had broken through to the Fourth Realm possessed the power to regenerate severed limbs. Huixin was only in the Third Realm, so he naturally lacked this ability.

Thus, he would have to fight on with a crippled body.

“Don’t worry, Abbot Senior Brother. The bleeding has stopped. It won’t affect the coming battle.” Huixin offered a smile before turning to leave.

He only had a quarter of an hour, so he had to hurry.

“Let me give you a push,” Huiyun said, and directly lent Huixin a burst of power.

Huixin felt his internal energy surge, his speed far surpassing what it was before.

At an extreme speed, he arrived at the house where Qi Suian lived.

“Master Huixin, the battle last night was so fierce… Your arm…” Qi Suian said with some surprise. He truly hadn’t expected Huixin to come see him at a time like this.

“That’s not important. I have something to tell you.” Huixin cut Qi Suian off. “Leave this place immediately. Find somewhere safe and hide.”

“If Xingdu Temple wins, you can come out.”

“If Xingdu Temple loses, leave Guiyun City and never come back.”

With Huixin around, Qi Suian could be a Buddha Farmer and tend the Buddha Fields without worry. But if Zhu Huan Academy or Pear Blossom Temple won, he would have no future, and his life might even be in danger.

Especially since Qi Suian had saved Huixin. Even if the two powers wouldn’t care about it, some of the common people below them would inevitably get ideas, wanting to use this connection to curry favor.

Therefore, Qi Suian was in great danger.

“What happened?” Qi Suian asked again.

“The war for Guiyun City’s Daoist Lineage should reach a conclusion today.” Huixin sat down. “I just don’t know who the victor will be.”

“You must be joking, Master Huixin. Even if I could leave, where would I go?” Qi Suian pointed helplessly at the sun, which had only just risen. “The great drought has already begun.”

“On my own two feet, I’d just be walking to my death.”

“So I was thinking, is there any way I can help Xingdu Temple?”

Hearing this, Master Huixin actually smiled. “Of course not. Brother Qi, you’re just an ordinary person. How could you possibly help us?”

“The best way you can help is by staying alive.”

“But you’re right. With the drought here, you’d die no matter where you went.”

At this point, Huixin also realized that even if Qi Suian left now, it would only be the difference between dying sooner or later.

“Brother Qi, if you can survive this drought, you should go join the Court. At least you’d be able to live,” Huixin suggested.

The Confucian and Daoist families are not to be trifled with.

“That’s not certain. After all, no one knows when the Court will arrive.”

“Judging from the commotion last night, the situation in Guiyun City doesn’t look optimistic, does it?” Qi Suian was certain the Court would never rebuild Guiyun City.

The required investment of manpower and resources would be an enormous sum.

Without the drought, it might have been possible through various operations. But after paying for disaster relief, with such a huge deficit, how could they possibly approve funds for reconstruction?

As time went on, there would be no chance of recovery.

Without Guiyun City, the pressure of disaster relief might even be lightened, if only by a little.

So no matter who won, they would ultimately have to relocate rather than remain in the ruins of Guiyun City.

When the Court learned of Guiyun City’s situation, they wouldn’t come. They would just issue a toothless condemnation, and that would be the end of it.

Want to leave? No problem, of course. Just go to the nearest town.

If you’re lucky, you might even run into people from the Court and receive aid. But surviving after that probably won’t be easy.

“Indeed, it is not optimistic. In this war between Daoist Lineages, there are no winners.” A voice drifted over.

Qi Suian recognized it. It was the scholar who had been hunting Huixin before.

He was also a Third Realm Scholar of the Confucian Lineage.

“Huixin, you escaped last time, but you won’t escape this time.” The scholar’s eyes were bloodshot and filled with hatred. “Today, I will avenge my junior brother!”

“Wang Xuan, you think you can kill me just because I’m missing an arm?” Of course, Huixin knew in his heart that he was no match for him.

But he absolutely could not show weakness, or he would surely die.

However, his bluff naturally didn’t fool the scholar named Wang Xuan.

“Sword!”

“Slay!!”

“Die!!!”

As Wang Xuan’s voice fell, three ink characters materialized from thin air.

The first character, “Sword,” transformed into an Ink Sword. Then, the characters for “Slay” and “Die” merged into it, creating a flying sword brimming with murderous intent that shot straight for Huixin’s head.

Although Huixin was missing an arm and his combat strength had indeed diminished, it hadn’t fallen to the point where he could be killed in an instant.

He shattered the flying sword with his one hand and then charged fiercely toward Wang Xuan.

The battle began instantly, with no reservations.

As for Qi Suian, he had been forgotten by both of them. It was as if the only thing in their eyes was their enemy from the opposing Daoist Lineage.

‘There’s something fishy about this war between Daoist Lineages. It’s even affecting their intelligence and sense of self.’ Qi Suian decisively retreated to the side.

Just moments ago, Huixin had been talking to him, worried for his safety.

But the next moment, he had completely forgotten about it, even ignoring Qi Suian’s presence.

It was as if his perception had been altered.

“This war between Daoist Lineages is a bit like the Great Calamity of Investiture. Once you’re in it, everyone loses their minds.” After moving far away from the fight, Qi Suian was still shaken.

With his survivor avatar’s current strength, it was impossible to interfere in a battle between Third Realm experts.

After all, he had only just begun to cultivate. Unless he resorted to a deus ex machina, there was no way for him to intervene in this fight.

“Huixin… can’t die, right?” Qi Suian sighed. The man had been ambushed because he came to warn him.

‘Then I might as well help him.’

‘As for Xingdu Temple, I’ll let them be the victors. Though, this victory will be a pyrrhic one. The man helped me, after all, and his attitude wasn’t one of discarding me after I’d served my purpose. Even if he had ulterior motives, he hasn’t harmed me so far. But how to help is the question.’

‘I could directly intervene with a deus ex machina, but that would too easily attract the attention of the Daoist World. But if I help indirectly, this survivor avatar of mine isn’t strong enough.’

“So I can only rely on luck.” Qi Suian’s expression was a bit strange. He then drew a sliver of fate from his true self and stuffed it into his survivor avatar.

Then, using this wisp of fate, he began to flip through the script and manipulate fortune.

Xingdu Temple, Zhu Huan Academy, and Pear Blossom Temple were all evenly matched right now. A trivial amount of luck was more than enough to influence the final outcome.

And since Qi Suian’s survivor avatar was currently aligned with the Xingdu Temple faction, by possessing this fate, he could indirectly boost the luck of the entire faction and lead them to victory.

It just required Qi Suian to manually control it, using his survivor avatar as a medium.

Fortunately, the difficulty and the disturbance it would create were not great. Qi Suian was confident he could complete this operation without the Daoist World noticing.

However, after this was done, he would have to leave Xingdu Temple. After all, geese leave tracks where they pass; traces were unavoidable. He had to clean up and leave as soon as possible to avoid future trouble.