Chapter 273: True Person Jiang Lu of the Blood Marionette Sect
[Age: 17/920]
[Spirit Root: Five Elements Immortal Grade Spirit Root]
[Cultivation Level: Late Stage of the Golden Core 600,000/1,000,000, Body Refinement Late Stage of the Golden Core 50,000/1,000,000]
In Tanxian Elegant Courtyard, Qing Shuang, who had been in seclusion, closed the System Space panel and continued her cultivation.
At this time, however, Physician Qing encountered some trouble.
A large number of low-level Loose Cultivators suddenly had Spirit Stones in their possession, and many dirty and tiring jobs that they used to do were left undone.
This naturally attracted the attention of some people.
To prevent the mixed quality of Sect Members absorbed into the Sect of Commoners, Yu Qingtan had specially compiled a set of disciplinary manuals suitable for her subordinates and had each Deacon and Helmsman emphasize the importance of discipline when recruiting new members.
Violation of discipline would result in being expelled from the Sect of Commoners as a minor punishment and the retrieval of the distributed Spirit Stones as a more severe consequence.
The discipline included obeying commands for all actions and not bullying others by relying on the collective power of the Sect of Commoners, among other things.
Now, the main task of Yu Qingtan's Sect Members was to recruit new members, which was also one of the missions of the Sect of Commoners to earn Contribution Points, though the points earned were negligible compared to Yu Qingtan's rewards of Spirit Stones.
Despite this, the expansion of the Sect of Commoners caused suppression by some powers.
Previous confrontations were minor skirmishes that the Helmsmen and Deacons under Yu Qingtan could handle.
This time, the Blood Shadow Demon Sect personally intervened.
Yu Qingtan first preached in the domain of the Blood Shadow Demon Sect, leading to the highest number of converted members.
Zhao family, Zhu family, and others who had previously oppressed Wang Jian, Lu Xiang, and more, were all secretly warned by Yu Qingtan herself.
This time, out of the ten Golden Core Cultivators remaining in the Sect Gate of the Blood Shadow Demon Sect, eight were mobilized to use the Third Stage medium-grade Great Array, the Hundred Puppet Night March Array, that had been laid in secret to seal off the Outer City of the Blood Puppet Immortal City.
"Those of you who have joined the Sect of Commoners, listen up. You are now surrounded. If you give up resistance and leave the Sect of Commoners, we will let bygones be bygones. If you continue to resist stubbornly, you will face the consequences," the great Elder of the Blood Shadow Demon Sect, Jiang Li, who was in the Late Stage of the Golden Core, shouted to the Loose Cultivators in the slum area.
Yu Qingtan and Shen Wanning, disguised as Physician Qing and Shen Wan, arrived high in the sky.
"Elder Jiang Li, these are just Loose Cultivators, not slaves of your Blood Shadow Demon Sect. What's wrong with them joining my Sect of Commoners?" Yu Qingtan said, her face showing no signs of fear in front of the Hundred Puppet Night March Array.
"So you are the Physician Qing of the Sect of Commoners, stirring up trouble here. Die!"
Elder Jiang Li commanded, controlling the Array to send one hundred Blood Marionettes to attack Yu Qingtan.
Continue reading on empire
Among these one hundred Blood Marionettes, seventy-two were Third Stage Demonic Beasts or Sea Clan, and the remaining twenty-eight were Golden Core Cultivators of the Human Race.
The Hundred Puppet Night March Array was one of the trump cards of the Blood Shadow Demon Sect, strong enough to contend with enemies at the Nascent Soul Early Stage.
Elder Jiang Li brought out the Hundred Puppet Night March Array also in anticipation of the possible arrival of Nascent Soul Cultivators from the Sect of Commoners.
Facing the coordinated attacks of a hundred marionettes, the Sect Members of the Sect of Commoners who were hiding according to orders began to worry, but Yu Qingtan scoffed with disdain.
"Shen Wan, watch me vanquish the enemy!"
No sooner had she spoken than a canopy of blazing flames engulfed them, with nine serpentine pythons coiling around the shield, as they continued to ascend in height.
It was indeed the Nine Python Profound Fire Cover.
The one hundred attacks that struck it were all consumed by flames and dissipated as bursts of spiritual light.
"Go!"
"Roar~"
Once the two reached a sufficient height, the nine pythons, as if coming to life, descended from the shield and charged toward the surrounding enemies who had caught up.
At the same time, a barrage of fiery arrows formed around the perimeter of the Nine Python Profound Fire Cover, firing in all directions, providing cover fire for the nine pythons' attacks.
Each rocket was accompanied by a second-level fire domain.
"Supreme treasures, second-level domains! Who exactly are you?"
Real Person Jiang Li's face underwent a drastic change, unfortunately, Yu Qingtan no longer paid him any attention.
In the first counterattack, nine third-stage demonic beast blood marionettes were incinerated into ashes by the fire pythons, and the Hundred Puppet Night March Array was immediately broken by nearly half.
After three waves of attacks, twenty-seven blood marionettes were destroyed, turning the Hundred Puppet Night March Array into a joke.
Although the blood marionettes were at the third stage, their strength was still far inferior to that of a real Golden Core cultivator.
As for the Hundred Puppet Night March Array, it was of little use to a third-stage array master and Yu Qingtan, who possessed the Blue Clear Spiritual Pupil Technique.
"Ah, die for me!"
Real Person Jiang Li's face twisted as he and the other seven Golden Core real persons controlled the remaining blood marionettes, charging towards where Yu Qingtan and another were located.
Nine fire pythons intercepted them, directly self-destructing their inner cores or golden cores as a block.
Under Yu Qingtan's control, the nine fire pythons evaded in the first instance.
The remaining sixty-odd blood marionettes finally broke through to Yu Qingtan's proximity and fiercely self-destructed.
Yu Qingtan took Shen Wanning into protection, curled up with her hands around her knees, shrank the Nine Python Profound Fire Cover to its smallest size, and wrapped it with the Bashe black carapace shield into a spherical form, covering it on the outside of the Nine Python Profound Fire Cover.
The Bashe black carapace shield was composed of scales, which allowed it to achieve this.
The might of the blood marionettes' self-destruction struck upon it, unable to cause any damage to the Bashe black carapace shield.
Yu Qingtan had elevated the battleground to avoid collateral damage to the cultivators on the ground; fortunately, Real Person Jiang Li and others did not wish for such an outcome either, and they followed after her.
"Nice fireworks!"
Yu Qingtan laughed lightly, controlling the nine fire pythons to attack Real Person Jiang Li and the other eight Golden Core cultivators of the Blood Shadow Demon Sect.
Real Person Jiang Li and the others turned pale, their main method being the blood marionettes, but now most of their marionettes had self-destructed without causing Yu Qingtan any harm.
Although they still possessed blood marionettes, they were certainly no match for Yu Qingtan.
Hence, the eight of them turned around and fled, escaping back into the inner city of the Blood Puppet Immortal City and activating the Protective City Formation immediately.
The Protective City Formation of Blood Puppet Immortal City reached the lower grade of the fourth stage; Yu Qingtan indeed could not break through it.
But did she need to break through?
She had already bought a set of houses in the Blood Puppet Immortal City a long time ago and left Soul Marking Seals there.
Even in the Blood Puppet Immortal City's Blood Shadow Demon Sect headquarters, Blood Puppet Mountain, Yu Qingtan used the Reincarnation Mantra to disguise herself as a Foundation Establishment inner sect disciple of the Blood Shadow Demon Sect and infiltrated it, leaving Soul Marking Seals in her cultivation cave.
If she was to stir up trouble in the Demon Sect's territory, how could she not be prepared?
"Great Elder, that Physician Qing has left!" said one of the Golden Core cultivators from the Blood Shadow Demon Sect, looking at the spot where Yu Qingtan had disappeared, speaking with lingering fear.
"I didn't expect this person to be so difficult to deal with, don't let your guard down, be fully alert, and wait for support from the higher-ups in the Sect," said Real Person Jiang Li, also feeling a twinge of fear, reaching out for backup from the Blood Shadow Demon Sect the moment the Protective City Formation was activated using a special method.
The Protective City Formation couldn't be kept active all the time, as the spirit stone consumption was too great, and the Sect's cultivators couldn't cultivate in peace.
Thus, the eight Golden Core cultivators took their places in the eight tall buildings within the Blood Shadow Demon Sect that also served as nodes for the Great Array.
That night, Yu Qingtan infiltrated the inner city.
Raising her cultivation to the Nascent Soul Stage, she employed the Breath-Concealing Technique and Five Elements Qiankun Escape, stealthily making her way into the tall building where Real Person Jiang Li resided.
"Stabilizing Spirit!"
Under the Stabilizing Spirit Spell, Real Person Jiang Li's cultivation was sealed, and he was captured alive by Yu Qingtan and knocked out before being thrown into the System Space.
Then, Yu Qingtan proceeded the same way with the remaining seven Golden Core cultivators, capturing each one and throwing them into the System Space to accompany Jiang Li.