Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 156: The Burning Heaven Sect

The Burning Heaven Sect lay south of the Qingyuan Sect and controlled a slightly smaller territory. Its headquarters sat on an upper-tier third-grade spiritual vein. The sect coveted not only the demon beast resources of Severed Origin Mountain, but also the fourth-grade spiritual vein beneath Qingyuan Mountain.

Without a fourth-grade spiritual vein, the sect could not cultivate a Nascent Soul cultivator. Its current vein was already proving inadequate for its four Golden Core cultivators.

Even though the Burning Heaven Sect had gained one more Golden Core cultivator than its rival, the Qingyuan Sect remained stronger overall thanks to its abundant demon beast resources and fourth-grade spiritual mountain.

The Burning Heaven Sect also feared that Du Guangchao, who had reached the late Golden Core stage, would advance to Nascent Soul. If he did, the sect would lose any chance of turning the tables and might soon be destroyed.

Sha Dinshan now led the Burning Heaven Sect. He had recently reached the late Golden Core stage despite being only a little over two hundred years old. His single-attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root gave him extraordinary talent, and without the limitations of the sect’s spiritual vein, he might have advanced even faster. His urgent desire for a fourth-grade vein, and the greater chance it would give him of reaching Nascent Soul, was the main reason he had launched the war.

The sect was willing to gamble. If it seized the Qingyuan Sect’s vast resources, Sha Dinshan’s chances of reaching Nascent Soul would rise sharply. Within a few decades, the Burning Heaven Sect might become a Nascent Soul sect with a say in the South Sea’s core interests, instead of remaining confined to its fringes.

Sha Dinshan surveyed the Burning Heaven Sect cultivators gathered in the hall.

“How are the families’ preparations?” he asked. “Make your instructions strict. When we move, they must attack the Qingyuan Sect’s subordinate forces at the same time.”

Ji Shuguang and several other cultivators stepped forward. “Old Ancestor, the families have agreed to act after receiving your decree, but they want support in the form of Array Breaking Talismans and other resources.”

Sha Dinshan considered this. “We can give them some talismans. We don’t have enough pills for ourselves, so they’ll have to find their own. You few will accompany the family cultivators to supervise them. If anything unexpected happens, inform the sect at once so we can respond.”

“Yes, Old Ancestor,” they answered together. Attacking Foundation Establishment families would be much less dangerous than attacking the Qingyuan Sect, especially since they were only there to supervise and had no intention of leading a charge.

“Go. Tell them to act in two months.”

Sha Dinshan dismissed the Foundation Establishment cultivators and resumed discussing the attack on the Qingyuan Sect with the sect’s other Golden Core cultivators. They had invited several Golden Core cultivators from the Boundless Palace to help.

The Qingyuan Sect’s unusual response had put them on alert. If the Wangs could guess what was happening, so could the Burning Heaven Sect’s leaders. They concluded that Du Guangchao was probably trying to reach Nascent Soul and that they had to attack to stop him.

The Boundless Palace had initially wanted to watch the two sides fight and profit afterward. But if a Nascent Soul cultivator emerged in the northern Leizhou Peninsula, it too would suffer. It therefore accepted the Burning Heaven Sect’s proposal.

The palace would send several Golden Core cultivators and some Foundation Establishment cultivators, but would not mobilize the whole sect. It wanted to stop Du Guangchao’s breakthrough, not destroy the Qingyuan Sect. Without the Qingyuan Sect to balance it, the Burning Heaven Sect would eventually turn on the palace.

The cultivation world had no unbreakable alliances. For the sake of immediate or long-term interests, any side might change its allegiance.

Ji Shuguang soon returned to the Ye family with some talismans. The families would assemble there, at the approach to Green Bull Market, before attacking it together.

He summoned the family heads again and looked around coldly. “I’ve brought the talismans. How are your preparations?”

Ye Jingshan rose. “Elder Ji, our people are ready, and we’re moving supplies into place. We also sent people to Green Bull Market to gather information. As expected, the five families have heard rumors and are preparing for war.”

“Anything else useful?” Ji Shuguang asked, displeased.

“Well…” Ye Jingshan found it difficult to say. “Their defenses are tight. We can gather information in Green Bull Market, but our people are spotted as soon as they approach the family compounds. Several clansmen have probably been killed.”

Because the Ye family lived nearby, most of the scouts were its people. Sending Foundation Establishment cultivators would have drawn too much attention, so it had dispatched Qi Refining clansmen instead.

Perhaps the Ye clansmen lacked experience after centuries without war, or perhaps the five families were especially alert. Of the dozen or so scouts the Yes had sent, only four returned. The others had disappeared. The survivors said those missing had gone toward the five families’ compounds; they had likely been captured or killed.

Seeing Ji Shuguang’s expression darken, Gu Lizhan spoke up for Ye Jingshan. “Elder Ji, you can’t blame Clan Head Ye entirely. The five families of Green Bull Market have dealt with demon beasts for years and know how to stay on guard. Our people lack that experience, which is why they were discovered.”

Ji Shuguang grew angry. “Useless! I told you to gather intelligence, not alert the enemy.”

He snorted. “You’re the ones attacking them. You caused this problem, so find your own way to deal with it.”

The family heads exchanged looks. Some were annoyed with Ye Jingshan for botching the reconnaissance, though they might have fared no better themselves. At least four of the Ye scouts had returned.

“They know we’re coming, so we’ll have to attack openly,” He Junyi said helplessly. “Forget tricks. Let strength decide it.”

Xu Minglang smiled. “They may be on guard, but each family is protecting its own holdings. We’ll send two families against one. We have more than twice their strength, and Array Breaking Talismans to weaken their formations. We can still win.”

The others nodded. They could hardly make the five families pretend they knew nothing.

After capturing several Ye family spies, Wang Hao also understood that war was near.

“I suggest recalling every cultivator to Wang Family Ridge,” he said. “We should give up the other places if we have to. As long as we survive, we can rebuild.”

“Even Ruojun Mountain?” Wang Yanzhi, who had only recently reached Foundation Establishment, was distressed. He hated to give up the Qingyuan Market shop he had run for years, let alone a spiritual mountain.

Wang Yanzhao stroked his newly grown beard. “That would be a great loss. We now have five Foundation Establishment cultivators. Couldn’t we divide our forces for the time being and reinforce whichever place comes under attack?”

“That won’t work,” Wang Longyou said. “If they attack Wang Family Ridge, its defenses can hold against five or six Foundation Establishment cultivators for a while. But what if they attack Ruojun Mountain first? Even flying at full speed, it takes a day to travel between the two. Could it hold out?” He looked at Wang Hao. “I agree with Wenhao. Hesitation will only make things worse. We should abandon the other holdings.”

Wang Hao smiled. “If necessary, we can even give up Wang Family Ridge.”

“What? Give up the clan’s home too?”

Even Wang Longyou frowned at that.