Chapter 749: Chapter Five Hundred and Thirty-Two: Turmoil

He had just finished speaking when the sky outside the Central Hall suddenly flickered. Streaks of light flew from the north to the south, trailing long tails of flames in the sky. To the south, five rosy glows leapt up, dyeing half of the sky red.

The rosy clouds slowly approached, revealing their true form—it was a cloud ship adorned with golden rosy clouds, with a pair of cloud-like wings on either side—breaking through layers of mist, with numerous silhouettes standing on top.

"Rosy Cloud Boat…"

Li Xizhi frowned as he glanced at the object, the token at his waist emitting light, with each character on it lighting up one by one. His expression turned solemn as he stared heavily at the sky.

As figures scattered from the Rosy Cloud Boat and numerous lights flew in from the north, Li Xizhi calmed his brothers and ascended in a rosy glow, surrounded by swirling clouds, until he was close to the cloud ship.

With a flash of rosy light in his hand, he activated the token, and immediately someone from the boat approached, riding the wind. Their face looked somewhat familiar. Upon a closer look, he also recognized Li Xizhi.

The man was somewhat short and plump, bearing a look of affluence. When he arrived in front of Li Xizhi, he opened his mouth and said,

"Taoist Fellow…"

Only then did he recognize Li Xizhi's cultivation level, and quickly changed the way he addressed him, displaying a full-faced smile as he respectfully said,

"Oh, greetings, Senior! It's been many years since we last saw each other… Senior, you have reached Foundation Establishment!"

"So it's you!"

Li Xizhi realized the man before him was Yu Fuyu of Ling Dou Peak. Back when Li Xizhi was merely practicing Qi Cultivation and wanted to take advantage of a domestic errand to visit home, he had approached this man to exchange goods.

Although this man was of the Yu Family, he had long since severed ties with them, living a meager life, alone and singular, and fearing Li Xizhi's background, he was therefore very attentive:

"Senior's cultivation has indeed been incredibly swift!"

Although Li Xizhi's cultivation was fast, he couldn't even compare to his own brother, and he could only be considered above average in the sect. He paid no mind to the flattery and asked,

"What's going on here?"

Yu Fuyu hastened to explain,

"Senior, Xiuyue has closed its borders, retreating completely into the mountains. The cultivators stationed from Xu Country's northern area to the East Sea have all withdrawn, they have completely let go of their duties."

"As a result, a large number of Buddhist Practitioners in the southern part of Yue Country, as well as Devil Cultivators that have fled over the years, are now unsupervised, and have already infiltrated Xu Country!"

He seemed rather excited as he said,

"Xiuyue's closing down has effectively thrown away all the past unspoken agreements. The nine sea entrances are left unguarded without a word, completely unattended, the relationship between East Sea and Xu Country is now unobstructed, and nobody knows what sort of chaos has unfolded by now."

He looked somewhat sympathetic as he said,

"Poor Xu Country... Just recovering from decades of turmoil, just starting to see some improvements, and now it will fall into a sea of blood once more."

Li Xizhi felt uneasy after hearing this but was gradually able to understand the scene before him and asked,

"So the sect has taken action?"

"Exactly!"

Yu Fuyu said,

"Not just my Green Pond, even Jin Yu Sect has taken action."

Li Xizhi internally assessed the situation and sighed,

"Things have escalated considerably! Is there any Zifu who has taken up the matter? Has the sect seen any new Zifu advancement?"

"I have not seen any!"

Yu Fuyu nodded repeatedly, hurriedly saying,

"On the contrary, a number of advancing Seniors have fallen. Many were well-known elders who had made their names long ago, like 'Mansion Water Dan' Li Encheng, 'Golden Xuan Eagle' Mo Chen…"

At this point, Li Xizhi's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself,

'So Li Encheng indeed failed... alas... a foreknown affair...'

Although his thoughts were racing, his expression remained unchanged, continuing to listen attentively, and thus the old man before him was clueless, only going on to say,

"We are just traveling to Xu Country ahead of others; the sect has already summoned all Peak Masters. Each peak has been assigned a task, and perhaps the people coming to invite Senior are already on their way."

Li Xizhi nodded slightly, noting the cloud ship was about to enter the territory of Xu Country. As he prepared to leave on the wind, Yu Fuyu became anxious and blurted out,

"Senior! My Ling Dou Peak... had a great friendship with Qing Sui back in the day! An uncle in my peak, a great-uncle of my clan Yu Yuxie... is one of Senior Si Yuanbai's closest friends…"

"I'm not skilled at spell battles…"

Li Xizhi paused for a moment, then understood.

'It seems this cloud ship is filled with sect elders waiting for their days to pass... Now sent to Xu Country, they are bound to face the storm first... No wonder he is so eager.'

Observing Yu Fuyu's almost teary appearance, Li Xizhi gently said,

"I can't settle this matter just by saying so; I need to return to the sect first and inquire more carefully. If I can find a peaceful spot for Taoist Fellow, I will try to help."

Having said that, Li Xizhi wasn't entirely believed by Yu Fuyu, who managed to thank him twice before Li Xizhi had already vanished in the rosy clouds, leaving Yu Fuyu standing there dumbly.

After a moment, a man clad in white and gold Armor walked out from the ship's cabin, holding a Long Halberd, looking quite imposing. His gaze swept over the crowd, he pointed out two people and softly ordered,

"You... you... come with me!"

'Tang Shedou!'

Yu Fuyu felt a chill in his heart as the hand pointed toward him.

Li Xizhi descended from the skies, his brothers awaiting him in the hall. They exchanged glances, seeing his solemn expression. Li Xizhi whispered the news to them, and the eldest Li Xijun pulled out a map to inspect it.

Xu Country was situated between the three nations of Yue, Wu, and Zhao, a large river running through its center, sharing borders with Xiuyue, Jin Yu, Green Pond, and even many gates to the Buddhist Path. Notably, Wangyue Lake sat exactly at the border between Green Pond and Xu Country.

Xu Country now found itself virtually ejected from Xiuyue's sphere of influence, leaving only the Tang Jin Sect isolated within. Yue Country's northern part had nearly turned into a void, and Xuan Yue Sect, adjacent to the East Sea, was a mere wilderness upon landing, which continued on to span the entirety of Xu Country—this would all now become a land embroiled in disturbance.