Chapter 688: Moon-Embracing Sect

The Moon-Embracing Sect was merely a third-rate cultivation sect located in the southwestern corner of the Martial Immortal Mountain Range, situated in the Western Region of Chenping Continent.

Within the sect, the current highest cultivator, the contemporary Sect Master of the Moon-Embracing Sect, was nothing more than a cultivator at the early Passable God Realm.

The sect's foundation was not particularly deep either, with a total history of less than two hundred years.

Yet the Moon-Embracing Sect still received respect from many nearby cultivation sects.

And all of this could be traced back to one hundred and eighty years ago, when a cultivator from the Southern Region of Chenping Continent suddenly appeared around the Martial Immortal Mountain Range.

That man was the founder of the Moon-Embracing Sect.

This founding ancestor of the Moon-Embracing Sect seemed to have quite an extraordinary background.

According to legend, his original identity was a Qi Sea Realm Supervisor within the Moon Void Sect, one of the Star Heaven Sect's branches.

Later, due to internal strife within the sect, he was stripped of his Star Heaven Sect techniques and his entire cultivation base, then expelled from the Moon Void Sect.

After a long and arduous journey, he arrived at the vicinity of the Martial Immortal Mountain Range at the border between the Western and Northwestern Regions of Chenping Continent, where he established the Moon-Embracing Sect.

In truth, the founding ancestor's past could not hold up to scrutiny in the eyes of truly experienced and knowledgeable cultivators.

If the Moon Void Sect truly had internal strife, only cultivators holding the rank of Elder or above within the sect would have any possibility of participating.

A mere Qi Sea Realm Supervisor?

A cultivator of that level, in the midst of sect internal strife, would at most simply become marginalized within the sect.

They wouldn't even have a seat at the table.

And after the Moon-Embracing Sect finally established a firm foothold in the southwestern corner of the Martial Immortal Mountain Range, they never again deliberately proclaimed to the outside world that their sect's founder had once been a Supervisor of the Moon Void Sect.

Nor did anyone care.

Because the Moon-Embracing Sect, which now possessed three Qi Sea Realm Elders and one Passable God Realm Sect Master, could indeed be called the number one sect within a radius of over a hundred thousand li around the southwestern corner of the Martial Immortal Mountain Range.

After all, the cultivation resources within and around the Martial Immortal Mountain Range were quite scarce, making it difficult to support the establishment of any cultivation sect of considerable scale.

The fact that the Moon-Embracing Sect could establish a sect of such scale in the southwestern corner of the Martial Immortal Mountain Range was already an extraordinary achievement in itself.

"Sigh..."

The young disciple who was only fifteen years old and highly valued by the Moon-Embracing Sect let out a sigh.

His name was Nie Yu.

From the day he was singled out at a glance by the Moon-Embracing Sect's Qi Sea Realm Elder who was traveling abroad, and brought back to the sect, Nie Yu had become the most radiant moon within the Moon-Embracing Sect.

At fifteen years old, he was at the peak of Qi Circulation Realm, with absolute confidence in breaking through to Martial Spring Realm by the age of sixteen.

A talent like this, even if placed in one of the Five Great Sects, would absolutely become a core disciple, if not a chief disciple of a peak lineage.

The future prospects of the Moon-Embracing Sect rested almost entirely on Nie Yu's shoulders alone.

And the experiences Nie Yu had gone through had also forged his current personality.

He was not arrogant or domineering, but the growth experience of being surrounded by stars and treated like the moon had made Nie Yu more willful and capricious.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have coerced Senior Brother Zhou Wu into bringing him and the other young disciples, whose cultivation was only at Qi Circulation Realm, on a risky adventure into the Martial Immortal Mountain Range after discovering that Zhou Wu had previously gone there to poach demonic beasts.

Nie Yu and the others, who lived under the protective wings of the Moon-Embracing Sect, had no idea what kind of dangers they would face in the Martial Immortal Mountain Range.

And Zhou Wu, in order to avoid being expelled from the sect or facing other terrible consequences, had no other choice but to agree to Nie Yu's demands and head into the Martial Immortal Mountain Range.

Compared to searching for demonic beasts within the mountains, the more important task for Zhou Wu was to lead these fellow junior sect brothers and sisters out of the Martial Immortal Mountain Range alive.

Especially Nie Yu.

He knew very well just how important this boy, who was only fifteen years old, was to the Moon-Embracing Sect.

Even though becoming a Martial Spring Realm cultivator at the age of twenty-four or twenty-five could already be called a heaven-chosen talent within the Moon-Embracing Sect and earn considerable regard from the sect,

if something unexpected happened to Nie Yu, Zhou Wu's fate would likely be far worse than simply being expelled from the sect.

Therefore, even though Zhou Wu had already led Nie Yu and the other Moon-Embracing Sect disciples into the Martial Immortal Mountain Range for over half a day, they had been lingering in relatively safer areas the entire time, not daring to venture deeper.

But Zhou Wu had only secretly gone to the Martial Immortal Mountain Range a few times before, and he wasn't too familiar with the environment and terrain of the range.

And during their wandering, they had inadvertently arrived at Falling Eagle Valley.

This made Zhou Wu's mood grow even heavier than it had been just moments before.

Because the danger level of Falling Eagle Valley far exceeded what Zhou Wu could control.

Thanks to the unique geographical environment of the Martial Immortal Mountain Range, within this towering mountain range that stretched for millions of li and completely divided the Western and Northwestern Regions of Chenping Continent, there were scattered small numbers of demonic beasts that could not be found anywhere else on Chenping Continent.

And these unique demonic beasts held considerable collection value for cultivators in the cultivation world of Chenping Continent who specialized in collecting the demonic cores or specimens of various demonic beasts.

Zhou Wu had chosen to take risks and occasionally venture into the Martial Immortal Mountain Range to try his luck precisely because he had previously hunted a Jade-Eyed Marten while following a Fellow Daoist from another sect whom he had met at the Gambling Den, and had earned over three hundred high-grade spirit stones by selling its pelt.

"Senior Brother Zhou, we've already circled around this area twice. Forget demonic beasts, we haven't even seen a single slightly ferocious wild beast."

Among the group, one of the Qi Circulation Realm disciples spoke up toward Zhou Wu, then his gaze shifted to the cliff-like Falling Eagle Valley up ahead:

"How about we..."

"Going down there means never coming back up."

Zhou Wu's attitude was extremely firm, and his tone was cold as he said:

"If you want to try, go ahead. I won't stop you, but don't expect me to rescue you either."

"But..."

That Qi Circulation Realm disciple was clearly embarrassed by Zhou Wu's words. He tried to rebut something but ultimately couldn't get anything out.

"Listen to Senior Brother Zhou, Gao Tai."

Seeing that the atmosphere among the group had become somewhat delicate, Nie Yu cast his gaze toward the disciple named Gao Tai and said in a calm voice.

"..."

Upon hearing this, Gao Tai shifted his gaze away from Zhou Wu, then looked toward Nie Yu who had stopped him, and bowed with clasped hands:

"Yes."

Among these six Moon-Embracing Sect cultivators, the one with the highest cultivation was undoubtedly Zhou Wu at the early Martial Spring Realm.

But when it came to status within the sect, Nie Yu was certainly the highest.