Chapter 229: Senior, You Don’t Want Your Secret to Be Known, Do You?

While Li Ping was in Flying Snow City, passing his days peacefully with cultivation and alchemy, Silver Moon City had reached a moment of life and death.

Silver Moon City was already in a precarious state, besieged by several Tier Three Demon Beasts. Fortunately, Mu Yun Master of the Flying Snow Sect had arrived in time to provide aid, stabilizing the situation. A stalemate had ensued. But who could have predicted that while they held off the Demon Beasts, the Barbarians would suddenly seize the opportunity to cause trouble?

The Barbarian Bone Tribe, the most powerful Barbarian tribe near Silver Moon City, frequently clashed with the city’s cultivators. Over the years, the two sides had accumulated an immeasurable amount of hatred.

Initially, the leaders of Silver Moon City hadn’t paid the Barbarian Bone Tribe much mind. After all, Demon Beasts lacked intelligence. They didn’t distinguish between Barbarians and Humans; all life they encountered was simply food. Just as they attacked human cities, they would also attack Barbarian tribes. Furthermore, the Barbarians weren’t tied to a single location. Unlike Human Race Cultivators who had to practice on Spirit Veins, they could simply move their entire tribe far away from the beast tide. Thus, the leadership of Silver Moon City had assumed the Barbarian Bone Tribe had already relocated.

But to their shock, not only had the Barbarian Bone Tribe not relocated, but at the very moment Silver Moon City was being battered by the beast tide, they launched an all-out assault! It was as if they were completely unconcerned about the casualties the Demon Beasts inflicted on their own people, seemingly intent on mutual destruction with Silver Moon City.

In a desperate move, a Core Formation Cultivator from the Silver Moon Sect left the city to negotiate with the Barbarian Bone Tribe’s Elders, but he wasn’t even granted an audience. Silver Moon City was already straining to defend against the beast tide. Now, with the Barbarian Bone Tribe joining the assault, the city finally… buckled.

…

Within Silver Moon City, cultivators hurried to and fro. Mortals gathered in the streets, anxious and uneasy, as if sensing something was amiss.

In the grand hall at the city’s center, two Core Formation Cultivators stood on the highest platform. Below them were hundreds of young Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining Cultivators.

The Silver Moon Sect Leader’s gaze swept over everyone below before he let out a soft sigh. “Silver Moon City cannot be held. The other Main Cities have no forces to spare for our aid.”

His words immediately caused an uproar among the cultivators below.

“Silence!” the Silver Moon Sect Leader barked. The oppressive might of a Core Formation Cultivator instantly filled the hall, forcing everyone to shut their mouths.

Only then did he continue, “You are all the young talents of my Silver Moon Sect, the future and hope of our Sect. I have summoned you here because I want you to retreat with Fellow Daoist Yun of the Flying Snow Sect. Go to the Flying Snow Sect, focus on your cultivation, and when you are strong enough, come back to rebuild our Sect and rebuild Silver Moon City!”

The crowd below reacted with a mixture of expressions: shock, grief, indignation, and even secret joy. But the Silver Moon Sect Leader gave them no more time. “Go with Fellow Daoist Yun now! I will buy you some time!”

At this, the Silver Moon Sect Leader turned to Mu Yun Master, his expression earnest. “Fellow Daoist Yun, I’m entrusting them to you!”

Mu Yun Master opened his mouth to speak, but faced with the Silver Moon Sect Leader’s gaze, he ultimately just gave a slight nod. “Rest assured.”

In truth, Mu Yun Master had wanted to say that with the Silver Moon Sect Leader’s strength at the Core Formation Stage, his chances of survival would be immense if they left together.

But Mu Yun Master understood that the Silver Moon Sect Leader had already prepared to live and die with his Sect, with his city.

With nearly ten million souls and thousands of cultivators in Silver Moon City, how could he, as the Sect Leader, just walk away and let the Demon Beasts slaughter them all?

‘These are all living human beings!’

But at this moment, there was nothing he could do.

He could only hold the line until the city’s defenses fell, buying time for some of the Silver Moon Sect’s cultivators to escape with Mu Yun Master.

Then… if he was lucky, he could try to lead the remaining survivors in a breakout.

As for the ordinary mortals?

Once the Array was broken, the freezing temperature alone would be enough to grant them a swift, painless death.

…

SWOOSH!

A cyan Flying Ship quietly departed Silver Moon City, transforming into a streak of cyan light that shot toward Flying Snow City.

But it didn’t get far.

A black banner, large enough to blot out the sky, swept over and instantly enveloped the Flying Ship. The surface of the banner bulged periodically—that was Mu Yun Master attacking from within with a Magical Treasure!

But after just a moment—

all movement from within ceased.

The black banner flew back into the hand of a Dwarf hiding behind the clouds. He cackled. “Hehehe… Trying to escape from me? You’ll make a fine main soul for my White Bone Banner!”

Muttering to himself, his gaze fell upon the teetering city below. A satisfied look appeared in his eyes as he began to wait patiently.

Several days later, Silver Moon City’s Tier Three defensive Grand Array was breached. In an instant, the temperature inside the city plummeted to match the frigid outside.

Nearly ten million mortals froze to death instantly. The remaining cultivators attempted to break out, but the vast majority were killed by Demon Beasts and Barbarians. Only a handful of Foundation Establishment Cultivators escaped with the Silver Moon Sect Leader.

The Dwarf witnessed the horrific scene below and burst into hysterical laughter. “Good baby, you can eat your fill now!”

The Silver Moon Sect Leader gazed down at his ruined city, his face a mask of grief and indignation.

But before his expression could change, the sky-blotting black banner enveloped him. Simultaneously, wisps of black smoke drifted from its surface, and a terrifying suction force radiated from the banner, devouring the Life Souls of all the dead humans below.

With the humans gone, it was time for the battle between the Demon Beasts and the Barbarians.

The Dwarf had already arranged it so that every last Barbarian would die here today.

The Barbarians and humans would wipe each other out, while he remained perfectly concealed.

As he watched the tattered surface of his White Bone Banner slowly repair itself by devouring countless Life Souls, the smile in the Dwarf’s eyes deepened.

But just at that moment—

SWOOSH!

A streak of black light shot up from the city below, speeding southward.

Its astonishing speed made the Dwarf blink. ‘There’s still a Core Formation junior alive? Strange. How did my Divine Sense not detect them?’

He didn’t overthink it, though. Not a single whisper of today’s events could be allowed to escape, which meant every intelligent life form here, besides himself, had to die.

SWISH!

Wielding the White Bone Banner, the Dwarf flickered through the air and closed in on the black streak of light, then gently shook his flag.

Instantly, as if being sliced by a thousand blades, the black streak disintegrated. But when the Dwarf saw the fragments of the body clearly, his face contorted in shock.

The “Core Formation Cultivator” he had just obliterated was nothing more than a puppet!

“A puppet!” The Dwarf’s face turned ugly.

‘A puppet means there’s a puppeteer hiding somewhere,’ he thought. ‘Everything I’ve done has probably been seen by whoever is in the shadows.’

“Who is it?”

Ignoring the scattered pieces of the Tier Three Puppet, his icy Divine Sense instantly swept an area ten thousand zhang in every direction. The Dwarf became a blur, darting back and forth in an attempt to find the hidden puppeteer.

But in the end, he came up with nothing.

Just then, a figure slowly flew in from the distance. The Dwarf’s Divine Sense swept over it, easily identifying it as a Tier Two Puppet. He did not act, but instead waited for it to draw near.

As the puppet approached, a stiff voice emerged from it. “Senior, you wouldn’t want the Confucian Sect to find out about you slaughtering the Human Race and harvesting their Life Souls, now would you?”

Hearing this, the Dwarf’s expression instantly darkened.

…

“Thank you for your trouble, Brother Li.”

Shi Yutong took the newly refined Pills and rushed off, not teasing Li Ping as she normally would.

Watching Shi Yutong’s retreating figure, Li Ping’s expression grew serious.

As a Gou Cultivator, he was constantly and carefully observing his surroundings, always on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary.

And Shi Yutong’s rushed departure, in Li Ping’s eyes, was very out of the ordinary.

‘Without her usual teasing, no flirty words… is that even Shi Yutong?’

‘Did something happen in the city?’ Li Ping wondered silently.

At that thought, he couldn’t be bothered to continue cultivating. He walked out of his residence and flew toward the city.

Just as he left his residence, a female cultivator with a graceful figure flew out from a cavern a few hundred zhang away, happening to cross his path.

“Alchemist Li, are you heading into the city?” Bai Yi asked, pleasantly surprised to see him. “What a coincidence, I’m going into the city as well. Shall we travel together?”

Li Ping frowned for a moment, but his expression quickly smoothed out. “You misunderstand, Fellow Daoist Bai. I’m off to visit a friend, so it wouldn’t be convenient to travel together.”

“Oh, I see. Never mind, then,” Bai Yi said with a nod, her expression unchanged.

…

After shaking off Bai Yi, Li Ping arrived at Ji Shu Xuan’s shop.

He didn’t have time to gather information himself, so he had long ago tasked Ji Shu Xuan with collecting intelligence from around the city, which he would come to review periodically.

However, upon entering the shop and taking in the scene, Li Ping was taken aback.

Besides Ji Shu Xuan, there was another young cultivator in the shop, one whose presence was sharp and unconcealed, with a gaze as piercing and aggressive as a drawn sword.

“Uncle Li.”

“Fellow Daoist Li.”

Seeing Li Ping walk in, both Ji Shu Xuan and Xu Guikai greeted him with a smile.

Li Ping smiled and nodded in return. “Fellow Daoist Xu, you’ve come out of seclusion.”

“That I have! I don’t have high-tier skills like Fellow Daoist Li, so I have to emerge every so often to hunt beasts and earn cultivation resources!” Xu Guikai said with a self-deprecating smile. “If I stayed in the city all the time, I’m afraid I couldn’t even afford the rent on my residence.”

Li Ping motioned for Ji Shu Xuan to bring him the intelligence that had been gathered, while making small talk with Xu Guikai. “Have things been quiet outside the city recently? The Demon Beasts haven’t been making any unusual moves, have they?”

Xu Guikai nodded. “Same old, same old. However, a friend I met while hunting said the Demon Beasts are showing signs of retreating. That’s why I came out of seclusion—to seize the opportunity and hunt a few more.”

“Otherwise, once they’ve retreated, I’d have to travel thousands of miles to the Ice Sea just to hunt.”

“The Demon Beasts are retreating?” Li Ping asked, somewhat surprised.

From Shi Yutong’s behavior, he’d assumed some great disaster had struck.

But now, he was hearing from Xu Guikai that the beast tide might be about to recede.

That was great news!

Then that brings up the question.

What’s going on with Shi Yutong?