Almost as the words fell, the middle-aged man's expression changed drastically, and without hesitation, he formed seals with his hands.
After once again turning into scattered paper fragments and dodging the attack from Hebo, the middle-aged man who reappeared no longer held any intention of persuading or enticing.
It was clear that the other party had decided to keep him here.
His expression sank, and killing intent began to flicker in his eyes. However, before he could make any move, he saw six heavy water beads rise, their water-light intertwining to seal the void for dozens of feet around.
Then, the middle-aged man saw a sword light flash and disappear, and a moment later, a few artifacts appeared in Hebo's hand.
These were clearly the magical artifacts that the other party had spent over three hundred years nurturing!
Ji Yuan, who had retrieved the magical artifacts from the county magistrate Zhang Qingyang, transformed into a sword light once again after finishing these tasks and vanished into the void in an instant.
The six heavy water beads sealing the void clearly couldn't do the same to him.
The next moment, a phantom image of a long river materialized out of thin air, and the sound of rushing water erupted simultaneously.
The middle-aged man had no time to think further. He waved his hand, releasing swaths of paper scraps, which transformed into various beasts in the air and stepped into the void towards the phantom river image descending from above.
At the same time, he took a deep breath and shook his sleeve, scattering figures of small people. With the infusion of mana, they instantly grew to the size of ordinary humans and released an aura of the mid-to-late stage of the Second Realm.
A total of eighteen paper figures, now forming an array in mid-air, although all at the Second Realm, steadily blocked the divine artifact that had transformed into a phantom river!
However, Hebo's hand held far more than just this one divine artifact. Over three hundred years, he had enough incense and wish power to nurture several divine artifacts of good quality.
At this moment, a long-burning lamp rose, hovering above his head. Under the flickering light, scorching flames surged out!
Standing more than ten feet away, Ji Yuan silently watched the two sides battle. Apart from sealing the void with the six heavy water beads, he made no other moves.
He occasionally swept his gaze elsewhere, his face showing a hint of contemplation.
Five deities led by the City God of Liyang City, plus Zhou Wentao and the deceased guardian, a total of seven existences above the Third Realm.
If one were to add the demonic cultivators lurking in the city, the small Linfu County would have eight Third Realm cultivators, a force that even some powerful sects could not ignore.
But this alone was not enough to make a righteous water god make two separate visits in his avatar to issue warnings.
The Fuyuan River ranked among the top three in scale within Lingyang Prefecture, and its water god, though only having inherited the divine position for a few hundred years, was undeniably powerful and could rank among the foremost of the many mountain and water deities.
While not intimately familiar, the intelligence obtained from Lin Yubai indicated that this righteous god of Fuyuan River would be no lower than the top five.
To have such an existence make two warning visits in his avatar and ultimately remain in the Hebo Temple clearly could not be achieved by merely eight Third Realm cultivators.
This meant that a great cultivator at the Golden Core level should have appeared here.
Or a disaster of equivalent threat!
However, in the current situation, Ji Yuan had not detected any more powerful forces.
In fact, within his perception, the calamity in Linfu County was slowly dissipating, which meant that things would soon be over and no further changes would occur.
Was everything coming to an end?
Ji Yuan's gaze deepened, suspecting that someone might be concealing the calamity. However, those with such means would at least be great cultivators at the Golden Core stage.
A few Third Realm cultivators were not enough to warrant such action from a Golden Core existence; they could be wiped out with a mere turn of the hand.
So... where did the problem lie?
Just as his thoughts raced, trying to guess every possibility.
Dozens of miles away from Linfu County, two figures stood in the sky, soaring high above.
One was a middle-aged man, dressed in a peculiar long robe embroidered with the sun, moon, stars, birds, flowers, fish, and insects.
Standing opposite him was an old man with a rosé nose, carrying a large gourd on his back, exuding a strong aroma of wine and elixirs.
This elder was none other than the sect leader of the Heavenly Cauldron lineage of the Nine Xuan Sect, and the only alchemy grandmaster in the entire Lingyang Prefecture.
Compared to his own sect, his reputation was even more widespread. Throughout the Great Yu Dynasty, few forces would not know of him, as within such a vast territory, only three or four individuals had achieved such alchemical accomplishments.
"To shatter a balance that has existed for hundreds of years for the sake of a few disciples."
Gazing at the拦路者 (lān lù zhě - one who blocks the way) before him, the middle-aged man sighed, "Is it worth it?"
Wei Ying, the sect leader of Heavenly Cauldron Peak, chuckled, "There is no worth or unworth. We have long disliked the so-called grand scheme."
However, hundreds of years ago, due to the Nine Xuan Sect being severely weakened by the Xuan Tian lineage breaking away and establishing its own sect, they lacked the extra strength to interfere in such matters.
Now, with experts like clouds and a foundation comparable to a powerful sect, even without disciples, if they chanced upon this matter, the Nine Xuan Sect had long had the opportunity to find a chance to do what they couldn't do back then.
"There's one thing I don't quite understand. Since you've decided to act, why let a group of juniors cause all the trouble?"
The middle-aged man gave up his attempt to persuade and instead asked with leisure.
Hearing this, Wei Ying took down the small gourd from his waist and took a large gulp of wine. As his gaze fell, it seemed as if he could see the group of young disciples dozens of miles away.
"They always need to experience some things and make their own choices."
The old man smiled, "We elders just need to protect them in other areas. Otherwise, how can we let these young ones grow up?"
At least for the Nine Xuan Sect, they did not need disciples who only had cultivation but lacked capability and had flawed characters. Compared to many other sects and forces, they preferred successors who possessed both good character and ability.
After all, cultivation could be amassed with large amounts of resources, but a proper character, etc., if not taught well in the early stages, could never be changed later.
And those with cultivation but insufficient ability, no matter how much wealth these old guys accumulated, would eventually be squandered.
"Have you truly made up your minds?"
After a long silence, the middle-aged man spoke again.
As his voice fell, Wei Ying slowly said, "While these old bones can still live for another hundred or two hundred years, it's best to settle things first, so as to avoid these little ones getting into a mess later."
The middle-aged man naturally understood the meaning behind his words.
Currently, the Nine Xuan Sect had been passed down for three generations. The first generation founders had long since passed away. Now, the second-generation disciples were managing the sect, and the disciples within the sect now were the third generation who had yet to grow up.