Chapter 360: White Pool Mountain

The Mortal Cultivation Story, Volume 3

The West Peak of Chi Mountain was larger than Han Li had imagined. The entire peak not only had an ancient temple built upon it but also over a dozen stone pavilions of various sizes. Cultivators were already engaged in long conversations within them, gathered in groups of three to five.

Outside the pavilions and the temple, there were also scattered cultivators walking back and forth. It seemed some people, eager for the gathering at Bai Chi Mountain, had arrived early.

Han Li surveyed the peak from above for a while before circling once and descending to a secluded corner of the mountain. He then took Qu Hun and casually walked towards several nearby stone pavilions. Given Han Li's powerful spiritual sense, he could clearly hear the conversations of the cultivators inside the pavilions in no time.

One of the stone pavilions, where four cultivators were engaged in an animated discussion, caught Han Li's attention. Han Li listened carefully for a moment and, upon realizing they were discussing the war between the Seven Sects of Yue State and the Demonic Dao, his spirits lifted, and he walked over without hesitation.

"This great defeat against the Demonic Dao has not only forced the Six Sects of Yue State to flee their homeland, but even our Yuan Wu and Zi Jin states will face great calamity in the future," sighed a pale-faced middle-aged man among the four. "Now, it remains to be seen whether the Demonic Dao will first attack our Yuan Wu or assault Zi Jin."

"Indeed, in the last great war, the Six Sects suffered heavy losses," chimed in another young man, around twenty years old, with a hint of schadenfreude. "And five or six tenths of the cultivators from our two states who went to assist were also lost! This time, sects like Tian Xing Sect will be in a terrible mess!"

Upon hearing the young man's words, two of the other three, both elderly men, remained expressionless, showing no reaction. However, the middle-aged man who had spoken first couldn't help but give a wry smile, on the verge of saying something more.

Just then, another voice came from the side.

"While major sects like Tian Xing Sect may be in a sorry state, I'm afraid the lives of us rogue cultivators and cultivation families will become even harder," Han Li said slowly as he approached, articulating the unspoken meaning behind the middle-aged man's wry smile. "Those of the Demonic Dao follow the law of the jungle. By then, we won't enjoy the same ease and freedom we have today."

The four were startled to hear an outsider nearby and immediately fell silent. However, when they realized they couldn't discern Han Li's cultivation level, all of them showed a hint of unease. They hastily rose and respectfully bowed to Han Li. The middle-aged man, eager to excuse the young man, quickly said:

"Esteemed Senior, my nephew Yu was merely speaking casually just now and held no disrespect towards any of the sects. Please do not take offense!"

These individuals had mistakenly taken Han Li for a high-ranking cultivator from one of Yuan Wu State's immortal sects. The young man's expression also grew tense.

"Haha, fellow cultivators, please don't misunderstand. I am just a rogue cultivator myself! I merely chimed in randomly just now," Han Li explained gently, smiling.

Hearing Han Li's words, they finally relaxed. Although they didn't know if Han Li's claimed identity was true or false, it was clear that he wasn't going to pursue the matter of their earlier reckless remarks.

Thus, welcomed by the group, Han Li also sat down at the stone table in the pavilion.

"It is our honor for a Senior to grace this place," the red-faced elder, who had the deepest cultivation among the four, asked somewhat reservedly. "However, with Senior's cultivation, why would you participate in this level of gathering?"

It was no wonder he was so surprised; local small gatherings like the one at Bai Chi Mountain rarely attracted Foundation Establishment cultivators. High-level cultivators, when seeking interaction, would naturally attend higher-tier gatherings.

"For some time now, I've been cultivating on a desolate mountain not far from here," Han Li said casually. "However, recently I heard news of our cultivators' great defeat in Yue State. Feeling that significant changes were coming to the cultivation world, I decided to venture out and gather some information. Do any of you fellow cultivators have the latest news regarding the Demonic Dao and Yue State?"

Hearing Han Li say this, the four looked at each other for a moment. But then, three of them simultaneously turned to look at another lean, elderly man.

"If it's about being well-informed, Elder Brother Ding is certainly the one," the red-faced elder chuckled dryly, speaking deftly. "After all, the Ding family has many worldly businesses directly established in Yue State!"

The other two also chimed in with agreement, causing a strange glint to flash in Han Li's eyes. Seeing this, the elder surnamed Ding showed a hint of embarrassment on his face. He could only say resignedly:

"Indeed, our Ding family disciples in Yue State have recently sent back some of the latest developments from there. Originally, our family didn't wish for this information to spread, but since you are all close friends of mine, and this Senior also wishes to know, then I shall share some. However, I must ask you all not to easily disclose it to others."

Hearing Elder Ding's words, the other three's spirits lifted, and they repeatedly affirmed. So, the elder cleared his throat and slowly began to speak:

"The news I received a few days ago indicates that Yue State is currently in great chaos. Although the Demonic Dao has defeated the allied forces of the Six Sects, many retreating cultivators from the Six Sects have not left Yue State. Instead, they are relying on the terrain to continuously launch attacks against the Demonic Dao. I heard that several Core Formation cultivators also did not withdraw, which has kept the Demonic Dao quite occupied and exhausted. After all, Core Formation cultivators are not so easy to deal with. Furthermore, the Six Sects have been rooted in Yue State for many years, possessing considerable underlying influence, making it quite troublesome for the Demonic Dao to take over the cultivation world of Yue State.

"As for the cultivation families in Yue State, they have adopted three different stances. One type, seeing the defeat of the Six Sects, immediately defected and voluntarily pledged allegiance to the Six Demonic Sects. Another type, having been too closely associated with the Six Sects, feared retribution from the Demonic Dao and simply withdrew from Yue State like the Six Sects. The last type of family is still in a wait-and-see phase, preparing to observe the situation before making a decision.

"Regarding the important sect strongholds that the Seven Sects have occupied for many years, I heard that apart from the Yan Yue Sect and the Giant Sword Sect, which have not yet been breached by the Six Demonic Sects, the remaining four sects have all been completely conquered. However, it's said that very few items were seized, as most of the valuable possessions were taken away by the retreating disciples of the Six Sects.

"In my opinion, as long as the Demonic Dao cannot stabilize Yue State, they will not attack our state or Zi Jin. After all, no matter how many people they have, occupying two small states and one medium-sized state all at once would likely spread their forces too thin. That's why they temporarily can't deal with those Six Sect cultivators who keep causing trouble."

The elder slowly spoke the above words, also sharing some of his own insights.

"Elder Brother Ding, how much breathing room do you estimate the Demonic Dao will give us?" the red-faced elder nearby couldn't help but interject. "Can our various sects still withstand their attacks now?"

"That's hard to say," Elder Ding replied, shaking his head and secretly glancing at Han Li. "After all, what I know is merely superficial information. As for the true situation, perhaps only the high-ranking members of each sect truly know."

Evidently, he still believed Han Li was a cultivator from one of their own country's sects, which made him speak somewhat evasively.

Then, as if not wanting to continue discussing related matters, Elder Ding suddenly smiled and recounted an event that surprised Han Li.

"This time, due to the hurried evacuation, the Six Sects of Yue State all, by unspoken agreement, adopted a 'gecko shedding its tail' strategy. They only took away the most elite disciples with good innate talent, leaving many other disciples in the dark to be sacrificed. Among them, the most ruthless action was reportedly taken by the high-ranking members of Huang Feng Valley. To ensure their true trusted elites could escape Yue State safely, they actually sacrificed two batches of disciples in succession. This amounted to almost all cultivators from Huang Feng Valley who were not part of the evacuation. Tsk, tsk, what extraordinary methods!"

Although the elder spoke casually, Han Li's heart sank abruptly upon hearing it, and his expression subtly changed. Fortunately, none of the others dared to stare intently at Han Li, so no one noticed his unusual expression.

"Fellow Daoist Ding, you mentioned Huang Feng Valley sacrificing two batches of disciples. What exactly happened there? I'm quite interested!" Han Li asked calmly, suppressing the shock in his heart.

"Haha, since Senior asks, I shall naturally tell you the truth. The matter is as follows: I heard that as soon as the high-ranking officials of Yue State received news of the defeat on the front lines, they immediately devised a 'cicada shedding its shell' scheme. They first had one batch of disciples withdraw ahead of time, while secretly leaking information to Demonic Dao spies that these disciples were Huang Feng Valley's elites and were carrying a large amount of spirit stones, raw materials, and other treasures. This completely drew the attention of the Demonic Dao pursuers. Simultaneously, they left another batch of disciples, who were kept in the dark, inside the sect, instructing them to use the grand formation to create a standoff with the remaining Demonic Dao members. Only after these two batches of disciples had drawn all of the enemy's attention did the high-ranking officials of Huang Feng Valley allow their true trusted elite disciples to retreat separately from the opposite direction, taking with them the sect's accumulated wealth of over a thousand years.

"I heard that although Huang Feng Valley had the fewest people retreat safely, their evacuation was the easiest among the Six Sects. The other five sects, despite gathering their forces to retreat together, were successively caught by pursuers and had to fight multiple battles. A considerable amount of their wealth fell into the hands of the Demonic Dao. This incident, because the Demonic Dao was tricked, has now become widely known in the cultivation world of Yue State," the elder recounted to Han Li without daring to be negligent.

"Oh! So that's what happened. Those abandoned Huang Feng Valley disciples were quite foolish indeed!" Han Li murmured slowly, his expression unchanged.