Chapter 2909: Safety First

He had no time to think. The river water suddenly solidified, transforming into a massive, blue-glowing sword that cleaved towards Yile.

As the colossal sword swept past, the void tore open, revealing long, gaping fissures.

Yile gasped in alarm. From his mouth flew a small, red-glowing shield, which instantly expanded to block before him.

The colossal sword cleaved the red shield, which shattered instantly as if made of paper. Yile was bisected by the sword. Simultaneously, the river water surged forth, transforming into countless blue flying swords that streaked towards the cultivators within the stronghold.

In the face of absolute power, all defenses were futile.

With a thunderous roar, all cultivators within the stronghold were annihilated by the flying swords; even their spirits could not escape. Some cultivators who were practicing in their cave dwellings also failed to evade their demise.

The moment Yile's spirit left his body, a blue light flashed, and Sword Venerable Tianhe materialized. With a single grab, he seized Yile's spirit and performed a soul-searching technique.

"After so many years without appearing, he might actually be dead. It seems I'll have to make a trip to the Sky Lizard Mountain Range."

Sword Venerable Tianhe murmured to himself, then closed his fingers. Yile's spirit dissolved into specks of spiritual light and vanished.

By convention, Grand Ascension cultivators should not easily attack those of a lower generation. However, as long as he handled it cleanly, no one would ever know.

After fighting for so long, Sword Venerable Tianhe had lost his patience. Yile was one of the Lizard Clan's high-level figures. He had never seen the Lizard Clan's Grand Ascension expert; Yifeng always claimed that the Lizard Clan's Grand Ascension expert was either away or in secluded cultivation.

His dispatching of forces deep behind enemy lines to raid Lizard Clan strongholds was merely a smokescreen to facilitate his own movements.

Sword Venerable Tianhe flicked his sleeve, and a golden light and a yellow light shot forth, revealing a graceful maiden in a golden dress and a tall, slender young man in yellow robes.

The maiden in the golden dress was at the late Void Refinement stage, and the young man in yellow robes was at the early Integration stage. Both were transformed spirit beasts of Sword Venerable Tianhe.

"Collect all the valuables here and destroy every single body."

Sword Venerable Tianhe instructed. He could have easily razed the entire area to the ground himself, but that would have been too conspicuous.

"Yes, Master."

The maiden in the golden dress and the young man in yellow robes acknowledged and began clearing the battlefield.

After completing their task, they departed with Sword Venerable Tianhe.

Sky Python Pond, one of the Lizard Clan's seventy-two strongholds.

The entire stronghold had been consumed by a sea of crimson flames. All cultivators stationed there were dead. Within the inferno, Yan Que held a miniature lizard in his hand. He closed his fingers, and the miniature lizard dissolved into specks of spiritual light, vanishing.

After fighting for so long, Yan Que, too, had lost his patience. He annihilated the cultivators at this stronghold hoping to uncover some information about the Lizard Clan's Grand Ascension expert.

"It seems I'll have to make a trip to the Sky Lizard Mountain Range. Yifeng should know whether he's alive or dead."

Yan Que murmured to himself. By capturing Yifeng, the Lizard Clan's patriarch, and performing a soul-search on him, he could ascertain the fate of the Lizard Clan's Grand Ascension expert.

He collected the valuables from the site and then departed.

On a vast, green grassland, hundreds of smoking craters pockmarked the ground. Dozens of corpses lay strewn about, some identified as Wang clan members, alongside fragments of puppets.

Wang Yongyan's face was pale. A massive humanoid apparition hovered above his head. Opposite him stood a corpulent old man in golden robes, above whose head floated a colossal mantis apparition.

Wang Yongyan had been living peacefully in the Heavenly Ox Mountain Range, until Lizard Clan masters launched an attack. Immortal Xuan Yue and Gongsun Yang covered their retreat, holding back the Integration stage cultivators of the Lizard Clan to allow them to escape.

"Heh heh, I'll give you another chance. Work for us, and I can spare your life. To tell you the truth, disciples from the Xuanqing Sect, Zhenhai Palace, Dragon Family, and Cold Flame Sect have all joined us. What's the point of resisting? If you die here, who will remember you?"

The golden-robed elder's voice was filled with temptation. Every faction had its weak-willed individuals; after fighting for so long, both sides had accumulated many captives. Some craven individuals, with just a little pressure, would surrender.

"Hmph," Wang Yongyan retorted, "Those not of my race are sure to be of a different mind. I would rather die than pledge allegiance to an alien race."

Wang Yongyan snorted coldly in response.

"Since you're so ungrateful, I'll send you to your demise."

The golden-robed elder's expression turned cold, and he activated his magic art.

"Is that so? It's not yet certain who will send whom on their way!"

A cold male voice resounded.

The void above the golden-robed elder's head rippled, and a red light flashed. A small red brick materialized out of thin air, instantly expanding. A mound of earth rose from the ground and rapidly moved towards the golden-robed elder.

The golden-robed elder was greatly startled. He performed a hand seal, and twin beams of silver light shot from the eyes of the mantis apparition, striking the massive red brick.

A colossal yellow python, its body covered in yellow scales, burrowed out from underground. It was indeed a sixth-tier spirit beast.

The yellow python spewed a torrent of yellow flames directly at the golden-robed elder. The elder performed a hand seal, and the golden shield before him flared brightly, blocking the fiery assault.

The massive red brick glowed intensely as it slammed down. The mantis apparition crossed its forelegs, bracing against the red brick.

Hundreds of massive crimson fireballs flew forth, slamming into the mantis apparition.

With a thunderous roar, surging flames engulfed the mantis apparition.

A piercing whoosh cut through the air, and a flurry of white staff shadows swept in, striking the mantis apparition like crushing mountains. The mantis apparition dispersed and vanished.

The white staff shadows struck the golden shield, sending it flying back to collide with the golden-robed elder. The elder was knocked backward, coughing up a mouthful of fresh blood.

Before he could regain his footing, a massive red brick descended from the sky, slamming down.

The golden-robed elder attempted to evade, but his body felt incredibly heavy, and a powerful gravitational force immobilized him.

His body flared with golden light, and countless golden electric arcs surged forth, but it was useless; the massive red brick continued its descent.

The ground trembled. A miniature mantis flew out from underground, only to be enveloped by a swath of white spiritual light descending from above, which then drew it into a white jade bottle.

A green flying boat approached from a distance, carrying Wang Yong'an, Wang Yongqian, Wang Yuanjiang, Long Yufey, and dozens of other Wang clan cultivators.

The green flying boat landed before Wang Yongyan, who let out a long sigh of relief.

"How are you all here? Didn't you disperse to break through the encirclement?"

Wang Yongyan asked, puzzled.

"This is all thanks to Yong'an. He set up a random teleportation formation in a hidden location, which allowed us to escape. We never expected to run into you here."

Wang Yuanjiang explained.

Wang Yongqian gathered the corpses of her clansmen, carefully preserving their remains for a proper funeral once they returned to Green Lotus Island.

"Establishing a random teleportation formation in a hidden place? Was this arranged by the Ancestor?"

Wang Yongyan inquired, perplexed.

"No, it was my own initiative. I never expected it to actually come in handy. Safety is paramount."

Wang Yong'an humbly replied that as a stronghold changed hands repeatedly, he had deliberately set up a random teleportation formation in a hidden spot. He hadn't expected to use it, but it had saved his life at a critical moment.

Wang Yong'an highly valued his personal safety. Even with Integration stage cultivators stationed in the Heavenly Ox Mountain Range, he still felt uneasy. He felt he needed to establish several teleportation formations before he could truly feel at ease.

Fixed teleportation formations were too costly, requiring separate constructions at two locations, which was both time-consuming and expensive. Wang Yong'an, therefore, opted to build several random teleportation formations, which were less expensive and quicker to construct.

"If it hadn't been for Brother Yong'an this time, we might have lost our lives."

Wang Yongqian commended him. She had initially opposed Wang Yong'an's actions, believing that since the Heavenly Ox Mountain Range already had teleportation formations for requesting aid from other strongholds at any time, there was no need to go to such lengths. She had also worried that if the Lizard Clan discovered the formations, it would result in a significant loss of spirit stones.

Who could have foreseen that the Lizard Clan would infiltrate the Heavenly Ox Mountain Range, destroy the teleportation formations, and cut off all means of seeking aid?

Wang Yongyan felt a mix of emotions. To be honest, he had always disdained Wang Yong'an, finding him too cautious. Wang Yong'an never went treasure hunting or hunted demon beasts, venturing into the Li Huo Demon Refining Pagoda at best.

"Alright, enough talk. Let's go! We should head to our next destination; Yong'an has also set up another random teleportation formation elsewhere."

Wang Yuanjiang urged them on, while Long Yufey put away the yellow python.

Wang Yongyan stepped onto the green flying boat. Wang Yuanjiang performed a hand seal, and the green flying boat flared with spiritual light before vanishing into the sky.