Chapter 516: Great War Begins

"Husband, besides Tianqi, Qingjing and the others should also go into hiding," suggested Wang Ruyan, her beautiful eyes filled with worry. "Our Wang family is the weakest, and it's always the softest persimmon that gets squeezed. Chen Yuhua might target us to make an example, just as the Five Sects of Wei eliminated the Qingyang Sect to warn others."

Her concern was not unfounded. Wei and Tang had been old adversaries for a long time. During the previous expedition to the Golden Sun Sect ruins, many Foundation Establishment cultivators from Tang had been killed or injured. With new grudges piled upon old hatreds, Chen Yuhua might indeed take action against Wei.

"You're right," Wang Changsheng agreed. "Let Qingjing and the others hide in the secular world. Also, send people to spread the word that we have a clan uncle and Bingbing in the Taiyi Immortal Sect. That should make Chen Yuhua hesitate."

That evening, the Wang family convened a family meeting. Some clan members were instructed to remain in the market, some to hide in the secular world, and others to travel to the State of Chu.

In addition, the Wang family members worked day and night, rushing to refine various wartime consumables such as talismans, magical artifacts, and puppet beasts, hoping they wouldn't be needed. Wang Qiuming and Wang Qiuling received Foundation Establishment Pills in advance to attempt their breakthroughs to the Foundation Establishment stage. The merit points they owed would be repaid later; during these extraordinary times, extraordinary measures were being taken.

Wang Changsheng, accompanied by Wang Ruyan and Wang Changyue, teleported to Red Leaf Ridge.

Wang Changsheng had already informed Wang Ruyan about Ye Lin's origins. Wang Ruyan was greatly astonished to learn that Wang Changsheng had imprisoned a third-order formation master from the Nine Nether Sect, especially since this individual was also a wanted fugitive from the sect.

Wang Ruyan had initially planned to enter seclusion for a period, but with a storm brewing, she found herself unable to focus on cultivation.

Not only Wang Ruyan, but Wang Changsheng also found it impossible to cultivate with peace of mind.

He exchanged a brief greeting with Wang Ruyan before resuming the refinement of a prototype magical artifact.

In the world of cultivation, strength reigned supreme. He had already prepared for the worst-case scenario: if Chen Yuhua intended to annihilate the Wang family, Wang Changsheng would by no means fight to the death. Instead, he would find a place to hide and cultivate diligently. Given the opportunity, he would surely retaliate against the Hundred Flowers Sect; he refused to believe that their disciples would never be caught alone.

This time, he intended to refine a defensive prototype magical artifact, primarily using five-hundred-year-old spiritual wood.

He opened his mouth and expelled a wisp of blue alchemic fire, which enveloped a three-foot-long piece of verdant spiritual wood.

In the basement, Ye Lin was teaching Wang Changyue about formations, but Wang Changyue seemed a bit restless.

"What's wrong?" Ye Lin asked with a frown, a hint of displeasure in his voice. "If you don't want to learn, just say so. It's as if I'm forcing you to study formations."

Ye Lin was frustrated because despite his good intentions in imparting knowledge about formations to Wang Changyue, she wasn't paying attention at all. Back in the Nine Nether Sect, countless people had begged him to explain such knowledge, yet Wang Changyue was simply daydreaming, which he considered a sign of contempt for a formation master.

"I can't focus today," Wang Changyue sighed, her baby-faced cheeks filled with worry. "Our family has run into some trouble."

"Trouble? Can you tell me what happened?"

Wang Changyue hesitated for a moment. After some thought, she briefly explained the long-standing enmity between the States of Wei and Tang to Ye Lin.

These matters weren't confidential, and she decided it wouldn't hurt to tell Ye Lin, so he wouldn't misunderstand and refuse to impart his knowledge of formations.

"The balance has been broken, and these two nations are old adversaries," Ye Lin mused. "It's only natural for the Hundred Flowers Sect to target Wei. Your family is indeed too weak; they might very well use your family to assert their authority. No wonder you can't focus. But truthfully, you don't need to worry so much. If the Hundred Flowers Sect attacks, just surrender if you can't win. It's certainly better than having your entire clan annihilated."

"Hmph, the Hundred Flowers Sect wouldn't dare do that!" Wang Changyue declared, waving her small fists as if to bolster her own spirits. "My clan uncle and niece are disciples of the Taiyi Immortal Sect, and they have a very good chance of forming Golden Cores. The Hundred Flowers Sect wouldn't dare wipe out our Wang family!"

Ye Lin looked somewhat surprised. "Your clan uncle and niece are disciples of the Taiyi Immortal Sect?" he asked, sounding puzzled. "How come you never mentioned it before?"

"Don't try to trick information out of me," Wang Changyue retorted. "I'm not saying anything more. Once this matter is over, I'll resume learning formations from you. You should rest well for now!"

With that, Wang Changyue turned and left.

Watching Wang Changyue's retreating figure, Ye Lin's eyes constantly darted about, evidently deep in thought.

More than half a year swiftly passed.

Wang Changsheng sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, his brows slightly furrowed. Scattered before him were various artifact refining materials, alongside a millstone-sized piece of black wood that emitted a scorched odor.

He had originally intended to refine a defensive prototype magical artifact, but the attempt unfortunately failed, resulting in over a hundred thousand spirit stones worth of wasted materials.

In other words, Wang Changsheng had spent more than half a year and over one hundred thousand spirit stones, gaining nothing but some artifact refining experience.

Had he not acquired a batch of third-order refining materials from the Celestial Wolf Secret Realm, he truly wouldn't have been able to afford such an expenditure.

With a flick of his wrist, a vast expanse of golden light streamed out from his spirit beast bead, revealing his Gold-Devouring Ants.

The Gold-Devouring Ant Queen was now a second-order high-grade, with a bloated body, accompanied by more than thirty other second-order Gold-Devouring Ants.

Wang Changsheng had acquired numerous Golden-Spotted Flame Worm eggs; ten were given to Wang Qingling to hatch and cultivate, while the remaining eggs were fed to the Gold-Devouring Ants.

The Gold-Devouring Ant Queen already disdained ordinary second-order materials. The dense swarm of Gold-Devouring Ants crawled onto the black wood and swiftly devoured it.

Wang Changsheng hesitated for a moment before taking out a pigeon-egg-sized golden orb. This was a byproduct excreted by the Golden-Spotted Flame Worm after it consumed large quantities of metal ore, and it was an exceptionally hard third-order artifact refining material.

The Gold-Devouring Ant Queen swallowed the golden orb in one gulp, then settled down, looking lazy and unwilling to move.

Having witnessed the formidable power of the Golden-Spotted Flame Worm, Wang Changsheng now harbored the ambition of cultivating his Gold-Devouring Ants to the third order.

Wang Changsheng took out a two-foot-long piece of emerald-green spiritual bamboo and offered it to the Gold-Devouring Ant Queen, but she remained lethargic. He then returned all the Gold-Devouring Ants to their spirit beast bead.

The Dual-Pupil Rat remained in its deep slumber, still not having awakened.

"By my reckoning," Wang Changsheng murmured to himself, "Qingkai should be back by now." He put away his refining materials and walked out.

Upon entering the basement, he found Wang Changyue absent, while Ye Lin was engrossed in deducing array formations.

"Your sister asked me to tell you that once you finish your seclusion, you should return immediately," Ye Lin said without looking up. "Something has happened within your clan."

Wang Changsheng's heart sank. He swiftly teleported back to Green Lotus Villa and headed directly for the council hall.

Over a dozen Foundation Establishment clan members were engaged in a serious discussion, their expressions grim. Wang Qingshan had also returned. Upon seeing Wang Changsheng, they all stood up.

"Ninth Uncle," they greeted.

Wang Changsheng waved a hand, then turned to Wang Qingkai and asked, "Qingkai, what exactly has happened?"

Wang Qingkai offered a wry smile and recounted his journey to the State of Tang.

Chen Yuhua intended to lead the cultivation forces from several surrounding states in a counterattack against the demonic path. According to Chen Yuhua, this was not solely her decision; another major sect, which also had a Nascent Soul cultivator, was leading cultivators from various states to assault the demonic forces. No fewer than twenty cultivation powers were involved, with more than ten righteous-aligned states joining the conflict. The last demonic invasion had seized considerable territory, and with a Nascent Soul cultivator taking the lead, many sects had agreed to participate—this was what Wang Qingkai had heard firsthand.

To participate meant being considered Chen Yuhua's friend; to refuse meant becoming an enemy of the Hundred Flowers Sect, and by extension, the entire cultivation world of Tang.

Chen Yuhua was effectively strong-arming other cultivation forces into joining her cause; those who didn't board her "warship" would be treated as adversaries.

Hearing Wang Qingkai's report, Wang Changsheng breathed a sigh of relief. If their task was merely to confront demonic cultivators, it wasn't so bad; at most, some clan members would perish, which was far preferable to the entire clan being annihilated.

Chen Yuhua had made her intentions perfectly clear. If the Wang family were to refuse, they would only be inviting trouble upon themselves.

"Chen Yuhua didn't specify how many troops our Green Lotus Villa needs to dispatch, did she?" Wang Changsheng asked. "And what benefits can we expect after this is accomplished?"

"That wasn't mentioned, Ninth Uncle," Wang Qingkai replied. "The number of forces to be dispatched will need to be discussed between you and the Five Sects of Wei."