Chapter 1432: Five Great Sages

Bingxin Revered One was surprised, not understanding why Jiang Fan would ask about Sages. Jiang Fan was only at the Nascent Soul Eight-Aperture stage; Sages should be an extremely distant concept for him.

After a moment of contemplation, she patiently replied: "To my knowledge, there are only five."

Jiang Fan's heart subtly stirred.

First, he was surprised by the difficulty of reaching the Sage realm. Over the past thousand years, weren't there at least dozens, if not a hundred, Revered Ones of the Five Declines of Heaven and Man born in the Central Plains? Yet, only a mere three of them were able to ultimately reach the Sage realm! The difficulty of accumulating merit was evident.

Second, he was excited that there was finally a lead regarding the Asura Saint.

He pressed, "May I ask, who are these Sages?"

Bingxin Revered One grew more puzzled. It felt as if Wang Chongxiao was looking for someone. Suppressing her confusion, she answered: "They are Sage Wanyun, Sage Longyan, Sage Tianluo, Revered Buddhist Ancient Zen, and Revered Demon Nether Nine."

Jiang Fan was secretly thrilled; the Asura Saint was among these five! No, one must be excluded. That would be Sage Longyan. If he remembered correctly, the master of the little tiger's family was Revered One Longyan. He later ascended to the Sage realm. The Sage Longyan mentioned here should be him. This Sage Longyan was an existence who had already become a Human Race Transformation God Revered One a thousand years ago. Therefore, he could be directly ruled out as a suspect.

Next were Sage Wanyun, Sage Tianluo, Revered Buddhist Ancient Zen, and Revered Demon Nether Nine. Judging by their names, the latter two should be a Buddhist Sage and a Demon Race Sage. But this did not rule them out as suspects. Because Huaxin once said that the Asura Saint came from the Bloodthirsty Asura lineage. Their greatest skills, besides bloodsucking, were disguising their identities, so much so that even ancient Sages had never detected his presence. Thus, it was difficult to say whether he disguised himself as a human, a demon, or perhaps even played a trick of "darkness under the lamp" and infiltrated the Buddhist sect.

This was the first time Jiang Fan was so close to uncovering the Asura Saint. He immediately asked again, "Senior, do you know if there was a Revered One of the Five Declines of Heaven and Man who, in Taicang Great State, seized the fate of an entire state to become a Sage?"

Upon hearing this, Bingxin Revered One felt a bit awkward, but still replied: "Of course I know. I, too, once visited Taicang Great State to observe its local fate, hoping to see if I could replicate that Sage's path. But I was stopped by the Great Wine Offering."

Jiang Fan was puzzled. Bingxin Revered One had also visited Taicang Great State? When was this? However, that wasn't what he should be asking. With a hint of expectation in his eyes, he asked, "Which of the aforementioned Revered Ones was that?"

Bingxin Revered One, however, said, "How would I know that? Seizing fate to become a Sage is not a glorious matter in itself; that great Sage would naturally conceal their past. Moreover, that happened several centuries ago. Most of the people who knew about it back then have already perished, and very few are aware of it now."

Jiang Fan felt deep regret. He was so close to exposing the Asura Saint. However, his gains today were not insignificant. At least he had narrowed it down to four individuals. After returning to Taicang Great State, he would slowly inquire about the circumstances of these four Sages to see if he could find any clues.

*Whoosh—*

An invisible wave, without any warning, swept out from the rift. It was formless and shadowless. But wherever it passed, the creatures of hell crowded at the rift's entrance—whether Nascent Soul stage or Transformation God stage hiding among them—all disintegrated and scattered like sand sculptures.

Bingxin Revered One's expression shifted slightly. With a sweep of her sleeve, she pulled everyone back, her beautiful face showing a grave expression: "It's a fluctuation of rules! The Great Wine Offering is fighting some entity in the interlayered world!"

Jiang Fan gasped. He had been wondering why the Great Wine Offering had failed to seal a breach. So, it turned out there was a terrifying entity in the interlayered world.

They retreated to the horizon, and what met their eyes was an endless sea of hell creatures, more than half of which had been completely cleared. All had scattered like sand, leaving no bones behind. This terrified the hell creatures who had narrowly escaped, making them dare not approach the breach again. They turned around and charged towards Jiang Fan and the others.

They had finally managed to drive them here, but now, due to the rule fluctuations in the interlayered world, their efforts were in vain.

Jiang Fan was slightly annoyed: "It must be that terrifying entity inside, realizing the hell creatures were retreating, and so it attacked." His eyes flickered, and he quietly took out the Hell Soul Bell, hiding it in his sleeve. He shouted, "What are you all staring at? Quickly, stop them!"

The experts from various states who had caught up rushed forward. Jiang Fan noticed that Bingxin Revered One had also made a move, and only then, amidst the clamor of the battlefield, did he shake the Hell Soul Bell. Upon hearing the bell, the hell creatures turned around again and rushed back towards the rift in a desperate panic.

This time, perhaps because the Great Wine Offering had entangled the terrifying entity, the entity was unable to strike again. The hell creatures surged into the rift in droves.

After a brief interval, the hell creatures completely vanished. The hell creatures on the eastern path were effectively cleared.

Jiang Wuya let out a long sigh of relief, a hint of satisfaction appearing on his face: "I can't believe we managed to drive all these hell creatures back."

The experts from various states all showed a sense of relief. Many had psychologically prepared themselves for demise. They hadn't expected the end to be surprisingly smooth, except for one fairy who perished at the very beginning. There were no further casualties among the reinforcements from the various states. This was nothing short of a miracle.

Revered One Hongchen glanced at her severed arm, a sense of daze washing over her. She had never imagined the outcome would be like this. As she pondered, her gaze fell upon the young and beautiful Bingxin Revered One, her eyes filled with profound admiration and respect. She respectfully said, "Thanks to your guidance, Senior, our reinforcements from various states have achieved great merit. Please accept our bow." In her mind, only this Revered One could have made the hell creatures turn tail and run.

Hearing this, everyone also mustered their spirits and saluted Bingxin Revered One. They had gained a lot this time and could exchange it for many valuable resources at Spirit Snake Mountain. It was indeed time to properly thank Bingxin Revered One.

To their surprise, Bingxin Revered One glanced meaningfully at Jiang Fan's sleeve, then calmly stated: "There's no need to thank me. You fortunate souls have your own divine favor; this great victory has little to do with me. Wang Chongxiao performed well in this battle. Let him say a few words to you all."

Everyone was greatly depleted and exhausted. Someone was needed to boost their morale, to enable them to gather their spirits and proceed to the western path to support the Demon Race led by Jinlin Revered One.

Everyone looked at Jiang Fan, deeply impressed by this Taicang Great State expert who had been the most diligent in pursuing and killing hell creatures. This person possessed numerous techniques, and their power was astonishingly great. The number of hell creatures he had slain was probably no less than what a few Transformation God realm experts combined could achieve. While adjusting their own conditions, they watched Jiang Fan, somewhat curious about what he would say.

Suddenly being singled out, Jiang Fan was taken by surprise. What was there to say? Just roll up your sleeves and get to work. Looking at everyone's disheveled state, he had a fleeting vision of the great war between the two realms that would soon arrive. That war would be far more brutal than this.

Considering this, his expression involuntarily became solemn. He cupped his hands, bowed to everyone, and said in a low voice: "Fellow Daoists from various states, today is the first and also the last time we will join forces to resist an external enemy."

The unexpected topic made everyone's expressions falter slightly. Clearly, they all understood Jiang Fan's meaning. Their actions involuntarily slowed, and they listened to Jiang Fan in silence.