Look at the banks of the Qi River, lush with bamboo.
What a striking presence this person has!
Behind him stood two others: one, a middle-aged man with a stern, chiseled face, and the other, a slightly disheveled Daoist with deep-set eyes.
The three were none other than the highly regarded sect leader of the Great Evolution Sect, Tan Ya, along with his disciples, the Lord of Nine Swallows Mountain and Daoist Zhi Yang, the Lord of Eyebrowless Mountain.
"You are..."
Yu Shicheng stared, his expression one of surprised uncertainty.
Having been stationed in Fengdu for so long, he naturally wouldn't recognize the "Great Evolution Sect," a rising new faction that had only gained prominence in recent years.
Tan Ya offered a gentle smile, his demeanor graceful and full of aristocratic bearing. "I am Tan Ya, the sect leader of the Great Evolution Sect."
He then retracted his smile, his expression mirroring the collective worry, and spoke with deep concern, "The situation is critical, and I apologize for not being able to elaborate further."
With a surge of energy, Tan Ya spread his arms, his palms opening as spiritual power flowed forth. A gust of wind arose as he channeled the power into his palms, joining the two City Lords to imbue the array's core.
The Lord of Nine Heavens Mountain and Daoist Zhi Yang took their stances behind Tan Ya, channeling their spiritual energy into him. In this manner, the three precisely filled the void left by the two City Lords, forming three balanced forces. Their combined impact amplified, creating a pressurized surge against the array's core.
Three beams of ink-green, violet, and bright yellow light shot into the array's core, and the previously unyielding center began to show signs of loosening and instability.
"Tan Ya, it really is him!"
From his position in the middle tier, Lu Ziyin, who was locked in combat with ghost cultivators, said as he parried a strike, glancing upwards at the figures above and murmuring.
Ru Lan, catching sight of him, called out "Hey, hey!" and conveniently dealt with two ghost cultivators who had attempted a sneak attack on Lu Ziyin.
"Lu, you lovesick fool, what are you spacing out for? What's so strange about him? His Great Evolution Sect wants to join the Immortal Alliance and have him elected as an Elder. If he doesn't seize this rare opportunity to earn merit, how long will it take for his humble Great Evolution Sect to grow?"
Lu Ziyin's expression darkened. He was deeply displeased with the moniker "lovesick fool." "What are you babbling about? Do you have a problem with him?"
"A petty man." Yan Tianjiao sneered from the side, his gesture freezing a group of vicious ghost cultivators.
Ru Lan's eyes lit up at the comment. He glanced at Yan Tianjiao and agreed, "Yes, Yan Tianjiao, you're finally speaking human words. He truly is a petty man. When the Sixth Master Fu Sheng is absent, he acts like a king of monkeys, first committing patricide, and then usurping the position of sect leader of the Great Evolution Sect. If our Junior Brother Fu Sheng were here, he wouldn't get a chance. He looks so fake and pretentious."
Ru Lan, a person who avenged wrongs directly, naturally couldn't tolerate Tan Ya's unscrupulous methods to achieve his goals.
As for Yan Tianjiao's assessment of Tan Ya, it stemmed from Tan Ya's subsequent opportunistic behavior after an incident on "Dragon Island." Two of his fellow disciples had disappeared consecutively, yet he showed no signs of distress, only displaying a peculiar expression when the wife of the Sixth Master Fu Sheng went missing.
Such a person... Yan Tianjiao disdained him.
"You clearly have a prejudice against him," Lu Ziyin said, parrying another strike with his sword.
"Who has an opinion of him? He clearly arrived earlier but deliberately waited until this moment to make a move. Can't you discern his intentions?" Ru Lan retorted unconvincingly.
Yan Tianjiao scoffed, "Two-faced."
Lu Ziyin could no longer tolerate it. "That's not being two-faced, that's having malicious intent!"
Ru Lan: "No, it's clearly ambition!"
The disciples around them, already exhausted and facing perilous situations, were forced to listen to their gossip about how the sect leader of the Great Evolution Sect was heartless and beastly. Distracted, their heads were nearly severed.
One of them finally couldn't stand it any longer and cried out miserably, "Uncles, can we focus on fighting the enemy and chat after we get out of here!"
Wouldn't it be better to deal with a few more ghost cultivators and share the burden for your incompetent junior disciples and nephews?!
At this moment, Fu Wanyan also joined the fray. Enduring the oppressive ghostly aura and spiritual pressure around her, she offered a sensible statement: "Regardless of his intentions, if he can save so many lives and thwart the conspiracy of Fengdu Ghost City, there's no need to dwell on the past."
Merit can outweigh faults.
Besides, those weren't necessarily "faults." How many people who wield power and influence didn't have hundreds of schemes in mind?
Pure and kind people are good, but can they contend with villainous forces?
One couldn't simply encounter a bad person and expect them to cease their wicked deeds just because of one's own innocence and kindness.
No one spoke for a while. Since they lacked the ability to break through the predicament, they now had to rely on others for rescue... No more talk, it was more practical to focus on fighting the enemy.
Above, the two City Lords and Tan Ya exerted their full strength to break the teleportation array. Below, the disciples, as if seeing a glimmer of hope, fought with all their might against the ghost cultivators, working together to overcome this ordeal.
However, some things truly couldn't be achieved solely through desperate effort and hard work.
For instance, when the opponent sets a grand trap for you to fall into...
Yu Yi, the Ghost King, watched their desperate struggle with venomous, cunning eyes, as if teasing crickets in a ceramic bowl. Just as they were filled with hope, he delivered a heavy, malicious blow.
"You want to break the array? Hahahaha, you should get a good look at what this is!"
Yu Yi raised his arms, and from behind him, over a dozen banners flew out. The scarlet patterns on the banners formed a bizarre design that sent shivers down one's spine. The ghostly winds howled again, piercingly loud, swirling around the array's core like a surging tide of thick ink.
The array's core, on the verge of being shattered by the three, was instantly engulfed by a black hole and consumed. Their forces went astray, exploding into the sky.
How could this be?
The array's core, the array's core had moved?!
Indeed, a new array's core had opened in another direction. Ghostly energy surged from the array's core like heavy water piercing a mountain cliff, rushing down with overwhelming momentum. The teleportation array had reopened, and the malevolent ghosts trapped in the other realm were now swarming back into this sky, covering everything.
They had completely rioted.
*Puff—*
The two City Lords' eyes widened in disbelief. Unable to withstand this sudden turn of events, they spat blood, their bodies collapsing from the sky, completely drained.
Fortunately, Tan Ya reacted quickly. With a swift move, he enveloped them in a protective shield of spiritual power, and then the Lord of Nine Swallows Mountain and Daoist Zhi Yang quickly stepped forward to catch them.
Tan Ya was also thoroughly shocked. He hadn't expected Fengdu Ghost City to be so cunning as to set up two teleportation arrays simultaneously.
One was overt, the other covert. When the overt one was destroyed, the covert one would reveal itself.
Due to the sudden surge of ghostly energy, this region once again became a ghost domain, with spiritual energy being compressed and drained. The disciples of the immortal sects in the middle tier of the sky slipped and fell to the ground, unable to maintain their flight.
Watching the black hole above grow larger, the malevolent ghosts roaring and swirling through the sky with impunity.
"How could this happen?! The array was almost broken..."
Time and time again, their efforts had ended in failure, and a suffocating sense of powerlessness gripped their hearts.