Bamboo Mound

An hour later, when Xiang Liang returned to the entrance of the Cloud and Mist Secret Realm, all the disciples of the Qingyun Sect had already gathered and were waiting at the entrance.

There were also several disciples from the Huayu Sect and the Xuanshan Sect.

Upon seeing that one elder from each of the two sects had also disappeared, he sensed something was amiss.

"Where are the other two? Could it be...?"

Upon seeing Xiang Liang return, the elder left behind by the Xuanshan Sect said, "Old Xiang looks so pale; it seems something terrible has happened."

"That's right. By the time I arrived, Lao Duan had already been forced to self-destruct. He didn't leave any injuries on the four opponents at all." Xiang Liang shook his head and said with grief and indignation.

"Where are the other two?"

Upon hearing this, the two elders' expressions darkened, and they hurriedly took out communication talismans to make contact.

But after waiting for a while, there was still no response.

Xiang Liang guessed the reason, and the three of them looked rather grim.

"Shortly after you left, we also received news from our respective sects that the Bloodthirsty Sect had attacked. So we stayed here to gather our disciples, while they went back to their sects first."

The two elders spoke in unison.

"However, it's probably a bit too late now..."

"They must have some means of intercepting communication talismans."

Recalling the telepathic message he had sent to Duan Kun on the way, which had also gone unanswered, he voiced his guess.

The elder of Huayu Sect seemed to be deep in thought after hearing this.

"The method of intercepting the transmission talisman... Lao Xiang, you must have tried to send a transmission to Lao Duan when you chased after him, right?"

Seeing Xiang Liang nod in affirmation, he confirmed his own thoughts.

"Then it must be because of that array plate!"

"Array plate?" Xiang Liang and the Xuanshan Sect elder asked in unison.

"It's normal that you don't know. On the first night of the Three Sects Competition, Old Duan came to us with an array plate."

"He said that his disciple Ning Chang had taken it from someone from the Bloodthirsty Sect, and that person was planning to bring the array plate into the Azure Cloud Sect."

"However, we studied it for three nights but still couldn't figure out the function of that array, so we gave up and returned it to Lao Duan."

"Now it seems that the formation was a means to intercept the communication talisman, which is why Lao Duan did not receive the message on the way."

"As for Lao Zhang and Lao Li, they should have already returned to the sect and entered the range of the interception array that has been set up over there."

"What puzzles me is why the array panel, which we couldn't activate no matter how many times we tried, could be remotely controlled and function properly..."

After hearing the elder of Huayu Sect's reply, neither of them showed any joy.

At this moment, an elder from the Xuanshan Sect spoke up, asking, "What do we do now? Old Zhang and Old Li are probably in grave danger as well. What about the Huayu Sect and the Xuanshan Sect...?"

"Sigh~ Let's go." Xiang Liang sighed and said.

Upon hearing this, the Xuan Shan Sect elder immediately asked, "Leave? Where can we go?"

The elder of Huayu Sect interrupted the two: "Don't rush to discuss this. Perhaps the Xuanshan Sect and Huayu Sect haven't encountered any problems yet."

But even after saying that, he himself wasn't very confident.

"Among the three of us, I am the fastest and can use an array to conceal my presence. It's not too late for me to take a look first."

After a few moments of contemplation, he sighed and said...

Upon hearing this, Xiang Liang quickly reminded him, "Don't get too close. They'll probably spot you if you're within five kilometers."

"Don't worry, I'll be back." With that, he vanished.

After he left, Xiang Liang and the Xuan Shan Sect elder exchanged a glance, both seeing the worry and anxiety in each other's eyes.

However, they also began to recall their disciples with perfect coordination, occasionally entering the secret realm to pick up disciples who had reached a certain range from the entrance.

The three elders' conversation did not escape the notice of the disciples who had already come out. Even if they could not hear clearly, they already understood their current situation.

"Were the three sects destroyed...?"

"Don't say such discouraging things. Let's wait for the elders to return before making any conclusions."

"What should we do now? Our sect has been wiped out... Can we even fight against the Bloodthirsty Sect...?"

"We're all only at the Spirit Fusion Realm, how can we fight? Even the Spirit Platform Realm senior brothers and elders who stayed in the sect couldn't beat us..."

"Brother Li, let's run."

"Are you stupid? This is a huge country called Ping Kingdom. With our combined cultivation level of the eighth level of the Spirit Fusion Realm, where can we possibly go? Can you guarantee that the Bloodthirsty Sect won't indiscriminately slaughter us?"

"Moreover, following the elders gives us a chance to survive."

Those present were all inner disciples of their respective sects, and most of them had learned about the Bloodthirsty Sect's deeds from their mentors, so they naturally knew what the Bloodthirsty Sect was all about.

Even if there were a few things I didn't understand, I got a general idea from the explanations of the people around me.

For a time, the morale of the thirty-odd disciples was low, and disciples who had just left the secret realm joined in the somber atmosphere after learning about the situation.

The two elders, busy receiving their disciples, did not notice anything unusual about the crowd. However, even if they had, they would not have taken the time to give a speech.

An hour and a half later, almost all the disciples had returned to the mountaintop, and the later disciples learned the whole story from the disciples who came out first.

Just then, the elder of Huayu Sect, his face slightly pale, returned to the spot.

When Xiang Liang and the other man saw him return, they went up to him and were about to ask him a question, but after their lips moved a few times, they ultimately did not speak and waited for the information from the Huayu Sect elder.

Even though the elders of Huayu Sect had returned, they still seemed somewhat evasive about the outcome they had witnessed.

It's as if nothing has happened as long as I don't say it out loud.

But looking at the two people staring at him, he finally faced reality.

When he raised his head, Xiang Liang and the other man saw the bloodshot eyes in his eyes, a stark contrast to his pale face.

He took a deep breath and said, his voice trembling slightly, "It's gone...it's all gone..."

"When I arrived, the flames from the Huayu Sect's grand formation filled the entire mountain. From the surveillance array I had set up, I could see Old Zhang in the plaza... his head was cut in half, and that half was bloodless. I couldn't see where his body was..."

"The Xuanshan Sect is eerily quiet... not a sound at all. I was afraid of being discovered, so I didn't approach to sense anything, but Old Li's aura is gone..."

"One piece of slightly good news is that the Bloodthirsty Sect's method of blocking the transmission talisman is probably an array. I sensed the unfamiliar array outside the two sects' mountain gates from a great distance."

When they heard he had good news, their eyes lit up for a moment, but then dimmed again.

After a moment of silence, the elder of the Huayu Sect spoke again: "Now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to leave and give this place to the beasts of the Bloodthirsty Sect."

He then glanced at the disciples and Xiang Liang, and continued:

"As for the hatred of the annihilation of the sect and the common people of Pingguo, we can only wait until we have the ability to come back and completely eliminate the Bloodthirsty Sect in the future!"