Chapter 485: Guest Official |
Gu Yue Huaidie personally made a trip to Demon Wind Gobi and brought the Mountain Protection Great Formation to Meng Zhang.
Normally, placing such a high-level Mountain Protection Great Formation required a Formation Master familiar with the great formation to be present on-site, surveying the terrain, organizing manpower, and carefully setting it up.
The Formation Master of the Clever Machine Sect was unwilling to come to the Demon Wind Gobi. Besides, Meng Zhang believed that the details of setting up the great formation were Taiyi Sect's secrets and should not be entrusted to others.
Therefore, Taiyi Sect independently deployed this Third Rank Great Formation.
The Third Rank Great Formation had many diagrams and a large pile of array flags and plates, and it took quite some time just to organize these items.
As for the other items in those secret boxes, they were just ordinary spiritual objects, which the three Gold Core Daoist Masters casually divided among themselves.
After giving the items to Meng Zhang, Gu Yue Huaidie hurriedly left.
Deep Earth Spirit General, who had been cultivating the spirit vein, also temporarily stopped his work and carefully studied the great formation with Wen Qiansun.
Wen Qiansun's Cultivation Base had already reached the mid Foundation Building stage, and his formation skills had improved significantly. However, assisting Deep Earth Spirit General in researching this great formation still proved to be quite challenging for him.
Deep Earth Spirit General explicitly informed Meng Zhang that, due to their and Wen Qiansun's current strength, the deployment of the great formation was not perfect. There were many details that could only be adjusted slowly when he regained his strength or after Wen Qiansun advanced to the Gold Core stage.
Nevertheless, this great formation could still be used, although it couldn't unleash its full power.
Furthermore, the spiritual energy provided by the Third Rank Spirit Vein of the Grand Lion Ridge was limited. Most of the functions of the Mountain Protection Great Formation remained closed during normal days and only activated at full power when facing strong enemy attacks.
Despite its many imperfections, at least Taiyi Sect now had the protection of a Third Rank Mountain Protection Great Formation.
In the worst-case scenario, Taiyi Sect could abandon all its bases on the Demon Wind Gobi and retreat with all members to the Grand Lion Ridge, relying on this Mountain Protection Great Formation to defend themselves.
With Meng Zhang leading many Taiyi Sect disciples to defend with the great formation, not even Dark Crow Demon General could hope to break through and attack the Grand Lion Ridge.
Having Meng Zhang as their reliance boosted their confidence.
A few more years passed, and Luo Ye, a Daoist Master, received a summon from the Dark Alliance and had to leave. She could no longer continue staying there and had to depart.
Luo Ye left quietly, but Meng Zhang still had to show himself outside the Crow's Nest to make it difficult for Dark Crow Demon General to discern the situation.
The intelligence capabilities of the monster beasts were far inferior to human cultivators, especially those like Dark Crow Demon General, who remained entrenched and never ventured out. Until now, they hadn't fully understood the specific situation on the human side.
Of course, the prolonged absence of Gu Yue Huaidie raised some suspicions in Poison Sand Demon General's mind.
Meng Zhang roamed outside the Crow's Nest but felt that this was not a viable long-term strategy. Relying solely on intimidation with insufficient strength wouldn't work.
The monster beasts weren't fools; sooner or later, they would figure out their true strength.
If they were forced to retreat to the Grand Lion Ridge, the promising situation of Taiyi Sect might completely collapse. Meng Zhang wouldn't make that choice unless absolutely necessary. The best outcome was to continue suppressing Dark Crow Demon General.
Since Taiyi Sect didn't have the possibility of producing Gold Core-level power in the short term, seeking external assistance was the only option.
Forget about the Endless Sea of Sand; they had to see if Jiuqu League had any good solutions.
After Gu Yue Huaidie and Luo Ye returned, they still maintained contact with Meng Zhang through correspondence.
Every so often, a Taiyi Sect trading convoy would head to Great Wind City for business, with Foundation Building cultivators as the main escorts, many of them from Taiyi Sect.
Meng Zhang used these Taiyi Sect cultivators to relay letters between him, Gu Yue Huaidie, and Luo Ye.
Meng Zhang separately sent letters to Gu Yue Huaidie and Luo Ye, requesting their help in keeping an eye out for a suitable Gold Core Daoist Master that Taiyi Sect could temporarily hire.
After receiving Meng Zhang's letters, Gu Yue Huaidie and Luo Ye did their best to help him inquire.
Gu Yue Huaidie had a wide network of contacts and quickly contacted several Gold Core Daoist Masters.
However, these Gold Core Daoist Masters either immediately refused upon hearing about going to the Demon Wind Gobi or demanded an exorbitant hiring price that Taiyi Sect couldn't afford.
Luo Ye, having served in the Dark Alliance for many years, was well-informed. After some efforts, she found a suitable candidate for Meng Zhang.
This person was named Qin Hongying, a Supreme Elder of a cultivation family within the Jiuqu League, and the only Gold Core cultivator in that family.
Qin Hongying's Cultivation Base had already reached the peak of the early Gold Core stage, but she was stuck and couldn't advance to the mid Gold Core stage.
At over 500 years old, her remaining lifespan was estimated to be less than a century.
At this point, she had completely given up on her path of cultivation. Now, the only thing she cared about was her family's standing.
While Jiuqu League appeared peaceful on the surface, competition was fierce, and various open and hidden struggles never ceased.
After Qin Hongying died during meditation, the Qin Family would inevitably lose many benefits and fall from being a Gold Core family.
Such examples had occurred many times in the history of the Jiuqu League.
After the Qin Family declined, they could only lie low and wait for a chance to rise again in the future.
If they could cultivate another Gold Core Daoist Master in the future, the Qin Family might regain its former glory.
However, Qin Hongying had made many enemies over the years, including a narrow-minded Gold Core Daoist Master.
While Qin Hongying was alive, her enemies couldn't do much to the Qin Family. But once she died during meditation, the Qin Family would face significant trouble.
Of course, there were rules within the Jiuqu League. Even if one hated the Qin Family, they wouldn't openly massacre their members.
But as a Gold Core Daoist Master with enough ability, someone could create trouble secretly, causing the Qin Family to decline and eventually perish.
With people and favors, fortunes rise and fall. After Qin Hongying died during meditation, relying solely on past reputation and favors wouldn't protect the Qin Family for long.
Qin Hongying was troubled about her legacy and had considered many ways to deal with her affairs, but none were entirely appropriate and couldn't completely resolve the problem.
After learning about this matter, Luo Ye took the initiative to visit Qin Hongying and spent a lot of effort persuading her.
Then, Luo Ye took Qin Hongying to Demon Wind Gobi and found Meng Zhang at the Grand Lion Ridge.
After discussing and reaching an agreement, Qin Hongying became a guest official of Taiyi Sect and would serve the sect for thirty years.
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