The New Year's Day of the eighth year of Tianyuan was extremely long and sad for the Zhongling Realm.
This was a day of radical change.
But for other regions, it was just a trivial day.
Because, even for mortals, a day's time is negligible.
Not to mention the monks whose lifespans are measured in hundreds or thousands of years. To them, a day is like a grain of sand in the desert.
But such an insignificant grain of sand caused the biggest storm since the Chang'an period.
For most people, they are still in a state of not realizing that the storm is coming.
But someone has to stand up and protect the people of the world from wind and rain.
…
Yumenguan Hanguangyuan is a huge building complex with no end in sight.
Lu Qingshan walked on the criss-crossing streets.
Like other cultivators in Yumen Pass, he had been on high alert in the city during this period and did not dare to leave easily.
For sword practitioners, more insights and improvements come from traveling and fighting. Being trapped in one place or in seclusion will often greatly limit their progress in the way of the sword.
However, in the eyes of most people, the Soldier Demon Clan has only been stationing troops outside the region for three months.
Three months, what is that?
It can't be called a delay at all.
Even three years is just a drop in the ocean for a cultivator.
This is not the case for Lu Qingshan.
After all, it only took him a little over a month to go from the Ten Flowers Realm to the Perfect Spirit Transformation Realm.
Three months was already a very long time for him.
"Lu Shaozong."
"Lu Shaozong."
Occasionally, there were cultivators passing by on the road. When they saw Lu Qingshan, they all bowed respectfully, and the respect in their eyes was genuine.
After the battle of Beihe Pass three months ago, his status as the Young Master of the Sword Sect had already been recognized by all the monks of Yumen Pass.
Whether it is what he has done or the strength and potential he has demonstrated, it is impeccable.
Lu Qingshan nodded in return.
"Master Lu." At this time, another figure walked by not far away.
"Master Xiyuan Sword." Lu Qingshan greeted with a smile.
Master Xiyuan Sword is one of the eight realms of sword cultivators in the Sword Sect, and a cultivator in the third calamity realm.
But Lu Qingshan was a cultivator in the sixth realm, and he greeted him casually, like a friend. Xiyuan Sword Master did not show anything unusual and tacitly accepted Lu Qingshan's attitude.
This is because although Lu Qingshan's strength is not as good as his, as a young sect leader who has been recognized by almost all the Sword Sect cultivators, his status in the Sword Sect is no less than anyone else except the seven peak masters.
"Are you going to see your master again?" Xiyuan Sword Master asked with a smile.
Lu Qingshan was about to start a conversation when he suddenly sensed something and took out the communication token.
There was a faint light flickering above.
He probed into it with his spiritual sense, and then his face changed. He apologized to Sword Master Xiyuan, "Master said that several peak leaders are discussing matters in Qingyun Palace and asked me to go with them to listen. He asked me to hurry to Qingyun Palace. Sword Master Xiyuan, I have to leave now."
The Master of Xiyuan Sword was startled, and suddenly felt extremely shocked.
First, he was shocked that several peak masters actually gathered in Qingyun Palace to discuss matters. This was something that had not been seen in many years.
There is no doubt that what they are going to discuss this time must be of great importance and involve countless things.
The second was that he was surprised that a meeting of this magnitude had even called on Lu Qingshan, a sixth-level swordsman.
This means that Lu Qingshan has already ranked among the highest ranks of monks in Yumen Pass.
It can be seen that after the battle of Beihe Pass, not only the monks of Yumen Pass were shocked by Lu Qingshan’s achievements, but even the seven peak masters began to truly take Lu Qingshan seriously.
“Then you should go quickly and don’t keep Master Jianlai Peak waiting for too long.” Master Xiyuan Sword said hurriedly.
"Then I'll take my leave first." Lu Qingshan replied.
In fact, not only was Xiyuan Sword Master surprised, but even he himself was extremely surprised by the news.
Although he had anticipated that he would be easily valued with his demonstrated strength and potential, he never imagined that he would achieve success so quickly.
Overall, Lu Qingshan was happy about this matter.
——The higher the position he stands in, the more things he can decide and change.
However, the joy only lasted for a moment.
Because Lu Qingshan understood one thing, this kind of meeting of several peak masters would not exceed three times even if it was counted throughout the entire Chang'an year.
Every opening is an important event concerning the entire human race and the entire Eastern Region.
This time will definitely not be an exception.
Could it be that the Soldier Demon Clan is really showing signs of starting the second war between Taoism and Demons?
Lu Qingshan guessed in his heart.
At this juncture, apart from this matter, he really couldn't think of another important thing.
Xia Daoyuan only sent him an urgent message, asking him to go to Qingyun Palace, but did not tell him the details.
Although he was confused, he did not ask more questions. After all, he would know the answer soon.
…
Qingyun Palace is shrouded in clouds and mist, and filled with rich spiritual energy.
"Qingshan." When Lu Qingshan appeared, Xia Daoyuan was already outside the palace, as if she was waiting for him specially. She greeted him in a cold voice.
"Greetings, Master." Lu Qingshan bowed quickly and explained, "Hanguang Garden is a little far from Qingyun Palace, so we were delayed ."
The space on the battlefield outside the domain is not stable, and there is spatial turbulence everywhere. It is not a stable area.
In such a place, it is impossible to establish a teleportation array, so the cultivators can only rely on escape techniques to travel, and this is especially true for mobilizing support on the battlefield.
Qingyun Palace is located in the center of Yumen Pass, so it takes some time for Lu Qingshan to get there from Hanguang Garden.
Xia Daoyun frowned slightly and nodded, "Let's go in."
When Lu Qingshan saw this, his heart sank.
Although Xia Daoyun did not show it very obviously, based on his understanding of Xia Daoyun, he could already tell that Xia Daoyun was in a very depressed mood at the moment.
It seems like something really big has happened.
Xia Daoyun waved his hand, and the clouds surrounding Qingyun Palace dispersed to both sides, making way for a path.
At the end of the road, two doors opened.
Lu Qingshan followed Xia Daoyun into the meeting hall of Qingyun Palace.
In the meeting hall, there are eight mysterious chairs made of ancient wood.
Lu Qingshan looked around and saw figures sitting casually on five of the mysterious chairs. Each of them had an extraordinary bearing and an indescribable pressure emanated from their eyes.
These are the five masters of the Sword Sect.
At this time, the five of them were whispering about something. When they saw Xia Daoyun come in, they nodded and signaled with their eyes.
Then, they turned their attention to Lu Qingshan and looked at him carefully.
Even people like them were somewhat curious about this young leader who was chosen by Qingyun Sword Immortal, had become famous in recent times, and had a great chance of becoming the next leader of the Sword Sect.
"Daoyun, Qingshan, please take a seat now that you are here." The elegant-looking man in green clothes spoke while sitting on the black chair in the center.
The only person in the Sword Sect who could address Xia Daoyun like this was the Sect Master, the Qingyun Sword Immortal Xie Qingyun.
Xia Daoyun didn't waste any words and sat down in the second to last seat.
Lu Qingshan naturally chose the last seat.
Right now, seven of the eight seats in the hall were occupied, leaving only one seat empty.
Lu Qingshan took a quick look and immediately realized that the empty position should be the one occupied by the master of Haoran Peak.
"Everyone, I called you here today because something big has happened. Even I can't make up my mind for the moment, so I need you to come up with a solution together."
Xie Qingyun's voice was majestic but gentle. As soon as he opened his mouth, the entire hall fell silent.
Qingyun Sword Immortal waved his hand, and clouds and mist surged out, forming a thumbnail of the human domain in the center of the hall.
There are seven huge continental blocks of different shapes, separated by vast oceans.
The four continents in the southeast, northwest, northeast and southwest surround the three continents in the center.
Those are the three realms of Zhongling, Zhongtian and Zhongwu.
Xie Qingyun stared at the cloud map, and finally stretched out his hand and tapped the cloud representing the Central Spiritual Domain. He said, "The Huanling Sect is controlled by the demons, and they have taken over Longcheng Pass last night. They are fighting on two fronts at the same time, attacking all the cross-domain teleportation arrays in the Central Spiritual Domain , intending to isolate the Central Spiritual Domain from the other six domains, and then let them slowly eat away at it."
"The Huanling Sect is controlled by the demons? Has Longcheng Pass fallen?"
The people present just glanced at the cloud map, and then they looked up suddenly and their pupils shrank after hearing Qingyun Sword Immortal's words.
There was undisguised shock on everyone's face, including Lu Qingshan.
"The people in the Central Spirit Realm are the Heart Demon Clan, and no one knows the Heart Demon Clan's methods. Even Qingshan went to the Abyss , and the news he got said that the Soldier Demons, who are also members of the Holy Demon Clan, are also unaware of the Heart Demon Clan's bloodline magical powers."
"You can imagine how mysterious the Heart Demon Clan is."
"There is no doubt that the reason why Huanling Sect was controlled by the demons for such a long time and we didn't notice it at all is because of the deep-seated bloodline magic of the Heart Demon Clan."
The old sect leader said slowly, he had already accurately determined the reason for the change in the Huanling Sect.
"The seven regions of the human race all prosper together, and all suffer together. It can be said that if one region loses, the other will suffer together."
Yu Canghai, the current leader of the Sword Sect after Xie Qingyun, was already sitting upright and said in a deep voice, "If the Heart Demon Clan really allows the Central Spirit Realm to take over, not only will we lose one-seventh of our territory, it will be like driving a nail into our belly."
"At that time, we will have to worry about the enemies in front of us, and also be on guard against the demons from the Central Spiritual Realm in the back. We will be caught in a situation where we can't take care of both ends."
Ning Fengchen, the master of Wangu Peak and the third person of the Sword Sect, also said solemnly: "The Central Spiritual Territory must be defended, and Longcheng Pass must be taken back."
Xie Qingyun did not comment, but narrowed his eyes and looked at the cloud map, remaining silent.
"The demons are stronger than us. Without Dragon City Pass, we will have to fight them head-on without any external help."
Xia Daoyun took a deep breath, forced himself to suppress the shock in his heart, and said: "So, if we want to defend the Central Spiritual Region, the other six regions must send support as soon as possible, and..."
She paused, gritted her teeth and said, "And at least one of the other six great realm cultivators must take action."
The so-called regional cultivators are the people in power in the six major city gates.
At Yumen Pass, the local cultivator is Qingyun Sword Immortal.
There are only seven such cultivators in the entire human realm. Together with the Tianhe Sword Immortal Chu Mushen of Tianhe City, there are eight of them in total.
Of course, there are only seven left now.
Because the Azure Dragon Lord, the local monk of Longchengguan in the Central Spiritual Realm, has already confirmed his identity as a demon.
"The existence of the regional cultivators and the city protection formation set up by Daozu are our two trump cards that enable us to suppress the demons. Both are indispensable."
"If any of the cultivators from the town went to the Central Spiritual Territory to provide support, the demons in his territory would definitely take advantage of the situation and move in, which would be the so-called robbing Peter to pay Paul."
"It would be fine if we can really repair the west wall, but what I'm afraid of is that by the time the west wall is not repaired, the east wall will collapse." Xue Wushao, the leader of Wushao Peak, said softly with an expressionless face.
"Longcheng Pass is no longer there, and the Mingyue Formation has fallen into the hands of the demons. Even if we can drive the demons out of the Central Spirit Realm, it will be difficult to retake Longcheng Pass." Hengqiu Peak Master Gu Qiu said as he looked down at the cloud map.
The human race is much weaker than the demon race, but with the help of Dragon City Pass and the Bright Moon Formation, they can prevent the demon race from breaking into the city for 20,000 years.
Today, Longcheng Pass is controlled by the more powerful demons. It goes without saying that it is very difficult for the human race to take it back from the demons.
"If we fail to retake Longcheng Pass, the demons can use Longcheng Pass as a bridgehead to drag us into a tug-of-war, constantly consuming our strength and making us lose sight of one thing while focusing on another."
Gu Qiu retracted his gaze from the cloud map and said slowly, "On the contrary, just as the Heart Demon Clan is doing now, destroying the cross-domain teleportation array and turning the Central Spirit Realm into an 'isolated island' is a good countermeasure."
“The demons want to turn the Central Spirit Realm into an ‘isolated island’ so that we humans cannot support the Central Spirit Realm.
We can also do the opposite and take advantage of the situation to separate the Central Spiritual Territory from our human territory."
Gu Qiu lightly tapped his finger, and a fine sword energy shot out, cutting the cloud representing the Central Spiritual Realm. "This way, even if the Heart Demon Clan takes over the Central Spiritual Realm, without the inter-realm teleportation array, they will not be able to launch a large-scale attack on the other six realms."
"Moreover, the Central Spirit Realm is definitely enough for the Heart Demon Clan to digest for a long time, or even to eat too much, so that they will no longer be willing to take the big risk of crossing the vast ocean and threatening the other six realms and affecting the war situation."
"What we need to do is to make sure that the Heart Demon Clan has not built any hidden inter-domain teleportation arrays in our six domains... This is not difficult to solve. We just need to let Qi Butian use the Heavenly Secret Mirror to check the six domains."
"If you want everything, you often end up with nothing."
"As the weaker party, the human race must be more decisive."
"Compared to the huge price we have to pay to support Zhonglingyu and the high probability of bad consequences, it would be wiser and more correct to cut off the tail and survive and stop the loss in time."
Everyone present was silent, their eyes flickering, as if they were thinking about something.
Lu Qingshan's heart sank and he frowned unconsciously.
He glanced at Xia Daoyun with inexplicable thoughts, and saw that she just had a calm face and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
At this moment, Gu Qiu suddenly waved his hand, and the sword energy that separated the cloud group in the Central Spiritual Realm dissipated, and the Central Spiritual Realm returned to the cloud map.
He smiled and said, "This should be the reaction and judgment that the other five regions will inevitably make after hearing this news."
“Yes, for some ordinary human beings, some monks with low cultivation, and for a war that is almost impossible to win, a large part of the already insufficient manpower will be diverted, which may even lead to the fall of another domain... If you look at it this way, stopping the loss in time is the most correct choice, and it can even be regarded as an extremely calm response.” Xue Wushao shook his head and smiled.
Xia Daoyun said: "But, in this way, the human race in the Central Spirit Realm will be killed and reduced to slaves, and the Central Spirit Realm will fall and become a demonic land."
The other four peak masters all smiled lightly and looked at Qingyun Sword Immortal quietly.
Qingyun Sword Immortal nodded, his eyes swept across everyone's faces, and asked, "You... don't have any objections?"
"If Daozu was still alive, he would probably shake his head if he knew we would just give up the human domain he fought so hard to protect," Ning Fengchen said with a smile, "Our ancestors never gave up in the most difficult times, so we have no reason to give up now."
"We humans are not just high-level cultivators, not just Taoist priests. Ordinary mortals and cultivators with low levels of cultivation are also part of the human race," said Yu Canghai.
"Our human domain includes more than just Tianhe City and Chang'an City, more than just the seven great passes, and more than just six domains," said Gu Qiu.
"Even if it is most likely a meaningless act?" Xie Qingyun looked at everyone quietly, asking a question that the answer to which was known without asking, "Even if there is a possibility that we will become an isolated force?"
“What we do is the greatest meaning.”
"Even if there is only a one in a billion chance, it is still not zero."
Xia Daoyun's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said in a cold voice: "What others dare not do, we, the Sword Sect, will do."
Finally, Xie Qingyun set his gaze on the young Shaozong's face, waiting for his thoughts.
The inexplicable thoughts that had just arisen in Lu Qingshan's mind had long since dissipated, and his frown had also relaxed at this moment.
"Wherever the sun and moon shine, wherever the rivers flow ..."
“They are all in human territory.”
He said.