Chapter 145: White Crow Army

The Left Envoy of the Great Roc arrived with his followers, only to see the immortal dwelling's entrance adorned with festive lanterns and exhaling auspicious mists. The immortals sat in a circle on the ground, chatting, laughing, and discussing the profound mysteries of the Dao. To their left stood an ancient tree. This tree had withered long ago, and the midsummer season failed to grant it a new lease of life. Yet at this moment, ropes hung from its branches, and several disciples of their Roc Sect were suspended from the treetops, swaying limply in the wind and unconscious.

These disciples had their magic seals suppressed, and Qin Wu had personally pierced their shoulder blades with needles, rendering them immobile. Seeing this, the two envoys' eyelids twitched violently, and anger surged in their hearts.

"Killing someone is merely a nod of the head. Must you righteous sect members humiliate us to this extent?" The two envoys wore gloomy expressions. Suddenly, a voice drifted from among the immortals: "Fellow Daoist brothers, look. Just a moment ago we dealt with a group of noisy pests, and now another batch has arrived."

Jingxuan burst into laughter: "They are merely a bunch of feathered beasts, not worth mentioning. Little brother Wu He, rest assured, later we shall hang them from the treetops and parade them through the streets of the Southern Frontier. Let us see what dignity your Demonic Sect has left to stand on this ground."

Jingxuan and the others held no goodwill toward the Demonic Sect. Remembering how these people had taken advantage of the fire during the chaos at the Lingwei Immortal Dwelling, Yuming nodded heavily: "Indeed, it is just the right time to let them taste my immortal sword." As the master of the Lingwei Sect, carrying the Demon-Slaying Sword on his back, his fighting intent was already fully aroused.

Li Jingxun remained silent, instead gazing at the invading throng.

The Demonic Sect members rode upon flying birds. At this moment, white crows filled the air in dense swarms, resembling banks of white clouds that blotted out the firmament. Amidst the clouds and mists sat several multicolored divine birds, each measuring over ten feet in length.

The Left Envoy rode a Golden-Winged Roc, while the Middle Envoy sat atop a cyan spirit vulture. Several demonic cultivators riding other types of fierce raptors flanked them.

Leading thousands of birds, the crowd blotted out the sky above the immortal dwelling.

Seeing this, Qinghong gently flicked his finger, and the Eight Desolations God-Locking Cloud Light Formation slowly rose, veering the immortal dwelling once more in swirling mists.

"It seems these are figures at the level of the two envoys? Furthermore, there are several demonic cultivators with profound magical power?" Li Jingxun gathered her focus, silently divination forebodings of fortune and misfortune within her sleeves.

"Everyone, be careful. The birds beneath them are formidable." Having spent a long time in the Southern Frontier, Qinghong possessed an extremely thorough understanding of the Huangyang Demonic Sect. The most renowned specialty of this Southern Demonic Sect was precisely their mastery in taming and training birds of prey.

The Left Envoy had brought five thousand White Crow Soldiers. These soldiers were all specialized demonic troops cultivated exclusively by the Demonic Sect. They selected mortals from the tribes of the Southern Frontier, carved talismans onto their bodies, and subjected them to trial-by-fire cultivation using special secret elixirs. Ultimately, this forged a unique type of mighty warrior.

In the righteous sects, these were known as "Protector Divine Generals" or "Yellow-Turbaned Warriors." However, righteous sects rarely used living beings, mostly forging Dao-soldiers out of puppets and similar objects. Yet the methods of creation were identical; the talismanic spells inscribed on human bodies by the Demonic Sect were precisely the secret arts used by righteous sects to refine puppet Dao-soldiers.

Refining living humans into Dao-soldiers, although increasing flexibility, stripped these living Dao-soldiers of certain abilities from a humanitarian perspective, depriving them of self-awareness and leaving only the instinct to obey commands.

After listening to Qinghong's explanation, the immortals wore expressions of disgust. "Demonic cultivators are demonic cultivators after all. Day in and day out, they only resort to such despicable tricks!"

Wu He, being young, wore a look of unbearable pity: "Can these White Crow Soldiers still be saved?"

Qinghong shook his head. When he first descended to the Xuanzheng Realm, he had also considered this possibility. Unfortunately, through his research, once the talismans were inscribed onto the human body, there was truly no salvation left.

"Every single White Crow Soldier has been refined by the Demonic Sect for at least five years or more. They are utterly beyond saving. And even if they could be saved, rendered unable to function as normal men... their pride would likely find it hard to endure."

The puppet talismans inscribed on the human body had already rendered these White Crow Soldiers impotent, stripping away their reproductive capacity. All sexual instincts were entirely converted into combat instincts.

"Speaking of which, these people volunteered."

"Volunteered?" Wu He wore a look of utter disbelief. "Could it be they did this willingly through Demonic Sect brainwashing?" He had traveled across the Southern Frontier and witnessed many tribes sacrificing to the demonic gods of the Demonic Sect.

"Not entirely. Because in this land of the Southern Frontier, they simply cannot survive otherwise." Qinghong revealed a bitter smile. "The Southern Frontier is plagued by bad waters and barren soil, making it difficult to crops. Therefore, every winter in the Southern Frontier, groups of people starve to death. At such times, the Demonic Sect seizes the opportunity to come down the mountain and recruit warriors. Even knowing it is a dead end ahead, for the sake of survival or to leave their rations to their families, they have no other choice."

"Then... is there truly no other way?"

"There is."

"War?" Li Jingxun interjected: "The barbarians of the Southern Frontier launch attacks on the Central Plains every interval of time. Doubtless, this is to consume their population through warfare."

Aside from joining the Demonic Sect, the exploding population of the Southern Frontier could only be thinned out through warfare to maintain the tribes' existence.

Similarly, the Great Hong Imperial Dynasty harbored intentions along these lines.

"Junior Sister's words are correct." Qinghong nodded. "After all, rise and fall is the unquenchable truth of humanity. Whenever a dynasty decays and nears destruction, is it not always accompanied by rampant famines that fail to sustain the population?"

Having descended from Earth, Ji Feichen viewed problems from a perspective different from the people of the Xuanzheng Realm, naturally seeing them clearly. Yet for Li Jingxun to possess such insight while standing in the midst of the chess game was truly extraordinary.

"I say, could you all please stop discussing such compassionate and sorrowful matters? Human affairs are settled by human affairs; even if we talk ourselves hoarse, what can we do?" Liu Zimo interrupted the conversation: "Our current threat is these demonic cultivators!"

Li Jingxun and Qinghong snapped back to reality. The female immortal thought to herself: Senior Brother's words are not false. Whenever a dynasty collapses, it is always because the common people cannot survive and are forced to rise in desperate rebellion to seek a path of survival. If the common people were peaceful and happy, how could there be great dynastic turmoil? If I could devise a solution, it might also accumulate blessings for the people of the world.

Yet right now, the most crucial matters were these White Crow Soldiers.

"White Crow Soldiers. Although they pose no threat to immortals like us, if unleashed upon the mortal world, they would equal tens of thousands of troops."

These avian soldiers were precisely the foundation upon which the Southern Demonic Sect established itself in the Southern Frontier.

Compared to the Eastern Demonic Flood Dragon far away in the East China Sea, the sparsely populated Snowy Toad Palace of the snowy regions, and the desolate Western Demonic Path, the Southern Demonic Sect was situated in the warm climate of the Southern Frontier. With a population base, towering mountains, and flying spirit birds, it was the most numerous faction among the four Demonic Sects.

Looking at the aggressively approaching demonic cultivators, Wu He stroked his chin: "Hey, do you think we should say some grand opening remarks?"

"What is there to say? Just fight directly!" Jingxuan and Qin Wu acted in unison, as Taiqing sword qi and thunderous divine dragons swept across the firmament.

Seeing this, Yuming let out a loud laugh, drew the Lingwei Sect's Demon-Slaying Sword, and drove a sheet of golden light charging toward the White Crow army.

"Demonic heretics, we shall settle the score from the day you disturbed our Lingwei Sect all at once!" A few days ago, the Southern Demonic Sect had run to the Lingwei Immortal Dwelling, and now they had come to Xunyi's place again, naturally infuriating Yuming.

Wu He and Zhang Yuanchu also followed the trio of Qin Wu into the battle. Liu Zimo originally wanted to wait, but Qinglan had an impatient temperament and charged ahead first. Worried for his junior sister, Liu Zimo also followed to provide support.

Li Jingxun stood at the entrance of the immortal dwelling, holding the Moral Jade Book in her palms.

"Hold fast to the Great Form, and the empire will journey thither; journeying without harm, in peace, equality, and tranquility."

"The gate of the mysterious female is called the root of heaven and earth. Continuous and endless, it seems to exist, yet its use is inexhaustible."

"The highest good is like water. Water benefits all things and does not compete!"

She continuously reinforced the immortals with Dao arts, causing wheels of the Great Form, gates of the mysterious female, and rivers of water light to manifest beside every immortal charging into battle.

Immortal Maiden Yuzhi looked on in astonishment, and Qinghong smiled in explanation: "Junior Sister often does this. Compared to fighting on the front lines, she prefers to command the overall situation from the rear."

The Immortal Maiden nodded and asked Qinghong: "Are you not going?"

Qinghong looked around and said to Fu Jutang and Musheng: "You two stay behind to look after Junior Sister. Senior Sister and I will go deal with those two Roc Envoys."