In October, the Golden Cauldron Gate offers sacrifices to the top of Ding Peak, where the sword hall is located inside the gate.
I don't know how many monks wearing the robes of the Jinding Sect disciples were coming in and out of the temple door. Most of them had ugly faces. Among them, there were even Jinding Sect disciples who were trotting along with files in their hands and looking anxious.
Since the beginning of this year, southern monks have been going north to Ningzhou. The strangest thing is that among them are not only Zhennan monks, but also a large number of Dongyi monks from Fengzhou. They have brought shocking news, that is, Dongyi The Zhenyuan Sect, one of the five great sects, was destroyed by the Yuanying Sect from the Zhennan area a few months ago, the Suppressing Beast Sect.
When every Jinding Sect disciple heard the news, their first reaction was disbelief. After all, the reputation of the five great sects was well known in Dongyi, and the Zhenyuan Sect occupied the core Fengzhou in Dongyi. , powerful, no one believed that such a sect would be destroyed by a sect that no one had heard of in just a few months.
But both the way the upper echelons of the sect responded and the Fengzhou monks who continued to pour into Ningzhou showed that the news was true.
The influx of a large number of monks from Fengzhou directly caused the rapid deterioration of the environment for cultivating immortals in Ningzhou. In just a few months, dozens of large and small security incidents occurred within the control area of Jinding Sect, even some located in Jinding Mountain. The small affiliated forces in the south were wiped out directly, and they did not even have time to wait for support from the Jinding Sect.
Fortunately, the upper echelons of the Jinding Sect seemed to have anticipated this situation. They issued various orders and quickly reassured the disciples in the sect. However, even so, this incident still had a great impact on the Jinding Sect. The impact, and as the entrance of Jinding Sect to perform external tasks, Jiantang has naturally become the busiest place in Jinding Sect during this period of time.
At this time, a group of people, covered with dust, flew along the restriction and landed on the huge square outside the sword hall, and walked towards the sword hall.
The leader was tall, wearing a white Taoist robe with red stripes embroidered like fire. His left hand was wrapped with a red and white silk ribbon. As his body fluttered slightly, all the Jinding Sect disciples who saw him turned aside and gave way. He opened the door and bowed in salute. There was no doubt that he was Ling Ming, the master of the Jindingmen Sword Hall.
Behind him were a group of disciples from the Jinding Sect who were also tired of their careers, and each one of them carried an inexplicable energy. The leader of them, a man and a woman, were Foundation Establishment monks, and the man was none other than Yan Wenliang.
"Wen Liang, go to the outer pavilion to find Junior Brother Chu and report the casualties to him."
After hearing Ling Ming's instructions, Yan Wenliang knew that he was talking about Chu Lie, the master of the outer pavilion of the sword hall. This man was in his early sixties and had built the foundation a few years ago. As early as the Qi training period, he often helped Ling Ming deal with things. After the foundation was established, Ling Ming relied on him even more, so he nodded in agreement. Said: "Understood."
After saying that, he bowed his hands to Ling Ming and walked quickly to the other end of the square.
There is an air ban on the square outside the sword hall hall. Although the main restriction is on the monks in the Qi training period, the foundation-building monks can fly against the ban based on their own strength. However, Yan Wenliang has just returned from the mission with Ling Ming. Whether you are physically or mentally tired, you naturally don't want to waste your energy at this time.
"Junior Sister Guo, go and prepare the elixirs, gifts, etc. I'm going to visit Elder Zhang later."
After arranging Yan Wenliang, Ling Ming turned his head again and gave instructions to the female cultivator behind him. The female cultivator nodded and said, "Understood." Then she glanced at his face, pursed her lips slightly, and whispered. Said: "Senior brother, the situation is like this now, you should not pay too much attention to it."
This female nun's name is Guo Yan. She is less than forty years old and was established at about the same time as Yan Wenliang. She has been following Ling Ming on missions since very early and has a good impression of Ling Ming. , one of his cronies.
After hearing her words, Ling Ming's expression did not change. He only nodded slightly and said calmly: "I know, you go ahead."
Although his expression was as usual, his whole body was exuding a chill that was different from usual. Hearing his words, Guo Yan did not dare to say any more, and cupped her hands and said, "I'll go get ready. Senior brother will come find me in the hall when the time comes." .”
The "Elder Zhang" in Ling Ming's mouth refers to Zhang Hao, the elder of the sword hall. He is an old man in the sword hall. He is in his early 100s and has a third-level cultivation. He belongs to the stability maintenance sect in the sect. Some time ago, in order to solve the problem of the invasion of southern monks, he was ordered to go to clear it up, but he did not expect to encounter a few hard ideas. Although he finally succeeded in driving the opponent away, he also suffered serious injuries and has not recovered yet. Therefore, This time, Ling Ming asked Guo Yan to prepare something helpful for his injury and go to see him in person.
Glancing at Guo Yan's back, Ling Ming felt the chill in his body and walked towards the sword hall.
In June of this year, he and Yan Wenliang escorted the team transporting supplies back to Jinding Mountain. At that time, he wanted to go to Wang Xunzhi to talk about changing the foreign policy of Jinding Sect, but at that time, Wang Xunzhi went to the secret area in the gate instead. , went to find the Supreme Elder.
At that time, Ling Ming originally thought of waiting for Wang Xunzhi to come back before talking to him about the matter, but he did not expect that several affiliated forces located in the south of Jinding Mountain sent messages asking for help, saying that monks from the south were besieging their home. Everyone at the mountain gate claimed that there were foundation-building monks there. As a last resort, Ling Ming had no choice but to personally lead Yan Wenliang and Guo Yan to provide support. This time and again, it was now October.
In this support operation, the Jinding Sect suffered very heavy losses, with more than one-third of the disciples killed or injured. These were all the backbone of the sword hall, which is why Ling Ming's body was so cold now.
After these incidents, he once again strengthened his idea that the sect must tighten its strength and prioritize protecting itself. As for the influence Shen Nansheng and Cao Jilong mentioned, if all the disciples in the sect died, the influence would no longer matter. What's the use of being big?
Walking into the hall, Ling Ming nodded to the disciples of the Sword Hall who were saluting him, with a faint smile on his face. With his strength and identity, there was no need to put on any airs with his disciples. On the contrary, Ling Ming paid great attention to it. His image in front of his disciples, after all, as the old saying goes, "The right person will get many help, but the wrong person will get little help." Otherwise, why would he go to visit Zhang Hao, who belongs to the stability maintenance sect?
Just as Ling Ming stepped out of the outer hall and walked towards the inner hall, he saw a chubby middle-aged man walking out with seven or eight disciples. The man's face was gloomy, his brows were furrowed tightly, and his steps were hurried. , it looked like he was in some kind of trouble.
Seeing this, Ling Ming couldn't help but frown slightly. This person is Liu Jiang, the deputy master of the sword hall. At this time, he appears here with such an expression and demeanor. Just think about it and you will know that it must be another person. Something happened.
