Inside the bowl, apart from Hong Chaoyang's soft sobs, there was only the howling wind.
The distance between the Five - Element Dao Sect and the Azure Cloud Sword Sect wasn't too far. However, to avoid the searches of the Winged Demon Beasts, Xue Ling steered the bowl on a detour, hiding in the clouds.
The journey took twice as long as usual. The closer they got to the Five - Element Dao Sect, the thicker the clouds in the sky became, and their color turned gloomy.
Unease hung over everyone's hearts. Shen Qing began to worry about the safety of the people in the Five - Element Dao Sect.
When Xue Ling was about to land on the mountain peak of the Five - Element Dao Sect as before while the demons weren't paying attention, suddenly, a deafening thunderclap sounded, and a thick bolt of lightning exploded beside the three of them.
Xue Ling barely managed to dodge and almost got struck down by the lightning.
Shen Qing and Hong Chaoyang held the edge of the bowl with lingering fear and quickly got into defensive stances.
After the first bolt of lightning exploded, lightning flashed in the clouds, and the second and third bolts exploded beside them one after another.
Xue Ling quickly formed hand seals and struggled to control the bowl to dodge the lightning from the sky.
Xue Ling shouted, "Hold on tight! Don't fall off!"
Shen Qing looked at the scene below the clouds and found that the Winged Demon Beasts that had been hovering in the sky had been scattered by the lightning. She quickly said to Xue Ling, "Fly down! The demons have all left!"
Hearing this, Xue Ling didn't hesitate and made a sudden dive. The bowl, with great momentum, broke through the clouds and flew towards the mountain peak of the Five - Element Dao Sect.
But Shen Qing noticed that the mountain - protecting formation of the Five - Element Dao Sect had been activated. At the mountain gate, countless demons rushed forward one after another, biting at the formation.
The disciples of the Five - Element Dao Sect were mending the damaged parts of the formation in front of it, while the elders were maintaining its activation.
These disciples looked tired, and it was unknown how long they had been holding on.
Shen Qing searched in the air for a while and finally saw Yuxuzi, who was activating the mountain - protecting formation, above the training ground.
Under Yuxuzi's feet was a Bagua Yin - Yang Taiji diagram, and the Kunlun Disk was floating in front of him, with spiritual energy swirling around it.
When Shen Qing got closer, Yuxuzi seemed to sense something. He looked up in Shen Qing's direction, and then a powerful suction force pulled the bowl into the mountain - protecting formation.
Seeing Yuxuzi, Shen Qing quickly picked up Li Xian and said, "Master! Li Xian is seriously injured!"
Yuxuzi closed his eyes and directly transmitted his voice with spiritual power. In a short while, an elder of the Five - Element Dao Sect flew over on his sword and took Li Xian to the ground.
Although Shen Qing was worried about Li Xian, at this moment, she had to help Yuxuzi deal with the demon beasts at the gate. Otherwise, the fate of the Five - Element Dao Sect would be the same as that of the Azure Cloud Sword Sect.
Yuxuzi's lips had turned a bit pale. When he looked at Shen Qing, there was complexity in his eyes. He asked in a low voice, "Shen Qing, you've had many fortuitous encounters. Facing this situation again, are you still afraid?"
Shen Qing was taken aback and looked at Yuxuzi in surprise. Almost instantly, she understood the implication of Yuxuzi's words.
It seemed that during this seclusion, Yuxuzi had seen many different things.
Shen Qing's eyes were firm. Although the scene in front of her overlapped with that of her previous life, her state of mind had changed. "Master, you're not Master Hengling, and I'm not the old Shen Qing. So, I'm not afraid!"
Yuxuzi nodded appreciatively and laughed heartily. "You're truly the disciple I've always admired. I knew I didn't misjudge you!"
Then, Yuxuzi's expression turned solemn again. He said to Shen Qing, "Do you already know what happened to the Azure Cloud Sword Sect?"
Shen Qing nodded and frowned. "I just came from the sect. Master, are the people of the Azure Cloud Sword Sect really..."
Although Yuxuzi really wanted to deny it, under such an attack, the entire mountain gate of the Azure Cloud Sword Sect had turned into a field of scorched earth. How could the people inside have survived?
"Shen Qing, I can't sense their auras, and the Kunlun Disk can't find their whereabouts either. They... most likely have..."
Yuxuzi didn't finish his sentence, but Shen Qing already understood what he meant.
Thinking of Master Honghua, Master Hongdie, Elder Yaoyue, Qi Nian... and the others in the Azure Cloud Sword Sect, Shen Qing felt extremely sad.
They were such good people, yet they had disappeared silently.
They didn't even leave a single word before turning into scorched earth.
Qi Nian was still so young. She had wanted to surpass Elder Feiyun and take over the Law Enforcement Hall in the future, but now, it was all gone.
Shen Qing turned to look at Hong Chaoyang and found that she had her head down, biting her lower lip tightly. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.
"Chaoyang..."
Hong Chaoyang swallowed hard. She quickly wiped away her tears with her sleeve and said with a nasal voice, "I'm the only remaining disciple of the Azure Cloud Sword Sect. I must live well and avenge Mother... and everyone in the Azure Cloud Sword Sect!"
Yuxuzi reached out and stroked Hong Chaoyang's head. There was both sadness and relief in his eyes. "Good child!"
Shen Qing remained silent. Although she trusted Yuxuzi, deep down, she always felt that Master Hengling, Pei Xuanjing, and the others wouldn't die so easily.
Such a death was too simple.
"Alright, let's stop reminiscing. You've just returned from the mortal world, so you probably don't know what's been going on here. I'll tell you."
Shen Qing nodded and listened as Yuxuzi recounted what had happened during this period.
It turned out that not long after Shen Qing and Li Xian went to the mortal world, Yuxuzi had exited his seclusion. Leaving aside what he had seen during this seclusion, after he came out, Xiao Jinglan found him and said that the disciples guarding the Demon Abyss had sent back a message saying that the seal of the Demon Abyss seemed to be loosening.
Yuxuzi knew that all this was the doing of the Main Divine Hall.
But even though he knew, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing. So he personally led a group of people to the Demon Abyss to reinforce the seal.
However, when they arrived, Yuxuzi found that the disciples guarding the Demon Abyss had been infected by the demonic energy and turned into mindless and lifeless puppet corpses.
As soon as they reached the Demon Abyss, the demon beasts poured out of it.
Yuxuzi had anticipated the danger of this journey and had made preparations in advance. But even so, the group suffered heavy losses.
Xiao Jinglan almost died. Fortunately, Master Yaoyue pulled him back, and he managed to survive. But Elder Yaoyue was caught in the group of demon beasts and remained in the Demon Abyss.
Hearing this, Hong Chaoyang exclaimed, "How could this be? Wasn't Senior - Uncle rescued?"
Yuxuzi shook his head with apology. "Someone deliberately made the puppet - corpse disciples send back the message to deceive us there. Their purpose was to let us die in the Demon Abyss. Half of our people died, and it took us several days and nights to escape."
But when they escaped, Yuxuzi found that it wasn't just the Demon Abyss. The demon beasts had also come to the Nine Wastelands Continent from other exits.
The Nine Wastelands Continent was overrun with demon beasts. The demonic energy brought by the demon beasts eroded the spirit beasts, causing them to mutate. As a result, there were more and more demon beasts, and they couldn't be killed off completely.