As soon as Bai Li Gelin saw him, her expression subtly changed. Lu Li’s entire body also stiffened. His expression was hidden behind layers of rain curtains, not visible. His voice was so flat it seemed almost unreal: “Junior Sister Bai Li, the Sect Leader urgently summons you to Lu Xin Hall. Please depart immediately.”
Lu Li was well-liked by the others, especially Ye Ye. Since they had come to the Eastern Sea’s Wanxian Assembly, they had often asked Gelin about Lu Li. But her master had always been evasive, saying he was either busy with cultivation or had no time. Now, suddenly seeing him again, Ye Ye immediately cupped his hands and said warmly, “Brother Lu, I hope you’ve been well.”
Lu Li entered gracefully, scanning the room before smiling and returning the gesture: “It’s been a year, and I see everyone’s cultivation has indeed progressed. I’ve been following the elders in the trial grounds these past few days, so I wasn’t able to welcome you all to the Eastern Sea. My apologies.”
As he exchanged pleasantries with Ye Ye, Su Wan became curious. She tugged at Bai Li Gelin and whispered, “Is he your senior brother? He’s quite handsome! He looks different from the men in the Central Plains.”
Bai Li Gelin forced a laugh and said, “It’s just appearances.” He was much more complicated than men from the Central Plains.
She didn’t want to watch Lu Li chat so casually with Ye Ye and the others. She jumped onto her centipede spirit’s back first and managed a smile, saying, “It’s good that Li Fei and the others are safe. Since Master is summoning disciples, I’ll go ahead.”
She urged her centipede spirit to fly high, leaving Lu Li behind. But to her surprise, he quickly caught up, leaping onto the spirit beside her.
Bai Li Gelin kept her eyes straight ahead and said in a low voice, “Stay away from me.”
Lu Li said nothing, but reached over and unceremoniously lifted her collar, looking down at her neck – the Nine-Headed Bird pendant was still there, but it was covered in bloodstains. She had tried countless times to remove it, even to the point of injuring her neck, but to no avail.
She neither struggled nor spoke, just stared at him coldly. Lu Li, unmoved, slowly released her and said flatly, “Even if you break your neck, it won’t break. Don’t try anymore.”
Bai Li Gelin looked away and said coldly, “I didn’t like you before, and now I despise you even more.”
Lu Li remained unmoved: “As you wish.”
Bai Li Gelin slowly clenched her fists. She wanted to scream, to cry out, to crush this person. But she could only suppress all these boiling, tumultuous feelings in her heart, putting on a strong facade of indifference, as if he couldn’t hurt her at all. As if pretending to be strong would make her strong.
The cultivation area of the Eastern Sea’s Wanxian Assembly was located underwater. Unlike the mountain sects, the sea sects’ areas of concentrated spiritual energy were mostly underwater and not very large. Over time, each sect built its towns on the spiritually sparse outer land, where cultivators and ordinary people lived together. Only the elder immortals and sect leaders could stay in the spiritually dense underwater cultivation area for extended periods.
Lu Xin Hall was the largest hall in the cultivation area, rarely used under normal circumstances. Bai Li Gelin guided her centipede spirit through coral forests for half a day before finally seeing the water-repelling immortal technique shimmering outside the hall. Inside, countless shadows moved about – apparently, many disciples had already gathered.
She was secretly shocked and, momentarily forgetting about Lu Li, hurried into the hall. There, she saw Master Shen and dozens of elders gathered at the front of the hall. On the ground, several dozen bodies were covered with black cloth, only their faces visible. To her horror, they were all disciples of the Wanxian Assembly, and even two elder immortals were among them.
Beside Master Shen, several blood-stained elders stood with wooden expressions. Some were even in tears. One of them said in a trembling voice, “We couldn’t save more than a dozen disciples in time, their bodies have already been… by the demon horde… Sect Leader, it’s our failure…”
So many disciples are dead?! Bai Li Gelin was utterly shocked. Looking around, she saw that all the disciples gathered in Lu Xin Hall were of the first to third bottleneck levels. Two elder immortals, usually revered by the disciples, had suddenly died. And from their discussion, it seemed some disciples had even been eaten by demons. The disciples were all pale-faced and at a loss.
What great calamity was about to happen?
Not far from Master Shen stood a young, beautiful woman as fair as jade, wiping away tears. It was Senior Sister Ajiao. She was Master Shen’s daughter, nominally a disciple of the Wanxian Assembly, but in reality, her status was extraordinary. Master Shen had always doted on her; she could stay or leave as she pleased. Since becoming lovers with Mo Yanfan from Xingzheng Hall, she had hardly stayed in the Eastern Sea these past few years, and her cultivation had remained stagnant at the fourth bottleneck. Even she had been called back – something big must truly be happening.
“Senior Sister Ajiao,” Bai Li Gelin approached and greeted her. When she first came to the Wanxian Assembly, Ajiao had taken good care of her, and she liked this straightforward and fiery girl. At first, she had always thought Ajiao was a true Eastern Sea girl, only to learn after coming to the Wanxian Assembly that Master Shen was actually from the Central Plains, which made her feel even closer to Senior Sister Ajiao.
Ajiao, with tears in her eyes, looked at her in surprise for a long while before exclaiming, “Are you… Gelin? You’ve grown so big!”
Bai Li Gelin couldn’t help but smile. This senior sister had been so caught up in her sweet romance with her beloved Mo, did she thought that after six or seven years, they were still children.
She had always been sweet-tongued and immediately lowered her voice to say, “I’ve grown up, but Senior Sister Ajiao is still the same, so beautiful. Senior Sister, will you tell me your beauty secrets later?”
Ajiao, originally full of worries, couldn’t help but laugh at her words. “Your tongue is still as sweet as ever. Who taught you to speak so well? Ah, I’m in no mood to chat about these things now. This is hardly the time for idle talk!”
Bai Li Gelin asked in a low voice, “Senior Sister, what… what has happened?”
Ajiao sighed, “You’ll all know soon anyway, so I might as well tell you… The day before yesterday, the Eastern Sea’s water level began to drop. Five of our Wanxian Assembly’s trial grounds had their seals broken before we could repair them. They contained powerful demons and fierce beasts. Just today, a batch of disciples who had broken through the fifth bottleneck went for their trials and encountered these demon hordes. They were all killed, along with the two elder immortals leading them.”
Bai Li Gelin suddenly remembered Ji Tongzhou mentioning earlier that there were many abrupt demonic auras near the sea. So the trial grounds’ sealing barriers had been broken! Dozens of disciples who had broken through the fifth bottleneck! This was an extremely heavy blow to the Wanxian Assembly. Disciples who could break through the fifth bottleneck had hope of becoming immortals, each one a treasured disciple in their master’s heart. To suddenly lose them all was like a bolt from the blue.
Ajiao’s eyes slowly filled with tears again, her voice trembling: “Last time, during the sea meteor, many people died because the disciples couldn’t retreat in time. It has always weighed heavily on Father’s heart. Who would have thought that despite all our preparations this time, still…”
She looked towards Master Shen with a grief-stricken face. This time, with the sea meteor coming, he, as the sect leader, would surely be at the forefront of the battle against it, facing life-and-death situations. She had been too willful as a daughter, not staying by his side to serve him well these past years. In the remaining days, she would have to accompany her father daily.
The more Bai Li Gelin thought about it, the more alarmed she became. Last night, her sister mentioned that various immortals seemed to be gathering more and more around the Eastern Sea. Who would have thought that this anomaly would come so quickly, with the sea level dropping so early? Could it be that gathering the disciples of the first to third bottlenecks was about evacuation?
Soon, Master Shen slowly turned around, his face ashen. As the leader of the Eastern Sea’s Wanxian Assembly, he held significant influence among all the sea sects. This immortal, who usually remained unperturbed even in the face of heaven-shaking events, now wore a trace of grief on his face.
He scanned the hall, and the confused murmurs of the disciples gradually subsided. Lu Xin Hall fell into a deathly silence.
He suddenly spoke: “At the hour of Mao today, the Eastern Sea’s water level had already dropped by eight inches. Five thousand li to the east of the sea, thunder clouds are gathering densely. The thunder disaster will descend within months, and the sea meteor will soon arrive.”
He paused here, then continued: “Despite our utmost vigilance, we still failed to keep everyone safe. Last night, the seals of five trial grounds were broken, and the demon hordes and fierce beasts within have broken through the barriers and emerged en masse. From this day forward, no disciple is to approach within a hundred li of the Eastern Sea range! Those who disobey will face the same fate as the bodies before you.”
After he finished speaking, Lu Xin Hall remained in dead silence. The disciples were unable to react for a moment.
Master Shen spoke loudly: “Instead of standing there dazed, you’d better start packing! The elders from the mountain sects have begun to head towards the Eastern Sea. All sects here in the Eastern Sea must begin evacuating disciples to the inland areas of the Central Plains, starting with you, the disciples of the shallowest cultivation. This evacuation is no trivial matter! You’ll be gone for several years, so think carefully about what to bring. Don’t forget anything! The things we have in the sea sects aren’t available in the mountain sects of the Central Plains!”
These words were like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, instantly awakening the bewildered disciples. Faced with this sudden uprooting, and the possibility of never seeing their masters and sect leader again, Lu Xin Hall suddenly erupted in cries of sorrow. Some were heartbroken and reluctant to leave, some were panicked and at a loss, and some were in despair and fear.
Hearing about the sea meteor was completely different from actually experiencing it. The increasingly intense anomalies in the Eastern Sea these days have already made countless people feel oppressed. Although they hadn’t encountered any real danger yet, the evacuation of disciples once again made them feel the formless terror of this natural disaster.
Master Shen frowned and said sternly: “What are you crying for? What are you afraid of? Didn’t we survive the most painful sea meteor five hundred years ago?! Back then, I and these elders were disciples just like you! Five hundred years from now, it will be you standing at the forefront as the fighting force, protecting the younger disciples behind you! When that time comes, will you not be ashamed remembering your pathetic state today?!”
The crying in the hall gradually subsided. Master Shen continued: “Alright, you may all go now. Gather at Lu Xin Hall at the hour of Chen three days from now. During these three days, if you have any unfinished business, you know what to do.”