Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Zhang Ling stood in front of his cave, holding the hexagonal array盘 (pán - plate/disc), then walked around the cave, retrieving the thirty-six array flags. After much consideration, he decided to take the array with him, after all, he would be stationed there for ten years. He took almost everything of value from the cave, leaving behind only some low-year spiritual herbs. There was nothing else. Whether he used the array or not didn't matter. Taking the array might come in handy, as it could not only protect the cave but also had a decent enemy-trapping effect. After packing up, he steered his flying boat towards the Haoyuan Sect's mountain gate. The speed of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was far from comparable to that of a Qi Refining cultivator, and he arrived in just half an hour. At this moment, three people were already standing on one side of the mountain gate. Zhang Ling steered his flying boat towards them upon seeing them. "Haha, Zhang Shidi (younger brother) has arrived too." Wu Minghan greeted him with a smile. The other man and woman were also the same people he had met before. The two of them nodded at him as well. Zhang Ling naturally returned the greeting with a fist salute. The man was called Wang Fujun, and the woman was called Tian Jing. Both were in the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
After that, the few of them chatted casually, getting to know each other. After all, they were going to the same place and were fellow disciples. After a while, the blue-robed male cultivator also arrived, and he also greeted everyone with a cupped fist. This person was called Hao Ming, was in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, and was also the leader of the team. Once all five of them had arrived, they began to discuss the departure. Regardless of whether they knew each other before, they would inevitably have to interact, and might even have to fight enemies together later. If they really encountered enemy cultivators, they would have to rely on this Senior Brother Hao to hold them off. "Fellow junior brothers and sisters, the place we are going to is Red Rock Mountain in Xi (creek) Country. I believe you all already know about it. Xi Country is separated from our Cangyun Country by three or four countries, so the journey is long. We should set off as soon as possible." "Senior brother is right." "Although this mission was issued by the sect, we will still have to listen to the arrangements of the Misty Cloud Immortal City when we arrive at Red Rock Mountain. The place is a mixed bag. I hope everyone will work together to complete the mission." "Haha, Senior Brother Hao Ming is right. Everyone working together is the only way to complete the mission." Wang Fujun was the first to agree, and the rest of them had no objections. Hao Ming nodded in satisfaction upon seeing this, then waved his hand and released a red flying sword. This was a high-grade flying magic weapon, and the others took a few more glances at it. "Everyone, let's go." Hao Ming gave them a smile and called for them to set off. The remaining four also released their own flying magic weapons, all of which were flying boats, but each with a different color. These were the Haoyuan Sect's mid-grade flying boats. Zhang Ling also released his own White Jade Boat, following the others as they flew away from the Haoyuan Sect. …… Red Rock Mountain in Xi Country was the place where the five of them were going to be stationed. They had received detailed information from the sect leader before. In addition to their Haoyuan Sect, the other eight major sects had also received the Demon Subjugation Order, and they would also be sending disciples. They were among the first batch of reinforcements, mostly Foundation Establishment disciples. The number of people was roughly the same. According to the information he had received, three Foundation Establishment teams like theirs had already set off in the past few days. Their missions were roughly the same, but their destinations were different. This batch of reinforcements alone had more than twenty Foundation Establishment disciples from the Haoyuan Sect. That meant the nine sects would send nearly two hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, and this was only part of the reinforcements after the Demon Subjugation Order was issued. The Demon Subjugation Orders that their nine sects received were all issued by the Misty Cloud Immortal City.
There were also five or six small and medium-sized countries near this city. These countries were also controlled by sects, some with forces stronger than the nine sects, and some weaker than them. Including these sects, this reinforcement alone would add five or six hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators to the Misty Cloud Immortal City. This was just the mobilization power of one immortal city, and the other immortal cities were roughly the same. The number of cultivators gathered might even be greater. Among the twelve immortal cities, the three countries occupied by their nine sects were closest to the Misty Cloud City, which was why they received the Demon Subjugation Order from this immortal city. The Misty Cloud Immortal City was located in the Continuous Cloud Mountains on the westernmost side of Xi Country, near the Desert North Country, the Freezing River Country, the Ningwu Country, the East Yu Country, and other countries. These countries were very close to the Misty Cloud Immortal City, and it was worth mentioning that there was also an immortal city called Black Wind City in the Continuous Cloud Mountains of the East Yu Country. This city was completely controlled by the Demon Cloud Sect, the only immortal cultivation sect in the East Yu Country. Just from the name, you could tell that this sect was a Demonic sect. Being able to control an immortal city on its own meant that its strength was not weak. Speaking of which, the entire Continuous Cloud Mountains were built by ancient cultivators using the divine power of moving mountains and filling seas. It extended from north to south throughout the Northern Origin Region, covering a vast area and passing through more than a dozen countries of all sizes. The twelve immortal cities were all located on the entire Continuous Cloud Mountains. To the east were the human race's countries and forces, and to the west was the Black Cloud Desert where the Alien Demons were located. The Continuous Cloud Mountains were like the dividing line of a bottleneck, separating them from the Alien Demon race. …… Red Rock Mountain was located at a stronghold in the section of the Continuous Cloud Mountains in Xi Country. Although the five of them were flying at a fast speed, it still took them a full month to reach Red Rock Mountain. The few of them stood on their magic weapons, looking at a black and red mountain hundreds of feet high not far away, revealing curious expressions. The black and red mountain in front of them was not high, but it occupied a large area. And strangely, the upper half of the mountain was a crimson red, while the lower half was a black and red color. The five of them drove their magic weapons down to the foot of the mountain. Once here, Hao Ming, the senior brother in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, patted his storage bag and took out a yellow transmission talisman, said a few words to it, injected spiritual power into it, and threw it out. The talisman shook, turned into a stream of light, and shot forward, disappearing from sight. After a while, a red escape light appeared in the air not far away, flying straight towards the crowd, landing more than ten feet in front of the crowd. As the light retracted, a red-faced old man in black appeared. "I am Bai Heyu, welcome fellow Daoists. With your help in sharing the pressure, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief." The old man smiled and cupped his hands at the crowd, while his eyes swept over them. The five of them also sized up this person. Although this person looked old, his face was full of red light and his cultivation had reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment. With this, Hao Ming also quickly cupped his hands in return. "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Bai. We are disciples of the Haoyuan Sect. We have come to support you on the orders of our sect." The red-faced old man's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he re-examined the group. Seeing this person suddenly reveal this kind of gaze, Zhang Ling and the others exchanged glances. Did this person recognize some cultivators from the Haoyuan Sect? Just as they were wondering, the old man laughed and said. "I didn't expect it to be fellow disciples from the Haoyuan Sect. What a coincidence, Bai is a cultivator from White Crane Mountain." "So it's Senior Brother from White Crane Mountain, nice to meet you, nice to meet you. It's not easy to meet Senior Brother here. We're new here, and we'll have to rely on Senior Brother in the future." Hao Ming also cupped his hands and said modestly. "You're too polite. I haven't been here for long either." Bai Heyu waved his hand. "Let's go pay our respects to Martial Uncle Han here first, don't keep Martial Uncle waiting."
Then Bai Heyu led the group towards the other side of Red Rock Mountain, while also roughly explaining some of the defenses here. This place was a formation eye base located thousands of miles south of Misty Cloud City. They had come here to guard this formation eye, in order to prevent it from being destroyed by the Alien Demon race. Before long, they arrived at the other side of Red Rock Mountain.