When it first appeared out of the blue, it had put quite a few monks of Hanging Temple at a disadvantage. Fortunately, the inherent nature of the Never-Blooming Flower made it difficult to proliferate. This ensured its rarity and even occasional extinction, almost leading people to believe it had been eradicated.
Unexpectedly, it reerged in the world today. Moreover, it was used for fratricide among sect mbers. No wonder Yongxiang Monk’s protective vows were broken. He was shot into a Blood Gourd on the spot, dying with his eyes wide open, forever unresigned.
With Jingxiang Monk away in Zezhou, carrying two flowers with him, did the Jinzhou Ye Clan accumulate so Never-Blooming Flowers, or did they master an effective thod of propagating them? Lei Jun wondered.
Xuantian Temple kept to itself, closed off and self-reliant. On ordinary days, the Ye Clan also mostly engaged with them using gentle and infiltrative tactics, not seeking direct conflict. But, just like the Jiangzhou Lin Clan and Dragon Tiger Mountain of Xin State, the Ye Clan of Jinzhou and Xuantian Temple of Yunzhou were simply too close.
If they were to truly co to blows, the Ye Clan seed to have made preparations to handle the Great Monks... Due to their hereditary traditions, Xuantian Temple’s descendants usually found that others had few thods to use against them, and likewise, others could hardly do anything to them. However, it was clear that the Ye Clan of Jinzhou could not tolerate such individuals at their doorstep. They didn’t necessarily need to act imdiately, but they had to have a plan.
Xuantian Temple is likely to take action as well. We’ll see how the Tang Imperial Court will respond... The most important thing right now is the situation in Jinzhou, Lei Jun mused.
The seasonal military rites of the Ye Clan differed from the norm: Spring’s Troops Movent, Sumr’s Uprooting, Autumn’s Military Order, and Winter’s Grand Review. Generally, these military rites exerted their greatest influence during winter.
Ye Moquan setting the date for the battle in sumr was not an issue. But arranging such military rites during the peak of sumr was quite peculiar.
This seasonal military rite, with its montum encompassing lands and rivers, was situated across important military rite locations. These locations were arranged from north to south: starting from Xuantian Temple, passing through the Ye Clan Ancestral Land in Jinzhou and the Gao Family Ancestral Land in Zezhou, and finally reaching the forr site of Bodhi Temple in Zhongzhou. Zezhou was where Autumn’s Military Order took place. The Bodhi Temple was the site of Winter’s Grand Review. Ye Moquan’s own location corresponded to Sumr’s Uprooting. Considering this, he likely did it on purpose.
Winter and sumr reversed, Spring and Autumn overturned—the unusual arrangent was fraught with deadly traps. Ye Moquan had made quite a few preparations... Lei Jun thought to himself.
He left Zezhou and traveled north, nearing the region of Jinzhou.
「...」
In the Ye Clan Ancestral Land of Jinzhou, a fierce battle had erupted as Xu Yuanzhen arrived as agreed. Xu Yuanzhen of the Ninth Heavenly Layer of the Talisman Sect was fighting Ye Moquan of the Ninth Heavenly Layer of Confucian Classical Studies. The battlefield was the Ye Clan Ancestral Land itself.
At this mont, Ye Moquan was the only mber of the Ye Clan present in the ancestral land. Under his control, the Global Spiritual Qi around the Ye Clan Ancestral Land in Jinzhou was intertwining and converging in unexpected ways.
Gone was the usual cultural splendor, replaced by the resolute air of soldiers abandoning the pen for the sword. In the past, under the stewardship of a Great Scholar of the Ninth Heavenly Layer, the Ye Clan Ancestral Land of Jinzhou had evolved its Ho, Country, World, as if establishing its own nation, its own realm. But now, the picturesque landscape was undergoing a reversal of cosmic order. It exhibited features of Spring and Autumn turned on their head, no longer confined to a single region or nation. Streams of Spiritual Energy circulated as if traveling in all directions, yet they did not disperse.
The entirety was closely intertwined with the Mortal World nearby, branching out, launching attacks in all directions. Then, after roaming, it returned to its roots with even greater outward sharpness. No longer just protecting the ancestral land, it now revealed a more aggressive offensive capability.
Above the Ye Clan Ancestral Land of Jinzhou, a massive black thundercloud floated. It seed to solidify, like a dark glacial mass frozen in the sky. Xu Yuanzhen stood on the thundercloud, observing the Ye Clan Ancestral Land below with interest.
She flipped her hand, revealing the spearhead-shaped third "Barbarian Spearhead." As the "Barbarian Spearhead" descended, its destructive, barbaric, and overbearing force fell from the heavens. Just as it had trampled Jiangzhou and Youzhou before, it transford into an almost tangible army of thousands, rushing towards the Ye Clan Ancestral Land of Jinzhou with overwhelming force.
Its sharp military front imdiately destroyed many of the clan’s defensive restrictions and the converging Spiritual Energy. But the profound strength of the Ye Clan Ancestral Land erupted continually. It drew Spiritual Energy from the surrounding world to sustain itself, either forcefully or through deft maneuvers, continuously resisting the descending "Barbarian Spearhead."
Although versatile, the response was full of initiative. There were significant losses, with the inner layers being breached by the dominant military force from above. Nevertheless, the entire Ye Clan Ancestral Land was now fully activated. Its Vast Integrity Qi crystallized into tangible, sharp weapons, confronting the "Barbarian Spearhead" from above head-on.
In terms of imdiate victory or defeat, the "Barbarian Spearhead" maintained the upper hand for a short period. However, it was only a fragnt. After the initial outburst, it quickly lost montum.
anwhile, the Ye Clan Ancestral Land, despite its losses—including damage to so of the ritual instrunts that helped build the restrictions—began to expand outward. It started reclaiming lost territory and retaking the space above the ancestral land.
Observers like Fang Du and Chu Peng, watching from afar, were most concerned with this current shift in the Ye Clan Ancestral Land’s Spring and Autumn phases. They watched the battle in the sky above the ancestral land with full concentration, their faces neither tense nor relaxed.
Prince Changshan Zhang Junhai and Chu Yu, representing the Tang Imperial Court, wore serious expressions. Under the hasty circumstances, Ye Moquan’s response still had shortcomings. But the current clash proved his strategy had rit. Although the ancestral land of Jinzhou sustained heavy damage, it was not like Jiangzhou and Youzhou. Those lands had been trampled into ruins, their Cultural Pulse severed, leaving them powerless to respond and causing harm to the clan mbers present on their ancestral lands.
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