"So they're heading to Tianyue City, the only mortal city under the jurisdiction of our Red Leaf Market. Haven't we, the Loose Cultivator Alliance, been sending people to guard it for the past few years? How come even a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator can't protect himself?"

"Isn't there the Tianyue City defensive formation? Isn't that a late-stage Qi Refining formation that can withstand late-stage Qi Refining cultivators?" Zhou Lingyun, who was quite knowledgeable about the situation, asked in confusion.

Upon hearing this, Senior Brother Jin sighed and said with a grim expression, "That's true, but we won't know what happened until we reach Tianyue City. Fellow Daoist Zhou, please don't make wild guesses. As long as we don't encounter any evil cultivators in the late Qi Refining stage, we should be able to protect ourselves with our strength."

Following that, Senior Brother Jin added:

"Even if a demonic expert appears, we can go back and have Venerable Hanxin and Ancestor Hongye inform the Righteous Alliance. The Righteous Alliance will then send experts to slay the demons."

"What about Ancestor Red Leaf? Didn't he break through to the Foundation Establishment realm?" Zhou Lingyun kept asking questions like a curious little girl next door, which was something Lu Xuan and the others needed to know as well.

Senior Brother Jin didn't hide anything this time; clearly, he knew some inside information.

"Ancestor Hongye has broken through, but as you should have guessed, he almost failed and suffered internal injuries to his dantian. It will take him several decades to recover. Last time, when he dealt with the evil monk, he was the one who made the move."

"No wonder." Everyone suddenly realized that last time, when Patriarch Red Leaf generously let go of the evil monk's disciples and followers, they thought it was because Patriarch Red Leaf was compassionate.

Seeing Zhou Lingyun's worry, Senior Brother Jin looked at Lu Xuan and said:

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Zhou. The power of the mid-grade magic weapon, the small banner, in Fellow Daoist Lu's hand should not be underestimated. It might even be able to put up a fight against a cultivator at the sixth or seventh level of Qi Refining."

"Senior Brother Jin, you jest. To be honest, I might be able to hold my own against evil cultivators at the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining for a while, but if I encounter someone above the fifth level of Qi Refining, I'll have to run away. Hehe."

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Lu is being modest." Senior Brother Jin had a strange smile on his face, making it impossible to read his thoughts.

At this moment, Lu Xuan was piloting the Soul-Devouring Banner, flying while contemplating his escape route. He paid no attention to Senior Brother Jin's expression; if the other party didn't know what was good for him, Lu Xuan would definitely not show any mercy.

He was just worried that if he couldn't stay in Red Leaf Market in the future, he should think about his way out as soon as possible.

Because Lu Xuan had just checked the map.

Red Leaf Market is located on the edge of the Righteous Alliance's territory, extremely close to the Heavenly Demon Sect.

If a Foundation Establishment expert from the Heavenly Demon Sect were to come to Red Leaf Market, how could those Qi Refining rogue cultivators possibly withstand them?

As for that Old Ancestor Red Leaf, he's probably in dire straits himself, so how could he possibly care about these rogue Qi Refining cultivators?

At that time, even a Qi Refining stage cultivator like Han Xin Shangren or Linglong Fairy wouldn't be able to withstand a single move from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The next morning, the group arrived at Tianyue City at a leisurely pace, and were immediately shocked.

"Where is he?" Zhou Lingyun asked, startled.

"Tianyue City is so big, it's usually packed with people, but now there's not a single person in sight."

"What's going on? Could it be that demonic cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Sect have arrived?" Senior Brother Jin asked, looking frightened.

The man in black robes with the surname Gu standing next to him was more composed.

"Don't panic. Let's use the communication talisman to contact that rogue cultivator from the Tianyue City Alliance."

“Alright, we’ll listen to Fellow Daoist Gu.” Senior Brother Jin was quite familiar with the strength of the black-robed cultivator surnamed Gu. Although the other party was only at the fourth level of Qi Refining, he possessed a low-grade magic weapon with considerable power, making him slightly stronger than him.

Lu Xuan naturally had no objection to this. "Very well, then we'll listen to this Fellow Daoist Gu."

The fact that the opponent was able to escape unscathed from the evil monk's disciples suggests that he possesses considerable strength.

"Go!" The man surnamed Gu stretched out his two thin, bony hands, pointed with one hand, and a talisman turned into a ray of light and flashed into Tianyue City.

However, after more than half an hour, there was still no response.

The man surnamed Gu seemed unfathomable, and calmly said:

"I anticipated this. Fellow Daoists, be prepared. If there is danger, we will split up and escape as we did last time. That way, our chances of survival will be greater."

Lu Xuan and Senior Brother Jin nodded.

The female cultivator, Zhou Lingyun, seemed stunned, as if she had realized something, and muttered to herself:

"I knew it. Master Hanxin had no good intentions. They knew the Heavenly Demon Sect was coming to attack, yet they still sent us to Tianyue City to die. I'm not going to do that."

After saying that, Zhou Lingyun flew back the way she came, as if she had gone mad.

"No," the man in black robes stopped him.

But it was too late. Zhou Lingyun had only flown a few dozen feet away when she was repelled by a black light, and her magical artifacts were damaged.

Lu Xuan looked over and seemed to have discovered something; he had already activated the Soul-Devouring Banner in his hand.

"An array?" the black-robed man with the surname Gu blurted out upon seeing this.

Immediately afterwards, the man in black robes stepped forward and used his amplification technique to shout:

"May I ask who you are, fellow Daoist who set up this formation? You actually used a late-stage Qi Refining formation to deal with us? I don't think you are those cultivators from the Heavenly Demon Sect. Why don't you show yourselves and not act like despicable villains?"

Senior Brother Jin also looked as if he had just realized something and said:

“That’s right, this is definitely not how the Heavenly Demon Sect cultivators do things. They don’t bother to set up any formations. Moreover, the fact that they’ve trapped us with a formation shows that they’re not strong enough to deal with us. We should break the formation and escape without delay. Otherwise, things might change.”

Just as they were about to make a move, the other side appeared.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!