Ning Fa's eyes also showed a look of emotion.
"This is a long story. I did encounter an accident on Ancient Immortal Island and was pursued by a powerful enemy.
While fleeing, I coincidentally arrived at another unfamiliar place. It was very far away, and now I've finally found a way to return to Cangyuan."
He had no intention of revealing that he had been in the Nine Dragons Sea during this time.
Upon hearing this, Ye Xuanqing and the other two looked surprised, but they could tell Ning Fa didn't want to elaborate and wisely didn't ask further.
Then, the middle-aged beautiful woman smiled and said, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Ning, for your assistance in eliminating this Sea Race spy.
Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ruan Bingxin, an elder of the Ice Spirit Palace, and this is my junior brother Li Junrui.
Fellow Daoist Ning already knows Junior Sister Ye, so there's no need for further introduction."
"So it's Fellow Daoist Ruan and Fellow Daoist Li," Ning Fa replied with a nod.
Then, he eagerly asked, "How is the Cangyuan Cultivation World now? Has Tianli Cultivation World invaded?"
Ye Xuanqing and the other two exchanged glances, and then Ruan Bingxin nodded with a heavy expression, "Yes, that is exactly the case."
She glanced around and continued, "Fellow Daoist Ning, this is not a place to talk. Let's return to the palace first. Moreover, there have been changes in the frontline military situation, and we were planning to go to support. You can accompany us, Fellow Daoist Ning."
Ning Fa's expression shifted, and he nodded.
Not long after, the group boarded Ruan Bingxin's white Flying Boat and sped towards the northwest.
Ye Xuanqing and the other two glanced at Wen Hui. Seeing that she was only at the Qi Condensation realm, they paid her no further attention.
Amidst Ning Fa's eager gaze, Ruan Bingxin continued, "Speaking of which, I recall that you, Fellow Daoist Ning, were the first to report the news of Tianli Cultivation World's impending invasion.
At the time, many people thought you were crying wolf or seeking attention, only to later realize how important your prophecy was.
Three years after Ancient Immortal Island was sealed, the armies of Tianli Cultivation World appeared in the southernmost part of Cloud Wasteland Great Marsh and launched a large-scale invasion of our Cangyuan Cultivation World.
Although the Yunhuang Alliance had been prepared due to your warning, Fellow Daoist Ning, they were still routed in the face of the powerful Tianli Cultivation World.
In just a few months, Jiang Kingdom, which was closest to Cloud Wasteland Great Marsh, had completely fallen.
Fortunately, thanks to your prior warning, Fellow Daoist Ning, the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion was prepared.
Under the coordination of the Spiritual Pivot Pavilion, before Tianli Cultivation World's invasion, they had already begun constructing over a dozen long-distance Transmission arrays in the major immortal cities of Wu Kingdom, directly connecting to the Righteous and Demonic Alliances, as well as our Ice Plains Alliance.
Thus, the major powers rushed to send a large number of reinforcements through the Transmission arrays, barely stabilizing the situation.
However, the Tianli Cultivation World's strength was too great, and they had been preparing for a long time with sharp intent. Therefore, our Cangyuan Cultivation World was still at a disadvantage on the main battlefield.
In the following decade, Liang Kingdom, Feng Country, and Yu Kingdom of the Yunhuang Alliance also fell one after another. With this, only three of the Seven Nations of Cloud Wasteland remained."
Hearing this, Ning Fa couldn't help but frown.
In just over ten years of war, four countries in Cloud Wasteland had already been lost. If so much time had passed, had the entire Yunhuang Alliance already fallen?
Thinking of this, Ning Fa couldn't help but become anxious.
Ruan Bingxin and the other two also had somber expressions, clearly recalling unpleasant memories.
Ruan Bingxin let out a soft sigh and continued, "And at this time, the situation took a new turn.
As a large number of Sea Race cultivators began to appear around the countries bordering the Immortalless Sea, they also began their invasions.
And for some reason, their initial target was also your Yunhuang Alliance.
While we were caught off guard, the Sea Race had already captured Chen Kingdom, the westernmost nation of the Yunhuang Alliance, and then continued their advance towards Cloud Wasteland Great Marsh without stopping.
And that area was precisely the territory occupied by Tianli Cultivation World. Subsequently, wars began to break out between these two powers.
This was a stroke of luck for our Cangyuan Cultivation World, as we were able to catch our breath.
After this, there was a period of mixed warfare among the three factions that lasted for more than ten years.
The war between the Sea Race and Tianli Cultivation World was even more intense, as if the Sea Race was extremely fixated on Cloud Wasteland Great Marsh.
Naturally, we were happy about this. Although we lost a lot of territory, we did not launch a large-scale counterattack. Instead, we took this opportunity to recuperate and consolidate the strength of the entire Cangyuan Cultivation World."
Hearing this, Ning Fa couldn't help but furrow his brows.
It seemed his previous guess was correct; the Sea Race had found a way to reliably transmit to Cangyuan.
It was possible that through the Transmission array on Ancient Immortal Island, the Sea Race had found a way to enter and exit the now-closed Ancient Immortal Island.
Or it was possible that the Sea Race cultivators who transmitted first had simply built another long-distance Transmission array.
This was not impossible, as the Sea Race's heritage was extremely long.
When Ning Fa was in the Nine Dragons Sea before, he had heard more than once that the Sea Race was unique and highly skilled in building Transmission arrays, and they might be capable of constructing such ultra-long-distance Transmission arrays.
At this moment, Ruan Bingxin continued with a heavy tone, "But then the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.
The Sea Race and Tianli Cultivation World, for reasons unknown, reached some sort of agreement. They ceased their conflict and began to jointly attack our Cangyuan.
Tianli Cultivation World continued to attack from the south, while the Sea Race concentrated its forces and began their conquest in the western part of our Cangyuan Cultivation World.
As a result, the situation for our Cangyuan Cultivation World naturally became even more dire, as we had to face simultaneous attacks from two powerful forces.
We had no choice but to divide our forces to resist."
Because the Sea Race's strength was slightly weaker than Tianli's, the Demonic Path Alliance, located in the western part of Cangyuan, concentrated all its forces on the westernmost countries to resist the Sea Race.
Of the Righteous Path Alliance's strength, a small portion was left to suppress the Demonic Beasts in the Cloud Break Mountain Range to the east, while the rest was sent to support the Yunhuang Alliance.
Our Twelve Nations of the Ice Plains, however, split their forces into two paths. About sixty percent of our strength rushed to Yunhuang, and the remaining forty percent went to support the Demonic Path Alliance.
However, even though our Cangyuan Cultivation World had mobilized and improved its strength as much as possible during the previous decade of tripartite conflict.
We still suffered more defeats than victories when facing attacks from two major powers simultaneously, retreating continuously.
In the following ten years, we lost large swathes of territory.
Currently, the Yunhuang Alliance is left with only the Wu Kingdom and the Xu Kingdom. The Xu Kingdom has already lost more than half of its territory, with only about thirty percent of its northern lands remaining. Even the Wu Kingdom has lost more than half of its territory.
At this point, the remaining territory of the Yunhuang Alliance is only about twenty percent of its peak.
The situation on the western front against the Sea Race is not much better. Two countries of the Demonic Path Alliance have also been occupied by the Sea Race.
Hearing this, Ning Fa's heart tightened. The situation sounded truly dire.
Just then, Ruan Bingxin's eyes showed a strange expression, and she slowly said:
"And at this extremely unfavorable moment, something else seems to have happened in the Tianli Cultivation World.
Their offensive momentum suddenly slowed down. Instead of a large-scale invasion, they focused on consolidating the territories they had already occupied.
At first, we thought the Tianli Cultivation World was playing some kind of trick and didn't dare to act rashly. But later, we realized they weren't faking it. In fact, we even managed to reclaim some territory.
However, when we tried to counterattack, Tianli concentrated its forces and attacked again, thwarting our counteroffensive.
It's clear that Tianli's intention was to hold their occupied territories, even if they were no longer advancing.
As a result, we could only maintain a temporary stalemate, and we managed to transfer some forces to support the Demonic Path Alliance.
We were able to withstand the Sea Race's offensive there, even winning a few battles and eliminating many Sea Race cultivators.
But just as we were about to press our advantage, the Sea Race received a large number of reinforcements. They also deployed many powerful array formations on the front lines, forcing us to halt our counteroffensive.
Although the Sea Race received many reinforcements, due to the Tianli Cultivation World's sudden strategic conservatism, they also did not dare to act rashly. They primarily focused on defending their occupied territories.
In this manner, another ten years passed, continuing until now.
This has been a rare period of stability in over fifty years. Although small-scale wars between us and the two major powers have never ceased, major conflicts have almost ceased to erupt.
Ruan Bingxin finished speaking slowly, and Ning Fa was also surprised by Tianli's sudden strategic conservatism.
However, he also felt relieved. From this perspective, the situation didn't seem too bad.
Moreover, he keenly grasped a keyword and quickly asked, "Fellow Daoist Ruan, if what you say is true, then the northern territories of the Xu Kingdom are still intact. That should include the Yunxi Mountain Range, right?"
Ruan Bingxin nodded, "That's right. The Xu Kingdom has now become the frontline of our battles against Tianli. We control about forty percent of the northern territories of the Xu Kingdom, which naturally includes the Yunxi Mountain Range in the far north.
Oh, right, I almost forgot that Fellow Daoist Ning is from the Huayu Sect, and the Huayu Sect later relocated to the Yunxi Mountain Range. No wonder you're so concerned."
Speaking to this point, Ruan Bingxin had a look of realization.
Ning Fa's tense heart relaxed slightly upon hearing this and he immediately asked, "Then do you, Fellow Daoist Ruan, know the current situation of the Huayu Sect?
Is the First Elder of the Huayu Sect currently True Lord Cang Lei? Is he... still alive?"
As he asked this, Ning Fa's heart tightened again.
He wasn't concerned about Cang Lei, but about his own relatives and friends.
As long as True Lord Cang Lei, a Nascent Soul Cultivator, was still alive, then even if the situation was difficult, it should be enough to provide protection.
But if True Lord Cang Lei had also fallen, then the situation would be extremely dire.
Ruan Bingxin nodded, "That's correct. The current First Elder of the Huayu Sect is indeed Fellow Daoist Cang Lei. Fellow Daoist Ning, please rest assured, Fellow Daoist Cang Lei has not fallen. I saw him a few years ago when I went to the Xu Kingdom.
As for the specific situation of your sect, I'm not too sure.
However, I imagine that as long as Fellow Daoist Cang Lei is still around, there shouldn't be any major problems."
As soon as the woman finished speaking, Ning Fa finally put his mind at ease and let out a long sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, thank goodness."
But soon, a look of worry flashed in his eyes.
After all, the Xu Kingdom had been the front line of resistance against Tianli for a long time. He didn't know how many disciples of the Huayu Sect and members of his family had fallen during such a prolonged war.