Despite their confusion, the crowd indeed regained some confidence upon hearing this.
After the meeting adjourned, the Nascent Soul cultivators departed, hurrying back to their respective residences to recuperate and prepare for the upcoming battle.
Within a ball of white escape light in the sky, Fairy Miaoyin suddenly covered her mouth and coughed violently. After finally calming down, her face was exceptionally pale, and a pool of blood emitting black mist appeared in her hand.
She couldn't help but shake her head and smile bitterly.
Just then, with a flash of silver light nearby, Ning Fa flew towards her.
He glanced at Fairy Miaoyin, then flicked his finger, sending a round pill flying in front of her, exuding a pure medicinal fragrance.
This pill was a fourth-tier healing pill, incredibly precious in Cangyuan today.
Miaoyin looked up at Ning Fa, her face filled with astonishment.
Ning Fa, however, smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Miaoyin, this pill should greatly benefit your injuries."
Upon returning, Ning Fa had already noticed that Fairy Miaoyin was not lightly injured. He surmised that her previous hidden injuries had not fully healed and had worsened during this battle.
The reason he offered her this precious fourth-tier pill was that, during his previous conversation with Canglei, he learned that Fairy Miaoyin had provided the most assistance to the Huayu Sect, far more than even Yun Jing.
Ning Fa knew this was Fairy Miaoyin's way of repaying him.
Before Ning Fa went to Ancient Immortal Island, he had traveled to Zhenhai City with the members of Tianyin Pavilion. They were ambushed by the Demonic Sound Sect, and it was thanks to Ning Fa's intervention in that battle that Tianyin Pavilion turned defeat into victory.
Therefore, Fairy Miaoyin was reciprocating his kindness.
But this did not prevent Ning Fa from feeling grateful towards Fairy Miaoyin, so he offered the pill without hesitation.
"Fellow Daoist Ning, this pill is too precious..." Miaoyin said hesitantly.
Ning Fa smiled faintly at her, then his figure flickered and disappeared.
Miaoyin paused for a long time, a complex expression flashing in her beautiful eyes, before finally accepting the pill.
In the following days, the Tianli army did not attack, but this only made the Cangyuan defenders uneasy, as they all sensed that Tianli's next assault would be even more ferocious.
Five days later, urgent bells rang throughout Huangdang Mountain. The defenders once again took to the skies, only to see a dense, dark cloud approaching from the distance.
At the forefront were still the twenty Tianli Nascent Soul cultivators, including the two Great Cultivators, Tumen and Yougu.
On the summit of Huangdang Mountain, everyone scanned the approaching forces and their expressions slightly relaxed.
If it was just this, then there was still hope of defending against this attack.
However, Ning Fa's brow furrowed.
For some reason, he had a persistent feeling of unease.
With this thought, he immediately activated his Moon God Heart to its utmost limit.
Immediately, as if sensing something, he looked in a certain direction, his eyes flashing with silver-white light.
Then, two crystalline beams of light shot from his eyes, reaching the Tianli Nascent Soul cultivators in the blink of an eye.
Before they could react, the beams exploded like a shower of light, forcing the Tianli forces to hastily deploy their defenses.
Meanwhile, Fairy Biwu and the others watched Ning Fa in astonishment. They were shocked by the immense power of Ning Fa's Spiritual Sense, which allowed it to manifest into physical forms, and also puzzled as to why Ning Fa had suddenly attacked.
But what happened next caused them to turn pale with shock.
As the crystalline light passed over a certain spot, the previously empty space rippled as if disturbed by water.
Following this, two figures appeared.
One of them appeared to be in his early forties, dressed in a white scholar's robe and wearing a jade crown, looking like a scholar. He stood with his hands behind his back, his expression calm and composed, exuding an aura of authority without anger.
The other was a beautiful woman in a goose-yellow dress, with a tall and slender figure and a face like jade – a rare beauty.
Seeing these two suddenly appear, Fairy Biwu and the others were greatly startled.
"Su Rihe actually came too! And Bai Muqing!" Fairy Biwu gritted her teeth.
The expressions of the others also turned extremely grim, with some even showing a hint of paleness.
Ning Fa's expression was also grave.
The Su Rihe mentioned by Fairy Biwu was the white-robed scholar. The Spiritual Pressure emanating from him was terrifying, far surpassing that of the Black Robe Cultivator from the Myriad Bone Sect. It was clear that this person was definitely a High-level Great Cultivator.
The other young woman was also at the peak of the Mid Nascent Soul stage.
Ning Fa immediately asked, "Su Rihe, could he be... the one from the Tianli Holy Temple?"
Fairy Biwu nodded with a wry smile, "Yes, this Su Rihe is one of the two Holy Witches of the Holy Temple. And that Bai Muqing is also not simple; she is the Moon Maiden of the Holy Temple."
Upon hearing Fairy Biwu's confirmation, Ning Fa's brow furrowed deeply.
He now knew that the Tianli Holy Temple had three highest-ranking individuals: the two Holy Witches and the Moon Lord. They were also the three strongest known individuals in Tianli.
This was why everyone was so terrified in the face of Su Rihe.
At this moment, Ning Fa's heart also grew heavy. It seemed highly likely that the other Holy Witch and the Moon Lord were also High-level Great Cultivators.
This meant that Tianli had at least three individuals whose strength surpassed his, which was truly an unfavorable situation.
Above the two figures, a layer of almost invisible gauze was floating, clearly a special Magic Treasure that allowed them to remain hidden, almost fooling even Ning Fa.
Seeing their invisibility treasure discovered, the two looked at Ning Fa with surprise.
The white-robed scholar's eyes, in particular, displayed strange white vortexes, as if a single glance could draw one's soul into them.
However, white lightning also flickered within Ning Fa's eyes. Hundreds of feet away in the air, at the center between the two, a sudden explosion rang out, followed by violent, crystalline streams of light surging outwards.
Ning Fa's face also turned pale, and his body swayed a few times.
"Junior Brother Ning, are you alright?" Canglei asked with concern, and the others immediately looked over.
Ning Fa waved his hand at them, but his eyes were filled with solemnity. This person was indeed extremely powerful; he was no match for him right now.
Su Rihe looked at Ning Fa with even greater surprise before turning to converse with Tumen beside him.
The young woman stared intently at Ning Fa, her beautiful eyes showing undisguised interest.
"Moon Maiden..." Ning Fa also looked at her, murmuring the name in his heart.
He now knew that Moon Lord was a very special position within the Tianli Holy Temple, extremely important to Tianli, and could only be held by a woman.
Therefore, each generation would select the most outstanding woman from Tianli to be the Moon Lord.
If one was eventually confirmed as a candidate for Moon Lord, she would be bestowed the title of Moon Maiden. Thus, this woman was clearly a candidate for Moon Lord, indicating she was no ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator.
But why was this woman showing such interest in him?
"Fellow Daoist Ning, thank you for your help in discovering Su Rihe; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
At this moment, Fairy Biwu said to Ning Fa with gratitude, and everyone else also expressed their thanks, and with great sincerity.
None of them here were Su Rihe's match, and the gap might even be larger than that between Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators.
Among them, perhaps only Ning Fa and Fairy Biwu had a chance to escape from Su Rihe. Once they were targeted by Su Rihe, they might not even be able to escape their Nascent Soul stage.
The fact that he had concealed his presence clearly indicated ill intentions. If he were to strike when everyone was unprepared, it was highly likely he could shatter this mountain protection formation in one go, and their fate would be obvious.
At this time, everyone's expressions had become very grave, and they couldn't help but look at Fairy Biwu.
She too had her expression change several times before giving a wry smile and saying, "Although reinforcements should arrive in a little over half a day, there's no need to hold on any longer. Prepare to break through using that teleportation array.
I will fully activate the power of the Du Tian Zhen Yuan Great Array to cover everyone, but before that, let the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation juniors here go first."
Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After all, under such circumstances, continuing to defend would only lead to death.
Then, Fairy Biwu took out the hexagonal control mystic disc and sent out a series of hand seals towards it.
Immediately, a violent roar echoed. The outer mountain protection formation vibrated intensely, and the array formation patterns on its surface moved rapidly.
Subsequently, dense white mist emanated from it, enveloping the entire Huangdang Mountain in a short time.
The Nascent Soul cultivators from Tianli immediately changed their expressions, all looking at Su Rihe.
He stood with his hands behind his back, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, and said indifferently, "It seems the other side is planning to escape. No one else move for now; you all follow me to take a look."
Then, he transformed into a streak of light and flew towards Huangdang Mountain, with the other Nascent Soul cultivators from Tianli following closely behind.
Yougu of the Ten Thousand Bone Sect glanced at Su Rihe with some apprehension before also mounting his escape light and following.
An hour later, with a world-shaking explosion, the light barrier formed by Huangdang Mountain's protection formation first violently expanded and contracted, then exploded with a roar, sending a vast surge of spiritual power rippling outwards.
At the same time, the entire Huangdang Mountain began to shatter from its midway point, with countless rocks and soil covering an area of dozens of miles in the air.
Dozens of escape lights fled from within in a panic, precisely the high-level cultivators from Tianli and others.
Their expressions were extremely grim, clearly not expecting the Cangyuan side to be so ruthless as to directly destroy Huangdang Mountain's protection formation.
However, Su Rihe, who was at the forefront, remained composed. He said quickly, "I sensed that the other side should have a short-range teleportation array within the mountain, but don't worry, everyone. I just used the Four Directions Heavenly Array Diagram to disrupt their teleportation. They shouldn't have gone far now. Spread out your spiritual sense, and you'll definitely be able to find them."
Hearing this, everyone immediately spread out their spiritual sense and indeed found something within a radius of about twenty miles, mostly the Cangyuan high-level cultivators who had teleported last.
At this time, Tumen worriedly said, "There are many enemy Nascent Soul cultivators, and we don't know who has that treasure."
Su Rihe immediately replied, "It's very simple. That treasure must be in the hands of their strongest cultivator, either that Biwu or that Ning Fa. Tumen, you go after Biwu, and I'll go after Ning Fa."
Tumen nodded upon hearing this and immediately mounted his escape light, flying away at extreme speed. The other Nascent Soul cultivators did the same. Only Su Rihe, Bai Muqing, and Yougu of the Ten Thousand Bone Sect remained at this location.