Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Emergency Assembly
When Zhou Jin Yue and the others reached the gathering point, some disciples of the Five Elements Dao Sect were already waiting there.

The moment they saw Zhou Jin Yue, their faces showed clear relief.

“Senior Sister Zhou…” Someone could not help stepping forward, wanting to say something, but Zhou Jin Yue stopped him with a sharp look and turned to quickly count heads.

They were still missing eight people.

She said: “Contact Fang Cheng Lang and Zhu Ming and the others. See where they are.”

Not long after she finished speaking, Fang Cheng Lang, Lan Zi Yu, and Ye Cong Xin rushed over.

Right after that, the remaining five people with Zhu Ming also arrived.

The heavy stone pressing on Zhou Jin Yue’s chest finally lifted halfway. Not a single person was missing. Now all she had to do was get them out safely.

She ordered in a firm voice: “The training is ending early. Everyone listen to orders and retreat at once! Fang Cheng Lang, you lead the way in front. I will guard the rear. Disciples at Foundation Establishment level walk in the middle of the group. On the way out, make sure not a single person falls behind!”

Given the situation, there was no need for Zhou Jin Yue to explain more. She laid out the retreat plan in a swift and decisive way. Her tone left no room for argument.

“Yes!”

The Five Elements Dao Sect disciples answered together. The small group of more than twenty people moved quickly but in an orderly line toward the exit of the valley.

Along the way, they saw broken bodies of Demonic Beasts everywhere.

These beasts had not died at the hands of cultivators. They had simply run too slowly and been trampled to death by the flood of their own kind fleeing behind them.

After being crushed again and again, the bloody flesh and the soil merged together, and the air was thick with the smell of blood.

The valley that had been quiet and peaceful a moment ago had turned into a living hell in the blink of an eye.

Many disciples were seeing such a bloody and terrifying scene for the first time. Their faces were pale, and their stomachs churned.

“Don’t look. Keep moving!”

Zhou Jin Yue walked at the very back of the group, her face blank as she urged them coldly.

If one ignored her pale lips, it would be hard to notice how uncomfortable she was at this moment.

Hearing her, the disciples forced themselves to pull it together. They tried their best to ignore the terrible surroundings and focused only on moving forward.

“Roar -”

Just then, a deafening beast roar shook the whole valley. A tremendous pressure spread out in waves in every direction.

Zhou Jin Yue reacted at once and shouted: “Defend!”

The disciples only had time to raise their Spirit Power shields before the incoming shockwave slammed into them and sent them flying.

Yu Zhao was among them.

She rolled forward more than ten times and only stopped after crashing through three trees. She finally managed to steady herself.

She turned back and saw a huge figure charging toward them at great speed.

It had a coat of bright red fur, and as it ran, it looked like a burning ball of flame, making the air around it twist and warp. Its four limbs were strong and powerful, and the long tail behind it was like a whip forged from ore, cutting through the air with a sharp shriek each time it swung.

Even from far away, they could feel the indescribable pressure coming from this Great Demon.

“Fourth Level Demonic Beast, Scarlet Flame Lion.”

Yu Zhao stared at the rampaging Great Demon and quietly spoke its name.

This was the culprit that had caused Senior Sister Zhou’s tragic death.

There was not a trace of fear in Yu Zhao’s eyes, only surging Battle Will and icy killing intent.

Zhou Jin Yue said: “Fang Cheng Lang, Zhang Jun, you two keep leading the others to leave. I will find a way to buy time.”

Her words shocked the Five Elements Dao Sect disciples, who had just been thrown into confusion, all over again.

“First Senior Sister! You are crazy! That is a Fourth-rank Great Demon!” Zhang Jun roared.

Zhou Jin Yue remained unmoved.

She knew she had no chance of winning in a direct fight against a Great Demon, but as long as she could buy even a sliver of hope for her fellow disciples, her Junior Brothers, and Junior Sisters, she would accept it without regret.

“Senior Sister Zhou, I will stay too!” Yu Zhao suddenly stepped forward.

“Ridiculous!”

Zhou Jin Yue’s willow brows snapped up. She shouted at Zhang Jun: “Zhang Jun, lead everyone to retreat right now. That is an order!”

“No, I am not leaving!”

Zhang Jun summoned his Life-bound Flying Sword. Stubbornness was written all over his young face.

“I am not leaving either!” Another disciple wiped his face and shouted loudly, unwilling to lose.

“Disciples of the Five Elements Dao Sect, we live and die together!”

“As cultivators, why should we fear one battle!”

“…”

One after another, the disciples of the Five Elements Dao Sect stated their stance. Not a single person was willing to leave.

The five from Greenwood Sect were deeply shaken.

In the past, Mu Ye had always thought that the gap between Greenwood Sect and the Five Elements Dao Sect only lay in the difference in the number of top cultivators in their sects.

But at this very moment, she truly understood that the disciples of the Five Elements Dao Sect were also an important reason the sect could stand as the overlord of the Cultivation World.

They had powerful unity and unyielding character.

In front of them, life and death seemed to become something small and not worth mentioning. Faith was what they guarded forever.

Without realizing it, Mu Ye began to feel a deep longing for the Five Elements Dao Sect in her heart.

Tian Han, a Greenwood Sect disciple, asked hesitantly: “Junior Sister Mu, then we…”

He respected the courage of the Five Elements Dao Sect disciples, but that did not mean he was willing to die with them. When there was still a chance to live, why should he walk into death on purpose?

His thoughts were easy to read. Mu Ye shot him a fierce glare and said coldly: “If you want to leave, then go by yourselves. I am not going.”

Mu Ye was, after all, one of the most talented alchemists of the younger generation in Greenwood Sect. She had her pride and her backbone.

Letting the people of the Five Elements Dao Sect fight and die at the front while Greenwood Sect disciples slipped away to save their own lives… if that spread, how could she still show her face?

The faces of Tian Han and the other three turned blue and white by turns.

They could abandon Mu Ye and run, but once they returned to Greenwood Sect, they would surely face the harshest punishment. Mu Ye had a high status in Greenwood Sect and was highly valued by the sect, and they had accepted the mission to protect her.

If they left, they were doomed. If they stayed, they might die. For a moment, they were stuck in a dilemma.

On the side of the Five Elements Dao Sect, however, everyone had already reached an agreement.

Zhou Jin Yue and the other disciples could not convince each other. And now the distance between them and the Great Demon was already so short it might as well not exist. At this point, it was too late to run. It was better to unite and face it together.

Zhou Jin Yue quickly pointed at several people and said: “Fang Cheng Lang, Lan Zi Yu, Zhang Jun… In a moment, you will attack with me from the front and draw its attention. The remaining Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters will attack from other directions. If you run into danger, call for help at once. Do not try to show off. Understand?”

“Understood!”

Zhou Jin Yue then looked at Yu Zhao and Ye Cong Xin and said seriously: “Your cultivation levels are not enough to hurt a Great Demon. So I only have one request for you two. Stay far away from the battlefield and protect yourselves. Can you do that?”

Ye Cong Xin nodded hard and said: “Mm! I will not drag everyone down!”

She secretly let out a breath of relief.

Ever since she had gotten the System, she cherished her life more than before. Zhou Jin Yue’s arrangement perfectly matched what she most wanted inside. It gave her a proper excuse to avoid fighting.

With Zhou Jin Yue, Fang Cheng Lang, and the others charging ahead, she was confident she could survive to the end.

Zhou Jin Yue looked at Yu Zhao again.

Yu Zhao stayed silent.