Chapter 745: You Are Not a Sage; You Do Not Understand the Methods of a Sage

The towering light barrier blazed brilliantly. Demonic wolves surged like a tide. Amid the ravines and mountains, a brutal battle of offense and defense unfolded.

"Senior Brother, I am going. Take good care of Huan'er for me!"

"Junior Brother Ruan!"

Cheng Yan's eyes widened to the point of nearly splitting as he watched Sect Leader Ruan Jing, the Falling Cloud Sect's pillar, vanish into the rolling beast tide.

When Ruan Jing plunged into the wolf pack, there was first a moment of stillness. Then boundless light erupted outward. The might of that self-destruction illuminated more than half the night sky.

On Thousand Leaf Peak, Han Zhan watched the scene coldly. His lips pressed together, and his teeth clenched so tightly it seemed they might break.

Defiant Howl stood in midair with the moon behind him. He broke into a radiant smile as he said, "Fellow Daoist, tell me—do you think you've tied me down, or is it me who's keeping you here?"

Han Zhan slowly raised his head and met that mockery head-on. "Was all of this part of your plan?"

Defiant Howl shook his head. "Plans never keep pace with change. As you humans like to say, this is nothing more than acting in accordance with the situation. You're trying to wipe out every demonic beast stronghold in the Howling Moon Mountain Range, which is forcing you to spread thin. At the same time, you feared reinforcements from my Wolf Court, so you concentrated all your elites at the Sword Enforcer Hall. With that, all I had to do was abandon Supreme Emperor Mountain and gather my strength to strike straight at the heart. Now that things have come to this point, your sect has no hope."

Han Zhan opened his mouth as if to refute him, but after drawing a deep breath, he restrained himself. Verbal disputes had no impact on the situation. He now understood—he had a slight upper hand right now, but the other party had never intended to fight him directly, so what use was that?

A trace of regret spread through him.

If I know this earlier, I would not have rushed to reveal my Nascent Soul puppet.

If he had handed it over to Cheng Yan to control, the frontal battlefield would surely have stabilized. Unfortunately, during their first exchange, he had lost to Defiant Howl. Under the pressure of this sudden arrival, he had been forced to reveal his hand early to intimidate his opponent.

In the end, the Falling Cloud Sect's foundation was still insufficient. All the decisive killing moves that could decisively impact the battlefield were concentrated on him alone. Defiant Howl was right: Now that his forces were stretched thin, he was instead being restrained.

Facing Han Zhan's silence, Defiant Howl's eyebrow arched. With his hands clasped behind his back, he pondered briefly before suddenly saying, "If you're willing to swear a Great Dao Oath to declare the failure of the Frontier War and withdraw from the Howling Moon Mountain Range, I will immediately order my army to stop and spare your sect."

"Impossible!" Han Zhan rejected it without the slightest hesitation.

Defiant Howl frowned slightly. "Why push matters this far? If this continues, every member of your Falling Cloud Sect will perish. Even if you seize the Howling Moon Mountain Range, what then? Do you intend to become the weakest upper sect in history?"

When Han Zhan imagined that outcome, his entire body shuddered. Yet in the very next instant, his expression returned to a calm as deep and still as an ancient well.

Defiant Howl was somewhat surprised, but he shrugged it off. "Fine. In that case, sit there and watch your disciples wail as they die. Don't even think of intervening. You know very well that you can only barely fight against me by relying on terrain advantage. If you reveal even the slightest opening, I can kill you as easily as crushing an ant!"

"Utter arrogance! You think I can't do anything to you!?" Han Zhan let out a low growl as his mana surged and Nascent Soul-level aura shot skyward.

"You are welcome to try!" Defiant Howl snorted coldly as his overwhelming aura slammed down without restraint.

The two terrifying auras collided in an instant. Defiant Howl's robes fluttered and his golden hair lifted without wind, and he involuntarily stepped back. Han Zhan let out a muffled grunt but remained seated. From this, it seemed Defiant Howl had lost. Yet he showed no anger at all. Golden light gleamed in his eyes as he looked toward the black puppet standing opposite Han Zhan, which was now trembling.

"So that is how it is. No wonder when we last exchanged blows, you suffered no injury at all even though I came out on top in three exchanges. You actually refined this puppet into an external incarnation of yours. You can even transfer damage to it!

Tsk tsk

, you're truly lucky. In less than a hundred years after forming your Nascent Soul, you already possess both an external incarnation and a sword formation as killing moves. Since that is the case, why cling so stubbornly to resistance? Withdraw early and preserve your sect's foundation. With your methods, it may not be impossible to make a return in the future—"

Han Zhan stared at him and abruptly spoke, cutting off the endless chatter. "Do you truly think you have my sect completely in your grasp?"

Defiant Howl frowned. He focused outward, and almost instantly, he sensed something, and his opinion of Han Zhan instantly changed for the better. "Your cultivation is inferior to mine, yet your divine consciousness is stronger. I have truly underestimated you...."

***

At one corner of the defensive formation, an early-stage Wolf King was running rampant. Even with multiple puppets ahead of it, energy orbs blasting through the air, enchanted artifacts whirling, and waves of killing intent erupting, it showed no fear at all. Relying on its thick hide and tough flesh to protect itself, it relentlessly battered the light barrier guarding the position.

The Wolf King thought,

As long as I break the barrier and lead the charge inside, that will be a great merit. The Wolf Emperor will be pleased. He might even reward me with a legacy technique of the clan....

As it indulged in these thoughts, an azure light suddenly descended from beyond the clouds like a falling meteor. The demonic wolf was startled and spat out an orb of earth-yellow demonic energy that instantly turned into a shield, trying to block the incoming strike.

Unfortunately, it was futile. With a soft sound, the azure light pierced through the shield like a blade cutting tofu and plunged straight into the demonic wolf's massive body. In that instant, the wolf caught sight of what that light was—it was a sword orb!

The next moment, endless azure sword light burst out from within the orb like butterflies emerging from a cocoon. Before it could even utter a sound, the demonic wolf was reduced to countless tiny fragments that scattered across the ground. The sword lights instantly merged back into one and transformed back into a sword orb that flew back to where it had come from.

From that same direction, ten figures rushed in at lightning speed. Before any of them arrived, they had unleashed overwhelming attacks in full force. Flying swords, spiked hammers, steel needles, puppets, spells of every attribute...

With that, the defensive pressure on the Falling Cloud Sect was greatly relieved. At the sight of this scene, everyone understood that reinforcements had arrived. The experts of the Sword Enforcer Hall were back!

Whoosh

!

A figure shot forward at extreme speed and plunged straight into the formation. The moment he landed, he frowned and looked toward the massive figure on the ground. The figure was battered to the point of being almost unrecognizable, but from the few facial features still somewhat visible on that enormous face, he identified the person. "Dan Chenzi!"

He was about to step forward when an urgent shout came from behind. "Fellow Daoist Lin, don't touch him!"

Lin Qingxuan turned around. "Why not? Dan Chenzi is severely injured, and this is no place to recuperate. Would it not be better to send him somewhere safe?"

Fairy Ruthless said with a grave expression, "Look at his chest!"

Lin Qingxuan followed her gaze and could not help but show a surprised look on his face.

The white cuirass protecting Luo Chen's chest was shattered and his flesh torn open; his bones were exposed, and blood was gushing out from everywhere. But that was not the worst part. Countless strands of golden light flooded the chest area, seemingly attempting to erode his massive body. Fortunately, clusters of azure flames burned continuously, preventing the golden light from spreading. The golden light was powerful but lacked fuel and was disconnected from the source. Every bit lost to the azure flame was unrecoverable. And although the flame was weaker in terms of sheer energy, it was astonishingly high-level, and being near could be sustained unceasingly. At last, they were already beginning to steadily gain the upper hand.

The two flames were locked in a stalemate, in a kind of odd balance. If Luo Chen's body had been moved carelessly, that balance would have been inevitably broken, and Lin Qingxuan's good intentions might have indeed paved the way to hell for him.

"Thanks for the warning, Fellow Daoist Ruthless. I almost made a grave mistake."

Fairy Ruthless waved her hand. "Let us deal with the beast tide first!"

Lin Qingxuan nodded. Earlier, relying on the speed advantage of a sword cultivator, he had unleashed a full-power strike and slain an early-stage Wolf King on the spot. After this brief respite, his mana now flowed smoothly once more. It was the perfect time to rejoin the battle!

Just as he was about to return to the battlefield, the countless demonic beasts besieging the main encampment seemed to receive an order and began withdrawing in a rush. Yet their advance and retreat followed clear discipline; they bore no resemblance to mindless brutes with no intelligence.

Lin Qingxuan showed a look of surprise. "I have also heard my sect elders speak of the war to open up the Jade Cauldron Domain. Although it lasted a hundred years, the demonic beasts were never this united. They are practically like an army from a mortal kingdom! This level of organization surpasses even that of our sect cultivators!"

Fairy Ruthless wore an equally grave expression. "That Wolf Emperor truly is an unparalleled prodigy. He actually managed to bind the entire wolf race into a single force. If not for the fact that our numbers in this Frontier War are several times greater than the time before, the Falling Cloud Sect would have really suffered."

In fact, "would have suffered" wasn't an accurate statement. They

had

suffered, and they had suffered grievously. As a prodigy among the younger generation of the Sword Sect, Lin Qingxuan had long achieved Clarity of the Sword Heart. He wielded the sword with his heart and proved his intent through the sword, and that state gave him exceptionally sharp senses. At this moment, he could clearly feel the immense sorrow of the surviving Falling Cloud Sect disciples through the perception of his sword heart.

In this battle, the Falling Cloud Sect had been struck straight at the heart by Defiant Howl's forces. They had suffered countless casualties and at least five Adepts had fallen. Moreover, aside from Cheng Yan and another two or three, all the surviving Adepts were injured; as for those who appeared unhurt, they wore pallid and sluggish expressions, their divine souls clearly weakened from excessive puppet manipulation.

It had to be said—by the standards of an upper sect, the Falling Cloud Sect could not be considered to have deep foundations. In earlier years, it only had a dozen or so Adepts. During the fifty years of preparation for war, it had expended absurd amounts of resources to forcibly nurture three more, yet even so, the total number did not reach twenty. After this battle, the sect's foundation was gravely damaged. If the Sword Enforcer Hall cultivators had returned any later, the sect might have been completely wiped out.

Lin Qingxuan sighed and cast his gaze toward the peak towering into the clouds. "Why did he not intervene?"

***

On Thousand Leaf Peak, Cheng Yan's face was twisted with fury as he stared fixedly at Han Zhan. "Junior Brother, why didn't you act earlier!?"

Han Zhan looked at him calmly and said, "How would you have me act? Should I have exposed an opening for Defiant Howl to seize? Do you think I wanted to stand by and watch our junior brothers and sisters, the sect's finest elites, die in front of me? If I were that careless with their lives, I would be unworthy of standing as a Supreme Elder of the sect! Senior Brother, you're going too far."

Cheng Yan's eyes turned bloodshot, and he pointed at his junior brother with a trembling finger. "I'm going too far? You fear exposing an opening, yet you refuse to fight Defiant Howl yourself! Did you not tell me that with an external incarnation and the Two Poles Five Elements Formation, you could battle a mid-stage Sage? For the sake of this killing move of yours, I spared no expense of the sect's foundations. I intercepted sword cultivators from other domains, ambushed Ren Pingsheng, and even had Linghu Jie release three Ghost Kings to seize Pang Renxiong's body. And now that the formation is finally ready to be used, you're telling me you dare not use it! What kind of reasoning is this!?"

Cheng Yan was overwhelmed by pain. In this battle, he had watched his fellow disciples die one after another at his side. Even though he had personally annihilated five Wolf Kings and countless low-tier demonic wolves, he still could not reverse the outcome. If only the Falling Cloud Sect's long-accumulated power had not been exhausted...

Had those reserves remained, how could this battle have ended in such a state? But those foundations had been either destroyed in the battle against Ren Pingsheng, the top Adept of the Sword Sect, or supplied to Han Zhan to help him reach the Nascent Soul Realm and refine a Nascent Soul-level incarnation puppet. Precisely because of this, Cheng Yan now found himself helpless, like a skilled cook without any ingredients to work with, powerless in the face of the encircling wolf pack.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

In the face of his senior brother's accusations, Han Zhan remained calm. "I am also in great pain, but at that moment I truly could not move. Indeed, I did not dare to use that, and it's not because I cherished my own life; it's because I cherished everyone else's. Sure, I could have fought Defiant Howl, but the shockwaves of an all-out battle on that level would have instantly killed almost everyone around us."

He paused, and a bitter smile appeared on his meticulous face. "Being able to fight a mid-stage Sage and being able to kill one are two different matters. I believe I would have been able to severely wound Defiant Howl, but even if I had, he could have just fled a thousand li away, and I would have been powerless to stop him. Senior Brother, you are not yet a Sage, so you do not understand the methods of a Sage. I do not blame you."

Cheng Yan froze as he stood in a daze. After a long while, he finally walked down the mountain in a despondent state. From his mouth came only a muttered refrain. "I am not a Sage.... I am not a Sage...."

Han Zhan let out a quiet sigh. He knew that his earnest words had inadvertently struck a really sore spot. Yet he was being entirely sincere: At that time, there truly had been no other choice. Thankfully, the elite forces had returned, and at the very least, the Falling Cloud Sect had managed to preserve itself.

"Rest assured, Senior Brother! As long as we take down the Howling Moon Mountain Range, the Falling Cloud Sect will rise again. It will not only return to its former peak, but surpass it by tenfold or even a hundredfold. Defiant Howl will also pay the price for this battle sooner or later. I would never lie to you!"

Those words were carried by the wind into Cheng Yan's ears. Whether he truly heard them, no one could say.

Han Zhan pressed his lips together as his gaze looked down upon the battlefield forged of blood and fire below, before finally settling on the massive body lying upon the ground. His eyes shifted slightly, then he raised his hand. A faint glow descended from the sky and seeped into the body.

Luo Chen's semi-unconscious body, shimmering with that foreign gold light, instantly shivered when it was touched by that glow. A moment later, the golden lights gathered toward the center of his chest and were gradually wrapped by azure flames. Luo Chen opened his eyes and brought his hands together before his chest to form a hand seal.

In an instant, his body began to shrink rapidly, eventually returning to its normal size. With Fairy Ruthless supporting him, he struggled to his feet and put on a loose robe; he'd barely had a few tatters to cover his body earlier. And though he was grievously wounded, he still bowed toward Thousand Leaf Peak.

"Thank you, Sage Han!"

There was no response. Luo Chen's face was drained of color. He straightened up and swept his gaze around.

As if reading his thoughts, Fairy Ruthless spoke softly, "Go and focus on recovering. I will help you gather the cultivators of the Luo Tian Alliance."

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist." Luo Chen forced a smile. He did not refuse her goodwill and made his way toward his cave residence with unsteady steps

Fairy Ruthless watched his retreating figure and could not help but shook her head.

He always does this.... Last time was already miserable enough, yet he has pushed himself into this state again. He survived only by sheer luck. Had he stayed on the battlefield, he would have been torn apart and eaten by wolves. What is the point of forcing himself like this? As an alchemist, would it not be far better to remain safely in the rear?

However, as Fairy Ruthless moved across the battlefield in search of the Luo Tian Alliance cultivators, she gradually learned the details of the clash from others.

"Senior Dan Chenzi? We owe everything to him. He personally took down three Wolf Kings within the formation, and then he also held back that late-stage Wolf King himself.... Honestly, if he hadn't been here, we probably couldn't have fixed the formation in time. To face a late-stage Wolf King head-on while still at the early stage... He is truly formidable."

Fairy Ruthless blinked and found it hard to believe. Before the Nascent Soul Realm, human cultivators had many abilities and could rely on many kinds of external forces, so they were not afraid of demonic beasts of the same level. Yet there were clear limits to this. The gap between the early and middle stages canceled this advantage outright, while the gap between the early and late stages entirely reversed it, to the point where the human cultivator faced certain death. Yet Luo Chen had faced the Golden Wolf King head-on and survived!

"It seems like I have underestimated him once more," she murmured.

***

After finally returning to the cave residence, Luo Chen lowered his head and looked at the gaping hole in his chest and the mass of golden light entrenched within his body. Even though it was wrapped in a thick layer of his true fire, it still clung to him like a parasite embedded in bone.

At last, he let out a bitter chuckle. "I was still too careless."