PCJ – Chapter 765 March Toward the Spirit Beast Mountains

Because Zhang Jiaohua had long ignored the Five Great Families, their resentment toward him within the Meishan Sect had only grown stronger. Some were even entertaining the idea of leaving the sect.

When Zhang Jiaohua was preparing to march toward the Spirit Beast Mountains, several elders of the Law Enforcement Hall representing the Five Great Families met privately again.

“You may have already heard: the Sect Master plans to lead the Battle Hall to the Spirit Beast Mountains. Our five families are well-known cultivation clans in all of Yanguicheng. Yet after joining the Meishan Sect, we’ve been completely disregarded. For families like ours, that’s a tremendous humiliation. But the Sect Master is a cultivator at the Lian Shen Fan Xu stage — we must endure for now. This is a perfect opportunity.” Hu Tengda had effectively taken the lead among the five families.

“Brother Hu speaks reasonably. The Sect Master truly treats us unfairly — assigning our clans to menial tasks like prospecting and mining. It’s an insult. Perhaps this expedition to the Spirit Beast Mountains will wake him up. He cannot depend on those scattered loners in the end; he still needs us great families. Brother Hu, what are your plans for this expedition? Tell us and we’ll follow.” Tian Ningxue said.

“Yes, Brother Hu — everyone’s looking to you. Whatever you decide, the five families will act in unison.” Zhou Yingtong added quickly.

“We should unite.” Qi Shengchao of the Qi family agreed. “One must fight for one’s own dignity. Brother Hu, tell us what to do and we’ll follow.”

“Very good! We cannot stand idly by. Since the Sect Master is going to the Spirit Beast Mountains, the five families should form our own fighting contingent — composed of elite disciples from the five families — and go along. I suspect Zhang’s Battle Hall will only go to the mountain edges; the danger won’t be too great. We can use this as a chance to give our elite disciples some real training.” Hu Tengda’s intent was obvious: if Zhang Jiaohua wouldn’t value them, they’d show their strength and remind him that the five families’ elites were a hundred times stronger than a ragtag crowd.

“Good idea, Brother Hu. Not only should we send elite disciples, but we — the Law Enforcement elders — should go too and see what happens. Don’t you agree?” Fan Zihan laughed, clearly understanding Hu Tengda’s plan.

The other elders agreed and prepared to lead their clans’ elite disciples to accompany the expedition.

At that moment, Zhang Jiaohua stood before the Battle Hall’s neatly arrayed combat cultivators, his gaze sweeping over those resolute faces one by one.

“Train for a thousand days, use in a single moment! Our Battle Hall cultivators have trained intensely for months and have all greatly improved. Most importantly, everyone has formed extremely strict combat discipline. I have said before: the decisive factor in war is not cultivation level — it’s discipline. Only with ironclad discipline will the Battle Hall be invincible. From now on we will face real combat; I hope that when you enter the battlefield you remember what I’ve taught and carry out our training precisely! All Battle Hall combat cultivators, heed the order! Move out!”

Just as the Battle Hall prepared to depart, the heads of the Five Great Families arrived with their own contingents of elite disciples.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Zhang Jiaohua immediately sensed they had not come with good intentions.

“Sect Master, we heard the Battle Hall is going to hunt in the Spirit Beast Mountains. We worry their cultivation levels are limited and they may be in danger, so we came to assist,” Hu Tengda hurriedly explained.

Zhang Jiaohua smiled coldly — he saw through their intentions at once. “You may follow if you wish, I won’t stop you. But stay far away. If you interfere with the Battle Hall’s operations, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

Zhang Jiaohua’s threat froze Hu Tengda — he remembered that with Zhang’s cultivation, destroying their families would be trivial. If they truly angered him, how could the Hu family expect to come out unscathed?

Hu Tengda quickly backtracked. “Sect Master, you must be misunderstanding. We did not come to cause trouble; we only worry about the safety of your combat troop.”

“Save your words and stay away. Otherwise don’t blame me for being unkind. If the Battle Hall is wiped out I can just rebuild it — I don’t need you to fret over it!” Zhang Jiaohua waved them off and ignored the Five Families.

Hu Tengda’s face darkened, but in front of Zhang Jiaohua he dared not show it.

“Move out!” Zhang Jiaohua ordered. At once the Battle Hall cultivators climbed into strange iron boxes — the flying devices Zhang had refined, powered by spirit stones. The Spirit Beast Mountains lay more than a thousand kilometers away; even a pinnacle Nascent Soul stage cultivator could not fly that distance under their own power.

The Battle Hall cultivators had originally been early Nascent Soul stage nurturers. After half a year’s training, most had advanced to mid-Nascent Soul — their combat strength had improved a lot, but they still couldn’t fly long distances. Walking there would take three to five days, so these flying devices were essential.

Zhang Jiaohua climbed into one of the craft himself. The machines rose rapidly and sped toward the Spirit Beast Mountains.

“What sort of artifact is that? It flies so fast!” Qi Shengchao asked in astonishment.

None of the Five Families had seen such powerful devices; they stood dazed, watching the Battle Hall vanish into the distance.

“Don’t be impressed by these mere artifacts,” Hu Tengda quickly recovered. “In the Spirit Beast Mountains, there are many flying spirit beasts. Once they detect those flying devices, they’ll attack them. Trying to rely on flying craft to cross the Spirit Beast Mountains is impossible.”

Tian Ningxue suddenly felt some regret. Perhaps they’d made a mistake coming here. If the Battle Hall returned successfully, the Five Families’ positions in the Meishan Sect would become increasingly awkward. Right now the Sect Master didn’t have time to deal with them — but once the Battle Hall was established, he’d have plenty of time to handle the five families.

Qi Shengchao and the others remained less worried.

“Shall we go after them?” Fan Zihan asked, watching the distant figures disappear.

“How would we get there? It would take us at least five days on foot to reach the Spirit Beast Mountains. By then, it’ll be too late.” Qi Shengchao shook his head.

Hu Tengda, however, shook his head in the opposite way. “Go? Why not? They can fly there — do you think they can fly back? We’ll be there to pick up their scattered survivors.”