Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 166 - 166 165 Inexplicable

166: Chapter 165: Inexplicable 166: Chapter 165: Inexplicable The brief conversation ended, and it was clear that the Daoists sighed at his refusal to repent.

Hou Niao was sensible and didn’t pester unnecessarily.

He still retreated afar, found a higher position suitable for observation, took care of his cultivation silently and contemplatively, uninterested in involving himself in these troublesome matters.

But while he wished to avoid trouble, someone wouldn’t let him be.

With a single thought, Uncle Zheng called him over.

“The conflict between the Anhe Daoist Sect and the Huncheng Sect is a matter of pride, and our role in the Quanzhen Sect is to ensure absolute fairness.

To be impartial is the way of the host,” Uncle Zheng explained.

Hou Niao nodded passively, somewhat confused, wondering why Uncle Zheng was telling him all this.

What did it have to do with him?

If it wasn’t relevant to him, why would Uncle Zheng specifically seek him out to speak, and why did the expressions of the two fellow senior brothers nearby seem as if they were taking pleasure in his misfortune?

“To be fair, the visible equality in numbers must be addressed.

The Huncheng Sect has fourteen disciples, while the Anhe Daoist Sect has thirteen, missing one person.

Because of this, they argue endlessly.”

Hou Niao listened to the scolding with his head lowered, feeling that something was amiss, but he couldn’t guess what it had to do with him at the moment.

If it was unrelated to him, why was Uncle Zheng talking to him, and why did the gleeful expressions of the two senior brothers beside him seem so suggestive?

“The Huncheng Sect does not want to withdraw anyone, claiming that it is not easy for the disciples to get here, and they shouldn’t lose the opportunity to face the Soul Ghosts for such a reason.

Thus, they pushed the problem onto us.

For the Anhe Daoist Sect, missing one person is no big deal.

If they were to defeat their opponents like this, it would greatly enhance the Sect’s prestige.

So, they left the final decision to us.

After much consideration, for the sake of fairness, the best solution seems to be to add one person to the Anhe Daoist Sect?”

“We only have three disciples here…”

Hou Niao quickly declined, “Wouldn’t it be inappropriate for a disciple to go up?

After all, I’m familiar with this place, which may lead to accusations of unfairness?”

Uncle Zheng cast a nonchalant glance at him, “If you’re not suitable, are those two?

Yanran is a proud person.

She’s already dissatisfied with just adding one person, and if we add a Bridge Connection cultivator…

she would feel like she’s gained an advantage!

“It’ll be you.

I saw you interacting with them earlier; it shouldn’t be too awkward, right?

“Do your best.

Winning or losing doesn’t matter.

The important thing is not to diminish the reputation of Quanzhen!”

The decision was made, and Hou Niao had no choice but to passively agree; what was a Quanzhen Sword Cultivator doing amidst a group of Daoist Sect disciples chirping and flirting?

This Uncle Zheng, truly an old muddlehead!

Is this how fairness is achieved?

With him intervening, no matter the outcome, both sides would have reason to complain.

In the end, it would just lead to an unresolved quarrel, and the Quanzhen Sect would lose its position of neutrality.

But who could argue with someone of higher realm and greater influence?

Having no alternative, he had left the Anhe Daoist Sect’s trial peak for less than an hour before he had to turn back again.

When he returned, three magic artifacts had already risen into the sky, one with Fairy Lan Re of the Huncheng Sect, one with Daoist Yanran, and another with Uncle Zheng and his two disciples; the sky was turning darker, and there wasn’t much time left.

Hou Niao arrived atop the hill, unsure how to start speaking or whom to address.

Fortunately, Lan Re approached him,

“Brother Hou, this is the situation.

When we face the Soul Ghosts later, we will fight in formation.

Since Brother Hou is not familiar with our Daoist Sect’s formations, acting recklessly may cause more chaos.

Wouldn’t it be better to remain at the heart of the formation and watch the battle?”

Hou Niao understood immediately, this was the Anhe Daoist Sect taking their reputation seriously, although they agreed to add one more person, they did not wish to gain any advantage because of his intervention.

“Understood, my most important task is just to watch and not take action, otherwise it would be awkward for everyone.”

Lan Re Yanran smiled, “Brother’s insight is clear, this is not that we underestimate brother’s strength, but because the Huncheng Sect is so sharp-tongued, we simply don’t want to give them anything to talk about.

After this matter is over, if there’s an opportunity, would my sisters and I offer brother a dance over a drink?”

Hou Niao knew this was just a polite remark, “Sister is too kind, I am naturally lazy and least like fighting and killing.

To be able to admire the wonderful Daoist Methods of all the fairies in the formation is my honor, how could I dare ask for more?”

Both parties were very polite, the Anhe Daoist Sect was not as enduring and generous as imagined, and the Quanzhen Sect was not as brave and fierce as the legends suggest, which provided a foundation for cooperation.

Thirteen female cultivators arranged a reversal nested formation on the top of the hill, the outer layer was an Eight Trigrams Array, and the inner circle was a Five-pointed Star Formation.

That was all Hou Niao could make out, he could only wait for the formation to start operating to carefully observe, and saw it as a rare opportunity.

The Anhe Daoist Sect used formations in response, and the Huncheng Sect did the same, with the only difference being the formations used, one was the Heavenly Immortal Group Dance Formation, of course, you could also call it the Heavenly Demon Chaotic Dance.

The sky gradually darkened, and ghostly figures began to appear, vague and indistinct.

Starting as solitary scouts, then gathering in groups of three or five, wandering outside, and finally, in large contingents, they began tentatively approaching, just like the last time Hou Niao was here collecting Soul Beads.

These creatures have no memory, those with memories had already turned to dust, which is a prominent characteristic of the lone souls and wild ghosts of ancient battlefields.

The Soul Ghosts amassed increasingly, the invasion upon the human formations grew fierce, which was their instinct—they absolutely would not allow any foreign beings on their turf.

For a moment, soulful howls and ghostly cries echoed, shadowy figures flickered, giving Hou Niao an on-site enjoyment of a close-range Daoist Skill visual feast.

It must be admitted, at least at the lower stages of cultivation, Techniques are more suitable for dealing with these types of numbers than swordsmanship; because at this stage, swordsmanship has few area-of-effect attacks, whereas Techniques are different, even the most basic single-target Techniques usually have a corresponding mass-attack version.

For instance, the single-target Fire Tongue, Fireball, Fire Chain Skill would definitely have an upgraded mass-attack version like Fire Rain, Fire Curtain, Fire Wall Skill; the single-target Ice Arrow Skill would also possess a more powerful group attack like Ice Waterfall Ice Snow Skill, and so on.

Swordsmanship has a more concentrated attack power, but when facing swarms of Soul Ghosts, it can easily become overwhelmed, it’s just a matter of each having their own strengths.

The Anhe Daoist Sect employed the Daoist Skill of pure Daoist Light, all thirteen people did so, which is also the basic principle of formation—others can’t use their own while you use yours, using the same Daoist Skill can achieve the effect of compounded power.

The layers of pure Daoist Light lit up, where it shone, it first immobilized, then melted, and finally dissipated; amidst the flickering light, groups of Soul Ghosts silently turned to ashes, which indicates that the Daoist Light also possessed a tranquilizing effect on souls, truly miraculous.

In Hou Niao’s view, given such a Light Formation, as long as no excessively powerful Soul Ghosts appeared, and as long as the Daoists’ Spiritual Power did not wane, even if they filled it with all of West Mang Mountain’s Soul Ghosts, they would not be able to break such a light barrier defense.

Then looking off into the distance, although it wasn’t very clear due to the distance, the formation of the Huncheng Sect was ablaze with fire, the only difference being that the Soul Ghosts on this side perished quietly, while those on the other side seemed to fall into a collective frenzy.

The inclination of Daoist Methods was fully displayed at this moment.

One was light, the other was fire, both were well-prepared indeed.

However, in terms of objectives, Hou Niao did not think that the two factions could determine a winner that night.