News of Ren Yunfei and Li Hui's battle quickly spread among all the third-generation disciples of Bi Xiang Gate. All the low-level disciples were talking about this battle, everyone knew that a new disciple had appeared in this generation who was exceptionally good at swordsmanship.

  "Do you know? Li Hui and I were in the same district when we signed up for the beginner's tournament, luckily we didn't end up against each other, otherwise I reckon I'd still be a loose cultivator in Ling Xiao City today." A man was proudly telling other disciples outside the Bi Xiang Gate, seemingly taking pride in being from the same district as Li Hui.

  There are many conversations like this.

  "If it weren't for Li Hui, I would already be an inner disciple!" Many people said this.

  "Li Hui!" A rather handsome young man with a complex expression on his face was listening to the surrounding people's loud discussions, it was Lu Yingjie who lost to Li Hui in the arena match.

  ……

  "The newly arrived Li Shidi is not only great at swordsmanship, but also very handsome! Wherever he stands seems to be always bathed in sunlight!" A young girl said with a infatuated expression to the surrounding circle of girls.

  Other girls looked on with envy.

  ……

  "This Li Hui, it's better not to provoke him in the future. Even Ren Yunfei is no match for him. I'm afraid that below the Refining Qi stage, he will be unbeatable."

  "Hmph, he's just learned a few tricks from who-knows-where and is acting arrogant for the time being. With our innate talents, we'll definitely succeed in building our foundation before him. When that happens, he'll still have to call us 'Master Uncle'!"

  "Alright, let him have his moment of glory. As for us, we just need to speed up our cultivation. Once we've built a solid foundation, killing him will be as easy as squashing an ant!"

  The speaker was Liu Kun and a few others who had some minor issues with Li Hui.

  ……

  Li Hui himself was completely unaware of his own reputation having grown to such an extent, and as usual followed his own routine, going to the Trial Sword Room in the Certification Hall every day to practice swordsmanship.

  After experiencing being surrounded by a group of female disciples twice and almost running away, Li Hui finally saw the madness of the girls who were infatuated with him.

  "It seems that from now on, I can only practice sword in the Yuanhao Xianfu!" Thinking of those passionate girls, Li Hui felt a headache. He couldn't understand why he should have become the public enemy of these girls after defeating Ren Yunfei, but instead they were clinging to him! The hearts of these girls are really hard to grasp.

  Just ten days after Li Hui defeated Ren Yunfei, the sect suddenly issued a notice: all Bi Xiangmen third-generation disciples would undergo closed-door cultivation, with inner door disciples closing their doors in their respective residences. Outer door disciples were uniformly arranged to live on various peaks for cultivation.

  At the same time as the notice was delivered, each disciple also received an extra half-year's worth of spirit stones and medicinal pellets.

  This news set off a commotion among the three generations of disciples in Bi Xiang Men, with inner door disciples feeling that they had gained some extra spiritual stones and elixirs. Outer door disciples, however, felt completely different.

  The biggest difference between inner disciples and outer disciples is that inner disciples can live on the five mountain peaks with dense spiritual energy, without having to bear any internal affairs, but have sufficient elixirs and spirit stones for their cultivation.

  Outer door disciples, not only have to complete various school tasks, but also get much less spiritual stones and elixirs than inner door disciples, and live in mountain valleys with relatively thin spiritual energy.

  Outer sect disciples can only double their efforts, do more tasks released by the sect with rewards, and get more spiritual stones and elixirs to assist in their cultivation. This way, the time spent on cultivation is shortened.

  This time, I heard that all the outer disciples also moved to the mountain with abundant spiritual energy for cultivation. In addition, half a year's worth of spiritual stone medicine was distributed, and some miscellaneous tasks within the sect were arranged for some older disciples who considered themselves hopeless in building their foundation, similar to those in the trial chamber, led by an elder surnamed Tang.

  This has resulted in the treatment of outer door disciples almost catching up with that of the inner door disciples. This makes these outer door disciples extremely excited.

  When Li Hui received this message, he frowned and thought differently in his heart.

  From the time of the opening of Bi Xiao Men to the present, all disciples have been undergoing closed-door training, which has always given people a feeling that there is something unusual hidden behind it.

  After thinking about it, he still couldn't figure out a reason. Li Hui also stopped thinking about this matter, after all, on the surface, the sect's approach was more beneficial for each disciple's cultivation.

  Li Hui entered the Yuankai Xianfu and began his closed-door cultivation.

  ……

  Yun Xiao Peak, Qingxu Hall

  The two rows of seats in the great hall were filled with people, all of whom were Golden Dan cultivators. Including the one sitting in the center, Master Han Shi Dao, there were nineteen Golden Dan cultivators in total. All the Golden Dan cultivators of Bi Xiao Gate had already arrived here.

  "Elders!" Han Shi's face was somewhat solemn: "According to the internal reports from our Seven Sects Alliance planted in the demonic path, at most half a year, the demonic path will take action!"

  "Ah! Half a year's time has passed so quickly!"

  The Jindan cultivators in the hall were all shocked, and the great hall was in an uproar.

  "Everyone!" Han Shi's hands pressed down, and the golden elixir cultivators immediately quieted down. "The demonic path has been dormant for hundreds of years, and this time they've made a move, no one knows what kind of development they've had in secret over these few hundred years. Once war breaks out, the situation will likely be grim."

  "Master Palm, what should we do then? Can't just sit and wait for death?" asked a Golden Elixir cultivator among the crowd. Others also echoed in agreement.

  "The Seven Sects Alliance has taken corresponding measures, setting up heavy defenses in the area of Chi Meng Ridge, where the demonic path must pass through to invade. The cold stone Taoist's eyes flashed with a hint of cold light: "The demonic path has been dormant for hundreds of years, but we, the Seven Sects Alliance, have not been idle for these hundreds of years either."

  "It turns out the alliance was well-prepared, so we can rest assured!" The faces of all the Golden Elixir cultivators were relieved. Only the four great leaders sitting in front still had worried expressions.

  "Elders, although the Seven Sects Alliance has made some preparations, we must also make our own preparations to face this disaster. To say nothing of others, just our sect's disciples who will be meeting with those from other sects are one-third of our sect's strength. It is unknown how much damage these disciples will suffer." Han Shi Dao Ren sighed.

  The other Golden Elixir cultivators also fell silent.

  One thousand Qi Refining cultivators, one hundred Foundation Building cultivators, and two Golden Core cultivators. This is the lineup that the Azure Void Sect has prepared to send out for the alliance with other sects.

  If these disciples were indeed heavily casualties in battle, then it would be a heavy blow to the Bi Xiang Men.

  "Elder, although the Seven Sects Alliance has taken measures to deal with this, our Bi Xiang Men cannot put all its hopes on the Seven Sects Alliance." Han Shi Dao Ren paused for a moment, then said with renewed spirit:

  "All elders of Bi Xiao Men, listen to the order!"

  All Golden Elixir cultivators, including the four great peak masters, stood up and faced Han Shi Dao Ren, saying in unison: "Please issue a decree from the sect leader!"

  "Liang Yan, Zhou Yuanwu, Murong Lie, Lin Yu, from today on, all the disciples of the Great Perfection period in each peak will start their closed-door cultivation to strike the Golden Elixir. All the necessary auxiliary elixirs and spiritual stones will be fully supplied, no mistakes are allowed!"

  "Obey the sect's rules!" The four of them responded in unison.

  "All disciples under 100 years old within the sect are in closed-door meditation near the Spiritual Eye on each peak, with the Peak Elders personally guiding and urging them!"

  "Obey the sect's rules!" replied a group of Golden Elixir elders.

  "Wen Zhengtian, Wei Lingfeng, you two will secretly take away all the Tianling and Yiling disciples from the third generation of inner door disciples and find a secret place far away from our sect to settle them." Han Shidao said again.

  All the Jindan cultivators present were shocked, and Wen Zhengtian and Wei Lingfeng, who were mentioned, were even more confused.

  "Master Sect Brother, is the situation really so critical? Do we need to transfer these core disciples?" Wen Zhengtian asked.

  "Don't worry, I'm just preparing for the worst-case scenario. The thousand-year foundation of Bi Xuan Gate can't be destroyed in our hands, being cautious is always better." Han Shi Dao Ren explained.

  "Obey the sect's rules!" The two also responded in unison.

  "Murong Lie, Lin Yu, you two will lead the disciples of our sect to meet with the other six factions half a year later. Now, I order you two to select one hundred disciples from the foundation-building disciples of our sect, remember, those who are older and have difficulty forming the Golden Elixir. As for the thousand Qi-refining disciples, except for the five hundred newly recruited this year, also select five hundred older ones from the outer sect disciples. Prepare a list, and get ready to set out half a year later!" Han Shi Dao Ren's face showed a resolute expression.

  "Obey the order of the sect!" Murong Lie and Lin Yu responded in unison.

  At this time, all the Jindan cultivators in the room were quiet, and many people's eyebrows were tightly locked, looking somewhat unhappy.

  "Han Shi Dao Ren let out a sigh, his tone somewhat despondent: "I know what you're all thinking. This time the demonic invasion... these low-ranking disciples will likely suffer heavy casualties. Especially those 500 disciples who just entered the sect and have to make such sacrifices for our sect."

  He paused for a moment, and Han Shi's tone became resolute again: "But only in this way can the power of our sect be preserved, and those core disciples can be kept safe. In this way, even if our sect suffers some damage this time, it will not hurt its vitality. I am doing this for the sake of Bi Xiang Men's thousand-year foundation!"

  Below, a group of Golden Elixir cultivators suddenly moved and stood up in unison, saying: "Elder brother Sect Master has gone to great pains!"

  "Alright, everyone go and do as I said!" Han Shi Dao Ren said calmly.

  These Golden Elixir cultivators all dispatched their flying swords, transforming into a flowing light that departed.

  In the following days, third-generation disciples with heavenly spiritual roots and heterodox spiritual roots, such as Ren Yunfei and Tong Mengyao, were secretly taken away by Wen Zhengtian and Wei Lingfeng, and it was unknown where they were placed.

  Some of the disciples who had completed their foundation period were also in seclusion, attempting to break through and condense their golden elixir. Among those foundation period disciples with potential, they too were in seclusion under the guidance and supervision of the Golden Elixir elders on various peaks.

  But they, like Li Hui and other ordinary disciples, were completely unaware of this and continued to cultivate in their respective residences. Meanwhile, Murong Lie and Lin Yu had already begun secretly compiling the list of disciples who would be going to the Demon Dao Alliance's meeting six months later.

  The Bi Xiao Gate was quiet at this time, almost all the disciples were in closed retreat, and under this quiet surface, there was a surging undercurrent.

  A storm is brewing.

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  This volume is over, and the next one is about to start, but I'm still struggling with what to call the next one, haha! Please collect and vote for red tickets.