"The cultivators of Lingyun Continent definitely won't compromise!" Xiao Huo muttered from beside them.
"Exactly! During the first three years, we weren't strong enough to resist, so we had no choice but to submit temporarily. While searching for resources, we tried contacting every oppressed team here, hoping to unite against them," Su Chui said. His eyes darkened with pain for a moment before he continued.
"But they must have noticed us, because they secretly eliminated several of the larger teams. Three teams formed by younger-generation cultivators were completely wiped out in no time."
The members of the Heavenly Sword Sect and Purple Sky Sect frowned at his words, but they didn't interrupt.
"The cultivators of Lingyun Continent were already united. Thanks to Jian Jun Zūnzhǔ, we avoided a few major ambushes, but we still lost a lot of people," Su Chui went on.
"In the end, Jian Jun Zūnzhǔ risked contacting an immortal from a faction opposed to the oppression of younger-generation cultivators."
"That immortal probably couldn't directly stop the ones exploiting you. So what conditions did they set?" Jian Dan exhaled and asked carefully.
"Just as you guessed, that immortal was a bit weak, couldn't confront them directly. They offered to provide thunderstorm bombs, indirectly attacking, letting us younger-generation cultivators take the frontline. As long as we severely wounded that immortal family, they promised to step in."
"Hmph! Using others as cannon fodder. They probably just wanted you to clear the path for them!" Jian Dan held her Star Moon Bodhi beads and spoke coolly.
"Jian Jun Zūnzhǔ said the same, but at that time, we had no other choice. Even knowing they were using us, we had to accept," Su Chui admitted.
"How did you convince the others to join the attack?" Jian Lu asked.
"The teams that were badly damaged still had some lucky survivors. They each sent one member. Other teams joined too, and in total, ten of us were sent. Our Lingyun Continent also sent one cultivator—from Purple Sky Sect," he said, glancing at Xiao Huo, Xiao Yu, and the others.
Though helpless, the Purple Sky Sect cultivators understood. After all, it was their sect that suggested exploring the space rift, and their people were trapped here—part of the responsibility fell on them.
"What did the immortals promise?"
"They said if we succeeded, they'd use the star map to locate us and activate a cross-domain teleportation array to send everyone back to their original continent."
"And then you moved?"
"Yes. I don't know what methods that immortal used, but they lured out most of the family, and then..." Su Chui paused, closing his eyes briefly.
"It was chaotic. We all struck at once. Unable to use our Xianyuan energy, it was a hard fight, but in the end, we severely wounded them."
"The immortal team promised to handle the aftermath themselves?"
"Yes!"
"So how did you get separated from them?" Xiao Yong frowned.
"We were retaliated against!" Su Chui's eyes darkened. He continued, "The wounded immortal family still had some members. They secretly hunted the younger-generation cultivators who had attacked them. To survive, we split up and hid separately."
"Jian Jun Zūnzhǔ took a team to meet the immortal who made the promise. What happened then? Do you know?"
"I don't. I left the inner area by then," Su Chui said.
The group went quiet, thinking about how they would have handled such a situation.
"Su Daoyou, the immortal family you wounded—was their surname Yu?" Jian Dan asked suddenly.
"Not just Yu. Yu Tao—it's a compound surname, pretty rare," Su Chui answered.
The Heavenly Sword Sect cultivators exchanged glances. They suspected that Yu Linhai, who was possessed by a demon immortal, came from this family. Forced to flee to the outer area, he must have been dealt with by the inner immortals.
"If that's the case, the Yu Tao family was probably targeted by multiple hostile immortals. It's rare he escaped. We should've asked Jian Jun about their situation," Jian Chuang said, clenching his fists.
"Hmph! If Jian Jun and her team are safe, fine. Otherwise..."
"Sister, don't get angry. We trust Jian Jun. With his skills, she can protect himself," Jian Dan said, patting Jian Jing's hand gently.
"I trust Jian Jun too. I just hope she holds on until we find her," Su Chui exhaled, then asked curiously, "I heard your team call you Fairy Lu earlier?"
"Because three years ago, your siege was led by Jian Jun, and the The cultivators of Lingyun Continent are famous. So we kept it short and low-key," Jian Xu explained.
"Right. My team faced pursuit afterwards, so we scattered again. Until I met Cheng Zu's team, because I can identify artifact quality, they kept me. And now, here I am, meeting you again."
Having understood Su Chui's experiences, they pieced together the movements of the Lingyun Continent team, while Wu Siyuan briefly explained their entry into the space rift.
Su Chui listened, impressed. The Heavenly Sword Sect people had better luck—and strength—to get this far.
Meanwhile, Hu San, who had been quietly observing, finally closed his jaw. He couldn't decide whether to feel lucky or regret joining this team.
Lady Di was clever, keeping her team outside the array, sorting the trade items Jian Xu gave her, and setting up their booth. Several people passed by, asking about exchanges.
Kuang Dao watched Lady Di and Hu San, finding Hu San's constantly changing expressions amusing, and whispered, "Hu San, what are you thinking?"
"I'm wondering if I can make it out alive," Hu San admitted, then realized he said too much and awkwardly looked at Jian Dan.
"Don't worry. You know what to say and what not to. Do it well, and your life's safe," she reassured him.
Meanwhile, Ji Du's team entered the trade array with their members, set up their old booth, and were immediately approached.
"Boss Ji, long time no see!" Cheng Song greeted.
"Cheng Song, it has been a while! I didn't think I'd run into you here!"
"I was nearby, so I decided to come see if I could trade for anything good," he said.
"No problem. I just got some things. What do you want to trade?"
"No rush. I actually came to ask about something."
"Step inside!"
Ji Du invited Cheng Song into the array for privacy.
"A new team of cultivators came, saying they heard about this trade array from you!"
Ji Du's eyes shifted. He already knew who they were talking about. "A twenty-three-person team came to my territory a couple days ago, exchanged some resources, and I mentioned this trade array. It must be them."
"Our team's Su is their missing teammate!"