As he spoke, Hua Siwang raised his palm, aiming it at the grey-robed elder. An object hanging from his waist disappeared at the same time, flashed with a crimson light once, and appeared in his palm.
It was a blood-red token, with two ancient bronze seal characters on it: "Jingtu." On the other side was a row of unknown scripture carved, which was emitting a "buzzing" sound, as if it were constantly chanting in a low voice.
"Jingtu Sect Conscription Order!"
The grey-robed elder had actually already seen the crimson token hanging from Hua Siwang's waist, but only now did he deliberately exclaim it.
Afterward, the grey-robed elder also returned the salute, "I, Li, also have duties to attend to!"
As he spoke, a light flashed in his hand, and a similarly small golden token appeared. On the front were the same two ancient seal characters "Jingtu," and on the back was a venerable figure holding a demon-subduing vajra pestle, none other than the Great Joy Vajra of Buddhism.
Only after seeing this token did Hua Siwang truly relax in his heart. "A Demon-Slaying Order!" The fight against the Demon Clan was currently intense, and he had to be on guard. However, the tokens they held were all bound by blood. Once the owner died, the item would also turn to dust at the same time, so there was no need to worry about the enemy killing them and impersonating them.
Then, Hua Siwang didn't continue to ask the grey-robed elder what kind of mission he was carrying out here. These matters were all confidential. As long as he confirmed that the other party was someone included in the Four Great Sects' summons, it was fine.
Hua Siwang then swept his gaze over everyone behind the grey-robed elder. The grey-robed elder sighed in his heart. These cultivators holding the red "Conscription Order" were different from them; they could check the identity of other cultivators at any time and held great power in their hands.
Seeing this, the expressions of the other six cultivators, besides Li Yan, all tightened. They immediately slapped their storage pouches, and six tokens appeared in their hands. The six tokens were all pale gold, emitting a trace of grand and righteous power.
Their surface color was much paler than the grey-robed elder's, and the front also had the two characters "Jingtu." Only then did Hua Siwang nod, signaling them to put away their tokens.
The grey-robed elder and his group were carrying out a mission against the enemy, so their tokens were not as ostentatiously hung on their waists as Hua Siwang's, as if afraid that others wouldn't know.
Finally, Hua Siwang's gaze locked onto Li Yan, who was standing there at a loss.
"Just now, Hua happened to scan this area with my Divine Sense and heard Senior Brother Li say that this little friend is going to Daning City, and there was talk of conscription. It seems this little friend is not yet among those conscripted by the Four Great Sects."
Li Yan looked at Hua Siwang with some trepidation, then turned his pleading gaze to the grey-robed elder, not daring to answer.
But before the grey-robed elder could speak, two sharp beams of light shot from Hua Siwang's eyes, and he continued.
"Oh, that's right. What is this little friend's esteemed name? Just now, Senior Brother Li said this little friend's master is an old acquaintance? But I wonder who this expert is? His master must be at least at the Golden Core cultivation level, I imagine."
There was no preamble, just a string of questions, as if he were cornering a "criminal."
Hearing this, the grey-robed elder's heart skipped a beat. How could he not understand the meaning behind Hua Siwang's words? He was even thinking about the other party's master, wanting to conscript him as well.
However, at this moment, the grey-robed elder actually hoped that the master Li Yan spoke of would really appear here. An expert who could easily kill two demon lords was not someone Hua Siwang could casually handle.
"Jun... junior Jianghai, my... my master is 'Wuyouzi.' This junior just came out to run some errands for my master and was unaware of the current situation outside..."
Li Yan said hesitantly, a look of fear on his face.
"Wuyouzi? Who is that? Why haven't I heard Senior Brother Li mention this person?" Hua Siwang thought for a moment, but couldn't recall such a figure at all. He looked at the grey-robed elder with suspicion.
"He is a close friend of mine. He just doesn't like to go out much, that's all. What? Does Junior Brother Hua think I am lying?" the grey-robed elder said with some displeasure. He had already spoken up just now, but this Hua Siwang had just replied with a faint "Oh" and then nothing else.
Then, after Hua Siwang came over, he seemed to have forgotten his question and directly questioned Li Yan. This was clearly not giving him any face, which also displeased the grey-robed elder.
If it were a hundred years ago, when this cultivator had just formed his core, he would have been showering him with flattery upon seeing him.
"Hehehe, what is Senior Brother Li saying? How could I doubt your words? However, my duty is to conscript cultivators on orders. All Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators who see this order must proceed to the assembly point according to the order. Otherwise, they will be treated as enemies of the Four Great Sects.
"Take this, for example. The cultivators of Dazzling Yellow Valley, since the conscription began two years ago, have not sent a single cultivator to the 'Lingtian Gate' to assemble, using the excuse that their great elder and sect master are in secluded cultivation and there is no one in charge.
"Before, when the situation was not so severe, it was let go with just a fine of some Spirit Stones as a small punishment. But now, it is still the same. The Jingtu Sect has already issued an order, strictly forbidding any sect from disobeying in the slightest. Even cultivators in secluded cultivation must come out to face the enemy.
"This time, I went to Dazzling Yellow Valley and forcibly passed the secret order through to their great elder's seclusion place. After they receive the order, they will both proceed to the designated place to assemble in a few days. See, these are the Foundation Establishment cultivators from their sect. So..."
Hua Siwang chuckled, once again raising the red token he had not yet put away. He didn't argue with "Martial Uncle Li" but slowly explained, finally turning his head slightly to signal Li Yan and the others to look at the eight people still on the giant saber in mid-air.
As Hua Siwang said this, the eight Foundation Establishment cultivators still standing in mid-air all showed bitter expressions. They were all cultivators from Dazzling Yellow Valley. Early this morning, this ferocious burly man had come to their sect and, without a word, demanded to see their great elder and sect master immediately.
But these two had been in seclusion for several years. How could they be casually brought out? The great elder had said before entering seclusion that no one was allowed to trespass on his seclusion place.
Even under the summons of the "Lingtian Gate" two years ago, the sect's senior disciple only had the authority to handle daily affairs and didn't dare to send away a large number of the sect's cultivators.
In the end, it wasn't until the "Lingtian Gate" sent ten cultivators over that they fined Dazzling Yellow Valley tens of thousands of Spirit Stones, forcibly took them from the treasury, and the matter was considered closed.
But today, this vicious burly man was not only unfathomably cultivated, but he also refused to reason with them. With a sweep of his Divine Sense, he flew directly towards the great elder's seclusion place.
This shocked the disciples of Dazzling Yellow Valley. They were about to block him, but the burly man just turned around and snorted lightly. All the cultivators who came forward were immediately as if frozen by a petrification spell. The first few even spat out blood and fell to the ground, unconscious.
Only then did the burly man turn and leave, leaving only a faint sentence in the air, "Ignorant youngsters, if not for your usefulness, just for the crime of insubordination just now, I could have killed you all here."
Amidst the shock and fear of the disciples, they then heard a series of explosions from the great elder's seclusion place, followed by the great elder's roar of anger that shook the four directions.
Immediately after, the familiar auras of the great elder and the sect master came from behind, which made the disciples overjoyed. This unknown cultivator had acted so recklessly without reason. He would soon face a fate of either death or flight. They had absolute confidence in the great elder's strength.
But then, the area behind them quickly fell silent, which made all the disciples look at each other in dismay. It wasn't until half an hour later that the great elder came from behind with a tired face, followed by the equally embarrassed-looking sect master, and that burly man.
Next, the great elder gave an order that no one could believe. The great elder appointed three Foundation Establishment cultivators from the sect to stay and guard the sect, while all the other Foundation Establishment cultivators had to go with the burly man.
For a time, the cultivators of Dazzling Yellow Valley didn't know what had happened, but seeing the great elder's ashen face, it was clear he didn't want to say more, and who would dare to ask?
In the end, it was the sect master who pulled all the Foundation Establishment cultivators into a side hall to explain everything. Only then did everyone know that the outside world had been invaded by the Demon Clan. Let alone them, in two days, even the great elder and the sect master, after settling their affairs, had to go to the designated place to assemble.
This great change immediately put everyone in Dazzling Yellow Valley, from top to bottom, in a state of peril. Their sect had been deliberately established in such a remote place precisely because they didn't want to get involved in the turmoil of the outside world. But unfortunately, Dazzling Yellow Valley still had many disciples, so its strength and influence had long been on record with the Jingtu Sect.
Although there was a summons from the "Lingtian Gate" last time, at that time, just like Ding Yushan and the others, it was estimated that except for those at the great elder's level who could vaguely guess, the disciples below, without being told, would not have thought of the so-called Demon Clan.
For a time, Dazzling Yellow Valley was in an uproar. Many people still wanted to pull strings to avoid going on the campaign, but except for the three direct disciples of the great elder who were designated to stay and guard the sect with a group of Qi Condensation disciples, the other Foundation Establishment cultivators had no chance of getting an exception. In just half an hour, under Hua Siwang's fierce momentum, not a single one was missing as they stepped onto the giant saber.
What these disciples didn't know was that for the sect to be able to keep three Foundation Establishment cultivators, the great elder had already bargained with the other party and given many benefits. With a bleeding heart, the great elder had only managed to get the other party to show mercy.
Just like that, Hua Siwang came all the way from Dazzling Yellow Valley. Unexpectedly, on the way, out of caution, Hua Siwang had just casually swept his Divine Sense and, by sheer coincidence, had heard the words of the grey-robed elder.
The grey-robed elder had long heard that these cultivators holding the "Conscription Order" were ruthless and would often extort a hefty sum from the conscripted sects. Otherwise, they would take away all the cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage and above from the sect.
If the battle ahead was fierce and the casualties were heavy, this could cause problems for the future inheritance of a certain sect. Now that Hua Siwang had said this, he was clearly trying to extort a sum from this "Martial Nephew Jiang's" sect.
For a time, the grey-robed elder immediately began to hesitate whether to continue to offend Hua Siwang for the sake of befriending a cultivator. At the same time, he was carrying out an ambush mission and couldn't reveal that the other party's master had killed demon lords here.
And now, he also hoped that the idlers here would leave quickly so as not to interfere with his business and cause the mission to fail.
He couldn't explain the power of the mysterious cultivator behind Li Yan to make Hua Siwang hesitate, nor could the grey-robed elder take out a large sum of Spirit Stones to smooth things over for Li Yan.
He had already spoken up for Li Yan just now. In any case, it wasn't him who was offending that mysterious cultivator. After thinking about it, he still moved his lips slightly and sent a voice transmission to Hua Siwang, "Junior Brother Hua, this kid's master has a formidable background. He should be at the Pseudo-Nascent Soul realm, so..."
However, although Li Yan on the side did not hear the other party's voice transmission, he could guess the gist of it from their expressions. He felt a wave of frustration in his heart. 'Who said it's good to have shade under a big tree? This is not the kind of shade I want!'