Chapter 52: Grenade!!! Here it comes!

To tell the truth, he also looked down upon this White Sword Sect.

However, in order to leave a good impression on the sect master, he had to remain extremely vigilant.

He had even decided to proceed step-by-step; after all, minimizing losses in any way possible was a good thing.

"Everyone, let's head into the city first!" Dai Xiao waved his hand, had someone bring Pang Yongchao along, and walked straight into the City Lord's Mansion.

"You've got quite a pleasant life here, with flowers, grass, and quite a few servants."

Upon entering the City Lord's Mansion, Dai Xiao sat down on a stone stool beside the pond, looking at the trembling servants with a teasing tone.

"Senior, you really jest. Knowing I have no hope of advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage, I simply decided to settle down here and live out my days in peace."

Pang Yongchao stood to the side, wearing a fawning and flattering smile.

Yet deep down, he was already cursing up a storm.

As a mere cultivator in the Qi Condensation stage, if he had any other choice, he would never lower himself to act so submissively.

Dai Xiao casually picked up a fishing rod left nearby for leisure, tossed it into the water, and without looking back, said, "Tell me about the current situation in Nanyang City, and the present state of the White Sword Sect."

Pang Yongchao knew that lying would be useless, and since much of this intelligence was already common knowledge, he decided to tell the whole truth.

"After you arrived, the White Sword Sect disciples stationed here fled back. As for the White Sword Sect now, it is the largest and only sect left on Lingyun Peak."

"As for the incident involving the disciples of your esteemed sect, I am not entirely clear on the details. I am merely a Qi Condensation cultivator, and when the incident happened, I was too terrified to do anything but tremble in my room."

Naturally, he would not mention that he had actually been at the scene and even helped deal with the disciples of the Sun-Birth Gate.

However, Dai Xiao immediately zeroed in on the key point of that statement. "Weren't there four sects on Lingyun Peak before? How did it end up with only this White Sword Sect remaining?"

He already possessed a vague understanding of the intelligence, but he could not fathom how the weakest sect, the White Sword Sect, had leaped to become the strongest, seemingly swallowing up all the other sects in the process.

While this might not sound too difficult, for a minor sect, trying to devour others was as hard as ascending to the heavens—let alone doing so while simultaneously dealing with three sects at once, which exponentially increased the difficulty.

Pang Yongchao's mouth twitched slightly. He took a deep breath before recounting the entire sequence of events.

Yet, as he told the story, he deliberately glossed over the firearms, as that was ultimately the trump card of the White Sword Sect.

Compared to the Sun-Birth Gate, he would much rather have the White Sword Sect continue to manage Nanyang City.

The larger the sect, the harder it was to please its disciples. Moreover, since he had already claimed he was hiding in his room, the blame would never fall on him.

"Alright, you may withdraw." Dai Xiao waved his hand to dismiss Pang Yongchao, then muttered to himself, "It seems this White Sword Sect is much stronger than I imagined."

First, it swallowed three sects, and immediately afterward, it descended the mountain to wipe out two of their late-stage Foundation Establishment disciples.

On top of that, it was recruiting disciples in large numbers, which implied an abundance of resources—though those likely came from the other three sects.

Yet, to possess such daring required extraordinary character. Furthermore, since they had also eliminated the Core Formation expert sent by the sect, it proved that the White Sword Sect's strength was formidable indeed.

If left unchecked, they might actually manage to truly flourish under the leadership of that person named Liang Chuan.

"So, do any of you still hold them in contempt?" Dai Xiao turned to look at the disciples standing around him. "If you were tasked with taking over this minor sect, would you be capable of handling all of this?"

The surrounding disciples lowered their heads one by one. They knew very well that if it were them, they could never have achieved such a feat.

Decisive in slaughter, and daring to strike back even when facing the Sun-Birth Gate—this indicated that the opponent undoubtedly possessed some powerful trump card.

Seeing the disciples' lowered heads, Dai Xiao nodded in satisfaction.

At that very moment, the fishing rod he had cast into the water trembled slightly. With a casual lift, Dai Xiao pulled a carp out of the water.

After unhooking the fish and tossing it back into the water, he seemed to recall something.

"In other words, the enemy is actually aware of our plans, and they have likely already stockpiled plenty of provisions..."

A headache suddenly brewed for Dai Xiao. This time, he had even brought the Ancestor along, but the Ancestor had to anchor the Sun-Birth Gate and could not stay here for long.

Moreover, the opponent was smarter than he had anticipated; they might have already deduced his strategy. If so, he would have to alter his plans.

He had originally expected the enemy to rush down the mountain the moment they learned of the chaos in Nanyang City, yet there had been no movement whatsoever until now. This meant the opponent had already guessed their intentions.

"Damn it, what a brilliant open plot!"

Dai Xiao could not help cursing under his breath.

He had previously hoped to conserve his strength by waiting for the enemy to come to him, but Pang Yongchao's words revealed the sharp intellect of the White Sword Sect's master.

The master had likely figured out long ago that they could not afford to stay here for an extended period, and even if a Core Formation expert was present, the enemy probably possessed the means to counter it.

He tapped his fingers rhythmically against the fishing rod, his brows furrowed slightly.

To be honest, being led by the nose by the opponent felt deeply uncomfortable, and he simply did not have that much time to waste here.

"Tell everyone to go rest. If they still haven't come by tonight, we will march on the White Sword Sect tomorrow!"

Since the enemy possessed so many resources, they would undoubtedly strive to grow as strong as possible in the shortest time. That being the case, they had no choice but to strike first and gain the advantage.

He just wondered how many casualties they would suffer when the time came, and the thought caused him to massage his temples.

As for losing? He had never even considered such a possibility.

After all, this time they had four Core Formation experts and sixty Foundation Establishment disciples.

With the Nascent Soul Ancestor holding down the fort, nothing could possibly go wrong.

However, should casualties be heavy, the other direct disciples might seize the opportunity to step over him.

"Understood!"

The disciples dispersed, leaving the City Lord's Mansion to search for inns where they could lodge for the night.

...

...

...

The White Sword Sect.

Looking at the spirit stones and raw materials inside his storage ring, Liang Chuan let out a helpless sigh.

These were the profits obtained from selling medicinal pills last time, but this sect was truly a bottomless money pit.

He stood up and walked over to the newly built laboratory, where Elder Luo had been waiting for him for quite some time.

"Sect Master, you asked me to come here because..."

Elder Luo asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Having just received a notification from a disciple a moment ago, he had hurried over here in a rush.

He had already vaguely guessed that Liang Chuan was about to pull out something extraordinary once again.

Liang Chuan merely curved the corners of his lips and uttered two words:

"Grenades."