Chapter Five: The Invasion of the Malevolent Spirits

“Senior, you’ve returned! Seniors…” Zhang Junbao noticed that Yimi Shui and the other four had finally teleported back. But he saw that all the seniors wore looks of deep concern.

“Xiao Zhang, you—” Yimi Shui had just stepped out of the teleportation array and was about to instruct Zhang Junbao to notify others that the array was operational again, when suddenly the array flared to life once more. His heart sank—these fiendish things had followed so quickly.

“Xiao Zhang, activate the temporary protective array at once,” Yimi Shui said urgently.

“What? Has something serious happened?” Zhang Junbao asked in confusion. The temporary array was single-use, meant only for emergencies that required sealing the teleportation array.

“No time for questions—just do as you’re told! Why are you dawdling?” Baijie Gan snapped. Zhang Junbao, seeing this, held his tongue and hurried off to activate the temporary protection.

Meanwhile, the five seniors retreated beyond the array, releasing their magic treasures and readying themselves for battle. Each quickly swallowed a precious spirit elixir they had long kept in reserve—their vitality was still not fully restored, and now they faced another onslaught of these demonic fiends. The first wave—five hundred of the creatures—completed their teleportation just as the protective array came online. The five finally breathed a slight sigh of relief, but when they saw the dense swarm within the barrier, with only a few of them sporting wings, their scalps tingled with dread.

Eerie shrieks and groans filled the air, one after another. Zhang Junbao, returning, was dumbstruck at the sight within—what in the world were these abominations? So hideous, so grotesque, so evil, so…

“Zhang Junbao! Why are you standing there gaping? Sound the alarm—get everyone from Mawei Star over here, we need reinforcements!” Wanlilu roared, cleaving the fleshy wing from a flying fiend that had slipped through the array. Seeing Zhang Junbao stunned, he cursed him back to his senses.

“Yes, Senior! I’ll go at once!” Zhang Junbao recovered, stumbling off to spread the alert.

“Brother Shi, take the east. Brother Bai, the west. Brother Qian, cover the south. Brother Wan, handle the north. I’ll take the skies above,” Yimi Shui immediately assigned positions, his leadership shining through in crisis. The others nodded and quickly took up their posts.

Inside the protective array, the fiendish creatures crashed against the barrier in waves, and the flying ones darted in all directions, trying to escape. Yimi Shui tirelessly struck down any that broke through. For a time, the flying fiends were unable to breach the array, but this respite was short-lived. The ancient teleportation array flared again, bringing more fiends. The pressure mounted, the array shuddered under the relentless assault, and some of the creatures even began tunneling underground to bypass the barrier—since the array was hastily erected, its protection did not extend beneath the ground.

Cultivators from across the Pegasus System hurried toward the scene. At first, they were shocked to see the fiends emerging from the earth, but when someone shattered one and found a trove of valuable materials, their eyes burned with greed. Some even summoned friends and family, urging them to come share in the spoils. Yimi Shui wanted to stop them—these fiends were too dangerous for those of meager cultivation—but Wanlilu held him back, sending a message: “Brother Yi, this is for the best. Only with numbers can we hope to stem the tide, and besides, our cultivation population is exploding while our resources dwindle. More materials is a boon. Wasn’t that our purpose in venturing to the Andromeda System?”

Yet fate paid no heed to the will of the cultivators. After about six hours, the temporary protective array was finally breached, and the fiends poured in. With the ancient teleportation array under enemy control, the cultivators could only use smaller arrays to reach Mawei Star.

For a time, the fiends gained absolute dominance. The area around the ancient teleportation array became a great battlefield. When the fiends’ numbers reached fifteen thousand, no more were teleported in. Cultivators from every planet in the Pegasus System continued to arrive, and casualties mounted; as friends and kin fell, their companions fought ever more desperately. Pleas for help went out in every form from Mawei Star, spurring sects and families to send their finest to join the struggle.

Though reinforcements kept coming, the fiends’ wicked power was overwhelming. It became a war of attrition, with low-level cultivators falling in droves—the very foundation of the cultivation world was being eroded.

The five senior cultivators had no choice. They used a Lion’s Roar technique to broadcast across the battlefield: “Fellow Daoists, heed this warning! Anyone below the Nascent Soul stage, leave at once—you are no match for these fiends. Do not throw your lives away needlessly…”

But the cultivators, crazed by battle and the lure of spoils, paid no heed. With resources so scarce, everyone hoped for a lucky windfall.

A group attempted to use the ancient teleportation array after the fiends stopped coming through, only to be surrounded and slaughtered—only a few at the Divinity Splitting stage or above escaped unscathed. The casualties were appalling. The battle raged for three days and nights, with losses on both sides beyond counting. Finally, one person appeared and brought the chaos to an end: Ling Ren, who would later become the leader of the Pegasus Alliance.

Speaking of Ling Ren’s arrival, one must mention Zhang Junbao. When the fiends first began pouring into Mawei Star, Zhang Junbao slipped away—he realized that the invasion was triggered by Yimi Shui and his companions, and besides them, he was the only one who knew the truth. If the five wanted to avoid responsibility, they might silence him, and as a mere early Nascent Soul cultivator, he stood no chance against five late-stage Grand Ascendants. His only hope was to escape while they were too busy to pursue. Though cultivators at the Divinity Splitting stage or higher could create clones, few did so—the clone was only half as strong as the original, and the main body’s strength would decrease by thirty percent.

While Zhang Junbao worried about this, Yimi Shui and the others had no time to consider it during the battle. It was only afterward they thought of it, but by then Zhang Junbao was long gone. In the end, since the truth was never exposed, they abandoned the search for him. But that’s another story.

While fleeing, Zhang Junbao originally intended to find a secluded place to hide, but instead he ran into Ling Ren, who was traveling with Zuo Jiao in search of materials.