Chapter 1171: The Chaos Amongst the Five Schools!
One year ago was the start of the rebellion across the continent. Similarly, the winds of change had started to blow upon the Five Element Schools. A wind that brought with it strife and conflict.
It started with a rumor saying that students from the Metal School struggled with students from the Fire School over some treasure. From one rumor came forth a large battle that claimed the lives of many participants on both sides.
The next was a rumor stating several of the inner students of the Earth School mocked an elder of the Water School. If not for the timely intervention of the Earth School's elders, those students surely would've been killed.
Another rumor surfaced after that, a rumor that caused the Wood and Fire Schools to nearly start to clash with one another.
No one thought any of the rumors had any relevancy to one another at first. But when another rumor of some students from the Metal School killing students from the Fire School surfaced, many people began to realize there was something serious at play here...
Even the most loving of couples tended to have a quarrel between them once in a while. A small fight every once in a while wasn't much to worry about, but if the death of a couple of students were had, then...
And that was just the beginning. More and more rumors began to circulate, goading students from different schools to fight. In the end, more and more students were fighting one another, some students even losing their lives in the middle of those conflicts!
The avalanche had begun. Each of the five schools was pointing the blame elsewhere. Their grudges intensified with each rumor. Soon, some of the students were beginning to take drastic actions...
In no less than two months, the Five Schools were suffering injuries and losses on a growing scale. Not even the Soul Kings were spared—some had already lost their lives!
The sentiments between the Water and Wood School had been completely volatile. A war nearly broke out between the two when several mediators from the Wood School managed to calm the waves on both sides.
But another war was already on the way. The Metal and Fire Schools claimed each other to be responsible for the unjustified murders of their students. In no time at all, a friendly relationship that lasted for several thousands of years was at the risk of being destroyed.
Not long after the rebellion started when the Soul Refining School began to resurface with their Soul Puppetry, members of the Five School began to realize something—the cause of all the rumors and deaths of their students was the Soul Refining School!!
The revelation spread across the Five Schools at once. The Soul Refining School and their Soul Puppetry was behind it all!
It was like a splash of icy-cold waters on everyone's heads. But the damage had been done—everyone had their injured students and casualties. Even if the Soul Refining School was behind it, there were still plenty of deaths that were the result of a direct confrontation between two schools.
The internal unrest within each of the schools continued after that. Secluding themselves from the rebellion, the schools held a temporary armistice among one another. No one believed it would last for long, but the fact that any two schools would agree to meet one another was already a nice goal to have reached.
The Water School, for example, decided to spend their time recuperating from their losses. All external affairs were put on hold and their students holed up inside the school to train.
But that was when disaster struck. A disaster that fell on top of the Water School without warning!
A group of powerful soul cultivators appeared outside the gates of the Water School seven days ago. Without even a warning, those soul cultivators began to launch an all-out assault on the school!
Completely caught off-guard by the ambush, the Water School began to put up a hasty counteroffensive. That was when they realized they were fighting against the Wind Lightning School!
The Water and the Wind Lightning Schools never had any friendly relationships between the two. They were definitely enemies more than they were allies. In fact, the Wind Lightning School was responsible for undermining the Water School's power during the internal strife of the five schools! And now that an armistice was happening, the Wind Lightning School decided to pull out the heavy weapons and attack the Water School!
Normally, something like this wouldn't happen with the Tianhun School being the ones to interject and mediate. A conflict between schools would never get out of hand like this unless the grudges between both parties were so great that it was unreconcilable.
But with the entire continent in disarray and the Tianhun School severely crippled, there was no mediating power to stand in between the two schools. To make matters even worse, the Tianhun School located in the city nearest to them—Waterdrop City in the Clear Blue Province—had joined the rebel army! The lord-mayor of the city and other key figures united with several powerful rebel figures and took control of Waterdrop City!
Zhao Xiluo described the horror he felt when he managed to escape the conflict in the Water School and arrived at Waterdrop City, only to realize he hadn't escaped at all. Attacked again in the city, Zhao Xiluo only managed to escape when several of his fellow students sacrificed themselves to stall for time.
The key instrument in his escape was actually a transportation-capable soul armament given to him by an elder of the Water School. Using that, he managed to escape into the direction of the Crafting School in hopes of seeking assistance from them.
The attacking force of the Wind Lightning School consisted of twenty Soul Kings along with many other of their students. The Water School still had the numbers and power to fight that army, but only enough to create a stalemate. The Water School also had the advantage of the terrain, so they could survive for some time if they committed to defending themselves.
No one was sure if any reinforcements would arrive for the Wind Lightning School. The Water School would be in heavy danger if any more powerful figures came.
Before, it could've been possible for the Water School to ask for help from the other four schools. That wasn't possible anymore, however, due to the conflicts over the past months. For the sake of their survival, however, the Water School sent multiple students to the Wood, Fire, Metal, and even the Crafting School from their assistance.
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An eerie silence descended upon the main halls as the crafters digested Zhao Xiluo's story. It was an especially grave story to hear.
Kou Changkong was the first to break that silence. "How is Tingting?"
"Please rest assured, headmaster. Sister Kou was safe when I left, our main defensive force is currently some of the inner male disciples. Sister Kou should be fine for the time being."
Kou Changkong heaved a sigh of relief at that. "This is quite the urgent matter. First elder, please head over there right now!"
"Headmaster, please allow me to go with the first elder!"
Xiao Binzi hadn't even responded to Kou Changkong when Bai Yunfei piped up.
"You want to go?"
"I'm concerned for Tingting's safety. With the first elder, myself, and Xiao Qi providing assistance, I'm sure we can help the Water School."
Three Soul Emperors was an incredible fighting force. They'd be enough to help the Water School even if the Wind Lightning School brought in another one or two Soul Emperors as reinforcements.
No one had doubts of Bai Yunfei's strengths, not after his secret was revealed and his previous achievements were made known. Kou Changkong nodded after a second to think about it. "Very well then! You'll bring ten of our Soul Kings with you to aid the Water School!"
No one objected to that. Xiao Binzi hurried off at once to prepare the personnel, but not before telling Bai Yunfei to be prepared to leave in a minute.
......
"What?! The Wind Lightning School is attacking the Water School?! Why? No, no, Tingting's in danger, I have to go over there too!!"
Zheng Kai exploded with agitation at once the moment Bai Yunfei broke the news to him and the others. He was the one that was the most stunned by the news.
"Ah'Kai, calm yourself," Bai Yunfei yanked his shoulder to face him. "Getting agitated won't help you here. I'm heading over there in a moment. It won't take us a day to get there with the Core Stone. Tingting will be fine."
He knew there was no stopping Zheng Kai from going so he didn't even bother to stop him.
"Yunfei...please be careful." Tang Xinyun warned him with concern.
"I'll be fine and back before you know it." Bai Yunfei smiled.
......
A minute afterward, Xiao Binzi was back with multiple Soul Kings from the previous generation. Ten in total. Bai Yunfei had Zhao Xiluo and Zheng Kai stay in the Core World for now along with the Soul Kings. He planned to use the Core Stone to teleport him, Xiao Binzi, and Xiao Qi over to the Water School as fast as he could!