Rune Mountain hurriedly stepped forward to support the elder.
He had already received intelligence that the attacking demon tribe was numerous, led by three formidable demons at the late-stage Earth Demon realm.
One of the Earth Demons seemed to be of an exotic species, with innate lightning magic that was particularly effective at breaking arrays.
This allowed them to break the grand array in one move and seize the spirit ore.
It was not their fault in battle, he wouldn’t blame them.
"Senior Brother Lin, what are the casualties?"
Shen Anyan also landed on the shoal, asking Senior Brother Lin with concern.
"The demon tribe ultimately feared the might of our Daoist School, only seizing the spirit ore without taking any lives. Only a few disciples were injured, but they’re not in serious condition."
"I originally vowed to defend the spirit ore to the death, but the demon tribe was too many, really beyond my strength!"
The elder sighed deeply, unable to help but shake his head.
"No matter, Senior Brother, did you leave a mark on the spirit ore?!"
After exchanging pleasantries, Rune Mountain asked hurriedly.
"I did, just waited for Junior Brother to come!"
The elder quickly replied.
"Good!"
"We will make these demon tribes return everything with interest!"
Rune Mountain’s expression was invigorated, not wasting words, he immediately took out a golden compass from his pocket.
"Activate!"
Rune Mountain lightly drank, and the golden compass suddenly shone brightly, with golden runes flickering endlessly, seemingly tracking something.
After a while, golden lines emerged on the compass, numbering over twenty, pointing in different directions.
However, all had a common intersection point.
"As expected, they escaped into Miasma Cloud Mountain!"
"And they have already divided the spoils, each fleeing separately..."
"Showing a bit of cunning."
Rune Mountain’s face displayed traces of heaviness, but in an instant, it turned severe.
"How can one allow others to slumber at their bedside!"
"This time, we must eradicate the evil completely!"
After speaking, he waved his hand, and twenty blank talismans floated from his sleeve.
"Clang!"
Subsequently, the twenty golden lines suspended from the compass fell one after another, each landing on a blank talisman.
The talismans instantly glowed brightly, vaguely showing a small arrow pointing forward.
After distributing the talismans, Rune Mountain waved his sleeve again, issuing a silver shield engraved with mysterious runes.
The rank of this shield was unknown, but it had clearly surpassed the realm of spiritual artifacts, exuding a profound spiritual light.
"Divide!"
Rune Mountain called softly, and twenty beams of spiritual light fell from the silver shield, covering each person of Gu Yuan.
"This is the Ascendant’s Secret Treasure bestowed upon us, the Silver Mist Spirit Shield. It can isolate miasma interference and provide some protective effect."
"From now, all disciples follow me into Miasma Cloud Mountain, each carrying a spirit talisman, sweeping through the demons and retrieving the plundered spirit stones!"
"This time, we must capture all the demons in one net!"
Rune Mountain’s eyes focused, speaking to everyone with a deep tone.
Everyone faintly smiled bitterly in their hearts, yet they could only comply.
"If truly unable to compete, temporarily maneuver around, wait until we kill those three-headed Earth Demon leaders, and then help will arrive!"
Seeing that everyone seemed unwilling, Rune Mountain slightly softened his tone as he raised an eyebrow.
Yet his eyes remained cold: "If cowardly without fighting, don’t blame the Daoist rules for being merciless!"
"We respectfully follow the decree!"
Everyone’s hearts tightened, their expressions solemn.
"There’s no time to delay, set off immediately!"
Rune Mountain nodded in satisfaction, then waved his big sleeve, bestowing twenty golden talismans to everyone.
Gu Yuan also received one.
The talisman glimmered with subtle spiritual light, pointing in a direction.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Gu Yuan felt Su Xuanfeng’s gaze seemed to inadvertently glance at him.