“That’s the Linghu Clan’s most elite legion, the Screaming Wind Legion.”

In the sky, Daomaster Ancientpine stood in the air, below the doorway of the Heavenraiser Palace. His gaze seemed capable of piercing through the clouds and looking down below.

Daomaster Titanspirit’s voice rang out at the side of his ear. “You should know what they want.”

Ancientpine’s visage was absent of either joy or sorrow. He merely observed everything below with a silent gaze. After ages, he murmured, “Sometimes, sacrifice is necessary.”

Crack! Chu Zhaonan inhaled heavily. In his excitement, he had squeezed down on the window, causing hairline cracks to run across its surface. He immediately looked towards Xu Yangyi, only to see that ice-cold killing intent had already emerged in his counterpart’s eyes!

He was waiting for this!

“No one’s willing to fight a war without the slightest meaning. The command plates put an end to the chance of some clan being eradicated. However… I’m the only one without one right now!” Xu Yangyi took a deep breath. “And since I’m the weakest power on paper… in case the Xingtian Legion’s command plate is captured, the one who takes it is automatically promoted, based on Master-Ancestor’s rules.”

“The other three clans don’t have to face this danger… They know that I’m no pushover. I’m someone who was able to leave Danxia Temple’s depths. If they throw a great amount of forces at me, their battlefront will definitely be suppressed… and the time that Master-Ancestor allotted only three days. Each minute is worth more than gold.”

“But the Linghu Clan… you’ve come.” His face was already thick with killing intent. “You sure got guts… Keeping the three other clans in the dark that you’ve sent a hundred elites. All just to kill me in one blow… It’s a pity you won’t be able to benefit from this danger. This will be the burial ground of your hundred elites!”

“And if you lose these soldiers… maybe you’ll get kicked out even earlier than me!”

The game was just beginning. But as the weakest power on paper, he couldn’t make a single misstep.

Tick… The clock in the room pointed at two in the morning. Not one sound was heard.

“In another hour…” Xu Yangyi looked at his watch. “my banner should get here.”

At this moment, on a road leading into Chengdu, there was a line of SUVs blazing ahead at full speed. Each car had the bright-red mark of Xingtian! In the two head cars, Jun Man sat in one and Luo Sanfeng sat in the other.

Xuan Chengzi was in the backseat, gently wiping down and cleaning his sword. A multicolored centipede twisted around Qin Xueluan’s snow-white finger, and strange insect noises came from her entire body. Five elaborate puppets were nimbly jumping about in Mo Yeyu’s hand.

No one spoke. Everyone looked up almost every five seconds to glance at the endless blue aurora at the border of Chengdu. And also… the two undeniable silhouettes of the Core Formation palaces!

There within… was the ultimate battlefield!

“How long until we get there?” Jun Man asked quietly as he drove.

“We’ll be entering Chengdu in ten minutes.” Li Zongyuan’s voice was heard from the backseat. “His Excellency Branch Master had me leave first. Chengdu’s border is definitely within the embrace of Foundation Establishment spiritual sense. As long as Master and I… Branch Master is within 3,000 meters, I can directly respond to his thoughts.”

Jun Man was silent, his gaze trained on the rearview mirror. Behind them was a glittering string of car lights, a unified profile of SUVs!

This chain of cars became the most eye-catching thing, besides Chengdu’s nighttime landscape. If a cultivator was here, they would be shocked to their core. This was because the number of cars already exceeded the Xingtian Legion’s amount of soldiers! Even with the addition of the Hidden Dragon Legion, there couldn’t be so many! With five people per car… there were at least over ninety people!

An old man gazed ahead from inside a car. This car also had several late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators, but the old man was half-step Foundation Establishment!

“Clan Elder… are we really going to…” The silence was too trying, and a male cultivator finally said to the old man, “This is a death wish… Are we capable of provoking any one of the four clans?”

The old man said nothing. After ages, he steeled his voice. “No… but we must!”

“Don’t forget Branchmaster Xu’s condition… Help him steady his footing in Longsu Province, and we… will enjoy five kilometers of land. Moreover, five of the most qi-rich kilometers!” The old man peered deeply at the curtain of blue light that stretched from heaven to earth. “On a narrow path of enemies and rivals, those who possess courage triumph. Once we get there, there’ll be no retreat!”

His face was undisturbed, but his heart throbbed even faster. His spiritual sense noiselessly extended out because of his over-excitement, and somewhat shakily enclosed the car behind them.

Behind in each car… every cultivator was calmly wiping down their weapons. They were not from the Xingtian Legion or the Hidden Dragon Legion, and they wore black armor that radiated a vague halo of light. The weapons in their possession weren’t magik artifacts, but rather cannons!

Spirit Extermination Cannons!

Tens of cars and almost a hundred Spirit Extermination Cannons. There was no sound, the hooves of horses kept bound, and copper coins placed in the mouth to stay quiet. Like a long black river, the cars made straight to Longsu. [1]

A car stopped outside a tollbooth to Chengdu. Peony walked ahead, took out a notebook, and handed it over. The booth immediately let them pass. The expression of each car’s leader was solemn. In thirty minutes at most… they would enter Chengdu and reach the border of the two provinces. Along with the Xingtian Legion, their assisting forces would come, and the shocking war would be fully unveiled.

As Peony took back her credentials, she glanced at the clock in the tollbooth, counting each second. Xu Yangyi had ordered repeatedly that they had to rush over before two o’clock.

Presently… it was already 1:40 AM!

She pursed her lips and waved her hand, hinting to the motorcade to advance. Nonetheless, in this very moment, everyone suddenly lifted their heads and looked at the sky, in disbelief!

Something… had come… Terrible spiritual force… with swift speed! This…

Without warning, Jun Man jumped out of his car, unable to contain his cry of alarm. “This… is Core Formation spiritual pressure?!”

In another car, an old man quickly stood up and looked at the sky, in shock. “No… this isn’t purely Core Formation spiritual pressure! T-This isn’t an avatar’s spiritual pressure! This is a true body! A Core Formation ancestor’s true form has come!”

Honk honk honk… They came to a sudden halt. Chengdu was a provincial capital, a major city of the west. The cars behind them were already beeping their horns impatiently.

“Are you gonna go or what, man!”

“Pick up the pace! Do you see how many dang cars are waiting behind?!”

“What the heck! Hurry up and drive! The sky’s brightening!”

“Shut up!” The old man turned around and yelled angrily. His voice was astonishingly loud, startling everyone. A second of silence later, no one called out, but the blaring of horns continued to rise and fall.

“Clan Elder!” A man gravely exited a car. “Is this… a Core Formation ancestor?”

The elder was quiet… because the truth was more telling than any words. Now, in the eyes of all of Chengdu’s cultivators… in a far, far away place… within the shelter of thick and heavy clouds in the night sky, clouds so dense that not even raindrops could penetrate them, boundless azure clouds surfaced!

Like an azure sun had risen at the horizon! In this twinkling, both the moon and stars lost splendor!

Swoosh swoosh swoosh… Azure-tinted light ripped apart the black night, as if an explosive blast had spread through the clouds. Furling and folding layer after layer, clouds that seemed to come after a nuclear explosion. They encased the azure sun and forged ahead. In short time, thousands of meters had formed into an expanse of strange blackish-azure clouds!

Heart-shaking azure light seeped through the clouds. They appeared infinitely slow but spread across thousands of meters in less than a few seconds!

“C-Core Formation descends…” In Chengdu, an untold number of cultivators were gobsmacked. “This an ancestor’s descent!”

“What’s going on?”

“Why are the ordinarily reclusive ancestors gathering? There are three this time!”

“My god… three ancestors above Chengdu… This is practically a marvel not seen once in a decade!”

20,000 meters above in the air, Daomaster Ancientpine suddenly opened his eyes. A flash of light flickered through them and passed away. Afterwards, he took a long sigh, as if he was relieved of a great burden.

“It’s come…” He slowly walked down, talking to the desolate palace hall. “When we act… Fellow Daoist Earthcleaver will lead his personal law enforcers to root out the Forbidden City. The max amount of time we have… is three days!”

So this war had to be decided in three days!

“It’s arrived.” Daomaster Titanspirit sighed in relief, his voice echoing at the same time. Shortly afterwards, two voices paused in unison. Ancientpine’s figure had already vanished without a trace.

Rumble… The azure clouds resembled a million-strong charge, surging directly to the sky above Longsu Province. Like an ooze of azure ink spreading forth, they soon became countless qi petals that floated down from the sky!

“This…” Xu Yangyi reached out and caught a petal in shock. Anyone could feel the terrible aura. But in his heart, a wisp of doubt arose once again!

That night, legions of cultivators had urgently withdrawn. To this end, his master-ancestor had severed the memories of all cultivators.

Over an hour ago, two rulers had arrived… Now, there was surprisingly a third ancestor joining the fray! Wasn’t the situation this time a little bit too much?

“Still Shadow Sinking Jade, Daomaster Hiddenscent!” At this time, Chu Zhaonan’s rather excited voiced echoed, and he looked at the petal in Xu Yangyi’s hand. The demon slayer firmly squeezed the petal in his hand, and it quickly transformed into motes of drifting qi. Chu Zhaonan regained his wits and said seriously, “Why had Ancestor Hiddenscent come?!”

Xu Yangyi said nothing.

He saw it clearly. That petal… was from a lotus!

Lotus flowers had left an extremely profound mark on his memories. There was no way he was mistaken. His mind seemed to flash, and a few hazy thoughts reared their heads. He wanted to catch them, yet they were like sand in his hands, simply ungrabbable.

He didn’t continue to ponder, however, because the vast swath of azure-dyed clouds had now retreated layer by layer like a tidal waves. At the same time, the sound of faint string music mysteriously rang out. Squadrons of over a dozen people stood proudly, high in the clouds.

They were all groups formed of women. Altogether, there were eight leaders. Each one wore the white dress of ancient court ladies, and there was no problem to be found from their facial features to their temperament. Behind the eight was a glorious carriage in the full splendor of gold and jade.

It had no roof, and a silk parasol extended from behind it. A faint-azure heavy curtain slowly fell, shrouding the person within the carriage. Moonlight passed through, making a sweet and graceful shadow barely visible. She lazily leaned against a scented pillow within the carriage, a circular fan in her grasp. Rocking the fan as she pleased seemed to fan incense in the night sky, inviting one to lose themselves in a reverie.

“This… a true body! A true body!!!” In a clan below, a middle-aged man was stunned, his eyes wide and mouth hanging. Both of his legs were shaking. “This time… three ancestors have actually come in their true bodies!”

Still Shadow Sinking Jade, Daomaster Hiddenscent, had descended in her true form!

1. “The hooves of horses kept bound, and copper coins placed in the mouth to stay quiet”. Another one of those weird things. In ancient times, soldiers would suck on coins in their mouths and bind the hooves of their horses, so they would stay quiet during night raids.