The group confronting Lucia scattered. Their bonds with each other don’t seem that close. Perhaps they understand the mission is greater than their lives. As long as one of them survives and obtains the inheritance from Bloodmoon, they’ll be revered as heroes. It might be nearly impossible for one of them to compete against the six other sects by themselves, but if Lucia captures them all, their chances drop to zero. Well, it’s impossible for them now since I’ve disabled them all with my formations. They’re surprisingly weak to illusions. After experiencing one, they go into a daze for a few seconds; it’s enough time for me to lock a choker around their neck. Along with every illusion formation, there’s a beast-creating formation. They’re designed to pick up chokers, which are located in hidden places throughout the city, and place them around their targets’ necks.

“Auntie Ilya, this person is strange.” Sophia pointed at the lower left-hand corner of the wall. “He went inside the building, and now he’s cooking a meal.”

Who? Interesting. He doesn’t belong to my forces since he’s not sporting the Righteous Holy Sect’s sect token, but it doesn’t look like he belongs to any of the other sects either. He’s injured beyond the point of recognition, and he’s wearing tattered animal furs with copious bloodstains on them. There’s a bow strapped across his back. Is he a hunter? The seven great sects should’ve been guarding the entrance to the Immortal Continent; an outsider like him couldn’t have entered. As for what he’s doing, he’s, as Sophia pointed out, cooking a meal.

Mrs. Feathers squawked and flapped her wings twice. “Are those my phoenix flames?”

“Yeah.” On occasion, I have Mrs. Feathers blow some phoenix flames into a special jar. Phoenix flames, although not as precious as phoenix feathers, are very useful for creating fire-based formations. I can suppress the flames and hide them away, only having them released once someone triggers the formation. This man activated the formation, saw there were phoenix flames, and placed down a massive pot of stew at the hottest part. He’s sitting within the phoenix flames as well, but they don’t seem to be bothering him. His animal furs aren’t burning either. Who the hell is this guy? Is he an immortal? I don’t think the seven great sects would let an immortal from one sect in without inviting another six to represent their own.

“Principal Pentorn. We failed. We killed them all, but the quasi-immortal held on for an instant and managed to alert his sect members.”

It seems like Elder Bing and the group of five hundred couldn’t wipe them out in a single instant. “That’s alright.” Even if they’ve been alerted, the seven sects are still separated by a decent distance. Since teleporting is forbidden, it’ll take a while for them to group up. I reckon Elder Bing’s group can take out three or four more clusters of people before they can reunite with their sect. “I’ve sent you a location on your map. Head there at your fastest speed and intercept the group you encounter.”

“Auntie Ilya, look!” Sophia pointed at the lower left-hand corner of the wall again. “The man’s pot is so small, but he’s pulling out so much food!”

I followed Sophia’s finger. The hunter’s room was packed with large animal bones. The pot acted like an interspacial ring, holding things much larger than the exterior would suggest. I bet Lucia would love it; it looks like there’s formations inside of it that allow the food to be evenly cooked. This hunter is a lot like Lucia. Which other cultivator eats food? However, his body didn’t have regenerative properties similar to Lucia’s since his face was disfigured by injuries, but it looks like his injuries are healing with every bite he takes. His face is becoming clear. Isn’t that…? “Fuck.”

Softie shouted before I had even finished my word, “Language!”

“What is it?” Mrs. Feathers asked. “Do you recognize him?”

“That’s an immortal.” Although there were very few encounters with him, Fairy Lin had a deep impression of this man—mainly because he’s a creep. “His name is Kuang Feng; he’s one of Fairy Lin’s pursuers. If I had to take a guess, he was injured after barging through the seven great sects’ blockade.”

“An immortal!?” Softie’s eyes widened. “What do we do?”

“That’s a good question. The answer depends on how Lucia reacts to him.” Luckily, Lucia’s tail is a built-in danger detector. “He’s injured, and if we’re lucky, he’ll be about as weak as Bloodmoon or Fairy Lin. If Lucia can defeat Kuang Feng, that’ll be for the best. Everything will proceed smoothly after that.”

Softie bit her lower lip. “What if she can’t defeat him?”

I had a backup plan set for the appearance of immortals. “Then I’ll have to call Lucia into the watchtower and activate plan B.”

“Plan B? What’s plan B?” Softie frowned. “Can it take care of an immortal?”

“Well, this city is on a mountain range, and underneath the mountain range, there’s a pretty large spirit vein. I’m going to detonate it.”

“Holy crap! You’re insane!” Mrs. Feathers squawked again and flapped her wings. “That’ll kill everyone here!”

“Don’t worry.” Since I made this plan, obviously it’ll be safe. “I reinforced the watchtower, specifically the bottom. If you haven’t noticed, the tower is designed like an arrow. The force from the explosion should theoretically push us upwards and launch us out of here instead of incinerating us into ashes.”

“Theoretically? Theoretically!?” Softie grabbed my shoulders. “What if your theory is wrong!?”

Didn’t I make it obvious? “We incinerate.”

“You—!” Softie’s hands clenched hard before releasing me. She took in a deep breath. “The tower isn’t very large. How are we going to fit Elder Bing’s group?”

“We don’t. We’ll trade five hundred people in exchange for an immortal’s life. I bet they’ll be honored for partaking in an immortal’s demise.”

Softie stared at me. “Do you feel nothing when you say those words?”

I invested a decent amount into those group of people. Once they die, the explosion will likely claim their items, interspacial rings too. All those resources, gone. Not to mention the war effort will likely slow by at least twenty percent, and the schools will be setback since it’ll be losing some teachers. “It’s a pity, truly. I really don’t want to do it, but unless Lucia can defeat Kuang Feng, it’s the only way.”

Thunk.

“Ah, Ri!”

Ri just fainted again. I didn’t even notice her wake up.