"Lord Tie isn"t lying to us, is he? The human cultivator who killed Lord Li"s trio just so happens to be in Heavenlean City? Is he saying this to make us join their attack against Heavenlean City? I"ve heard that this city is an extremely difficult nut to crack, unlike the other human settlements we"ve destroyed in the past," a pink-robed beauty said in a concerned manner.
Her companion was a silver-robed middle-aged man, and he shook his head in response. "Rest a.s.sured, Lord Li is a borrowed devilish lord, and he has quite an uncouth personality, but he definitely wouldn"t lie about something like this. After all, this is a task handed down by Master Xue Guang himself; there"s no way he would risk invoking the wrath of Master Xue Guang. Besides, if that human cultivator really is in Heavenlean City, then there"s no harm in lending them our power to attack the city."
"That"s true. We did manage to find the place where Lord Li"s trio was killed quite quickly, but the entire battlefield had been cleaned up, so we weren"t able to find any useful leads. It really is quite fortunate for us that we"ve received some information here. At the very least, we"ll be able to answer to Master Xue Guang," the woman sighed in a resigned manner.
"Indeed. I would be very fearful of the consequences that await us if we return without the item that Master Xue Guang is searching for. Alright, now that we have a solid lead, we have to prepare for a grueling battle now. Those human cultivators were able to kill Lord Li"s trio, so even with the treasures that Master Xue Guang entrusted to us, we"ll have to tread with caution. On top of that, those people are hiding in Heavenlean City; it"ll most likely take a lot of effort to force them out of the city," the middle-aged man said as a cold look flashed through his eyes.
"Hmph, Lord Tie wishes to use our power to attack Heavenlean City, so he"ll naturally be responsible for that. If he can"t even do something so simple, then he has no right to join forces with us. Our only task is to kill the perpetrators behind the deaths of Lord Li"s trio, and to recover the item that Master Xue Guang is searching for," the woman said in a proud manner.
"Hehe, don"t underestimate Lord Li and the others. Lord Li himself is at the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage, and he"s only one step away from becoming a Sacred Ancestor. Fei Ya is still quite young, but as a direct lineal descendent of Sacred Ancestor Xue Tian he possesses powerful glacial abilities, it"s said that even Master Xue Tian himself once praised his powers. On top of that, that Fairy Yu is a descendent of Sacred Ancestor Ming Luo as well, so she should definitely have a couple of powerful trump cards up her sleeve. The weakest one among them is most likely only Lord Yan." The middle-aged man seemed to have a very detailed understanding of the devilish lords that were attacking Heavenlean City.
"That"s true. They want to borrow our power, so why don"t we do the same. Let"s get down there; I"m sure they"ve already sensed our arrival," the woman chuckled.
Almost as soon as her voice trailed off, the black devilish clouds above the valley abruptly surged, following which groups of black-armored cavaliers emerged amid a burst of loud drumming.
These cavaliers were led by a black-armored elderly man, who was standing in mid-air with a hint of a smile on his face.
Behind him stood Fei Ya, Fairy Yu, and Lord Yan.
Fairy Yu wore a faint smile on her face, while Fei Ya was still as expressionless as ever.
"Thank you for your hard work, fellow Daoists; you"ve arrived far sooner than I antic.i.p.ated," Tie Long chuckled as he cupped his fist in a salute from afar.
"We came as quickly as we could after receiving the news; it seems like we weren"t too late," the woman said with a smile.
"Haha, indeed, you"re here just in time; it won"t be long until we launch our attack against Heavenlean City. Let"s go down into the valley before we discuss anything further," Tie Long said as he made an inviting hand gesture.
"Sure, we were also wanting to ask you how you"re so certain that the person we"re looking for is in Heavenlean City," the middle-aged man replied with a smile.
The two giant black birds then flew down into the valley with the flying carriage in tow, and the four devilish lords followed along behind them.
After that, the six devilish lords and a group of high-grade devilish beings gathered in a hall within the valley and held a discussion for over half a day, and when the devilish lords emerged from the hall, they all seemed to be extremely pleased.
...
Around half a month flew by in a flash, and Han Li was just meditating in his secret chamber when he suddenly heard a flurry of cries of surprise outside.
He immediately opened his eyes before standing up and making his way over to the window. As he did so, he swept a sleeve through the air, and the window opened on its own.
Han Li only took a quick glance outside before his expression abruptly changed, and he flew out of the room as a streak of azure light. After just a few flashes, he was several thousand feet in the air, and he looked up even further to find that a grey mark had appeared on the edge of one of the seven suns in the sky, and the grey color was gradually spreading to the center of that sun.
It was as if someone were slowly covering the sun with their hand.
Everyone down below was looking up at the phenomenon taking place up above with panicked expressions.
Even though the higher-ups of Heavenlean City had done everything they could do to keep this a secret, news that the formation would be rendered defunct on the day when the five suns transitioned into moons still inevitably spread through the city, causing a lot of panic.
The remaining two Body Integration cultivators of the four sects had come forward in person to rea.s.sure everyone with a series of promises, but even so, everyone in the city still couldn"t help but panic at the arrival of this phenomenon.
Right at this moment, the toll of a bell rang out across Heavenlean City, and a series of high-grade cultivators from the four sects flew out of various different buildings. At the same time, groups of armored cultivators and warriors also spilled out onto the streets.
They patrolled both the air and the ground, and the atmosphere in Heavenlean City instantly became very tense.
Instead of being further alarmed by this, the panicked individuals on the street became calmer at the sight of these patrolling cultivators and warriors, and they all returned to their homes.
In a matter of minutes, all of the streets in the city were cleared of civilians, and a deathly silence ensued.
Han Li paid no heed to everything that was going on around him, and merely inspected the phenomenon unfolding up above in silence.
After a while, when the entire sun had turned grey, Han Li finally turned and flew toward a certain ma.s.sive hall in the city as a streak of azure light.
Heavenlean City was an enormous city, but thankfully, the pavilion that he was staying in wasn"t far from the hall where important conferences were supposed to take place.
Thus, it only took just over two hours for Han Li to reach the hall.
"You"re a little late, Brother Han!" A gentle chuckle rang out from the entrance of the hall, following which an elegant figure wearing a silver mask emerged.
It was none other than Fairy Silver Light.
"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Silver Light, I was inspecting the situation in the city for a while, so I was slightly delayed. It seems that Fairy Lin and Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon have done a good job to keep the situation under control," Han Li replied in a calm voice.
"Of course. Sister Lin and Master Azure Dragon are both veteran Body Integration cultivators and grand elders of the four major sects; it"s naturally no difficult task for them to take care of these matters. The suns are already beginning to transition into moons, so the devilish army will most likely arrive soon. You are going to be the most powerful being in the city, so do take care of yourself, Brother Han," Fairy Silver Light cautioned in a solemn voice as her smile faded.
Han Li was rather surprised to see the genuine look in Fairy Silver Light"s eyes, and he smiled as he replied, "Thank you for your words of caution, Fellow Daoist, but to say that I"m the most powerful being in the city is an exaggeration. Fairy Lin Luan and Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon"s powers are not inferior to mine."
"Sister Lin and Master Azure Dragon are unaware of your true power. Otherwise..."
Just as Fairy Silver Light and Han Li were conversing with one another, Master Azure Dragon"s voice rang out from inside the hall, and it was tinged with a hint of stress. "Fellow Daoists, please come and join us in the hall. I"ve just received news that the devilish army has been mobilized, and will arrive at our city soon."
Han Li didn"t want to continue with the previous conversation anyway, so he said, "Let"s not keep Fairy Lin and Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon waiting, then, Fellow Daoist Silver Light."
"Alright, let"s go in, Brother Han," Fairy Silver Light agreed with a nod.
Thus, the two of them strode into the hall together.
At present, the entire hall was packed to the rafters with over 100 Spatial Tempering cultivators present, as well as hundreds of armored guards that were standing around the hall in a stationary manner.
At one end of the hall were four chairs, two of which were slightly more elevated than the other two. At the center of the hall was a giant light screen, and the image in the light screen depicted a rather familiar-looking city in a great level of detail.
There were currently clouds of black Qi that were inching toward the city from all directions.