In a corner, Xiao Chen, Jiang Li, and Shi Tou huddled in an abandoned house, listening to the sounds of queuing and shouting coming from outside, their expressions varied.
"See, what did I tell you?" Jiang Li enveloped her voice with spiritual power, her tone tinged with sarcasm. "These people aren't here to 'seek justice,' they're clearly here to seize territory. Whether the Xuantian Sect is destroyed or not is unimportant; what matters is whether they can get a share of the profits."
Xiao Chen nodded, his gaze sweeping over the cultivators outside who were rubbing their hands together in anticipation: "Therefore, we cannot be hasty. Their goal is profit, and they may not necessarily go all out; while our goal is the Xuan Tian Sect."
"But there are so many of them." Stone peered through a crack in the wall and saw a dense crowd of cultivators moving about the camp, with colorful flags waving. At a rough estimate, there were nearly ten thousand of them. "Won't it be quite a spectacle if they start fighting?"
"It's bound to be lively, but also dangerous," Xiao Chen said in a deep voice. "The various forces all have their own agendas, and fighting will only make things more chaotic. By blending in, we can take the opportunity to get closer to Xuantian City and see what Zhao Feng is really like."
Just then, the sound of a bugle call to assemble came from outside.
The members of the Southern Region's Pan Shi family had already lined up, their black iron armor gleaming coldly in the moonlight. At the command of their patriarch, they marched in a grand procession toward Xuan Tian City. The members of the Central Region's Loose Cultivator Alliance followed closely behind, their ranks loose yet numerous. The monks of the Western Region's Buddhist sect brought up the rear, their robes fluttering, making them appear as if they were there to perform a ritual. There were also cultivators from the Eastern Region.
"Let's go, follow me." Xiao Chen shouted in a low voice. With the concealment formation in place, he wasn't worried about being discovered at all.
The three mingled with the group of rogue cultivators, moving forward with the flow of people. Their auras were suppressed to the Nascent Soul stage, and they wore the most ordinary gray cloth clothes, looking like three inconspicuous rogue cultivators; no one noticed them.
Ahead of the procession, the outline of Xuantian City was already faintly visible. Black flags fluttered atop the city walls, and the character "Xuan" could be vaguely seen on them. The city walls were covered with archers and cultivators, clearly indicating that they had been prepared for a long time.
Inside the Xuantian Sect, Zhao Feng stood on the high platform of the City Lord's Mansion, looking at the approaching crowd in the distance. There was no tension in his eyes under his black robe, but rather a hint of excitement.
"Perfect timing." He muttered to himself, his fingertips brushing against the storage pouch at his waist, where several ancient magical artifacts he had brought from the secret realm's bone mound were hidden. "I'll use your blood to pave the way for my return."
Below the city, the forces of various factions halted a short distance away, facing the Xuan Tian Sect cultivators atop the city walls. The air was thick with tension, as if swords were about to be drawn.
The Southern Region's Rock Ancestor stepped forward, his voice booming like a bell: "Xuantian Sect, if you know what's good for you, open the city gates and hand over 30% of the Northern Region's resources, and we might spare your lives!"
From the city wall, Zhao Feng's voice rang out, cold and clear: "If you want to fight, then attack. There's no point in saying more."
As soon as the words were spoken, the catapults on the city wall slowly rose, their dark muzzles aimed at the troops below.
Beneath Xuantian City, the tense atmosphere was almost tangible.
The black iron armor of the cultivators from the Southern Region reflected the morning light, the magical artifacts of the rogue cultivators from the Central Region hummed in their hands, and the chanting of Buddhist prayers by the monks from the Western Region concealed vigilance—tens of thousands of cultivators lined up below the city, facing off against the Xuan Tian Sect forces on the city walls, waiting for a single command to unleash a bloodbath.
Xiao Chen lightly touched the runes of the concealment formation with his fingertip, lowering his aura even further. He nudged Jiang Li beside him with his elbow, then gave Shi Tou a look. Under the cover of the crowd, the three of them quietly retreated, disappearing into the back.
"Senior brother, are you really not going to go first?" Shi Tou lowered his voice, his eyes still fixed on the troops below the city, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked. He was really itching for a fight, especially seeing so many cultivators gathered together; he couldn't wait to rush up and have a good fight.
"What's the rush?" Jiang Li rolled her eyes at him, only revealing her bright eyes. "Haven't you heard of 'when two birds fight, a third party benefits'? Let them fight first, until they're both badly injured, then we'll go and settle accounts with Zhao Feng. It'll save us the trouble."
Xiao Chen leaned against the corner of the wall, his gaze sweeping over the black-robed figure on the city wall, and said in a low voice, "Zhao Feng is acting strangely. Look at him standing there, his aura is strangely steady, not like the tension of someone about to fight, but more like... watching a play."
The three stopped speaking and simply observed silently. The concealment formation operated without a sound, and even when cultivators passed by, they were treated as three ordinary rogue cultivators huddled in a corner, paying them no heed.
On the city wall, Zhao Lie stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the dense crowd below, his brows slightly furrowed. He recalled the battle in the Central Region, the loss of several Tribulation Transcending Elders by the Xuan Tian Sect, and still felt lingering fear—if they hadn't lost their elite forces back then, how could they be trapped beneath the city walls by these people today?
But when his gaze fell on Zhao Feng beside him, his brows slowly relaxed.
The current Zhao Feng is completely different from the one before.
Although Zhao Feng was once considered a prodigy, he was arrogant and easily agitated, like a son of a noble family. But now, shrouded in black robes, he is silent and reserved, yet his eyes hold a coldness that seems to have seen through the world, as if no matter how big the situation, it cannot stir up any waves in his heart.
"Feng'er, the enemy outnumbers us. When the fight starts, remember not to underestimate them," Zhao Lie said in a deep voice, his tone carrying a fatherly concern.
Zhao Feng nodded slightly without turning around: "Father, rest assured."
His gaze fell on the Southern Region troops at the forefront of the city, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips—these people were nothing more than stepping stones on his path back to the top.
"Damn it, what are you dawdling for!"
A loud shout shattered the silence of the standoff.
From within the ranks of the rogue cultivators of the Central Region, a burly figure soared into the sky and landed on the open ground between the two armies. This man was shirtless, his bronze skin covered with scars, and he wielded a giant axe. He was none other than Tiger Hill, a rogue cultivator from the Central Region known for his violent temper.
"I am Tiger Hill, early stage of Tribulation Transcending!" Tiger Hill swung his giant axe, the force of the blade whipping up dust from the ground. "You from the Xuan Tian Sect, dare to come out and fight me one-on-one? Beat me first, then we'll talk about the rest!"
A burst of laughter immediately erupted from below the city walls.
"Boss Tiger is still in such a hurry!"
"They're trying to steal the credit!"
"Does the Xuantian Sect dare to accept?"
All the factions were watching with a spectator's mentality—it would be great if someone was willing to test the waters first. If they won, they could dampen the Xuan Tian Sect's arrogance; if they lost, it wouldn't affect them personally.
On the city wall, Zhao Feng glanced at Tiger Hill, then at the elders behind him, and finally pointed to a middle-aged cultivator with a resolute face: "Elder Wang, you go."
Elder Wang was taken aback, then bowed and accepted the order: "Yes, Young Sect Master!" He was also in the early stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm, comparable to Hu Qiu, but his aura was slightly more restrained.
Just as Elder Wang was about to leap off the city wall, Zhao Feng suddenly handed him a small jade bottle: "Take this."
"What is this?" Elder Wang took the jade bottle and felt that the pills inside were emitting a violent spiritual energy fluctuation.
"Berserk Pill," Zhao Feng said calmly. "If you can't win, just take it."
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