Chapter 322: Book Eight: I Owe Yulan City Nothing

One of the buildings in the Elixir Tower complex belonged solely to Luo Feng.

“Whoa.”

As Luo Feng entered the still chamber, his body naturally split, leaving behind his strongest avatar to guard the entrance. This strongest avatar carried the two great treasures: the Indestructible Heart and the Palm Realm.

After eons of cultivation, Luo Feng’s energy reserves had grown immensely, with ample reserves stored in both his cave dwelling and the Elixir Tower.

“No disturbances are permitted during the consumption of treasures.”

Inside the still chamber.

Luo Feng sat cross-legged, flipped his hand, and retrieved the Hundred Trials Heart Core.

“The Hundred Trials Heart Core—I’ve never consumed anything so extraordinary.” Luo Feng knew well its miraculous nature; according to intelligence, once ingested, one’s soul would endure repeated life-and-death trials, excruciatingly painful.

The agony arose because the soul’s thought speed and comprehension were forcibly elevated to an extreme level, overwhelming the soul itself.

“Come.”

“I hope my Path of Birth and Death reaches ‘Divine Emperor Late Stage’ as soon as possible—faster, the better.” Luo Feng opened the crystal jade and drew in gently; the purple-gold liquid sealed within immediately flew into his mouth.

Upon entry, it was slightly cool, and its flavor could be called a supreme delicacy, making his soul tremble with an insatiable longing to absorb it.

Once inside his body, the Hundred Trials Heart Core was swiftly absorbed by his soul.

“Boom—”

Immediately after absorption, Luo Feng felt intense pain.

Hum!

His thought speed surged, each instant now processing three thousand times the information he normally could.

His comprehension also reached an extreme level—but such overwhelming strain made his soul endure trial after trial, hence the name “Hundred Trials.”

“According to my original plan, gradual contemplation and accumulated breakthrough would be the best choice,” Luo Feng thought, “but that would mean watching helplessly as hundreds of millions of cultivators die.”

Luo Feng could not do it.

To pursue the “optimal” cultivation result, would he stand by coldly as hundreds of millions of cultivators perished? A demon lord might watch calmly, even smile as others died.

But Luo Feng, throughout his cultivation path, had always preferred imperfection in cultivation over betraying his inner conscience.

“I have consumed the treasure, hoping for swift breakthrough.”

“But war has erupted! With the speed at which cultivators and low-level Hunyuan lifeforms are clashing, the war may end within a single day.”

“Can I break through in one day?”

Luo Feng had no certainty.

No matter how powerful the auxiliary treasure, none could guarantee breakthrough within a day.

“I will give my utmost. The rest—I leave to fate.” Luo Feng closed his eyes and plunged fully into contemplating the Path of Birth and Death.

His avatar on the Origin Continent, meanwhile, used the Eye of Birth and Death to observe the Hunyuan bloodlines, desperately seeking how to perfect the Path of Birth and Death to Divine Emperor Late Stage.

……

Luo Feng had entered emergency seclusion, while the Lords and Elders of Yulan City worked furiously to control the arrays, hundreds of arrays coordinating to repel the assaults from outside the city!

“Our investigation into hidden infiltrators forced the low-level Hunyuan lifeforms to launch prematurely. Their forces outside are not numerous—they’re still far from exceeding Yulan City’s endurance limit,” Lord Yuanxiang transmitted to each Elder.

The Elders understood well.

To breach Yulan City by direct external assault? The required force was too immense.

“Our greatest threat is these hidden infiltrators,” Lord Yuanxiang transmitted. “Lord Gaitao, lead the 92 Elders of the Star Array to jointly hunt them down. The rest of us will hold back the external attacks.”

“Understood.” Lord Gaitao responded immediately.

“We will assist Lord Gaitao.”

At that moment, Lord Gaitao and the 92 Elders ignored the outside world entirely, coordinating perfectly. Countless brilliant stars emerged above Yulan City within the array, each radiating terrifying power, precisely positioned directly above the King and his group of leaders.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Ultra-Limit Mindworms and their group of leaders, after leaving Lord Wei Yang’s cave, were racing straight toward Lord Gaitao’s cave.

Since Lord Yuanxiang’s soul was corrupted, his threat level was negligible. If they first eliminated Lord Wei Yang and Lord Gaitao, they would have won half the war.

“Kill!”

Lord Gaitao’s eyes were icy. Though his array expertise was slightly inferior to Lord Wei Yang’s, as a Master Artificer, his array knowledge was still exceptional. Under his command, the 92 Elders moved in flawless unison.

Brilliant stars descended from the sky like meteors.

“Shiiii!” “Shiiii!” “Shiiii!” “Shiiii!” “Shiiii!” “Shiiii!”

Each star moved with exquisite precision, tracing arcs to lock onto each of the leader-level infiltrators—deliberately avoiding the King, targeting each leader individually.

“Hmm?”

The King and the 23 leaders behind him sensed the terrifying stars arriving in an instant.

“Block them!”

The King even took direct action, his palm intercepting six stars at once. He currently inhabited Lord Wei Yang’s body, whose form was sturdy enough to withstand six stars—only sustaining damage that vanished rapidly.

“Stop them!”

“There are too many!” The other 23 leaders tried desperately to block, but under the relentless barrage of hundreds of stars, their defenses collapsed; they could only endure the blows with their bodies.

The Star Array inherently harmed soul-based lifeforms.

“No—”

As countless stars rained down, the King and all the leaders bore wounds; one leader’s true form was obliterated outright, dying on the spot.

“One leader dead.” The others were shaken.

“The external threat was underestimated—Yulan City’s Elders could organize large arrays against us,” the King realized. Of over three hundred Elders, only Lord Gaitao remained fully intact. The Star Array mobilized one Lord and ninety-two Elders… reducing Yulan City’s external defense by at least half!

Even with half its defense, it still held firm against the external assault!

Had the external forces reached their ideal state and launched a furious siege, the Elders could only sporadically use arrays to eliminate infiltrators—making the infiltrators’ movements far easier.

“All hidden infiltrators, activate,” the King transmitted across the city, his voice echoing in the minds of every low-level Hunyuan lifeform concealed within, “follow the plan and assassinate the Elders.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Responses came from every corner of the city.

Instantly, the Mindworm Clan and the Soul-Eating Serpent Clan mobilized roughly half their core members across all thirty-five branches of the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm.

Among them, 355 were Late-Stage Divine Emperors. Including true bodies and avatars, these core members inhabited thousands of cultivators.

The leaders’ own avatars numbered several hundred more.

As for mid- and low-tier members, unaware of the plan, their true bodies never entered the city—only their avatars did. These mid- and low-tier members were naturally even more fearless.

“Kill.”

“Kill.”

Hidden squads erupted across the city; from afar, tens of thousands of cultivators could be seen—causing the Elders managing Yulan City’s defense to grow grim.

“Our mission: kill Elder Qiuge.” A squad of ten leader avatars, eight Late-Stage Divine Emperor true bodies, and over a hundred avatars surged toward the nearest Elder Qiuge’s cave.

They had hidden here precisely because of their proximity to Elder Qiuge.

“Our mission: kill Elder Tianhe.” Another infiltrator squad, likewise led by ten leader avatars, moved out.

These infiltrator squads fell into two types.

One type: ten leader avatars leading a strike against a specific Elder.

The other: decoys, composed of mid- and low-tier clan members.

From the surface alone, the Elders could not distinguish strong squads from weak ones—since all members inhabited cultivator bodies.

“Lord Gaitao, use the Star Array to simultaneously strike every infiltrator squad,” Lord Yuanxiang ordered immediately.

“Understood.” Lord Gaitao and the Elders responded.

Boom boom boom~~~~

Thousands of stars immediately coalesced above Yulan City—though their numbers surged, their individual power plummeted.

“Kill!”

Lord Gaitao and the 92 Elders radiated lethal intent.

Shiiii shiiii shiiii—like a meteor shower, ten thousand stars fell, each targeting a different squad!

The decoy squads, composed of mid- and low-tier clan members, were decimated in a single strike—over half destroyed. The elite squads led by multiple leader avatars, however, withstood the star assault.

“Kill—”

Lord Gaitao’s face remained expressionless as he activated the Star Array for a second wave.

In this second wave, the mid- and low-tier squads were utterly annihilated. Only thirty-nine elite squads remained intact.

“The rest is yours,” Lord Gaitao suddenly transmitted to the Elders. “I, Gaitao, have forged weapons in Yulan City for years. Today, I depart.”

“What?”

“Gaitao!”

The Elders, already fully occupied, were stunned.

“How can you do this?”

“Brother Gaitao! You are a powerhouse from the Source World—this is merely an avatar! You could fight to the death. As a Lord, how can you abandon us at this critical moment?”

“Gaitao!” Each Elder cried out in desperation.

Lord Gaitao was vital. In open battle, one Lord equaled twenty to thirty Elders. But during array deployment, his role was even greater—his departure would drastically weaken Yulan City’s defense and response capability.

“Look clearly! An Ultra-Limit infiltrator, leading over twenty leader true bodies, is heading straight for my cave. They’re almost here.”

“I, Gaitao, have lived in Yulan City solely to forge. I sought no resources, no benefits. Since I took nothing, I owe Yulan City nothing.”

“I have forged countless weapons and treasures here—they must not be damaged.”

“Elders, in my time here, I have never owed Yulan City a thing.”

Zip!

Just as Wang and the twenty leaders under his command were mere breaths away from reaching the Gaotao Mansion, the Gaotao Lord suddenly soared into the sky, riding a vessel laden with the vast array of weapons and arcane treasures he had painstakingly forged.

As Lord of the Hall, the high-altitude array did not block him; his vessel vanished from Yulan City in an instant.

Whoosh.

The moment he exited the city, the vessel vanished—and reappeared billions of kilometers away. Clearly, the Gaotao Lord had spared no cost to use an escape artifact.

Within the Jiuhe Sacred Realm, “spatial teleportation” was nearly impossible. But as a master armorer, Gaotao had long ago purchased such an escape artifact in the Dark Sacred Realm.

“Hmm?” From among the low-level Hunyuan life troops outside the city, a blue-and-white figure gazed toward the direction of Gaotao’s escape.

“Shadow, should I pursue and kill the Gaotao Lord?” the blue-and-white figure transmitted remotely.

“Ignore him. With him gone, our task will be much easier.” The Wang, wearing the appearance of the “Wei Yang Lord,” looked up and smiled.

The Gaotao Lord had several clones scattered throughout the city; hunting them down for assassination or resistance would be no easy task for the infiltrators.

Yet this mansion was also a crucial armory! Under Gaotao’s leadership, a group of Elders had long labored here, forging countless weapons and arcane treasures.

“Gaotao’s nature—he can abandon his clones, but he would never forsake his weapons and arcane treasures.”

“Just as I predicted—everything went smoothly. A slight pressure, and he fled on his own.” Wang smiled faintly. “Now, it’s time to find the Yuanxiang Lord.”

…

At this moment, the Yuanxiang Lord and over three hundred Elders within Yulan City were filled with dread.

Gaotao’s desertion at this critical moment had a devastating impact.

Of the two Lords—one dead, one fled. Only the Yuanxiang Lord remained.

“Has it come to this?” The Yuanxiang Lord felt utterly powerless. He knew his condition well—his mental energy was now consumed mostly by resisting corruption, barely enough to control the arrays. To fight a “Superlimit-class Low-level Hunyuan Life”? It was impossible.

(End of Chapter)