After learning the exact locations of Huoyun City and Qingmang Mountain from Xi San and Shui Sheng, Shen Gui sent them back.
With the intelligence in hand, he still needed to carefully consider what to do next.
In principle, following the idea that an enemy's enemy was a friend, Qingmang Mountain seemed like a good partner if he wanted to strike at Huoyun City. However, the person he had killed back then had happened to be from Qingmang Mountain, so Shen Gui had no choice but to give the matter further thought.
Yet Shen Gui did not know that while he was considering his next move, someone had already made a move against Huoyun City.
Huoyun City.
Torrential rain poured down like a waterfall, shrouding the entire Huoyun City.
Within the endless curtain of rain, a one-legged Divine Bird with brilliantly colored feathers flew back and forth. Its graceful form resembled that of a fairy dancing lightly through the air.
Yet to the demons of Huoyun City, this exquisite dance held no beauty whatsoever. In their eyes, that peerless figure was more like a death-bringing devil.
As one of the cities on the frontier, Huoyun City was guarded by a full million demon soldiers and a Demon General in the early Taiyi realm, sent by the Demon Country. Yet just moments ago, when the rain had first begun and before the city's protective formation could be activated, over a hundred thousand demon soldiers had melted away in the downpour, leaving not even bones behind.
Now, although the city-protecting formation had been activated, anyone with even a little discernment could see that under the erosion of the water laws within the rain, the formation's failure was only a matter of time.
And once the formation failed, among the several hundred thousand demon soldiers remaining in Huoyun City, probably only a handful would survive this rain infused with the water laws.
Atop Huoyun City's walls.
A middle-aged man with a bald crown, long fiery-red hair hanging loose around his shoulders, and a face covered in lumps stood watching the Divine Bird amid the rain.
He was the Demon General sent by the Demon Country to guard Huoyun City—the Huoyun Toad of the early Taiyi realm.
As he watched the Divine Bird darting through the rain and unleashing the downpour without restraint, a flash of anger passed through Huoyun's eyes.
Others might not recognize that Divine Bird, but there was no way he could fail to recognize it.
The master of Qingmang Mountain, Shang Yang.
Back when he had been hunting down the surviving remnants of the Qingniao Clan, this Shang Yang Divine Bird had forced him back.
At the time, Shang Yang had only been at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm, yet those strange and unpredictable water laws had rendered his greatest reliance, his Natal True Fire, completely useless. As a result, he, a dignified early Taiyi expert, had ultimately allowed a peak Golden Immortal to rescue the remnants of the Qingniao Clan from his hands.
And now, he could sense that the Shang Yang Divine Bird in the sky was no longer at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm.
The aura emanating from Shang Yang at this moment was clearly that of an early Taiyi expert, just like him.
But even when Shang Yang had been at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm, he had already been faintly outmatched. Now that Shang Yang had broken through to the early Taiyi realm, he was even less likely to be a match.
However, as a general of the Demon Country, sometimes he could not simply refuse to fight because he was unable to win.
Taking a deep breath, Huoyun gathered his magic power and shouted, "Shang Yang, you have surrounded Huoyun City with rain for no reason and harmed the soldiers under my command. What do you intend to do?"
Hearing this, the Shang Yang Divine Bird that had been dancing through the rain turned to look at Huoyun. A scornful sneer flashed through its eyes. "What do I intend to do? When you slaughtered the Qingniao Clan and seized this city by force, did anyone ask what you intended to do? Today, I will bathe this city in blood to honor the Qingniao Clan."
Although he had vaguely guessed Shang Yang's intentions already, when Shang Yang truly voiced them, Huoyun could not help but feel shocked and enraged. "Shang Yang, if you dare do this, you will become an enemy of the Demon Country!"
"So what?" Shang Yang sneered. "Since Di Jun and Tai Yi established the Demon Country, they have expanded in every direction. Countless powers across Southern Jambudvipa have fallen at the Demon Country's hands. You have always followed the creed that those who submit prosper while those who resist perish; your wolfish ambitions are plain for all to see. Do you think that if I do not slaughter this city today, you will spare Qingmang Mountain in the future? Since that is the case, why should I not strike first?"
"Insolence! How dare a mere Taiyi like you insult the names of the two Your Majesties?"
Though he knew full well that he was no match for Shang Yang, upon hearing Shang Yang mention Di Jun and Tai Yi, Huoyun still could not help but roar in fury as he flew out of the city.
Opening his mouth, he spewed forth his Natal True Fire, which transformed into a sky full of blazing clouds and surged toward Shang Yang.
However, beneath this endless rain curtain, this was Shang Yang's domain. Though Huoyun was at the same level as Shang Yang, he had already been unable to defeat Shang Yang when Shang Yang was at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm. Now that Shang Yang had broken through to Taiyi, how could he possibly prevail?
The seemingly boundless sea of fire clouds was suppressed by layer upon layer of rain, and more than half of it melted away before it could even draw near.
At the sight, a deep sense of powerlessness rose in Huoyun's heart.
Before Shang Yang, his Natal True Fire was utterly useless.
Watching Huoyun charge toward it, Shang Yang gave a cold laugh. "Fool. If you had stayed inside the city and relied on the formation for defense, perhaps you could have held on for a few more days. But you chose to rush out of the city yourself. You are simply courting death!"
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