Shattering Dry Leaves and Rotten Wood

Purgatory Sect.

Lu Zhanxian listened to the report from Sect Master Lu Dengxian, his expression full of surprise.

"Lingxiao City hasn't sent an invitation yet?"

"Yes."

Lu Dengxian nodded, his expression also carrying a strange look. "In the past half month, we have paid close attention to the intelligence from Lingxiao City. In the past few days, I have sent messages to Lu Zhanfeng many times to inquire about the movements of the Demon God's personal guards in Lingxiao City. As a result... in Yulong City, although the Demon God's personal guards in Jiangzhou have gathered and prepared some ships, they have no intention of setting off for Lizhou."

"Judging by the time, it's been almost half a month since the deadline set by the Gu Jinlai authorities, hasn't it? They said they wanted an explanation from Lizhou, but Lizhou ignored their ultimatum, and Lingxiao City hasn't responded at all? Aren't they... contradicting themselves?"

As Lu Zhanxian spoke, he turned his gaze to Liu Jingtao: "You have a good relationship with that Elder Gu. Has he informed you to go and watch the battle?"

No.

Liu Jingtao said, "I suspect... they might have been delayed by something?"

"Delay doesn't mean breaking your promise."

Zhang Liefeng laughed and said, "Gu Jinlai invited us to watch the battle at the banquet more than a month ago. Now, he's just stopped responding. What, did he realize that being separated by a sea means that even if he wanted to do something about Lizhou, he would have to pay a heavy price and he'd be stuck in a difficult situation?"

Lu Zhanxian remained silent.

However, Lu Dengxian said in a deep voice, "We cannot rule out this possibility. Not to mention that they are separated by hundreds of miles of sea, if Lingxiao City really attacks Lizhou, the twelve overseas islands will not be able to turn a blind eye. In the end, they will likely have to face not only the six Primordial Spirit True Lord of Lizhou, but also the twelve True Lord Island Lords of the twelve islands in the East Sea. That is the power of a full eighteen Primordial Spirit True Lord. No matter how powerful they are in Gu Jinlai, and even with the recent surrender of Cheng Lixue and Jing Yunshan, they will be helpless in the face of this terrifying power."

His words left Liu Jingtao speechless.

Eighteen Primordial Spirit True Lord!

If they can set up an array, even Celestial Person will be trapped and killed by them.

Although they possessed powerful trump cards capable of annihilating the Demonic Beasts King in one blow Gu Jinlai, they were ultimately not true Celestial Person, especially when facing overseas forces determined to fight to the death...

"This is getting interesting."

Zhang Liefeng smiled and said, "It seems that Lingxiao City is not as powerful as we imagined. Do you think he was bluffing before? Or perhaps he only has one trump card that he can use two or three times, and now he is reluctant to use it?"

Zhang Liefeng's words caused Lu Zhanxian's expression to change slightly.

But in the end he didn't say much.

"If Lingxiao City doesn't want to lose all its prestige, it will have no choice but to take action against Lizhou. Let's wait and see."

The Yellow Springs Sect and even the Cold Moon Sect share similar ideas.

Especially after learning that Lingxiao City remained unmoved even after the ultimatum had expired, Cold Moon Sect, the sect leader of Lengyue Sect, even considered whether it was too hasty to merge into Lingxiao City.

However, they did not reveal these thoughts. Instead, they sent Fang Yumin to inquire whether Lingxiao City needed the assistance of the Cold Moon Sect Primordial Spirit True Lord Lengyue Sect when attacking Lizhou, appearing to be full of concern.

The Purgatory Sect, the Cold Moon Sect, and the Yellow Springs Sect remained silent and observed the situation.

The atmosphere was noticeably more relaxed once we left the state.

The leaders of the Ouyang Aristocratic Clan, the Ding family, the Lü family, the Tianhai Gang, the Storm Gate, and the State Lord's Mansion gathered together again, many of them wearing amused smiles.

"We were almost intimidated by Lingxiao City. Fortunately, our families united as one, withstood the pressure, and made a strong stand against them, which prevented Lingxiao City from making any rash moves."

Ouyang Yue from the Ouyang Aristocratic Clan wore a faint smile.

"In my opinion, when Lingxiao City issued an ultimatum to our Lizhou, it was probably a decision made on a whim, something that Gu Jinlai."

Tianhai Gang leader Yuan Zhenhai sneered, "Or perhaps they think that by first defeating the Demonic Beasts that invaded Cold Moon Sect from Lanzhou, and then destroying Yellow Heaven Sect, annexing Huangzhou, and occupying the land of three states, this smooth sailing has made them lose their original rationality, which is why this farce has occurred. I want to see how Lingxiao City will end this."

"A lot of ships have gathered in Jiangzhou, which shows that Gu Jinlai originally intended to fight against our Lizhou. However, he spent several months gathering very few warships, which are nothing compared to our Lizhou navy. This made Gu Jinlai realize the problem. Now, it seems that sending troops is not an option, and not sending troops is also not an option."

Shen Aofeng smiled slightly, "We're in a bind now."

"Gentlemen, what do you think? Why don't we just land in Jiangzhou again, take advantage of the situation, and let Gu Jinlai understand our power? At the very least, we should make him cede Yulong City to us as a port connecting Lizhou to the inland."

Ouyang Yue said.

"Lingxiao City is not weak; we should be more cautious."

Ding Junshan of the Ding family remained cautious.

"Patriarch Ding, there's no need to belittle yourself. Lingxiao City is not weak, but are our East Sea forces weak? Don't forget, the Twelve Islands are also involved in this matter. They can't just stand by and do nothing. In other words, we have a full eighteen Primordial Spirit True Lord on our side! With all eighteen True Lord present, apart from those few divine weapon forces, we fear no one in the Qian Heaven Realm."

Ouyang Yue said confidently, "Besides, we're not trying to conquer Lingxiao City. We're just trying to show Lingxiao City how powerful we are and make them split off Yulong City."

"I think Patriarch Ouyang is right. Although Lingxiao City is not bad, it occupies the lands of Star Province, Jiangzhou, and Huangzhou. I don't believe that their neighbors, the Purgatory Sect, the Cold Moon Sect, and the Yellow Spring Sect, are not envious. Under their constraints, Lingxiao City can only mobilize limited forces. We in Lizhou only need to show enough strength. I think the importance of a mere Fish Dragon City can be distinguished from that of the Gu Jinlai."

Yuan Zhenhai Road.

Lei glanced at the leader of the Tianhai Gang.

Given this Chief Yuan's greed, if Lingxiao City agrees to cede Yulong City to Lizhou, it will undoubtedly expose their true nature of being all bark and no bite. At that time, he and Ouyang Yue and the others will definitely not miss the opportunity and will step by step close in.

Until they swallowed Jiangzhou whole, bite by bite.

But...

If Yuan Zhenhai and Ouyang Yue's plan goes smoothly, he, as the governor of Lizhou, will definitely get a share after swallowing Jiangzhou. Therefore, he naturally turns a blind eye to this matter.

After further discussion, the others joined in.

Before long, they had made their decision.

"Let's investigate in detail first to see if there are any traps. If we confirm that Lingxiao City does not have enough strength to fight us at sea, we will immediately gather our forces and take a detour outside Yulong City."

Ouyang Yue said, "For safety's sake, we won't leave the ship easily; we can just blockade the coast."

"Indeed, the Demon God Guards in Gu Jinlai's hands are indeed powerful. We may be at a disadvantage on land, but the ocean is our home ground. As long as we don't disembark, we are in an invincible position from the start. Then we can gradually invade and eventually force Gu Jinlai back down."

Yuan Zhenhai nodded.

The group discussed the matter and then ordered their men to infiltrate Jiangzhou, Huangzhou, and Star Province to investigate the specific naval distribution of Lingxiao City, in order to prevent Lingxiao City from feigning weakness to the enemy.

The restless anxieties of the Purgatory Sect, the Cold Moon Sect, the Yellow Springs Sect, as well as Lizhou and the Twelve Islands of the East Sea, have been anticipated Gu Jinlai.

However, he didn't really care.

He believed that as long as all eight modified Xuan Bird fighters could take off, all the demons and monsters would be obliterated by the electromagnetic railgun.

Therefore, all he had to do was wait for the Demon Realm Rift to open and complete the spirit sharing of the eight Xuan Bird fighters.

Soon, the ninth day arrived when the spatial ripples began to appear.

Seeing the visible spatial ripples constantly repelling the soil and water, Zhang Lihuo shouted in a deep voice, "Be careful, the Demon Realm Rift is about to open, Demonic Beasts are coming."

"Don't be nervous."

Gu Jinlai calm. "Speaking of which, Li Huo, you haven't tried piloting the Xuan Bird fighter jet yet, have you?"

"The True Spirit Possession is a special Divine Ability derived from the Great Sun Ninefold Refinement Visualization Method after it is perfected. Although I have recently accumulated strength and made a breakthrough due to the Great Sun Reshaping, and have cultivated to the seventh refinement perfection in one go, it will take at least ten or eight years to settle down before I can reach the ninth refinement perfection."

Zhang Li Fire Path.

"If you can't possess the body with your True Spirit, you can directly integrate into the Xuan Bird fighter jet by manifesting your True Spirit. Although you can only control one fighter jet, you can still experience the thrill of soaring through the sky at five or six times the speed of sound."

Gu Jinlai spoke with a smile, easing the tension of Zhang Lihuo, Si Tianyan, Zhang Yukun, and the others. He then said to them, "When you reach the Heavenly Lord level, you can also give it a try."

His description made Zhang Lihuo and the others eager to try.

However, Zhang Lihuo's rise to the Heavenly Lord was due to his accumulated experience and eventual breakthrough; for others to take this step...

It will take time and fortuitous opportunity.

"Buzz!"

At that moment, a violent collision suddenly occurred within the extremely powerful spatial ripples, followed by an inward collapse.

As the impact and collapse occurred, the spatial ripples gradually dissipated, but a large crack with a diameter of over twenty meters appeared in everyone's sight.

"This width..."

Zhang Lihuo's expression was solemn.

At the instant the spatial rift formed, a colossal body, so enormous that the rift itself seemed unable to contain it, squeezed and writhed as it struggled to emerge from it.

The sheer size of the object caused Zhang Lihuo and the others to change their expressions drastically.

Xiang Fengyun couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Disaster-level! It's a disaster-level Demonic Spirit!"

"Roar!"

The calamity-level Demonic Spirit, struggling to emerge from the spatial rift, let out a silent roar, unleashing a powerful spiritual shock that reverberated through everyone's souls.

If those surrounding them were just ordinary celestial masters, this spiritual shock alone would be enough to shake their souls and prevent them from completing their visualization.

If even visualization cannot be completed, then the release of soul techniques is out of the question.

"Gentlemen, prepare..."

Zhang Li shouted angrily.

But before he could finish speaking, a dazzling and brilliant light burst forth. In that blazing white light, a beam of light with a diameter of over ten meters shot out, instantly piercing through the calamity-level Demonic Spirit.

Eternal Heavenly Curse.

A scream, a mixture of pain and spiritual shock, immediately erupted from the mouth of this catastrophic Demonic Spirit.

But the scream lasted less than a second before a dazzling light, like the golden rays of the sun, shone on the screaming Demonic Spirit.

The sun shines eternally.

Instantly, the calamity-level Demonic Spirit, which had been blasted with a hole ten meters in diameter, melted away rapidly, like ice and snow exposed to the scorching sun.

In less than three seconds, the demonic Demonic Spirit, which had been struggling to emerge from the rift in the Demon Realm and possessed overwhelming demonic power, was completely incinerated under the illumination of the Great Sun Eternal Radiance Technique and vanished without a trace.

And from the source of this dazzling brilliance came a calm and composed voice from Gu Jinlai.

"It's just a catastrophic Demonic Spirit. I told you, there's no need to be nervous."