The auspicious hour had not yet arrived, and Hua Min'er had still not appeared. Taking advantage of the time, Ling Tian carefully surveyed the arrangements around him. To his mild surprise, in just a moment he spotted dozens—nearly a hundred—Heavenly Immortal-level experts lying in wait in the shadows. There were even more farther out. They had tightly encircled the plaza, making it as impregnable as an iron fortress.
"Though there are many experts lying in ambush, most of them will be as good as useless once chaos breaks out. They won't be able to stop me at all," Ling Tian thought. He looked toward a hall in the distance, his expression turning grave. "According to the layout Grandpa Zi Yun gave me, this place is quite secret. Even he doesn't know what's inside. The passage between the Cultivation World and the Immortal Realm must be here."
Ling Tian had originally wanted to destroy the passage to the Immortal Realm, so that the Immortal Realm would no longer send people down. But the place was too far from him, and he could guess that it was heavily guarded. Ling Tian abandoned the idea, deciding to rescue Hua Min'er and the others first.
Time trickled by, and noon soon arrived.
With a thunderous rumble, dozens of tremendously powerful auras emerged from behind the palace. Looking closely, they were Heavenly Immortal-level experts, and in their midst was a young man.
The young man wore a red robe, giving him a festive air. He was broad-shouldered and imposing, with the sharp, predatory gaze of a leopard and an eagle that made him seem arrogant and unruly. He strode forward with an air of looking down on the world.
Ling Tian paid none of that any attention. He carefully sensed the man's aura, then furrowed