Hearing the clamor outside, Qingchao Zong smiled and accepted the final ritual implement from Nabulapu's chela, fastening it to the end of his body.
"All right, General. Let's go." He pointed outside. "Just as you said, there are insects waiting for me out there."
Nabulapu said nothing, silently following behind Qingchao Zong.
Qingchao Zong calmly walked the final stretch of road, leaving the forbidden ground and passing through a long, narrow corridor.
A mountain of flesh came into view. Combined with those bone pillars, it looked like a dish of... perhaps minced meat with several bones stuck into it for decoration.
But this was an utterly normal sight.
Qingchao Zong waved his chelae in greeting to the crowd.
Yet in that instant, he froze.
—There was some... utterly extraordinary aura...
Qingchao Zong looked doubtfully toward the center of the gathering.
Because immortal power severely interfered with spiritual perception, he could not, like Mahayana Stage powerhouses on other planets, simply settle everything with his spiritual sense.
And that unusual gesture made Nabulapu turn his eyestalks toward Qingchao Zong's back.
Without question, the other powerhouses farther away had noticed it as well.
Qingpusi, directing the surging insect tide from the air, also slowed his movements.
In truth, they had already prepared for the possibility that Qingchao Zong would discover them at the instant they launched their assassination. They had considered every possible development—though naturally, the seemingly absurd possibility of an extraterrestrial demon descending from beyond the heavens was not among them.
But Qingchao Zong's distraction lasted only an instant. He resumed waving his chelae, then drove a pair of them into the ground. As though he had noticed nothing at all, he said, "Now, the ritual begins!"
—Just as expected...
Qingpusi sighed.
He knew that Lord Qingchao Zong had always been an