"Once we charge straight in, kill them all!"
"Understood?!"
As they neared the territory controlled by the Liyue Immortal Dynasty, Chen Haichao, one of the four hall masters, ordered coldly:
"Strike by surprise! The point is to catch them off guard. You know how many cultivators die because they talk too much..."
But before he could finish speaking!
A sound of something tearing through the air rang out in the distance, and the sky suddenly brightened.
"Whoosh—"
Chen Haichao's expression changed drastically. He stared in shock as a streak of light shot toward them as fast as lightning!
It was a swift arrow forged as a magical treasure, carrying astonishing force!
It seemed to pierce through space wherever it went!
The arrow blazed with dazzling light, brilliantly radiant, yet the power it exuded sent chills through everyone!
Chen Haichao was locked on!
He instinctively tried to shout, but his pupils began to dilate.
He saw a sight that filled him with utter horror!
A bone-chilling cold shot up his spine to the crown of his head, and cold sweat poured down his face.
He heard the sound of arrows tearing through the air from every direction!
Brilliant lights illuminated the entire area, so bright they were almost blinding.
And amid those lights, countless magical treasure arrows poured down like raindrops!
"We've been ambush—"
Chen Haichao cried out in horror, but an arrow was already shooting toward the space between his eyebrows!
He could only hurry to cast a divine art and summon a magical treasure to defend himself!
Rumble!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The arrow pierced through several layers of defense before slamming into a pearl before Chen Haichao, where it finally lost its power.
But just then, screams from a living hell reached Chen Haichao's ears.
One magical treasure arrow after another came hurtling in.
They had come to lead the charge in a surprise attack, and no one had expected to be ambushed before the battle had even begun.
At that moment, apart from the four hall masters, whose cultivation had reached Void Refinement, the rest of the Nine Absolutes Sect members were being slaughtered one-sidedly, arrows piercing through their bodies.
Some managed to escape with their souls.
But most were annihilated outright, reduced to clouds of blood mist.
Chen Haichao shouted in a low voice, "Quick, form a defensive array!"
Amid the chaos, he roared and unleashed a powerful divine art, carving out a pocket of empty space amid the rain of arrows.
With their backs to the wall, the surviving members of the Nine Absolutes Sect quickly formed an array.
But just then, the arrows stopped.
In their place, talismans began drifting down from the sky.
"Thunder Explosion Talismans and Purple Flame Talismans!"
Chen Haichao cried out, his eyes wide as copper bells, his heart sinking into despair.
Even he felt an intense sense of danger from these talismans.
They were clearly high-grade talismans.
If hundreds or thousands of them detonated at once, everything within dozens of miles would become a sea of thunder and fire.
How could anyone survive?
In his panic, Chen Haichao forgot all about forming the array. Gathering his magical power, he pleaded, "It's all a misunderstanding! We surrender, please spare us..."
But the only answer was the deafening sound of talismans exploding, shaking heaven and earth.
Boom! Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The entire area instantly became a sea of purple flames. The terrifying heat burned everything to nothing.
And within the sea of fire, violent bolts of lightning surged.
With power this terrifying, even cultivators at the Void Refinement Realm could only end up gravely injured or dead.
In the distance,
Du Jiuyou was waiting with several hundred men for good news from the front.
As soon as the various strongholds were breached, he would lead these elite Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators straight into enemy territory!
His divine sense spread out, and he could already sense a startling tremor coming from ahead!
"The battle's begun!"
A ruthless glint flashed in Du Jiuyou's eyes. His face twisted as he said, "Charge over there! Follow me and leave not one of them standing!"
"This is our chance to win glory and seize resources!"
Behind him, the faces of the several hundred men filled with frenzy, their murderous intent sweeping outward.
"Kill! Drive the Liyue Immortal Dynasty out of the Heavenly Absolute Mountain Range!"
"Move!"
Du Jiuyou took the lead, his body turning into a streak of rainbow light as he shot forward like an arrow.
He was so fast that even his afterimage was invisible.
The others chased after him at the fastest speed they could manage, like hungry wolves that had spotted their prey.
They were afraid that if they fell behind, there would be no meat left for them.
The Nine Absolutes Sect cultivators became a raging torrent, sweeping toward the Liyue Immortal Dynasty's territory.
In less than a quarter of an hour, they had charged into enemy territory.
It had gone unexpectedly smoothly.
Du Jiuyou stopped and asked warily, "Why can't we even hear the sounds of fighting anymore? Did Chen Haichao and the others move that quickly?"
"Did they take out the strongholds and rush in ahead of us without waiting?"
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed!
The people of the Liyue Immortal Dynasty were unprepared, and they couldn't have imagined that the Nine Absolutes Sect would suddenly start a war!
In this situation, a surprise attack would have the greatest effect.
Du Jiuyou cursed their opponents under his breath, then prepared to lead his people onward.
But just then, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to shake violently.
"Not good! Prepare to defend!"
The scene before them began to shift. Curtains of light flickered into view.
The green hills and clear waters around them all changed beyond recognition.
Du Jiuyou's voice sank. "We've fallen for a trap. We're inside someone else's array."
An uproar broke out at once.
Many people looked horrified.
Just then, the great array finished forming, and an invisible curtain of light trapped the several hundred men inside.
Wei Lan, the commander of the Black Shadow Guard, flew over.
The eight generals and several hundred elite Immortal Dynasty guards followed close behind her.
Everyone looked at Wei Lan with admiration.
The Nine Absolutes Sect really had come to launch a surprise attack!
Wei Lan smiled faintly. "You don't need to look at me like that. This was all His Majesty's decree!"
The eight generals straightened their expressions and bowed as one. "His Majesty is wise!"
A short while later, they arrived outside the great array.
A bright smile appeared on Wei Lan's lovely face. She said coldly, "Old Du, didn't see that coming, did you?"
Inside the array, all the Nine Absolutes Sect members, Du Jiuyou included, saw Wei Lan appear.
Their faces filled with terror.
Wei Lan, commander of the Black Shadow Guard!
This female devil's methods of torture were said to be unbearable even for immortals!
What filled Du Jiuyou with even greater despair was the fact that Wei Lan had appeared here.
It meant that their opponent had been prepared for everything long ago!
But how had they been exposed? He racked his brains and still couldn't figure out what had gone wrong.
"Wei Lan!"
"What do you want? Aren't you afraid the Nine Absolutes Sect will declare all-out war?"
Du Jiuyou still clung to a glimmer of hope.
He bet that Wei Lan wouldn't dare go too far, that she would worry about both sides completely falling out.
"Heh..."
Wei Lan's smile grew even brighter. "Don't worry, I won't kill you for now."
Du Jiuyou and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
Then they heard her voice again. "But I'll torture you first, then castrate you and send you to the palace to be eunuchs!"
"..."
Du Jiuyou and the others' hearts sank. They might not be famous, but they were still powerful figures in their own right.
If they lost their cultivation and were castrated, then sent to the palace to be eunuchs—
They would rather be killed.
Not only would they be disgraced, but the Nine Absolutes Sect would also bear a crushing humiliation and become a laughingstock.
Du Jiuyou's heart turned cold. He roared, "You female devil! If you've got the guts, kill me!"
At the Nine Absolutes Sect,
inside a mountain-top palace with a spectacular view, fine spiritual tea sat before Lei Jue.
But he had no heart to taste it.
For some reason, he felt restless.
At least the soul tablets belonging to Du Jiuyou and the others, whom he had sent into the Nine Absolutes Mountain Range, remained unbroken.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to sit still.
Lei Jue murmured, "Nothing will go wrong. We have so many men. It's more than enough to launch a surprise attack on the Heavenly Absolute Mountain Range!"
"But we should have heard something by now!"
"Let's wait a little longer..."
At the Jiang Clan Territory,
inside a pocket dimension, Jiang Wuji frowned and murmured, "What's Lei Jue up to?"
"Why haven't we heard anything after all this time?"
Then he thought of how the Liyue Immortal Dynasty was no ordinary force. A delay was probably normal.
A dozen other figures were there as well.
Someone asked, "Could something have happened to Lei Jue?"
Jiang Wuji smiled faintly and shook his head. "Don't worry. Everything is under control!"
"Ye Qingge won't be able to stir up any trouble!"
Yet as they waited, several more days passed.
Before they knew it,
the day had come for the Great Emperor's Diary to be revealed again.
Jiang Wuji looked at the many figures present and said calmly, "Everyone, don't panic. Everything is under my control!"
"No matter what happens, the plan won't change!"
He paused, then smiled. "Let's read the diary first!"
"I'd like to see what other tricks the Immortal Great Emperor has up his sleeve. Hmph, in a few more days, no matter how brilliantly he writes, he still won't be able to shake us."
Before you continue