On the walls of Zixiao City, Xiao Yuntian stood with his hands behind his back, his robes snapping in the wind.
He watched the fleeing imperial army, but there was not a trace of relief in his eyes.
"My lord, we have won a great victory. The court likely won't have the strength to attack again anytime soon."
Beside him, an old man in purple robes bowed as he spoke.
"The Zhao imperial family won't give up so easily."
Xiao Yuntian shook his head slightly. "They may have withdrawn, but they must have another move prepared."
Sure enough, on the third day after the imperial army's retreat, a piece of news shook the Luofu Continent.
Zhao Tianyin, the retired emperor of the Chang'an Dynasty, issued an edict summoning all sects under heaven to campaign against Zixiao City. Whoever killed Xiao Yuntian would be made a king outside the imperial clan and granted ten spirit mountains with ancestral veins!
For a time, undercurrents surged across the continent.
Many secluded sects and powerful rogue cultivators emerged, converging on the south.
"My lord, the situation looks grim."
The purple-robed elder's expression was grave. "Three allied sect armies have already appeared a thousand miles away. The Xuanming Sect, Blood Sha Sect, and Cangyue Sect have even dispatched several Nascent Soul Realm old monsters!"
Xiao Yuntian sneered. "The Zhao Family wants to kill with a borrowed blade."
He turned toward the towering Star-Gazing Tower within the city and said solemnly, "Send word to the Shadow Guard. Proceed according to plan."
That night, nine purple pillars of light suddenly appeared above Zixiao City, shooting into the heavens.
The pillars interwove into a net that enveloped the entire city. The cultivators inside discovered that their magical power had actually surged by thirty percent within the array!
Meanwhile,