Setting Off, Crossing the Border Mountains!

For several days in a row, Nuoding City knew no peace.

This small border town had never welcomed so many Soul Masters at once.

The streets and alleys were packed with unfamiliar faces who had rushed in from all corners of the continent.

Where there were people, there was friction.

Independent cultivators drew blades over a single sharp word; mercenary groups brawled to claim a foothold; some Soul Masters even got drunk in taverns and unleashed their Martial Souls, blasting a hole straight through a wall.

The Nuoding City guards were run ragged, and the jails were so stuffed with troublemaking Soul Masters that they eventually ran out of room to hold anyone.

And that was only the minor stuff.

What truly made the entire city look on in awe was the great battle that erupted outside Nuoding City on the evening of the fourth day.

Ning Fengzhi, Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, accompanied by Sword Douluo Chen Xin, had run headlong into Spirit Hall's Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo Gui Mei on a hillside in the western suburbs of Nuoding City.

Both sides had come for the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, and both were among the world's top powerhouses; they didn't even exchange a full sentence before they began to fight.

Sword light and chrysanthemum petals danced across the sky, while ghost shadows clashed violently against the radiance of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, leveling the surrounding mountain forests to flat ground within a mere quarter of an hour.

Soul Masters in the city surged onto the walls, watching the flashes of Soul Power exploding on the distant hillside, their faces turning pale one by one.

However, both sides ultimately had their reservations.

Ning Fengzhi did not want to completely burn bridges with Spirit Hall before the whereabouts of the Soul Bone were clear, and Spirit Hall was unwilling to wage a full-scale war against the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect without an order from the Pope.

Thus, although the battle was earth-shattering, it ended without a victor and without casualties.

After trading one final, massive blow, the four of them withdrew, exchanged cold glares, and departed in different directions.

It wasn't until the fifth day that the situation finally took a turn.

Grand Marshal Ge Long of the Heaven Dou Empire had arrived.

This veteran general, hailed as the "Nine-Life Divine Dragon," had not brought a massive army; he had come with only a few personal guards and Xue Beng, who had accompanied him.

On the very first day he reached Nuoding City, he mobilized the forces of the Balak Kingdom.

Within a single day, an army of one hundred thousand had finished assembling from various garrisons across Barak, marching in a grand, imposing formation toward Nuoding City and sealing off the chaotic little border town completely.

Ge Long's methods were exceptionally seasoned.

He didn't bother dealing with the troublemaking independent cultivators one by one; instead, he issued three direct orders.

First, all Soul Masters must register their identity information at the City Guard Office within twelve hours; those who failed to do so would be expelled from the city.

Second, all forms of private dueling within the city were prohibited; violators would be executed on the spot.

Third, the guard posts on the city walls were to be tripled, and the entire border line was placed under martial law.

Once the three orders were issued, Nuoding City, which had been like a pot of boiling porridge, was doused with a giant ladle of cold water and instantly fell silent.

Then, Ge Long dispatched all of his scouts.

These scouts were veterans who had followed him for years—each one agile and experienced. Once scattered, they formed an invisible net that caught every ripple of movement along the Star Luo Empire's border.

Soon, a piece of intelligence landed on Ge Long's desk: Duke Spirit Cat Zhu Song of the Star Luo Empire was personally leading an army of one hundred thousand, advancing toward the border and expected to arrive within days.

After reading the report, Ge Long slapped the paper onto the table and let out a cold laugh.

"In war, speed is of the essence. You are half a day slower than me; don't even dream of crossing this border by a single step."

"This battle is already decided. I have won."

The old general's voice carried an unquestionable confidence.

His hundred thousand troops were already in position, his defenses were laid out, and Zhu Song's army was still on the road.

That half-day time difference was the deciding factor on the battlefield.

By the time Zhu Song reached the border, he would be met with a wall of bronze and iron already forged in his path.

Five more days passed.

The situation at the border, however, had become strangely eerie.

Zhu Song's hundred thousand troops arrived on schedule, setting up camp on the western side of the border. Their tents stretched for miles, and their banners fluttered in the wind.

Ge Long's hundred thousand troops stood ready on the eastern side, their camp laid out with steady precision, with layers upon layers of anti-cavalry obstacles and barricades.

The two armies, totaling two hundred thousand men, stared at each other across the border line, both sides able to see the cooking smoke rising from the other's camp.

But strangely, neither Zhu Song nor Ge Long made a move.

The two old rivals, who had fought each other for half a lifetime, seemed to have made a pact to remain still.

Instead of the expected tension, the border line was more peaceful than it had ever been.

Everyone was waiting.

Ge Long was waiting for the Star Luo Empire to make the first move, and Zhu Song was waiting for a signal from someone.

On this day, east of Suotuo City, in the Gilchrist Kingdom.

Outside the gates of the Breaking Clan's ancestral grounds, Yang Wudi stood with his entire clan, young and old, waiting respectfully.

He remained lean and upright, his gray robes washed until they were faded, but his spine was straighter than it had ever been.

Behind him stood over a hundred members of the Breaking Clan, young and old alike, each standing as straight as a spear.

When Dai Mobai appeared at the street corner with Li Yue, Yang Wudi walked up to greet them from afar.

"Your Highness, the mountain path through the Border Mountains has been scouted."

In the reception hall, Yang Wudi bowed respectfully, his voice filled with deference.

"I led the scouting team myself. Although the path is rugged and difficult, it is absolutely concealed; those from Heaven Dou would never dream of its existence."

"The one hundred elite Soul Masters within the clan have also finished their training. They have mastered the introductory form of the Six Harmonies Great Spear, and their combat power has increased significantly compared to before."

"We only need Your Highness's command to set off at any time."

Dai Mobai nodded, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

"Good. There is no time like the present. We shall set off tonight and cross the Border Mountains."

At the same time, he wrote a letter and sent a messenger to deliver it posthaste to the King of the Gilchrist Kingdom.

The seal of the letter was stamped with the wax imprint of the Star Luo royal family. After taking the letter, the messenger did not dare to delay for even a moment, mounting his horse and vanishing at the end of the main road.

That night, the moonlight was hazy.

The gates of the Breaking Clan opened silently.

Yang Wudi walked at the very front, followed by the one hundred elite Soul Masters of the clan, and behind them were Dai Mobai and Li Yue.

The group slipped out of the city without a sound, following the mountain path behind Gilchrist City and heading straight toward the Border Mountains.

The path up the mountain was indeed as Yang Wudi had described: rugged and difficult to traverse.

At first, there were narrow goat paths trodden by hunters, but the higher they climbed, the narrower the path became.

By the time they reached the mountainside, the path beneath their feet had narrowed to the point where one could only pass by turning sideways. To the left was a jagged stone wall, and to the right was a bottomless abyss. Mountain winds mixed with snow pellets surged up from the depths, stinging their faces.

A thin layer of ice had formed on the rocks underfoot, and one wrong step would mean sliding into the abyss.

However, everyone present was a Soul Master. With their Soul Power circulating, they stood firm as if rooted to the ground; such obstacles were nothing to them.

The group moved in a single file, pressing against the cliff wall and advancing in silence. No one spoke, no one lit a lamp; there was only the wailing of the mountain wind and the dull echoes of loose stones occasionally falling into the abyss.