Rumble, rumble.
Explosions and collisions rang out in a cacophony above the Capital City.
For a time, all four gates were under urgent attack, and the frantic tolling of bells never ceased, like the death knell of the Great Tang Dynasty.
Boom.
Accompanied by a deafening roar, the gates in all four directions were breached. The various warlords surged madly into the Capital City, pouncing toward the imperial palace.
The grand formation sealing off the entire city also shattered with a crash. Its destruction had entered the countdown.
Yet Li Qinglian did not lead his forces in. He even secretly halted the main army, dispatching only a force of twenty thousand Dao soldiers into the city.
Under Sun Qiankun's command, Pan Chengfeng's army was the first to charge into the Imperial City.
Sun Qiankun had long received word from Li Qing, and knew of the royal family's plan.
He also knew that this plan could never succeed, so he directly sent in the army.
Their targets were the city's most valuable granaries and supply depots.
Of the Eighteen Warlords, two-thirds had sent most of their troops, while the remaining third had sent only a portion of theirs.
A great number of cultivators from the Dao Lineages followed them inside as well, their eyes set on the various treasures stored within the imperial palace.
This was a glutton's feast. After three hundred years of accumulation, the imperial palace certainly lacked no supplies.
At the same time, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Li Qing's lips.
"Finally, it can begin!"
He closed his eyes slightly, and three projections began to move.
One projection flashed and appeared outside the imperial palace, then sped inside at breakneck speed.
Another projected avatar headed toward the mysterious inn.
The third avatar walked toward the