Red Dragon Ridge.
The mountains rose and fell like a dragon's spine, winding for a hundred miles and dividing the Pingcang Kingdom, Eastern Ning Kingdom, and Red Cloud Kingdom.
The ridge was covered in red rocks, weathered over the years into shapes resembling dragon scales, hence its name.
It was nearly noon, and the sun hung high.
"To think the chaos on Redscale Island these past few years was all the Infinite Devil Palace's scheming. If they hadn't exposed themselves, we would still be in the dark."
On a high knoll.
A burly man with a tiger's back and bear's waist, a lion's nose, a broad mouth, and hair and beard bristling like halberds sighed. His gaze fell on an open stretch below the hillside, deep apprehension spreading across his face.
Beside him, a great spear entwined with a carved dragon stood embedded in the rock. The words "Overlord" engraved on its shaft proclaimed his identity.
Tang Nu, the "Overlord Spear," was a first-rank master who had achieved blood-transmutation.
Yet even someone at the pinnacle of mortal martial attainment had to remain respectful before Refiners, not daring to act rashly.
And Heavenly Baleful, one of the Infinite Devil Palace's Four Demon Kings, was no ordinary Qi Refiner.
Reflected in Tang Nu's eyes was an enormous imperial carriage in the middle of the clearing. It seemed cast from a single block of black jade, thirty feet across and over twenty feet tall, seamless throughout.
Curtains hung on all four sides, giving off a luminous glow that prevented Tang Nu from seeing inside. He had only seen a dozen or so Blood Alliance experts race over carrying the carriage, then stand silently beside it after setting it down.
But the dread that welled up involuntarily as he looked at the carriage told