In the wild forests of eastern Yinshan, an enormous Blood-Pattern Demon Bat beat its wings, flying past valleys and hills before finally descending into a clearing in the woods.
Someone had already set up a formation array there, transmitting sounds to guide it in a way ordinary people could scarcely hear.
On the Blood-Pattern Demon Bat's back, a man with blood-red hair and a sickly pale face slowly stepped into the air, descending as though walking down a staircase.
He wore magnificent purple robes patterned with clouds, and his movements were supremely elegant, displaying all the noble bearing of someone born into a powerful clan. Yet the people in the woods still could not help trembling at the sight of him, their faces filling with reverent fear.
They hurriedly lowered their heads respectfully to acknowledge his arrival.
"My lord, you're here!"
"Mm."
The man answered absently, then asked, "Any new information?"
"My lord, we received fresh intelligence this morning. The Azure Cloud Eight Elites have all mobilized, splitting into three groups to search southeastern Yinshan for our infiltrating experts."
"Have they?" The man chuckled at their reply. "They really couldn't hold their horses. They've already set out. Still, we anticipated this long ago. The Azure Cloud Sect isn't the only one eager to see what the Eight Geniuses are truly made of. We want to know too!"
This man was named Lian Yi, the Grand Elder of Central Province's Flying Lian Gate, and a renowned Tenth Transformation expert among Earth Rank cultivators.
He was known as the Bloodwing Bat King. Although the Flying Lian Gate could not compare with a great sect like the Spirit Taming Sect, his position as its Grand Elder, coupled with the fearsome reputation he had accumulated roaming the world in his youth, was enough to