Outside Devilfall Valley on the border of the Heavenly South, damp mist hung among the towering ancient trees.
Han Li and Mo Chenzi stood side by side on a slab of bluestone, gazing at the scorched black scar torn by a space rift at the valley entrance. When they crossed Soul-Severing Gorge last night, this valley had been their stopping place; now it had become the point where their two forces would part.
Behind them, the cultivators from outside factions had already divided into two groups on Han Li's orders. On the left, a hundred cultivators at Foundation Establishment great perfection and thirty at the Core Formation stage clustered around three Nascent Soul early-stage cultivators, all armed and wearing defiant expressions. On the right, fifty Foundation Establishment cultivators and twenty Core Formation cultivators gathered around Han Li, the Magnetic Essence Griffin, and the remaining two Nascent Soul early-stage cultivators. The atmosphere was somewhat quieter, though unrest stirred beneath the surface.
"Elder Mo," Han Li turned, his voice rising above the wind in the woods, "the situation in the Heavenly South is complicated. We need to split our forces. Take your people to Yellow Maple Valley. Its Ancestor Linghu is a Nascent Soul early-stage cultivator, a man as timid as a mouse who clings to life and fears death. All you need to do is release your Nascent Soul late-stage pressure, and you can take Yellow Maple Valley with ease. I'll lead my people to take over the Seven Mysteries Sect. Advancing on both fronts will let us support each other."
Mo Chenzi's white beard stirred slightly as his clouded eyes swept over the cultivators on the left. "Yellow Maple Valley? All right, understood!"
Han Li nodded, took a yellowed map from his Storage Bag, and spread it over the bluestone.