Red Cloud Pass, on Great Zhou's border.
This was the mightiest fortress on Great Zhou's frontier. Above its black iron walls, more than a thousand zhang high, the Sky-Sealing Formation hung year-round like a canopy of glazed glass. Ordinary cultivators passing by on flying swords had to descend from the clouds, verify their identities, and walk through the pass.
That day, just after noon.
The immortal general guarding Red Cloud Pass was making his customary inspection when his steps suddenly halted and he jerked his head up.
At the far end of the southern sky, a rift abruptly tore through the once-tranquil sea of clouds. Nine dragon silhouettes of indescribable size wound their way out from deep within the ruptured heavens!
Their heads were raised high, their claws and fangs fearsome. Golden light flowed through their eyes as they gazed indifferently down at the fortress, as insignificant as an anthill beneath them. Three thousand Cloud Valor Guards formed a battle array, their killing intent condensing into a tangible, blood-red sea of clouds that crushed every drifting cloud in the Southern Region's sky.
Since its founding, the Great Zhou Immortal Dynasty's borders had never witnessed such an overbearing display.
"Enemy attack?!"
The cultivators on duty blanched. Alarm bells rang out, and the fortress's immortal defensive formation lit up automatically.
Yet it was nothing more than a mantis raising its arms against a chariot.
This torrent of steel brazenly crashed into the Great Zhou Immortal Dynasty's airspace with overwhelming force. Along its route, every garrison at every pass was driven to its knees by the pressure of the Immortal Dao, a power towering above all living beings.
As though he had glimpsed something utterly inconceivable, the defending immortal general's pupils contracted sharply.
**"Quick! Activate the Heavenly Observation Mirror and send word to