Still think everything's fine?

Deep underground, where daylight never reached...

The city lord of Falling Radiance City kept feeling that something was wrong.

Hadn't things been a little too quiet lately?

In fact, the silence was almost frightening.

The city lord had secretly tried contacting his subordinates many times, but without exception, none had responded.

This made the city lord of Falling Radiance City frown.

He had no idea what had gone wrong, and his unease kept growing.

Surely they couldn't all be dead?

The city lord muttered inwardly.

But he still found that hard to believe.

Even if they had all died, there should have been some word.

The city lord of Falling Radiance City couldn't help wanting to go out and take a look.

But his fellow cultivator from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect gave him the same answer as before.

"This is a critical moment. Nothing matters more than the envoy's arrival!"

"All we need to do now is ensure the envoy descends. Nothing else matters!"

The city lord could only give up and watch as the Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator kept inspecting the formation, then checking a Special Magical Artifact in his hand.

"We still don't have enough sacrificial offerings!"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator frowned, then took out his Command Token and sent orders for more Blood Sacrifice Offerings to be delivered.

But a long time passed after he sent the order, and no one responded.

"What are those people doing?"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator was puzzled.

The city lord finally found his chance. "Why don't I go up and take a look? I happen to need a few things, too!"

At first, the Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator was reluctant.

But then he wondered what would happen if he kept refusing to let the man leave and he caught on.

At that thought, the Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator nodded.

"All right. Make it quick!"

The city lord nodded, then hurried onto the Mechanism Ladder and rode up.

But the moment he emerged from the City Lord's Manor to take a breath of fresh air, the sight scared him so badly that he fell flat on his backside.

People from the Divine Firmament Sword Sect. They were everywhere.

There were so many of them, and he even spotted that little killing machine, Qiu Shiyi!

"This..."

The city lord had no desire to stay outside now. He practically scrambled back toward the basement on all fours.

The moment he reached the basement, he started shouting.

"Fellow cultivator, we're in trouble! Something's happened! The Divine Firmament Sword Sect is here!"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator froze, then couldn't help laughing.

"What's so serious about that? Isn't this part of the plan?"

The city lord shook his head. "No, this is different. The Divine Firmament Sword Sect sent rather a lot of people this time!"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator sneered.

"The more, the better. His lordship has a huge appetite. If too few came, I'd have to worry about where his next meal would come from!"

"It's a minor issue. Nothing to worry about!"

The city lord was stunned.

Was this fucking idiot for real?

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator seemed to sense the city lord's distrust and snorted.

"The Divine Firmament Sword Sect may be powerful, but however powerful it is, these are merely a handful of outer disciples. No matter how many come, they're nothing but food!"

"What are you worried about?"

Seeing how confident he was, the city lord steadied his breathing, then asked, "What if they're from the Divine Firmament Sword Sect's inner sect?"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator froze.

"The... inner sect?"

Both men fell silent.

But after glancing at the Blood Array Disc in his hand and the nearly completed blood sacrifice ritual, the Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator calmed down again.

"It's still fine! They're only inner disciples. Once his lordship descends, they'll be the finest food he could ask for!"

The city lord was speechless.

Still fine?

Fine, fine, fine. Nothing to worry about, right?

The city lord spoke again. "Qiu Shiyi is leading them this time!"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator looked as though he had been struck by lightning.

"Who?"

The city lord said, "Qiu Shiyi!"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator went numb.

"Wait, we only put out a little bait. On the surface, it was just a few insignificant demonic cultivators causing trouble, right?"

The city lord nodded.

"That sounds about right!"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator was dumbstruck.

"Are you sure you didn't add anything extra?"

The city lord was displeased.

"We're in the same boat. Once certain things are set in motion, there's no turning back. Am I fucking insane, or do you think I'm an idiot? Why would I add anything to bring the Divine Firmament Sword Sect down on me?"

"If I wanted to die, why wouldn't I just kill myself?"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator's head began to ache.

"Then why is Qiu Shiyi here? Does the Divine Firmament Sword Sect really hate evil that much?"

The city lord was speechless.

Why are you asking me?

The city lord rubbed his head. "Look, this isn't the time to worry about why Qiu Shiyi came. I just want to know whether you still think everything's fine!"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator fell silent.

The city lord grew nervous. "Don't just stand there saying nothing! Can this envoy of yours kill Qiu Shiyi or not?"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator was utterly speechless.

Don't you know what realm you're in?

How could someone in the Sea of Qi Realm compare to someone at the peak of the Spirit Sea Realm?

But he couldn't say that.

So he lied.

"He can, but he'll still be rather weak after descending. Even if he can defeat Qiu Shiyi, he'll need a tremendous amount of nourishment afterward. That's a price we can't afford right now!"

The city lord frowned. "Then what do we do? Qiu Shiyi is right outside!"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator said bluntly, "As things stand, we can no longer complete the blood sacrifice descent. But his lordship's Descent Flame Seed has already formed. Take it and leave. I'll hold Qiu Shiyi off for you!"

The city lord was shocked, then moved.

"You... you're truly noble, fellow cultivator!"

He obediently stepped onto the Blood Sacrifice Array and held out both hands to catch a Blood-Red Pearl falling from above.

But the instant the pearl touched him, it burrowed straight into his body.

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator immediately dropped to his knees.

"Welcome, my lord!"

But a moment later, the Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator sensed something was wrong.

He looked up in astonishment.

The city lord was still himself, and was even smiling at him.

What was going on?

The city lord felt the power inside his body and smiled in satisfaction.

"You were right. The envoy's power really is extraordinary. It repaired my ravaged body in an instant!"

The Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator stared blankly. "You... weren't possessed?"

The city lord chuckled.

"Do you really think your Thousand Mechanisms Sect is so clever? That everyone outside your sect is an idiot?"

"I saw through your intentions long ago. I only went along with you because I already knew how to avoid being possessed!"

"The Blood Sacrifice Array is impressive, but you seem to have forgotten one thing. I'm a formation master. With just a few slight changes to the formation, all sorts of things can be reversed!"

At that moment, fear welled up inside the Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator.

The city lord smiled. "Don't worry. You're still useful. For instance, I'm the victim here!"

The next instant, the Thousand Mechanisms Sect cultivator's eyes turned blood-red. Under the city lord's control, he grabbed the city lord and charged outside.

It looked very much as though the city lord had been taken hostage!