The orders were issued, clear and precise.
Wu Division's target was Xiaolangdi, an area scoured out by the rushing waters of the Great Canyon's only large underground river. Spiritual energy flourished there, and the surroundings were beautiful—a fine place to cultivate.
That night, there was no moon and no light.
The nineteen members of Wu Division began approaching Xiaolangdi from outside the Great Canyon. Traveling too far within the Great Canyon would easily alert the enemy, so they could only approach from outside and charge straight in when the time came.
Of the nineteen, two were in the Natural Realm: the leaders, Cao De'an and Lü Zhaolin. Six were in the Spirit Sense Realm, including Hou Niao, that oddity who blurred the distinction between Spirit Sense and Natural. The remaining eleven were all in the Profound Connection Realm, the first of the Three Heavens Realms.
But nearly all these people had been gathered by the Baishen Sect from across Shangqiu. They were elites, promising figures in their respective territories, and none were weak in combat.
Seeing that it was almost time, Cao Dean and Lü Zhaolin each took one person and crept toward the Great Canyon. The renegade cultivators had set up warning formations along its edges, with cultivators occasionally patrolling as well, so someone needed to open a passage beforehand.
Before long, word came back from ahead. The others followed in turn, slipping into the Great Canyon along the passage that had been opened.
Before Hou Niao's eyes, the Great Canyon finally lifted its mysterious veil.
It was a long, narrow valley, small on the outside but large within, narrow above but broad below. At its deepest, it plunged a thousand zhang, and the space inside was far less cramped than it appeared from the sky.
Once they rushed