Striking Alliances and Sowing Discord!

In the heart of the city, deep within the former residence of the Tuoba Household.

Xie Junhao, a powerful External Scenery the Xie Household, sat stiffly in the center of the inner hall, his aura completely concealed. He dared not release his Primordial Spirit to spy on the other party, and could only pray that the other party would destroy the array platform and leave as soon as possible.

The city's protective formation broke down too quickly!

They offered almost no resistance and were overwhelmed by the enemy's force; Junxiang on the city wall was already lifeless.

"Don't come any closer—don't come any closer—"

He prayed repeatedly in his heart, cold sweat dripping from his forehead into his eyes, but he didn't even dare to wipe it away.

He had only been in the city for less than half a month and had not yet enjoyed all the city's offerings. How could he be willing to die an unjust death like Xie Junxiang on the city wall?

In the city.

Yu Tunzhou's Primordial Spirit swept across like a tidal wave, locking onto the locations of the array platforms within the city.

Dingxiang Commandery was a large city, and the Xie Household had set up more than one battle platform.

Yu Tunzhou strode out, his figure sweeping across various parts of the city, his fist imprints following him, shattering the array platforms wherever he went.

No matter how deeply they hide, under his Heavenly Hearing and Earthly Perception, they will find nowhere to hide.

Each time a battle platform shattered, the ground of Dingxiang Commandery trembled, as if a dragon vein beneath the earth was stirring.

Xie Junhao could feel the powerful Fist Intent moving and slowly fading away.

He's gone—he's leaving—

He almost collapsed, and his tense nerves finally began to relax a little.

But just then, he saw a fist imprint fall from the sky.

It was only then that he suddenly realized.

The last battle platform----

Right beneath this mansion!

"Boom!"

The entire mansion, including its foundation, was crushed by a single punch, and the dust from the last underground array in Dingxiang Commandery billowed out like a yellow dragon.

Yu Tunzhou withdrew his fist, sensing the divine favor the Unseen, which then intensified.

He turned and left.

The man in the green robe disappeared into the clouds.

They sped off towards the next city.

The Dongyang City was shattered.

The city of Zhaoyang was shattered.

The battle formation at Qingbei City was shattered.

Yunguan Commandery, the battle formation shattered.

Yu Tunzhou gallop without stopping.

The garrison troops of the counties and prefectures along the way did not even see the approaching figure clearly. They only saw the earth-shattering fist imprint fall from the sky, and the great formation was pierced through by a single punch as if it were made of paper.

The alarm was completely useless; it never even sounded.

Wherever they went, no one could stop them.

External Scenery from Xie Household's camp who bravely stepped forward to stop him were swept away by his sleeve, crashing into the city wall and dying inside the city before they could even withstand a single blow.

As the battlements of city after city were destroyed, the Xie Household's map of mountains and rivers, which formed a winding, interconnected network like a dragon and snake, was...

The vein patterns were fading away at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The Xie Household.

Xie Tao stood before the map, not uttering a single word, but the old man beside him could clearly sense the barely suppressed rage emanating from him.

In less than an hour, the usually shrewd and calculating patriarch could no longer hide his shock and anger.

On the map before him, the cities of the Northern Plains were scattered like stars in the sky. What had previously been a solid block of land had now been replaced by a shocking patch of darkness.

Dingxiang, Yunguan, Dongyang ----

Six prefectural cities and seventeen county towns.

All twenty-three nodes dimmed and went out.

One hour.

Only one hour!

If this is considered a war, then in the past hour, Yu Tunzhou has successively captured twenty-three cities belonging to the Xie Household, tearing open a deep, bone-revealing wound in the Xie Household's hard work over countless years.

Beside him, an old man named Xie Shanqin said in a deep voice, "Xie Tao, you don't need to worry too much. Any Grandmaster could do this without restraint. This is a loss we expected."

"The array spirit is about to awaken. Last time, the array spirit made a careless move and was defeated because Yu Tunzhou used a celestial weapon to suppress its fire Divine Ability. But this time is different. The array spirit's intelligence is based on the remnant soul of its ancestor and will never repeat the same mistake!"

"That's about it."

The Yu Tunzhou and came to a stop on a plain.

He stood with his hands behind his back, waiting patiently.

I don't know how much time passed.

In the far north, a familiar dark golden light suddenly appeared.

Like the sun, hidden in the night, leaping out from below the horizon, its blazing light instantly turning half the sky into gilded gold.

Even before the Golden Crow Formation Spirit arrived, its oppressive aura was already like the Heaven's Collapse.

The True Solar Fire burned through half the sky.

This time, its aura was far stronger than before, as if the earth veins occupied by the entire Northern Plains Grand Formation were being stirred by it at this moment.

Layer upon layer of array patterns emerged from the Void, covering the heavens and the earth.

The next moment.

The dark golden sun had already swept across thousands of miles, Golden Crow, with its thousand-foot body, soared into the sky from the flames, its wings spread wide, blotting out the sun!

A fierce wind pressed down from the heavens, heavy as a thousand mountains, sweeping away the clouds within a hundred miles and causing the entire plain to slightly collapse downwards.

The center is precisely where the Yu Tunzhou.

"Yu Tunzhou, how dare you destroy the foundation of my great formation!"

The howling sound echoed through heaven and earth. A thousand-foot-tall Golden Crow perched in the sky, its crimson-gold eyes coldly looking down. The spirituality in its eyes seemed even stronger than before, as if a true ancient divine bird had appeared here. Its cry resonated with the mountains and rivers.

"I will extract your Primordial Spirit and imprison it beneath the eye of the Northern Plains array, where it will be refined and tormented by true fire day and night until your Primordial Spirit is completely annihilated!"

Yu Tunzhou looked up and laughed, "I can kill you once, and I can kill you a second time. I want to see if your strength has actually declined after losing more than twenty nodes of the great formation."

A silver ring flew out and circled around him.

The Golden Crow Formation Spirit's pupils constricted sharply, then it coldly said, "You think you can suppress me forever with just a celestial weapon? This time, I won't make the same mistake again!"

Its wings slowly folded.

The thousand-foot-tall divine body instantly shrank to the size of a human, its boundless light and heat compressed to the extreme, making it difficult to look directly at.

Layers of dark golden feathers stacked up, like miniature divine swords, their three-pronged blades gleaming with a chilling light.

Every inch of this body, every line, exudes extreme sharpness!

It abruptly changed its form, transforming its Movement Method and principles into the foundation of its divine body, and abandoning its fire Divine Ability.

"I have seen countless geniuses throughout history. Do you, such an arrogant and immoral junior, really think that by associating with the Grand Purity Lineage, you can completely turn your life around?"

Yu Tunzhou smirked.

Ignorance is bliss.

The moment the words fell.

Both figures vanished simultaneously.

A deafening roar echoed throughout the land.

A sudden gust of wind swept across the field, and the two figures collided in mid-air.

The Golden Crow is entirely cast in gold, and its wings, beak, and claws can all be used as weapons.

Its wings spread out like two golden celestial blades, slashing horizontally and vertically, leaving behind jet-black cracks in the Void with incredible speed.

The three claws target the throat, heart, and face of the Yu Tunzhou, each strike carrying the ultimate compressed True Solar Fire, unassuming yet capable of melting gold and iron upon contact.

It was wary of the bracelet that Yu Tunzhou, so it did not release the True Solar Fire.

Yu Tunzhou's counterattack was equally brutal.

He gripped the Vajra Bracelet in his right hand and smashed it down!

The flow of Qi of Dao and Virtue awakened the latter's power to the level of Half-Step Dharma Aspect form.

Combined with the sheer power of Yu Tunzhou's body, which was as overwhelming as mountains and seas, the Vajra Bracelet annihilated the Void wherever it passed.

The power contained within it even made the Golden Crow Formation Spirit tremble, and it dared not take the blow head-on.

Two figures fought their way from the sky to the ground, then from the ground into the earth, and finally soared back into the clouds.

Smoke and dust filled the air, and the air currents roared.

The vast plains, stretching for dozens of miles, were plowed clean, leaving behind crisscrossing gullies hundreds of feet deep, all marked with the fist and claw marks left by the two men.

Slash mark.

Two figures clashed, collided, bounced apart, and collided again amidst the firelight and smoke, moving so fast that even afterimages were hard to leave.

The violent force between the two is causing the surrounding land to gradually sink.

After a full hundred breaths, this close-quarters combat, an extremely brutal clash, finally came to a temporary end.

Yu Tunzhou's blue robe was torn in several claw marks, revealing his naturally muscular upper body. Several deep wounds on his chest were growing flesh and bone, but they were healing themselves at an astonishing rate.

Meanwhile, the Golden Crow Formation Spirit opposite him was seized by Yu Tunzhou, who forcefully smashed half of its wings with the Vajra Bracelet, but it was also recovering at an astonishing speed.

One relies on the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art, while the other takes the Northern Plains Vein as its core.

"Very good." The Golden Crow Formation Spirit said in a low voice, "The stronger your Dao Body is, the better I can use it after I extract and suppress your Primordial Spirit, making it the new core of the Northern Plains Grand Formation."

Yu Tunzhou sneered, "Is the Xie Household, from top to bottom, down to Lu Ya, all they know how to do is boast shamelessly?"

He no longer held back. Although they were evenly matched at the moment, the self-healing ability of the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art was beyond the reach of the earth's vein power, so he could not engage in a war of attrition with him.

"Insolence!" the Golden Crow Formation Spirit roared in fury. "You junior!! How dare you mention the name of our Immortal Ancestor!!! How dare you disrespect the name of the Dao Lord!!"

Enraged, its killing intent surged, and with a flap of its wings, it shot out once more.

The dark golden figure left afterimages in the Void, its three claws clawing out in turn, its wings slashing horizontally like two heavenly blades, each strike aimed directly at Yu Tunzhou's vitals, so fast that even the Primordial Spirit could hardly catch it.

The fighting skills displayed by the Golden Crow Formation Spirit in this battle surprised even Yu Tunzhou.

It was as if he was fighting against a Grandmaster of Martial Dao, whose mastery of various martial arts techniques had been fused together.

Yu Tunzhou either raised his fist or swung his Vajra Bracelet to block. With each strike, his physical body felt his tiger's mouth go numb, but it also caused the Golden Crow's feathers to fly off continuously.

The two sides have fought to this point, leaving no room for retreat and almost exhausting all means.

"Young man, where is your incarnation technique?" The Golden Crow's voice boomed like thunder, pressing down from all directions simultaneously. "Why haven't you used it?"

Show me what you've got!

It suffered a humiliating defeat in the last battle, partly due to the counterplay of fire magic and partly due to the sudden burst of power from the two avatars.

That single strike was almost like three Yu Tunzhou simultaneously, instantly obliterating it.

This time, it was prepared, its divine sense constantly locked onto Yu Tunzhou, ready to deal with the two Dao bodies once they appeared.

Yu Tunzhou didn't reply, but suddenly threw out the Vajra Bracelet in his hand.

The Golden Crow's eyes narrowed, thinking that the Yu Tunzhou was about to use the Incarnation Technique. Its body instantly gathered its strength, dispersing into boundless true fire that flowed across the heavens and earth.

This move is enough to dodge all of Yu Tunzhou's attacks in a short time!

Even if Yu Tunzhou used the Vajra Bracelet, it would be impossible for him to collect all the true fire in an instant.

However, no two figures appeared behind Yu Tunzhou.

Instead, it is a Daoist palace!

The Inner Heaven and Earth the Yu Tunzhou trembled violently. The Eight Sceneries gathered together, and all kinds of power converged and connected at this moment, transforming into a majestic Dao Palace.

That palace was neither real nor illusory; every brick and tile was formed from the purest essence of the Dao.

As the palace gates swung open, a vast, ancient, and transcendent aura emanated from them, causing the boundless true fire to freeze for a moment.

This is the true Xuandu Heaven, the Eight Sceneries Palace!

The method of Nether Passage!

Yu Tunzhou uses its Primordial Spirit as a guide, drawing down the Immortal Qi of Dao and Virtue within it like threads, pouring it into the Vajra Bracelet.

The silver ring hummed loudly.

A faint silver glow spread from the ring, gentle and calm, yet it caused the scattered flames that the Golden Crow had transformed into tremble.

"No----"

The Golden Crow tried to reassemble itself, but it was too late.

You know too little!

Yu Tunzhou shouted, "Get back inside and reflect on your actions for another hour!"

The True Solar Fire, which stretched across the heavens and earth and was powerful enough to evade the eruption of the Yu Tunzhou's three bodies, was instantly devoured by the erupting Vajra Bracelet.

"The Body of Immortals and Gods ----"

Hundreds of miles away.

Two figures stood side by side, a man and a woman, both watching the battle intently.

The man said in a deep voice, "This person's Martial Dao realm is not profound. I observe that his control over the laws is limited, proving that the fusion of his Primordial Spirit and Spirit Aspect is not high. The information is correct. This Yu Tunzhou is most likely only at the initial External Scenery, but he has also cultivated the method of physical body ascension to sainthood, and has already reached the level of Body of Immortals and Gods!"

"Physical ascension to sainthood?!" the woman exclaimed in surprise.

"Good!"

The woman hesitated and said, "The Grand Purity Lineage —I have never heard of any particularly famous methods for achieving sainthood in the physical body."

"Hmph." The man snorted coldly, "Grand Purity and Jade Void are on good terms, so it's not impossible that they share teachings. If I'm not mistaken, this person is most likely practicing the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art of the Yuxu Sect!"

"What?!" The woman's expression changed drastically. "He actually managed to cultivate the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art in this era? For countless years, no one in the Yuxu Sect's various lineages has been able to even begin to understand it!"

"What's so surprising?" the man retorted. "This person is a 'walker' of the Daode Lineage in this world. In the eyes of that Celestial Venerable, no matter how monstrous this person is, it's not an exaggeration!"

The woman's gaze darkened, and she finally let out a soft sigh.

The man continued, "He was able to forge Body of Immortals and Gods, so he must have already cultivated the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art to the initial fourth level. The immortal Immortal Dao in the Central Plains is severely suppressed, even for the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art."

The woman suddenly said, "His physical body will likely attract fierce competition among the esteemed members of the alliance. When should we make our move?"

The man remained silent for a moment before saying, "Hold your positions."

"If we were to make a move, we would most likely both die. We don't have the means to revive the Golden Crow Formation Spirit."

"Then let's wait until this person exhausts his strength before making a move." The woman frowned. "No matter how powerful he is, he can't have inexhaustible Qi and Blood. His Primordial Spirit will eventually tire, and his strength will eventually decline. Not to mention, he has to fight the Golden Crow Formation Spirit to the death every hour."

The man sighed, "The fourth level of the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art, how can there be a decline in Qi and Blood? It is this person's Primordial Spirit that might indeed be fatigued."

The woman frowned. "What should we do then? The leaders in the alliance have been repeatedly sending messages inquiring about the battle situation here, and two leaders are already on their way to the Northern Plains."

"Tell them the truth, including my deductions."

The man's eyes flickered as he gazed in a certain direction in the Northern Plains, and he sneered, "This person's strength is already in the top tier below the Dharma Aspect level in the Central Plains today. The Xie Household's intentions in sending us to deal with him are clearly impure."

"How could we possibly be fooled!"

"Let the Xie Household hold out for now. At this rate of speed at which they conquer cities and seize territories, I'm afraid that in less than two days—no, one day! —the Xie Household's established position in Northern Plains, built up over many years, will crumble!"

"At this moment, the Xie Household is much more anxious than we are."

"This is also a good opportunity to see just how much of the legendary Xie Household's resources are left."

The Xie Household.

Before the map of mountains and rivers, Xie Shanqin, who had previously been so confident that the Spirit Array would achieve victory, now had a livid face and could not utter a single word.

The spirit formation—it lost again!

He looked at the dim nodes on the map, took a deep breath, and said, "After an hour, if this boy destroys more than twenty nodes—the power that the array spirit can exert will further decrease, and the array spirit—I'm afraid—will no longer be a match for him."

Towards the end, his words became slurred.

This defeat is the defeat of everything that follows!

"Not only that, this brat is also constantly killing my Xie Household's External Scenery experts!"

"This young man, Grandmaster, slaughters ordinary External Scenery like chickens and dogs. If we don't restrain him, my Xie Household will suffer heavy losses!"

The great formation can be destroyed but rebuilt, but External Scenery died but cannot be resurrected.

Despite the Xie Household receiving a boost from the lower realms, resulting in a surge in the number of External Scenery, they were still unable to stop the Yu Tunzhou from carrying out such a massacre.

Normally, an expert at the External Scenery is strong enough to hold down a city and stand alone, but in front of Grandmaster, they are completely powerless to resist.

In theory, any Grandmaster in the Central Plains could slaughter the External Scenery like Yu Tunzhou boat, as easily as slaughtering a dog.

But no Grandmaster would be so insane as to indiscriminately slaughter other martial External Scenery, not even those from the Six Paths of Evil and Demons!

This is an irreconcilable feud, and it's enough to cause a sensation and draw intervention from all sides!

But now----

Yu Tunzhou has nothing to fear!

This young man is a loner, and behind him are either Daoist or Buddha courts or highly accomplished Dharma Aspect masters. The Xie Household simply cannot control his fate.

Furthermore, Yu Tunzhou's rise to power was so rapid that the major Aristocratic Clan of the Central Plains did not have time to establish ties with him.

Therefore, his "freedom" almost surpassed that of all the powerful Rogue Cultivator who had ever appeared in the Central Plains.

Furthermore, with the situation in the Central Plains currently unclear and at a critical juncture of great change, no one in the world has the time to concern themselves with the situation in the Northern Plains.

The local powerful Aristocratic Clan of Northern Plains will only kick you when you're down at this critical juncture!

This laid the foundation for the current situation: a Grandmaster with no scruples is now rampaging through the Northern Plains with impunity.

Wherever they go, they kill.

The Xie Household, however, was powerless to do anything about it.

For the first time, Xie Tao and Xie Shanqin directly experienced just how much of a storm a top-tier expert, unburdened and fearless, could stir up.

"Where is the Alliance of Immortals?" Xie Tao could no longer contain his shock and anger, and roared in a deep voice, "Why haven't they made a move yet?"

"The Alliance of Immortals should have arrived by now; they already have a base in the Northern Plains," Xie Shanqin sighed. "Since they haven't made a move, it means they're still observing."

"Patriarch, the array spirit alone is no longer enough to suppress this child; it can only serve as a delaying tactic. If the two patriarchs, Shanyin and Shanhe, cannot be mobilized—"

"Then the only option is to have all the clan elders who were External Scenery to other locations return to their clans."

"No!" Xie Tao objected immediately. "If there are no External Scenery experts to oversee each city, those aristocratic clans and sects will inevitably cause trouble, and the entire Northern Plains Grand Formation will collapse instantly!"

Xie Shanqin only asked one question, "Given the current speed of the Yu Tunzhou, how long can the Northern Plains Grand Formation hold out?"

Xie Tao's expression suddenly darkened.

The answer is a maximum of two days.

Xie Shanqin sighed, "The array spirits couldn't gain the upper hand in this battle; it will be even more difficult in the future."

Xie Tao slowly closed his eyes, and after a long while said, "Send down the order to recall all the Xie Household's External Scenery experts, and have them immediately..."

"Immediately abandon the base and return to Northern Plains Commandery at full speed."

"Good!"

"And one more thing," Xie Tao opened his eyes, his gaze chillingly cold, "Contact the Alliance of Immortals and tell them that if they don't take action soon, once the Northern Plains Grand Formation is broken, my Xie Household will have no strength left to help them escape the encirclement and annihilation of the Central Plains Dharma Aspect!"

"Yu Tunzhou cannot maintain its peak condition forever; fighting against the array spirit will inevitably be a huge drain on it!"

"Inform the Ancestor Shanyin and tell him to return to his clan and summon the celestial soldiers!"

On the battlefield.

Yu Tunzhou retracts the Vajra Bracelet, sensing the raging True Solar Fire that it had swallowed into the vessel.

He looked towards the direction of the Xie Household's headquarters, already deciding in his mind what kind of grand gift he should prepare for the Xie Household.

He took a deep breath, taking in the losses of the battle.

While Qi and Blood are secondary, such intense combat, where the Primordial Spirit governs the laws, is still a considerable burden, even with the favor of heaven and earth.

The good news is that an hour later, when the Golden Crow Formation Spirit revives, its strength will only increase as more array platforms are destroyed.

weak.

And the battlefield an hour later----

He planned to set up his base in Northern Plains Commandery, the stronghold of the Xie Household.

I imagine the Xie Household has no objections.