"The Warning Bells and War Drums? We're...under attack?" Dong Ling's brows furrowed at the sound of bells and drums. The Zhi-Zhu twins snapped their fingers, halting their puppets' dance.
Though Colorful Wing Supercity could rely on myriad defenses and a unique strategic location, out of an abundance of precautions, Xinzi set up a mechanism to warn the citizens of potential invasions.
The Warning Bells only echoed when foreigners attempted to force open a spatial rift into Colorful Wing Supercity. But if said foreigners also brought killing intent with them, then the War Drums would echo as well, forming what Xinzi labeled the Ominous Orchestra.
At the moment, Xinzi was still locked in secluded cultivation, and so couldn't notice the Ominous Orchestra. Without him, the city's most reliable and deadliest formations couldn't operate. The 18 Luohan protectors would also stay dormant—leaving gals and goons to defend the city.
Did the invading troops pick this time at random? How did they figure out the existence of Colorful Wing Supercity and lay their hands on an artifact capable of opening a rift straight into the headquarters?
"The Space Laws are as powerful as intricate. Without precise coordinates, even with the right artifact, the invader cannot open a rift into this place. So who was it that sold us out? Princess Tieshan? Her former demonic patron? Or maybe...him?" Disconnecting from her various Bloodstar Avatars, Tusha's eyes opened, shining with dazzling sanguine rays as her fiery red hair whirled at her back. Yan Le stood at her right, holding a long halberd with the pole tied by a red scarf.
Throughout these last three months, Tusha worked relentlessly. No, "work" isn't powerful enough to describe the stress that the nun put herself through. She toiled day and night, laboring in all directions to not only locate the other three infernal nuns but work on Xinzi's new Evil Blood Tree and Yellow Spring Formation.
Tusha's cultivation took a backseat to these projects. But thankfully, although the Yellow Spring Formation was still far from completion, the new Evil Blood Tree Root was now complete, and by helping the new tree produce Evil Blood Fruit, Tusha could rely on it to make up for the months lost.
Meanwhile, despite following Xinzi's coordinates, she couldn't locate the other three nuns, and following a mix of additional searches, tracks hunting, and conjectures, realized that they'd been picked up by Qiu Meng already.
Though a step too late, Tusha still followed the initial plan, sneaking into the Nameless Sword Mountain to discuss an alliance with Qiu Meng.
"Tusha, when Miejue, Haoyou and Nieyuan all managed to wait for me, I didn't think that you—out of all people—would be the one betraying my trust and expectations. I know, 10,000 years have passed already, years during which you had no idea that I was still alive. You couldn't have known, and so had to think for yourself. But of all the lords you could have picked, you chose...Hengye Zhen? Do you even know he was the one that exterminated the Qiu clan? My only surviving adoptive children, Sanren and Sanbao, boys to whom you entrusted the Mourning Shadow Hall, both died at his hands. That is the man you chose. The man...you now want me to ally with."
Tusha knew. Xinzi would not have sent her on those errands without clearing up these facts. However, in his narrative, the devious monk slightly altered the timelines and added that the only reason why he did so was to prevent the Hengye clan's upper echelon from noticing Qiu Meng's true situation.
"My abbot had no other choice. Due to their ignorance of your ability to leave the River of Time whenever you pleased, Qiu Sanren and Qiu Sanbao mistakenly believed that they had to save you. And to achieve that, they launched a formation that alerted the Hengye clan. My abbot is the contemporary God-Monarch of the Eternal Night Dynasty. If he doesn't try to stop them, how can he face the deities of the main clan? But still, he left them a way out, enabling that Qiu Chen boy to bring you the body that so many Qiu clansmen sacrificed themselves for.
The Qiu were ignorant and brought death upon themselves. In any case, if my abbot didn't kill them, would they not have all committed ritual suicide to strengthen the body you now possess? If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being so deceitful, suspicious and paranoid that you failed to warn those that fought so hard for you of your true plans.
Qiu Meng, don't forget that before us, you were nothing. Last Ancient Spirit or not, at best you would have managed to become a powerful immortal of the Great Desolation World. But with our knowledge, cultivation and resources, we four sisters set you on the course of becoming one of the most dominant experts of all realms!
For you...we wandered through myriad worlds, crossed nightmarish dangers, all to locate the Codex of Heaven's Will!
For you...we opened the gates of the Infernal Paradise, plunging this world into a calamitous war!
We did so much for you! But you wouldn't even mention...the existence of that Green Leaf Village! Who are you to question my abbot's nature, when you give your trust to those that'll gladly backstab you, yet always suspect the ones that have given you a lifetime of loyalty!?" Unable to endure the Xinzi slander, Tusha lashed out—botching the negotiations.
Her words shocked her three sisters, forcing their minds to consider the truths that they'd rather forget. Qiu Meng's face twisted at Tusha's words, but unable to refute them, he restrained himself.
"So in this timeline, you know? Good. I can see that the deviously cunning Hengye Zhen has already tricked you into falling for him. That anything I say will fall on deaf ears. So, I will not waste time on drivel. Ancient and Divine Spirits are mortal enemies. I can ally with anyone, except for Hengye Zhen.
If he wants to convince me of his goodwill, then he'll have to meet me personally. Until then...we are enemies. And I will get back...all that he owes me."
These were the notes on which Qiu Meng ended the negotiation. With such bold statements, Tusha had to consider that, by relying on his knowledge of various timelines, Qiu Meng selected this moment and tipped off certain factions about the Green Leaf Village—factions he believed he could use to either weaken Xinzi's forces, destroy the citizens' sense of security, or perhaps...outright reconquer the land that now became Colorful Wing Supercity.
But if these were Qiu Meng's thoughts, if he was truly the one behind this invasion, then...he severely underestimated the might of Colorful Wing Supercity. With a sanguine smile, Tusha stood up. A twister of dark-red winds picked up at the base of her feet, rising up her monastic robes.
The robes vanished, replaced by scarlet demonic armor that left Tusha's arms and thighs exposed.
"Yan Le, contact your sisters and tell them to meet me at the city gate. No need to disturb our abbot. Whoever comes is whoever we crush. This is our fight, and with absolute force, we will show those reckless and presumptuous worms...that all Eastern factions combined still fall short before the might of the Liberation Temple."
