"It's time." As the last of the Sacrificial Knives drew their last breath, the Spirit Extinguishing Bead reached perfection, forcing Lord Soaring Crane to abandon his post and stand up. The Soaring Crane mountain elders still operated their nefarious formation, draining the helpless white fox to manipulate the beast tide. Without Lord Soaring Crane to operate things alongside them, their job would get substantially more challenging. But with the Spirit Extinguishing Bead at last complete, it was indeed time for the tottering lord to make his move.
In a whirl of occult forces, a dark vortex appeared at Soaring Crane's left, and from it, the numbing chime of a dark yet mellow voice spread out. "I didn't expect Huo Jin to die as well. It seems that we've drastically underestimated the sword-wielding upstarts. Regardless, since his destruction has also fueled the bead, I suppose that this can only work in our favor. Soaring Crane, of the seven Human Lords of Yanzhou, you are the weakest. But with this Spirit Extinguishing Bead to power you, you can likely compete with the third strongest.
The beast tide will soon ram its way through the border—destroying all lives in its path. Harassed on so many fronts, the White Immortal sect cannot triumph. However, unless you can accomplish your task and kill their three leaders—destroying them all today…might not be feasible.
My Dark Moon cult has done its best. The stakes are clear; the rest depends on you. Do not disappoint me, and following the destruction of Dongli, your Soaring Crane mountain will still have a place in Anyue," the voice said, and without waiting for Lord Soaring Crane's answer, vanished alongside the vortex.
From the moment that he deferred to the Dark Moon cult's plans, Lord Soaring Crane knew that he'd pushed his sect on a path of no return, and as sect master, committed professional suicide. In victory, they would become tools for the Dark Moon cult to exploit. In defeat, they'd vanish from history. But as the last genuine powerhouse of the Li clan, Lord Soaring Crane had no choice but to give his faction a chance—as tiny as it might be—to escape the White Immortal sect's suppression and the inevitable slaughter they'd unleash on the Li once they felt confident enough to challenge their hidden shield.
The time for softness had passed. It was time to kill. The wrinkled old patriarch's eyes shone with the determination of a vibrant warrior king, and after giving his subordinates a supportive nod, he stepped into the air, ambling at the oldest of the 100 meters-long cranes, which lowered its head to welcome its master.
Taking his seat on top of the noble bird, Lord Soaring Crane glanced towards the White Immortal sect and—as the Spirit Extinguishing Bead gleamed within his hand—man and beast took off.
The two remaining 100 meters cranes followed suit, raising tyrannical gusts of winds as they flapped their humongous wings—thereby drawing momentum for their patriarch's last battle. Meanwhile, within the White Immortal sect, an odd stalemate unfolded.
Despite having gathered the strongest coalition in recent Dongli history, the Dark Moon cult and Flower Plucking gang's forces didn't hurry into the sect's walls. Instead, they hovered at the gate, teasing the White Immortal sect disciples from the comfort of their Spiritual Arks.
Great flying vessels powered by large reserves of Spiritual Stones, Spiritual Arks ranked high among the luxuries of the cultivation world. So high in fact, that usually, only Nascent Soul level experts could afford to buy them. And how else could it be, when even the lowest of Spiritual Ark brands cost an upward of 4.5 million spirit stones?
Not only could Spiritual Arks field thousands of cultivators, but they could also cast robust energy shields and fire horrifying qi blasts at their target. Needless to say, Spiritual Arks were not all made equal, the better they excelled at war, the higher the price, and the more likely top factions were to dispatch them. The Soaring Crane mountain and Flower Plucking gang only had one Ordinary Spiritual Ark each. To maximize the operation's chances and save their troops the embarrassment of riding such awkward vessels, the Dark Moon cult dispatched three Thunder Spiritual Arks, each with a capacity of over 6,000 men and fully equipped to rain lightning storms on their foes.
As the humongous vessels' shadows filled the sky, the White Immortal sect disciples trembled. Thunder Spiritual Arks represented the cream of the crop among weapons of mass destruction. A full-powered blast from a Thunder Spiritual Ark was more than enough to burn the average Nascent Soul cultivator to ashes. The White Immortal sect had several Fire Spiritual Arks, but only one Thunder Ark. Even Zi Yao didn't expect that, for what she only perceived as an extensive probe, the Dark Moon cult would dispatch three Thunder Spiritual Arks.
Clearly, she'd somewhat underestimated the importance that the Dark Moon cult put on this invasion. While they indeed didn't wish to reveal the true depth of their abilities, if they could use this opportunity to erase the White Immortal sect, they wouldn't hesitate to supply the Soaring Crane mountain and Flower Plucking gang with cutting-edge war machines.
Still, it was one thing to be impressed. Another to dread the confrontation. If the White Immortal sect disciples and audience trembled at the sight of the eye-catching war vessels, even as the enemy factions' flags blew at the masts, the sect elders remained serene.
"How could it be? Even if the gang leader couldn't defeat Zi Yao, at least he should have been able to safely escape and reunite with us! Why…why is he dead?" Said the Flower Plucking gang vice-leader and last remaining Nascent Soul expert. As soon as Zi Yao butchered him, news of Huo Jin's death quickly spread among the enemy troops, making a mess of the Flower Plucking troops' morale.
Even the Soaring Crane mountain and Dark Moon cult forces couldn't believe that Huo Jin, a dominant force within the Nascent Soul realm, would lose even the chance to escape against a woman. This had nothing to do with misogyny. If in general, the average Nascent Soul expert shouldn't dream of surviving Huo Jin's grotesque yin-yang techniques, females would always have it worse. After all, the Withered Wood Ecstasy had specifically been designed to pervert males but dominate females.
Yet, despite all the advantages that this method offered him, Huo Jin still fell to Zi Yao's sword? Not only did his death come as a shock, but the speed at which the Knives fell also didn't help the matter. Before the invasion, the Dark Moon cult estimated that in the best case scenario, the Sacrificial Knives would only suffer minor casualties, still manage to kill Ziyun, then cooperate with the main force to destroy the White Immortal sect. In the worst-case scenario, they'd all become fuel for the Spirit Extinguishing Bead.
The worst-case scenario had now manifested, forcing the assailants to reevaluate their position.
"Do not lose your composure. We've underestimated the enemy and have paid the price for it in blood. However, this is but a minor setback. From now on, you are the leader of the Flower Plucking gang. It will be you, and not Huo Jin that gets to abuse the White Immortal sect's women to death. Remember this when you address your troops. Any dip in morale can affect our chances to carry out a successful sect extermination," said a cloaked Sacrificial Knife elder that stood beside the Flower Plucking gang's vice-leader.
Raised through the incomplete inheritance of the Phantom God, the Sacrificial Knives existed in great numbers and wouldn't break a sweat for the Pulse Condensation level losses of their initial assault. The Golden Core and Nascent Soul ones, however, would sting the Dark Moon cult priestesses' hearts. After all, even with that unique inheritance, raising Golden Core level Knives took a considerable amount of time and effort. As for Nascent Soul Knives, their training on average took 300 years.
Not even the Dark Moon cult could afford to waste such resources—at least not without comparable compensation.
"No need to rush the slaughter. The White Immortal sect no longer has a defensive formation. Let's wait for Lord Soaring Crane. In the meantime, we will harass them with lightning storms. It's not like they can do any…wait, what are they…"
It is not easy to make a Knife lose his temper. Yet time and time again, the White Immortal sect found ways to make them go bonkers. This was one such time, for as the cloaked elder gave his orders, three floating figures appeared above the White Immortal sect's gates: Guang Fanghu, Zi Yao and Lord Hanxing.
"Which one do you want?" Zi Yao asked the other two, and while Guang Fanghu cracked his neck, Lord Hanxing tilted his head, flashing a wicked grin.
"The middle one," Guang Fanghu said.
"The left one," Hanxing followed.
"Alright, stick to the plan, I will take the one at the right." Zi Yao cautioned against irrational deeds and "picked" her target. The three's cultivation bases erupted in full-force—rocking the Spiritual Arks, alongside the thousands of homicidal experts on their decks.
