Read Novel Full Chapter 1274: Chapter 1268: It's Over
Chapter 1274: Chapter 1268: It’s Over
“Not good, Old Ancestor!” Zhangsun Buhuo’s face paled in horror.
She saw that the Body Integration realm cultivators had already channeled their Spiritual power and charged toward Immortal Linghu.
The speed of Body Integration realm cultivators was far beyond that of ordinary cultivators; in an instant, they had entered Jade Mist Valley.
But the situation changed in the blink of an eye.
Zhangsun Buhuo and the other Void Refinement realm cultivators were in the second echelon.
Before they could charge into Jade Mist Valley, the vanished grand array actually reappeared.
Outside the grand array, those nine phantom dragons reemerged, exuding a powerful aura.
Zhangsun Buhuo gazed unwillingly at the numerous cultivators who were already trapped within the array of Jade Mist Valley.
Hearing the furious roar of “Retreat!” from the Painting Ancestor Dongfang Xuan on the Li Clan’s side, and seeing a phantom dragon carrying a Half-Step Body Integration aura roaring towards her, her expression changed.
She had no choice but to follow Dongfang Xuan’s example and issue a stern order.
“Retreat!!!”
Commands to retreat echoed one after another.
The nine phantom dragons flaunted their might outside the grand array.
The cultivators of the three prefectures, who were just about to charge into Jade Mist Valley, slammed to a rapid halt and retreated unwillingly.
Once they understood everything, the sky full of cultivators turned deathly pale, standing in vain outside the array formation.
“It’s over… everything is over.”
The Patriarch of the Xuanyuan Clan, Xuanyuan Yuanhua, was a young-looking cultivator holding a four-foot blue ring-pommel broadsword radiating a murderous aura.
Looking at the reappeared grand array of Jade Mist Valley, his mind went blank, and he nearly plummeted from the cloudy sky to the ground.
Now, the mighty figures of their three prefectures were all inside Jade Mist Valley, clearly having fallen into a trap.
How could cultivators like them, who were below the Body Integration realm, possibly break through the grand array?
Let alone breaking the array, without their mighty figures, the three prefectures wouldn’t even need to wait for the Blood Moon to arrive; afterwards, Immortal Linghu alone would be enough to wipe out the entire three prefectures.
Xuanyuan Yuanhua surveyed the multitude of bewildered Daoist friends in the cloudy sky, feeling as if he had lost his very soul.
The nine phantom dragons of Jade Mist Valley roared, as if mocking their stupidity and incompetence.
…
Meanwhile, outside Jade Mist Valley, it wasn’t just the numerous cultivators floating despairingly and astounded in the cloudy sky.
Hidden in the dark shadows far away from Jade Mist Valley were those harboring ulterior motives; they were the wild beasts within Grandhaven Prefecture waiting to feast upon their prey.
Deep underground.
A scarlet light bloomed from within the rock layers.
What was squirming here was not magma or an underground river, but writhing flesh and blood.
Massive tentacles blended seamlessly with the natural rock and stone.
One tentacle after another squirmed deep underground as if in a frenzied dance.
Attached to the long tentacles was a colossal, jelly-like fleshy mass, and its perfectly round eyes were the source of the scarlet light.
“Waa!”
Atop the flesh, a baby held in the arms of a young man let out a clear, piercing wail. “I’m so hungry! It’s been three months; let me eat my fill, I want to eat my fill!”
“Wait a little longer.”
Banshu Weide comforted the divine infant in his arms.
“This is our last chance, the last chance for our Banshu Clan to rise again.
Grandhaven Prefecture is our land, and others are not allowed to encroach upon it. I will make them realize this, and I will feed you to your fill all at once.”
“Waa!”
The immortal infant’s shrill cries were filled with impatience.
The massive, bizarre body beneath him writhed, exuding a sacred yet maddening aura.
This aura even reached the intensity of the Body Integration realm, yet felt somehow beyond Body Integration.
Banshu Weide gazed intently at the battlefield in Jade Mist Valley.
Seeing Jade Mist Valley once again engulfed by the array formation and the anxious enemies outside, a flash of anger crossed Banshu Weide’s eyes, mingled with a bit of unwillingness and anticipation.
Many years ago, the entire Grandhaven Prefecture harbored two immortals.
One was the Red Dust Immortal of the Martial Academy, and the other was the immortal infant of their Banshu Clan.
Jade Mist Valley… Jade Mist Valley was nothing.
At least in the eyes of their two factions, Jade Mist Valley was merely a latecomer with a bit of karmic luck.
The Old Ancestor, Banshu Ao, was the true powerhouse of the entire Grandhaven Prefecture, but under the immortal infant, he could never break through to Body Integration.
The Banshu Clan’s vision and prestige exceeded any other faction in Grandhaven Prefecture.
Old Ancestor Banshu Ao cultivated various methods of Grandhaven Prefecture and coalesced the rules of the ‘World’.
His karmic opportunity lay in Azure Cloud Prefecture.
The Old Ancestor once said that when he returned from Azure Cloud Prefecture, the Banshu Clan would turn the immortal infant into a true watchdog.
But he went on that trip and never returned.
“Soon, soon. Everything in Grandhaven Prefecture will still belong to our Banshu Clan.”
Banshu Weide stared intently at the cultivators of the Azure Cloud Li Clan.
It was them who had driven the Banshu Clan to a dead end, forcing him to flee and scurry about with the immortal infant.
Yet, he still didn’t act rashly, scanning his surroundings. “The Martial Academy…”
The true masters of Grandhaven Prefecture were the Banshu Clan and the Martial Academy. He stroked the immortal infant’s head. “Where is the Red Dust Immortal?”
Compared to the people currently slaughtering each other in Jade Mist Valley, he cared more about that Red Dust Immortal of the Martial Academy.
“He is not here; he has already fled!” the immortal infant roared in anger.
“That cowardly thing, he should have protected Grandhaven Prefecture alongside me!”
White light flickered in Banshu Weide’s eyes.
He actually peered through the earth layers, seeing streak after streak of blood-red threads.
Those threads flowed like human blood vessels, and this was entirely the essence, blood, and souls extracted by the people of the Martial Academy slaughtering the commoners of Grandhaven Prefecture over the past century.
“He left? Does that mean the one feeding on the commoners in the Martial Academy wasn’t the Red Dust Immortal?” Banshu Weide’s expression changed.
He had observed the anomalies in Grandhaven Prefecture over these years; both he and the immortal infant had been guarding against the Red Dust Immortal attempting to devour the entirety of Grandhaven Prefecture to advance further.
“No, it’s not him!” The immortal infant said,
“Beware of the six ants of the Martial Academy! Devouring so many commoners is to forge the Red Dust method, to forge their own world.
Beneath the earth veins lies the power of Body Integration. An entire Grandhaven Prefecture and so many cultivators are enough to allow him to break through the Dao and achieve the Mahayana realm!”
“It couldn’t be them.” Banshu Weide shook his head.
The Martial Academy educated the world, and they similarly educated their Banshu Clan, passing it down from generation to generation.
Old Ancestor Banshu Ao possessed numerous spiritual roots due to the immortal infant’s immortal Dao, allowing him to observe the rules of heaven and earth.
However, the one who truly allowed Banshu Ao to earn the title of the ‘number one person beneath the Body Integration realm’ was indeed the Martial Academy.
Every generation of the Banshu Clan received teachings from the Martial Academy.
Even he himself had cultivated his Dao of ‘Cloud’ within the Martial Academy.
He knew the temperaments of the Six Masters.
In order to forge the Red Dust, they might devour Redmere, Westfall, and Azure Cloud, but they would absolutely never lay a hand on Grandhaven Prefecture.
After all, no matter what kind of person one is, they still have feelings for the cats and dogs they raise.
“Who exactly is it?” Banshu Weide’s expression turned gloomy.
High above the distant clouds.
The three Masters of the Martial Academy gazed at the battlefield.
Watching the Body Integration experts of the three prefectures fall into the trap within Jade Mist Valley, the First Master’s gaze fixed upon the Fox Saint.
“Ever since this person arrived in Grandhaven Prefecture, everything has changed.”
“The First Master means, it was him…”
The Fourth Master, knitting her sweater, stared intently at the Fox Saint.
After the other three Masters had gone missing, the cultivators of the three prefectures surrounded Jade Mist Valley.
The Masters had long been lying in ambush nearby, and also watched Azure Cloud Prefecture step into Jade Mist Valley’s trap step by step.
Of course, the most likely culprit for the betrayal was still the Fifth Master.
The Fifth Master ignored the Fourth Master’s gaze and said in a deep voice,
“The Peerless Hall came to our Grandhaven and has been helping Jade Mist Valley all along.
We always thought the Peerless Hall’s only objective was Jade Mist Valley. But this Fox Saint is absolutely not simple.
Immortal Linghu has become a Half-Immortal; if the Fox Saint wanted to become a Half-Immortal, it would definitely be an effortless task for him, yet he didn’t…”
“Unless he harbors a grander scheme. For an old fox at the Dao-Integration realm whose lifespan is nearing its end, if he can reach the Mahayana realm, the Dao Seed will no longer bind him.
The First Master’s speculation is highly probable. However, to issue orders within our Martial Academy, it must inevitably pass through our hands.”
“The Fourth Master is cooperating with him.”
“…” The Fourth Master hitched her breath, halting her knitting. “A thief crying ‘catch the thief’.”
Seeing the two Masters about to start fighting again, the First Master frowned.
“The Red Dust Immortal is already missing. Now, we only have each other, and this is our last chance.
Jade Mist Valley currently holds numerous Body Integration and Void Refinement cultivators, representing the highest echelon of power in the entire Southern Frontier.”
“When two sides fight, a third party reaps the benefits. Both sides are bound to suffer catastrophic casualties.
That watchdog of the Banshu Clan will definitely be unable to hold back and reveal itself, or the other three Masters will emerge.
We will forge them all into our Red Dust Realm, absorbing the three prefectures into our immortal method within two hundred years. Then, we will have nothing to fear from the Blood Moon.”
The two Masters ceased their confrontation, their gazes turning resolute following the First Master’s words.
“The immortals are unreliable, and the Imperial Dynasty is unreliable. We educated Grandhaven Prefecture.”
“Now, I have an even grander objective: to educate the entire mortal realm.”
…
Within Jade Mist Valley, inside the mountain.
Following Linghu Tiangong’s sneak attack, the broken array foundation that had initially caused the grand array to dissipate suddenly sprang to life.
The brilliance of array formations reappeared from the hidden corners all over Jade Mist Valley.
Li Tianming took all this in.
The situation had drastically reversed.
The Linghu Tiangong standing before him had originally seemed desperate, attempting to secure a final sliver of legacy for Jade Mist Valley to the point of willingly cooperating with his enemies.
Now, however, he wore a ferocious and sinister expression.
“Impossible.” Li Tianming couldn’t believe it.
How could a person suddenly shift from amiable and kindly to such a ferocious and insidious state, like the unpredictable weather in April flipping between sunny and rainy?
“You’re crazy! We had a deal! You lied to me!”
“Hahaha!”
Rocks tumbled down, accompanied by Linghu Tiangong’s loud laughter.
“What the people of the world see is forever limited to what is right before their eyes.
The world knows the Li Clan possesses a formidable intelligence network. Many years ago, we already knew that the Li Clan had planted nails inside our Jade Mist Valley.”
The two Fourth Great-Aunts.
Li Tianming’s expression changed. “What have you done to my two Fourth Great-Aunts?!!”
“Fourth Great-Aunts?”
A trace of astonishment flashed through Linghu Tiangong’s eyes. “They are dead. Along with the seven sleeper agents your Hall of Heavenly Principles hid within our Jade Mist Valley.”
“You…” Li Tianming quickly communicated with the ‘big brothers’ in his head.
“We knew the existence of the Peerless Hall could not escape the Li Clan’s eyes, so we simply didn’t bother hiding it.”
A hint of pity flashed in Linghu Tiangong’s eyes.
“Spies who have been discovered become the crux of the plan—the perfect bait.
We didn’t know what would happen in the future, so I postured myself in front of all of you as standing in opposition to my Ancestral Master.
A desperate, cornered Valley Master. Anyone would have treated me as a crucial chess piece.”
“…” Li Tianming was speechless.
He had fallen for the trap.
Their sleeper agents in Jade Mist Valley had watched Linghu Tiangong kneel for a long time outside Immortal Linghu’s cultivation chamber, listening to his mournful cries.
They never expected Linghu Tiangong was hiding his true intentions so deeply. “So you did all this just for today?”
“No.”
Linghu Tiangong exhaled a long breath.
“There is one thing you got wrong. I didn’t lie to you. From the day the Peerless Hall appeared in Jade Mist Valley, I knew I had never agreed to their presence.
I have never been willing to associate with them, much less have any entanglements with the Blood Moon.”
“I genuinely and wholeheartedly tried to persuade my Ancestral Master. I also wanted to be like you and drive the Peerless Hall away.”
“Compared to being your enemy, I would much rather be your friend.
We could gather a grand army, stand at the edge of Grandhaven Prefecture, and charge into the Blood Moon. Even if we died, we would die as members of the Human Race.”
Li Tianming frowned, exceedingly puzzled. “Then why…”
“It was too late.”
Linghu Tiangong smiled bitterly.
“The Ancestral Master is the one who decides everything. He wanted to become a Half-Immortal; he wanted to become a part of what is beneath the Blood Moon.
My disciples, my clansmen… they have already swallowed the Dao Seeds.”
“A person has many choices in their lifetime, but even more bindings. I watched with my own eyes as they stepped into the abyss step by step.
I could only stand outside the abyss, and then walk with them into a place I never wished to set foot in, falling into ruin together.”
Linghu Tiangong’s face darkened.
“I tried to pull them out of a desperate situation while simultaneously cleaning up their messes.
You couldn’t see through my disguise because I was always genuine. Until you came to me, asking me to help you destroy Jade Mist Valley. If it were you…”
Hearing this, Li Tianming silently retrieved a mask from his spatial ring and put it on. His voice turned ice-cold. “Old geezer, you’ve got some skills.”
At this moment, Li Tianming’s aura completely transformed.
Linghu Tiangong suddenly felt as if Li Tianming was the same kind of person as him. He said in a deep voice, “You brought this upon yourselves. You left me with no way out.”
“Is that so?”
—
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