Southsky Island was located in coastal waters, and usually it was a sight to behold. It was surrounded by clear water, the sky and sea around it a beautiful blue.
However, today the island had sunk deep into the Azure Sea!
A massive blue barrier had enveloped it, then absorbed an endless amount of seawater. From afar, it looked like a giant blue ball over a hundred kilometers wide had appeared in the sea.
Now that the Southsky Barrier had absorbed the seawater, any attempts by the people of Heaven’s Elysium to penetrate it and enter the island would require them to advance through tens of kilometers of violent waves, all the while enduring spirit hazards from the barriers and attacks by Southsky sentinels.
Most sentinels had water-type lifebound beasts. In this rough sea, three Elysium purifiers might not be able to defeat one sentinel peer at the same level as them!
Currently, ninety-nine blue dragons were roaming within the blue ball.
These weren’t lifebound beasts, but the ‘azure dragon pulse’, a spirit hazard belonging to the barrier. It was similar to the imperial dragon pulse of the Grand-Orient Sect. One was water and one was earth, but both were captured by the first ancestor, Li Shenxiao, and fused into the barrier.
The azure dragon pulse was freezing cold, and could transform into ice to pierce through their enemies. Within the Azure Sea, they had frightening strength.
A continuous stream of draconic roars traveled out from the barrier, causing two hundred and fifty thousand Elysium purifiers in the distance to frown. In total, they had over three times the Southsky Sect’s numbers! That was why so many Southsky elders had wanted to surrender.
The purifiers’ white-gold armor gleamed under the sunlight. Experts abounded among their number. However, they currently all had poor expressions. First, the Southsky Barrier simply looked too impressive, giving them great pressure. And second, the battle report from the Grand-Orient Sect had arrived.
Located in the center of the army was the higher-ups of Heaven’s Elysium. All of them had grave expressions on their faces.
“I didn’t expect the Li Saint Clan’s Li Wudi to have such a cultivation method.”
“Directly entering the Sky Saint stage is unimaginable. I’ve never heard of such a thing before!”
The Four Cardinal Kings all frowned.
“We just started our campaign and we’ve already run into this problem. Although one Li Wudi can’t change the end result, he’ll still be troublesome,” Jun Dongyao said, blazing with killing intent.
“Elysian Emperor, both the Onyx Sect and Cloudmist Sword School suffered losses. Their morale is low, too. I don’t think they’ll be able to suppress the Grand-Orient Sect and lure out the Southsky Sect anymore. What should we do?” the South Cardinal King asked.
The Elysian Emperor had been silent ever since the news had come in. Everyone else had been discussing the news and waiting for his answer for a long time.
“Dongyao.” It seemed he had made a decision, as his eyes had turned much colder.
“Yes!”
“Lead sixty elders and seventy thousand purifiers to reinforce the Onyx Sect and Cloudmist Sword School. Also, pass down my decree for the Onyx Sect to abandon the Onyx Empress and join the attack. You know what to do if the Onyx Emperor doesn’t do the smart thing, right?”
“I understand; don’t worry, father.” Jun Dongyao felt his passion ignite, now that he finally had a chance to render merit. Honestly, he didn’t feel assured if no one from Heaven’s Elysium would be there at Grand-Orient Sect to handle things.
Although Jun Niancang was there, he was still young and inexperienced, outside of cultivation.
“You’ll have three armies adding up to two hundred thousand soldiers and a hundred and sixty elders. You know what you should do?” the Elysian Emperor asked.
“Yes! With so many people, I’ll definitely bring the Grand-Orient Sect to its knees and force the Southsky Sect out!” Jun Dongyao declared.
“We have ten years. Don’t rush it and let ourselves get hurt in the process, lest we let someone else rise up. Minimize our casualties,” the Elysian Emperor ordered.
“Yes!”
“As for Li Wudi, just make sure you surround him with enough people to ensure his death.”
“Don’t worry, father. We have over a hundred and sixty elders, while they only have twenty left. What can they do?” Jun Dongyao smiled. Hunting turtled up prey was boring. But battling the Grand-Orient Sect would be different!
Thus, Heaven’s Elysium’s army split into two. Even then, there were still a hundred and eighty thousand purifiers left outside the Southsky Sect.
……
Li Wudi and Ye Shaoqing came to find Tianming soon after he had broke through to the first level of Heaven Will, with Jiang Feiling and Li Qingyu behind them.
“Tianming, we’re rushing to Vermilion Bird,” Ye Shaoqing said with a serious expression.
“Why?” Tianming asked, noticing that something was off.
“You mentioned those three inspectors to me before the Realm War. Since they knew your hometown, I tasked our spy in Heaven’s Elysium, Zhao Hang, to keep an eye on them. I just received word from him that they went off in the direction of Vermilion Bird. He’s following, and says they want to capture your family for credit!”
“They didn’t tell others about Vermilion Bird?” Tianming frowned.
“They’re doing it for credit, so no. Otherwise, they’ll have to share credit.” As Ye Shaoqing spoke, his Azureflame Dragon was already hovering in the air. He brought Tianming and Jiang Feiling on.
“It’s dangerous now, so be careful,” Li Wudi said.
“No problem. We’ll be low-key,” Ye Shaoqing replied.
Then, the dragon flew off!
In order to avoid the Cloudmist Sword School, Ye Shaoqing went east. The dragon moved too fast and Feiling couldn’t handle the wind, so she Spiritually Attached herself to Tianming.
“My god, when did you reach Heavenly Will?” Ye Shaoqing only realized it now, due to the urgency of just moments ago.
“Two days ago.”
“That’s still too fast!”
Tianming’s cultivation speed was just too fast. In less than half a year since leaving Vermilion Bird, he had probably surpassed Mu Yang.
“It’s mostly thanks to the Grand-Orient Sword. I’d probably need a few months more, otherwise,” Tianming said. Sometimes, an opportunity was needed to reach a new stage. With it, success would be a foregone conclusion, but without it, even a hundred years wouldn’t be enough.
“I feel like your resonance with the Grand-Orient Sword is unmatched. Li Wudi, that old drunkard, made the right choice in giving it to you. There’s just too many miracles on you. Were you really born in some tiny place like Vermilion Bird? Or is Vermilion Bird special? Take Miss Ling’er for example. Wudi and I both feel she’s even more special than you!” Ye Shaoqing praised.
“Thank you for the praise, uncle,” Feiling said.
Ye Shaoqing laughed, but inside, he was thinking they were monsters.
“Master, we should be in time, right?” Tianming was slightly worried. Ling Yichen and the other two were stronger than Mu Yang.
“Don’t worry, Zhao Hang is only about as strong as Ling Yichen. If we’re too slow, we’ll need two people who can handle Song Yixue and Jin Yixuan.”
“What level are they at?” Tianming asked hurriedly.
“Zhao Hang’s report said they’re at the fifth level of Heavenly Will. Of course, they’re the weakest kind, but they have ample battle experience.”
The Azureflame Dragon was already going as fast as it could go. There was no point being more anxious.
“Ling Yichen, I’ll tear you to shreds if you dare touch my family. Anyway, it’s time to get an accounting for the debt from Ignispolis!” Half a year ago, Heaven’s Elysium had brought Wei Manor to the brink. If it weren’t for Tianming and Mu Yang, there would no longer be a Wei Manor.
Finally, after a long while, the dragon finally approached Vermilion Bird. Tianming stood up and looked at the mountains passing by.
Then, Tianming could see a giant city on the horizon. It was like a burning furnace, with hot air wafting out of it. It was Ignispolis! Finally, Tianming was home.
Compared to the lifebound beasts in Ignispolis, the fifth-order saint beast dragon was too high level. All of the city’s lifebound beasts cowered as soon as it arrived.
The dragon headed in the direction of Wei Manor, drawing much attention.
“What’s that!” Many people ran out onto the street to catch a glimpse of the dragon as it blew past.
“Dragon! A dragon! It must be a saint beast!”
Many people came out of the royal palace, Occult Athenaeum, Xing Mansion, and Chen Chateau to chase after the dragon. The king, Prime Minister Qin, Sage Xing, and Sage Chen were all awestruck by the saint beast, then chased after it as well.
“It seems to be heading toward Heaven’s Sanctum!” Everyone watched as the dragon rushed toward Wei Manor, unaware that a grand battle was currently unfolding there.