Tianming rushed to the Decimo Sacred Hall. When he ran over, he saw a man in azure clothes with his back facing him. Li Wudi, Ye Yi, and Bai Mo were also there, along with Qin Jiufu, the South Hall King.
“Old Ye!” Tianming shouted. It had been some time since Tianming had seen Ye Shaoqing, so he missed him a bit.
“Tianming?” Ye Shaoqing turned around. Upon seeing Tianming, he furrowed his brows slightly and replied, “It’s been a long time. Your temperament has changed.”
Ye Shaoqing had been receiving tons of benefits from the Decimo Dao Palace, and his cultivation had reached the sky saint stage.
“You’re still handsome!” Tianming smiled. But sensing the grave atmosphere, he immediately wiped the smile off his face and stepped forth.
“Let’s not waste time. There’s trouble,” said Ye Shaoqing.
“What’s the matter?”
“After Autarch Qian was defeated, he disregarded his reputation, instructing Dongyang An and the Dazzling Pavilion to start capturing people in the Grand-Orient Realm and bringing them over. They’re clearly trying to use the fate souls of those commoners to force us out of the Evil Suppression Formation!” Bai Mo replied on Ye Shaoqing’s behalf.
“How despicable!” Ye Yi snapped.
“That’s not despicable, it’s cruel and mad!” Li Wudi squinted his eyes.
“How many people are they going to capture?”
“Judging from the commotion they’re causing right now, they’re aiming for at least ten million. Moreover, they’re very scattered. With the dao palace trapped here, it’s hard for us to go to the Grand-Orient Realm to stop them.”
Ten million, that was even more ruthless than Jun Shenxiao. Compared to Autarch Qian, Jun Shengxiao’s action seemed insignificant. Tianming now knew why the atmosphere here was so tense.
“Tianming, you still have no idea about something even more troublesome.…” Ye Shaoqing gnashed his teeth.
“What is it?”
“After Li Wudi left the sect, I brought your relatives and hid them in a small kingdom in the south. But I never expected that we would be so unlucky. We ran into Dongyang An’s group, and all of them were caught. Only I managed to escape,” replied Ye Shaoqing.
“What?!” Tianming’s face changed. Li Wudi was afraid that Autarch Qian would use them to threaten them, and it just so turned out that their luck was indeed that bad.
“Calm down for now. The strongest among the group is your grandmother, and she’s only in the Heavenly Will stage. Dongyang An and the rest might not recognize them, and there’s a possibility that they’re hidden in the crowd,” Ye Shaoqing continued. Wei Tiancang and Jiang Chen were at the Vermillion Bird’s standard, while Li Jingyu wasn’t strong. So they shouldn’t be conspicuous.
“Do you know where they are right now?” Tianming asked. Li Jingyu was Li Wudi’s mother-in-law. But seeing how calm Li Wudi was, Tianming knew that they must’ve already come up with a solution before he came there.
“Before I came, I saw them packing hundreds of thousands of people into ten warships. They’re probably trying to travel by sea. Many people are escorting them, and traveling by sea is the most efficient method. They’ll probably take the two rivers, the Skyreach River and Azure River. I’m planning to intercept them there,” Ye Shaoqing spoke in a hurry, but he gave a clear account of what he had seen.
“The Dazzling Pavilion will probably take the same route as Dongyang An’s team, as well. That meant that Autarch Qian had given them orders to ship people from the Grand-Orient Realm as soon as possible!” Bai Mo added.
“The situation might seem bad, but isn’t it fine if we intercept them and save the people?” Tianming knew that he had to calm down. Ye Shaoqing had already come here, which had taken some time. That meant Li Jingyu and Wei Tiancang should be en route to the Divine Capital by now.
In the past, Autarch Qian had had to take a long detour to transport people over secretly, and it usually took a month. But now that he had been freed from those constraints, it would only take a few days!
“Tianming.” Li Wudi’s gaze blazed. “Hall King Bai will need to stay around to help Feng. Hall Master Ye has to command the Astral Legions to prevent them from sneaking an attack at us. So it’s down to a few Hall Kings and me. I’ll be going to the Azure River. As for you, you’ll head to the Skyreach River with the South Hall King.”
“What happens if Autarch Qian attacks the dao palace when we leave the Divine Capital?” Tianming asked.
“Autarch Qian has left the Divine Capital. He headed northwest, deep into the Desolate Realm. That’s the territory of wildbeasts, and there’s many ancient saintly spirit herbs there. I’m guessing they must be looking for something to reconnect the autarch beast’s head. If he comes back, I’ll have to rush back immediately as well,” said Li Wudi.
“So let’s take the opportunity while Autarch Qian is away and see if we can kill Dongyang An and the person in charge of the Dazzling Pavilion. The Ye brothers have seen them on the sea route, so we might still be able to intercept them if we go now. We should be able to save your relatives,” Bai Mo added.
“Okay, then I’ll be going with South Hall King.” Tianming nodded.
“If you encounter Dongyang An, just get someone to inform me. We’ll come and meet up with you guys. Dongyang An is the fifteenth prince, and he’s only weaker than Dongyang Ling and Dongyang Yun. The few of you won’t be able to defeat him,” said Li Wudi.
“Alright!” Qin Jiufu replied.
There was a high possibility that their enemies would take the sea routes, so they had to head over immediately.
“The Dazzling Pavilion began with commerce, their reach spreading all over the Theocracy. They have tons of outer members, with firm roots planted in many realms. It’s too late for us to return to the Grand-Orient Realm now. Let’s just hope that they’ll be going by the sea routes for efficiency,” Li Wudi said sternly.
“Those bastards. Are they going as insane as Autarch Qian?!” Tianming said furiously.
“Some time ago, didn’t he ask their entire army to think of a way to destroy us? Using the Cyclic Mirror to kill people of the Grand-Orient Realm came from them. However, I’m guessing that that must be a guise. This is something that only the Theocrats would do. Autarch Qian has already started losing his patience after suffering a loss,” Ye Yi sneered.
“People like him are hard to deal with, but they’re also easy to kill!” Li Wudi commented. He swiftly made his preparations to head over; he could manage an entire route by himself. “Old Ye, come with me.”
“Alright.”
Ye Shaoqing patted Tianming’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.”
He then started examining Tianming and continued, “I heard you can even kill a seventh-level sky saint. You’ve left me far behind, now. If you still call me master in the future, it’ll be embarrassing for me.”
“Let’s cut it short here. I have to get going as well,” said Tianming. He paused briefly, then continued, “Taking a master is a lifetime commitment, so you can’t get rid of me.”
“Well, fine. I can’t teach you anything about cultivation, so I’ll just teach you some kinky bed techniques.…”
“Get lost.”
It was fortunate that Feiling wasn’t around, otherwise he would surely have his hair plucked again.
“Hall King Qin, please wait for me briefly. I’ll return shortly,” said Tianming.
“Go ahead. I still have to call a few more people to come along with us,” said Qin Jiufu.
Time waits for no one, and Tianming swiftly returned to the Astral General Manor and brought Feiling along.
“Big Brother, did something happen to granny?”
“Yeah. My grandfather, father-in-law, and Qingluan are together with them,” said Tianming. They were the most important people to both Feiling and Li Qingyu. When they heard what had happened, they were more nervous than anyone else.
Ye Shaoqing took them away to hide, but they had been unlucky enough to run into Dongyang An. With Ye Shaoqing’s strength, there was no way he could contend with those groups of people. So he had immediately fled to find helpers. Otherwise, with his low strength, he would definitely drag Li Jingyu and the others down with him.
“What’re we going to do then? Are you and father going to intercept one river each?” Li Qingyu asked nervously.
“Yeah, don’t worry about it and wait for our good news.” Tianming couldn’t put an end to her worries. He was in a hurry and brought Feiling over to meet up with Qin Jiufu. Qin Jiufu also brought two people along with him—Bai Mo’s children, Bai Zifeng and Bai Zijun.
“Let’s go.” The group left the Decimo Dao Palace and quietly went out, heading toward the Skyreach River.
“They won’t deliberately detour, right?” Tianming asked.
“There’s only two routes that are the fastest. Otherwise, the time they’ll spend in transit will be longer than taking the land route. As long as Dongyang An is taking the sea route, there’s a high possibility that he’ll take one of the rivers,” Qin Jiufu explained.
Dongyang An used to be Jiang An, the Death Hall King, so Tianming was still familiar with him. He was sinister and ruthless.
Jiang An, you’re dead if you dare to hurt any one of them! There was a fire burning in Tianming’s heart.
……
The stars were shining dimly that night, and the sea was calm. The waves couldn’t pose any threat to the ten Dazzling Warships. The Dazzling Warships were the most expensive sea transportation tool that the Dazzling Pavilion had. Not counting the cargo, it wouldn’t be a problem to accommodate fifty thousand people at the same time. If they squeezed them a little, they could even contain a hundred thousand people.
But the ten Dazzling Warships were wallowing low in the water, which showed that they were fully loaded. Surging through the sea, the huge warships broke through the wind and waves, heading north.