After three days of consideration, Tai Dou, Xing Yihui, and the others finally decided to work with the Illusionary Palm Society.
"Lord Xu, from now onward, the Illusionary Palm Society will be the leader of our clans. I only hope that you can keep your word and let our clans control the Five Denseforest Cities," said Tai Dou to Xu Duo.
"That's right. If you break your promise, things will revert back to how they were when we followed the Dong Clan. If that is the case, we might as well pull out of this place entirely and rebuild somewhere else," said Xing Yihui.
"Hehe, don't worry. The Illusionary Palm Society is quite far away, so it will be quite troublesome for us to personally manage this place anyway. It will be the best for us if your clans are the ones running it. We only need you to pay 30 percent of what you make yearly as tribute," said Xu Duo with a satisfied look. "I will send someone back to the society and get some experts to come over to help you defeat the Dong Clan."
"We will be troubling you then, lord," said Tai Dou and Xing Yihui with grateful expressions.
"Lord, I suggest we move fast as I'm afraid the Dong Clan people will...," Xing Yihui said with a worried look.
The Tai and Xing Cities were located near Dong City. An Emperor would only need about four hours to reach them. They were afraid that the Dong Clan would come for revenge.
"Don't worry. I have already sent a message with a thousand miles bird. With its speed, it has probably reached the Illusionary Palm Society by now. I believe that in a few more days my fellow apprentices will be here. At that time, we can take the Dong Clan easily," said Xu Duo confidently.
"Good, good." Tai Dou and Xing Yihui were finally relieved.
Suddenly, a loud sound rang out from outside the city, and a Tai Clan Emperor came shouting in alarm, "This is bad! The Dong Clan is attacking!"
"Damn it! Why are they here so fast? Are they planning to die together with us?" Tai Dou cursed before rushing out of the city.
Xing Yihui also moved without delay. Since the Xing Clan Emperors were here as well, they had to work together in order to survive the Dong Clan's assault. On the other hand, Xu Duo decided to remain inside after a slight hesitation.
"Traitors from the Tai and Xing Clans, today is the day you all die!" Dong Qinggu's merciless voice rang out in the air. Both he and Dong Zhongyuan attacked with their sovereign weapons, sending numerous terrifying attacks forward, and crushed the Tai City's defensive barrier.
"Everyone, go! They are not necessarily not our match!" Tai Dou yelled, trying to improve the morale of the people on their side.
Over 20 Emperors from the two clans moved out together, including the ones who were still recuperating from their injuries. The Dong Clan had only attacked with about 15 Emperors. However, these 15 Emperors appeared incredibly imposing, with three ninth-stage Dragon Ascension Realm experts among them. Apart from the three, there was also Devouring Ghost who possessed combat prowess comparable to that of a peak Dragon Ascension Realm expert. This was already enough of a force to crush the two clans.
In fact, the two clans would not be able to put up a fight unless Xu Duo and his two surviving companions helped them. After all, they only had one ninth-stage Emperor among their ranks. They had more Emperors on their side, but the difference in cultivation levels would decide the result of the battle.
"Come! I shall hone my saber with you!" Du Xuanhao alone charged ahead of everyone. He drew his saber, became one with it, and instantly sent a deluge of saber energy toward the Emperors from the two opposing clans. His slash looked like it was going to cut the sky itself into two. With an imposing might, it instantly reaped the lives of two Emperors.
Two lives with one slash!
The two clans started panicking. One of them recognized Du Xuanhao and cried out in alarm, "H-he is one of the Dong Clan's helpers! He has grown even stronger!"
"It doesn't matter who he is. We have no other option. Fight!" roared Tai Dou. He then charged Dong Qinggu.
Meanwhile, Xing Yihui stayed where he was and observed the battlefield. When he couldn't find Xu Duo anywhere, he panicked, "Why is Lord Xu not here? Has he..."
He did not even dare to imagine their fate if Xu Duo decided to not help. Xing Yihui was about to flee when Devouring Ghost appeared beside him like a specter and clawed him. Meanwhile, Dong Qinggu and Dong Zhongyuan were busy fighting the other members of the two clans.
The battle between Emperors raged on, terrifying energy explosions filling the air above the Tai Clan. Toward the end of the battle, not much of the Tai City was left intact. The people of the city started fleeing everywhere. Unsurprisingly, the Tai Clan estate had been completely destroyed.
Far away from the city was Xu Duo, who had fled ahead of time. Inwardly, he rejoiced, They have indeed come prepared. The two clans are idiots. Without sufficient foundations, they are actually trying to uproot the Dong Clan? They have overestimated themselves.
He then quickly left with his two companions. About half a day later, not a single Tai Clan Emperor was left. The Dong Clan did not spare the surviving Tai Clan members either. They descended from the sky and slaughtered everyone from the Tai Clan, not giving them any chance to rebuild.
After destroying the Tai Clan, they rushed toward the Xing City and attacked the Xing Clan before they could do anything. The same thing happened to the Xing Clan. With the destruction of the two traitor clans, the Dong Clan's crisis ended.
Xiang Shaoyun had not participated in either battle. He had remained in the Dong Clan estate and was focused on studying the nine-colored fog in his astral cosmos sea. The horned lightning snake had broken through after absorbing the nine-colored fog. Not much of it was left. Therefore, he had to figure out what it actually did and how it could be of help to him.
After repeated observations, he was able to conclude that the nine-colored fog was very similar to the most original energy of the universe and that it was probably capable of sustaining life. He had obtained that conclusion after observing the herbs and horned lightning snake currently residing within his astral cosmos sea.
The nine-colored fog is a sort of origin energy. Apart from sustaining life, it definitely has some other unique functions as well. Let me draw some of them out, Xiang Shaoyun thought inwardly before drawing out all the remaining nine-colored fog.
When the nine-colored fog converged on his palms, he immediately felt an intense vitality and dreadful destructiveness emanating from it. He also sensed two different attributes, but he couldn't make sense of them for now.
"What an odd energy. Let me see how scary your destructiveness is," Xiang Shaoyun muttered as he formed a finger beam with the nine-colored fog. He jabbed at the wall in his cultivation room.
Bang!
A muffled sound rang out, and a hole appeared in the wall.