"Are you really planning to release that thing? Even with the combined powers of all four of us, we were only able to seal it into the Nine Sun Astral Formation when it was at its most feeble point. If we were to release that monster, perhaps it would attack us first before it attacks our enemies. After all, it does possess some intelligence," Master Azure Dragon said in a concerned manner.
"There"s no need to be overly concerned about that; the Blood Soul Talisman is almost ready, and it"s in the final stage of its preparation. I"ve inquired the restriction masters in our sect about this, and even though the talisman isn"t completely ready, it"ll currently still be around half as effective as it should be in its complete form. As long as we inject that talisman into the monster, even if we won"t be able to completely control it, we"ll at least be able to ensure that it won"t attack us. Our top priority now is to endure this period of two months. Sealing that beast in the Nine Sun Astral Formation is indeed a very secure arrangement, but if the formation doesn"t deactivate on its own, there"s no way for us to release that beast, either. You and I both know that if the devilish lords didn"t care about casualties and launched an all-out attack on our city, even with the Nine Sun Astral Formation, there"s no way we can stop them," Fairy Lin Luan said in a grim voice
"The Blood Soul Talisman is ready? That"s fantastic! With Fellow Daoist Han and Fairy Silver Light"s a.s.sistance, we should be able to last until that day. I"m sure those devilish beings won"t have antic.i.p.ated that we"re also waiting for the day when the five suns transition into moons to arrive," Master Azure Dragon said in an elated matter.
"With that monster"s help, even in the worst-case scenario, we"ll at least be evenly matched with those devilish beings. If worse comes to worst, then we"ll just have to take our core disciples and travel to Deep Heaven City. We"ll have to rely on their charity for our safety, but at the very least, it"ll ensure that we"ll survive this devilish tribulation. During the few days prior to the day when the five suns transition into moons, gather all of the city"s resources and core disciples so we can leave right away if required. As long as we do our best to hold off those devilish lords, those disciples will definitely be able to make a safe departure," Fairy Lin Luan said with a confident smile, and it was quite clear that she had put a lot of thought into this plan.
After contemplating the proposed plan for a moment, Master Azure Dragon decided that it was quite sound, but a forlorn look then appeared on his face. "I guess that"s our only option. What a pity; if our two fellow Daoists hadn"t fallen into that trap, our Heavenlean City would be in a far better situation right now."
"Indeed, who would"ve thought that the devilish lords would become so cunning? If we had antic.i.p.ated their plan and unleashed the combination formation that the four of us prepared in advance, we definitely would"ve been at least evenly matched with those devilish lords," Fairy Lin Luan sighed.
"Alright, so we"ve now decided on our main course of action, but I"ll have to trouble you to keep an eye on things as our overall morale is still very shaky in the aftermath of the loss of our two grand elders. Also, make sure that no resources are spared in repairing those copper puppets. It took our four sects tens of thousands of years to refine them, and they"re our main counter against the All-encompa.s.sing Devilish Cavaliers."
"Of course, but I think it"s time we considered unleas.h.i.+ng our elite forces against those Jialun War Devils. Otherwise, the puppets alone definitely wouldn"t be enough..."
Thus, the two began to discuss some other matters. Fair Lin Luan possessed a slightly inferior cultivation base compared to Master Azure Dragon, but she was clearly the leader when it came to decision-making.
...
Just as the two of them were holding their discussion, the four devilish lords were also discussing some matters together. They were situated in a hall within a ma.s.sive valley that was enshrouded in dense devilish Qi tens of thousands of kilometers away from Heavenlean City.
Tie Long was sitting on the main seat, while Fei Ya was leaning expressionlessly against a stone pillar beside the entrance of the hall.
The other two devilish lords were comprised of a smiling beauty in a blue dress, and a 40-feet-tall giant clad in a suit of fiery red armor. Only his eyes were visible through the suit of full-body armor, and there were flames dancing within them.
"What? Lord Li"s trio was killed at the same time? And we"ve been ordered to stop attacking Heavenlean City to investigate this matter?" the giant in the suit of red armor exclaimed in an incredulous manner.
Even though he had tried to keep his voice as low as possible, the entire hall still tremored violently.
"Is that true, Brother Tie? You"re not making a joke here, are you?" the female devilish lord asked in a bewildered manner.
"I only just received this order following my return as well. This order was pa.s.sed down by Master Xue Guang himself, so it"s definitely authentic. On top of that, Master Xue Guang even deployed his personal guards, the Yin Yang Twin Devils, to meet up with us in a month. It seems that not only was Lord Li"s trio killed, something that was extremely important to Master Xue Guang was also lost in the process," Tie Long said in a grim voice.
"Even the Yin Yang Twin Devils were sent out? That item really must be extremely important to Master Xue Guang, then. Brother Tie, do you know exactly what was lost to prompt such a reaction from Master Xue Guang?" the woman asked.
"I"m not so sure about that, and Master Xue Guang didn"t elaborate on it, either. However, we should be able to ask the Yin Yang Twin Devils when they arrive," Tie Long said with a shake of his head.
"Hehe, if it"s something that Master Xue Guang doesn"t want to tell us, then I"ll only be asking for trouble if I try to pry around for answers. It"s a pity that we"ll have to give up on our attack against Heavenlean City, though," the woman sighed.
Not only was this woman an early-Body Integration Stage devilish lord, she seemed to be regarding the late-Body Integration Stage Tie Long as equals.
"We"re not giving up; it"s only a temporary ceasefire. Once the day when the five suns transition into moons arrives, we"ll launch an all-out attack. Two Body Integration Stage human cultivators just arrived at Heavenlean City, and they"re quite powerful, so there"s no longer any point in launching these attacks to whittle down the city"s defenses. On top of that, seeing as the Yin Yang Twin Devils are coming here, perhaps we can invite them to a.s.sist us during our all-out attack. Even if the humans do come up with some tricks, they"ll be no match for all six of us," Tie Long said in a calm manner.
"That"s true. If the Yin Yang Twin Devils can also partic.i.p.ate in the attack, then we"ll be able to take the city down with ease. Speaking of which, from the sounds of it, you seem to have already encountered the two new human cultivators; would you be able to tell us about their abilities?" the woman asked.
Tie Long"s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this before he replied, "I"m not the only one who encountered those two; Brother Fei was also with me."
"You were also there, Brother Fei? What did you think of those human cultivators?" the red-armored giant asked.
Fei Ya didn"t seem to be a fan of speaking, and only after a long pause did he give a clipped response. "There"s a weak early-Body Integration cultivator and a powerful mid-Body Integration cultivator."
The woman faltered slightly before chuckling, "That"s not a very helpful answer, Brother Fei. Besides, you"re a direct lineal descendant of Sacred Ancestor Xue Tian, so your powers far outstrip those of cultivators of the same caliber; your standards of weak and powerful are much different from ours."
"One of them is weaker than you, while the other can kill you; is that clear enough?" Fei Ya elaborated in an expressionless manner, and the woman"s chuckles were immediately cut off as a dark expression appeared on her face.
"Is that an exaggeration, Brother Fei? Fairy Yu is one of the branch descendants of Master Ming Luo; her bloodline may not be as pure as your direct lineal bloodline, but she"s definitely far more powerful than other devilish lords of her cultivation base as well," the red-armored giant said in a skeptical manner.
"I"m just telling you what I think; you can choose to believe it or not," Fei Ya replied in a cold voice.
The red-armored giant didn"t have any response to this.
"Hehe, Brother Fei"s words are a little harsh and abrasive, but one of those two new human cultivators is indeed quite extraordinary. At the very least, his physical body is no weaker than mine, and he possesses incredible strength; he was able to escape completely unscathed from a grab that I had unleashed. Keep in mind that he was caught completely off guard, and my grab was imbued with a hint of the power of laws; under normal circ.u.mstances, it should"ve been able to capture a mid-Body Integration cultivator with ease," Tie Long said.
"Is he really that troublesome to deal with?" The woman was truly surprised to hear this.
"Brother Fei is definitely not exaggerating. Even I was struck by a sense of extreme danger when facing that human cultivator, and I may not have been able to defeat him. Otherwise, Brother Fei and I wouldn"t have immediately made a retreat after the initial confrontation. If you two encounter that human cultivator, then you really must be careful," Tie Long said in a solemn manner.
"Thank you for the words of caution, but if I really do encounter this human cultivator; I"d like to face him to see if he really is as powerful as the two of you proclaim!" the woman said as a compet.i.tive gleam flashed through her eyes.
Tie Long"s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he was just about to say something when the red-armored giant suddenly proposed a theory that sent a jolt running through everyone"s hearts. "If that human cultivator is this powerful, then could it be that he was behind the deaths of Lord Li"s trio?"