Chapter 382: Backup Plan
"We've already managed to uncover the identity of the culprit. It's a cultivator by the name of Li Feiyu, and he joined the Blaze Dragon Dao several centuries, but before we had a chance to go after him, the event concerning Baili Yan took place in the Blaze Dragon Dao, and in the wake of the chaos, he went missing.
“The Immortal Palace is actively hunting for him, but according to my knowledge, they still haven't been able to capture him," the gray-robed man replied.
"Li Feiyu..." the zombie-like man murmured to himself as he brows furrowed slightly.
"Rest assured, Senior Martial Brother. Once we're finished with what we're doing here, I'll be sure to send out more people to ensure his capture, and once we have him, you can do with him as you please," the gray-robed man hurriedly said.
The zombie-like man was silent for a moment, then said in a solemn voice, "The Origin Separation Law Chains that I bestowed upon Fang Pan and Zhong Luan have most likely fallen into his hands. Those chains must be recovered."
"Yes, Senior Martial Brother," the gray-robed man replied.
With that, the zombie-like man closed his eyes.
The gray-robed man promptly departed upon seeing this, making his way into the cabin, where there were many more people seated inside.
……
On the other side of the Black Wind Sea, a ball of golden light that was several thousand feet in size was flying through the Soul Stirring Winds.
The golden light was extremely radiant, and it contained a massive golden beetle with purple patterns all over its body, giving it a very menacing appearance.
There were also threads of piercing translucent light interspersed throughout the golden light, and they appeared extremely sharp.
The golden beetle's mouth was wide open, releasing a burst of suction force that allowed it to devour all of the Soul Stirring Winds surging toward it, and at this moment, there was a silver-robed woman seated atop the beetle's body.
The woman appeared to have been in her late twenties, and she was wearing a silver crown and a pair of silver earrings. Her feet were bare with two silver rings around her ankles, attached to each of which were several bells.
She was quite a beautiful woman, but her eyes were extremely cold, like a glacier that would remain frozen solid for the rest of eternity, and the ghastly sounds ringing out from within the Soul Stirring Winds seemed to have no effect on her at all.
A pleased look appeared in her eyes at how freely the golden beetle was able to fly through the Soul Stirring Winds, and she murmured to herself, "Not bad. It looks like all of the resources I invested into you were worth it."
The golden beetle immediately let loose a string of screeches in protest while swaying its body violently from side to side in an attempt to shake off the woman sitting on its back.
The silver-robed woman's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and she hurriedly began chanting an incantation while flicking her fingers through the air, sending a series of incantation seals flying into the golden beetle's body.
The golden beetle shuddered as a series of silver threads around it, then transformed into thick silver chains that were embedded deep into its body.
The golden beetle immediately let loose an agonized screech and quickly settled down.
Only then did the silver-robed woman withdraw her hand seal, upon which all of the silver chains faded away.
"Why is it still so violent and untamed even though I've already used the Spirit Imprisonment Technique on it?" the silver-robed woman murmured to herself as her brows furrowed slightly.
After pondering this question for a while, she shook her head as she sighed, "I'll address this matter after this trip."
She then made a hand seal, and her body transformed into a ball of bright silver light that slowly vanished into the body of the golden beetle beneath her.
The golden beetle immediately shuddered, and the golden light radiating from its body became roughly twice as bright, while the speed of its flight was also significantly enhanced.
……
Close to five years passed by in the blink of an eye.
The secret area of the Reincarnation Palace was just as peaceful as usual, and in a hall within the mountain sat two figures across from one another. They were none other than Wyrm 3 and the man with the scar running down his face.
The scar-faced man had a rather grim look on his face, and even though Wyrm 3 was wearing a mask, it was clear from the look in her eyes that he was also feeling quite tense.
"How are things going on the outside?" Wyrm 3 asked.
"Xiao Jinhan came to the Black Wind Sea several years ago, and the same applies to the cultivators of the Vast Flow Palace and the Dawn Fall Sect. All of them are led by their respective sect masters, and I've heard that there's a very good chance that Grand Elder Feng Tiandu of the Dawn Fall Sect has also arrived," the scar-faced man replied with a concerned expression.
"It looks like they're all determined to capitalize on this opportunity," Wyrm 3 remarked with a cold smile.
"The current situation has already exceeded our expectations. Should we make a report to our higher-ups as a safety precaution?" the scar-faced man asked.
"There's no need for that. The Northern Glacial Immortal Region, the Vast Flow Palace, and the Dawn Fall Sect are all in opposition against one another, and we can use that to our advantage, pitting them against each other while we complete our mission," Wyrm 3 replied with a shake of his head.
"That would naturally be ideal, but what I'm worried about is that they could come to a secret agreement to join forces against us. If that happens, then we'll be in trouble," the scar-faced man said with furrowed brows.
"The Northern Glacial Immortal Palace took advantage of the incident concerning Baili Yan to take over the Blaze Dragon Dao, and both the Vast Flow Palace and the Dawn Fall Sect are aware of this. They may not have openly expressed any discontent, but the chances of them working with the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace are very slim.
“Even if they do come to some type of collaborative agreement, I've already made plans for such an eventuality, so there's nothing to worry about," Wyrm 3 said.
"In that case, I feel a lot more reassured," the scar-faced man replied as his expression eased slightly.
"Have you ascertained the situation on Red Moon Island, Fellow Daoist Chi?" Wyrm 3 asked.
"Rest assured, everything has already been finalized," the scar-faced man replied.
"Good," Wyrm 3 replied with a nod.
"All that's missing now is the Origin Void Pill. The time limit of 15 years that you gave Dragon 5 is already up. Has he managed to refine an Origin Void Pill?" the scar-faced man asked.
Wyrm 3 fell silent upon hearing this, and his expression darkened slightly.
"It appears my concerns about him were justified. We don't have much time left at this point. What do we do now?" the scar-faced man asked with a grim expression.
"We'll have to fall back on our backup plan, but the success rate of that plan will be significantly lower," Wyrm 3 sighed.
"I suppose we have no other choice. As for Dragon 5, I suggest we strip him of his status of Reincarnation Disciple with immediate effect. On top of that, he knows so many of our secrets, so we have to..."
Before the scar-faced man had a chance to finish, the entire surrounding space suddenly began to tremble violently.
The hall that the two of them were situated in also began to quiver and quake, and the two of them exchanged a glance before immediately flying out of the hall, emerging from the belly of the mountain in the blink of an eye.
The sky in the secret area had been bright and clear just a moment ago, yet a dense blanket of dark clouds had suddenly taken shape, and there were countless bolts of black lightning flashing through the clouds, causing a deafening commotion.
An ecstatic look appeared in Wyrm 3's eyes upon seeing this. "Could it be..."
The same expression had also appeared in the scar-faced man's eyes.
All of a sudden, all of the world's origin qi in the entire secret area began to fluctuate violently before converging toward the dark cloud up above.
The black cloud rapidly expanded outward in all directions while revolving on the spot, forming a black vortex directly above Han Li's cave abode.
At this point, several more True Immortal cultivators had flown out from all parts of the secret area, and one of them was none other than Wildcat 16, who had led Han Li to this place.
"Activate the restrictions! Hurry!" Wyrm 3 instructed as he began making a string of hand seals.
Wildcat 16 and the others immediately sprang into action, flying to all parts of the secret area.
Meanwhile, Wyrm 3 began to chant an incantation, and a burst of dazzling golden light erupted out of his body before shooting up into the sky to form a massive pillar of golden light.
There were countless golden runes flashing over the pillar of light, and bursts of tremendous energy fluctuations were surging through the air, causing the nearby space to tremble incessantly.
The scar-faced man shuddered in the face of these formidable energy fluctuations, and a hint of bewilderment appeared in his eyes as he flew several hundred feet to the side before turning his gaze to Wyrm 3.
At this point, eight more giant pillars of golden light had appeared all over the secret area, amounting to a total of nine pillars of golden light that were erupting into the heavens.
A vast expanse of golden light appeared over the entire secret area before spreading outward like rippling water, forming an enormous golden array that encompassed the entire sky in the blink of an eye.
The black cloud up above was enshrouded within the golden array, and it seemed to have fallen under some kind of restriction that prevented it from growing any larger.
The enormous law aura emanating out the black cloud was also sealed within the golden array, rendering it unable to spread outside of the secret area.
A hint of relief flashed through Wyrm 3's eyes upon seeing this.
Even though the black cloud had been restrained, the surrounding world's origin qi continued to converge toward it, completely unobstructed by the golden array.
As time passed, the black cloud became denser and denser until it almost appeared substantial in form.
Bursts of tremendous law fluctuations were emanating out of the black cloud and sweeping toward the surrounding golden array, causing it to tremble violently, and the section of the array closest to the black cloud suddenly crumbled altogether.
Wyrm 3 was very alarmed by this turn of events, and he made a rapid string of hand seals to release a series of incantation seals, upon which the pillar of golden light around his body instantly became significantly brighter. The other pillars of light also brightened as they surged into the golden array up above.
As a result, countless golden runes surged out of the broken section of the array, and it was quickly restored to its original state and had become even brighter than before.
Meanwhile, the fluctuations erupting out of the black cloud were becoming more and more formidable, and it didn't take long before the golden array was torn open again, only to be quickly mended once again under the collective efforts of Wyrm 3 and the others.
The cycle of destruction and repair continued, and the golden array was shuddering incessantly the entire time, but it was able to confine the black cloud to the secret area.
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