A burst of alarming cries rose about four to five thousand miles from Greenwood Mountain.
Patriarch Muji and nearly one hundred Fiend Immortals, who came in various shapes and sizes with malice written all over their faces, sucked in a cold breath at the same time. With a shocked expression, they turned to stare at the tens of old devils who stood in the middle of the crowd, who had the void around them twisted and surrounded by countless fiends.
Patriarch Xuan Yi, the Master of Dark Palace in Hui Ming Heavenly Realm, had invited tens of his best friends, one of whom was a high-grade Gold Immortal who possessed an overall strength comparable to the founding Ancestral Master of Green City. They were getting ready to slaughter all Immortals of Green City during their inauguration ceremony of Green City Manor, and eventually reclaim An He City. But, the sudden sighting of Feng Lingling and so many officials of Zhong Province had sent a chill down their spines.
Fortunately, those Fiend Immortals had always exercised the utmost secrecy in their operations. Otherwise, should Feng Lingling learn that they were here, could they be greeted by another army of the human race?
These Fiend Immortals were confident in secretly annexing Great Yu's territory and claim a land to be their own property. But, when it came to a head-on confrontation with Great Yu's authority and waging a major scale war with their army, perhaps only the Heaven would have the sufficient overall strength to do it, and maybe the Eastern Green Emperor, the Northern Black Emperor, the Western White Emperor, and some almighty experts who were bold enough to do that. Apart from them, who else could muster enough courage to fight head-on against Great Yu's authority?
The few old devils exchanged a glance, and all shook their heads at the same time. "We can't do this. The authority of Zhong Province is determined to reclaim An He City. We shouldn't get our feet wet in this puddle of muddy water. We can always find another place to occupy on the boundless Pangu Continent. Let's go, we can't stay here anymore."
In just a flash, all Fiend Immortals vanished amidst a beam of black light. Before they left, a few of them even threw their heads back and let out a gloating laugh. The Immortals of Green City were about to be struck with a calamity, and it was something that these Fiend Immortals were happy to witness.
The entire roof of the grand hall in Greenwood Mountain was removed. In the now roofless hall, the Immortals of Green City were huddling tightly together with Reverend Li Yang and the other Gold Immortals in the center. Above their heads hovered a large sheet of golden light, something transformed from thirteen golden talismans. It was a talisman's formation personally crafted by the Ancestral Master of Green City, a formation deployed with only talismans and had the ability to replenish their energy by drawing in the natural energy in the surroundings. It was an excellent treasure that could be used to protect their lives during an emergency.
High up above them, nearly ten thousand soldiers stood on the decks of ten flying ships, each holding a strong bow in hand and having the bowstrings fully drawn. In the next moment, the strings twanged and the first wave of arrows showered down menacingly.
Arrows made of unknown beast bones pierced through the sky like shooting stars and plunged straight down, all landing accurately on the talismans formation. As the tips of the arrows smashed onto the golden light, they burst into dark smoke that spread all over the hall. The wails of savage beasts lingered in the atmosphere, and countless beast souls could be vaguely seen darting and wheeling in the dark smoke. A strange cold air enveloped the hall while a corrosive force was hiding in the black smoke, devouring and corroding the golden light.
On one side, the thirteen immortal talismans were produced by a high-grade Gold Immortal and had an immense power like the unceasing flow of water in the Yangtze River.
On the other side, the over ten thousand arrows were crafted using the mystic technique of beast souls by the Oracles of Great Yu's Directorate of Celestials, and each of them was as heavy as a boulder. It was as if someone had thrown over ten thousand boulders into the Yangtze River, clogging the riverbed and slowing down the flowing rate of the water. The golden light on the formation became dimmer as the arrows kept hitting on it, while the runes and lines drawn using golden paint on the talismans turned dull and rusty.
Reverend Li Yang's face turned black with rage. He raised his head to stare at Feng Lingling and snapped, "Prefecture Overseer of Zhong Province, why are you attacking Green City Manor?"
The beloved serpent of Feng Lingling coiled around his hip with its head leaning on his shoulder, sticking out its tongue to lick his cheek. "My son, Feng Jiupan, needs a meritorious service to be conferred with a higher title of nobility," answered Feng Lingling coldly, "no matter how many itinerant cultivators who not even achieved Nascent Divinity realm are killed, none counted as a merit. And I've no interest to put my hands on those immortal markets established by powerful immortal sects who have Primordial Immortals as their backing. But you, the few Gold Immortals of Green City, are the perfect candidates who can contribute us a great merit."
Feng Lingling's words were blunt, and he told Reverend Li Yang outright, "Three years ago, the Punishment Court of Zhong Province had already planted many spies in various places. All those places are occupied by itinerant cultivators, and among them, the strongest are only Heaven Immortals. But, An He City is an exception, as we learned that a few Gold Immortals will be attending the launching ceremony of Greenwood Mountain. If we let this opportunity slip from our hands, Feng Jiupan would have lost his chance of obtaining a higher title of nobility."
Reverend Li Yang shivered from head to toe with rage. Apparently, this Feng Lingling had taken them, the mighty Gold Immortals of Green City, as a stepping stone for his son?
Fuming with rage, he pointed one finger at Feng Lingling and bellowed, "Aren't you afraid of the revenge from Green City?"
Feng Lingling frowned and said without mincing his words, "From the intelligence obtained by the Protector of the Land in outer heavenly realms, who is also part of Feng Clan, Green City's founding Ancestral Master is just a Gold Immortal. So tell me, why should I be afraid when you are not backed by a Primordial Immortal?"
"Y-you!" Reverend Li Yang was so furious that he nearly coughed blood. He stared fixedly at Feng Lingling's face, gnashing his teeth and just hoping he could rip a few chunks of flesh off this foe. He glanced around, then flicked his sleeve to release Daoist Yun Zang's soul. "It is all your fault, you useless fool!"
Reverend Li Yang suddenly realized that what happened today should have nothing to do with Daoist Yun Zang. How was it possible for an Immortal cultivator to collude with an important minister of the human race? He reckoned that the actual cause of today's calamity was Daoist Yun Zang's carefree attitude in managing his disciples and subordinates, as well as making friends with people of unknown background. Perhaps, Green City Manor had long been infiltrated by their enemies.
Kneeling on the ground, Daoist Yun Zang's immortal soul cried out in a hoarse voice, "Master, I deserve ten thousand deaths for what I've done. Please leave as soon as possible, Master!"
He pointed towards the inner hall behind the grand hall and said, "There is a teleportation formation which leads to a secret cave three million miles away from here. It is a teleportation formation personal setup by me as an emergency escape route. Master, please bring all the Elders out of here. I'll buy some time for you, even if it will cost my life!"
The grand hall was in a messy state. Those carefully picked boys and girls were running about screaming wildly, and some with a timid nature had even fainted on the ground. Reverend Li Yang frowned, fixing his gaze on Daoist Yun Zang as said with a cold grin, "Fine, you will stay here and cover our retreat. If something happens to you, I'll take care of your kin."
What Reverend Li Yang meant to say was clear. Should Daoist Yun Zang die here after covering their retreat, he would take good care of his kin in Green City. But, if Daoist Yun Zang fled for fear of being killed, he would surely punish all the kin he left behind.
Clenching his jaws, Daoist Yun Zang offered Reverend Li Yang a kowtow. As soon as he did that, a dense scarlet smoke rushed billowing out from under his feet and quickly enveloped his entire body. He trembled convulsively, and in just a blink of an eye, he had transformed into a ferocious-looking fiend, standing sixty-feet tall, body covered with a layer of thick scales, and a pair of sharp horns poking out of his forehead.
Reverend Li Yang nodded satisfyingly and said with a faint sigh, "The Fiend Possession Technique of Stars and Moon... Well, I'll definitely take good care of your kin."
With a flick of his sleeve, Reverend Li Yang rolled up all the boys and girls in the grand hall, then led the Immortals of Green City into the inner hall.
The Fiend Possession Technique of Stars and Moon was a wicked fiend spell secretly inherited in Green City, and would only be activated during the most desperate moment. With Daoist Yun Zang cultivation base of a lower-grade Heaven Immortal, when he activated the spell, he had the ability to borrow the power of Fiend Sovereign in the outer domains, using that to extract all the karma he had accumulated through thousands of transmigrations. With his endless life-span as the fuel to burn the karma, he could elevate his overall strength to the level of a lower-grade Gold Immortal for a duration of ten minutes.
After the ten minutes of duration, his soul would vanish into nothingness and leave no trace behind. And the process would give birth to a doom energy, which was the best tonic for the Fiend Sovereign of outer domains.
Daoist Yun Zang, who had transformed into a Celestial Fiend and possessed the strength of a Gold Immortal, growled furiously, "Who exactly is scheming against me?"
In a towering rage, he reached out both hands to perform a grabbing gesture at the immortal talismans, which turned into beams of golden light and plunged into his palms. As he was now burning the karma he had accumulated through hundreds and thousands of transmigrations, he possessed an almost endless immortal energy, and a strength beyond imagination. He forcibly crushed and compressed all thirteen immortal talismans into a ball, then molded them into a golden light sword. Raising it high up, he swung it towards Feng Lingling.
Feng Lingling snorted coldly and flicked his fingers in a disdainful manner.
The golden sword shattered with a loud clang. But, it managed to turn Feng Lingling's face pale, making him shudder and get knocked flying several hundred miles up in the sky. His skin was ripped, from the tip of his right index finger all the way up to his elbow, exposing the bloody flesh underneath. "A dog will leap over a wall in desperation, and this fellow is risking his life to delay us! My comrades, assist me in killing him!" He cried out furiously.
Yu Mu, the Grand Oracle of Zhong Province, gave a faint smile as he fished out three tiny bone fragments from under his sleeve and threw them out. As they fell down from the sky, the bone fragments transformed into three balls of thunder-flame, each as large as a water bucket, and smashed viciously down onto Daoist Yun Zang's head. In the next moment, three deafening booms rang out, and amidst numerous green lightning strikes, all the palaces, halls, and pavilions in Greenwood Mountain crumbled into nothingness, while mountains and hills were reduced to powder.
Daoist Yun Zang too had vanished without a trace. The once lively Greenwood Mountain was left with only a teleportation formation, hovering midair and glimmering with a cold and dimmed glow. Vaguely, they could see Reverend Li Yang and company as they disappeared in the formation after a bright flash.
With a cold grin on his face, Yu Mu quickly threw out three hundred and sixty bones, making them spin and pierce into the teleportation formation while he recited a few incantations in a low voice. "The stars shifted, the ghosts and deities restricted... Hurry up, I can only lock down the formation for three seconds!"
As his voice echoed out, Feng Lingling took the lead and plunged into the formation, followed by the Grand Oracle, the Chief Judge, the Military Minister, and all the other important ministers, as well as several thousand generals of the human race.
Immediately after they entered the teleportation formation, a blinding light flashed in the sky above it, and abruptly, all three hundred and sixty bones crumbled into pieces while the entire formation vanished into nothingness in a burst of light.