Border of Westfall Prefecture.
At the foot of a towering mountain, a group of about a thousand people dressed in assorted attire had gathered secretively.
Their presence blended perfectly into the mountain forests; they seemed even more attuned to nature than the very birds and beasts dwelling within.
The leader, wearing a necklace strung with the teeth of unknown beasts, was conferring with a dozen others.
"We have an agreement with the Azure Cloud Region stating that for ten thousand years, we cannot invade the Azure Cloud Region through its own borders. However, that restriction does not apply to other locations.
If we encircle them from the west and south, and then pass through the Demon Race's territory to enter the Northern Border—attacking from three sides—the destruction of the Azure Dynasty is inevitable."
"Remember your mission: disguise yourselves as commoners and search for the weak points of Azure Cloud Prefecture. If you can infiltrate Merit City to investigate, all the better..."
As his voice fell, a trace of horror flashed through the eyes of the Wu Tribe leader, and he jerked his head up.
"Who is it?!!"
In the dense forest where the canopy blotted out the sun, flashes of blades and shadows of swords suddenly erupted. Mingled with a powerful aura, a murderous force charged toward them abruptly.
"Boom!"
A thunderous boom rang out. A curtain of blood completely obscured the Wu Tribe leader's vision; the dozen subordinates standing before him had already been decapitated.
Yet he could only stare wide-eyed. Even though he had mobilized his spiritual power to resist in that split second, he found he could not move a single inch!
Beneath his feet, a formation abruptly manifested, imprisoning him; it felt as though an entire mountain was pressing down upon his shoulders.
A handsome man in black robes, exuding an air of nobility, appeared before him.
He approached with a long saber in his right hand, while his left hand extended to cast a technique. With a casual wave of his hand, the headless corpses were swept aside.
The long saber had already pierced the Wu Tribe leader's abdomen, obliterating his Divine Soul!
"Li Xinnian... Patriarch of the Azure Cloud Li Clan, Li Xinnian!"
The Wu Tribe leader's final sliver of consciousness lingered on the intelligence reports regarding this man, and on the sight of the Li Clan cultivators descending from the sky, one after another.
...
[Special Event—The Wu Tribe's Probe]
Led by Li Xinnian, a stream of cultivators had detected the Wu Tribe scouts who had disguised themselves to infiltrate Westfall Prefecture with the intention of crossing into Azure Cloud Prefecture.
Li Xinnian personally led the team; atop this high mountain, blade lights flashed, and sword shadows danced.
As battle cries rang out, Li Xinnian remained silent.
Wielding the Top-Grade Dharma Treasure, the "Zhao-Slaying Saber," bestowed upon him by the Old Ancestor, he slew the Wu Tribe leader and then proceeded to slaughter his way through the thousand-man squad.
The Zhao-Slaying Saber danced, cutting down enemies as easily as slicing through hemp.
Behind Li Xinnian stood the powerhouses of Merit City: Martial Emperor, Zhuo Linlin, The Old Man, and Han Yun, along with Scholar Wuwen and the Immortal Child from the Hall of Heavenly Principles, backed by a hundred other cultivators.
Within this thousand-man squad of the Wu Tribe, the strongest members were merely two Nascent Soul cultivators. In 20 minutes, the mountain had fallen silent once more.
"This is the eighth batch of Wu Tribe scouts; they are sending more and more people." The Old Man retracted his Eight-Armed Bodhisattva Dharma Body, his brows furrowed deeply.
He had been perfectly content running his restaurant in Merit City, but that damned Min Tiange had to bring chaos to the world, leaving him no time to even cook in peace in his back kitchen.
"Our Azure Cloud Prefecture is actually getting off lightly," Han Yun remarked with ease.
"If you ask me, the Wu Tribe's defenses in the Southern Border are currently empty. We ought to gather our forces and charge into their territory from the Azure Cloud Region."
Zhuo Linlin frowned. "You couldn't even do a good job as a Region Prince, yet here you are lecturing on military affairs?"
Hearing this, the corner of Han Yun's mouth twitched.
Years ago, after the members of their group became retainers of the Li Clan, he had also managed to secure a position as a Region Prince. But the outcome...
"What was wrong with my rule as a Region Prince? Boss, your words are a bit harsh," Han Yun retorted.
"Was I not diligent and conscientious? I even used techniques to give them gold! Was I wrong to do that?"
"Tell me, were you in the wrong?" Scholar Wuwen, who monitored the various regions of Azure Cloud Prefecture for the Hall of Heavenly Principles, was fuming with anger.
"You gave them gold piled as high as a mountain! The gold in your Region city became less valuable than stones.
A perfectly good city grew poorer and poorer until the commoners fled to the wilderness to become bandits; it even impacted other Regions.
If you continued to rule as a Region Prince like that, you would have been beaten to death by your successors sooner or later!"
"..."
"Enough. These Wu Tribe members are finished. Let us return."
At the sound of Li Xinnian's voice, the group fell silent.
They quietly collected the corpses from the mountain and soared straight into the clouds, returning to Azure Cloud Prefecture.
High in the clouds, Zhuo Linlin asked,
"Patriarch, the Wu Tribe has already begun to affect our Azure Cloud Prefecture. As far as I know, the Wu Tribe are people who bully the weak but fear the strong.
I propose we launch a preemptive strike: capture one hundred thousand Wu Tribe members and flay their skins.
Westfall Prefecture acts as a natural barrier for our Azure Cloud Prefecture; we can simply display them at the border of Westfall Prefecture.
That way, even if the Wu Tribe is consumed by rage, the Eternal Immortal Sect will be the one to suffer the consequences."
"In that case, I must trouble you, Senior, to make a trip to the Eternal Immortal Sect and discuss this with Elder Duanmu."
Li Xinnian did not refute her suggestion. He then turned to Martial Emperor.
"Senior Martial Emperor, I must also ask you to make a trip to the Imperial Capital."
"Go to the Imperial Capital?" Martial Emperor was stunned. "What am I to do there?"
"Now that the Wu Tribe has crossed into the Azure Dynasty, the world has fallen into chaos. I am worried about our merchant branch and my grandfather, who serves in the royal court. If Senior Martial Emperor were by his side, I would be able to rest easy."
Li Xinnian offered a faint smile, yet his heart was incredibly heavy.
It was one thing for the Wu Tribe to invade the Azure Dynasty, but the fact that the turmoil had spread across the thirty-six prefectures—even affecting Azure Cloud Prefecture—demonstrated just how grave the situation had become.
The Imperial Capital might be safe physically, but when the world descends into chaos, the hearts of people change with it.
"Very well."
Martial Emperor agreed without a second thought.
In the past, the only reason he hadn't dared to reveal himself in Azure Cloud Prefecture was due to his hidden injuries and the suppression of that damned master and disciple pair, Baimei.
Now that he had fully recovered thanks to Li Yaoqing's medical skills, the world was vast, and there was nowhere he could not go.
Having benefited from the Li Family all these years, it was no trouble to help them with such a small matter. Especially when it concerned the Merchant Branch...
"I've heard the Merchant Branch is wealthy. Whether I can achieve the Limit of the Void Refining Realm in this life depends entirely on that kid, Yuanshang."
As he pondered this, Martial Emperor vanished from his spot in an instant.
However, he stopped in his tracks halfway.
Li Xinnian transmitted his voice secretly, "Senior, on your trip to the Imperial Capital, I must trouble you to make a detour to one other place."
"Where?" Martial Emperor frowned.
"Silver Moon City in the North, the Silver Moon Branch." Li Xinnian's voice was ice-cold.
"I need you to warn someone. Leave some injuries on him—make him suffer in silence so he dares not speak a word."
"Who is it?" Martial Emperor's frown relaxed.
Over the years, Li Xinnian had asked him to handle quite a few of these matters.
At first, he had been quite resistant, but he had to do them anyway. After all, he was a native of Azure Cloud Prefecture; he couldn't very well consume the spiritual pills and miraculous medicines provided by the Li Clan without doing any work in return, could he?
Gradually, Martial Emperor actually grew accustomed to it.
Every time he completed a task, his Contribution would increase. The Li Clan's Contribution system was calculated in "years."
If one accumulated tens of thousands of years of Contribution, one could even obtain the "Primordial Blood Fruit," which was capable of altering one's bloodline.
Li Xinnian's voice echoed in his ears.
"Nangong Xianliu. I want him to know that even though he is in the North, I am still watching him."