Translator: CatatoPatch Editor: Vermillion

  Illusory Spirit Swamp.

  An astonishing battle occurred in the muddy swamp as two powerful seventh grade spirit beasts fought against each other. The terrifying aftershocks of the battle engulfed the entire swamp. The muddy water billowed and mud on the ground flew everywhere.

  The seventh grade spirit beasts were fighting over territory, which was a usual occurrence in the Illusory Spirit Swamp. Just like in the Wildlands, the more one ventured into the Illusory Spirit Swamp, the stronger the spirit beasts would be.

  In this region, two seventh grade spirit beasts were not considered powerful at all. There were countless other spiritual beasts who were much more powerful compared to them.

  All of a sudden, a sonic boom resounded as the air above the swamp was compressed. It was as though a bomb was thrown into the swamp, and mud splattered all over the place.

  The body of those two seventh grade spiritual beasts stiffened as they stopped their fight temporarily. They looked toward the figure who appeared in front of them. It was the same figure who caused the sonic boom.

  It was a tall and muscular man wearing armor. His true energy behaved like a dragon as it unceasingly revolved around him.

  The man had a sharp face and he directed his calm gaze at the two spirit beasts who were fighting. Looking at the two of them, his brows slightly furrowed.

  His body was emitting a frightening pressure which scared those two spiritual beasts. They quickly dived into the swamp and didn’t dare to peek their heads out for a long time.

  Since they were spirit beasts, they could sense that the man was an extremely dangerous individual.

  Another sonic boom resounded as this man ripped the air apart. He rushed toward a distant place and left the swamp in a matter of seconds……

  The Wildlands.

  A tall and lofty tree which seemed to prop up the sky was suddenly sliced into two.

  A giant spiritual bird whose wings were as sharp as a sword swept through the area. Its wings severed every tree in its path, making it look unstoppable.

  There was a ferocious and bald youth sitting on top of this terrifying bird. The youth had brown skin and his whole body seemed quite odd. It seemed as though his entire body was crafted from bronze and every inch was perfectly toned. Every muscle in his body was filled with terrifying strength.

  As the bald youth stood on top of the spiritual bird, his gaze flashed with lightning. He stared into the distance and it seemed like he was looking at a specific place outside the Wildlands.

  "This time, My Godly Temple of the Wildlands lost two experts. Xia Yu was a person who had great potential. He had a high chance of becoming a Supreme-Being in the future. However, he actually died in the capital of the Light Wind Empire. I’ll definitely obtain justice for him. As for the Shura Sect’s devils, I have to get rid of them completely. If the Shura Sect recovers, they will cause havoc and there won’t be any peace left in the Land of Southern Border."

  The bald youth’s eyes twinkled as he coldly snorted. Sending a fierce stomp to the bird below him, the spiritual bird immediately emitted a sharp cry. It shook its wings and started to increase its speed.

  As such, the combo of one man and one bird transformed into a beam of light. This beam of light instantly disappeared from the Wildlands.

  In the tall and lofty Wuliang Mountain and in the boundless Hundred Thousand Mountians……

  Countless experts started to set out toward the Light Wind Empire. They knew that they had misjudged the Shura Sect’s strength. This group of experts was hurriedly gathered and sent toward the Light Wind Empire.

  In a place several hundred miles away from the Imperial Capital.

  King Yu’s army was stationed here but they didn’t start their charge at the Light Wind Empire’s Imperial Capital. They clearly knew that there was no way reckless charging and attacking would take down the Imperial Capital. They knew that they had to keep calm and think of a plan.

  As the capital of the entire empire, the strongest experts of the empire were gathered there. Even if the Shura Sect was supporting him, King Yu knew that he still had to be careful when attacking the Imperial Capital.

  It was a must for him to be prudent. If he wasn’t and lost the next battle, there was only one outcome waiting for him. He would be dead beyond a doubt.

  Zhao Musheng was wearing a long gown as he sauntered toward King Yu, adressing the latter with a light smile on his face.

  "King Yu, you must be excited to finally return to the Imperial Capital…… It will finally belong to you……"

  "How can I be excited? There were far too many casualties in this war. Too many people died because of this." King Yu took a deep breath and said.

  Zhao Musheng calmly smiled as he stood beside King Yu. As he stared at the lofty Imperial Capital in the distance, his gaze gradually became sharp.

  "After we seize the Imperial Capital, I don’t have any other request. I only hope that you can hand Bu Fang over to me."

  "Bu Fang? His store is protected by a supreme beast……"

  "It’s only a supreme beast. We have a Supreme-Being on our side. There is no need to be afraid of a supreme beast. I have a hunch that Fang Fang’s Little Store is hiding a great secret. Even if it doesn’t possess any secrets, the Path-Understanding Tree is enough for me." Zhao Musheng rubbed his fingers and his eyes contained a trace of killing intent.

  All of a sudden, Zhao Musheng raised his head.

  He saw two blood-red light beams rushing toward them, but they stopped right above their heads.

  In the army, an old-man suddenly opened his eyes.

  He took a step forward and instantly appeared in the sky. He floated before the two blood-red light beams.

  "The Blood Guards? Shouldn’t both of you be protecting the Sacred Tower? Why did the both of you come here? Did something happen to the Sacred Tower?"

  The old-man furrowed his brow and shot questions at the two who just appeared in the sky.

  "We greet the Venerable."

  Cupping their hands, the two Blood Guards greeted the old man who had just appeared. They quickly told him the reason they were here. They also relayed the High Priestess’s instructions.

  A Soul Congregation Array was stolen and it appeared in the Imperial Capital.

  The Venerable’s eyes immediately narrowed and a cold glow flashed in his eyes.

  "Could it be that they were stolen by the Celestial Arcanum Sect? Impossible. The Celestial Arcanum Sect’s experts didn’t even appear in the Imperial Capital. It can’t be them…… Could it be the experts from the Hundred Thousand Mountains?"

  The Venerable was quite puzzled as he had already sent people to monitor the experts in the Imperial Capital. After thinking about it for quite some time, he was still unable to think of anyone. Who in the world could have possibly stolen the Soul Congregation Array?

  The moment the three of them landed on the ground, King Yu and Zhao Musheng came over. Both King Yu and Zhao Musheng extended their greetings to the three of them.

  The Blood Guards didn’t care about the greeting at all. They simply nodded their head at the two of them as they were from factions in the secular world. People from the secular world couldn’t pique their interest at all.

  When Zhao Musheng listened to their conversation, his eyes immediately brightened.

  "Venerable, I know who might have stolen your Soul Congregation Array."

  "Who?"

  The eyes of the two Blood Guards brightened the moment they heard what Zhao Musheng said. When they shouted at him in unison, a terrifying pressure engulfed him.

  This pressure immediately made Zhao Musheng and King Yu suck in a breath of cold air.

  "There is a store in the Imperial Capital. It’s called Fang Fang’s Little Store. It is protected by a supreme beast. Since there are no Supreme-Beings in the capital at the moment, they are the only ones who could have stolen your Soul Congregation Array." Zhao Musheng hurriedly explained as his eyes flickered.

  Staring at Zhao Musheng, the Venerable exposed a cold smile.

  He naturally saw through Zhao Musheng’s trick. However, if Zhao Musheng was telling the truth, it was worth a trip to the store. If the store really possessed a Supreme beast, it didn’t matter if they had the Soul Congregation Array.

  Since they will launch their assault on the Imperial Capital soon, they can’t possibly ignore the existence of a supreme beast.

  "Then, what are we waiting for? We should quickly attack the Imperial Capital. The High Priestess seems to be quite angry." When he thought about the High Priestess, one of the Blood Guards couldn’t help but shiver. He was anxious and wanted to attack the Imperial Capital as soon as possible.

  The complexion of the other Blood Guard changed. With a wave of his hand, a compass appeared on his hand.

  There were many light specks in the compass. One of them was particularly bright and prominent.

  "The Soul Congregation Array appeared once again."

  That Blood Guard said……

  In one of the Imperial Capital’s alleyway, in Fang Fang’s Little Store.

  Bu Fang laid on the chair as he slightly narrowed his eyes. A gust of cold wind brushed past his face.

  Today, the business of the store wasn’t good. Due to the news of Xiao Meng’s heavy injury, everyone was afraid. Many of them hid at home which caused the business of the store to take a hit.

  Extremely bored, Bu Fang immediately thought of something. The five talismans which he took from an enemy in the Western Mystery City immediately appeared in his hands.

  Those five talismans seemed to be quite worn-out. There were many cuts and slits on them. It seemed as though they would disintegrate any time. As the talismans revolved, they formed an array. This array contained an amount of white smoke, which was just like soul essence. From time to time, there would be a fuzzy human’s face appearing in the smoke. The human faces emitted fearsome shrieks before disappearing into smoke again.

  "This array is truly evil." Bu Fang furrowed his brows and came to a conclusion.

  After observing and studying the talismans until he was bored, Bu Fang collected those five talismans again. In the distance, he saw that a figure was approaching him.

  When he looked at the figure, Bu Fang blanked out for a second.

  Xiao Meng?

  The person approaching him was the famous Xiao Meng. It was the same Xiao Meng who was supposed to be heavily injured. Xiao Meng’s complexion wasn’t good at all. The color of his skin was quite pale, and it gradually turned black.

  Bu Fang stood up and welcomed him into the store.

  The moment Ouyang Xiaoyi saw Xiao Meng, she blanked out. His weak and feeble appearance worried her.

  "Owner Bu, serve me a bottle of the Ice Heart Jade Urn Wine." Xiao Meng’s voice was hoarse and he couldn’t help but cough after saying several words.

  After a mouthful of coughs, he spat out a mouthful of black blood.

  "You are poisoned." Bu Fang calmly stared at him. The pool of black blood seemed quite familiar to him. It seemed as though Xiao Meng was poisoned with the same poison as the Southern City’s Xiao second master. However, it seemed like the poison in Xiao Meng was much stronger than the Xiao second master.

  The Demonic Fish’s meat was still in his system’s dimensional storage. Maybe it could be of help to Xiao Meng.

  "I really embarrassed myself this time. When the armies were rushing toward the Imperial Capital, I got injured. In such a precarious situation, I, Xiao Meng, actually got myself injured. I don’t have any face left to face the citizens of the Imperial Capital. Tomorrow, His Majesty will conduct the last round of negotiations with King Yu. If he fails, the battle will immediately start. I stand no chance of survival in the final battle."

  Xiao Meng bitterly smiled.

  "Since I have almost no chance of living anymore, I’m here to drink my last bottle of the Ice Heart Jade Urn Wine."

  Thump! Thump! Thump!

  The moment he was done speaking, a figure appeared in front of him. It was the graceful figure of Xiao Yanyu. The current Xiao Yanyu wasn’t wearing a veil and her beautiful face contained a trace of worry.

  "Father……"

  Xiao Yanyu’s voice was choked with emotion when she saw her father.

  Bu Fang didn’t say anything. Turning around, he returned to the kitchen. Before long, he came back and placed a bottle of the Ice Heart Jade Urn Wine in front of Xiao Meng.

  Looking at the bottle Bu Fang placed in front of him, Xiao Meng laughed and brought it up to his lips. He took big mouthfuls of the wine as he laughed heartily.

  The poison deeply seeped into Xiao Meng’s body. Although it seemed like the one which the Xiao second master suffered from, it was still slightly different. Xiao Yanyu knew that Bu Fang once cured the Xiao second master’s poison and she had thoughts of looking for him. However, she knew that Bu Fang’s detoxification method depended on the Demonic Fish’s meat. She knew that only the meat’s essence could cure the poison. However, even though the meat’s essence was able to cure the Xiao second master, it was unlikely that it could cure Xiao Meng.

  Bu Fang sighed as he clinked his wine glass with Xiao Meng’s. Bringing it back to his lips, Bu Fang drank the entire cup in one mouthful.

  Just when the two of them were drinking to their heart’s content, deafening roars came from outside the capital. It was obvious the roars came from the tens of thousands of soldiers situated outside the capital.

  Xiao Meng was shocked. He slammed the bottle of wine on the table as he stood up from his seat.

  "Didn’t you say they would negotiate first? Why is King Yu directly attacking the City?"