108: The conflict began

The Central Region was in complete chaos.

A bloody storm, sweeping across the vast territory, had descended abruptly, catching everyone off guard.

At first, there were only scattered rumors.

"Have you heard? Zhou Xuan, a Core Disciple of Tianyan Holy Land who was training in the 'Broken Soul Valley' Secret Realm, along with the seven Junior Brothers he led, are all dead! Not even their bones remain—only a pool of blood was left!"

"That's not all! A team of female Cultivators from the Hundred Flowers Palace gathering herbs at 'Falling Phoenix Slope' was also completely wiped out! It's said they died in a horrific manner, as if they had been drained dry by some Demonic Technique!"

"And the Xu Family! Their ore vein in 'Black Iron City' was razed to the ground overnight! All the supervisors and guards were nailed to the mine walls!"

Initially, these reports didn't cause much of a stir.

In the vastness of the Central Region, vendettas between Cultivators were perfectly normal.

The fall of a Prodigy happened from time to time.

But soon, people realized something was wrong.

Because the number of dead was increasing.

The locations of the incidents were spreading wider and wider.

Furthermore, all the deceased shared a common identity—they all belonged to the three top-tier powers: Tianyan Holy Land, Hundred Flowers Palace, and the Xu Family!

From Inner Sect Prodigies to Outer Sect Disciples, to managers in charge of industries, and even the servants who swept the floors.

As long as you wore the clothing of these three houses, or held their tokens in your hand.

Whether you were in a bustling market or a remote mountain wilderness.

Whether you were at a Sect base or in a dangerous training ground.

None could escape the fate of being hunted.

A group of ghost-like assassins appeared in every corner of the Central Region.

They wore uniform attire, moved as fast as the wind, and struck with the decisiveness of thunder.

They seemed to be everywhere, yet left no trace.

The most terrifying thing was the way they appeared.

One second, the target would be talking loudly with others.

The next second, a spatial portal would open beside them without any warning.

Following that, several Myriad Dao Divine Sect Disciples would step out, confirm the identity, draw their swords, sheathe them, and leave.

The entire process was as smooth as flowing water, taking no more than three breaths.

By the time the people around reacted, all that remained was a still-warm corpse and a slowly closing spatial portal.

Couldn't win the fight?

No problem.

A flash of light from a token.

"Brothers, coordinates XXX, come quickly!"

In the next second, more spatial portals would open, and a swarm of fellow Disciples would charge out like wolves and tigers.

What was originally a one-on-one duel instantly turned into a brutal group beating.

"That Ten Thousand Dao Laughing Sect?"

"Didn't they get scared off? How are they back!"

"Scared off? They've come back for revenge! This isn't just revenge, this is a massacre!"

Panic spread throughout the Central Region.

Especially those Sects and Families that usually associated with the three major powers; they were scared out of their wits. They immediately ordered all Disciples abroad to return, closing their mountain gates for fear of being caught in the crossfire of these lunatics.

"Quick! Send out the notice! All Disciples must return to the Sect immediately! If anyone dares to linger outside and gets killed by mistake by the Myriad Dao Divine Sect, the Sect will not be held responsible!"

"Remove all signs related to the Xu Family from outside our shops! Do it now!"

For a time, the four words "Myriad Dao Divine Sect" became a nightmare for all Cultivators in the Central Region.

And the title of "Ten Thousand Dao Gang," which had spread from an unknown source, once again swept across the entire continent with viral speed... Central Region, Heavenly Treasure City.

This was the largest commercial center in the Central Region and the location of the Xu Family's core assets.

On the most prosperous central street of the city, a nine-story pagoda named "Heavenly Treasure Tower" stood magnificent and imposing.

At this moment, however, the Heavenly Treasure Tower was in a state of utter chaos.

"Quick! Pack everything up!"

"The Formation! Activate all defensive Formations!"

A manager of the Xu Family at the Void Refining stage was shouting hoarsely as he directed the efforts.

Just moments ago, he had received an emergency transmission from the Family: the lunatics of the Myriad Dao Divine Sect had already reached the vicinity of Heavenly Treasure City!

"What's the panic!"

A young man wearing a brocade robe with an arrogant expression slowly walked down from upstairs.

He was the eldest grandson of the Xu Family, Xu Tianlong, a Prodigy ranked seventh on the hidden dragon ranking.

"A mere bunch of hillbillies from the Eastern Wasteland dare to act presumptuously in my Heavenly Treasure City? I'd like to see how much courage they actually have!" Xu Tianlong sneered.

No sooner had he spoken.

"Bang!"

The gates of the Heavenly Treasure Tower, cast from thousand-year Profound Iron, were kicked to pieces!

Amidst the flying wood splinters, a chubby figure holding a shimmering golden abacus strode in grandly.

It was Wang Duojin.

Behind him followed over a hundred Myriad Dao Divine Sect Disciples, each radiating Evil Qi and looking unfriendly.

"You... you are from the Myriad Dao Divine Sect?" The Void Refining manager's face turned pale when he saw the newcomers.

Wang Duojin didn't bother with him; his gaze fell directly on Xu Tianlong, and the abacus in his hand clattered loudly.

"Xu Tianlong, eldest grandson of the Xu Family, Great Perfection of Nascent Soul Transformation Stage cultivation, possesses the 'Golden Yuan Treasure Body,' net worth of 370 million High-Grade Spirit Stones, carries the Heaven Rank Magic Treasure 'Golden Dragon Scissors,' and three Earth Rank Cultivation Techniques..."

"Not bad, not bad. That's a big fish," Wang Duojin nodded with satisfaction.

Xu Tianlong felt a chill under his gaze and shouted sharply, "What do you think you're doing! This is Heavenly Treasure City! This is Xu Family territory!"

"Oh, it isn't anymore, starting from now."

Wang Duojin grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.

"My Revered Master said that every debt has its debtor. We're here to be reasonable."

He cleared his throat and shouted to the Disciples behind him:

"Brothers! Let's get to work!"

"Collect the debts!"

"Yes, Senior Brother Wang!"

The Disciples shouted in unison and charged into every corner of the Heavenly Treasure Tower like tigers descending a mountain.

"You dare!" Xu Tianlong was both shocked and enraged. He summoned the Golden Dragon Scissors, which transformed into two golden dragons, and prepared to strike.

"Your opponent is me."

A figure appeared before him like a ghost.

It was Lin Yi.

Lin Yi was now also at the Great Perfection of Nascent Soul Transformation Stage. His Sword Intent was condensed, and his Aura was even stronger than Xu Tianlong's.

"Die!" Xu Tianlong roared, driving the Golden Dragon Scissors to snip at Lin Yi.

Lin Yi remained expressionless, his long sword trembling as it bloomed into ten thousand sword-flowers.

"Ding-ding dang-dang!"

A series of dense metallic clashing sounds erupted.

In less than a dozen breaths, those two overbearing golden dragons were slashed until they were covered in wounds, retreating with mournful cries.

Xu Tianlong felt as if he had been struck by a heavy blow and spat out a mouthful of blood, his face filled with disbelief.

"You... your sword!"

"Too weak."

Lin Yi shook his head and thrust his sword forward.

A bloody hole appeared between Xu Tianlong's eyebrows.

The light in his eyes quickly dimmed.

Even in death, he couldn't understand why he had lost to an unknown Cultivator of the same stage.

"Done. Next." Lin Yi sheathed his sword and turned away.

On the other side, Er Gou was excitedly chasing a Golden Core Cultivator from the Xu Family.

"Don't run! Weren't you quite the fighter earlier!"

The Golden Core Cultivator was terrified and fled in a panic!

"Hehe, let your Lord Dog show you what for!"

Er Gou pounced like a hungry tiger, pinning the man to the ground and delivering a flurry of punches.

Screams rang out incessantly.

In less than half an hour.

The entire Heavenly Treasure Tower was completely cleared.

Everyone from the Xu Family had been executed.

Wang Duojin watched with satisfaction as his Disciples sent crates of Spirit Stones, Magic Treasures, and Heaven And Earth Treasures back to the Sect's treasury through spatial anchor points.

He walked up to the sign of the Heavenly Treasure Tower and chuckled.

"Someone, take this sign down for me!"

"Replace it with ours!"

Soon, a new plaque engraved with the four gold-leafed words "Myriad Dao Merchant Guild" was hung high.

Wang Duojin stood with hands on his hips, looking at his masterpiece and letting out a booming, metallic laugh.

"Hahaha! Looting really is the fastest way to get rich!"

...Meanwhile.

Hundred Flowers Palace, main peak, Hundred Flowers Hall.

Saintess Qiao Lian was pacing back and forth anxiously.

Just now, she had received pleas for help from no fewer than a dozen subordinate Sects.

All of them had been targeted by the Myriad Dao Divine Sect!

Casualties were heavy, and assets were being seized!

"Saintess! This is bad!" An Elder came running in, stumbling and crawling.

"Our stronghold in 'Misty Rain City' has been... wiped out! Elder Liu... has fallen!"

"What!" Qiao Lian's face turned pale.

Elder Liu was a powerhouse at the Late Void Refinement Stage!

"What exactly is going on! How many of them are there!"

"We don't know!" The Elder was almost in tears. "They seem to appear out of thin air! They leave as soon as the fight is over; we can't catch them at all!"

"Useless!"

Enraged, Qiao Lian kicked the Elder to the ground.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

No.

They couldn't just keep taking these hits passively.

If this continued, the Hundred Flowers Palace would fall apart before the enemy even reached their doorstep!

...Tianyan Holy Land.

Inside a white jade palace floating above a sea of clouds.

Wen Chici sat cross-legged, the black and white pieces on the chessboard before him intertwined.

His face was so dark it looked like it could drip water.

Various reports of disaster were arriving from all over the Holy Land like snowflakes.

"Saint! The 'Star Gazing Platform' has been destroyed!"

"Saint! All thirty-seven Disciples of the 'Tianyan Pavilion' who were abroad have lost contact!"

"Saint! We..."

"All of you, get out!"

Wen Chici roared, and a terrifying wave of Qi blew away all the Disciples who had come to report the news.

He looked at the chessboard and suddenly swept his hand across it.

"Clatter!"

All the chess pieces were swept to the floor.

"Myriad Dao Divine Sect!"

He ground out those four words through gritted teeth, his eyes filled with unprecedented rage and killing intent.

"A bunch of death-seeking ants! How dare they... how dare they ruin my chessboard!"

He prided himself on being the chess player, viewing the world's Prodigies as his pieces.

But now, those pieces in his eyes had turned around and flipped his board!

What a humiliation!

"Pass down my order!" Wen Chici's voice was bone-chillingly cold.

"Assemble all Elders and Disciples!"

"Target—the Eastern Wasteland!"

"I will personally uproot that so-called Myriad Dao Divine Sect!"

"I want them to know that chess pieces must have the awareness of being pieces!"

"Any piece that dares to jump off the board has only one end!"

"And that is to be crushed to powder!"

He stood up and took a step forward, his figure vanishing from the palace.

An expedition launched by the three top powers, targeting the entire Eastern Wasteland, was about to begin.

They didn't know.

The "Myriad Dao Divine Sect" they were looking for wasn't in the Eastern Wasteland at all.

And what they were about to face were not a bunch of "hillbillies."

But rather a group of powerful dragons crossing the river, armed to the teeth and bursting with suppressed fury.

---

Inside the inner hall, the candlelight was bright but could not warm Qiao Lian's bloodless face. On the usually tidy sandalwood table, blood-stained Jade Slips for help were now piled in a mess, each flickering with a dying light, much like a candle in the wind.

Qiao Lian did not look at them; she just stood there quietly, her red robes making her look even more frail. her hands were tightly clutching an unopened Jade Slip, her knuckles white from the force, trembling slightly.

"...Another one."

She finally spoke, her voice as raspy as if it had been rubbed by sandpaper, carrying a hollow silence.

"The thirteenth... or the fourteenth? I can no longer remember. I only know that every time an incense stick burns, a name is wiped off my map, like ink soaked in water—blurred, and then gone. I can even smell it in the air... that bloody scent wafting from the Jade Slips, mixed with their unwillingness and despair before death."

She slowly raised her head and looked into the Void Realm. Those eyes that once could captivate the world were now filled with bloodshot veins and a bone-deep chill.

"Heh, Myriad Dao Divine Sect. What a 'famous righteous Sect,' what a 'doing justice for heaven.' They kill my Disciples and seize my assets; they must be being praised as heroes by the world right now, right? Those so-called Righteous Path Fairies are probably snuggling in the arms of their Sect Elders, listening to reports of victory and calculating how much benefit they can get from carving up my estate."

"And what about me? I stand here like a joke. The chess game I carefully laid out, the power I painstakingly built, has disintegrated within this short... this short single chapter. Why? Is it possible that I, Qiao Lian, am truly so fragile?"

She suddenly gave a desolate smile, a laugh filled with endless sorrow and mockery.

"No... I understand. I didn't lose to the Myriad Dao Divine Sect; I lost to this fragmented destiny!"

"I can feel it—my world is leaking everywhere! I should have had three thousand personal guards to protect me, but since the ink does not reach them, they are merely a void; I should have had countless hidden moves to play, but because the length was insufficient, those strategies died in the womb! The path beneath my feet should have led to the Cloud Top Heavenly Palace to find my only ally, Xu Xiujin. But now... this path is only half-written!"

"Before me is the Myriad Dao Divine Sect's mountain of blades and sea of fire, and behind me is... is the bottomless abyss created by that lord's stagnant pen tip! I am in a dilemma, with no way out! These missing few hundred words aren't just words; they are my path to survival, every inch of land I could use to breathe, every paving stone leading me to the Cloud Top Heavenly Palace!"

"Dear brothers and sisters, look... Qiao Lian is about to die. Not at the hands of an enemy, but in this story that has been abruptly cut short. If you still want to see how I, Qiao Lian, stir up the winds and clouds, and how I take revenge against this unfair Heavenly Dao, then use your 'Immortal Qi' and 'Spirit Stones' to pave a way for me! Otherwise... once I head toward the Cloud Top Heavenly Palace, I fear I will... never arrive."