227: To defeat death with life, the lord’s back-up plan!

“We’ll wait,” Li Yongde said, leaning back on the sofa and relighting a cigar, taking a deep drag. “We’ll wait for them to both suffer heavy losses, wait for that land to become a dead zone.”

“Uncle Li will send people over. He has a way to purify the plague on that land.”

“He is also a Lord of the Immortal Cultivation System. He told me that in Mo Yan’s territory, there is a treasure that can extend his lifespan.”

“As long as we can get that item, our Li family’s future position in Dragon Country will be unshakeable!”

“By then, what would a mere He Yongping even count for?”

Greed burned in Li Yongde’s eyes.

......

Just then, the situation on the battlefield suddenly changed again!

The trapped Plague Rat King suddenly stopped struggling.

“You… all must die! For… my King’s… arrival!”

It let out its final roar.

The next second, its body rapidly shriveled and withered like a punctured balloon.

All its flesh and blood essence, along with the life force within its body, converged towards the golden ‘King’ rune on its forehead.

Boom—!

The rune exploded suddenly, transforming into a bottomless green vortex.

The ground of the entire battlefield groaned, and countless black-green plague Qi spewed out from underground, surging madly into the vortex.

An aura a hundred times more terrifying than before was slowly awakening behind the vortex.

Just a trace of the escaping aura caused the cage set up by Li Chenran to crack inch by inch, and the lightning chains summoned by Grandmaster Talisman Maker Mo Chen to break and dissipate.

“Pfft!”

Li Chenran and Grandmaster Talisman Maker Mo Chen both turned pale simultaneously, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Their Formation and Rune Arts were forcibly broken, and they suffered severe backlash.

The Soldiers on the city wall, who had just recovered from the Rat King’s sonic attack, were now once again enveloped by this terrifying pressure. They felt their Souls trembling, as if they would be sucked into the vortex and become a part of it the next second.

Even Chen Beixuan, who had just comprehended the Dao and cleaved the chasm with a single sword strike, now gripped the Frost Sword in his hand, his expression extremely solemn.

His newly condensed “Guardian Sword Intent” let out a wail the moment it came into contact with that aura, as if it had encountered a natural enemy.

He felt his sword was so powerless at this moment.

On the entire battlefield, the only person who remained calm was Xu Yanyan.

But on his gentle, jade-like face, for the first time, an extremely solemn expression appeared.

“Not good, it’s a sacrificial summon.”

He knew better than anyone what this meant.

A cross-dimensional summons.

This Rat King was merely a coordinate for a higher-level existence.

It used its own death to open a door for that existence to descend into this world.

“Holy Word · Insight!”

Two lines of bloody tears flowed from Xu Yanyan’s eyes; this was the price of forcibly prying into heavenly secrets!

In his eyes, the entire world transformed into countless interwoven threads, representing Karma and destiny.

Most of the threads led to a bleak outcome—the territory covered by plague, all things withered, and everyone becoming nourishment for that terrifying existence.

This was a certain death trap.

His Divine Soul frantically deduced through countless death traps, searching for that one in ten thousand possibility.

Finally, just as his vision was about to be swallowed by darkness, he caught a golden thread.

It was so thin, so inconspicuous, yet it stubbornly extended towards a completely different future.

Xu Yanyan’s gaze followed this sole thread of life, tracing it back.

He thought this thread would point to some hidden powerful trump card, or some world-destroying scroll left by the Lord.

But in the end, this golden thread passed through the city wall, crossed the buildings within the territory, and finally pointed towards the vibrant Xumi Realm.

The landing point was a small bird fluttering its wings in a flower patch, chasing butterflies.

A small creature entirely burning with warm flames.

Xu Yanyan was slightly stunned.

This was… the key to breaking the situation?

A seemingly harmless pet beast?

“So that’s it… Is this the Lord’s true trump card?”

“Using life to overcome death, using purification to break decay… What a profound plan.”

He murmured to himself, his heart filled with even more admiration for the Lord.

Whether this was Mo Yan’s deliberate arrangement or not, now, he had to seize this only hope.

Time was pressing; the aura in the vortex was growing stronger and stronger.

Xu Yanyan closed his eyes, and an invisible thought crossed space, resounding directly within the Lord’s Manor.

“Uncle Qin.”

......

Inside the Lord’s Manor, Uncle Qin was directing servants to prepare hot tea and medicine, ready to send them to the city wall at any time.

Although he didn’t understand combat, he knew that the Soldiers on the front lines must be having a tough time.

Suddenly, a voice directly sounded in his mind.

“Uncle Qin.”

“Who?!”

Uncle Qin was startled, turning his head sharply, only to find no one behind him.

He thought he was getting old and too nervous, experiencing auditory hallucinations.

“Go quickly to the Xumi Realm and bring that Ember Feather Immortal Phoenix to the city wall, hurry!”

The voice sounded again, clear and urgent.

Uncle Qin heard it clearly this time and finally reacted.

Ember Feather Immortal Phoenix?

Isn’t that the Lord’s pet, Little Immortal?

And who else could communicate directly with him using such divine means, besides the new Mr. Xu on the city wall?

“Yes! Immortal Master!”

Uncle Qin dared not delay in the slightest, respectfully answering the empty air, then lifted the hem of his robe and ran towards the Xumi Realm entrance at the fastest speed of his life.

Inside the Xumi Realm, birds sang, flowers bloomed, and Spiritual Qi was abundant, a stark contrast to the bloody battlefield outside.

The Epic Spiritual Plant Master, Li Muxi, was carefully tending to a patch of newly sprouted Spiritual Plants.

Beside him, a palm-sized bird, radiating a soft flame, hovered obediently in mid-air.

From time to time, it would open its small beak and spit out a tiny ball of flame containing life energy, which landed on the young sprouts.

Nourished by this energy, the sprouts grew rapidly, and the patterns on their leaves became clearer.

It was indeed the Ember Feather Immortal Phoenix, Little Immortal.

It liked this job very much, and also liked the beautiful older sister who could grow many delicious fruits.

“Little Immortal, yes, just like that, a little more, not too much, these seedlings are still very fragile…” Li Muxi gently guided it, coaxing it like a child.

Just then, Uncle Qin ran in, panting.

“Master… Master Li!”

“Butler Qin? Why so flustered?” Li Muxi looked up, frowning in displeasure.

She hated being disturbed while tending to Spiritual Plants.

“Mr. Xu… Mr. Xu has a command!” Uncle Qin supported his knees, gasping for breath. “The situation outside the city is critical, and Little Immortal is needed… needed to help!”

“What?” Li Muxi’s frown deepened. “Let Little Immortal go? It’s just a hatchling, what help can it be? The battlefield is so dangerous, no!”

She subconsciously shielded Little Immortal behind her, her face full of vigilance.

Little Immortal looked at Uncle Qin, puzzled.

“These are Mr. Xu’s exact words! It’s an emergency!” Uncle Qin was sweating profusely. “Master Li, the safety of the entire territory might depend on this!”

“If you don’t trust Mr. Xu, you should at least trust the Lord’s judgment!”

Upon hearing the words “Lord,” Li Muxi’s expression softened slightly.

She knew that both Xu Yanyan and this miraculous Little Immortal were brought back by the Lord.

The Lord’s arrangements must have deep meaning.

While she was still hesitating, Little Immortal, whom she had protected behind her, lightly flew up.

It came before Uncle Qin, rubbing its small head against Uncle Qin’s finger, emitting a clear, melodious cry.

“Chirp!”

Although it didn’t understand complex human language, it could feel the urgency in Uncle Qin’s tone, as well as the evil aura coming from outside the realm, which instinctively made it feel disgusted and uneasy.

More importantly, it could feel a familiar and kind will calling to it from afar.

That was Mr. Xu’s aura, with a hint of the Lord’s scent.

“This…” Li Muxi sighed, looking at Little Immortal, who had voluntarily flown over. “Very well. Butler Qin, you must protect it well.”

“Absolutely!”

Uncle Qin carefully cupped Little Immortal in his hands, feeling a warmth in his palm.

He dared not delay any longer, turning and running towards the city wall.

As he carried Little Immortal and stepped onto the city wall again, he saw that the green vortex had already expanded to its critical point.

A colossal silhouette, composed of plague and bones, was slowly, bit by bit, squeezing out of the vortex.