393: The Sky-Patrolling Iron Cavalry Arrives

On the border of the Great Zhou, within the temporary camp of the Xihua Sect, two figures stood in a tense confrontation.

Zhuang Xian was dressed in white, his face handsome yet wearing a somewhat cynical smile.

Opposite him, Chi Yu wore a pink silk dress and had a charming appearance, but at this moment, her eyebrows were arched in anger and her eyes were wide; the two stared each other down, neither willing to yield a single step.

“Did I send word for you to come to Tianqi?” Chi Yu asked with her hands on her hips, her tone laced with sarcasm.

Zhuang Xian sneered and shook his head:

“Senior Sister, although you didn't directly tell me to come to Tianqi, your encouraging tone was clearly meant to lure me to the Tianqi Dynasty.”

“Nonsense!”

Chi Yu's tone was unfriendly:

“We are here to seize the Opportunity and Legacy. Why would I encourage you to come here? To share the credit with you? Are you even worthy!”

Luo Yu, standing nearby, watched the two bickering like children and shook her head helplessly, though a hint of a smile flashed in her eyes.

She stepped forward, gently pulled Chi Yu's sleeve, and said softly:

“Alright, alright, as the Saint and Saintess of our Sect, you should maintain your image in front of the Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters. If word of this dispute gets out, wouldn't people laugh at us?”

Hearing this, Chi Yu was the first to show her displeasure; she broke free from Luo Yu's hand and said with a pout:

“Hmph, I am a genuine Saintess, but some people still only hold the title of Quasi-Saint Son. What right do you have to be compared to me?”

Zhuang Xian's face stiffened as he muttered inwardly:

“What's there to be proud of? When my Big Brother achieves success and fame in the future, I'll eventually send you, this Saintess, over to be my Big Brother's bed-warming Maid!”

He was fuming with rage inside, yet his face still wore that punchable smile:

“It's true that Senior Sister is the Saintess, but I am still young. When I reach Senior Sister's age, I will definitely become the Sect's first-in-line Saint, and I'll be much more influential than Senior Sister then.”

“You!”

Chi Yu trembled with rage, her eyebrows arching high:

“Are you implying I'm old? Fine... very well! It seems I haven't disciplined you in two months, so you've forgotten why I am the Senior Sister.”

As she spoke, Chi Yu was about to strike, but Luo Yu quickly stepped forward to stop her, saying helplessly:

“Alright, alright, stop messing around. We are currently in a period of turmoil; the Heaven-Patrolling Iron Cavalry is already heading toward the Tianqi Kingdom and might visit our Sect very soon.”

She looked at them and said in a low voice:

“Pass down the order: once all Disciples return to the Sect, if anyone from the Qintian Division comes to inquire, everyone must maintain the same story. Say that the Mingya Secret Realm was exceptionally dangerous and our Sect's Disciples only moved around the periphery of the Immortal Cave without venturing deep inside, and that we know nothing about the Seal being broken. Remember, there must be no slips!”

Seeing this, Zhuang Xian and Chi Yu also stopped their bickering and nodded in response:

“Understood.”

Meanwhile, a heavy atmosphere hung over the Xuan Yin Sect.

In the Sect's main hall, a pitch-black jade slip lay quietly on a desk; the jade slip had already shattered into several pieces, emitting a faint chilling aura. This was the Life Jade Slip that contained a strand of Elder Yin Gu's Life Soul.

The shattering of the jade slip meant that Elder Yin Gu had perished. This news exploded like a thunderclap within the Xuan Yin Sect, shaking the entire Sect.

Sect Master Wu Gang was dressed in a black Daoist robe, his face solemn. As his gaze fell upon the shattered jade slip, his eyes were filled with deep sorrow and anger.

Just then, a Disciple rushed into the hall and reported with a bow:

“Sect Master, people from the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty's Qintian Division have sent word, inquiring about the matter of the Nether Crow Ridge Seal being broken and demanding that our Sect fully cooperate with the investigation.”

Wu Gang took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions, and said in a low voice:

“Elder Yin Gu has followed the Sect for many years and has performed great service. Now that he has perished, we absolutely cannot let him die without an explanation!”

His gaze swept over the Elders in the hall, his tone firm:

“Pass down the order: immediately compile all records related to Nether Crow Ridge. Whether it's the entry and exit lists of the Secret Realm or the tracks of Elder Yin Gu's movements, everything must be verified one by one to fully cooperate with the Imperial Dynasty's investigation. I want to see who dares to strike at someone from my Xuan Yin Sect behind our backs!”

“Yes, Sect Master!”

The Elders responded in unison and turned to leave to begin organizing the relevant materials... Compared to the proactive cooperation of the Xuan Yin Sect, those small and medium-sized Sects and Loose Cultivators who had participated in the Mingya Secret Realm were now like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.

They were already weak in strength and their Foundation was unstable; now, hearing that the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty's Heaven-Patrolling Iron Cavalry had already arrived in the Southern Border to investigate the matter of the Seal being broken, they were all scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

They feared they would be implicated and provoke an existence they could not afford to offend.

For a time, small and medium-sized Sects throughout the Southern Border closed their gates, refusing all outside visitors.

The Loose Cultivators fled even further, either escaping to distant lands to hide in deep mountains and old forests, or simply finding a remote town to conceal their auras and live like ordinary people, hoping only to evade the pursuit of the Heaven-Patrolling Iron Cavalry... On this day.

Tianqi Dynasty, Royal Capital.

Under the gaze of countless horrified eyes, three massive black warships, like ferocious beasts, tore through the clouds and slowly descended over the Royal Capital.

The warships were forged entirely from an unknown black metal, their hulls inscribed with complex Star Runes, and their sharp edges glinted with a cold, metallic light. They were the terrifying sky patrol warships under the command of the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty's Qintian Division!

The warships did not fully descend, but instead hovered a hundred zhang above the ground, casting massive shadows that felt like heavy boulders pressing down on everyone's hearts.

The commoners in the Royal Capital had already fled in panic, hiding in their homes and bolting their doors and windows; only a few high-level Cultivators dared to watch from a distance, their eyes filled with shock and awe.

A moment later, the hatch of the largest warship in the middle slowly opened, and ten figures flew out silently like ghosts, standing in mid-air. The auras they emitted swept out like a tsunami, making the air in the entire Royal Capital feel as if it had frozen.

The leader was a cold-faced middle-aged man wearing dark silver Star Battle Armor; as his eyes opened and closed, it seemed as if galaxies were swirling within them. The aura he radiated was as vast as the sea—he was a Late Nascent Soul Stage great Cultivator!

He was the commander leading the Heaven-Patrolling Iron Cavalry this time, Li Zhong.

Behind him, nine Cultivators dressed in standard black iron armor with masks covering their faces stood solemnly; their auras were linked and their Evil Qi was formidable—every single one of them possessed Early Nascent Soul Stage Cultivation!

This was the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty's Heaven-Patrolling Iron Cavalry, the terrifying Sharp Weapon used by the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty to suppress various nations and maintain its laws.

The auras of the ten Nascent Soul Cultivators were released without reservation, like ten towering mountains suppressing all directions.

The defensive Formations of the Royal Capital's palace back mountain were like child's play before them; even the Star Gazing Platform's protective Formation of State Preceptor Xuan Qingzi emitted an overloaded drone, as if it would collapse at any moment.

In the depths of the palace, Li Xuan, surrounded by a crowd of guards, quickly walked out of the hall.

When he looked up and saw those ten god-like figures in the sky, his face instantly turned pale as paper, his palms were drenched in cold sweat, and his legs trembled slightly.

He forced himself to calm down, straightened his dragon robes, and bowed toward the sky, his voice carrying a trace of undetectable trembling:

“Li Xuan, Ruler of the Tianqi Dynasty, welcomes the envoys!”