167: Chapter 167 This idea is indeed brilliant!

However, just as everyone was rubbing their hands together in anticipation and preparing to give the order to depart, the bruised and swollen Lu Qingshan jumped out once again.

"Everyone! Everyone! How about this,"

He squeezed out a smile that he thought was clever.

"Let's just give them five million Spirit Stones, let them hold it until it's warm, and then we'll charge in right after!"

At these words, everyone was stunned for a moment, then burst into even louder laughter.

"Brilliant! We'll let them taste what it's like to be betrayed! What it's like to be played for fools!"

The Elders who were filled with righteous indignation just a moment ago all looked at Lu Qingshan, nodding their heads in praise one after another.

Truth be told, this old fellow's rotten ideas were truly endless!

Although those previous ideas were off-mark, this one was indeed brilliant!

Sending the money over one moment and then charging in the next to take both the people and the money—the damage might not be high, but the insult was definitely maximized!

They recalled the scene where they had collectively pinned this old fellow to the ground and given him a thrashing.

Looking at him now, they felt a bit apologetic toward him.

As for why Lu Qingshan was so eager to prove himself, he actually had hardships that were difficult to voice.

Their Qingyun Sect was now notorious throughout the Eastern Border, long since labeled in private as the "Calamity Sect" or "the ones who don't know what's good for them."

The source of all this could be traced back to the previous Saintess of their Sect—Peak Master Yun Huoyue.

Peak Master Yun Huoyue was cold by nature, but her temper lived up to her name—it was exceptionally fiery.

During an excursion, she happened to meet a mysterious young man who fell in love with her at first sight and pursued her relentlessly.

But Peak Master Yun Huoyue remained completely indifferent to him, as cold as frost.

So the young man began to pester her incessantly, finally pushing Peak Master Yun Huoyue to her limit.

In a fit of rage, she actually ran the mysterious young man through with a single sword strike, hacking him into seven or eight pieces.

Who would have thought that it would later be revealed that this slain mysterious youth actually came from the Emperor Pavilion!

This sword strike was equivalent to poking a massive hornet's nest!

In the entire Eastern Border, which Sect didn't want to curry favor with the Emperor Pavilion?

Thus, those who usually wanted to suck up to the Emperor Pavilion spontaneously formed an Alliance of tens of thousands of Sects, grandly preparing to launch a punitive expedition against the Qingyun Sect.

The scale was such that a single spit from everyone could have drowned the Qingyun Sect.

However, just as things were about to explode, an old man claiming to be an envoy from the Emperor Pavilion suddenly appeared and said indifferently:

"This matter will not be pursued."

Anyone with eyes knew that the youth from the Emperor Pavilion was at fault first; if the Emperor Pavilion truly destroyed the Qingyun Sect over this, it would be a loss of face and imperial dignity once word got out.

But since the Emperor Pavilion had spoken and said they wouldn't pursue it, the other Sects naturally couldn't say anything more.

From then on, the Qingyun Sect fell into an extremely awkward position.

This incident became both their protective Talisman and their death warrant.

No one dared to approach them easily, fearing they might offend the Emperor Pavilion;

Nor did anyone dare to offend them easily, fearing they would be labeled as "venting anger on behalf of the Emperor Pavilion and ruining its reputation."

It was also for this reason that Peak Master Yun Huoyue, who had caused such a disaster, was demoted to Green Bamboo Peak of the Qingyun Sect's Outer Sect, serving as a hands-off manager whom no one cared about.

That was why Lu Qingshan was now so desperate to perform several great services in front of these Saint Sects and the Emperor Pavilion, hoping to restore the Sect's reputation and win back some character and face for the Qingyun Sect.

The Palace Master of the Mystic Ice Palace, Bing Ningyue, knitted her willow-leaf brows slightly. After thinking for a moment, she also felt that this plan was quite disgusting.

Of course, it wasn't that she truly wanted to disgust Tiansha Valley.

Rather, she felt that using a mere five million Spirit Stones to get their Saintess back without shedding blood was a bargain no matter how one calculated it.

Thus, she directly made the decision.

With a wave of her jade-like hand, a Storage Ring flew into Ling Tianchen's hand.

However, at the moment the Storage Ring left her hand, the gaze of the Mystic Ice Palace Master, Bing Ningyue, flickered slightly.

Ling Tianchen took the ring, and without even looking at it, tossed it directly to the messenger Disciple beside him, ordering him to deliver it immediately.

Then, he turned around proudly, faced the army behind him, and suddenly waved his hand!

"Woo—woo—woo—!"

The desolate and grim sound of the war horn instantly echoed through the clouds!

In an instant, tens of thousands of War Vessels, like awakened ancient beasts carrying millions of Disciples, blotted out the sun, their massive shadows pressing down over the sky of Wanling Mountain like dark clouds.

Countless streaks of light soared into the sky from the War Vessels, converging into a grand torrent of steel. They stirred up the winds and clouds, carrying the momentum of a thunderbolt, as they shouted and surged toward the Tiansha Valley camp in the north!

The wind precedes the storm; a war that would sweep through the entire Eastern Border had already entered its final countdown!

...

Meanwhile, on the other side.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The ground trembled violently; this was not an earthquake, but the roar of giant Battle Puppets, each hundreds of feet tall, treading heavily upon the earth!

Atop those hideous Battle Puppets stood all sorts of figures, including Sect Masters, Elders, and ordinary Disciples.

Behind this army of Battle Puppets, thousand-foot Flying Vessels also drifted, packed with elites from the Ten Great Saint Sects and various Commercial Alliances.

At this moment, the light of excitement flickered in everyone's eyes.

It was the light of imminent fortune!

It was the light of imagining their opponents begging for mercy in pain!

"Faster! Faster! We must catch them off guard!"

Ye Xiaotian stood atop the leading Battle Puppet, constantly shouting urgings.

To the representatives of the Saint Sects, his urgent prodding appeared as an impatient scramble to snatch credit and carve up territory.

But only Ye Xiaotian knew in his heart that it stemmed from a deep concern for his daughter's safety.

However, because he was the initiator of this Alliance and a Sect Master, he could only suppress this anxiety and grief deep within his heart, unable to show a single trace of it.

He knew that once this battle began, his captured Disciples and his precious daughter would likely have no chance of survival.

Yet, his expression—as cold and hard as iron, without a ripple of emotion—was misinterpreted by the Saint Sect representatives as extreme focus and confidence in the upcoming war.

One of the Saint Sect representatives spoke leisurely.

"Rest assured, Valley Master Ye. With our Saint Sects here, that group of fools on the other side won't be able to stir up any trouble! Anyone who dares to touch those our Saint Sect protects will surely have their soul and body annihilated, and their Sect's Legacy turned to ash!"

His words were indeed the truth, and also a blatant display of strength.

This time, the Ten Great Saint Sects alone had deployed a full hundred thousand elites, with the lowest cultivation being at the Foundation Establishment Stage, and over five thousand Golden Core Disciples among them!

Altogether, there were over three million people.

Not to mention the vast financial and material resources of the Medicinal Pill, Talisman, and Artifact Refining Alliances supporting them.

This terrifying force, let alone dealing with the Thousand Sects Alliance opposite them, could potentially sweep through the entire Eastern Border.