Chapter 322: Moonfall Gorge
There wasn’t a cloud to be seen in the big, blue sky. The rays of dawn spread out, illuminating the entire Eight Sect Coalition megacity.
A roar echoed out and terrifying shockwaves rolled through the sky as a huge black dracolizard flew out from the headquarters of Seven Blood Eyes. It had massive wings that sent gale force winds out in all directions and seemed capable of obscuring the sky. It started out only 300 meters in length, but as it flew into the dome of heaven, it rapidly grew larger. In the blink of an eye, it was 3,000 meters long, but it kept growing after that until it was over 6,000 meters! On the dracolizard’s back were an array of numerous buildings, within which were a host of figures.
Xu Qing was among them.
This dracolizard was one of Master Seventh’s three dreadnaughts. The other people gathered on it were the other Seven Blood Eyes disciples who had accepted the kill mission. Most of them weren’t going on the mission because of any sense of camaraderie or friendship. Rather, it was for the very sizable mission reward.
That was just how Seven Blood Eyes worked; everything came down to matters of profit versus risk. In a chaotic world, risk could be ignored as long as there was enough profit to be had.
On the tallest of the buildings, in the very front, Xu Qing stood with two other individuals. They were none other than Master Seventh and Sir Bloodsmelter. The wind whipped their robes and their eyes shone with frigid killing intent. The two of them were personally leading the Seven Blood Eyes forces on this mission.
Flying through the air behind the dracolizard was the Sixth Peak in its fortress form. The massive mountain emanated a grim pressure that weighed down on the hearts and minds of anyone who laid eyes on it. Whether it was because of profit or because of feelings for Master Sixth, most disciples from the Sixth Peak had chosen to come.
There were more coalition sects coming along. They included the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect, the Dark Serenity Sect, and the House of Grue Hunters. The patriarchs and matriarchs of those sects were also present. Beyond that, all eight sects had their taboo treasures ready to use.
As the taboo fluctuations rolled out, nine enormous bronze swords flew out from the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect. Patriarch Soaring Cloud and the sect leader led the way, bristling with killing intent.
From the House of Grue Hunters came a 24,000-meter grue eye that seemed to contain the cosmos within its gaze. Also within it were countless cultivators from the House of Grue Hunters.
Even more impressive was the massive gravestone that rose up from the Dark Serenity Sect. Blood-colored calligraphy on the gravestone made magical symbols that emanated a profound sensation of ancient time. Arch-Immortal Plumdark stood atop the gravestone, flanked by numerous disciples.
As the four sects rose up into the air, a massive face appeared in the air, filling the sky as it looked off into the distance. It was none other than the president of the coalition.
“Our investigation has borne fruit. Torchlight has numerous secret sanctuaries in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. Most are mere facades, but we’ve identified four that are not. Today, the coalition will send one sect to each of those sanctuaries to kill all Torchlight cultivators there. Today, we avenge our fallen coalition comrades! All coalition taboo treasures are active and can be used in the fighting!
“The Swordsage Court has given us their full endorsement for this mission, and will be monitoring the situation. If Night Dove’s superior appears again like he did before, then he will have a hard time avoiding catastrophe!
“What’s more, the Swordsage Court has a way to counteract the light he produced with that box. With those things in mind, let the operation begin!”
As the president’s words echoed out, the four sects sprang into motion, heading straight toward various teleportation portals that appeared in midair.
Seven Blood Eyes was going to the location where Master Shengyun had been spotted. Given Sir Bloodsmelter’s current status in the senate, he had been able to pressure the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect into giving Seven Blood Eyes the right to handle their former disciple.
The persons responsible for Master Sixth’s death were ultimately Night Dove and his lord. However, Master Shengyun and his father, Chu Tianqun, were also dangerous threats, and thus Seven Blood Eyes wanted to focus on them.
Master Shengyun had been tracked down to... the Young Arbiter Sect.
After the Young Arbiter Sect and their dam were destroyed by the coalition, a secret deal had been brokered between the coalition and the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society. That was why the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society had never made a big fuss over the matter, and by extension, had tacitly approved. The Young Arbiter Sect had been forced to swallow a bitter pill, and in the end, had no choice but to move to another location and try to rebuild their organization.
In the end, though, the Young Arbiter Sect was essentially a subsidiary branch of the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society. And thus, in order to placate the Young Arbiter Sect, the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society had increased their yearly disciple promotion quota. That meant the Young Arbiter Sect was allowed to promote more disciples to the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society than in the past.
The Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society was different from most other sects. They didn’t recruit disciples from the population at large, but rather, approved disciples based on predestined affinity. That was why Li Zimei had ultimately joined their numbers. Most of their new disciples came from the over one hundred subsidiary branches that adhered to their sect. The number of disciples that could be promoted every year was based on how strong the subsidiary branch was.
In the past, the Young Arbiter Sect had been allowed to promote four disciples per year. But now, they could promote eight. That was a big change for the Young Arbiter Sect. Countless mortals and cultivators in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture longed to end up in the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society. The best starting point for such people would be one of the subsidiary branches such as the Young Arbiter Sect. After all, in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, the most powerful organization other than the Swordsage Court, the group that was the face of humankind, was of course the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society.
For unknown reasons, after Master Shengyun betrayed his sect, he was secretly recruited by the Young Arbiter Sect. He changed his appearance as well as his name, and became one of their ordinary disciples. It seemed most likely that he wanted to use the Young Arbiter Sect to ultimately enter the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society.
Thanks to the intelligence-gathering operations carried out by the coalition and Seven Blood Eyes, Master Seventh had somehow dug up all the information about the situation. And he didn’t just know that Master Shengyun was now in the Young Arbiter Sect. He had also identified other Torchlight field agents there, plus some of their conclave agents.
The only thing Seven Blood Eyes wasn’t sure about was whether or not Night Dove and his lord would show up. Part of the purpose of the operation was to draw them out into the open. If they took action against any of the four coalition sects, then the coalition as a whole, plus the Swordsage Court, would step in.
Of course, the coalition was the open threat, and the Swordsage Court was the hidden threat. The Swordsage Court was obviously very interested in Night Dove and his lord.
Xu Qing was aware of all of this. Killing intent swirled in his eyes as the dracolizard and the Sixth Peak shot toward the huge teleportation portal.
Teleportation light glittered and the sky-shattering roar of the dracolizard echoed out. A moment later, the dracolizard appeared above the Moonfall Plain.
Moonfall Plain was in the far northeast of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, between the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society and the northeastern tundra. It was a cold place, but the spirit energy was more than enough to sustain sects both small and large. In fact, there were several thousand sects there.
On the edge of Moonfall Plain was a huge canyon called Moonfall Gorge. That was the location of the Young Arbiter Sect. It had once been a mid-level sect. But after the destruction of their dam and headquarters, they ended up with less than 10,000 disciples.
It was currently afternoon, and the sun shone brightly. At the moment, most of the disciples were busy working on their cultivation. Therefore, when the huge dracolizard appeared, black clouds rolling around it as it howled, the Young Arbiter Sect was instantly thrown into chaos.
Before the Young Arbiter Sect disciples could even react, the dracolizard closed in, gale force winds sweeping about it. The Sixth Peak also descended, unleashing terrifying pulses of might.
Meanwhile, within the Seazombie ancestral land, the enormous bronze mirror hovering above the fourteen zombie ancestor statues swiveled so that it was facing the general direction of Moonfall Gorge. The zombie ancestor statues rumbled as massive power surged. Then, the seven blood-colored eyes above seven of the statues all opened. Their gazes were fixed on the distant Moonfall Gorge. All of a sudden, blood-colored light filled the canyon.
To the shock and astonishment of the Young Arbiter Sect, and especially their high-level leaders, as that blood-colored light spread out, about a thousand of their disciples started exuding a clearly-visible black energy.
The affected disciples’ facial features and physical appearance started to change. As the others looked on, shocked, their true features were revealed. Many of them were ordinary Young Arbiter Sect disciples. However... there were seven or eight Gold Core disciples who were also affected. And most dramatic of all was that one of the sect’s Nascent Soul grand elders also experienced the same effect, and his facial features changed to that of a stranger.
Everyone in the Young Arbiter Sect was astonished.
As for the sect leader, his face turned very grim. Everyone else was taken by surprise by what was happening, but he wasn’t. Given his close relationship with the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society, there was no way he could be a traitor. In fact, the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society had warned him that Torchlight was infiltrating the Young Arbiter Sect. As a result, as soon as he saw what was happening, he issued orders.
“Disciples, kill any cultivator with black energy coming off them. They’re evil Torchlight agents!”
“You don’t need to do anything!” Almost as soon as the sect leader issued those orders, Sir Bloodsmelter’s vicious voice echoed out. Sir Bloodsmelter flicked his sleeve, and the power of the Seven Blood Eyes taboo treasure surged, sealing the area.
Next, Master Seventh issued his own orders, and the Seven Blood Eyes disciples became streams of light that shot off of the dracolizard and toward the Young Arbiter Sect. They did nothing to the ordinary Young Arbiter Sect disciples. They only targeted the cultivators exuding the black energy.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing’s gaze had locked onto one of the seemingly ordinary disciples.
Thanks to the Seven Blood Eyes taboo treasure, that disciple’s true facial features had already been revealed. He was very handsome, and exuded the fluctuations of the Gold Core level. He was none other than... Master Shengyun.
Master Shengyun’s face fell. He was absolutely stupefied that Seven Blood Eyes had already managed to track him down. That said, his cultivation base was not the same as the last time he’d fought Xu Qing. For one thing, he now emitted Gold Core fluctuations. Beyond that, the golden crow in his right eye had been fully sealed. It was now dimmer. Furthermore, its effects had been reversed. Instead of leeching off of him, it was now fully under his control. It was now his own golden crow eye.
Xu Qing’s gaze was fully focused on Master Shengyun. And as soon as Master Seventh’s orders rang out, Xu Qing’s eyes surged with killing intent. He flew down into the Young Arbiter Sect and headed... straight toward Master Shengyun.
This time he was going to kill him!