"Tell him," Li Xinghuo said, giving a slight nod to the Garrison Commander, "exactly what kind of thing he is. So that he may at least die understanding why."
"Yes, General Li!"
The Garrison Commander was exceptionally respectful, but when his gaze fell upon Lai Teng, his face was filled with mockery.
"You, surnamed Lai," he sneered, "General Li still overestimated you. You're not even as good as dog shit. If not for the letter General Li sent from the Northern Border all those years ago, did you truly think I would even bother with you? If you were truly an ordinary person who had reached the Divinity Transformation realm through your own abilities, I would actually respect you somewhat."
"A pity..."
As the Garrison Commander's voice faded, the numerous soldiers all roared with laughter, and their laughter caused Lai Teng's face to turn deathly pale.
He looked at these fellows clad in armor, and he knew. So it turned out that for all these years, they had all been toying with him as if he were nothing more than a clown! And he himself, performing with all his might on the stage, had instead been forced to give these beasts his Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures?!!
"A pity, you were never able to truly integrate into the Imperial Capital.
Never mind General Li giving the order, I had my eye on you five hundred years ago.
If you had made even the slightest unusual move, I would have killed you immediately."
As he spoke, the Garrison Commander even gave an ingratiating smile towards Li Xinghuo before turning to Lai Teng and saying.
"General Li, for his part, is considerate of the hardships we garrison soldiers face. He heard that you, this pest, wanted to give us some benefits, so he let us accept them, all so we could play along with you.
Ye Xiu? Daoist Shanchen? They returned to Eternal Sun Prefecture long ago. In fact, we personally saw them off on their spirit arks."
"As for the other Tian Xing avatars in the Imperial Capital... Here."
As his voice faded, from all around, more cultivators appeared on flying swords.
The dozen or so remaining Tian Xing avatars in the Imperial Capital were, without exception, all captured!
"..."
A chill flowed from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.
Lai Teng stumbled back two steps, the world spinning before his eyes as he looked at the people crowded all around him.
The Garrison soldiers of the Imperial Capital were roaring with laughter, mocking his incompetence and his self-righteousness!
Li Kuanghua and Li Xinghuo were staring at him coldly.
The eyes of all the people from Azure Cloud were filled with glee; they were like demons selecting their prey to devour!
He had been played for a fool for over a hundred years!
His so-called schemes were so utterly laughable.
The Li family members and these Garrison soldiers had always been secretly laughing at him, watching him strive in vain for over a hundred years!
"I'll kill you!"
On this day, This Mountain was filled with a despair and rage that originated from Lai Teng.
...
Two months passed.
Across the entire Azure Dynasty, throughout all of Eternal Sun Prefecture, wherever a Tian Xing avatar was located, the same scene was unfolding.
The Li family had schemed for over a hundred years, and now, these Tian Xing avatars had all fallen into despair!
Within the Ancestor Space.
Li Wei watched all of this unfold.
Across the various lands of the Azure Dynasty, the descendants of the Li family were dragging the Tian Xing avatars towards Qilin Mountain in Eternal Sun Prefecture.
These Tian Xing avatars were all still alive, and one could anticipate that those geniuses who had been dispatched were doing the very same thing.
On the Tian Xing Fate Plate, the small dots representing the Tian Xing avatars were all moving towards Qilin Mountain.
"A tooth for a tooth, and blood for blood."
Li Wei's voice was calm. Over the past hundred-plus years, the rage that had once filled his chest and mind had long since dissipated.
He, like his clansmen, had been preparing for this very day.
Back then, when the Tian Xing avatars invaded Merit City, it was because the clansmen were completely unprepared.
And today, over a hundred years later.
The surviving descendants of the Li family had grown even stronger.
They were now able to face Tian Xing, just as Tian Xing had done to them all those years ago.
They had suddenly cut off the connection between his avatars and dealt him a blow for which he was completely unprepared.
The Ancestor's spirit tablet began to glow.
From every corner of the land, the descendants were converging on Qilin Mountain.
There were Li Kuanghua and Li Xinghuo, returning by spirit ark from the distant Imperial Capital, with the Tian Xing avatars they had captured from that city, imprisoned one by one in cages.
And there were Li Chang'an and Li Xingchen, arriving from the distant Spirit Continent aboard a dilapidated spirit vessel, leading a group of prodigies and setting foot on the lands of Eternal Sun Prefecture for the very first time; with them was Qingyu, her eyes brimming with hot tears at returning to her homeland once more.
Demonic Qi blotted out the sky. It was Xu Cuihua, leading a group of demon cultivators from the Demon Clan.
She stormed into the various great aristocratic houses of Eternal Sun Prefecture, capturing the Tian Xing avatars.
At her side was an old man, one who had clearly been exceptionally handsome in his youth, now sitting in a basket on the back of a robust man.
He gazed at the sky of the Imperial Dynasty, muttering something under his breath, as if saying, "Human Emperor... borrowing the path..."
This Xu Cuihua actually fought a Tian Xing Divinity Transformation avatar single-handedly, all nine of her tails emerging, and captured it alive.
This caused the old man to stroke his beard in gratification and exclaim loudly that the next generation of demons truly had a worthy successor.
The numerous Azure Cloud cultivators who had come from the Azure Cloud region, under the guidance of the lightning tribulation in the sky and that single red leaf, charged into the Eternal Sun Prefecture.
They intercepted a Divinity Transformation avatar that was rushing towards Qilin Mountain and captured it alive.
Nearly three hundred thousand armored cultivators from the Azure Cloud region advanced step by step amidst billowing clouds of dust.
Without a Prefect to hold the line, no one in the Eternal Sun Prefecture dared to block their path.
At the very forefront, Region Prince Jiang was clad in armor, seated upon a floating throne.
This was the same Prince Jiang who, over the past hundred-plus years, had caused the Azure Cloud region to flourish day by day.
He gazed at the lands of Eternal Sun Prefecture with a complex expression.
"Jiang Chenghuan," he said, "all those years ago, you said you wanted to let Eternal Sun Prefecture know that Azure Cloud could not be bullied. Carrying your final wish, I have done it."
Those great aristocratic families and major sects, under the pressure of the Azure Cloud Army led by Li Yunbing, either shut their gates and refused to emerge, or obediently handed over the Tian Xing avatars!
A young man, his body covered in demonic tattoos and dragging a great saber, was carrying a Tian Xing avatar on his shoulder.
This avatar was ranked first on the Nascent Divinity List, yet he was being eroded by the demonic Qi radiating from the young man's body, unable to move even the slightest bit.
On Azure Mist Mountain.
Venerable Elder Baimei, who was in the middle of lighting a fire to cook a meal, suddenly furrowed his brow.
He glanced at Bai Rourou, who was seated cross-legged in meditation within the thatched cottage, and at Ah Xiu, who was rushing hurriedly towards the cottage from outside, before letting out a long, complex sigh.
Ah Xiu had already run inside joyfully.
"Master, Master!" he exclaimed, "This disciple has heard! The Azure Cloud Army has stormed into the Eternal Sun Prefecture. Many of the Li family are still alive, the Tian Xing avatars have been captured by them, and now they are all rushing towards Qilin Mountain!"
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