BOOM!
High in the sky, the Li family members remained afloat, held aloft by the Primal Blood Tree's roots, which glowed like crimson light.
Aided by the two spiritual arrays, they were siphoning away everything that belonged to Tian Xing, their auras skyrocketing at a speed visible to the naked eye!
The roots connected to the black-misted figure. He held his long spear as the Yin-Yang Diagram manifested once more.
The black dots transformed into carp.
At that moment, the black-misted figure could actually fight Lin Wudao, he who was supposedly invincible below the Void Refining realm, to a stalemate!
Beneath the might of that silver long spear, Lin Wudao's Domain was torn asunder, his power rendered useless. He was forced into a steady retreat.
He pursued Lin Wudao, preventing him from disrupting the Li family members as they siphoned away Tian Xing's power. This also left Lin Wudao with no time to use his own techniques of fate to counter the life-stealing techniques of Li Yaowen and the Primal Blood Tree!
That crimson moon, the red leaves, the red snow, and the spiderweb-like roots—together, they formed an inescapable net, leaving Lin Wudao with nowhere to run!
"How is this possible? It's impossible!"
The many onlookers from Eternal Sun Prefecture who had come to observe, but had not joined the battle, all watched this scene, their faces deathly pale.
Just moments ago, Lin Wudao had possessed the air of an invincible master.
Yet, in less than an hour, the Li family had revealed its devilish methods!
A blood-red mist began to permeate Qilin Mountain.
Those who had originally rushed to the Li family's aid had already retreated from the vicinity of Qilin Mountain in horror, watching from afar as the Li family members and Lin Wudao waged their battle of techniques within the blood-red mist!
"You... How could you..."
Prince Feiheng, who had charged into battle to aid the Li family, heedless of his own safety, now stared in disbelief at all the people from the Azure Cloud region.
This sudden, immense change had not astonished the cultivators from the Azure Cloud region in the slightest.
It was as if they had been expecting it all along!
Yet, when he looked towards those masters of the Demon Fox Clan, he saw they were just as surprised as he was.
Even the Heavenly Star Sword Saint, who had long been on Qilin Mountain, wore a bewildered expression.
"We didn't expect this either, Prince Feiheng." Feng Chunlin appeared beside Prince Feiheng.
He, too, carried a spirit artifact coffin on his back. However, unlike Li Dalong's Heaven-Piercing Coffin, this one was prepared for himself.
No one knew why Feng Chunlin, every time he appeared, seemed prepared to meet his own death.
This Region Prince of the Feng family, who managed the Azure Cloud region with such impeccable order, ignored Prince Feiheng's tightly knitted brow and said calmly, "It's just that the Li family hasn't appeared for so long that many people have forgotten—they have always been beasts who claw their way out from mountains of corpses and seas of blood."
"When they gather, that is when this pack of beasts is at its most terrifying. A pity that Lin Wudao treated them as mere ants."
"By that same view," he added, "they are the true hunters."
Everyone from the Azure Cloud region nodded in profound agreement.
Prince Feiheng abruptly turned his gaze towards the red mist.
He, too, was a man of quick intellect; in an instant, he understood everything!
"It's a trap!"
"From the moment the Li family first appeared, this place was already a trap! They captured the Tian Xing avatars not to kill them, nor to imprison them, and certainly not merely for the sake of torture!"
Scene after scene echoed in his mind, and Prince Feiheng's expression grew heavy.
"Li Yaowen of the Li family used her techniques to block the avatars' senses," he realized, "all to make Lin Wudao feel that agony in a single, overwhelming instant."
"When the Li family gathered, that agony was released all at once, disrupting Lin Wudao's focus. That way, while the senior Li family members engaged Tian Xing, their juniors could set up a spiritual Formation around Qilin Mountain without being detected!
"That spiritual Formation—it was the very same one Tian Xing uses!
Using his own formation against him, they cleverly seized its very foundation for the Li family's own use.
Combine that with Li Yaowen's Dao of Fate, and the Old Tree's own techniques of fate—"
"To seize everything from Tian Xing and defy the heavens to rewrite their fate!"
"They were planning this from the very beginning!
With over three thousand avatars, even if they managed to kill Lin Wudao, another would just take his place and become the new 'Tian Xing'.
Their goal was to steal the fruits of his ten-thousand-year labor...
Faced with such a scheme, even a being like Tian Xing is nothing special after all!"
The essence Qi from all across the Azure Dynasty was still flowing towards Qilin Mountain.
In the sky, a lightning tribulation formed, yet for a long time, it did not descend.
Prince Feiheng still couldn't conceal the look of shock on his face.
He finally understood everything. To describe the plan was simple enough, yet every single step must have been fraught with peril.
It was just as Feng Chunlin had said: the Li family... they were hunters disguised as ants making a desperate, life-or-death gamble!
"And that black-misted figure," he thought, "the Li family's Old Ancestor... and that Spiritual Formation."
Prince Feiheng narrowed his eyes, his Primordial Spirit perceiving everything within the spiritual array.
The blood of the Li family members was boiling. On the bodies of those within the grand formation who were not of the Li bloodline, a tattoo of the character 'Li' was invariably revealed.
"This is the Li family's grand formation," he deduced. "If they were truly just making a desperate stand, they would have used this array long ago.
That Old Ancestor of the Li family... he possessed the power to fight Tian Xing from the very beginning!"
He let out a long, slow breath.
Within the grand formation, the Li family's Old Ancestor clashed with Lin Wudao once more.
A shockwave of power, carrying the invincible oppressive might of the Divinity Transformation realm, surged outwards, whipping Prince Feiheng's long hair into the air.
Yet at the same time, his expression changed drastically.
"Damn it all," he cursed, "A pack of treacherous dogs!"
He could no longer maintain his refined composure. As the shockwave passed, he saw with his own eyes the fierce wind lift Feng Chunlin's hair, which was streaked with gray, revealing the character 'Li' tattooed on the nape of his neck.
Looking further, he saw that on the exposed skin of many other people from Azure Cloud, the same Li family tattoo was visible.
Another hidden card.
They still had another hidden card!!!
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Prince Feiheng decided it was best to simply put the matter out of his mind for now and continued to watch the unfolding battle on Qilin Mountain.
A deep, sorrowful roar echoed from within the spiritual array.
"Ants, you are all ants! How dare you steal the power of my avatars! I want you dead! All of you—die!"
A powerful, oppressive might radiated outwards once more.
Prince Feiheng knew that on this land, a family was about to rise, a family so powerful that even the Imperial Capital would have no choice but to take them seriously.
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