"Reporting to the Lord Imperial Preceptor, the Emberwing Guard field agents have sent back a message:
Zhao Qingxia of the Immortal Zhao Clan has slaughtered over three million commoners in the Duravia Trade Prefecture!"
At the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion, the Emberwing Guard arrived in haste.
Having resumed control over the affairs of the Imperial Capital, Min Youguo was met with such shocking news.
Min Youguo bristled with rage, slamming his hand on the table as he rose.
"The Immortal Zhao Clan again! The matter of that calamity, Zhao Wan, is not yet settled—I haven't even settled accounts with them—and now the Zhao Clan has gone this mad?!!"
"Summon the Immortal Enforcement Department!"
The Emberwing Guard acknowledged the order, but as he watched the guard turn to leave, Min Youguo's old brows furrowed.
"Wait. I want the battle reports on the Li clan and the Zhao clan."
Min Youguo sat back in his seat, his palms pressed together, sinking into deep contemplation.
Since the beginning of the great chaos under heaven, the reclusive forces once suppressed by His Majesty had emerged one after another, all displaying their skills in this world.
The landscape of many places in the world had changed.
Numerous reclusive forces occupied territories, serving either the various Princes or the Imperial Capital.
The world was embroiled in ceaseless disputes, with high-level experts emerging in numbers.
The Human Emperor is on the verge of death.
This signifies a new cycle of reincarnation and a reshuffling of power for the entire Human Race, and indeed, for the whole world.
These reclusive forces all possess special abilities and hidden trump cards.
By tacit agreement, they avoid waging all-out war against one another, choosing instead to make mutual concessions.
These forces with profound foundations have already secured a foothold in this chaotic age, just as the Zhao Clan schemed to have Zhao Wan seduce the Crown Prince to infiltrate the imperial court.
Min Youguo is well aware of these matters; indeed, some of these reclusive forces even share deep ties with him.
It was nothing out of the ordinary for the Immortal Zhao Clan to go to the Duravia Trade Prefecture.
Yet, following Li Yaozu's shattering of Zhao Wan's soul, Min Youguo began to feel increasingly uneasy.
Something was wrong, yet try as he might, he could not figure out exactly what it was.
Li Yaozu's decisive and efficient action made Min Youguo feel as though he were gazing into a man-eating vortex.
Just as he said, for an ancient Immortal Clan like the Immortal Zhao Clan to be enemies with the mere six-hundred-and-fifty-year-old Li family in Duravia Trade Prefecture is like comparing a hill to a towering mountain—especially in terms of foundation.
Yet, in over a hundred years, the Immortal Zhao Clan hasn't gained the slightest advantage.
Before long.
The Emberwing Guard who had gone to retrieve the battle report returned.
The guard handed over a jade slip.
This particular Emberwing Guard had a reputation among many factions in the Imperial Capital and possessed extraordinary abilities.
Within the jade slip were the battle reports regarding the Zhao and Li clans in Azure Cloud Prefecture and Duravia Trade Prefecture.
[Zhao Hongchang, Zhao Guzhou, Zhao Guping, and Zhao Shen'an entered the Li family's Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land, Merit City, and were never heard from again.
Two hours later, the Li family's Divinity Transformation cultivators headed for the Zhao Clan's Immortal Domain.]
[Inside Azure Cloud Region, four Divinity Transformation cultivators of the Zhao Clan attempted to destroy the Li family's rear to draw the Azure Cloud forces back for support.
The Li family's Li Tianyi, Li Tianming, Li Tianqi, Li Kuanghua, Li Kuangren, and Li Chang'an had been prepared for a long time.
All six were at the Divinity Transformation realm; a great battle raged for three days...]
Min Youguo was not surprised, murmuring casually,
"Years ago, the Li family's trip to Qilin Mountain allowed them to soar to the heavens; they benefited greatly.
Six Divinity Transformation experts had been prepared long in advance, coordinating with the other Divinity Transformation cultivators of Azure Cloud Commandery to besiege and kill four Zhao Clan experts.
To kill them in three days is quite impressive..."
However, as he continued to read down the intelligence report, Min Youguo's expression instantly became a sight to behold.
[Four Li clansmen watched the battle.
Li Kuanghua summoned the Buddha-Demon Disk, and together with Li Kuangren—who transformed into the Ancient Golden Ape King bloodline —the brother and sister duo fought the four enemies within the trapping formation.
It was a one-sided slaughter!]
The stark words "one-sided slaughter"—words that should not have appeared—manifested before his eyes, causing Min Youguo's expression to turn to one of shock!
Those who break through to the Divinity Transformation realm, unless artificially boosted by medicinal pills or enlightenment infusions, are invariably individuals who have immersed themselves in cultivation for a long time and understand themselves to the extreme.
Every single one of them was once a stunning genius of their generation.
When such experts engage in battle, they usually possess special Domains and methods.
Unless their spiritual power is completely suppressed by a counter-force, a great battle is a complex struggle of life and death—and even if defeated, they are usually able to escape.
This is especially true for the members of the Zhao Clan.
With a foundation of one hundred and sixty thousand years, these four Divinity Transformation cultivators were hand-picked by the Zhao Clan before they dared to send them to the Azure Cloud rear lines.
Yet, despite all this, the brother and sister duo of the Li family, Li Kuanghua and Li Kuangren, slaughtered the Zhao Clan's Divinity Transformation cultivators?!!
"One-sided slaughter... one-sided slaughter... one-sided slaughter..."
Min Youguo seemed to mutter these words to himself.
Only now did he truly realize that he seemed to have vastly underestimated what the Li family had gained from the Battle of Qilin Mountain.
These Li family members had obtained incredible innate talents, techniques, unorthodox arts, and bloodlines from Tian Xing, transforming them into peerless geniuses!
"No wonder Li Yaozu was able to reach the Void Refining realm after all these years. Then what of the others?"
Min Youguo's hand trembled slightly for a moment.
He dared not underestimate them in the slightest anymore and hurriedly began to examine the other intelligence reports.
[In five days, the Li family completely wiped out the Zhao Clan enemies who had entered Azure Cloud Prefecture.
The Zhao Clan's strongest Divinity Transformation cultivator, Zhao Qingxia, met a violent end, with no traces of the Li family's spiritual power remaining on the battlefield.]
[The Li clansmen, accompanied by the Divinity Transformation cultivators of Azure Cloud Prefecture, have flattened the Zhao Clan's subordinate forces in Duravia Trade Prefecture all the way, heading straight for the Zhao Clan.]
[The Li family's Old Ancestor, Li Dalong... has not appeared in the world.
Of the Zhao Clan's remaining five Void Refining experts, only three remain within their territory; the other two have failed to return for a long time.]
[The Zhao Clan's subordinate forces have ordered their vassals to abandon their Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands to resist the Li clansmen within the Immortal Domain.
The Zhao Clan has incited the common people and the Immortal Clans of Duravia Trade Prefecture to gather at the edge of the Immortal Domain, forming the first line of defense against the Li family.]
Seeing the frenzied madness of the Zhao Clan, placing ordinary people on the front lines, Min Youguo's gaze turned slightly cold.
"Zhao Qingxia has already slaughtered over three million commoners.
The Immortal Zhao Clan intends to use the common people as human shields, forcing the Li family to commit a massacre of their own."
While reviewing the intelligence, Min Youguo suddenly glimpsed a report that caused his stern expression to freeze.
[Before the great war, the cultivators of the Heavenly Light Sect prepared to take action, but suddenly dispersed completely.]
[Emberwing Guard spies within the Sacred Sword Pavilion obtained news:
Two hundred years ago, before the Zhao Clan arrived in the Duravia Trade Prefecture, members of the Li family secretly traveled to the Sacred Sword Pavilion to inquire about the world's reclusive forces, but to no avail.
A hundred years later, Li Yaozu stepped into the Sword Pavilion again, defeated the Pavilion Master, and met the Sword Pavilion's Immortal Senior.
On the eve of the great war between the Li and Zhao clans, the Sword Pavilion wished to lend Li Yaozu a hand in hopes that he would join them, but this offer was rejected...]
[Prince Yu wished to assist the Li clan to repay a debt of gratitude from many years ago, but was politely refused...]
[Two hundred years ago, cultivators from the Hall of Heavenly Principle were seen throughout the world.
In the locations of numerous reclusive forces, they silently proclaimed the peace and prosperity of the Duravia Trade Prefecture...
including: the Pure Will Immortal Sect, Fire Cloud Grotto-Heaven, the Land of the Forgotten...]
"Bastards!"
Min Youguo suddenly crushed the cup in his hand, gazing at the intelligence reports with a complex look in his eyes.
"Good, good, good! Well done, Azure Cloud Li Clan!"
Among the locations of the reclusive forces where the peace and prosperity of the Duravia Trade Prefecture were proclaimed, the Immortal Zhao Clan was prominently listed!
And without exception, these forces shared specific characteristics:
They were isolated from the world, and they possessed no Integration realm experts!