After exiting the Ancestor Space, the clan members immediately began to dedicate themselves to their cultivation.
Meanwhile, from all corners of the Azure Dynasty, the avatars of Venerable Tian Xing were converging!
Lai Teng was leading numerous Tian Xing avatars, rushing towards the location of the Heavenly Light Sect.
He had received a report: Li Kuanghua, along with her group from Azure Cloud, had already departed from the Sect.
"Li Yaotie... Li Kuanghua..."
Lai Teng gritted his teeth and let out a low snarl.
Several years had passed, yet he still had not forgotten fleeing from the pursuit of the Azure Cloud forces on that day, nor had he ever forgotten the humiliation the Li family had inflicted upon him.
But at the same time, he had also learned something from the example of the Li family: for a cultivator, in their practice, to not advance is to fall behind.
Qu Yang had called him useless trash, had called him a burden to Tian Xing, and told him to end his own life.
But those words had also made him realize something: the danger to his existence came not only from the Li family, but also from the numerous Tian Xing avatars all around him.
Only by confronting his own fear head-on and becoming even stronger could he possibly stand out from among these countless avatars and become the ultimate true vessel!
The mantle of the "Tian Xing Reincarnation" had rested upon him for three years before it had departed from him. But in these recent years of hardship, he had been reminded of what it means to struggle and rise once more.
Lost in thought, he had already pursued them to a mountain, only to find the entire mountain saturated with the auras of the people from Azure Cloud.
Avatar after avatar of Tian Xing leaped towards the mountain, but Lai Teng, in contrast, knitted his brow.
He remained hovering in the sky, utterly silent, and muttered under his breath, "Something's not right... This scene is familiar..."
Before the words had even fully left his lips...
"BOOM!"
Flames shot towards the heavens. His gaze snapped towards the Tian Xing avatars who had charged onto the mountain, only to see a host of puppets disguised as the people of Azure Cloud beginning to detonate!
The fiery light of the explosions illuminated the entire sky, painting it a brilliant crimson.
"We've fallen into their trap!" one of the avatars cried.
"Those are puppets refined by Li Yaotie! It's an ambush!"
"Those cunning members of the Li family... a good thing we also dispatched forces to the other locations..."
"Damn it! The ones at the other locations are also Li Yaotie's puppets! The real ones are only now making their escape!"
Lai Teng watched the explosions blossoming like fireworks below, and he watched his fellow Tian Xing avatars fleeing from the blast zone in a wretched state, cursing furiously all the while.
If this had been in the past, Lai Teng would undoubtedly have been cursing in fury just like these other avatars.
But now, as he felt his own power surge with the death of each of his brethren, he instead gazed calmly in the direction where, according to his intelligence, the Azure Cloud group was making their escape.
"After so many years of preparations... have I still allowed you to escape?" he murmured to himself.
He let out a cold snort. Gazing at the nascent domain gradually taking form in the palm of his hand, his eyes flashed with a frigid light.
"But then again, I suppose I should thank you for making me stronger," he hissed. "The next time we meet, I will repay every last bit of the humiliation I have suffered. And you... You will come to regret ever letting me go on this day!"
Meanwhile, high in the sky, Li Kuanghua was traveling alongside her numerous comrades from Azure Cloud, a slight smile playing on her lips.
"The Old Ancestor was right," she remarked. "Live every day as if it's your last. It's a good thing I was cautious with every step; otherwise, we truly would have fallen into one of Tian Xing's traps while leaving the Heavenly Light Sect this time."
"Hahaha! Those puppets must have blown a good number of Tian Xing's avatars to bits!" one of them laughed.
Liu Wuhuan let out a hearty laugh, then immediately turned to Li Kuanghua and asked, "Sister Kuanghua, now that you've brought us all out, where exactly are we headed?"
"To train," Li Kuanghua replied. Her eyes were bright as she gazed into the distance.
She knew with absolute clarity that a hundred years from now would be the final, decisive battle against Venerable Tian Xing, a battle that would be even more arduous than the one they had fought on that Mountain.
"And there is no place," she continued, "more suitable for our cultivation than the Five Elements Absolute Grounds."
"The Five Elements Absolute Grounds? What kind of place is that?" Liu Wuhuan's expression changed instantly; the name alone sounded deeply ominous the moment he heard it.
...
Back at the moment of Li Kuanghua's escape...
At that moment, the numerous Tian Xing avatars of Eternal Sun Prefecture were also converging.
Yet, to one's surprise, they were heading... towards the territory of the Wu Clan, the very place where Li Dalong was undertaking his cultivation!
Upon arriving at the Endless Forest, they simply waited quietly just outside the forest's edge. However, cultivator after cultivator rose into the air, the sight of them all revealing their powerful auras a truly intimidating spectacle.
Before long, the faces of nearly every avatar turned ashen.
They saw a single figure approach them, an old man dressed in black robes.
The old man's face, covered in the tattoos of the Wu Clan, was dark and somber.
"Soul Duke," one of them asked, "where is Li Dalong?"
Lin Wudao stared at the Soul Duke before him, his face devoid of all expression.
He, too, had schemed for many years and had finally gained leverage over the Soul Duke; otherwise, he would never have come to the Endless Forest.
And the deal he had struck with the Soul Duke was simple: hand over Li Dalong!
But now, the Soul Duke stood before him empty-handed.
The Wu Clan elder heaved a long sigh. "He's gone. For the past several months, he has been cultivating in his cave abode. I set up an array at his place of cultivation so that I would know the instant he made a move. But..."
A look of fury, born from having been thoroughly played for a fool, crossed the Soul Duke's face.
"But I never would have imagined that he had been concealing his true strength all these years! Not a single one of my arrays escaped his notice.
Furthermore, my transaction with you was discovered in its entirety by You Baiyin, a genius from my own Wu Clan's Ghost Division.
Two months ago, Li Dalong had already departed in secret. By the time I realized it, all that remained was a message he had left behind, inscribed with spiritual power."
"What was the message?"
Lin Wudao seemed surprisingly unfazed by Li Dalong's escape.
There was no trace of anger on his face; on the contrary, he seemed more interested in the note Li Dalong had left behind.
The Soul Duke's face, however, was a mask of fury.
"He said," the elder snarled, "that sooner or later, he will come for both your life and mine!"
"Hahaha! I shall be waiting for him!"
Lin Wudao let out a great laugh, his eyes filled with a keen, sharp light.
In truth, he was no longer angered by the escape of those geniuses all those years ago. On the contrary, he felt a thrill of excitement.
In his youth, he had encountered all manner of difficulties; step by step, he had clawed his way up from a mere side branch of the family to become the Patriarch of the Lin clan, a man who could take whatever he wished on Qilin Mountain.
Year after year had passed, and he had long since ceased to feel any real external threat. But now...
Those geniuses wanted to flay him alive and pull his bones from his body; the Li family had a "monstrous talent" of their own, who was worthy of his notice and wanted to take his life.
That feeling he once had, of finally finding a worthy opponent—it was back!
However, neither the Soul Duke nor Lin Wudao had detected a thing.
On a high mountain, at an extreme distance, several pairs of eyes were fixed upon them, staring at the joyful smile that now filled Lin Wudao's face.
"Brother Dalong," one of them said, "it seems you've provoked some rather... abnormal fellows."
Many years had passed. Li Dalong's good friend, Lei Dong, had long since broken through to the Divinity Transformation realm.
He now looked on with disgust at the distant Lin Wudao, who seemed more than a little deranged. If such a character ever set his sights on him, Lei Dong feared he wouldn't even be able to maintain his composure while meditating.
Li Dalong gave a slight nod.
"That is the man who invaded our Merit City back then," he said calmly. "He is also a sworn enemy of my clan."
Seeing Li Dalong's composed demeanor, Lei Dong and You Baiyin exchanged a glance, a hint of relief and joy in both their expressions.
Although Li Dalong had spent all these years in cultivation, they could always sense the deep resentment festering in his heart, and had feared that it might have already twisted into a malicious obsession. But now, it seemed the Li Dalong of old had returned.
Besides, the situation now was completely different from how it had been back then.
They could sense that the Li family was no longer their enemy; they certainly did not mind having friends like these, nor did they mind lending such friends a small favor.
---
2/2
Donate on Ko-fi ➡️ [https://ko-fi.com/darktea] ⬅️
Get Early Access to 50 Chapters: Search for "Dark Tea" on Ko-fi (Explore tab) and join my membership to read ahead!