The Three Families and Six Sects of the Azure Cloud Region, the Four Great Powers, every member of the Li Family, and all the cultivators present fought with desperate courage.
A sharp light gleamed in their eyes.
For over a hundred years, they had known clearly just how arrogant the Immortal Zhao Clan was.
The Zhao Clan had never placed the Azure Cloud Region in their eyes, nor had they ever considered a single one of them a worthy opponent.
But the people of the Immortal Zhao Clan were wrong.
Over the centuries, seeds had been planted, and now, those seeds had grown into a great tree.
One day, this tree would tower into the heavens, its lush branches and leaves providing shade for the entire Azure Cloud Prefecture.
Above the clouds, Li Wei arrived in a rush, with Li Dalong and Li Yaozu following close behind.
As for Grand Elder Puci, he had already charged into the ranks of the Immortal Zhao Clan, dragging Zhao Buqun into his Void Refining Space to crush him.
Smiles appeared on the faces of the three men.
This was the fruit of their centuries of hard work!
"Impossible. This is impossible. How could we be defeated so quickly?!"
Held captive behind them, Zhao Tingyu gazed with vacant eyes, staring in disbelief as the people of the Azure Cloud Prefecture flooded into the Immortal Domain from all directions.
The Immortal Zhao Clan possessed its own intelligence network; they had spent over a century investigating the entire Azure Cloud Prefecture.
Only now, with everything unfolding before his eyes, did he realize that the Immortal Zhao Clan knew nothing about the Li Clan's experts, nor did they know anything about the Azure Cloud Prefecture.
The strength the people of the Azure Cloud Prefecture were displaying now exceeded their intelligence reports by more than tenfold!
Their experts seemed to have been breaking through in secret, unknown to outsiders.
Their cultivators had been secretly practicing battle formations.
The quantity of their Spirit Tools, Talismans, and miraculous spirit pills was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
Yet, what they displayed to the outside world was merely the appearance of a prefecture that was seeing only slight improvement.
No!
The people of the Azure Cloud Prefecture still hadn't used their full strength.
They hadn't even deployed two of their forces: the Azure Cloud Army and the Hall of Heavenly Principles.
Behind them, it seemed there were still hidden trump cards they were unwilling to reveal to the world.
"Old Ancestor!"
Reflected in Zhao Tingyu's listless eyes, figure after figure appeared in the sky.
Xu Cuihua, Li Yaoqing, Li Yaotie, Bai Rourou, and Li Yaowen arrived all together.
With everyone gathered, Li Wei led the group, descending into the heart of the Immortal Zhao Clan.
They were surrounded on all sides by high towers.
Members of the Immortal Zhao Clan charged forward endlessly to kill, and the air was filled in every direction with the spiritual power generated by the bitter fighting of cultivators.
The Immortal Zhao Clan cultivators even utilized battle formations to attack the Li family group, yet these were easily broken apart and cast aside.
Li Wei and the others walked calmly through this dangerous land of forest-like towers, moving as if entering an uninhabited realm.
"Old Ancestor, this child has calculated it. That is the place where the Zhao Clan's Old Ancestor is located."
In Li Yaowen's eyes, blood-red threads suddenly became visible.
These threads lay across the ground of the Immortal Domain, connecting every high tower erected by the Zhao Clan.
The Destiny of Heaven and Earth that had been stolen from the entire Immortal Domain was flowing along these red lines, funneling toward the deepest part of the Zhao Clan's Paradise.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A rhythmic pulsing resonated in their ears.
Li Yaowen parted her thin lips lightly. "It is a heartbeat."
"Mn."
Li Wei nodded slightly, and the group headed toward the depths of the Zhao Clan.
They marched in silence, just as they had years ago when they slaughtered their way to the Xiao Family in the Azure Cloud Region.
It was still the same group of people standing at the forefront of the enemy lines.
However, now they were older, had weathered more storms, and their strength was vastly superior to what it had been back then.
The Old Ancestor was no longer in the form of a Spirit Tablet; instead, shrouded in black mist, he walked at the very front.
Li Dalong still held Xu Cuihua in his arms.
His appearance was no longer that of a simple farmer; compared to the honest sturdiness of his past, he now bore a certain spectral softness gained from his long sojourn in the Underworld.
He still carried the Heaven-Piercing Coffin on his back.
Xu Cuihua had grown even more glamorous.
She no longer wore loose matronly garments but was clad in pure white robes.
She extended a soft, slender hand to stroke her husband's face, conveying the longing accumulated over a century of separation.
Li Yaozu, on the other hand, still carried his sword box on his back.
A clinking sound came from within the box; someone seemed to be fiddling with the long sword.
A wisp of light gauze drifted out from the sword box and landed in Li Yaoqing's hand.
Li Yaoqing was still dressed in Daoist robes, with a gourd and a small tripod hanging from her waist.
She gazed blankly at the Purple Wisteria Shadow-Veil in her hand—it appeared to be a garment.
Li Yaotie shouldered his massive hammer, holding his wife close.
Just like in the past, they were a sturdy and powerful couple. However, Bai Rourou's short hair had also turned white.
Having endured the hardships of artifact refining for many years, both husband and wife had complexions as dark as coal.
The frail Li Yaowen no longer needed Second Sister to push her.
Dressed in a scholar's robe, she followed leisurely behind the Old Ancestor, her parents, and her older siblings.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The sound of the heartbeat grew closer.
The secret of how the Immortal Zhao Clan had survived extinction twice over one hundred and sixty thousand years lay right before them, seemingly harboring a great terror.
Yet, every one of them wore a smile.
Back then, whenever they were gathered together, they feared nothing.
So why would they fear now?
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