At night, Lingyun City was still brightly lit and bustling. Shouts and calls to sell wares filled the air, just like a mortal night market, with crowds coming and going. Cultivators were everywhere.
On the surface, the City Guard continued patrolling as usual, but in secret, many had already changed into plain clothes and mingled with the crowd, waiting for the signal to strike.
At the stroke of midnight, Peng Wang Zhūnzhǔ appeared in the sky above Lingyun City and activated the city's grand formation, sealing off all exits. No one could leave.
The Jia family's shop and their main residence were immediately surrounded by cultivators. Jian Li and Jian Dan hovered above, one stationed over the shop, the other above the family estate, ready to coordinate at a moment's notice.
The Jia family wasn't unprepared. The moment they sensed the city formation had been activated and saw themselves surrounded, they knew trouble had arrived. Several streaks of light shot out from the compound, and the estate's defensive array was activated in full.
Five cultivators burst forth, scattering in five directions—east, west, south, north, and center. As they moved, they threw objects toward the ground. Curious cultivators caught a few. They turned out to be thousand-year-old Wind Stabilizing Pearls. But before anyone could celebrate, the pearls shattered, and black-armored insects shot straight for their sea of consciousness.
Caught off guard, one cultivator clutched his head and collapsed. Others nearby, with sharper eyes, immediately caught on and spread the warning:
"Careful! The Wind-Fixing Pearls contain black-armored insects! Get your defenses up and destroy them immediately!"
The shout rippled through the crowd, and the pearls falling from the sky instantly became targets. Surrounding cultivators joined forces to smash them apart. Some of the pearls were knocked into the far corners of the city, scattering danger throughout.
With a stern expression, Peng Xilai hovered midair, his image projected onto the formation's barrier.
"The Jia family of Lingyun City has colluded with the insect race and endangered the Lingyun Continent. Tonight, Lingyun City and its allied forces will carry out extermination. All low-stage cultivators, retreat. Nascent Soul and above, prepare for battle."
Peng Xilai's voice echoed through every street and alley of Lingyun City. Instantly, everyone sprang into action. Those already under the insects' control were quickly subdued by teams of three or more cultivators, and the moment the insects left their hosts' bodies, they were destroyed.
Hovering above the Jia family shop, Jian Dan observed quietly. No one had fled from within. It was obvious they had a contingency plan ready for this exact situation.
Sweeping her divine sense through the building, she spotted the Jia steward activating a long-distance teleportation talisman, trying to escape alone.
The rest of the shop assistants, faces pale with panic, scrambled into a hidden tunnel. They'd heard the City Lord's announcement and knew the Jia family was finished. Fleeing was their only hope. If captured, they could already imagine their fate.
A few greedy ones remained, still looting spirit stones and treasures from the shelves like locusts. Jian Dan shook her head at the sight.
Without a word, she slashed through the air with a blade of alien flame, instantly destroying the Jia steward's teleportation talisman. Then, with a flick of her hand, she altered the hidden tunnel's direction, rerouting it straight to the City Lord's hall. Efficient and thorough. Not a single one would escape.
"Peng Min, part of the Jia shop staff fled through a hidden tunnel. I've rerouted it to the City Lord's hall. Send someone to secure it. Be careful—some may be under insect control."
Upon receiving her message, Peng Min immediately summoned a squad of guards and led them personally to handle the situation.
The Jia steward, realizing his talisman had been destroyed, understood that he had been watched all along. With no other choice, he flew off, hoping to return to the main residence. Maybe there was still a slim chance to survive.
Jian Dan remained floating, watching him with a slight smile.
Startled, the steward tried to change direction, but Jian Dan was already beside him. With a flick of her fingers, she launched two orbs of light—one into his sea of consciousness, the other into his dantian. The golden threads sealed both his mind and spiritual power instantly.
The steward hadn't even seen her move before he was hurled headfirst from the sky, crashing through the shop's roof and leaving a gaping hole. He groaned, still trying to get back on his feet.
The assistants who had been looting suddenly snapped out of it and tried to flee. But the City Guard had already surrounded the place. They stormed in with spells blazing, subduing everyone inside within moments.
Jian Dan didn't bother with the minor players. With a lazy gesture, she seized the steward midair and flung him backward, sending him crashing to the ground before Peng Min.
Peng Min was quick to act. He bound the man instantly with an Immortal Binding Rope. Jian Dan scanned the shop with her divine sense. Everything was under control, and the commercial street had also been secured without further chaos. She saw no need to interfere further.
Sweeping her divine sense across the city's alleys and streets, she gathered up all the remaining Wind Stabilizing Pearls.
As for the five cultivators who had fled from the Jia residence, five Divine Transformation experts from the City Lord's forces had already been dispatched to intercept them.
Here and there, scattered pockets of chaos still erupted. Clearly, the Jia family had planned ahead. However, caught off guard by the City Lord's sudden move, their countermeasures were hasty and scattered.
This only made things harder to control. With no pattern to their movements, it was difficult to predict their next steps. Their chaotic attacks caused confusion, catching the City Guard off balance.
But within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the City Guard, working with nearby combat-ready cultivators, had subdued and secured all of them.
In the eastern district where the four great families resided, a series of self-detonations from Golden Core cultivators echoed through the night. Some cultivators even tried to crash into the protective barrier, hoping to destroy it through self-detonation. Bursts of energy lit up the shield, making it flicker, though it never broke.
Peng Wang Zhūnzhǔ took action. Rotating the formation disc in his hand, he raised the defense level of the formation. The barrier immediately stabilized.
Soon after, Nascent Soul cultivators rose into the sky and began striking down the rampaging Golden Core cultivators, killing or capturing them on the spot.
Though the four great family compounds in the east took damage, each had high-level cultivators stationed there. They were holding out, so Jian Dan saw no need to intervene.
The western district, however, had descended into chaos. It was home to low-stage cultivators and loose cultivators. This area had the highest number of those under control.
The possessed cultivators rampaged, and when attacked, the insects would abandon their hosts and jump into the nearest cultivator's mind. Screams and explosions rang out as fighting erupted. Worse yet, this area had the fewest City Guard members.
Jian Dan frowned and stepped forward, arriving in the western district in a single stride. With a sweep of her sleeve, she scattered a storm of ice needles and fireballs. In an instant, half of the black-armored insects were incinerated. The possessed cultivators were struck by orbs of alien flame and burned to ash. Another half wiped out.
Thanks to Jian Dan's swift intervention, the situation in the western district was brought under control. Cultivators quickly regrouped and began fighting back in force.
Suddenly, a violet sword shadow flashed above the Jia residence. It was Jian Li's "Thunderstrike."
Jian Dan instantly teleported from the western district and appeared in the skies above the Jia estate.
Jian Li's Thunderstrike was clashing with a massive wind blade. Sparks flew where the violet sword light met the green wind slash, sending shockwaves through the nearby buildings and cultivators.
A cold glint passed through Peng Wang Zhūnzhǔ's eyes. With a wave of his hand, he raised the city's defense to maximum.
Beneath the City Lord's estate, in the formation's control center, twenty Peng family cultivators immediately noticed the array was consuming spirit stones at a geometrically increasing rate. The one in charge quickly issued orders to replace all mid-grade spirit stones with high-grade ones.
"Jian Lu!"