Chapter 989: Respectful Lord

On the lakeside, a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere prevailed. Under the night sky, a gentle breeze stirred the woman's hair, and she comfortably narrowed her eyes.

Suddenly, she frowned, a hint of displeasure appearing in her eyes. She lowered her head to check her battlefield mark. She wondered who was so clueless as to disturb her at a time like this.

Soon, her expression changed.

"What is it?" the fishing man's faint voice came.

The woman looked up at him and reported cautiously, "Lord, Lu Yiye has taken the Enforcement Hall team to the Chen Family in Misan. Chen Tianchui, the Chen Family head, has influenced him!"

*Crack...*

The fishing rod in the Lord's hand suddenly shattered. He turned to look at the woman, his face flushing with anger. "How dare he!"

Though his voice was not loud, his expression was extremely sharp. The woman quickly knelt on one knee. "Please calm your anger, Lord!"

"Useless! More prone to ruin things than to achieve anything!" The Lord was clearly infuriated by Chen Tianchui's actions. "Has he already been influenced?"

For the past few decades, he had been planning a major undertaking, an event significant enough to overturn the current order of the Nine Provinces. For this great endeavor, he needed to wait for certain special individuals. Unfortunately, after all these years, he hadn't found a suitable candidate, until the sudden rise of Lu Yiye from the Azureblood Sect! This made him realize that Lu Yiye must be the person he had been waiting for! That's why he gave the order that when Lu Yiye was encountered, they must make every effort to befriend him at all costs. But his order was to befriend, not to influence! Because once influenced, even if Lu Yiye were completely obedient to them, he would lose his inherent value.

"It should... be!" the woman replied tremblingly. "However, I don't know why, but the Shenhai Realm master seems to have sensed something and is now preparing to leave Shaoxue."

"He sensed it?" The Lord was somewhat astonished. "How could he sense it? The method I left behind was utterly impossible for Chen Tianchui to detect. And according to the information I received, the Shenhai Realm master had only recently advanced to the True Lake seventh stage."

Shaoxue Peak also couldn't understand, and he had sent a message to ask how to handle this matter.

The Lord was silent for a moment, then said, "Shaoxue is no longer useful."

The woman felt a slight chill, knowing that with a single word from the Lord, such a third-rank family could vanish from the Nine Provinces. No one was clearer than her about the Lord's capabilities.

"Tell them to spare the Shenhai Realm master's life. As for the others... kill!" The Lord quickly made a decision and slowly rose. "Also, make a trip to Misty Cliff. The plan needs to be brought forward."

Originally, they needed to wait a bit longer, but with this incident at Shaoxue, it was bound to attract the attention of the Vast Sky Alliance. At that time, quite a few powerful cultivators might go to investigate the situation. Although they were generally reluctant to delve deep into Misty Cliff, the possibility of the secrets beneath Misty Cliff being exposed was high, and they still couldn't afford to be unprepared. They could only bring the plan forward to be prepared for contingencies. After all, nothing in this world is foolproof. For the past few decades, he had painstakingly planned, hidden behind the scenes, orchestrating everything, and secretly employed various methods. He was confident that even if the plan was brought forward, it would not affect the overall situation.

"Yes!" the woman responded, and shot into the sky, quickly disappearing from sight.

The Lord stood still, pondering for a moment, then turned and darted in another direction. He gazed profoundly into the distance, as if he could see a long-unseen face from thousands of miles away, and softly murmured, "Just make sure you don't block my path!" A cold glint flashed in his eyes, like a blade!

Inside the guest hall at Misan Shaoxue, accompanied by a buzzing sound, Chen Tianchui felt a slight sinking sensation. Although this light sensation quickly vanished, he realized what was happening.

"A flight-prohibiting formation!" A grand formation prohibiting flight had clearly been set up here. Not only that, with the activation of the flight-prohibiting grand formation, a transparent light barrier also rapidly rose, enveloping a large area.

"A trapping formation!" The few people behind him all changed color.

Chen Tianchui's expression grew serious. He channeled spiritual energy into his eyes, and in the hazy moonlight, he saw many figures suddenly appear outside the trapping formation. Leading them was none other than Lu Ye, the Shaoxue Grand Elder, who had just been extremely hospitable to them.

Their eyes met. Chen Tianchui sternly shouted, "What is Lingxi doing? Are you rebelling?" This was what puzzled him the most. Lu Ye had cordially invited them to be guests at Lingxi, but then not only tampered with their tea, but after the incident, he even activated a formation to trap them here. He truly couldn't understand why this was happening or what Lingxi ultimately intended to do. They had no grievances or enmity with Lingxi. Lingxi had no reason to act this way.

Was Lingxi part of the Myriad Devil Ridge? Chen Tianchui thought long and hard and could only come up with that one possibility. The Myriad Devil Ridge had always regarded him as a thorn in their side, eager to eliminate him quickly. They had indeed tried to do so, but unfortunately had never succeeded. Today, he was completely unprepared and had walked right into Lingxi's trap. This was undoubtedly a very good opportunity for them. But even if Lingxi could eliminate him and his group here, there would be no place for them to hide in this vast Bing Province. Was it truly worth it for such a large third-rank family to act this way?

As he questioned them, Chen Tianchui's hand, clasped behind his back, secretly made a gesture. Lu Yiye's figure flickered, intending to use Chen Tianchui's body as cover to send a message outside. No matter why Lingxi was doing this, the current situation was extremely disadvantageous to them. It was naturally urgent to send a message for help.

However, just as Lu Yiye made a move, Lu Ye on the other side already let out a fierce shout: "Kill them!" He naturally knew he couldn't give Chen Tianchui and the others a chance to send a message. Otherwise, many powerful cultivators would soon come to assist. If that happened, Lingxi would not be far from destruction.

As he gave the order, he also closely watched Chen Tianchui's reaction, because in his view, if Chen Tianchui had already been influenced, he would be one of their own. The method left by the Lord had proven effective repeatedly. Although the Shenhai Realm master was renowned, as long as he wasn't Chen Tianchui, he shouldn't be able to resist.

At his command, streams of light from numerous artifacts and spells covered the sky and ground, assaulting the guest hall.

Ju Jia roared. He flashed forward, leaping out in front of everyone. As his blood and qi surged, his entire body seemed to expand. Spiritual energy surged around him. He raised his hand and pressed it into the empty air, and with his palm as the source, a turtle shell-shaped protective barrier suddenly formed, shielding the figures of the people behind him. These numerous artifacts and spells struck the protective barrier. Incessant clattering sounds filled the air, causing the barrier, which had originally emitted dazzling light, to rapidly become dim. Then it shattered.

Ju Jia's protective method was undeniably powerful. However, facing the combined assault of many Lingxi cultivators, it still struggled to hold. Chen Tianchui and the others all attacked simultaneously. In an instant, sword glints and blade shadows crisscrossed, and spiritual energy became chaotic.

At this moment, somewhere in the crowd, Lingxi Family Head Lin Yinxiu stared intently at Chen Tianchui in front of the guest hall, her heart turning cold. Useless! The Shenhai Realm master had actually not been influenced! Lu Ye thought Chen Tianchui had already been influenced, and Lin Yinxiu had also thought so earlier. After all, she had personally watched Chen Tianchui drink that mouthful of tea. As long as one drank that tea, it was impossible to avoid the fate of being influenced.

But at this moment, she could be certain of one thing: the Shenhai Realm master had not been influenced. This was because she had already activated the method left by the Lord, but could not detect any resonance from Lu Yiye's side. At this very moment, her eyes were wide with fury. In her eyes, a silvery, thread-like worm constantly swam within her eyeballs, appearing extremely bizarre.

Originally, if Chen Tianchui had been influenced, she could activate this method to make Chen Tianchui immediately switch sides. At that time, the others around him would be completely unprepared, and combined with Lingxi's strong assault, it would be easy to kill those four people. As long as these four people were killed, the crisis could be resolved. As for handling the aftermath and explaining the deaths of the four team members to the Law Enforcement Department, that was ultimately an insurmountable problem.

But now, Chen Tianchui's side was completely unreliable. She also saw Lu Yiye, who was behind Chen Tianchui, send out a message. She immediately understood that no matter what happened to Chen Tianchui and his group, Lingxi was completely finished this time!

"Kill! Kill them all!" With her mind unsettled, Lin Yinxiu shouted fiercely. Lingxi was doomed, so they might as well drag some people down with them.

At her command, the many Lingxi cultivators gathered in front of the guest hall charged forward ferociously.

*Swish swish swish swish...*

Li Baxian's flying swords wreaked havoc. The Lingxi cultivators rushing at the front immediately fell like cut grass, making him frown. Because many of the fallen cultivators were of the True Lake Realm and Cloud River Realm, allowing him to kill mercilessly. But at this moment, there was no room for mercy. Though he felt reluctance in his heart, his actions showed no hesitation. Streaks of sword light ravaged through the crowd, constantly harvesting the lives of the Lingxi cultivators, bringing forth a continuous chorus of screams.

Li Baxian's flying swords demonstrated their might, and Feng Yuechan's spells were no less impressive. Each spell she cast achieved a kill. However, Lingxi seemed to have deployed its entire force this time. Moreover, a continuous stream of cultivators arrived from one direction, joining the battle. That direction was undoubtedly where Lingxi's Heavenly Secrets Hall was located. The Lingxi cultivators who were stationed in the True Lake Battlefield and Cloud River Battlefield must have received the message and were slowly rushing back.

In less than ten breaths of time, in front of the guest hall, the corpses of Lingxi cultivators piled up. Blood flowed like a river.

At this very moment, Chen Tianchui and his group were also embroiled in a bitter struggle. Lingxi, a third-rank family, did not have many True Lake Realm cultivators. Excluding those outside, there were fewer than ten True Lake Realm cultivators remaining within the family. Those lower-realm and Cloud River Realm cultivators found it hard to withstand even a single move from Chen Tianchui and his group, but the True Lake Realm cultivators were different. They still possessed some strength. Chen Tianchui and his group could kill one or two of them, but had no way to kill all of them quickly.

The small team of three fought as they retreated, and in no time reached the entrance of the guest hall. There was no way to go further in. If they truly retreated into the guest hall, the space would be narrow, leaving no room to maneuver. At that time, the Lingxi cultivators would swarm them, inevitably trapping them inside, and the situation would only get worse.

In less than eighty breaths of confrontation, the three members of the small team each sustained injuries. Though not severe, they somewhat affected their performance.

Gazing at the still dense crowd of figures ahead, Chen Tianchui took a deep breath. He raised his hand and grabbed something from the empty air, and a spherical object, the size of a baby's head, appeared in his palm. Upon seeing this scene, Lu Ye's pupils contracted. A strong sense of unease rose in his heart.

"Quick, stop him!" Lu Ye shouted loudly, then lunged towards Chen Tianchui.