Chapter 1654: The Situation in Tianlan Realm

Fu Wen placed his hands on the heads of two Foundation Establishment cultivators. A white light glowed from his hands, and the two cultivators convulsed, frothing at the mouth.

"Windless Valley! To think we were transported to such a barren place." Fu Wen muttered to himself, a thoughtful expression on his face.

According to the plan, Dongli Realm had dispatched a total of four Deity Transformation cultivators, one hundred Nascent Soul cultivators, and over two thousand Core Formation cultivators. During Tianlan Realm's last failed invasion, their forces were trapped in the Immortal Descent Cave. To avoid being completely wiped out by Tianlan Realm, they had split into three teams, entering Tianlan Realm from different locations.

Over a thousand people had set out, but only more than five hundred reached Tianlan Realm. No Nascent Soul cultivators were lost, but more than half of the Core Formation cultivators were gone; some had died in the spatial turbulence, while others failed to teleport over. It was estimated that the other two teams were in similar situations. The immediate priority was to quickly rendezvous with the other teams.

Wang Changsheng stepped forward and searched the storage bags of the Foundation Establishment cultivators. He found a dozen jade slips inside, and the cultivators immediately began examining their contents. They had killed Nascent Soul cultivators from Tianlan Realm before, but the belongings of Tianlan Realm cultivators contained little information about Tianlan Realm. This was a deliberate act by Tianlan Realm's high-ranking officials; all cultivators invading Dongli Realm were forbidden from carrying cultivation techniques or classics, only allowed to keep them in their cultivation caves. As a result, when Dongli Realm cultivators killed Tianlan Realm cultivators, they would at most obtain some wealth. Beyond knowing that Tianlan Realm was unified, Dongli Realm cultivators had little understanding of it.

Their current location was Windless Valley, in the southwestern part of Tianlan Realm, where there were no major powers within tens of millions of miles. These two Foundation Establishment cultivators were also disciples of the Tianlan Sect. Five million miles away, there was a Tianlan Sect branch responsible for mining Qiantu Sand, an earth-attribute material used for array formations and artifact refining.

"Let's go, let's check out that branch. Try to capture high-level Tianlan Realm cultivators alive, ideally subduing a few," Fu Wen ordered, his face filled with a chilling aura.

Their purpose in Tianlan Realm was not just to kill and seize treasures. It was primarily to find places where powerful demons were sealed or locate spatial nodes. However, they had no information on this, so they could only kill Tianlan Realm cultivators and search them for intelligence.

"Yes, Senior Fu," Wang Changsheng and the others said in unison, and the group flew towards the sky.

True Monarch Qianli was from the Qianli Sect, a sect with a ten-thousand-year heritage. However, by his generation, the Qianli Sect had declined. True Monarch Qianli entered the Nascent Soul stage at four hundred years old, just as Tianlan Realm was unifying—a trend that could not be resisted. He led the Qianli Sect to join the Tianlan Sect and, after over six hundred years of arduous cultivation, reached the late Nascent Soul stage. He had been stuck at the late Nascent Soul stage for a century. He tried to break through his bottleneck, but it was to no avail, a common occurrence. If he couldn't advance to the Deity Transformation stage, he would perish in little over a century. He was currently stationed at a branch, overseeing mineral extraction. Besides True Monarch Qianli, two other Nascent Soul cultivators were also stationed there.

True Monarch Qianli was cultivating in his cave dwelling, a crimson spiritual light enveloping his entire body. Suddenly, an earth-shattering roar erupted. The cave dwelling shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck. The spiritual light on True Monarch Qianli's body dissipated. He opened his eyes, his gaze filled with surprise and uncertainty. With the Tianlan Sect having unified Tianlan Realm, a major war was unlikely to occur, and those who harmed fellow disciples were executed without mercy. It went without saying that cultivators from Dongli Realm had likely attacked.

Before he could react, his cave dwelling collapsed. True Monarch Qianli reacted quickly, immediately conjuring a flashing crimson banner that spun around him, releasing waves of fierce flames to protect himself as he flew outwards. Once outside, True Monarch Qianli gasped at the sight before him. The branch was engulfed in towering flames, and large numbers of Tianlan Sect disciples lay in pools of blood.

A massive white cloud, tens of thousands of feet wide, floated high in the sky. Over five hundred cultivators stood upon the cloud, with the lowest being Core Formation and the highest at the Deity Transformation stage.

"Do you choose life or death?" Fu Wen asked coldly. If he wasn't completely ignorant about the situation in Tianlan Realm, he wouldn't have spared True Monarch Qianli's life.

True Monarch Qianli's mouth was filled with bitterness; he swallowed hard and said with a wry smile, "This junior wishes to live. Senior, please spare this junior's life." His achievements to date were mostly due to his own efforts. When the Tianlan Sect unified Tianlan Realm, he had already formed his Nascent Soul, so he naturally felt little sense of belonging to the Tianlan Sect. He had only joined the Tianlan Sect due to coercion from Deity Transformation cultivators. Even ants cling to life; how much more so True Monarch Qianli, who had cultivated for a thousand years? Refusing immediate death and agreeing would at least grant him more time to live.

Fu Wen nodded in satisfaction. He took out the Myriad People's Brush and gestured in the void. Countless runes materialized out of thin air, forming a white claw print that shot directly towards True Monarch Qianli. Feeling the astonishing spiritual pressure emanating from the Myriad People's Brush, True Monarch Qianli sighed inwardly. He dismissed any thoughts of escaping. Facing a cultivator with a Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure, unless he possessed a flying spirit treasure, escape was impossible.

The white claw print sank into True Monarch Qianli's body. In his Dantian, a white claw print suddenly appeared next to his miniature Nascent Soul. With just a thought from Fu Wen, True Monarch Qianli could be annihilated.

Fu Wen formed a hand seal, and the cloud slowly descended. Core Formation cultivators began clearing the battlefield, primarily collecting cultivation techniques and classics. Wang Changsheng and thirty-five other Nascent Soul cultivators followed Fu Wen and landed before True Monarch Qianli.

"Honestly, how many Deity Transformation cultivators are there in Tianlan Realm?" Fu Wen asked in a deep voice. Wang Changsheng and the others were also very eager to know the answer to this question.

True Monarch Qianli gave a wry smile and said, "This junior isn't entirely clear. This junior has only heard of seven individuals: True Monarch Heavenly Soldier, True Monarch Qianlei, Long Xiaoyao, True Monarch Heavenly Devil, True Monarch Sanyang, Scholar Qianguang, and Long Hanji. As for the total number of Deity Transformation cultivators in Tianlan Realm, I truly do not know."

"You don't know the exact number of Deity Transformation cultivators, but you must have a rough idea, right? Or do you want to experience the power of the Blood Soul Bowl?" a gaunt old man in blood-red robes said coldly. The old man had sunken eyes, a ruddy complexion, and a blood-colored flame pattern on his robes. He was True Monarch Blood Flame, a late Nascent Soul cultivator from the Blood Flame Sect, one of the Ten Great Sects of the South Sea. With a flip of his hand, a palm-sized blood-colored bowl appeared in his grasp. Wails and howls intensified, chilling winds swept through, and the ambient temperature plummeted.

True Monarch Qianli shivered and quickly said, "There are probably around thirty of them, but I don't know their exact locations."

"Thirty!" Fu Wen's brows furrowed deeply. This was not good news. The Tianlan Realm's audacity to invade Dongli Realm indeed meant they were thoroughly prepared. True Monarch Qianli being assigned here indicated he was not highly regarded, so it was not surprising that he didn't know the precise number of Deity Transformation cultivators in Tianlan Realm.

"What dangerous places are there in Tianlan Realm? Especially places where powerful demons are sealed. Think carefully before answering; you only get one chance," Fu Wen asked coldly.

True Monarch Qianli thought for a moment and said, "There are three dangerous places: the Immortal Burial Ruins, the Myriad Lightning Sea, and the Demon Burial Ice Plain. There used to be places where powerful demons were sealed, but they were later jointly destroyed by those Deity Transformation cultivators. The Immortal Burial Ruins have numerous spatial rifts, including mobile ones, and occasionally erupt with Spirit-Extinguishing Qi. The Myriad Lightning Sea is a natural lightning field; high-level cultivators refine treasures on its periphery, but its depths are too dangerous, even Deity Transformation cultivators can fall there, and it contains many powerful restrictions. The Demon Burial Ice Plain experiences perpetual snowfall, and even Nascent Soul cultivators dare not venture deep into it."