"Family Head Li," she asked, "is everyone here? This is a Rank 4 spiritual formation. How are we supposed to break through it?"
Li Dalong remained silent.
The members of the Li family held their breath, their gazes locked on the city.
A Rank 4 formation—a defensive array possessing the power of the Void Refining realm!
"Everyone."
Seeing that they appeared to have no way to deal with the formation, Prince Qian stood up, a gentle smile gracing his lips.
"My Duravia Trade Prefecture has no grievance or enmity with any of you," he said. "Why must you all insist on bringing such chaos to my lands? What is the point of this suffering?"
The members of the Li family frowned.
Han Yun, standing on one of the Old Tree's branches, let out a cold snort.
"Your Highness, Prince Qian," he sneered, "others may not know what kind of person you are, but how could we from Skynet not? We're all old friends here. Now that things have come to this, you can drop the act of the refined gentleman."
"Insolent!"
An angry expression appeared on Prince Qian's face. "Years ago, I took pity on you, knowing your cultivation had not come easily, and rescued you from that place of death. But I never imagined you all had such treacherous bones! It would have been one thing if you were simply ungrateful, but to now lead outsiders to attack my Duravia Trade Prefecture—you are nothing but a pack of ungrateful traitors!"
"You..."
Han Yun started to curse back, but Gu Yinming pulled him back. Seeing Gu Yinming shake his head, he said no more.
For an instant, silence fell both inside and outside the city, broken only by the sound of the wind and snow, and the thunder rumbling above Li Yunlin.
Prince Qian's tone became gentle once more as he sighed. "None of you can break this formation. The people of Azure Cloud are merely walking into a trap. Swear a blood oath that you will not invade my Duravia Trade Prefecture for three years, and this Prince will let the matter drop. What do you say?"
Hearing this, the faces of the Skynet members turned grim. They truly could not break through. For a formation of this caliber, even a professional like Daoist Poxu, who had achieved the level of a Rank 4 Formation Master, would need one or two months to break it .
Even if the two Void Refining experts on this mission bombarded it for a full month, they would only have a sliver of hope of breaking a Rank 4 defensive formation!
"There was no formation like this when we left Prince Qian's Mansion!" one of them exclaimed.
The Boss of Skynet's expression was as cold as deep winter.
"I sensed something was off when I arrived the other day," he said. "Prince Qian must have set this formation up right after he left Skynet."
"It's futile."
Dongfang Xuan's red lips parted slightly as she let out a long breath.
She turned to Li Dalong and said, "Prefecture Lord Li, we should retreat. I miscalculated. In less than ten days, the armies of every great clan in the Duravia Trade Prefecture will be here. It will be too late for us to withdraw then."
"...We should retreat."
Dongfang Xuan's voice echoed in the ears of the Li family members.
They had never expected to encounter a Rank 4 defensive formation; it was completely outside their calculations. Even their spies within Prince Qian's Mansion had sent back no intelligence about it.
"Damn it!"
Han Yun's expression was grim. They had come so far, and Prince Qian was right before their eyes. They were on the verge of avenging the God of War. Yet he knew Dongfang Xuan's words were the most rational course of action.
Inside the spirit ark, the White Qilin stared at the great formation, his brow deeply furrowed.
Two of his subordinates had died just to get here, yet he knew he had to accept this outcome. Dongfang Xuan's advice was the most logical. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the silent, head-bowed Li Dalong and said, "Prefecture Lord Li, let's go back."
Li Dalong remained silent.
So did all the members of the Li family.
Retreat...
How could they possibly retreat?!
The people of Azure Cloud were fighting and dying all across the Duravia Trade Prefecture. Those old comrades were sacrificing their lives to buy them time, waiting for them to kill Prince Qian and secure a bright future for Azure Cloud.
If they were to turn back in disgrace, how could they possibly face them?!
Just then, the Li family's spirit tablets began to glow. The falling snow seemed to freeze in time.
Everyone's gaze fell upon the Li family's Old Ancestor, who stood upon the Yin-Yang Fish Diagram.
Li Wei looked at Prince Qian, who was still smiling from within his great formation.
His voice rang out, exceptionally clear and resonant in the blizzard.
"After everything it took to get here," he asked, "why would you retreat?"
The black mist billowed like flickering flames in the blizzard, and the eyes of the Li family members shone with renewed light. To them, the Old Ancestor's back was as steady as a great mountain.
The White Qilin and the members of Skynet frowned, watching the mysterious Old Ancestor of the Li family.
Then, they saw the Li family's Old Ancestor hold out a hand.
"Fall back," he commanded. "Get far away from me."
Hearing this, the expressions on the Li family members changed, and they immediately retreated in unison.
The White Qilin and the members of Skynet were stunned for a moment, but seeing the Li family's swift reaction, they retreated as well.
Only Han Yun remained, frozen in place.
He stared in confusion at the retreating crowd.
Seeing the Old Ancestor fly directly over Prince Qian's Mansion, Li Yaoqing quickly turned back. Before Han Yun's dumbfounded eyes, she shot out a series of vines that wrapped around him.
"You're still not running?" she yelled, cursing as she dragged him backward. "Are you crazier than our Tianming? A fool like you would probably still be drooling even if I cured you!"
"Huh?"
Han Yun still had no idea why the Li family members were all fleeing like madmen.
Li Wei was already hovering in the sky above Prince Qian's Mansion.
One by one, semi-transparent cubes with black mist churning inside materialized beside him.
He looked down at Prince Qian, who was still laughing.
"You son of...," Li Wei roared, "what's with the act?!"
The smile on Prince Qian's face began to freeze.
As the cubes shattered one by one, the last thing he saw was a world of blinding white light.
---
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