The cold wind was biting, and the roar of the cultivators' spiritual power became the symphony that followed the anti-matter bomb's annihilation.
The Three Great Powers were, after all, the Three Great Powers.
Their branches were spread throughout every city and town in the Duravia Trade Prefecture.
The cultivators from the three powers who came to protect Prince Qian numbered over two hundred thousand, and even those at the Foundation Establishment stage possessed methods for forming battle arrays.
With the shattering of the great formation protecting Prince Qian's city, the cultivators of the Three Great Powers reacted instantly. Facing the Li family's assault, they were prepared in a moment's notice.
The sky filled with a brilliant radiance as cultivator after cultivator, led by their experts, formed vast spiritual formations.
Golden Core cultivators could already form Dharma Bodies. Above the vast city, phantoms hundreds of meters tall instantly appeared, and their powerful spiritual energy caused the wind and snow to ripple once more.
The Nascent Souls of the cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage floated into the air. In an instant, the winds surged and clouds gathered, creating a phenomenon of heaven and earth filled with thunder, fire, and snow.
Outside the city, the oppressive might formed by this immense spiritual power was so great that ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn't even get within ten kilometers. Even a Golden Core expert who entered the area would feel as if they were wading through a mire.
Within the span of a few finger-snaps, the entire city was filled with a magnificent radiance that lit up the sky.
Several pillars of light shot straight into the clouds.
In a great battle between such experts, they were able to maintain a certain degree of control. Those at the Void Refining realm, in particular, would not ordinarily affect the mortal world when they fought.
Having heard the White Qilin's challenge, Supreme Elder Puci of the Aeternus Sect glanced at the disciples in the city and, with a cold snort, soared into the sky without a moment's hesitation.
A Void Refining cultivator's body merges with heaven and earth. Supreme Elder Puci was immensely powerful; holding a longsword and with the bearing of an immortal, he slashed open the space before him and vanished inside, his destination unknown.
The White Qilin saw the Supreme Elder's single sword strike unleash a vast, brilliant light, and his expression could not help but turn grave. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as ice crystals condensed before him, followed by the sound of shattering ice.
As he leaped forward, his body rapidly transformed in mid-air back into his true form—a white Qilin. He charged into the fissure where the ice had shattered and vanished as well.
From within the fissure in the ice, however, the cry of a sword could be heard, along with the sound of Supreme Elder Puci chanting an incantation.
Although the whereabouts of the two were unknown, ripples still spread across the sky above the battlefield.
...
"Was it you who captured my brother and caused his tragic death?"
The Boss of Skynet's figure seemed illusory as he appeared before Ming Daozi, high above the city.
Though there were many cultivators present, none dared to stop him. Even when some foolhardy person attacked the man in the bamboo hat, their spiritual power could never reach him; instead, they suffered a backlash from their own attack.
After the great formation was shattered, Ming Daozi's Dao Heart was already damaged.
Especially after continuously pouring his power into the Rank 4 formation, not even a tenth of his spiritual energy remained. Yet, as he faced the Boss of Skynet, he showed not the slightest hint of pressure.
He replied, "The God of War turned traitor and aided the Li family in their tyranny. He would have brought disaster upon my Duravia Trade Prefecture in the future. Should I not have captured him? Otherwise, he would have invaded my Duravia Trade Prefecture alongside all of you today."
The Boss of Skynet's aura fell into disarray.
He had been in the Duravia Trade Prefecture for hundreds of years; how could he not know this Ming Daozi?
He suddenly laughed. "Aided the Li family in their tyranny? What a joke! When we were operating in the Duravia Trade Prefecture, did we not aid Prince Qian in his own tyranny?"
Ming Daozi's expression changed.
The Boss of Skynet said mockingly, "Do you have any idea what we did for Prince Qian? You don't. For the past several hundred years, in order to bring all the great aristocratic clans of the Duravia Trade Prefecture under his control, we started in the towns, propping up people he could trust. Those men were, without exception, a greedy bunch. They would kill anyone, and we were the ones who did their dirty work!"
"And the elders and disciples of your Three Great Immortal Sects—in order to win them over, we had to cooperate. They wanted resources, so we would help them kill their enemies!"
Upon hearing this, Ming Daozi looked down blankly at the disciples within the city who were preparing for battle.
"Them?"
The Boss of Skynet pointed to the cultivators on the ground.
"Do you know why they are here? Do you know why they have no choice but to fight at a single word from Prince Qian? It's because he knows every dirty deed each one of them has ever committed!"
"Do you know why, after the world fell into chaos, he wanted to eradicate the Eternal Sun Prefecture at the first opportunity, and why almost no one in the Duravia Trade Prefecture would oppose him? It's because the Three Great Powers became rotten hundreds of years ago!"
"Prince Qian has been cultivating you all for hundreds of years. From the moment your elders and disciples met him, they received more and more—Spirit Stones, medicinal pills, Heavenly Material, or Earthly Treasures. And they, too, became more and more greedy."
Looking at Ming Daozi's pale face, the Boss of Skynet showed a hint of pity.
"That's just the kind of person Prince Qian is. From the very beginning of his rise, he was using Spirit Stones to get us out of the Imperial Prison. To get those Spirit Stones, he squeezed his own family dry. And he knew that if he wanted to make the entire Duravia Trade Prefecture his own, the only way was to turn everyone into the same kind of person as him."
"The Three Great Powers, the Myriad Dao Immortal Palace you hold in such high regard—they were contaminated long ago!"
"Oh, you don't know. Otherwise, you wouldn't have said something like 'aiding the Li family in their tyranny.' Or perhaps..."
All these truths, spoken from the mouth of the Boss of Skynet, caused Ming Daozi to lose his composure. The Boss of Skynet's voice was like a demonic whisper, falling upon his ears.
"Or perhaps, you are one of the contaminated ones, too—you also have something you desire!" The Boss of Skynet's face twisted into a savage expression.
"Vile words meant to delude my heart!"¹ Ming Daozi suddenly roared.
Seeing Ming Daozi's reaction, the Boss of Skynet's expression turned grim.
Now that they were in the city, he could sense the strength of the Duravia Trade Prefecture's forces. If he could pull this 'Greatly Benevolent Man,' Ming Daozi, over to the Li family's side, it would greatly increase their chances of a decisive victory.
But now, seeing Ming Daozi's teeth-gritting expression, he understood.
This person's anger isn't born from being slandered, but from... having the truth exposed!