Kao Dao Ji's pupils widened.
The movements of the Da Clan had been rather conspicuous; their forces remained centered, hardly moving.
Only from time to time, they went to the vassal forces; those who came were generally the same people.
The Kao Clan naturally was suspicious, and eventually they figured that Da Chou Jidan had secretly undergone his Myriad Tribulation.
In the end, he failed.
But unwilling to leave his Clan without a Leader, he forcefully turned into a Zombie and barely survived.
As he spoke those words, Kao Yu Hun sighed bitterly, staring at Kao Dao Ji, his father, the past Supreme Leader, who had ended up dying halfway through.
And that same Supreme Leader was far stronger than the current one; needless to say, the situation within the Kao Clan was unstable.
"Of course. Even though their military power seems to be the greatest. Is a sourceless tree, without a living aperture his strength will keep degrading over time.
They know this, and they have been desperately trying to nurture their next Supreme Leader.
We have known this for some time, yet we kept this concealed as we feared touching the wasp's nets, but now that they know, they cannot keep the truth under wraps.
They have gone all out!" Kao Yu Hun expression turned somber.
He stared at Kao Dao Ji before adding in a solemn tone.
"In roughly forty minutes, they should come here."
"What?" Kao Dao Ji's eyelids trembled, then he stared at Kao Yu Hun.
"Are they stronger than you?" He asked rapidly, to which Kao Yu Hun shook his head.
Relief appeared in Kao Dao Ji's face, but it was immediately doused as he added.
"They are only three Rank 6 Immortals. I could deal with them if…I was there."
He extended his hands and legs as he added.
"What you are seeing is nothing but a mirage, my will. The Supreme Leader feared something like this could happen, so he made me create several wills to survey several important areas.
But I was forced to create too many wills, and our strengths are far too divided; those three likely have trump cards I am unaware of.
And while I will try to arrive the earliest I can, chances are…"
Kao Dao Ji squinted his eyes and clenched his fists.
"That I will have to be on my own."
Kao Yu Hun sighed.
"Not exactly. I will be there to ensure…The negotiations proceed smoothly."
"Negotiations?"
"The Da Clan's position is temporarily strong, but continuously declining.
To reverse this trend, they intend to turn this strength into tangible capital.
They will appear like a storm, looting everything, and capturing as many of our resource points as they can manage to.
Before trying to sell them back to us for a hefty price, before making a peace treaty."
"Kao Dao Ji. The reason why I am telling you this is…So you don't make any stupid mistakes. Do not try to confront them. At worst, they will steal some of your wealth and capture you, but if you provoke them…" Kao Yu Hun sighed.
Based on the Supreme Leader's words, Kao Dao Ji was the hope of the Clan.
He could by no means be harmed in the slightest.
The only reason why he or another Rank 7 or even the Supreme Leader had been assigned to protect him was to not arouse suspicion.
After all, if a Rank 8 Gu Master flew ten-thousand Kilometers to protect a piece of dog-shit, how many would believe it?
Even if it smelled, looked, and tasted like dog-shit everyone would believe it was a priceless treasure and would treat it as such.
Whilst assigning Kao Yu Hun would protect Kao Dao Ji for a while, in the long run, the other forces would grow suspicious.
By no means could the truth come to the light, not yet at least!
Yet to his surprise.
Kao Dao Ji had a tiny smile on his face.
"Don't worry, I have a plan." He said in a confident tone.
He flicked his fingers.
And rapidly summoned a cloud.
"What is your plan?" Kao Yu Hun asked.
"It would take too long to explain. Just get in. And you will figure out the answer." Kao Dao Ji replied nonchalantly.
"Huh?" Kao Yu Hun stared at the cloud mesmerized,
How could a single cloud change anything?
Still, he curiously approached and touched it with his bare hands.
And as he did.
The cloud rapidly expanded, devouring his body whole.
[Big Cloud Surprise Jail!]
"Fighting with that thing would surely have been difficult…
What a good thing I was able to trick it!" Kao Dao Ji wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Then he thought.
"While I understand his thoughts, after all, from his perspective, this is an unwinnable fight.
I prefer to fight rather than to trust in the mercy of my opponent; moreover, I have far more trump cards than those he's aware of.
One of my greatest is those two I brought along." Then he sighed.
"Of course, I cannot explain why I brought them here. Whilst I am not sure if Kao Yu Hun will reveal what happened here, if he does, they will obviously interrogate and read their memories, and once they do. Heh." He shook his head. The outcome would be obvious.
Besides, a man may be innocent, but he's guilty due to the treasures he carries. Uru Hong Jing was too rich. And even Rank 8 would be tempted, let alone Rank 7 Immortals.
"Obviously, Kao Yu Hun will ask why I did this. But I can simply say that I had a trump card that I did not want to reveal to him.
If he or others try to force me to reveal the secret, I will reveal to them my short-range domain expansion and sell it for a good price." Kao Dao Ji squinted his eyes; he began to finalize the broadest of strokes of his plans as he flew.
At the same time, he contacted the duo.
Uru Hong Jing frowned.
"I see…So. What is your plan?"
"It goes like this…" Kao Dao Ji transmitted.
"…"
"…"
"…"
A few minutes later.
Three figures could be seen flying in the skies.
Two of the three were grabbing their hands together and acting playfully.
"You look so gorgeous in that long dress, my love."
"You look so great, too, my husband. Your smile shines like the brightest sun."
The two hugged and kissed each other passionately whilst the other Immortal merely crossed his hands in tremendous jealousy.
"Sigh. Why are the Heavens so unfair? My senior brother and sister, they look almost otherworldly, whilst I…"
…
Kao Dao Ji observed from a distance with his lips trembling.
What was he complaining about?
They looked almost the same, a big egg with a round shape with a few features slapped in to form a face, followed by stick limbs.
At most, the woman among the three looked a bit different with a bit of lipstick added in the area of her big mouth.
He squinted his eyes.
"Alright…I think they are within range." Suddenly.
His eyes shone brightly, flickering between white and black spiraling patterns.
And then.
The trio was distracted.
Widening their eyes, at an almost divine speed, they saw a straight line heading towards them, at divine speed.
As quickly as they could manage to.
They activated their defenses, and yet, they proved utterly pointless.
Their visions flickered rapidly, the world changed colors, turning boilingly hot.
Their eyes widened.
A purple sun stood ahead of their vision.
Overwhelming their senses, trepidation invaded their minds.
What the hell had just happened?
Da Di Gen Xi was the first to react.
"A Space Path Killer Move! There must have been some sort of Formation that triggered when we entered its range."
But no matter how clever he was, there was no avoiding the fact that he stood in front of a damned sun that was just 3 to 4 meters away.
[Shelter]
[Jade Armor]
[Super-Hot]
The three Immortals soon realized their defensive Killer Moves proved pointless.
Their bodies were cooked from the surface, and not even their brains were spared.
An intense wave of heat seemed to bypass all defenses and directly targeted their brains, sending them to a state of shock.
From a distance, Kao Dao Ji frowned.
"Did I overdo it?" He briefly considered.
"It's fine. I'd rather burn their apertures to ashes. Rather than risk myself pointlessly."
But then, just as the three presences seemed to dissipate.
From within their depths, a Will of a Rank 7 Immortal who was there to aid them.
Da Ji Rou.
He stared at the scene, tongue-tied, his eyes flickering towards the distant Kao Dao Ji.
"Is that Land Spirit? How on earth did he achieve this? Even now, I cannot perceive where the formation's veins are..."
But then he frowned.
"It does not matter what tricks you do; I will smash them with sheer strength!"
The figure roared.
A rank 7 aura could immediately be felt.
A repulsive force was immediately shot, sending the trio away from the deadly sun's range.
And even the sun was pushed away, aiming towards Kao Dao Ji.
But he snorted coldly.
He moved his hands in a spiral, rapidly, and he regained control over the sun.
"I GAVE YOU AN OPENING, USE IT!" Da Ji Rou urgently transmitted towards Da Di Gen Xi.
Immediately, he stretched his claws towards the Heavens.
And then.
A straight 'tunnel' could be seen emerging from his palms and stretching towards the heavens above.
Kao Dao Ji felt a sharp pain, like being pierced by a needle.
At the next moment, his expression changed.
"He can leave and enter the apertures of others at will?" He thought in mild shock.
"They must have chosen him for this reason!" As he thought this, his killing intent rose.
But there was no anger in his expression; rather, he chuckled widely.
"I am afraid that the only way out is to hell!" He shouted, but Da Di Gen Xi ignored his voice; he dug his way out, successfully escaping from the aperture.
The trio moved across this tunnel, flying further and further away, and yet.
Almost instantaneously, their senses were overwhelmed.
"Heheh, didn't I tell you? There's no way out!" Once more, the trio stood before the sun; thankfully, Kao Dao Ji lacked the precision to grasp them so easily, which meant that he lacked some of the finesse to coordinate their location, which meant they were a bit far away this time.
Even so, their expression was anything but calm.
They all gritted their teeth. How on earth do we get out of this?
Da Ji Rou stared fixatedly at Kao Dao Ji.
"I thought he used some sort of Formation to teleport them there.
And I believed that as long as the Formation was broken, several Gu would shatter, and he would not be able to trap them again.
But my guess was wrong. It does not seem to be a Formation, but rather an ability to unconditionally teleport people towards his aperture as long as they touch the 'line?'" Da Ji Rou wondered internally.
What kind of absurd Killer Move was that, and how could it be broken?
Yes, there was a weak point. The line, but it moved dozens of times faster than even he could manage. Furthermore, he was not even sure if that 'line' could be blocked or destroyed by ordinary attacks.
The thoughts of the Will of the expert sent to reinforce the trio fluctuated rapidly.
"No. It's not absolutely invincible. At the very least, he cannot teleport people exactly where he wants them to, after all, had he teleported them in the middle of the sun, even I would not have been able to save them.
Does the energy density prevent him from 'teleporting' us there, or are there other factors?"
Regardless.
He immediately warned the group.
"Change of plans, escaping is impossible, he needs to be subdued."
But then.
Whilst all their focus was on Kao Dao Ji, from behind them, dozens of rays were shot.
They raised their defenses to the utmost to block it, and whilst those rays seemed utterly pointless, unable to leave a single dent.
They also felt their bodies hardening.
[Petrifying Gaze!]