In an instant, everyone in the Ziyang Sect was stunned, unable to accept what they had just seen. They had gone from hell to heaven and back to hell again, like a roller coaster of highs and lows.
The Old Ancestor has come out, we are saved. Then: The Old Ancestor has come out, and we are doomed.
"I surrender! I'm willing to surrender! I can take you to the sect's treasure vault!" a voice rang out from the crowd of the Ziyang Sect.
A figure in purple dropped to his knees before Jin Mo and White Fang. The moment White Fang saw the man's face, he flicked his snake tongue in his true form.
"You again, old man. Did you think I didn't notice? When that old fellow came out, you were the loudest and the most cheerful of all, and now you're the quickest to kneel. You really are a talent!"
Before the old man could speak, White Fang flicked his tail and smashed him to pulp.
"A fence-sitter like you only wastes air by living. You'd do better as fertilizer for the earth."
"Those who surrender will not be killed!" Jin Mo shouted at the remaining disciples and elders of the Ziyang Sect.
At once, everyone in the Ziyang Sect threw down their weapons and squatted obediently where they stood. Seeing how cooperative they were, Jin Mo directed the people of the Boundless Heaven Divine Palace to clean up the battlefield.
At the same time, in a vast square in the central area of Tianhuang City, Xiao Tian looked at the spatial wormhole before him and pushed a small spatial boat back into Liu Shan's hand.
"All right, this is far enough. There's no need to see us off any further. Take this back. We don't need it."
Liu Shan glanced at Xuan Yi beside Xiao Tian and understood at once. With her standing as a Pill Tower Elder, she certainly lacked no small spatial boat of this class, so he reluctantly took it back.
"Very well. If the Liu Family can ever be of use in the future, just give the command, and we will do it with all the strength of our clan," Liu Shan said to Xiao Tian with a serious face.
By now the Liu Family had a rift with Burning Flame Valley, and they meant to follow Xiao Tian all the way. Xiao Tian, for his part, planned to bring the Liu Family under his command and lay the foundation for the Boundless Heaven Divine Palace in the southwest. He also left them a sound transmission stone for easy contact, just in case. Tang Zhen was a very upright man, but precautions were still necessary.
"All right, you can go back. It's time for us to leave, too."
Xiao Tian nodded to them, then led Xuan Yi and the two girls into the spatial wormhole.
High above Ziyang Mountain, Medusa snorted. "What kind of ant was that? A mere Dou Zun acting tough in front of me? You couldn't even take one palm from this Queen. What was he pretending for?"
It seemed that it was Medusa who had killed the Ziyang Sect's Old Ancestor.
"Oh, Sister Cai Li, be more refined. It's bad for your image," Green Scales said, holding Medusa's arm.
"You, really, you're just too gentle. That's why your young master bullies you so much," Medusa said helplessly, looking at her and patting her head.
"Young Master doesn't bully Green Scales. Young Master is the best person to Green Scales." She lowered her head shyly. "It's only... only that Young Master was a little naughty that time... but didn't Sister Cai Li willingly get bullied back then, too..."
"Oh, you! You even dare to tease me!" Medusa was amused by her words. She grabbed Green Scales's face and squeezed it.
Green Scales struggled a little, shaking her head to shake off Medusa's pinching hands. Medusa saw her emerald-green twin pigtails swaying with the motion and could not help reaching out to catch them, her eyes lighting up. "Oh, no wonder your young master likes these so much. They feel really nice."
"Sister Cai Li, you're bullying me!" Green Scales attacked Medusa's ticklish spots without ceremony.
The two began to scuffle playfully in midair as if they stood on solid ground. A few minutes later they sat on a cloud and watched the Boundless Heaven Divine Palace's people below busily collecting spoils and taking over territory.
"Sister Cai Li, what do you think Young Master is doing now?" Green Scales propped her chin on a hand, her long legs swaying gently.
"Him? He's probably out flirting with girls somewhere." Medusa pouted. "Flirting with girls" was a phrase Xiao Tian had taught them.
"I think Young Master must be busy gathering medicinal ingredients. I saw him reading a pill formula before, and I looked at it too. It was for helping an advanced Half-Saint advance to Dou Sheng." Green Scales turned to Medusa. "And right now the only advanced Half-Saint is Sister Cai Li. Hui Ying hasn't come out of seclusion yet, so I don't know what realm she'll be in when she does, but I feel she should come out soon."
"Hmph. Who needs his help? I can advance easily by myself." Her eyes flickered with feeling at Green Scales's words. It was exactly like Xiao Tian. He always thought of them first in everything, and always took meticulous care of her and her sisters.
Green Scales glanced at Medusa, whose happy smile she could barely suppress, and chuckled secretly. Then she looked into the distance. "I hope Young Master isn't too tired from looking for medicinal ingredients..."
"Don't worry. Your young master is such a bad person. He's never one to take a loss. He's always the one tricking others, and others can't even get close to tricking him." Medusa patted Green Scales's shoulder lightly. "Let's go. Things here are settled. Most of the Northern Region is under the Boundless Heaven Divine Palace's control now. It's time to start on the other sub-pavilions of Wind and Thunder Pavilion. But I never expected Wind and Thunder Pavilion to be so patient, with no movement at all until now."
Medusa stood up and looked toward the Wind and Thunder Mountain Range. You big bad guy, seeing how hard you're working to find medicinal ingredients for me, I have to conquer this whole land for you.
"Perhaps we haven't touched their core interests yet. Or perhaps they don't dare act rashly because of Sister Cai Li's strength," Green Scales said, smiling at her. Medusa had once publicly shown the strength of a Nine-Turn Dou Zun.
"But Little Fairy Doctor and the others said that quite a few people from the Soul Hall have recently appeared in the Northern Region, so we need to guard against them."
At "Soul Hall," Medusa's expression grew solemn, and she nodded. "Let's go. It's time to go back and look at the next strategy."
Medusa was not too worried. In the entire Soul Hall, apart from those few Dou Sheng, no matter how many others came, they would die. Even if their Great Heavenly Venerate made a move, with the abilities of her Nine-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python at full power, the opponent might even have to kneel.
For now, all of the Boundless Heaven Divine Palace's strategies were drawn up by Little Fairy Doctor and the others. Expanding influence was not simply a matter of pushing with strength. For long-term development, various methods were also needed to fully consolidate gains and bring in fresh blood.
Medusa casually tore open space, and the two turned and walked in.
Inside the spatial wormhole, on a rather large and exquisite spatial ship, Xiao Tian, the man Medusa and Green Scales had just called hard at work, was holding Xuan Yi around the waist while she leaned her head on his shoulder. The whole scene looked very warm.
From inside the cabin came the faint sound of Xiao Ling and Xiao Meng arguing over an uneven share of the spoils.
"Ah... choo!"