As for who Lu Sheng wanted to look for.
Lu Sheng had always been a person who made clear distinctions between his gratitude and grudges. For instance, the Thousand Sun Sect’s branch sect master and the old Divine Lord Tong Yi had taken care of him. He planned to look after them before he made his move.
“If it’s possible, can I bring a few more people under my wing?” Li Shunxi could vaguely tell that they were going to make a big move that would shock the heavens and shake the earth. Although he felt pained, he could not stop himself from asking the question.
“No more than 10.” Lu Sheng smiled.
“Thank you, Big Brother Lu!”
Lu Sheng said no more.
The other Divine Underworld beings finished dividing the would-be spoils between them.
“Well then, I’ll make my move,” Lu Sheng said with a smile. He glanced at the others. “I’ll say this now. The Mother of Pain has two Void Underworld beings on her side. If we can make it quick, the Void Underworld reinforcements of unknown origins would not be able to reach them in time. So, I hope that none of us will be slowed down while we make our move. If you can’t settle the fight quickly, focus on running away instead. We should focus our strength while we destroy some of theirs.”
“You have a point,” said Cheng Huan as he nodded. “For this mission, the master has allowed me to bring this Three Immortal Soul Calling Mirror. If there are any accidents, just come and gather around me!”
The others nodded.
“Well then, look for the signal,” said Lu Sheng.
There were loud whooshes.
The gathered individuals turned into black lines and vanished from the surface of the water. It was as if they never had been there at all.
“Let’s go.” Lu Sheng grabbed Li Shunxi’s shoulder. Flowing light flashed before their eyes. In the blink of an eye, they found themselves in another place.
Li Shunxi’s vision blurred. When he snapped back to his senses, he found himself standing before a tavern in the nearby Yellow Mountain City.
“I’ll need to rely on your strength for this, Little Brother.” Lu Sheng’s lips moved slightly as he projected his voice to Li Shunxi.
Li Shunxi’s face twitched. He slowly displayed a look of realization.
“Leave it to me. They’re easy enough to find. Just give me a day. However, after we’ve found them…”
“Just knock them out and drag them back here. I’m thinking about their safety right now. I think they’ll understand,” Lu Sheng said with a smile.
“…” Li Shunxi’s expression was strange, but he knew better than to comment.
“Rumble!”
Suddenly, thunder boomed in the sky. It was clearly a bright sky with no clouds in sight, but they had heard a thunderclap in broad daylight.
Caught off-guard, the pedestrians were dizzied by the thunder and swayed as they scampered off to find shelter.
Many of them screamed loudly, but to no avail. The loud thunderclap drowned out their voices and rang again.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
After the final thunderclap, a huge blood-red wound was suddenly torn open in the azure skies.
Li Shunxi’s was dumbstruck. He looked up at the dramatic changes in the skies. He had a good guess that this was their doing, the people who were together with Lu Sheng just moments ago.
“There’s an opening in the defensive circle. Now, all that’s left to do is to wait.” Lu Sheng patted his shoulder. “Go and make your arrangements. Remember, you’ll only have one day.”
Li Shunxi tried his best to suppress the shock he was feeling. He nodded heavily and leapt away. He morphed into white slowing light and vanished in the streets.
Fortunately, the people were highly frightened by the thunder, and not many noticed the flowing light navigating the streets. On top of that, Great Song had no lack of such cultivators. This was not something to be surprised about.
After Li Shunxi left, Lu Sheng looked up at the skies again. In the center of the skies, a huge blood-red rift was expanding to the edges of his vision. The sky above him was being split in two. The rift shone with a glaring blood-colored radiance.
“Show me what you’ll use to block this…” He chuckled and stepped into the tavern.
***
The World of Pain. Central Cloud City.
Within a spacious spotless white Taoist pagoda, the billowing clouds of smoke shifted their shapes into those of trees, palaces, or even living creatures that bounced around the place.
The Taoist pagoda was filled with nothing else besides clouds of smoke.
A woman who was more than 10 meters in height sat with her back upright in the center of all the smoke in her black dress.
There was only a single huge blood-colored eye on the woman’s face. She was currently sitting on a throne sculpted out of white jade with a treacherous expression on her face.
“Someone’s messing with the Black Measure Web of the third planet. Send someone there to inspect it.” She suddenly raised an arm. An openwork black ball made up of countless black threads slowly appeared on her palm.
However, red light blinked on several spots on the black ball. It appeared to be under attack.
Several big and tall figures emerged from the clouds of smoke. They knelt on one knee before her.
“Shall we send Anduo over?” one of them asked in a low voice.
“There’s no need for haste. Send the patrol over for now. If they can’t handle it, send Anduo,” said the Mother of Pain drily.
The two figures responded with their acknowledgement. Then, they swiftly melted into the clouds of smoke.
“What’s that old fart Jing Hui doing again?” asked the Mother of Pain in an impatient tone.
“Master Jing Hui is enjoying the flowers at Yun province,” a shrill female voice hastily replied from among the clouds of smoke.
“Did he foretell anything?”
“He did not,” replied the female voice.
The Mother of Pain became slightly solemn. Ever since she’d imprisoned the old fart in the Yellow Springs Galaxy tens of thousands of years ago, she had obtained countless predictions from him. It could be said that her current impressive force was largely the result of Jing Hui’s predictions, which helped her turn the misfortunes to her own advantage, besides her own formidable strength.
However, in the recent millennium, Jing Hui’s predictions had been growing less. Even if there was a prediction, it was no longer as precise as it had been. The Mother of Pain was not too happy about this.
“Looks like the old fart is starting to have some other thoughts…” The Mother of Pain had a thought as she stood up to proceed to the dining room.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
All of a sudden, fires broke out in rapid succession across the black ball on her palm. The firelight practically destroyed the black ball in her hand.
“The audacity!!” The Mother of Pain’s eye widened. A rage she had never felt before welled up within herself.
How many years had it been? She could not remember how long ago it was since someone was bold enough to challenge her authority in the Yellow Springs Galaxy.
She instantly determined that these attacks originated from the Yellow Springs Planet.
“Cursed mortals! You’re looking for death!” She shot up from her seat, and a circle of dark gray radiance burst forth around her.
“Yes, Master.” A giant with a human’s head, serpent’s body, and centipede legs slowly crawled toward her from among the smoke.
“Take your Devil Art Masters with you and search for the culprits. Eat them alive!” The Mother of Pain was slightly roaring as she gave the order.
“As you wish.”
The giant retreated with a smile on his face. He quickly plunged into the thick clouds of smoke once more.
The Taoist pagoda was quiet once more.
The Mother of Pain sat back down. The furious expression on her face had disappeared as if she was only putting on a show just now.
“Looks like they’re ready to make a move now.”
“Our success and failure hinges on this act. There’s no cause for worry,” said a wispy voice.
“With the help from all of you, we should be able to rid ourselves of these calamities within our bosom in one fell swoop! I’d like to see what the Green Branch Sect will be able to throw against me after this.” The Mother of Pain suddenly snickered.
Among the clouds of smoke, three big and tall strange-looking fierce figures looked at the Mother of Pain with their glowing red eyes. Black Qi which resembled black smoke revolved around them.
***
Lu Sheng raised a tankard of wine and poured it into his mouth.
The thunder continued to rumble outside, but he took no notice of it. The tavern was practically deserted by now. The shopkeeper and the waiters were taking shelter in the cellar. They were afraid that a lightning bolt might decide to strike them.
The streets were empty as well. Everybody had taken shelter somewhere.
Thunder rumbled occasionally in the skies. The blood-red rift expanded and contracted. Dark red flames could be seen burning inside it.
Faint sounds of killing could also be heard from afar.
“Swoosh!”
Suddenly, a blurry silhouette appeared behind Lu Sheng. It formed an out-of-focus Cheng Huan.
“External Elder Lu, we’re in position. Can we do it now?”
“There’s no hurry.” Lu Sheng emptied the last of the wind. “Let’s wait a little longer…”
“The reinforcements outside are already making their move. I’m afraid we’ll be overcome by them soon.” Another blurry silhouette appeared on Lu Sheng’s right. It was Yue Rulong.
Lu Sheng smiled. He suddenly flipped his palm, where a string of complicated-looking purple runes appeared. Information was being relayed to his ears.
“Hiss!”
All of a sudden, there was a sharp noise from the heavens. It sounded like metal scraping on metal.
“This is bad! This is… a Void Underworld Reincarnation Field!” Cheng Huan’s expression suddenly changed. The projection he sent over suddenly popped like a soap bubble.
“It’s a trap!” The projection of Yue Rulong beside him quickly disappeared as well.
The woman in black had just appeared. She barely had the time for words before she popped and disappeared as well.
Lu Sheng’s hand, which held the tankard, paused briefly. Heavy footsteps were making their way up the stairs behind him.
A bare-chested man with blood-red eyes and bony spikes as sharp as blades packed onto his back was slowly making his way up the tavern.
***
At seemingly the same moment.
Cheng Huan was sitting cross-legged on a pink fan-shaped Artefact. He was gazing into the distance with a heavy look in his eyes. A big and tall figure covered with swirling black water was rising from the water’s surface.
“Clang!”
10,000 miles away, Xu Haobai brandished his swords just in time to parry the blow of a gray sword which suddenly came at him from behind. Two terrifying and vast force fields collided and negated each other. None of the force leaked out.
Behind him, a seductive woman with two heads was wielding her sword with both hands. She wore a full-body armor covered in purple flames.
Yue Rulong hovered in the air beside the woman in black. Above the open ocean, two twin female cultivators with fair skin and beautiful faces hovered opposite them. The twin cultivators had no eyeballs in their sockets. Where the eyes should have been were empty pitch-black pockets.
“Yue Rulong of the Three Sacred Spiritual Gates. Zhao Xijing of the Wind Transformation Sect. The Mother of Pain has been waiting for you…” The twin cultivators gave frighteningly shrill laughs.
“How did you find out about our movements?! Could it be…” Yue Rulong’s heart thumped. Could Lu Sheng have been the Mother of Pain’s spy?!
“Pooh!”
Yue Rulong suddenly felt a jolt of pain in his side. A black beam of light penetrated him at his waist.
The woman in black beside him, Zhao Xijing, wielded a black spike. She wore a peculiar smile as she pierced him on the spot.
