âJiang Ling, youâre saying that you had no idea that Dongyang Yun cultivated with the Cyclic Mirror?â Bai Mo looked at Jiang Ling.
âFuture Hall King, I swear that I donât. If I knew about it beforehand, let me be destroyed by heaven and earth!â Jiang Ling replied. This incident had a massive impact on him.
âThatâs impossible!â Chong Yang from the Ancient Qilin Clan exclaimed in disbelief. Retrieving a miniature map, he continued, âThis Cyclic Map was given to me by Autarch Qian himself. It can lock on to the Cyclic Mirrorâs location. We tried detecting Li Muyangâs location recently. Heâs only been at the Theocracyâs borders, and the Cyclic Mirror must be with him!â
âAnd youâre so certain that Autarch Qian wasnât lying?â Bai Mo sneered.
âLet me explain,â Jiang Ling suddenly interrupted. âI have no intention of hiding it from youâthe Cyclic Map has no effect. It just happens to share a similar name with the Cyclic Mirror. The reason my father did this was so that he could use the Cyclic Mirror comfortably.â
âWhat?!â The exalted ones were dumbfounded. So it turned out that the misery the Ancient Qilin Clan had suffered over the past four decades was a joke. They had devoted a lot of time to searching for the Cyclic Mirror, but it turned out that they were just a bunch of fools.
âThen why are we still being punished for it?â Chong Yang questioned.
âThatâs because you guys groomed Li Muyang. Since Li Muyang had the intention to rebel, shouldnât you be punished for it? Furthermore, didnât I get rid of the lifetime curse for your clan?â Jiang Ling replied.
Jiang Ling was shocked by the news about the Cyclic Mirror, but honestly speaking, he didnât think there was any mistake in Autarch Qianâs approach. If the Cyclic Mirror was in his hands, he would also do the same. The Decimo Dao Palace had long seen through the Theocrats.
âThat makes no sense. We found Li Muyangâs position yesterday, and heâs still moving around! We can see from the map that thereâs a woman next to him!â Ling Xing replied.
âAre you able to see his appearance?â
âIt should be him from the outline!â
âCut it out. The Cyclic Map often makes mistakes. Who knows who you guys have been seeing. Let me have the Cyclic Map, Iâll study it when Iâm free,â said Jiang Ling.
The exalted ones of the Ancient Qilin Clan were all depressed. What they had believed for the past four decades had turned out to be a joke, and they had been bearing the insults all along. But now that they worked for Jiang Ling, did he give them any face?
Chong Yang closed his eyes. Letting out a sigh, he handed the Cyclic Map to Jiang Ling. Right at that moment, a figure suddenly flashed and took the Cyclic Map from him. Everyone was shocked. It was a stranger. At the very least, no one from Jiang Lingâs faction recognized him!
âPalace Lord, whoâs this? Whyâd he snatch the Cyclic Map?!â Jiang Ling raged.
âHeâs the Grand-Orient Realmâs ruler. His name is Li Wudi. Heâs the next palace lord and a descendant of the Li Saint Clan,â Weisheng Yunxi explained.
âYour Highness, Iâll be leading the dao palace to work for you. This is our first meeting, so donât you think you should give me a meeting gift? Although this thing is a little shabby, itâs still barely acceptable. Since itâs your generosity, Iâll gladly accept it. Anyhow, youâve only been using it to brush off the Ancient Qilin Clan, right?â Li Wudi smiled.
Jiang Ling squinted his eyes into slits. He could sense the difference between Li Wudi and Weisheng Yunxi. He had long heard of Li Wudiâs name, but when they finally met, Li Wudi made him feel ten times more threatened than Weisheng Yunxi. This was someone who would backstab him with a smile.
âSo youâre the next palace lord. Iâve long heard your reputation. But the Cyclic Map is an important treasure of the Theocracy, so please return it. When we take down Dongyang Yun in the future, Iâll reward you greatly,â said Jiang Ling.
âToo late. I donât have a habit of giving back what I accept. Why donât you just accept that fact?â Li Wudi arrogantly replied.
âOutrageous!â Everyone around Jiang Ling immediately became furious. Li Wudiâs actions were worse than Tianming, who tortured Jiang Liuting in public. The confrontation between Li Wudiâs shameless smile and Jiang Lingâs cold gaze stretched out.
The atmosphere started growing tense. Right from the beginning, Li Wudi hadnât taken a step back. He had seen Mu Yang, so he could guess that the Cyclic Mirror has something to do with him. So, since he had the opportunity, he would naturally take it.
âItâs almost time for us to make our move,â Weisheng Yunxi said, breaking the standoff.
âYeah.â Jiang Ling nodded. Everyone could see that he was furious.
âWhat the hell? I came over to help, and youâre getting stingy about something like this? Why donât you look at how many men you have? Iâm being considerate, accepting something like this for my help. If you were someone else, I wouldâve pulled a layer of skin off you,â Li Wudi cursed.
Bai Mo and Ye Yi exchanged glances. They felt that Li Wudi came too late. This guy was very suitable for the Decimo Dao Palace; he had something that they lacked.
Jiang Ling didnât continue arguing with Li Wudi. He was thinking about how he could get the Cyclic Mirror back. While he was deep in thought, Li Wudi returned to the dao palaceâs staging area.
Shortly after, he came to the Grand Sky Gate while holding a woman drenched in blood. When Jiang Ling took a closer look, he recognized herâshe was the Dazzling Pavilionâs pavilion lord, Meng Tingyu!
Meng Tingyu was on Dongyang Yunâs side, and there were many people from the Dazzling Pavilion in the Imperial City. But most of the Dazzling Pavilionâs power was spread throughout the Theocracy. Only a small portion of them were gathered in the Divine Capital, so not even Jiang Ling dared to provoke her.
âWhatâre you trying to do?â Jiang Ling asked.
Li Wudi ignored Jiang Ling and made Meng Tingyu get down on her knees. He grabbed her hair and let her look at the Imperial City. He said, âRaise your head and let everyone in the Imperial City look at you.â
However, Meng Tingyu only replied with a sneer.
âIâve been torturing you for half a month, and youâre still so tight-lipped. I have to say that youâre a courageous woman. You should die a miserable death to atone. Iâll give you one final chance: is there anything youâd like to say?â Li Wudi asked.
âYouâre letting me speak? Alright then, listen well.â Meng Tingyu raised her head with a fanatical expression. She suddenly thought of someone and roared, âOnly the strongest clan and person can survive in this world. Ants are not qualified to live. The lives of the innocent arenât lives; itâs Dao! Those whoâre obsessed with benevolence and morality will eventually be eliminated. If you want to become a god, you have to go against heaven!â
She laughed as tears welled in her eyes. Tightly clenching her fists, she looked at Li Wudi with a hideous expression and raved, âI might not be part of the Ancient Theocrats, but in my opinion, theyâll exist for eternity!â
Li Wudi swung his blade, beheading Meng Tingyu. Grabbing her head, Li Wudi cursed, âSuch beauty... itâs too bad that you were brainwashed.â
Holding on to her head by her hair, Li Wudi turned it toward Jiang Ling and grinned, âYour Highness, hereâs my gift, since I received one from you. You can make a chamber pot out of her head. Itâll fit your identity as the new Primeval Autarch.â
He tossed the head toward Jiang Ling with force, but before it could even get close, Jiang Ling stretched his hand out and reduced it to ashes. This scene had left the surroundings silent, and only thunder could be heard rumbling.
âSeven Astral Legions!â Ye Yiâs voice echoed out. He was behaving as though nothing had happened. Standing on the Evernight Eagle with a black spear in his hand, Ye Yi pointed the spear at the Imperial City and turned back to look at Jiang Ling.
âAttack,â Jiang Ling said, wiping the ashes from his face. This time, the two armies werenât split up. They were prepared for a frontal attack on the Grand Sky Gate. Over a million beastmasters and even more lifebound beasts charged into the Sun-Moon Imperial Formation. The earth trembled from the colossal beasts galloping.
âTianming, come here!â Li Wudi called out.
Tianming immediately handed command of the Dark Astral Battalionâs over to Chen Fang and Liu Yuyi, then went to Li Wudiâs side with Ye Lingfeng and the Soulfiend. Over the past month, Ye Lingfeng had reached the third level of the sky saint stage. Looking at the battlefield, the Soulfiend was beginning to get restless.
âThey intend on using the masters from both sides to open a path for them to kill Dongyang Yun. Tianming, you come with us,â said Li Wudi.
âOkay.â Tianming nodded.
Li Wudi took out the Cyclic Map and handed it over to Tianming. âThis is for you.â
âThank you, godfather.â Tianming knew that Li Wudi had snatched the Cyclic Map for him.
âCome, let us godfather and son wreak havoc!â Li Wudi smiled.
âAlright!â
âFollow up!â
The masters from both sides were swiftly gathering together. Jiang Lingâs faction seemed a little shabby.
âDongyang Yun must die today! Anyone who takes his head will be rewarded ten million saint crystals and conferred with a territory of ten thousand miles!â Jiang Ling shouted.
âKill!â Jiang Ling was only commanding the battle on the surface, but he was actually following Weisheng Yunxi into the Sun-Moon Imperial Formation. For an instant, Tianming could sense their empyrean beasts around him.
Disregarding Jiang Lingâs faction, Li Wudiâs Ancient Infernalblood Kunpeng had already undergone an evolution. It was now a Primordial Bloodbane Kunpeng, with eighty-six stars. Clearly, it was because of the empyrean manna that Weisheng Yunxi had given him.
Bai Moâs lifebound beast was an enormous eighty-two-star Astral Emperor Tiger. Even Meow Meowâs Regal Chaosfiend form was tiny compared to it.
However, the most terrifying lifebound beast in the formation belonged to Weisheng Yunxi.