Chapter 284: Another Dark Force

In the high sky within ten thousand li of the Saint Puppet Sect's main island, the previously clear weather suddenly changed drastically. Patches of black clouds stretching hundreds of li drifted in from nowhere, pressing down low until they almost touched the sea surface.

The sky above the sea turned dim, as if dusk had fallen. Gale-force winds howled across the sea, raising high waves, giving the appearance of an impending storm.

Yun Ni and the other two arrived at the square outside the secret chamber. Looking up, they saw the sky churning with dark clouds, within which flashes of lightning flickered. Dozens of huge gold-and-black spirit boats, like solid fortresses, were lined up at the front of the sea of clouds, densely packed with figures.

These spirit boats were slightly different from the usual flying ones. Each bore a black platform over ten zhang high, engraved with various dense talisman patterns, resembling arrays and altars.

Seeing this, Bai Fengyi's expression changed slightly. With a wave of her hand, a stone slab array plate appeared before her. After swiping her fingers across it a few times, she decisively ordered, "Pass down the order: activate the restrictions and prepare to engage the enemy!"

As soon as her command was given, a series of urgent shrill sounds rang out across the entire Saint Puppet Sect main island, including the eight array islands outside.

Immediately after, the spiritual patterns on the gray stone pillars standing in various places on the island lit up with brilliant light. All the array diagrams engraved on the ground and the formations inscribed on the buildings began to operate.

Amidst rumbling sounds, the entire main island began to tremble violently, and the terrain underwent earth-shattering changes.

At the top of the highest peak on the island, dust and smoke billowed as the entire mountaintop slowly sank into the mountain's belly, revealing a huge cavity. Hundreds of golden mechanism flying boats, covered with spiritual patterns, rose into the air almost simultaneously, hovering high in the sky, ready for battle.

At the bends of the original river, the water was diverted into a huge passage that suddenly appeared beneath the island. On the exposed riverbed, golden light also shone, revealing giant puppet beasts shaped like turtles, their talismans glowing brightly with cyan light, emitting waves of dense water spiritual power.

In the dense forest on the second level of the island, sounds of trees collapsing and breaking continued. Puppet beasts over a zhang tall, shaped like tigers and leopards, surged out, crowding at the edge of the second level, silently roaring toward the sky.

Several True Immortal elders flew from various parts of the island to the square, each leading dozens of disciples and hundreds of humanoid puppets that gathered together.

In some important areas of the island, True Immortal elders also led disciples and puppet armies to deploy and guard strictly.

Within less than ten breaths of the anomaly, all the restrictions on the main island were activated, and all forces were mobilized.

At the same time, the sea around the main island churned violently, with seawater swirling madly around the eight small islands, forming huge whirlpools.

Within the whirlpools, white light blazed. The white round towers standing on the islands, like lighthouses on the sea, emitted circles of bright light, illuminating the entire sea area in a snowy white.

Han Li and Lin Jiu had already returned to the square near the white tower, joining the Saint Puppet Sect cultivators stationed there.

With blue light flickering in his eyes, Han Li looked at the dark clouds in the sky and could clearly see the figures standing on them.

These people were all masked with black cloth and wore black cloaks, somewhat similar in style to Lin Jiu's, but with gold edges on their sleeves and collars, and a cross pattern embroidered on their chests.

Han Li was not unfamiliar with this pattern; he had seen it on the Ten Directions Tower token obtained from Ping Yaozi.

"Unexpectedly, it's the people from Ten Directions Tower," Han Li murmured with a complex expression.

"Strictly speaking, they are not members of Ten Directions Tower, but rather people gathered by the 'Ten Directions Extermination Order,'" Lin Jiu said after a moment's thought.

"Oh? What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Lin Jiu?" Han Li asked curiously.

"Ten Directions Tower, as a major dark force in the North Cold Immortal Domain, is actually quite similar in nature to our Impermanence Alliance. However, they mainly deal in intelligence and assassination, issuing bounty orders, search orders, and extermination orders, all within their scope of business. Their task issuance and acceptance are not limited to internal members but open to everyone. In other words, anyone who can afford the price can issue a task, and those who deem themselves capable can accept tasks. As long as one is involved in either, they are considered a junior member of Ten Directions Tower. Therefore, their organization is not as rigorous as the Impermanence Alliance, but their internal relationships are more intertwined and complex," Lin Jiu explained.

"So, members of the Impermanence Alliance can also issue and accept tasks in Ten Directions Tower. These people gathered because they accepted the so-called Ten Directions Extermination Order?" Han Li thought for a moment and asked.

"Correct. This order is a massacre order issued by Ten Directions Tower, costing a considerable amount. Once issued, it almost summons forces across an entire immortal domain to attack a sect or clan. All participants can keep whatever they obtain from the destroyed sect, and naturally, they need not worry about being held accountable afterward," Lin Jiu explained with a grave look in his eyes.

Han Li understood. The terrifying aspect of this order was its strong appeal to the vast number of scattered cultivators, especially those below the Mahayana stage who were stuck at bottlenecks due to lack of cultivation resources. Watching their lifespans dwindle, how could they not seize this opportunity to take a risk?

Once such people joined, with the protection of Ten Directions Tower's identity and no worries, they often became more brutal than most, striking these sects and clans even more ruthlessly. On one hand, this was to plunder more cultivation resources, but on the other, wasn't it also to vent their accumulated resentment and jealousy?

Moreover, after operating for so many years, the Saint Puppet Sect had amassed a vast amount of resources and wealth just from selling puppets. In everyone's eyes, it was undoubtedly a fat piece of meat.

As the two were speaking, they suddenly felt the ground beneath them shake violently. The grooves embedded in the ground seemed to flow with silver liquid, overflowing with almost solid white light.

Rumbling sounds came from beneath the entire small island. A huge crack began to appear on the ground around the square, separating the area near the white tower from the rest.

This separated area then rose wildly to a height of several hundred zhang.

Han Li flew out, hovering high in the sky to look at the island, and was shocked to find that a central part of the array island had separated from it, transforming into a huge stone puppet.

It was shaped like a warrior, its stone body as white as jade but as hard as steel, holding a silver giant blade hundreds of zhang long, covered with spiritual patterns, emitting astonishing sharp fluctuations.

The other array islands around were also in the same state, each transforming into giant puppets nearly a thousand zhang tall. Some looked like primeval giant apes, others like stone-armored giants, and some like snowfield wild wolves... in various forms.

Moreover, the colors and shapes of the spiritual patterns on these puppets differed. Some were dark yellow rings encircling their torsos, some were long red stripes like ribbons wrapped around their arms and bodies, and some were black, tattooed on their chests.

At this moment, in the dark clouds high above, three figures stood side by side at the front of a pitch-black spirit boat.

On the face of the one in the middle, under the cloak, there was a very long and deep scar, starting from the left temple, running across the forehead to the right eye, then down the cheek, hidden by the black mask.

To his right stood a young man with a slender build and a sword at his waist. He did not wear the cloak's hood, only a black mask. The exposed half of his face was fair as jade, with thick eyebrows slanting into his temples and bright, piercing eyes, giving him an outstanding appearance.

Both of these individuals exuded immense auras, both being Golden Immortal cultivators.

On the other side stood a burly man nearly a zhang tall with a sallow complexion. Although he wore a cloak, a ring of dark blue metallic luster could be seen on his forehead, indicating he wore some kind of metal forehead guard.

Although this man was only at the peak of True Immortal stage, being able to stand alongside the two Golden Immortals showed his unusual status.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Lu Ji, are you satisfied with this arrangement of Ten Directions Tower?" the scar-faced man chuckled, looking at the sword-bearing man beside him and asking.

"The reason I spent such a great price to hire you Ten Directions Tower was precisely because of your influence. The fact that you could gather so many people this time is indeed somewhat unexpected. However, the cultivation levels of these people are too mixed, aren't they? Like a motley crew of stragglers, how much combat power can they have?" the sword-bearing man replied indifferently.

Apart from the three of them, among the two to three thousand people on these warships, there were only over forty True Immortal cultivators. The rest were mostly Mahayana cultivators, and even many at the Integration and Void Refining stages. In terms of cultivation levels, it was indeed very chaotic and mixed.

"Hehe, most of these people are wild scattered cultivators. Those who have managed to cultivate step by step have all struggled through constant battles. Under the same cultivation level, how could their combat power be weaker than those Saint Puppet Sect fellows who only know how to manipulate puppets?" the scar-faced man said with a smile.

"At this moment, is it appropriate for you two to chat idly here? Brother Xue Han, I still have tasks assigned by my master on the Ancient Cloud Continent. Let's finish this matter as soon as possible," the sallow-faced man suddenly spoke.

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Chong Luan. That was just a probing attack. Now their full defensive layout has been revealed, consistent with the intelligence we gathered earlier. We'll proceed according to the original plan. But after we break into the Saint Puppet Sect, don't forget what we agreed on earlier," the scar-faced man said with a smile.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist," the sallow-faced man said indifferently.