Chapter 653: Restless Stirrings

"Reporting to Lord Churong... Silver Fox appeared in the Black Mountain Immortal Domain. We were delayed in capturing him, and Senior Brother Wang was slightly injured." Gongshu Tian maintained his bowing posture without rising, addressing the foreign man.

"Oh, was he caught?" The foreign man called Churong raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Well... that Silver Fox fellow was aided by a demonic cultivator and escaped..." Before Gongshu Tian could finish, Churong interrupted with a "Worthless!"

The expressions of Gongshu Tian and his two companions shifted slightly, a flicker of anger passing through the depths of their eyes, but it quickly vanished.

"Forget it... We're already quite late. The True Word Sect ruins appear for a limited time; we can't delay the main task. We'll settle accounts with you after this matter is concluded. Set off immediately." Churong cast a cold glance at the three and said.

"Yes." The three breathed a sigh of relief and responded in unison.

Churong waved his sleeve, and a vast surge of roaring flames burst forth, intertwining and rolling before him, instantly transforming into a colossal fire-dragon-shaped spirit boat. It carried the four of them as a streak of red light, speeding away and plunging into the miasmic illusionary smoke before disappearing.

Less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick after they departed, several beams of light flew from the direction of Illusion Smoke City, flickered a few times, and landed at the edge of the swamp.

The light converged, revealing four figures—three men and one woman.

The leader was a middle-aged man of extraordinary height, nearly half a head taller than an ordinary person, with bronze skin and sharply defined features. He wore a set of golden armor and a cloak with purple-gold patterns, looking majestic. He was none other than Su Liu, the overseer of Jukun City.

"Hmph, a few dragons crossing the river want to stir up trouble on our turf..." A hint of displeasure flickered across Su Liu's face as he said disdainfully.

"To be fair, although they belong to the same Heavenly Court as us, we've never interfered with each other. It is indeed somewhat excessive that they didn't even inform us this time. But why let it bother you, Brother Su? With the four alliances working together this time, how could that treasure fall into others' hands?" Behind him, a man in white Confucian robes lightly shook his folding fan and said casually.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao Zhen is right. This Illusion Smoke Swamp is our territory. As the saying goes, a mighty dragon cannot crush a local snake. No matter how they stir, they won't raise much of a wave." A seductive woman in purple palace attire, with a red mole between her brows, spoke up.

This woman was the current city lord of Illusion Smoke City and also the Dao companion of the Black Earth Immortal Palace's master. Her cultivation was not particularly high, only at the late Golden Immortal stage, but her status in the Four Alliance Immortal Domain was not low.

The Zhao Zhen she mentioned, the man in Confucian robes, was the supervising immortal envoy stationed at Zeyuan City in Fuze Immortal Domain.

There was also a short, bald old man with a hunched back and neck, who had been standing with his hands behind his back, gazing at the swamp, not participating in the discussion.

"Senior Lu, in the past we each tried to enter the True Word Sect ruins on our own, and all failed. Since we've decided to join forces this time, we need to be honest with each other. Are you truly confident in finding the spatial node?" Zhao Zhen closed his fan, looked at the short old man, and asked.

This old man was none other than Lu Wuliang, the current palace master of Yuanjing Immortal Palace.

"Rest assured. If I weren't absolutely certain, I wouldn't have brought it up with you. You all know what to do after breaking the spatial node—just don't hold back when the time comes." The old man said slowly, his voice low and hoarse.

"With Palace Master Lu's assurance, I feel much more at ease." The seductive woman said with a light laugh, covering her mouth.

"Alright, we've talked enough. Let's set out." Su Liu glanced at the old man and suddenly spoke.

As he spoke, multicolored electric light gathered around him, and his figure abruptly shot up from the ground, vanishing into the Illusory Smoke Swamp in a flash.

Seeing this, the other three also burst into streaks of light and gave chase.

...

Meanwhile.

Over a swamp millions of miles away, thick, lingering miasma and illusory smoke hung in the air, and a massive stone staircase of several hundred steps hovered in the void.

On the stone staircase, several figures in blue cloaks, both male and female, were slowly ascending step by step.

The leader was a tall, graceful woman with light blue skin and curly green hair, clad in a fine-scale soft armor. Her gait was light, seductive, and swaying, like a boneless, charming snake, impossible to look away from.

Behind her followed a burly man as sturdy as an iron tower, carrying a giant sword as wide as a door panel on his back, and a gaunt old man with a sallow complexion and withered lips, resembling a consumptive ghost.

The burly man kept his eyes fixed ahead, his expression solemn and somewhat tense, while the consumptive-looking old man was much more relaxed, his murky eyes darting around, brazenly scanning the blue-skinned woman.

Suddenly, the blue-skinned woman stopped and turned around.

Her flawless, stunning face was filled with cold indifference, but her slender, elongated eyes held a pair of golden vertical pupils, from which a gaze brimming with murderous intent fell upon the consumptive old ghost.

"Keep your dog eyes in check. Don't force me to kill you before the mission is even carried out." The blue-skinned woman said coldly.

The consumptive old ghost felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head; he froze in place. The fear came not from her words, but from the eerie radiance that suddenly burst from her vertical pupils as she spoke, a sight that seized one's very soul.

"A-as you command, Fairy Bisher... I... I won't dare again..." The consumptive old ghost stammered.

"Fairy Bisher, our Yi袍 Society usually works in pairs for missions. Why are there three of us this time?" The burly man asked.

Upon hearing this, the blue-skinned woman's expression suddenly softened, revealing a charming smile. She said, "If it weren't for the old lecher's ability to set up spatial arrays, I would still be the one taking you on this mission."

"Fairy, please don't jest," the burly man said, his face stiffening, becoming even more tense.

Seeing this, the blue-skinned woman seemed amused, and her smile grew even more alluring.

The consumptive old man watched, his face showing bitterness, and he sighed inwardly.

……

At the mountain gate of the True Word Sect ruins, Han Li and the others were busily working on the ground before the gate. Nearby lay a small pile of silver crystals, along with array flags and array plates.

Shi Chuankong was currently drawing a silver array over ten zhang in size on the ground. As he drew, he directed Han Li and the others to insert the silver crystals, array flags, and array plates into the array.

With the four working together, progress was swift.

Before long, a resplendent and complex silver array was completed.

"Step back a distance," Shi Chuankong said to Han Li and the other two as he entered the silver array.

Hearing this, the three stepped back a distance.

Shi Chuankong nodded, then quickly formed hand seals and pointed.

With a whoosh, spiritual patterns on the surface of the silver array lit up one after another, and it began to hum and operate, emitting a bright silver light.

Countless nearby spiritual energies converged madly toward the silver array. The silver light emitted by the array quickly became dazzling, and after a swirling motion, it transformed into a patch of silver mist several dozen zhang in size.

Countless silver runes tumbled and surged within it, and waves of intense spatial fluctuations emanated.

Shi Chuankong's body floated up, standing above the silver mist. His entire body was enveloped in a dazzling silver glow, shimmering with spiritual light, like a deity.

He muttered incantations, and a silver token suddenly appeared between his fingers. The token's surface was hazy with silver light, with a silver moon pattern on one side and an ancient character for "void" on the other. Waves of spatial law fluctuations emanated from the token.

Shi Chuankong tossed the silver token into the silver mist below, while forming hand seals with one hand and continuing to mutter incantations.

The silver mist immediately churned violently, then surged like a tide into the token.

The silver token instantly swelled in size, growing to several zhang in dimension, and emitted a dazzling silver light. The silver moon pattern and the ancient character for 'void' on it were especially bright and piercing, radiating spatial law fluctuations that were nearly twice as intense.

Han Li and the others nearby saw this and revealed expressions of surprise.

They did not simply stand by idly; each circulated their immortal spiritual power within, poised to act.

Shi Chuankong muttered incantations under his breath, then separated his five fingers and pointed at the silver token.

Five beams of silver light flew from his fingertips and vanished into the token in a flash.

The silver token spun swiftly, and with a sharp whistling sound, a silver crescent moon several zhang in size flew out from the token, rotating as it slashed toward the white light barrier.

There was no earth-shattering roar as expected; the silver crescent moon, upon touching the white light barrier, directly merged into it.

From within the white light barrier came a muffled explosive sound. The entire barrier trembled violently, and at the same time, a layer of silver crystalline light appeared on its surface, exuding a strong spatial fluctuation.

The silver crystalline light flickered violently at this moment, but soon returned to calm.

Han Li's gaze flickered slightly at the sight.

This layer of silver crystalline light was evidently the spatial restriction within the white light curtain barrier; Shi Chuankong's attack had indeed been effective.

A trace of joy also flashed across Shi Chuankong's face. He let out a low shout and rapidly formed hand seals with both hands.

The silver token blazed with light, and sharp whistling sounds rang out incessantly as silver crescent blades shot forth one after another, all striking the silver crystalline light.

A series of low, muffled sounds rang out, and the silver crystalline light flickered violently before rapidly dimming.

But merely activating the silver token seemed to consume a great deal of magical power; Shi Chuankong's complexion quickly turned pale. Fortunately, the silver mist surged continuously from within the silver formation, pouring into the token and sustaining its spellcasting.

After a moment of such frenzied assault, the silver crystalline light finally tore and shattered, and with a loud bang, it dissolved into specks of spiritual light and vanished.

The white light curtain now rippled violently, visibly thinning by nearly half.

"Act quickly—I've only temporarily shattered the spatial prohibition; it will soon be restored!" Shi Chuankong suddenly bellowed.