At the same time.
The Li family members were killing enemies throughout the Zhao Clan's subordinate forces in the Duravia Trade Prefecture, heading toward the Immortal Domain.
But as the Old Ancestor's spirit tablet floated into the air, the expressions of the Li family members all changed, their looks complex.
At the Aeternus Sect, a silent great battle was also taking place.
Cultivators coming from Perennis Immortal City—led by Fairy Hongxiu, Li Yunlin, and the former Sect Master of the Aeternus Sect, Daoist Mingtai—were using all the savings and foundation accumulated by Perennis Immortal City over the last century to besiege this wavering fence-sitter of the Duravia Trade Prefecture.
However, the Aeternus Sect's Old Daoist Puci remained silent; no one knew which side Old Daoist Puci would ultimately take.
But the news from Perennis Immortal City arrived faster than Old Daoist Puci's answer.
"How can this be? How can this be?!"
Fairy Hongxiu's face turned pale. She stumbled a step, staring in disbelief at the spirit tablet floating beside Li Yunlin, which was now glowing with golden light.
[Perennis Immortal City, Annihilated.]
"Bastards!!!" Daoist Mingtai's blood qi surged, flushing his face crimson.
"Who did this? There were over three million people in Perennis Immortal City—all commoners and cultivators of the Duravia Trade Prefecture!
Who would dare commit such an utterly unconscionable atrocity?!!"
"The Zhao Clan, Zhao Qingxia." Li Yunlin closed his eyes, unable to bear the pain.
The Old Ancestor said that Zhao Qingxia had intended to kill him and the Divinity Transformation cultivators within Perennis Immortal City.
This battle was meant for them to face, yet it had become a calamity for the more than three million common people of the city.
"The Zhao Clan... Zhao Qingxia?!!"
Daoist Mingtai's face was twisted with savagery.
Channeling his Divinity Transformation spiritual power, he let out a furious roar toward the ten immortal mountains of the Aeternus Sect.
"Supreme Elder, over three million commoners have all perished at the hands of the Zhao clansmen!
Years ago, you followed Prince Qian in his reckless tyranny, seeking to wage war against Azure Cloud Prefecture.
Now you serve the Zhao Clan... Over these past centuries, what exactly have you done to my Duravia Trade Prefecture?!!"
That furious roar caused the expressions of all the cultivators who had come from Perennis Immortal City to change, and even the cultivators atop the Aeternus Sect were thrown into endless panic.
Over three million commoners, all dead!
Back when the many seniors of Azure Cloud charged into the Duravia Trade Prefecture, they all steered clear of where the common people resided.
Through years of battles, large and small, the common folk had remained mostly unharmed. Yet today, the people of an entire city were dead!
At the far reaches of the Aeternus Sect, Supreme Elder Puci suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a trace of a bitter smile.
"Go back! I don't care who that Zhao Qingxia is—I want him to pay with his life for the common people of Perennis Immortal City!"
Daoist Mingtai roared in fury.
He could no longer concern himself with the Aeternus Sect, nor did he care if the sect would continue to serve the Zhao Clan.
Even if it meant mutual destruction, he was determined to kill that unknown Zhao Qingxia!
"Fellow Daoist Mingtai, stay your hand."
Li Yunlin let out a long sigh. "Someone from my clan is making a move. The Zhao Clan has truly gone mad."
"Bastards! Absolute bastards!"
Daoist Mingtai's eyes were bloodshot. He summoned a disciple.
"Take my Sect Master's Token. I want you to visit every great Immortal Clan in the Duravia Trade Prefecture.
Tell those who worship the Zhao Clan—if they still possess a shred of humanity, if they still acknowledge this land as their home—to open their eyes and see exactly what they have done!"
"Yes!"
...
"Family Head, terrible news! This time, it's truly a disaster!"
Zhao Qingguang stood by the main road as Zhao Jingmiao passed him with a look of disdain.
Not long after, a clansman arrived, his face pale.
Zhao Qingguang took the intelligence report from the clansman; it contained news of the war, including... the battle report from Perennis Immortal City.
The black characters were stark and clear, yet to Zhao Qingguang, they seemed dripping with blood.
"Madness. Zhao Qingxia has truly gone mad, and the Clan Elders have gone mad too!"
Zhao Qingguang slumped to the ground, his eyes vacant.
"How can there be any room for reconciliation now?
This disaster was provoked by the Xianhe lineage; we should have just handed over those three wretched animals.
No matter how much we fought, there would have been a justification, but to kill over three million common people... You people... what have you done?"
After sitting on the ground for an unknown amount of time, Zhao Qingguang clutched the intelligence report, gritted his teeth, and walked in the direction from which Zhao Jingmiao had come.
Meanwhile, inside the high tower where the three Zhao Clan Elders were located.
Fairy Bai also received the intelligence; the transmission spirit stone sent by the family fell to the ground with a clatter.
"Bai Ling, didn't you tell Qingxia to return? How could he... how could he..."
Zhao Buqun held a mirror in his hand; he was trying to transmit a message to Zhao Qingxia.
His face was twisted with savagery. "How could he commit such a foolish act?!!"
It was only because the world was currently in great chaos.
If this were tens of thousands of years ago, the Human Emperor would have already arrived at their doorstep in person.
The common people are the foundation of the world; in the final analysis, the Immortal Clans and Immortal Sects of this world are formed by the common people growing step by step.
With this move by Zhao Qingxia, never mind the Human Emperor—it wouldn't be long before the mighty figures of the Imperial Capital, and the Immortal Sects and Clans hidden throughout the world, would not spare the Zhao Clan.
"Hurry and tell Qingxia to come back!"
Zhao Jingmiao was also completely panicked.
"That bastard Qingxia! Please rest assured, two Old Ancestors, I will ensure he suffers heavy punishment.
I will make this reckless brat reflect on his misdeeds for a hundred, nay, a thousand years!"
"Our century-old foundation, this Duravia Trade Prefecture, Azure Cloud Prefecture..."
Fairy Bai let out a long sigh. "Flee. This Duravia Trade Prefecture is no longer a place we can stay."
"It is our only choice." Zhao Buqun looked utterly bereft.
"It is a pity about this Heaven and Earth Qi Luck. We can only wait for time to forget my Zhao Clan.
When we reappear in the world, who knows what year or month it will be before we have such an opportunity again."
"Wait for Qingxia to return..."
Zhao Jingmiao was still rambling, but just as his voice fell, a crack appeared on the Longevity Tablet of Zhao Qingxia that he held in his hand.
The expressions of the three changed. "Qingxia?"
They knew Zhao Qingxia's strength clearly; he was the number one person in the Zhao Clan beneath the Void Refining realm.
His Divinity Transformation realm cultivation was enough to make him stand proud among his peers anywhere in the world.
A crack in the Longevity Tablet represented injury to a clansman.
"Impossible. Who in Azure Cloud Prefecture can touch Qingxia? Unless a Li family Void Refining expert made a move.
Qingxia's techniques are something even a Void Refining expert must treat with caution if they do not use Void Refining techniques."
Zhao Jingmiao's expression was grim. "The movements of the Martial Emperor and Zhuo Linlin are right near my Immortal Domain. If it isn't them, then who?!!"
But just as his voice fell, the faces of the three Zhao Clan Old Ancestors all turned unsightly.
From within the crack in the spirit tablet, a pair of eyes stared at them through the fissure, causing them to break out in a cold sweat.
It sent their thoughts back to tens of thousands of years ago, to the day the Zhao Clan was exterminated for the second time.
The Human Emperor had suddenly appeared above their Zhao Clan.
On that day, all the people of their Zhao Clan were rendered as weak as mortals; when the Human Emperor's spiritual power descended, they were even more wretched than pigs and dogs.
On that day, the Human Emperor had stared at them with those same pale eyes!
"Bang!"
With a face full of terror, Zhao Jingmiao threw the longevity tablet out of the high tower.
The three Zhao Clan Old Ancestors looked at each other in dismay.
All of them were terrified, sweat streaming endlessly from their foreheads.
Zhao Buqun forced a difficult smile. "Impossible... Heh... The Human Emperor is old; he is about to die. It can't be him..."
For the first time.
These three Void Refining experts, who had never taken the Li family seriously, felt fear toward the Li clan!