80. Sheer Evil
.
Back at the Arena, several Sect Leaders stood around the platform, directing a combined stream of qi at it, but the hunting grounds remained sealed.
After some time, Xu Fengyan made a few hand seals, and a large talisman appeared across the platform, glowing brightly despite the sun. Then he scribbled an air talisman, and it moved to hover over the center of the platform, before promptly plummeting right into the platform.
This was to force the Arena's core out and Xu Fengyan coughed blood as the entire Arena rumbled, and a pulsing brown and green orb rose up out of the platform.
"Sect Leader!" Several elders were instantly at Xu Fengyan's side, and the veiled stranger steadied him, directing a calming stream of aura at him.
There was a strange pulse, and they turned as one to the brown and green core, which now had dense deep-purple clouds of aura surrounding it.
Xu Fengyan instantly tossed a talisman onto it and it began glowing brightly. A few wisps of light swirled around the orb, then suddenly rose into the air, heading straight for Lord Mo, whose face bore an amused expression.
Xu Fengyan turned to Lord Mo.
"Lord Mo, can you explain yourself? Why is your aura on our Arena's core?"
Lord Mo suddenly yelled, "Now!", and there was a mild *bang*.
The two guest Sect Leaders had activated a teleportation talisman and vanished from the Arena, while Lord Mo smirked.
"You're a little too late... So what if you identify me?" He folded his hands behind him. "Your precious disciples are trapped, completely at my mercy.
"And besides, Yue City will soon be destroyed!" There was a sudden explosion somewhere from the East, instantly followed by another from the West...
.
Around Yue City, numerous masked cultivators had suddenly invaded, throwing around explosive talismans, while attacking anyone who crossed their paths.
The Elders and Sect Warriors had appeared to stop them, but soon found themselves facing more than a few invaders on Elder-level...
.
Back at the Arena, Xu Fengyan's eyes had widened in shock...
The same anonymous person who had helped uncover Zhang Furen's crimes, had recently sent another letter, warning him that Lord Mo had nefarious intentions, but Xu Fengyan never imagined Lord Mo would be so bold!
"Mo Zhiyuan!" Xu Fengyan thundered. "Did you forget the Wulin's Fair-Play rule?! How dare you attack a major sect?!"
"Hmph. The Fair-Play rule applies only if I get caught. Won't the Wulin need proof that I did anything wrong? Only you and the top elders of Yueyan Sect know who I am, and I intend to *destroy both the trees and the grasses surrounding them!"
(*Essentially kill everyone to cover his tracks)
"Preposterous!" Lord Ju thundered. "Are you treating us as wall hangings! Do you think we can't stop you?!"
"Sect Leader Ju, I would admit I was annoyed with your sudden arrival this morning, but I don't mind offering you a way out.
"Shouldn't you of all people feel threatened by this Sect? Do you want your Yunchi Sect dropping to third place? You've always been one to veer down the most profitable path, so it would be best if you come over to my side. I will even let you keep all the looted resources from here...
"Otherwise I won't be able to keep you either." Lord Mo calmly warned.
But Lord Ju firmly remained on Xu Fengyan's side.
He certainly didn't want to see Yueyan surpass his sect, and the idea of possessing all their resources was tempting, especially if they hadn't used up the gifts from Sky Realm!!
But right was right, and wrong was wrong...
True. He often toed the line between the two for selfish purposes, but attacking a sect with the intent to spill so much blood was sheer evil!
"I won't join you!" He declared, actually stepping in front of Xu Fengyan. "Is there a difference between your actions and that of the infamous black dragon?! If I dare commit such acts, my ancestors will surely scold me!"
"Ni-!" Lord Mo caught himself, forcing a furious look off his face. "Hao! Then you can die here together!" He raised a hand and a long scythe appeared. The blade was curved into a crescent shape.
"Do you think any of you can stop me? I might as well tell you, I have brought in numerous Elder-ranked cultivators, and countless Profound Tier members, most of them *rogue cultivators, and there are two Sect Leaders on my side! Altogether,
they far outnumber the measly Yueyan Sect Elders sent out earlier!"
(*Cultivators not affiliated with any clan or sect, making them hard to track)
Xu Fengyan staggered a step, and Lord Mo smiled.
"I'll be kind..." He continued. "Regular people are like sheep who know nothing, so I'll try not to kill too many, but every Clan or Sect Elder, every Sect warrior, or even disciples... They must all perish today!"
He sighed. "You can only blame yourselves... You know too much about my connections and dealings with Huang Chun (Zhang Furen), and I won't let a single thing harm my Mo family name!"
"Lord Mo, do you think you can *cover the Sky with one hand?!" Lord Ju challenged. "The Immortals won't sit still if you cause this kind of bloodshed!"
(*In context= Hide everything he's doing)
But Lord Mo laughed. "The immortals are too busy chasing shadows! The Fate Immortal is convinced the Black Dragon still lives, and he's searching for him! The Night Immortal is searching for him as well!
"Those are the only two who can monitor our realm, so tell me... Who is paying attention? Who will do anything...?!"
.
.
Meanwhile, over the past two days, Yin Xing had been leading Fei Yun on a wild and pointless chase, which meant the Night Immortal and Fate Immortal were indeed absent from their posts...
After their confrontation, Yin Xing had instructed Yan Linfeng to send swallows with a warning to 'Luoyin', while she personally delivered a message to Lotus Lake, a hidden mythical lake in Mortal realm, where Elder Bao, one of the oldest immortals lived.
Yin Xing himself went to a distant and remote region in Mortal Realm, leading Fei Yun further away.
It was a good plan... Especially since Fei Yun might assume Bailong would hide in such a remote place.
It worked!
Yin Xing could sense Fei Yun watching him!
But at the moment, he suddenly felt uneasy as a thought occurred to him...
Neither he nor Fei Yun were at their posts, but didn't that mean the eyes of Sky Realm were currently shut to the other realms?
But he reminded himself that Fate Hall had disciples who could view the Fate Mirrors and act, and he was just letting out a sigh of relief when his eyes widened.
He also recalled who Fei Yun's vice was.
Jin Lan.
A floral prince, and the current Floral Deity's distant grand nephew!
Normally he wouldn't think anything of it, but after Bailong asked him to investigate the late Sky Empress, he had slowly been discovering that the Floral Deity wasn't as pure and innocent as she appeared...
In fact, he suspected the Floral Deity had been manipulating the late Empress in the past, making her sow discord between Bailong and the Sky Emperor, which had laid the ground work for the following tragic events.
Back to Jin Lan...
He was a Prince, but the floral princes and princesses rarely left the Floral Kingdom to work.
Nor did members of the floral clan have any real affinity for Fate readings.
So what were the odds that Jin Lan had chosen to work at Fate Villa?
Could he trust Jin Lan to be neutral?
What if Fei Yun had somehow been manipulated into chasing him, so neither of them would notice immortal activity in the mortal realm...?
What if the culprits had discovered where Bailong was?
As if to prove him right, a sudden force pulled him into his sea of consciousness, which was like a vast, azure ocean.
A tiny white orb appeared before him, hovering pulsing in place.
This was Zhang Luoyin's star, which Yin Xing had hidden from the skies, and as he reached out and touched the star, he instantly saw visions of Luoyin trapped in the Hunting grounds, and the attack on Yue City...
'Not good!' Yin Xing thought, and he instantly vanished.
.
Fate Hall, sky Realm...
In the Fate Hall, the disciples panicked before the Fate Mirrors, which showed the sudden destruction of an entire city...
This was highly weird as the Starry Pavillion hadn't sent any word of this calamity, nor had their master Fei Yun, mentioned it to any of them.
"What do we do?! Master is not around!" One exclaimed. None of them had seen Fei Yun for a few days now.
"Master never even recorded this calamity!" Another noted, going through a large golden book which floated before him.
"That means an immortal is getting involved in mortal affairs!" Another put in.
"I say we inform the Sky Emperor at once!" But when they turned, they found the way blocked by Jin Lan, Fei Yun's vice, and their senior.
"Senior Jin, why stop us! If we don't act quickly, numerous mortals will die!"
"Calm yourselves..." Jin Lan said, waving his hand, and this instantly blocked all doors and windows with a strange floral shield with bright yellow unopened flower buds lining the shield's surface.
"Master mentioned it to me..." He calmly stated. "We aren't to get involved."
On a normal day, they might have believed Jin Lan, but there was something off about him today, and the third-in-command closed the golden book.
"Senior Jin, how about this..." He bowed. "Let me go to sky palace first, and if Master is angry upon his return, then I'll bear the punishment alone!"
But Jin Lan simply smirked. "Hmph, don't blame me for this!" He suddenly raised a hand and the yellow flower buds opened, releasing strange fumes into the hall.
Soon, all the Fate disciples felt like they could no longer breath, and they dropped to the floor one by one.
"W- what have you done...?!" The third-in-command forced out, but Jin Lan sighed with no shred of repentance.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you hinder Floral Deity's plans!"
.