Chapter 400: Assembly

Right at this moment, the communication array beside Han Li suddenly lit up, following which a crimson projection of Daoist Hu Yan appeared, and it declared, "Fellow Daoist Li, come meet us at Sea Fig Island right away."

This was the exact same island that all of the Transient Guild members had been instructed to assemble at prior to carrying out the mission on Red Moon Island.

"Sea Fig Island... Could it be that the entrance of the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor really is beneath Red Moon Island?"

"It sounds like you've also seen that piece of information circulating in the guild. The news is most likely true, so come and meet up with us right now," Daoist Hu Yan urged.

"Alright, I'll set off right away," Han Li replied with a nod, then concluded the communication and stowed the communication array plate away before flying toward the surface of the sea.

Moments later, a streak of azure light emerged from the sea, then flew away into the distance.

……

Elsewhere in the Black Wind Sea, all of the Vast Flow Palace's cultivators were traveling on a large blue flying boat.

"Red Moon Island... Its location isn't very secluded, nor is it close to the center of the Black Wind Sea, so it can be easily missed," Luo Qinghai murmured to himself with a contemplative expression as he stood at the bow of the boat.

Hovering in front of him was a small blue light screen that depicted all of the islands littered throughout the Black Wind Sea.

At this moment, there were four people standing behind him, consisting of a middlea-ged man wearing a feathered hat, a young scholar with a fair complexion holding a blue feather fan, a quiet and serious-looking elderly man with a black beard, and a man wearing a conical bamboo hat that was positioned very low to conceal his facial features.

What was particularly noteworthy was that the man in the conical bamboo hat was missing both of his arms.

As for the other Vast Flow Palace cultivators, including Nan Kemeng, they were all standing a bit further away.

"I did previously conduct a search on Red Moon Island, but at the time, I wasn't able to find anything. Perhaps I was too negligent," the young scholar said slightly furrowed brows.

"If the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace really did set up concealment restrictions well in advance, then it would be impossible to uncover the location of the entrance through conventional means, so don't blame yourself. I don't know who leaked this piece of information, but my intuition tells me that it's true," Luo Qinghai said.

A hint of excitement appeared on the young scholar's face upon hearing this, and the serious-looking elderly man also raised his head with a faint gleam in his eyes.

Even the conical bamboo hat of the armless man shifted ever so slightly, and all of the other Vast Flow Palace cultivators that were further away were also displaying reactions of excitement.

Luo Qinghai didn't say anything further as he made a hand seal, and the blue flying boat instantly sped up, flying onward as a giant blue shadow.

……

In the sky above another area of the Black Wind Sea, all of the Dawn Fall Sect cultivators were gathered together.

"Do you think this piece of information is true or not, Senior Martial Brother?" the Dawn Fall Sect Master asked as he turned to Feng Tiandu.

"There must be some truth to it. In any case, none of you have been able to find any leads thus far, so we may as well pursue this one," Feng Tiandu replied in an expressionless manner.

A slightly awkward look appeared on the Dawn Fall Sect Master's face as he said, "In our defense, the Northern Glacial Immortal Palace is clearly somehow concealing the entrance of the immortal manor, so..."

Before he had a chance to finish, Feng Tiandu swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a large black cloud that enveloped everyone before surging away into the distance, vanishing out of sight in the blink of an eye.

……

Hovering in mid-air above a lush island was the silver-robed woman by the name of Qu Ling.

She was wearing an azure mask that was projecting an azure light screen, and she was inspecting the light screen with a hint of a smile in her eyes.

Right at this moment, a ball of white light appeared on the distant horizon before rapidly approaching her, and Qu Ling took a glance in that direction, then removed the mask on her face before stowing it away.

Upon arriving above the island, the ball of white light faded to reveal the Xue Clan cultivators, and there were even more of them than last time.

"Fellow Daoist Qu, have you heard the rumor that the entrance of the immortal manor is located beneath Red Moon Island?" the square-faced elderly man asked with an excited expression.

"I have. That piece of news has caused quite a stir in the Transient Guild," Qu Ling replied with a nod.

"Do you think the news is reliable?" the square-faced elderly man asked.

"There are many people in the Transient Guild doubting the validity of this news, but no one has been able to present any concrete evidence against it, so there's a chance that it could be real. Regardless, we'll have to make a trip to Red Moon Island and take a look for ourselves," Qu Ling replied.

The square-faced elderly man nodded in response with a contemplative expression.

"I don't know much about this Red Moon Island," Qu Ling continued. "Your Xue Clan was once a local power of the Black Wind Sea, so I'm assuming you must know more than me about this island, Fellow Daoist Xue Shan."

"In the past, Red Moon Island wasn't all that renowned in the Black Wind Sea, and our Xue Clan left the Black Wind Sea tens of thousands of years ago, so I'm afraid I don't know much about the island, either. All I've heard is that the island master was quite a renowned and formidable Earthly Immortal, but for some reason, he was killed, and Red Moon Island has been left abandoned since then."

"I see..." Qu Ling mused as her eyes narrowed slightly in contemplation.

"Seeing as we've already decided to go to Red Moon Island, we should set off right away. If the entrance of the immortal manor really is there, then we have to strive to get there before anyone else," Xue Shan urged.

"Alright, let's go," Qu Ling replied with a nod.

Xue Shan immediately swept a sleeve through the air upon hearing this, releasing a burst of white light that enveloped all of the Xue Clan's cultivators, but before he had a chance to do anything else, a gentle breeze suddenly blew over his back, following which a burst of sharp pain speared through his lower abdomen.

He looked down to find a white snake head protruding out of his lower abdomen, and locked in the mouth of the snake was none other than his nascent soul.

Xue Shan's eyes immediately widened with incredulity.

Even though there wasn't much spiritual light radiating from his body, he was wearing a compact suit of spirit armor that he had refined over the course of hundreds of thousands of years, yet it wasn't able to pose any resistance against the white snake.

A burst of white flames shot out of the snake's mouth before striking the nascent soul, instantly freezing it solid.

Immediately thereafter, the white snake opened its mouth up wide to devour the frozen nascent soul before shooting back toward Qu Ling.

Xue Shan gave a muffled groan, and his body was turned around by the force of the white snake's withdrawal.

Standing behind him was Qu Ling with a cold look on her face and a large white snake wrapped around her body, flicking its forked tongue out in a menacing fashion.

"What the hell are you doing, you insane woman!"

"Patriarch..."

All of this had taken place so abruptly that only now did the Xue Clan cultivators realize that their patriarch had been attacked, and all of them immediately flared up with rage, releasing a vast array of spirit treasures in the blink of an eye, as if they were already prepared for something like this.

A cold sneer appeared on Qu Ling's face as she swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of golden light, which transformed into a giant golden beetle that was several hundred feet in size to keep the barrage of oncoming spirit treasures at bay.

"Why..." Xue Shan asked with great difficulty as the vitality rapidly seeped out of his body.

"I only approached your Xue Clan as I wasn't familiar with the Black Wind Sea and required a guide. Now that the location of the immortal manor's entrance has been revealed, I no longer require your services," Qu Ling explained in a cold voice, then flicked a finger through the air, and a hole was instantly punched through Xue Shan's glabella.

The light in his eyes faded, and his lifeless body crumpled to the ground.

Qu Ling then cast her gaze toward the giant golden beetle, which was standing firm against the barrage of spirit treasures with ease, completely unscathed by the attacks.

However, it certainly didn't enjoy being attacked, and a furious look appeared in its eyes as it swept its two front legs through the air, releasing two translucent streaks of light that severed a pair of spirit treasures like a hot knife through butter.

All of the Xue Clan cultivators were astonished to see this.

"There's no way we can defeat her! We have to split up and run!" the long-faced man roared, then flew away as a streak of white light, doing so in such a hurry that he was even leaving his spirit treasures behind.

Everyone else immediately snapped back to their senses upon hearing this before also fleeing in different directions.

"None of you are getting away!" Qu Ling sneered as she flicked a finger through the air, and the golden beetle instantly lashed out with its two front legs once again, releasing two thick streaks of translucent light that were each over 100 feet in length.

The two streaks of light shuddered slightly, then split up into around a dozen smaller streaks of light that swept toward the Xue Clan cultivators at an astonishing speed, reaching them in the blink of an eye before slicing through their protective treasures and the protective spiritual light around their bodies with ease.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

A string of agonized wails rang out as all of the Xue Clan cultivators were sliced to shreds along with their spirit treasures, and a faint smile appeared on Qu Ling's face as she swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of silver light, which swept up Xue Shan's body before dragging it toward her.

She inspected the body briefly, then stowed it away as she turned to the golden beetle with a smile and said, "Golden Immortals make for good sources of sustenance, but there's no need to hurry, the best delicacies are still yet to come."

After that, she withdrew the giant golden beetle as well before flying away as a streak of silver light.