Prey

High in the skies above the Jiuxiao Domain, the Great Sun Sword Sect's sky-patrol warship, the Vajra, flew swiftly through the upper atmosphere, cloaked by the clouds and its onboard optical camouflage. However, for a kilometer-class sky-patrol warship flying at Mach ten inside the atmosphere, no matter how well it concealed itself, the disturbance it generated could never be completely eliminated. Under these circumstances, Yaoguang had already detected and locked onto the warship before it even entered the Jiuxiao Domain. Furthermore, using himself as bait, he guided the warship's flight path. Following this trajectory, while the warship would be able to rendezvous with the "Chu Guang" impostor within the borders of the Jiuxiao Domain, it was bound to pass right over Longxiang City. However, Longxiang City was not, after all, the capital of the Jiuxiao Domain. Although its defenses had been significantly bolstered because of the Zixiao Institute, the people of the Great Sun Sword Sect instinctively regarded it as a non-priority city. Naturally, it never crossed their minds that any kind of danger could be awaiting them there. ... At that moment, the warship's captain, Wu Xinxuan, was maintaining close communication with Chisongzi, Deputy Hall Master of the War Hall, and Baishi, Hall Master of the Heavenly Palace Hall. "According to our deductions, that supreme treasure, the Origin Realm, must be wielded personally by Nine Cauldrons Sect Master Li Qingshan," Baishi said with confidence. "And according to our intelligence, he is currently leading the Sword-Bearing Institute, rushing toward us at full speed in an attempt to intercept us. However... calculated by distance, he won't make it in time. "In half an hour, we will rendezvous with the target and pull out of the Jiuxiao Domain to return to the East Sea," Baishi continued confidently. "By the time Li Qingshan and the Sword-Bearing Institute catch up, we will have crossed most of the East Sea Archipelago and be approaching our sect's mainland. If Li Qingshan actually dares to give chase then, we can easily mobilize forces from our homeland and amass several times their military power. Even with a formidable spirit treasure like the Origin Realm in his hands, he won't stand a chance of turning the tables." "Indeed. Killing Li Qingshan might be tricky, but seizing his spirit treasure and heavily mauling—or even wiping out—the Sword-Bearing Institute is by no means an extravagant hope," Chisongzi smiled. A moment later, he added, "Of course, that is the best-case scenario. Once he realizes we're about to retreat to our mainland, Li Qingshan's Sword-Bearing Institute may not pursue us." "Not necessarily," Wu Xinxuan said. "A talent like the First Seat of the Zixiao Institute is someone any sect would do their utmost to safeguard. Li Qingshan might well risk sacrificing the entire Sword-Bearing Institute just to wrest him back from our hands. Therefore, everyone must still make all necessary preparations." Chisongzi nodded. "Rest assured. As long as you can retrieve the target without a hitch, this lightning operation of ours will be considered a complete success. Anything beyond that is merely an extra harvest." "Understood!" Wu Xinxuan gave a slight nod. He already knew that the Shenwei Institute and Qingfeng Courtyard stationed in the Jiuxiao Domain had been lured away by the Shenfeng Courtyard, Shenmu Courtyard, and Shenshan Courtyard appearing at the border. The only forces he actually had to face were the guards beside Yaoguang— fewer than twenty Great Cultivators led by Tang Fenghua, Bai Lu, and the others. Of course, Zhenhai Courtyard also warranted serious attention. However, he believed that given the speed of their surprise raid, the Nine Cauldrons Sect could never react so quickly. With this thought in mind, the sky-patrol warship seemed to cruise a fraction faster. Yet right at that moment, Wu Xinxuan sensed something amiss and suddenly spoke up: "Something is wrong. Our undercover agents haven't sent their secret verification signal in a while... yet their communications are clearly still coming through..." He abruptly turned toward Baishi, an odd look flashing through his eyes. "Hall Master Bai, I need your assistance. Could you suppress the Nine Cauldrons Sect's Heavenly Palace cultivators for me?" "Of course," Baishi nodded slightly. "Leave it to me." Yet this reply—normal to the point of being entirely routine—caused Wu Xinxuan's face to darken instantly. This was not the response signal they had agreed upon in advance. Their communications had been tampered with! The supreme treasure, the Origin Realm, was not in the hands of Sect Master Li Qingshan at all—it was held by Yaoguang! 'The Nine Cauldrons Sect actually values Yaoguang so highly that they entrusted even a top-grade spirit treasure to him! And Changming Hall never gave me a warning? Could Changming Hall's messages have been blocked as well...?' His heart sank rapidly. At this juncture, he faced only two choices. First, withdraw immediately and escape the territory of the Nine Cauldrons Sect. Second... Trust the earlier messages from the sleeper agents and take a desperate gamble, risking everything to complete the mission. This hesitation lasted for merely a breath before the captain of the Vajra was forced to make his decision. For he had realized: if Yaoguang possessed the top-grade spirit treasure, the Origin Realm... Their plan stood no chance of succeeding. On top of that, if the enemy had truly interfered with Changming Hall... The path ahead was very likely a massive trap! The moment the thought struck him, he made a swift call: "Retreat! Turn the warship around, fall back to the East Sea! In addition, fire sword lights through the clouds to signal Warning Number Three to our Great Sun Sword Sect's Heavenly Palace cultivators! Have them prepare accordingly!" Although the first officer and the crew were somewhat bewildered, they carried out the captain's orders without hesitation. "Yes, Sir!" Amid a chorus of acknowledgments, the entire warship sprang into frantic activity. Right at that moment, a brilliant barrage of streaming light flared from below. Immediately following, a formation flared to life in the city beneath them. Dozens, nearly a hundred sword cultivators pooled their power, forming a sword formation. Amplified by the formation, they slashed out beam after beam of sky-tearing sword light, targeting... none other than their sky-patrol warship, the Vajra! 'The worst-case scenario has come to pass...' Wu Xinxuan sighed inwardly, but his formidable divine mind rang out across the entire warship at once: "Brace for impact! Activate defenses!" A dazzling glow coursed across the massive sky-patrol warship as numerous defensive formations came online at full power. At the same time, many sword cultivators, bolstered by the formations and guided by Origin Spirit cultivators, launched counter-strikes to intercept the incoming beams of sword light. However... There were simply too many sword lights. Even with the sword cultivators aboard the Vajra striking with everything they had, they could only watch helplessly as hundreds of sword lights bombarded the warship's hull, forcing every defensive formation to run at its absolute limit. Once the barrage of flashing lights cleared, all the defensive formations remained intact. Yet Wu Xinxuan's heart sank even further. He could see it clearly: the enemy's opening volley had not been meant to breach the warship's defensive formations at all. It was meant to force those formations to operate at full power. What did that mean?! It meant the enemy was observing and analyzing the operation of the warship's formations, setting up a fatal strike at the critical moment to completely shatter every defense the warship had. They... had become the prey. "Captain, it's the formation! They relied on the city's formation below to unleash that kind of offensive power..." the first officer cried in alarm. The gloom in Wu Xinxuan's heart was quickly replaced by steely determination. He refused to believe anyone could dismantle all the defensive formations of the Vajra in such a short span of time. "Full speed retreat! Break out of the effective range of the city's formation below!" Wu Xinxuan's divine mind swept across the warship. The massive hull of the sky-patrol warship completed its turn and accelerated into its escape. Behind them, another dense swarm of sword lights pierced the void, slamming into the warship's defensive formations with thunderous momentum. Wu Xinxuan keenly noticed that the points of impact of these sword lights were completely different from the previous barrage. What was more, under the impact of these strikes, the inner workings of every single defensive formation were exposed without a single blind spot. 'Damn it! Once we get back, we have to modify the sky-patrol warships. We need jamming and obfuscation formations! Otherwise, if the enemy really has an all-around formation grandmaster who also commands a Dharma Idol spirit treasure like the Origin Realm... our sky-patrol warships will become sitting ducks.' Wu Xinxuan grew frantic inside, yet there was nothing he could do. Moreover, he knew very well that the array layout of a sky-patrol warship was an intricate, interconnected whole. Adding or removing even a single formation could cause malfunctions across the entire ship. Until those problems were resolved, the Great Sun Sword Sect's sky-patrol warships would hardly pose a threat to the Nine Cauldrons Sect. Such was the terror of dual cultivation. For any cultivator, mastering just one additional craft or technical discipline would multiply their weight and importance exponentially. *Rumble!* Another round of raining sword strikes descended. With a somber expression, Wu Xinxuan barked at his first officer, "How much longer until we're outside that city's formation range?" "Three minutes! In three minutes, even amplified by that city's formation, the damage their attacks can inflict on us will drop sharply." "Three minutes." Wu Xinxuan made a quick calculation. From the moment he realized they had walked into a trap until now, less than ten minutes had passed. Even adding those three minutes, it would only be a little over ten minutes in total. With such rapid responsiveness... even if the Nine Cauldrons Sect's great spell cultivators wished to cast the Yin-Yang Dissociation Technique to dismantle the warship's formations, they wouldn't have enough time. Thinking of this, the Origin Spirit realm cultivator—who held the post of captain and had undergone the tempering of Zixiao Divine Lightning—breathed a slight sigh of relief. Unfortunately... He had no idea what kind of power could be unleashed when the "God Lord" trait unified the strength of all spell cultivators. Especially now, when they were backed by Longxiang City's formation, and Yaoguang himself had broken through to the true Dharma Idol level. Before they could pull outside the strike range of Longxiang City's formation, eighty-one sword cultivators of the Zhenhai Courtyard appeared almost simultaneously around the perimeter of the Vajra. Seeing these sword cultivators, Wu Xinxuan seemed to realize something and roared, "Full defense! Overload all defensive formations!" At the very moment his order was issued, the brilliant radiance of the Yin-Yang Dissociation Technique cut through the void from the edge of the sky. Bridging the distance between Longxiang City and this airspace, it struck the Vajra with pinpoint accuracy. In an instant... All the formations shuddered violently, flickered, and then... dimmed, corroded and dissolved away. This sight caused Wu Xinxuan's eyes to fill with disbelief and creeping despair. "How could this be..." The next moment, a powerful surge of divine mind detonated above the warship. "Abandon ship! Break out!" The divine mind transmission shook Wu Xinxuan out of his stupor, and he instantly realized something. No! That was not his command! "Don't listen! It's enemy divine mind interference... I order, initiate the warship's self-destruct sequence! Under no circumstances can we let the Vajra fall into their hand—" Wu Xinxuan pushed his divine mind outwards, but halfway through, he realized it was utterly futile. His divine mind was thoroughly suppressed, unable to broadcast at all. Out of options, he could only shout at the top of his lungs. *Boom! Boom!* His shouts were instantly swallowed by deafening explosions. In the end, he could only watch as cultivator after cultivator who had "received the order" took to the air, only to be systematically hunted down by the Zhenhai Courtyard sword cultivators waiting outside in their sword formation. "No!" Wu Xinxuan cried out in grief and agony. At this moment, he finally understood the despair that Captain Zuo Chuan of the sky-patrol warship Chunyu had felt. *Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!* As sword cultivator after sword cultivator of the Zhenhai Courtyard landed upon the Vajra, this entirely predictable battle swiftly drew to a close.