Phase Two Begins

The remaining squads exchanged glances, an undercurrent of unease spreading among them. The veteran soldiers grumbled under their breath, complaining about how long their shift change would be delayed. The garrison stationed at the Eye of the Storm was supposed to rotate shifts every three shichen. Because the duty was high-intensity and high-risk, requiring constant vigilance, in practice, the garrison had long since been rotating only every five shichen. Yet their allowances and supplementary pay were issued on the basis of a shift every three shichen—money that never trickled down to the grunts doing the heavy lifting, fueling years of widespread resentment. Pity that their grievances could never reach the ears of the higher-ups, making all their grumbling in vain. Just then, several bursts of fireworks rose into the night sky opposite them, blossoming in the shape of lotuses. "Huh? Isn't that near Tianji Peak? What's happened at Mount Xu now?" Everyone knew those were signaling command arrows. Just at that moment, a youth carrying a travel pack came jogging over in a flash and said to the garrison officer, "Milord, I'm delivering supplies to my squad!" The officer recited by rote, "Which squad?" "The Yuan clan. I'm from Commandant Yuan's family." Most of those left in the Grass Sea were logistics personnel for the competition teams. The teams fighting inside the Fu Realm for days on end rotated members and resupplied every few days, so it was hardly unusual to see humans and beasts passing in and out of the Eye of the Storm. With anomalies erupting at Mount Xu and Lingxu City, the garrison officer had no mind to spare for random folk. He waved a hand and said, "Go on in." During the first five days of the competition, everyone entering or exiting had to be strictly registered. By now, however, people came and went as they pleased, and the officer saw no need for a thorough inspection. So long as whatever passed through the Eye of the Storm wasn't a Donao beast, he couldn't be bothered to care. The youth bowed and scraped before heading inside. Upon reaching the Fu Realm, the guards on the other side of the Eye of the Storm were equally indifferent to him. The land here was barren, without a single tree in sight. Fortunately, the terrain was rolling hills; once he cleared two knolls, no one could track his whereabouts. Channeling his true power, the youth ran like the wind. In one hand, he held a gourd, splashing liquid onto the ground every dozen paces or so. What flowed from the gourd wasn't actually water, but a pale-yellow, viscous liquid—translucent, with an odd, rank odor. He sprinted straight toward the area where the storms were thickest. After a mere few dozen breaths, the Lingxu garrison stationed in the Fu Realm heard an extraordinarily loud beast roar echoing from afar. One after another, it sounded like successive claps of thunder rolling across the sky. Wait, why was it coming from that direction? Because it was not far off, the ground trembled and shuddered beneath their feet. The guards turned pale. The officer seized a dispatch messenger, pointed toward the Eye of the Storm, and barked, "Unusual activity from the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth! Go warn the mortal realm, quickly!" With that, he kicked him right through the gate. The Thunder-Wielding Behemoth bellowed twice more, then went quiet. The garrison waited for a while. Hearing no further disturbance, they breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Perhaps it was just a routine show of dominance? Before long, however, the pebbles on the ground began to bounce. A rumbling roar rolled closer from the distance, sounding as though thousands of mounted troops were charging toward the Eye of the Storm. *** Ahead lay the boundless Grass Sea. Thin ice had already formed along the lakeshore; the only things still swaying proudly in this season were the reeds. When National Preceptor Qingyang and Baizhantian chased their quarry here, they arrived just in time to see the giant spider leap into the air and plunge into the lake water dozens of zhang ahead, sending out rippling waves. It took to the water. Celestial God Baizhan's eyes narrowed, and she strode forward. Without even forming a hand seal, she sprinted across the azure waves as if on solid ground. Reaching the center of the ripples, she raised her spear, channeled her power for about two breaths, and thrust viciously into the water! The moment the spearhead breached the surface, it instantly extended ten zhang and grew three times larger, reaching all the way to the lake bed. Most terrifying of all, the waters within a five-zhang radius of the spearhead froze completely solid, trapping all living creatures motionless until the power of annihilation erupting from the tip silently devoured them! Within two breaths, she thrust in all directions more than thirty times, churning the waters beneath her feet into towering, muddy surges. Yet no blood surfaced from the depths. Evidently, the spider immortal moved swiftly underwater as well. Everyone knew the underwater terrain of the Grass Sea was intricate. Any ordinary cultivator pursuing them to this point would have had no choice but to give up. But Celestial God Baizhan cast a glance at National Preceptor Qingyang: "Root them out." National Preceptor Qingyang nodded, and the short staff in her hand began to glow with green light. Dipping the staff into the lake, she intoned in a clear voice, "Local Water Spirit, make your audience at once!" After repeating the chant three times, she retrieved the staff and waited quietly. The Grass Sea was so vast—how long would it take if they searched the waters themselves? The best method was still enlisting the local powerhouse's help. This was the outskirts of the demon kingdom's capital, after all; the density of demons here was virtually unmatched in the world. After roughly twenty breaths, a massive head indeed emerged from the water, nodding in greeting to her: "The Grass Sea Water Spirit pays respects to National Preceptor Qingyang!" It was an enormous eel. Its head was half-gray and half-white, appearing somewhat discolored; submerged at the lake bottom, it would probably resemble a reef. Yet when it opened its mouth, at least two dense rows of saw-like teeth were revealed. Though it styled itself the Grass Sea Water Spirit, in truth, every stream, river, and lake between here and Mount Xu fell under its domain. "Underwater, there is a giant spider and a living human. Find them and keep a close eye on them, but do not alert them." The giant eel paused for two seconds before responding, "Understood." The Grass Sea hunt had not yet ended, so there were plenty of humans around. Fortunately, one of the targets was a giant spider; otherwise, how could it ever tell them apart? Having received its orders, it submerged into the depths and vanished. Celestial God Baizhan frowned. "This is not good. I fought Zhu Erniang in antiquity. Its magic was mediocre, but it had countless tricks up its sleeve." "We have already mobilized the army, and we have the aid of the Grass Sea's aquatic tribes. The longer this drags on, the greater our odds of victory." National Preceptor Qingyang knew full well that the spider immortal form could not be maintained indefinitely. "We shall start the search from this sector. By the way, surely You have another method of tracking?" Celestial gods possessed a myriad of methods; she found it hard to believe Baizhantian had no way to track the intruder and the spider immortal. Celestial God Baizhan nodded and exhaled a puff of white vapor forward. Through the white mist, National Preceptor Qingyang immediately caught sight of a coiled golden thread, though it was faint and indistinct. In truth, calling it golden light was more accurate than a thread, as it had not yet been fully woven together; instead, it drifted diffusely in the air like spider silk floating on the wind. "This is a karmic thread, used to trace cause to effect in locating someone," Celestial God Baizhan explained. "During the fight earlier, I took the opportunity to entangle it around the spider immortal. But for the karmic thread to truly take shape, it will take three shichen." National Preceptor Qingyang was intrigued. "So this is the fabled karmic thread? I assumed it would reveal them at a single glance." "Against an ordinary mortal, it would indeed reveal them at a single glance," Celestial God Baizhan explained. "However, the spider demon still possesses half-immortal power. I did not want it to notice right away, so it is best done gradually." In other words, it would take three shichen before they could accurately pinpoint the spider immortal's whereabouts. That did not preclude them from pressing their capture right now. Before their conversation could conclude, several dozen people came sprinting toward them from ahead. National Preceptor Qingyang recognized their uniforms: these were the garrison troops guarding the Eye of the Storm in the Grass Sea. "What took you so long?" Within Lingxu City, no one would mistake her medallion. But looking at National Preceptor Qingyang, the guards wore hesitant expressions. Who didn't know that National Preceptor Qingyang's crimes had been exposed and she had been detained by the Heavenly Palace? Without scolding them, National Preceptor Qingyang merely held up the token in her hand, green light swirling around it. Seeing origin power burst from the token in her hand, the soldiers doubted no more. Only with the authority of office could one wield that origin power. Whatever had happened to National Preceptor Qingyang was beyond their ability to comprehend; they only needed to recognize the origin power. Thus, when National Preceptor Qingyang pressed further, asking, "Why are there only this few of you?" the garrison officer immediately said, "The Thunder-Wielding Behemoth has charged out of the Eye of the Storm and is running rampant across the Grass Sea! We beg the Preceptor to intervene!" "The Thunder-Wielding Behemoth?" National Preceptor Qingyang was taken aback. "How could it possibly enter the mortal realm?" Lord-tier Donao beasts of this caliber possessed an intense territorial instinct and rarely strayed from their domains. More importantly, the spacetime barrier imposed restrictions on monsters of such magnitude; it should have been unable to pass through the Storm Gate. Consequently, Lingxu City had never worried about lord-tier behemoths invading the mortal realm. At this thought, National Preceptor Qingyang suddenly recalled news she had heard a while back: the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth had laid eggs, then fended off a Fu Realm sandstorm and an attack from another quasi-lord monster, with mortal warriors also getting caught in the fallout. The Heavenly Palace team that entered the Fu Realm had even submitted an intelligence report suggesting the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth might have dropped in tier, though it was never officially confirmed. Evidently, the report had been accurate. Unfortunately, the Grass Sea garrison had paid no heed to that intelligence. Furthermore, what was going on today? Everything was off. Upheavals at Mount Xu and Lingxu City, and now even a Fu Realm lord was interested in meddling in the mortal realm? Having lived as long as she had, National Preceptor Qingyang well understood the saying: where things are abnormal, demons lurk. How could there be such coincidences in this world? Ninety-nine percent of the time, this incident had to do with the intruders as well! She glanced at Baizhantian, who did not care in the slightest, not even twitching an eyebrow. "What does a single Donao beast matter? Capture the intruders first!" In Baizhantian's eyes, how much damage could a Donao beast possibly do? The mortal realm was Lingxu City's home turf; mobilizing more troops later would quickly suppress it. By contrast, the intruders absconding with the spider molt and the divine relic was the foremost matter that incited the celestial god's hatred and dread! National Preceptor Qingyang also understood the stakes. Sighing inwardly, she instructed, "Form groups of five and search this area immediately. And mobilize another two thousand men from the Grass Sea." She did not know that the Demon Emperor had already redeployed five thousand men from the Grass Sea to reinforce the Heavenly Palace, leaving only one thousand here. On top of that, when the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth made its berserk entrance earlier, it had unleashed a wave of trampling, catching the garrison off guard and causing heavy casualties. The soldiers turned pale, stammering anxiously, "B-but the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth has already..." National Preceptor Qingyang's tone turned stern. "Go at once!" Two soldiers suddenly pointed off to the flank. "It's here!" National Preceptor Qingyang and Baizhantian also felt the tremor in the ground and instinctively turned to look. Originally, clearing the long slope twenty zhang away would reveal the Grass Sea's famous White Sand Beach. But now, hundreds of garrison troops were fleeing from behind the slope, running in their direction while shouting in terror, thoroughly routed. Right behind them, a massive pack of beasts surged over the ridge! Donao beasts! They came in all sizes: the small ones weighed three to four hundred jin, roughly like wild boars, while the large ones stood over a zhang tall and weighed upwards of ten thousand jin, rivaling giant elephants. There were at least two to three hundred of them, shaking heaven and earth as they stampeded. To say nothing of their leader, the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth, who cut a figure more imposing than all of its lackeys combined.