"Capture him alive? Brother Fang must be joking! You yourself know that—he not only masters the Lightning Release technique, but also possesses a rare Blood Release technique never seen before, making it impossible to stop his escape. Moreover, he has other formidable abilities as well; capturing him would be no easier than capturing us, beings of our rank. Would either of you agree that this is feasible? If we instead choose to eliminate him, we can certainly secure the Golden Lightning Bamboo artifact—this, at least, seems within our grasp." The thin, elderly man spoke with a gloomy tone. In addition to the three senior cultivators and Long Han, there are also a red-robed beautiful woman and an elderly bearded man with eagle-like eyes. The elder's eyes are half-closed, half-open, and on one of his hands, his fingers are adorned with a jade ring. The ring is lush with emerald green hue, and subtle runes shimmer faintly upon it—clearly a rare and precious artifact. "Master Tianhen, this time we rely entirely on the support of several of our fellow cultivators," said Zhiyang the Elder with a smile. "We will hold our main force of martial cultivators here, and you simply need to infiltrate into Qian Tian City and completely plunder all its resource depots. Without the painstakingly gathered spiritual stones and materials collected by the Mulan people, even if they manage to gain the upper hand in battle, they will ultimately be worn down by our prolonged resistance. We will keep dragging them until they collapse completely." His tone suggested that, despite the legendary status of the elder—known as the 'Master Tianhen'—there had never been any significant friction between them in the past. "As long as you keep the Mulan divinities engaged at the border, your infiltration into It's entirely straightforward to transport these resources directly into the city—indeed, a matter of ease. The only concern I have is whether the Mulan people have deliberately retained all their resources within the city, perhaps setting a trap, waiting for us to move in. Elder Eyegazer's voice, crisp and resonant like stone, sounded quite strained. "Master Tian, rest assured. Our sources embedded among the Mulan people have reported that although the Mulan clans have taken control of Fengyuan and Yu states, the Nine Kingdoms Alliance had already prepared evacuation plans in advance. As a result, all the spiritual stone mines and raw material sources were systematically destroyed. The spiritual masters have arranged for the Mulan commoners to repair the damage, but due to the short time available, only a limited number of repairs have been completed—far from sufficient. The current spiritual stone resources they are consuming are drawn from the accumulated reserves of various clans. These resources are now centrally stored in a secret warehouse, protected by a powerful sealing array, and guarded by several senior spiritual masters. That's why they feel so at ease. Bi Zhen's medicine possesses an irresistible force that attacks the resource warehouse. Thanks to the delay provided by the seal, they have enough time to transfer the contents of the warehouse. In theory, it should be as solid as a mountain. Huahuan the Elder also said calmly. "Yet they never imagined that we, the Nine Kingdoms Alliance, have maintained such prolonged relations with the Mulan people. While they could send spies to infiltrate our Yue state, we too can send agents into the Fashu ranks. One of the senior masters guarding the resource warehouse is actually our inside man. When the time comes, he will deactivate the main seal. Tian Hen, if you simply act with sufficient subtlety, you can completely catch them off guard." Wei Wuyi said with a cold smile. "The esteemed friends are so confident. Then I must make this journey. Once the matter is accomplished—" "After the matter is accomplished, the Four Powers will jointly decide to assign all of Xu State to you." Master, you may establish your own sect here in this realm, and our four major powers will absolutely intervene in no way. From this point on, you may be regarded as the founding patriarch of your sect." Long Han smiled and interjected. It's surprising that such an old master, at his age, should suddenly have the idea of founding his own sect and rallying so many independent cultivators to strengthen his position—it truly comes as a surprise. "That's quite normal!" said Zhiyang the Elder with a serene tone. "Master Tianhen has been in the mid-Immortal stage for three or four hundred years now. For that long, he hasn't managed to advance to the later stage—likely, he's given up hope altogether and has started focusing on other matters. It's nothing unusual. Becoming the head of a sect is a significant honor. However, this master has often had strained relations with the major sects. That's why he's taking this opportunity to negotiate with us now. Their arrival is indeed a strategic move." "Well, although Master Tianhen has this strong backup, the great battle looming ahead means we can't afford to be careless. We must strive to win. If we suffer a major defeat in this battle, even if Master Mu Lan loses her resource support, we will still be unable to halt their advance." Wei Xiong, regarding the seals that your Nine Kingdom Alliance has placed to counter the spiritual magic array techniques—have you any concerns? This is indeed one of the most commonly employed tactics in close combat by the spiritual practitioners. Master Zhiyang looked at Wei Wuyi with a serious expression. "After years of facing off against the spiritual practitioners, our understanding of their spiritual magic arrays is no less than that of their array masters. Were it not for differences in our cultivation techniques, our Nine Kingdom Alliance could even set up arrays identical to those of the Mulan people. Master Zhiyang, you need not worry about this matter," said Wei Wuyi calmly. "The elder demon said coldly. "Our Zhengdao Alliance had already activated the ancestral halls of each sect and order prior to departure, retrieving several ancient treasures of immense power. We are certain to exceed your expectations." The statement from Zhiyang Master was simple, yet the Huahuan elder demon nodded with a relaxed expression, as if he already knew what these ancient treasures truly were. "Our Tian Dao Alliance is rather loose in structure, but each of our affiliated sects has made preparations. However, I am not entirely clear on the specific measures we will employ. That said, our Luanming Sect has drawn forth several ancient jade seals—these are truly remarkable and will surely astonish Master Mulan. Unfortunately, due to their age, their residual power has diminished. After this battle, they may well become obsolete." Long Han spoke with a tone of quiet regret. "Ancient jade seals? I didn't know the Luanming Sect possessed such treasures. I'm sure the other sects within the Tian Dao Alliance will also offer us something impressive." The only thing currently concerning us are these black-robed figures and their involvement in the wagering matter. Brother Yi, the cultivation techniques employed by these black-robed individuals are indeed from the magical tradition. Cannot you accurately identify their lineage?" Master Zhiyang paused and asked hesitantly. "Hmph! If they're practicing magical techniques from the magical tradition, I should certainly recognize them. However, the characteristics of their techniques are based solely on what I've heard from my fellow allies of the Nine Kingdoms alliance—never having personally witnessed them. How could I make an accurate assessment? The only point I'm certain of is that their magical cultivation appears notably more refined and ingenious than that of the six sects of the southern heavens, and some of it bears a strong resemblance to the techniques of the Gui Ling Sect." The tall black-robed man replied with impatience. "Gui Ling Sect? While we don't know the exact number of these black-robed figures, during the battle at Guangqian Tian City, no fewer than seven or eight of them appeared—each one a Yuan Ying cultivator. Clearly, they belong to the same sect. A sect with so many magical cultivators is only possible within that nation's magical lineage. Could it "The most yang upper cultivator analyzed the situation, his expression darkening. The others, hearing his words, showed no surprise—clearly, they too had arrived at the same conclusion. "Hmph! What's so special about the Jin State cultivators? Look at these black-robed figures, hiding in corners, acting as if they're afraid to show themselves. They're clearly intervening in our Tiannan cultivation realm merely because of one of the magical sects, or perhaps only a portion of that sect. What's there to be afraid of? Simply treat them as ordinary magicians and act as if we're unaware." The red-clad beauty, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke. Her voice was cool yet clear and pleasant. "The lady Feng is right. Even if a full force from one of the Jin State's magical sects is backing the Mulan people, our adversaries are merely stronger—would we really surrender Tiannan to them?" The most yang upper cultivator agreed. "That's true. Yet, regardless of their cultivation achievements, relics, or magical artifacts, the Jin State cultivators consistently outshine our Tiannan cultivators. There's no doubt about that." If the combat tomorrow involves these magical cultivators, and if they've secretly made some arrangements, that would be quite troublesome. The Jin state boasts countless secret techniques and practices—many of which are surprisingly difficult to anticipate. Huahuan the Elder said seriously. "No problem. I've already considered this. Do you remember our Taizhen Sect's 'Breaking Seal Pearl'? " "The Breaking Seal Pearl! That's the one used once to dissolve seals. Isn't it only effective against lower-level seals? Moreover, during the combat, even Yuan Ying cultivators have to expend considerable effort to break through the barriers. How could such a device be of any use?" Long Han asked in surprise.