"Since Master has no objections, allow me to introduce myself—my real name is Xu Qianyu. From now on, Master may call me by my given name at any time. Before Master, I would never dare to refer to myself as a 'lady of the immortal realm.'" Xu Qianyu bowed slightly, speaking with humility. "So it seems, this person has absolutely no chance of joining Tianyuan City." An elderly monk with silvery hair and a youthful face furrowed his brows and said. "Master Gu, I have done my best. But Brother Han is a dedicated cultivator who is solely devoted to the Dao of Heaven—there is not even a hint of interest in joining any other faction." Another elder monk, dressed in golden robes, sighed and replied. It was Master Jin Yue! Regardless of the white-robed elder or the others, all of them radiated an impressive presence, clearly all at the same level of Consolidated Body Stage. These were naturally the senior elders of Tianyuan City's Council. "Then, with this, our city's strength would be greatly diminished, and the Council would never be able to replenish its ten members. Even before the great war against the foreign tribes, our Council was fully composed—ten members strong, and even had Brother Yin Guang, our lesser-known reserve elder, who remained unknown to outsiders." Now that Tianyuan City stands in this condition, should the true demonic calamity truly arrive and the demonic clans treat the city as their primary target, wouldn't that be disastrous? Such events have not been unheard of before. "A man with a pale golden complexion, wearing a black leather robe, spoke coldly. "Useless. Regardless of the Sovereign of the Realm, the Sovereign of the Sacred Realm, or the seven Great Demigods of your feline clan, none of them will send their fully evolved cultivators to join Tianyuan City's defense. Everyone knows that the arrival of the demonic realm is now inevitable—perhaps even as far back as the past thousand years. They are all concentrating their efforts to ensure their own survival. After all, during the last demonic invasion, though it lasted only a few hundred years, nearly half of the previous three sovereigns and seven great demigods perished. They certainly don't wish to follow the same fate. "Master Jin Yue replied with a touch of resignation. "Master Jin Yue, can you be certain that the demonic realm will indeed realign with the spiritual realm within the next thousand years?" Another woman, with silvery hair and a silver mask covering her face, suddenly interjected Yet the voice was exceptionally pleasant. "Undoubtedly true. Not only has the Saint Island issued early warnings, but Master Mo Jianli himself has personally risked his life, using the celestial astrolabe to enter the True Demon Realm. The ancient demons within the Demon Realm are now massing their forces, preparing for an invasion of our spiritual realm. Unfortunately, Master Mo had not yet had the chance to thoroughly investigate before being discovered by a Saint Ancestor of the Demon Realm, who then compelled him to return to our spiritual world. Given this situation, it seems inevitable that the Demon Realm will make its move within the next few centuries—possibly even within a millennium. The entire region where our human and fairy clans, along with several neighboring clans, reside, is part of the Demon Realm's integration zone. A great calamity is certain to unfold." Master Jin Yue's eyes flickered several times before settling into a grave tone. "Since both the Saint Island and Master Mo have confirmed this, there's no doubt about it. Therefore, the Three Emperors and the Seven Demon Kings, as well as other major powers, must have received this message. That is why they have refused to extend an invitation to our Tianyuan City Elder Council." The white-robed elder twirled his beard, narrowed his eyes, and inquired. "It must be so. During the period of the magical calamity, when night-walkers and other ethnic groups such as the Wood Clan were also affected in the disaster zones, they too have only chosen to consolidate their strength and have not launched attacks against us. Thus, they naturally wish to avoid weakening themselves unnecessarily in order to ensure their own survival. After all, the protective seals established to safeguard our two clans are completely ineffective against the incursions from the realm of the demons. The very foundation of the Three Emperors and Seven Lands was originally designed to withstand such a catastrophic magical disaster occurring once every several thousand years. In fact, since the last attack by the foreign forces, not a single senior elder at the combined stage has joined us, and even among the guards at the Lingxu-to-Shen stage, there has been minimal replenishment. The current personnel strength is entirely due to our council sending out representatives to recruit individuals independently across the region." The masked woman spoke calmly. "Our Tianyuan City has already expended considerable vital energy in the previous foreign assaults. Without any reinforcements, we shall be able to manage only our own defense during the approaching Yet, unlike during the last magical calamity, we can no longer muster sufficient manpower to proactively encircle and besiege the demonic forces. A young woman with hair resembling purple flames suddenly furrowed her brows. "Indeed, the severity of each successive demonic disaster has been a true trial for us cultivators. Fortunately, the demons show little interest in ordinary mortal humans or beasts—instead, they relentlessly plunder the resources of the spiritual realm and slaughter our practitioners. They rarely engage in large-scale massacres of common folk and animals. Otherwise, with such calamities occurring every few tens of thousands of years, the human and immortal races would have long since vanished from the spiritual realm." The elder in white robes spoke with a grave expression. "Hmph. This isn't any sign of goodwill on the part of the demons. I suspect they deliberately leave ordinary humans and beasts untouched—like cattle and sheep—so that new cultivators like ourselves may continue to emerge, thus ensuring that when the next great disaster strikes, they can once again launch devastating campaigns against us." After all, for the magi, whether it's a phoenix essence or a fully formed spiritual body, such accomplished cultivators are the very best nourishment. Master Jin said this slowly, yet a glint of cold light flickered in his eyes. "Moreover, there are certain resources that neither of our two clans can afford to let go. Otherwise, as long as we hold our ground at one location, we can withstand the moment when the Magi Realm separates from the Spirit Realm and preserve our strength." The young woman with purple hair spoke with a touch of resignation. "Since other powers have other plans for this current Magi Cataclysm, we in Tianyuan City cannot demand much more—our only option is to focus on our own survival. Starting today, we will lift the seals on our several originally sheltered satellite cities and begin large-scale migration of ordinary human clanspeople into them. Additionally, we will dispatch a group of cultivators proficient in earth-based techniques to build several more empty cities. What we can do, after all, is merely protect the ordinary human populations in our immediate vicinity." Master Bai gently tapped the armrest of his chair a few times, then said, his gaze briefly shifting. "The Great Cataclysm has still some time ahead of it, but it's wise to make preparations early. Though we have our spell arrays and seals as a foundation, it would be even better to recruit more high-ranking guards. After all, the hardest part of this great trial will be the initial waves of intense assaults—once those are weathered, the demonic forces won't be able to hold out much longer. They'll likely settle into a stalemate. Brother Bao, I believe our clan won't see another advancement to the Consolidated Stage for several centuries to come. On the other hand, I've heard from the immortal clan of the spirit race that several of their young talents are currently striving to break through the Consolidated Stage threshold—would you kindly keep an eye out for that development?" The robed elder turned his head and suddenly addressed the middle-aged man with a pale golden complexion. "No problem. Among the major royal lineages of our spirit clan, there are indeed several young talents with truly exceptional potential—there's real hope that one or more of them will reach the Consolidated Stage." The man nodded, speaking in a steady tone. "Speaking of the spirit clan's peers, Brother Yin, there's one thing I'd like to ask The robed elder hesitated again, and then asked the masked lady one more question. "I have known Lord Gu for so many years—what could there be that I couldn't ask?" The masked lady looked slightly puzzled. "Since you've said so, then I shall be direct. May I ask—has the noble敖啸, our elder, been well lately?" The robed elder gazed steadily at the lady, speaking slowly. "Ah, I didn't realize what was on your mind—so it was indeed Lord Gu who was concerned about Elder敖啸. Yet here, the senior dragon-kin elders are not just me. Why must you specifically come to me for this inquiry?" The masked lady was momentarily startled, but after glancing at the black-robed man, she smiled lightly. "Silver Lady, why ask such questions? Though you were not born into the Silver Moon Wolf Clan, you carry part of their bloodline, and you even spent a thousand years under Elder敖啸's tutelage. When it comes to knowing the current state of Elder敖啸, who could be more informed than you?" The black-robed man raised his eyebrows slightly, speaking with quiet assurance. "Your words are indeed accurate. Not to mention Silver Light, since the time three thousand years ago when Master Ao Xiao first made his appearance at Juyun Mountain, we have not heard a single word from him since. Now that the demonic calamity has arrived, with Master Ao Xiao being a senior cultivator of both human and spirit lineage, we naturally find ourselves rather anxious." The elder in white robes asked seriously. Upon hearing this, the others also fixed their gaze on the masked woman, their eyes gleaming with concern—clearly sharing the same deep apprehension. The masked woman, her eyes briefly flickering with hesitation, finally replied with a touch of resignation after a moment. "I understand your concerns. Indeed, since our human and spirit lineages established themselves in the Spiritual Realm, few among us have successfully weathered twenty or more great celestial calamities. When our ancestor recently passed through the twenty-first such calamity, many of you were deeply worried. After all, with the presence of our ancestors and Master Mo as pillars of stability, our lineages have been able to maintain genuine peace and security over the years." Several of you need not worry—the Old Master Ao Xiao did not perish in the great celestial calamity of the last time. He merely sustained some spiritual exhaustion during this current ordeal, which is why he has remained hidden and in seclusion for so long. "Truly so!" The dark-robed man immediately beamed with relief. As a fellow immortal of the feline race, he naturally cared more deeply than the white-robed elder or others about this senior master at the peak stage of cultivation. The white-robed elder and the monk alike breathed a collective sigh of relief. "Hundreds of years ago, I still saw the Línglóng Immortal, who has been serving by the side of the Old Master these years. It seems the Old Master is recovering well and should soon be fully restored in power, ready to emerge from seclusion." The masked woman affirmed with confidence.