Back in his own mansion, Chen Tianfei lounged in a chair while two maids fanned him from behind and a soft, fragrant beauty pressed herself against his portly frame, her slender fingers peeling the skin and removing the seeds from a spirit fruit that resembled a grape before placing it between his lips. "My Lord, you really should put more effort into Xingchen's affairs."
Ever since Zhao Xingchen had offended Yang Kai and been stripped of his position as small squad leader, he had fallen into a downward spiral, spending his days drifting between taverns and pleasure houses.
His elder sister naturally felt heartbroken watching this, and she wanted to whisper in Chen Tianfei's ear, persuading him to restore Zhao Xingchen to his former rank.
Chen Tianfei sighed. "More effort, more effort—as long as Yang Kai is alive, what do you expect me to do? Xingchen was the one with eyes but no sense, offending a person of great standing. Being stripped of his position alone was already mercy."
The woman wouldn't let it go. "But now that everything in Crimson Star is under your control—"
"Silence!" Chen Tianfei's tightly shut eyes snapped open, and he glared at Zhao Xingchen's sister. "Woman, don't you know that disaster comes from careless words? How can you say such things so freely?"
Though he held great power now, there was still a First Master above his head. If those words ever reached the First Master's ears, it would paint him as disloyal, and who knew how the First Master would view him then.
His sharp rebuke brought tears streaming down the woman's cheeks.
Chen Tianfei doted on this concubine more than anyone and felt a pang of guilt. He softened his tone. "Just wait a little longer. Once the storm blows over, we'll talk about it again."
The woman dabbed at her eyes. "How long will that take? I can wait, but I'm afraid Xingchen can't. You've seen how he is lately."
"A jade unpolished never becomes a fine gem! This might not be a bad opportunity for Xingchen!" A sharp gleam flickered through the slits of his narrowed eyes. "Besides, we won't have to wait long. At most, we wait until we leave the Grand Ancient Ruins. Sure, that Yang Kai runs roughshod through this place, but in the end he's only an Emperor. Once we're outside the Grand Ancient Ruins, what kind of waves can he possibly make?"
Hearing this, the woman sighed inwardly, knowing there was nothing more she could say. Her eyes filled with venom as she gritted her teeth. "That wretched Yang Kai—of all the places to go looking for trouble, he had to come here to Crimson Star."
Chen Tianfei couldn't help but laugh bitterly either. He was about to say something when his expression suddenly froze, and he lifted his head to gaze toward a certain point in the sky.
At first, his face held a trace of confusion, but then his narrowed eyes slowly widened. In barely three breaths, his face had gone utterly pale, and his portly frame shot to his feet.
"What's wrong, my Lord?" the woman asked, confused. Her cultivation wasn't particularly high—only marginally better than her brother Zhao Xingchen's—so even though she looked in the direction Chen Tianfei was staring, she saw nothing at all.
"Something's happened!" Chen Tianfei barked. He hurriedly produced a Communication Bead, contacting the other leaders of Crimson Star even as he strode rapidly toward the outside. His voice trailed back: "Stay inside and don't wander around. Activate every formation we have!"
The woman startled, her heart sinking. Something terrible must have happened, or Chen Tianfei would never issue such an order. She immediately reached out to her brother Zhao Xingchen, telling him to come here and take shelter.
Yet confusion gnawed at her—what exactly had occurred to make Chen Tianfei look as though he were facing a mortal enemy?
In the Star Market, a passing Open Heaven realm cultivator seemed to sense something and raised his head to peer into the distance. His face changed instantly.
Just then, with a thunderous rumble, a transparent layer of formation barriers suddenly appeared around the entire perimeter of the Star Market, enveloping the whole place in the blink of an eye. The formation defenses looked immensely solid—no fewer than seven or eight layers deep.
Everyone else who had been completely oblivious moments before now could hardly fail to notice the changes overhead, and they all stopped in their tracks to stare upward, bewildered as to why Crimson Star had activated its grand defensive formation.
Such a formation consumed vast quantities of rare materials and treasures whenever it was deployed. Under normal circumstances, it would never be turned on unless the situation was dire.
The streets buzzed with crowds, all talking over one another.
"What is Crimson Star playing at? Why did they activate the formation?" someone asked in confusion.
"The formation's been raised—there must be a powerful enemy incoming. Why else would they do something like this?"
"A powerful enemy? In the Grand Ancient Ruins, who could possibly threaten Crimson Star?"
"Could it be a Beast Tide again?" The speaker's face had gone deathly pale.
The Grand Ancient Ruins had been open for quite some time now, and during that stretch many people had encountered Beast Tides. The beasts within the Grand Ancient Ruins were numerous, ferocious, and staggeringly powerful. Many gatherings of cultivators had been trampled flat by the tide, with countless dead and wounded.
For that reason, cultivators inside the Grand Ancient Ruins turned pale at the mere mention of a Beast Tide.
"It's not a Beast Tide—look over there!" someone's voice trembled as they pointed in a certain direction.
Everyone's gaze followed, and their eyes shrank in alarm.
In that direction, a dense mass of fleeing lights hurtled toward them at furious speed, bearing down with menacing intent. Leading the pack was a cluster of lights radiating sword qi—scores of brilliant sword streaks!
"The Sword Pavilion! Those are Sword Pavilion people!" someone recognized the telltale signs and shouted.
"The Sword Pavilion doesn't have that many people—someone must be mistaken."
The Sword Pavilion's numbers were small—everyone in the Star Market knew that. Yet the lights approaching from that direction numbered far more than two or three thousand. That was absolutely not a force the Sword Pavilion could field.
"The ones at the front are definitely Sword Pavilion, but who the rest are, I couldn't say."
"The Sword Pavilion coming here—could it be about Crimson Star's Sixth Master? I heard that at the Yuan Magnetic Mountain, dozens of Sword Pavilion Disciples died because of him!"
"But wasn't it said that Di Tian's people were responsible?"