It had to be said that the Lord of the Wind Cloud Sect was unfathomably mysterious. Every word and gesture carried a sense of towering authority that left others gazing upward in awe. Even someone of Purple Night Emperor's caliber could not discern the Lord's true intentions.
The Lord of the Wind Cloud Sect did not clarify further. Instead, he issued his orders: "Dharma Kings Lie Feng and Xun Feng, heed my command!"
"Your subordinate awaits!"
"You two are to take four Heavenly Gang Elders, eight Earthly Fiend Provisional Elders, and select a contingent of capable sect members. Make a detour around the Ancient Cicada Academy. Stay concealed but not hidden — appear to be sneaking about, yet ensure you are discovered. Make it seem, whether intentionally or not, that you intend to attack the Ancient Cicada Academy."
"Then in reality — do we attack or not?" Dharma King Lie Feng could not help but ask.
"Surround them, but do not attack. Create panic, and that will suffice," said the Lord of the Wind Cloud Sect.
"Dharma Kings Jing Yun and Xiao Yun, heed my command." The Lord of the Wind Cloud Sect issued his next order.
"You two are to take eight Heavenly Gang Elders, sixteen Earthly Fiend Elders, and bring double the number of capable sect members. You will also surround your target without attacking. Your target is the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect."
Surround without attacking?
Purple Night Emperor felt a wave of frustration: "Lord, with this many forces, I guarantee we can take the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect!"
Two Dharma Kings, eight Heavenly Gang Elders, and sixteen Earthly Fiend Elders — with that kind of deployment, Purple Night Emperor was genuinely confident he could seize the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect.
The Lord of the Wind Cloud Sect's expression darkened. "Dharma King Jing Yun — are you questioning my judgment?"
When Purple Night Emperor heard the chill in the Lord's tone, his entire body jolted, and cold sweat burst across his skin. He had just returned from the Vast Cloud City, where he had failed to recruit Jiang Chen, yet had received no punishment for the failure. For a time, he had grown giddy and lost all sense of propriety.
With that single warning from the Lord of the Wind Cloud Sect, he realized just how reckless he had been. To dare question the Lord's command — wasn't that just asking for trouble?
"Your subordinate would not dare. Your subordinate will follow the Lord's decree to the letter." Purple Night Emperor had originally been a defiant and untamable figure, but he had clearly suffered greatly at the Lord of the Wind Cloud Sect's hands in the past, which was why he now submitted with such wholehearted obedience, completely and utterly loyal.
Even when reprimanded by the Lord, he did not dare offer the slightest backtalk.
"Dharma Kings Bao Feng and Ji Feng, you two will continue to monitor the movements of the Moon Goddess Sect. Hmph — the paltry Moon Goddess Sect thinks it can turn the tide? Repairing the Boundary Stele domain — the sheer audacity of their ignorance."
A hint of mockery laced the Lord of the Wind Cloud Sect's tone. He was clearly quite disdainful of the Moon Goddess Sect's overreaching efforts.
The one he worried about was Jiang Chen. The one he was wary of was Jiang Chen. Apart from Jiang Chen, there was no one in the entire human territory worth his attention.
The Moon Goddess Sect, the Heavenly Sword Sect — none of those first-rate sects posed any threat to him whatsoever.
Every move he was making now was aimed squarely at the Vast Cloud City, aimed squarely at Jiang Chen!
"All remaining forces are to hold the main headquarters and await my further commands," the Lord of the Wind Cloud Sect announced at last.
Those who had received orders returned to prepare, ready to depart at any moment.
Those who had not been assigned tasks were to hold the main headquarters, not daring to leave without authorization.
Though the Wind Cloud Sect had only recently risen to prominence, its discipline was remarkably strict. Even those of Dharma King rank did not dare overstep the slightest boundary.
……
In a certain cave dwelling within the main headquarters, a cultivator sat alone inside. He had just returned from the grand assembly at headquarters. In the Lord of the Wind Cloud Sect's orders, he had not been assigned any task.
This man was dressed in the garb of a Dharma King — none other than one of the Wind Cloud Eight Emperors, ranking among the Eight Dharma Kings, bearing the title Dharma King Moyun.
Dharma King Moyun's origins were shrouded in mystery. Rumor had it he had started as an independent cultivator. Yet even Purple Night Emperor, the foremost figure among independent cultivators, had never once heard of Dharma King Moyun's name before.
Since they both held the rank of Dharma King, Purple Night Emperor had both openly and covertly attempted to win over Dharma King Moyun, hoping to bring him into his own faction.
The Wind Cloud Eight Emperors had no official ranking.
However, within the Wind Cloud Sect, it was widely acknowledged that there existed a Wind faction and a Cloud faction. Each faction had its own leading figure.
The leader of the Wind faction was Dharma King Lie Feng.
The leader of the Cloud faction was Dharma King Jing Yun — that is, Purple Night Emperor.
As the head of the Cloud faction, Purple Night Emperor naturally sought to unite the four Dharma Kings under his banner. Yet Dharma King Moyun clearly had no interest in playing along.
He ignored every subtle hint Purple Night Emperor threw his way.
Purple Night Emperor kept extending olive branch after olive branch, but each was met with indifference. It was like casting flirtatious glances at a blind man — naturally, the experience left him quite irked.
As a result, he had once caused some trouble for Dharma King Moyun behind the scenes. But during their covert clash of strength, Purple Night Emperor discovered that he could not gain the slightest advantage over Dharma King Moyun.
In fact, when facing him, Purple Night Emperor felt a nagging sense of inadequacy. He even had a premonition that if Dharma King Moyun were to fight him at full strength, the outcome would be anyone's guess.
In other words, Dharma King Moyun possessed strength fully on par with his own.