The plan Jiang Chen devised to annihilate the Tempest Cult's ace squad hadn't actually consumed that much time. Add to that the period he'd spent breaking through to the seventh level of the Emperor Realm, and the total still wasn't particularly long.
Meanwhile, at the Glazed Glass King City, the Tempest Cult's Master — Xiahou Jing, the Seventh Young Master of the Xiahou Clan from Wanyuan Island — was still locked in a standoff with the Vermilion Bird divine bird.
Xiahou Jing was clearly wary of the Vermilion Bird. Though he put on a fierce front, it was mostly bluster, and he hadn't ordered a full-scale assault.
The Vermilion Bird, for its part, seemed to have read Xiahou Jing's intentions and didn't push him too hard. Given its own physical condition, the Vermilion Bird had no desire to fight at full power at this moment.
And so the two sides remained at an impasse.
"Senior Vermilion Bird, if you would simply step aside, I promise to find you a place perfectly suited for your Nirvanic rebirth through fire." Xiahou Jing dangled yet another temptation.
The Vermilion Bird had long since developed a complete immunity to Xiahou Jing's tricks and couldn't be less interested. It simply circled above the Peacock Sacred Mountain, offering no response.
In truth, Xiahou Jing was stalling for time. He had been calculating how long it would take for Elder Mo and Elder Peng to complete their ambush, capture Jiang Chen alive, and return to the Glazed Glass King City.
Once Jiang Chen was captured, the Glazed Glass King City wouldn't even need to be besieged — it would crumble without a fight.
But the wait was dragging on considerably longer than expected. By his calculations, even if Jiang Chen and his group were traveling back from the Nine Sun Heavenly Sect at the slowest possible pace, they should have arrived by now.
Why had there been no word for so long?
A flicker of doubt crossed Xiahou Jing's mind, but with the grand scheme unfolding before him, though questions nagged at his heart, his resolve never wavered.
As time crept by, Xiahou Jing's mood gradually shifted from doubt to anxiety.
"Has it been so long that Jiang Chen has already given up on the Glazed Glass King City and decided to start fresh somewhere else?" Xiahou Jing even began to suspect.
If Jiang Chen had heard that the Glazed Glass King City was surrounded and simply abandoned it to establish a new base, then his ambush plan would be far from perfect.
"That can't be right. Isn't that小子 the most loyal and devoted of them all? His family and friends all live in the Glazed Glass King City. Could he really stand by and watch them perish?"
Xiahou Jing still found it hard to believe. From what he knew of Jiang Chen, the young man would absolutely not leave the Glazed Glass King City to its fate.
But by the timeline, Jiang Chen should have returned by now. Why were there still no good tidings from the border?
Inside the Peacock Sacred Mountain, every Emperor-realm powerhouse had gathered together.
The Tempest Cult's army had encircled the Glazed Glass King City, and the pressure weighed on them like a mountain. As time passed, however, their mood actually began to settle from anxiety into something closer to calm.
The return of the Peerless Great Emperor and the two Jiao brothers from Huaishan had bolstered their confidence enormously.
"Brother Mo, these years you spent undercover in the Tempest Cult must have been no easy thing. Do you know the true background of the Tempest Cult's Master?" the Coiling Dragon Great Emperor asked curiously.
The others were equally eager to know.
Mo Wushuang's expression turned serious. "The Tempest Cult's Master is almost certainly not a cultivator from the Human Domain."
"Oh? What makes you think so?"
"It's simple. His methods, his style of operation — none of it resembles that of a cultivator from the Human Domain. If he were from the Human Domain, his actions would at least pay some lip service to the future of humanity. But all he considers is his own ambition, his own scheming. I suspect he likely comes from beyond the Human Domain. He has come here with designs of his own!"
This was the Peerless Great Emperor's speculation. Despite having held the high position of one of the Eight Dharma Kings for years, his knowledge of the Tempest Cult's Master remained limited.
"From beyond the Human Domain?" The Coiling Dragon Great Emperor's expression darkened. "Could it be the Demon Race?"
Mo Wushuang pondered for a moment. "At first, I also suspected he might be a demon, but I later dismissed that theory. If he were a demon, he would have used demonic divine abilities to control us, not poison. Furthermore, if he truly were a demon, he'd be far more keen on releasing other demons into the world than trying to seize power in the Human Domain by himself."
"Poison? The Tempest Cult's Master used poison to control you?" The Coiling Dragon Great Emperor's face changed. "Then when the Cult's Master said you all had a lethal toxin in your bodies — that was true?"
Mo Wushuang's expression was calm. "It's no lie. When the poison lies dormant, you feel nothing at all. But once it erupts, it's devastatingly virulent. Even so, how could we, as cultivators, ever betray our convictions? Jiao Yun, Jiao Feng — you two don't regret this, do you?"
Jiao Yun let out a strange laugh. "Regret my ass! I may not be some great hero, but the Tempest Cult is clearly a blight on the world, and I'm not about to help them destroy the Human Domain!"
Jiao Feng nodded vigorously in agreement. "The Tempest Cult's Master is a slippery, underhanded schemer. At the end of the day, he's still afraid of Young Master Jiang Chen. I believe Young Master Jiang Chen will find a way to detoxify us."
Others might have their doubts, but when it came to alchemy, everyone had developed a near-blind faith in Jiang Chen, believing him to be all-powerful.
And so Jiao Feng's words struck everyone as perfectly reasonable.
The Coiling Dragon Great Emperor nodded firmly. "There is no poison in this world that can stump Young Master Jiang Chen."
It was the Extinction Great Emperor who let out a soft sigh. "The Tempest Cult's Master looks fierce, but from what I've observed, he doesn't seem to have a strong desire to attack. It seems as though he's waiting for something — stalling for time, more than anything. Gentlemen, doesn't that worry you?"
"Worry us about what?" The Coiling Dragon Great Emperor looked puzzled.