The words of the green-robed man reminded the other three Sovereign Realm experts.
Of the remaining four, there was an old man in ragged, threadbare clothes who carried an ancient guqin on his back. He looked as though a single gust of wind might knock him over.
But when his eyes opened and closed, it was like the sun and moon flaring and fading — brimming with oppressive might.
"There really is one fewer than expected!" the old man's voice was hoarse, but the moment he spoke, every person from the Myriad Manifestations Region felt goosebumps crawl across their skin.
This old man's cultivation was actually a notch higher than the other three.
The other three were all at the second level of the Sovereign Realm, while this old man was at the third level.
"How could a sect be missing?" Sect Master Xing of the Qitian Sect furrowed his brow, his cold gaze cutting toward the Myriad Manifestations Region. "Among you, who's in charge?"
Xiang Wentian was naturally the unanimous choice, pushed to the forefront by everyone's gazes. His expression was calm and detached. "Everyone, the order of the Divine Abyss Continent hasn't collapsed yet, has it? You dare march your armies openly into the territory of our Myriad Manifestations Region. Aren't you afraid of provoking the wrath of the entire continent?"
Whatever the fight, securing the moral high ground came first. As the foremost figure of the Myriad Manifestations Region, Xiang Wentian had that much awareness.
But he also knew that even if he claimed the moral high ground today, this situation would likely be impossible to resolve peacefully.
Over on the Chiding Central Region's side, the green-robed, green-browed Sect Master of the Bamboo Joint Sect shot out a cold gaze and spoke icily: "Spare us the rhetoric. The old Myriad Manifestations Empire offended our Chiding Central Region and deserved to die. You remnant scum — for six hundred years, you still haven't given up. Every thirty years you hold some grand assembly to mourn the Myriad Manifestations Empire, which is the gravest insult to our Chiding Central Region. And now you've gone and produced an imperial seal and a national dragon stamp, an open attempt to restore the Myriad Manifestations Empire — utterly unforgivable!"
Just like the Myriad Manifestations Region, the people of the Chiding Central Region also seized the moral high ground first.
No matter what, they were attacking across borders. If they didn't establish a righteous pretext, they'd inevitably leave themselves open to criticism.
Furthermore, before their departure, the Chiding Emperor had repeatedly emphasized that they must come up with a noble-sounding excuse to justify their campaign.
Obviously, as long as it was tied to the Myriad Manifestations Empire, everything they did would have a legitimate name.
Xiang Wentian was furious: "The ones who offended you back then were the old imperial family of the Myriad Manifestations Empire. That royal line was already exterminated by you. What we commemorate is merely the former glory of the Myriad Manifestations Empire — not the imperial family. What does that have to do with what happened back then?"
"You still want to argue? If it has nothing to do with the old imperial family, then why does the assembly take place in the old imperial ancestral temple? The imperial seal and the dragon stamp — aren't they relics left behind by the Myriad Manifestations Empire's royal line?"
Clearly, these people had come prepared.
"Sect Master Leng, why waste words with them?" The black-robed Sect Master Xing's gaze was full of provocation. "In my opinion, our four sects each charge one flank. If we attack from all four sides, their formation is guaranteed to break."
Attacking from four directions would leave the Myriad Manifestations Region unable to defend everywhere — not a bad suggestion.
The other three sect masters all looked toward the ragged old man carrying the guqin — the Sect Master of the Baoqin Sect. He was the strongest among them, and everyone clearly wanted his opinion.
The old man's voice was hoarse: "First, clarify where the remaining sect went. His Majesty's orders are to eliminate everyone — not a single fish must escape the net. According to intelligence, aside from the Three Star Sect, there were five fourth-grade sects."
Suddenly, Wang Jianyu from the Sacred Sword Palace let out a savage laugh: "The remaining sect? They've already slipped away. What can you do about it?"
The moment these words left his mouth, the Myriad Manifestations Region side erupted in unrest — everyone clearly furious with Wang Jianyu's behavior, even contemptuous.
The Danqian Palace had indeed left, but before departing, they had notified everyone to retreat. It was just that no one had believed them at the time.
Compared to that, Wang Jianyu of the Sacred Sword Palace was ten thousand times more despicable — at a critical moment like this, he couldn't even resist kicking the Danqian Palace while they were down.
"Slipped away?" The four Sovereign Realm experts of the Chiding Central Region exchanged glances. None of them had expected someone to have escaped.
Could their plan have been exposed early? Had the Myriad Manifestations Region's people detected it?
That seemed unlikely.
The arrangement had been thoroughly concealed — there was no way it could have been noticed. And if it truly had been exposed early, why hadn't the others fled too?
The black-robed Sect Master Xing of the Qitian Sect spoke: "Brothers, even if one sect slipped through, they may not be able to break through our outer encirclement. Besides, even if one or two manage to escape and return to their sects, there will be others to deal with them."
These words made the faces of everyone in the Myriad Manifestations Region turn even paler. From the sound of it, the home bases of every sect had been surrounded as well?
These people were clearly supremely confident. They didn't even bother hiding their words from the Myriad Manifestations Region — they had already written off every sect there as fish in a barrel, with no concern about failing to crack them.
"Brother Qin, shall we begin?"
"Yes, Brother Qin — the longer we wait, the more things can go wrong. Let's act now!"
Sect Masters of the Qitian Sect and the Golden Talisman Sect spoke up one after another.
"No rush. Let them first listen to a piece of mine." The old man of the Baoqin Sect reached behind him, grabbed the ancient guqin, and placed it in the empty air. There was nothing in that void to support any weight.
Yet the guqin magically hovered in midair, as though an invisible stand held it up — an utterly wondrous sight.
The more wondrous it appeared, the more anxious the people of the Myriad Manifestations Region became.
Setting aside the fact that the enemy had several thousand troops, even if just these four Sovereign Realm experts attacked together, very few among their people would survive.
The old man of the Baoqin Sect had a face riddled with deep wrinkles, yet when his ten fingers extended, they were slender as a woman's hands.
"Then let me play 'Ambush from Ten Sides.'"
The Sect Master of the Baoqin Sect, his voice hoarse, gently pressed both hands against the strings.
Suddenly, streams of light flowed outward, one after another, from above the strings. At that moment, the old man's fingers began to move with a precise, rhythmic cadence.
Tangled, cascading melodies poured ceaselessly from the guqin strings.