Huangfu Rui felt a burst of pleasant surprise upon seeing the short Nascent Soul cultivator. The three Nascent Soul cultivators in the distant East Sea did not come to Spirit Mist City without reason. This matter traced back two or three years, to when Ye Qin returned to Spirit Mist City from the Land of Chaos.

He had reported some of his experiences in the Land of Chaos to Ancestor Chen Min, including his encounter with the Emperor in the underground Imperial Tomb. This was not a particularly significant matter for Ye Qin; he only omitted the benefits he gained in the underground Imperial Tomb, reporting everything else truthfully. Chen Min, gravely concerned, relayed this matter to Huangfu Rui.

Huangfu Rui was immediately struck with alarm, realizing the gravity of the situation. A thousand years prior, the Holy Emperor had violated the ancient covenant and aggressively expanded his influence across the Central Continent, establishing the Holy Emperor Cultivation World and marching on surrounding cultivation realms. The Spirit Mist Realm, Sky Dome Origin Realm, and Ten Thousand Moon Lake Realm were adjacent to the Holy Emperor Realm, making them the inevitable first targets.

The cultivation sects of these three realms, terrified, sent urgent calls for aid to the Nascent Soul ancestors in the East Sea. Far away in the East Sea, the three mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators hailing from the Spirit Mist Realm, Sky Dome Origin Realm, and Ten Thousand Moon Lake Realm were enraged upon receiving the news. The presence of Nascent Soul cultivators in the Central Continent was already a clear breach of the ancient covenant, absolutely unacceptable.

Furthermore, the Holy Emperor’s attempt to invade the three cultivation realms directly infringed upon their vested interests. They immediately returned to the Central Continent, leading hundreds of Golden Core cultivators from the three realms. After an unimaginably brutal war, they jointly defeated the Holy Emperor, who was then at the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and completely annihilated the Holy Emperor Cultivation World.

However, the Holy Emperor’s cultivation technique was peculiar, rendering his physical body nearly indestructible and unkillable. They were forced to chain and imprison the Holy Emperor's body on the altar within the underground Imperial Tomb's ice coffin, intending to let time slowly exhaust his lifespan until he naturally perished. A Nascent Soul cultivator’s lifespan is approximately one thousand years.

Yet, a millennium had passed, and the Holy Emperor still lived; there must be a trick to it. How astute and resourceful was Huangfu Rong? He immediately perceived the lurking danger.

He had reviewed all records pertaining to the war that destroyed the Holy Emperor Realm. The three realms alone had lost seventy to eighty Golden Core cultivators, a scale far exceeding an ordinary cultivation world conflict. Compared to the devastation of the Holy Emperor Realm War, the current bloody battle in Spirit Mist City was merely a skirmish, fought almost entirely by Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators, with hardly any Golden Core casualties.

Huangfu Rui deeply understood the terrifying power of Nascent Soul cultivators. With his own strength, he naturally dared not provoke the Holy Emperor imprisoned in the underground Imperial Tomb. Even though the Holy Emperor was restrained, he did not wish to risk his life to investigate.

Ye Qin, Shi Hanyang, Ma Dongyan, and the group of Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Land of Chaos entering the underground Imperial Tomb were like new calves unafraid of the tiger; they never seriously considered how powerful the Holy Emperor was, going in simply to claim potential spoils. After careful deliberation, Poison Fu Rui arranged for a Golden Core junior brother from the Green Pill Sect to disappear from the Green Pill Mountain Gate under the guise of seclusion. This junior brother then secretly traveled to the distant East Sea to issue a warning to the senior Nascent Soul cultivators of the Spirit Mist Realm, requesting their return to handle the matter.

Huangfu Rui’s execution of plans was meticulous and flawless. At that time, he was unsure which Nascent Soul senior would return to the Central Continent to deal with this situation. To prepare, he committed to memory the portraits of every cultivator from the Green Pill Sect who had traveled to the East Sea in the preceding few centuries.

Moreover, he made every possible arrangement concerning those senior Nascent Soul cultivators who had joined the Heavenly Dao Alliance in the East Sea. Calculating the time, it had been about two to three years, meaning the Nascent Soul ancestors should be arriving in the Spirit Mist Realm around now. When Huangfu Rui saw the continuous stretch of clouds spanning dozens of miles in the sky, accompanied by an immense spiritual pressure unique to Nascent Soul cultivators, he vaguely guessed that the Nascent Soul ancestor of the Spirit Mist Realm had likely returned.

He desperately suppressed the wild ecstasy in his heart and ascended into the clouds to pay his respects, instantly recognizing the identity of the great cultivator before him, referred to as Senior Wei. This was because he had once tasked his daughter, Huangfu Bing'er, with personally executing numerous missions. One of these involved traveling to the Guiyi Prefecture in the Lingju Kingdom to temporarily escort a wealthy secular family surnamed Wei to Spirit Mist City for proper resettlement.

This family was the direct lineage descendant of Senior Wei remaining in the mortal world. And the one who had returned now was precisely Senior Wei. This seemingly irrelevant move, made with painstaking effort in the past, had finally found its proper use.

At this thought, even with his usual composure, Huangfu Rui could not conceal his elation. As he bowed, the other six or seven Golden Core cultivators quickly understood the situation. Lü Ziyou, Qin Shanjun, Chan Master Tianmeng, and the other Golden Core cultivators rushed forward, faces contorted with eager, tearful excitement, bowing to the three Nascent Soul Martial Uncles.

However, they were considerably more vexed. The sudden appearance of three Nascent Soul cultivators was entirely beyond their expectations, and they had made no prior arrangements. They didn't even know the proper form of address for the three Nascent Soul cultivators, resorting only to vaguely calling them Martial Uncle-Grandmasters.

Fortunately, the three Nascent Soul cultivators did not mind and accepted their bows. “I recall there was an alliance treaty established between the Spirit Mist, Sky Dome Origin, and Ten Thousand Moon Lake cultivation realms, stipulating mutual non-aggression. What is the meaning of this?

How have cultivators from Sky Dome Origin and Ten Thousand Moon Lake managed to fight their way into Spirit Mist City? And there are remnants from the Land of Chaos mixed in with the Sky Dome Origin forces. Do you take me for someone who believes the Spirit Mist Realm is without protectors?” Cultivator Wei stood with his hands behind his back, looking down upon Spirit Mist City beneath the clouds, where tens of thousands of cultivators swirled in battle like ants.

He spoke coldly to the Golden Core cultivators before him. The male Nascent Soul cultivator from Sky Dome Origin and the female Nascent Soul cultivator from Ten Thousand Moon Lake remained silent. Their gazes fell upon Chan Master Tianmeng, currently the leader of the Sky Dome Origin Realm, clearly seeking an explanation for the conflict.

Chan Master Tianmeng inwardly cursed his misfortune; the critical moment had finally arrived. He forced himself forward and began his explanation. “Junior Tianmeng reports to the two seniors and Martial Uncle-Grandmaster.

There was indeed an alliance between our three cultivation realms, but the term of the treaty has long since expired. As for the cause of the conflict, this junior dares not conceal anything. For over a century, the Sky Dome Origin Realm has suffered continuous strange hurricanes, causing severe reductions in spiritual herbs and spirit beasts.

Therefore, we wished to borrow some resources from the Spirit Mist Realm, but the Daoist friends there refused to lend them. This led to a dispute. Later, the situation escalated until it was beyond my ability to contain, and a fight broke out.

I deserve death for allowing such minor matters to disturb the attention of the two seniors and Martial Uncle-Grandmaster.” “Borrow? You might as well say rob. Dai, even if you said rob outright, no one here would contest it,” Lü Ziyou interjected with a cold sneer.

“This, I…” Under the scrutiny of everyone present, Chan Master Tianmeng’s face flushed red, and he mumbled, unable to form a complete sentence. Every Golden Core cultivator present was savvy enough to understand the truth. And the three Nascent Soul cultivators were experienced veterans.

Conflicts erupting over the seizure of resources—they had witnessed this thousands of times over the ages. How could Chan Master Tianmeng possibly deceive them? He could no longer fabricate lies.

Cultivator Wei frowned upon hearing this. Ignoring Tianmeng, he addressed the bald cultivator to his left, who looked imposing while riding a sea beast: “Brother Bu Chi, we’ve fought and killed enough. So many cultivators have died; the vacated territory is more than enough for everyone.

Shouldn’t you settle down now? Do you truly wish for your disciples and followers from the Sky Dome Origin Realm to eradicate my Spirit Mist Realm?” “Ha, Brother Wei, what kind of talk is that? It is perfectly normal for juniors to squabble over territory; we all came up the same way back then.

How can we elders arbitrarily interfere in disputes between our juniors? Let them fight it out themselves. Only then will they adapt to the harsh conditions over in the East Sea when they arrive,” the Nascent Soul cultivator Bu Chi laughed proudly.

He could clearly see that among the three realms’ cultivators currently fighting below, those from Sky Dome Origin and Ten Thousand Moon Lake clearly held the upper hand and were on the verge of conquering Spirit Mist City. This greatly boosted his prestige. Having finally found an opportunity to taunt Cultivator Wei, he was naturally unwilling to let the Sky Dome Origin cultivators stop easily.

“Enough, I suggest we cease hostilities. The East Sea requires many cultivators for territorial expansion and is currently short-handed. Our Alliance Master has already issued a summons to conscript a batch of Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Central Continent to replenish the low-level losses in the Alliance.

Instead of letting our three realms’ cultivators slaughter each other to death here pointlessly, it would be better to send them to the East Sea to expand the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s territory. Let the juniors handle the remaining affairs here; we should proceed to the Holy Emperor Ruins to address the main business first,” the female cultivator on the right stated calmly. Cultivator Wei, along with the female cultivator, both opposed continuing the fight.

Bu Chi found it difficult to object. After a brief contemplation, he turned to Tianmeng: “Very well. Since True Person Wei and True Person Miaoyin have spoken, Tianmeng, stop wasting time here.

Take your people and return to Sky Dome Origin. Furthermore, you must recruit a contingent of promising Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators to head to the East Sea. With so many cultivators dead and another batch being conscripted, the remaining spiritual resources should suffice for your cultivation needs.

Endure these few years of hardship, and things will improve once those strange hurricanes over the Sky Dome Origin subside.” In three short sentences, the three Nascent Soul cultivators brought the Spirit Mist City Blood War to an end. “Yes, I shall strictly follow the orders of Martial Uncle-Grandmaster and the two seniors! This junior will carry out the instructions immediately and withdraw the troops back to the Sky Dome Origin, and also conscript a batch of Sky Dome Origin cultivators for the East Sea,” Chan Master Tianmeng dared not oppose the Nascent Soul cultivators' decision and quickly agreed.

“Very well, you may all leave now. Huangfu Rui, you remain; I have a few words for you!” Cultivator Wei said coldly. Chan Master Tianmeng, Lü Ziyou, Qin Shanjun, and the other six or seven Golden Core cultivators from the Spirit Mist Realm and Ten Thousand Moon Lake Realm quickly bid farewell to the three Nascent Soul cultivators and left the clouds, each mounting their magic artifacts to return to Spirit Mist City to manage the truce among the opposing factions within and outside the city.

Only Huangfu Rui remained within the clouds. He knew exactly what Martial Uncle-Grandmaster Wei wished to ask: it must concern the underground Imperial Tomb and the Holy Emperor in the Land of Chaos. He was already fully prepared for this.