The Island Master's plan is indeed sound: first destroy the Iron Vest Sect, then gather forces and proceed methodically to eradicate the Gui Yuan Sect." Elder Tie had to admit, "Before this, I looked down on the Gui Yuan Sect. But I never expected that in our first direct confrontation, the Gui Yuan Sect would reveal masters of hidden weapons! And clearly more than one! That Zhuge Yuanhong... I wonder what other tricks he has up his sleeve!"

The middle-aged man in the grey robe sighed, "Zhuge Yuanhong ranks sixth on the 'Heavenly Roster'; our Island Master is only seventh. His strategic depth is unfathomable... The Island Master's 'methodical' approach relies on overwhelming force! Its strength lies in stability, preventing Zhuge Yuanhong from finding any leverage."

"Compared to Zhuge Yuanhong, the Iron Vest Sect Master, 'Nie Rong,' is far inferior," Elder Tie chuckled. "With the Silver Flood Dragon Army's speed, they should have reached Chu County City by now."

The middle-aged man in the grey robe allowed a faint smile to show. "Indeed, led by my Martial Uncle, ten innate experts command the twenty thousand Silver Flood Dragon Army as they march. Among them are three 'Innate Golden Core' experts... Tonight, the Iron Vest Sect will surely be annihilated. Once they fall, the ten innate experts will rendezvous with us, and the Island Master will lead reinforcements from Qinghu Island. With all forces assembled... flattening Jiangning County City will be effortless!"

"The Iron Vest Sect... after tonight, it will cease to exist," Elder Tie murmured wistfully, though excitement flickered in his eyes.

If they do nothing, they do nothing; but when they move, it is with lightning speed. They must achieve swift unification before the other great sects of the world have time to react. If this drags on, complications will arise. * Night, the cold wind howls! Towering flames engulf Chu County City, dyeing the sky crimson. The sounds of slaughter within the city echo like ten thousand claps of thunder overhead. The stronghold of the Iron Vest Sect is a city within a city! Just like the Gui Yuan Sect, it resides within Chu County City’s inner ward. At this moment, upon the inner city walls, the eight thousand 'Iron Vest Army' soldiers and sixty thousand City Guard troops of the Iron Vest Sect stand ready. Over ten thousand core disciples and tens of thousands of outer disciples, led by their sect elders, fight desperately.

"Fire!" an armored expert from the Iron Vest Sect roared.

On the inner city wall, atop the watchtowers, Iron Vest masters operate the 'Myriad-Talon Divine Crossbows.' These are terrifying weapons, foot-operated, requiring the strength of both feet and arms. They unleash two bolts simultaneously, projectiles powerful enough to pierce heavy armor! However, the 'Myriad-Talon Divine Crossbow' is exceptionally complex and costly to craft. The Iron Vest Sect possesses only two hundred in total. Furthermore, a crossbow capable of penetrating high-grade heavy armor demands much from its operator—at least four to five thousand jin of raw strength is needed to wield it effectively. The Myriad-Talon Divine Crossbow boasts astonishing power, though its accuracy is somewhat lacking. Of course, when armies clash head-on, this minor flaw becomes irrelevant.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In an instant, hundreds of projectiles, screaming through the air with piercing whistles, plunge into the tide of the Silver Flood Dragon Army below. Numerous soldiers are pierced through the body and collapse instantly.

"Those who surrender will not be killed!" "Those who surrender will not be killed!" The voices of the Qinghu Island experts echoed over the inner walls of the Iron Vest Sect.

"Surrender? Dream on!" "Kill one and we break even; kill two and we profit! Brothers, charge!" Under the direction of their leaders, the Iron Vest disciples fought with unprecedented frenzy. ... On the third floor of a pavilion within the Iron Vest Sect's military camp, a man in dark robes stood before the railing. He silently observed the carnage on the inner city walls. Bursts of firelight alternately stained his face red and dark. Thwack! Thwack! Two arrows from the Silver Flood Dragon Army struck the pavilion's window.

"Sect Master!" A disheveled, armor-clad, silver-haired elder urgently reported, "Qinghu Island has brought many innate experts! 'Zhao Danchen,' 'Yuwen Liufeng'—they are all here. Elder Deng Geng was killed by them! Elder Wu was also killed! Our leading elite disciples have been massacred. Once the commanders fall, our disciples are just throwing their lives away! Too many of our Iron Vest disciples are dying!!!" Tears streamed down the silver-haired elder's face. Of the Iron Vest Sect's three innate experts, two were now dead, leaving only the Sect Master, Nie Rong.

"Kill!!!" "Martial Brother!!!" Cries of grief and indignation drifted from afar. Many Iron Vest disciples fought like madmen. After their innate experts, elders, and guardians—their strongest fighters—were easily slaughtered by a group of innate masters, the Iron Vest Sect completely descended into chaos without guiding figures.

"Sect Master, flee! Flee... we cannot hold them back," the silver-haired elder pleaded, his face wet with tears.

"Nie Rong, surrender now!!!" A resounding voice boomed over the Iron Vest Sect grounds.

"Martial Brother! I shall go first! Hahaha, you curs of Qinghu Island, all of—" That hearty voice abruptly cut off.

"Master, your disciple takes his leave first!" ... "Master!" A figure rushed onto the pavilion. It was a handsome young man, bleeding from a wound on his chest, his right arm clearly broken. As he reached the pavilion, he immediately knelt and wept, "Master, Eldest Martial Brother, Second Martial Brother, Fourth Junior Sister, Fifth Junior Brother... all dead! All dead!!! We cannot hold them! We cannot hold them!!!"

Nie Rong stood silently by the railing, not even turning around. He stood still, merely letting two lines of tears trace silent paths down his cheeks.

"All of you, withdraw now!" Nie Rong's voice was hoarse.

"Master!" The arm-broken youth knelt on the ground, his body trembling with sobs.

Nie Rong pulled two slightly damaged black iron treasure maps from his robes. Both maps had portions missing from their edges; the maps themselves were undamaged. However, the second map was incomplete at the very bottom... Originally, a line of text was inscribed there: "Those who obtain this treasure map will certainly die if they try to force their way in. To obtain the treasure, one must bring one of the Nine Cauldrons. This point must be strictly remembered!"

Both maps had chipped edges. If one only looked at the maps themselves, they wouldn't notice the damage to the missing line of text.

"Junior Sister, the rebuilding of the Iron Vest Sect relies on you now," Nie Rong murmured. He knew that the three innate experts of the Iron Vest Sect had to die; if even one survived, Qinghu Island would never cease pursuit. He looked up toward the distance; large numbers of Qinghu Island forces had already breached the inner city wall and were pouring in.

Nie Rong gazed at the two maps, his face contorted in a grimace: "Qinghu Island, Qinghu Island! You destroy my Iron Vest Sect, but I will not let you have an easy time! Go ahead, take the Yu Huang’s Treasure, go ahead..."

Then! Whoosh! Nie Rong transformed into a streak of black light and shot rapidly toward the east.

"Hahaha, Nie Rong, trying to flee when disaster strikes?" A loud laugh rang out.

"Dream of keeping me here!" Nie Rong roared back with wild laughter... ... On the night of the third day of the eleventh month, Qinghu Island’s ten innate experts, eight hundred Golden Scale Guards, and twenty thousand Silver Flood Dragon Army descended upon the Iron Vest Sect. The Iron Vest Sect’s 'Iron Vest Army' suffered six thousand dead; core disciples suffered seven thousand dead, the remainder severely wounded, either surrendered or captured. City Guards lost over ten thousand dead, the rest scattered or surrendered. Outer disciples lost over ten thousand dead, the rest scattered or surrendered. The Iron Vest Sect’s two Law Enforcement Elders, Deng Geng and Wu Fanchuan, were dead! All elders and commanders were dead! Sect Master Nie Rong was dead! Thus, the Iron Vest Sect was annihilated! Qinghu Island’s ten innate experts left Chu County that same night, rushing swiftly towards Jiangning County... preparing to unite with the main army to deal with the Gui Yuan Sect. ** In the early hours of the morning, as dawn barely broke. On the battlements of Yanjiang City, Teng Qingshan and Elder Yan stood side-by-side, their expressions grim... Intelligence had just arrived in Yanjiang City—the Iron Vest Sect was annihilated!

"The Iron Vest Sect is finished," Elder Yan sighed.

"Qinghu Island is far stronger than the Iron Vest Sect. They destroyed them in one night," Teng Qingshan felt a heavy weight in his heart. When he had dealings with Gu Shiyou and others before, Teng Qingshan hadn't sensed much from Qinghu Island's younger generation, but once Qinghu Island acted, they crushed the Iron Vest Sect like dry weeds.

"Not just much stronger than the Iron Vest Sect, they are much stronger than our Gui Yuan Sect too," Elder Yan felt somewhat powerless. When one rabbit dies, the fox grieves! The Iron Vest Sect and the Gui Yuan Sect stood as the two greatest sects in Yang Province. If the Iron Vest Sect fell in a single night, how long could the Gui Yuan Sect last?

"Master said he was confident in protecting the Gui Yuan Sect. Is he truly confident, or is he merely feigning calm to keep us from panicking?" Teng Qingshan truly couldn't fathom... what exactly the Gui Yuan Sect was relying on to resist Qinghu Island! Perhaps there was no reliance at all, merely a tactic to prevent despair. The fate of the Iron Vest Sect today might well be the tomorrow of the Gui Yuan Sect!

"Now, we can only follow Master's lead," Teng Qingshan knew that his ability to grasp the overall situation was mediocre.

"Qingshan, Qinghu Island’s Silver Flood Dragon Army has already set up camp below the city. I fear there will be a great battle today," Elder Yan gazed down at the sprawling military encampment.

Teng Qingshan’s gaze settled on the camp below: "Elder Yan, we have three thousand Black Armored Troops, and we benefit from the advantage of the city walls, fighting from above! Although they have ten thousand Silver Flood Dragon troops and over three hundred Golden Scale Guards... the Golden Scale Guards are hardly a threat. Moreover, only a limited number can charge the walls at any time; we can certainly win!"

Elder Yan also allowed a smile to surface. Perhaps the Gui Yuan Sect was doomed to fall, but... at least this time, they could fight a satisfying battle! Settle some scores first! ... Below the walls, the main army of Qinghu Island began to assemble. The middle-aged man in the grey robe, 'Elder Hu,' the silver-templed 'Elder Tie,' and a stout man completely encased in heavy armor gathered together.

"The Black Armored Army has reached Yanjiang City. This Black Armored Army is no ordinary City Guard. Our Silver Flood Dragon Army still needs to charge the walls, and only a few can make it up each time. Once they are on the walls... they are simply sending themselves to die," the stout man sounded somewhat anxious. "Destroying the Iron Vest Sect relied on ten innate experts quickly creating a breach. But we three only have three innate experts... I don't know how many innate experts are inside Yanjiang City."

Qinghu Island has twenty-one innate experts in total. Ten were sent to destroy the Iron Vest Sect, and they still needed to garrison their main base, so naturally, fewer were sent against the Gui Yuan Sect.

"I spotted that old fellow 'Yan Motian'; I haven't seen the other innate experts," Elder Tie remarked.

Elder Hu commanded, "The Island Master said that if a surprise attack fails, we must proceed methodically and not rush. Look at those hidden weapon masters... If that Zhuge Yuanhong is also hidden within Yanjiang City. If the three of us charged in? Zhuge Yuanhong and Yan Motian together would be enough to kill the three of us?"

Among the three of them, only one was an Innate Golden Core. The stout man was an 'Innate Solid Core,' while Elder Tie was the weakest, at 'Innate Void Core.'

"I have an idea!" the stout man suddenly said.