At this moment, on the border of Qi State, a vast army of ten thousand soldiers was marching along a winding road.
The soldiers' armor was stained with blood, and their swords were broken. They had just returned from a campaign against the Eastern Ling Kingdom, their momentum as fierce as a roaring tide, filled with murderous intent.
The leader of the group was none other than Lu Kaishan! A powerful expert at the Cave Heaven realm!
At this moment, he was holding a map, his face dark and blood-red, his deep voice tinged with a bloodthirsty killing intent.
"Xu Yang! Tianlan Sect, tomorrow will be your day of destruction!"
A deputy general beside Lu Kaishan, looking around with confusion, said, "My lord, are we heading the wrong way? If we continue in this direction, we will be heading to Qi State, not back to our own country."
Lu Kaishan put away the map, took a deep breath, and said, "We are not going the wrong way. We are heading to Qi State."
"But, the emperor's command was for us to return to the imperial capital! Why are we going to Qi State?" The deputy general asked, puzzled.
"To kill one person!" Lu Kaishan's words were cold and decisive.
As soon as his voice fell, his aura surged, and it was as though a tangible killing intent surrounded him, making it suffocating!
The deputy general felt a jolt from the overwhelming killing intent. Even on the battlefield, he had never felt such a dense murderous energy!
He could not help but wonder, which person in Qi State had offended Lu Kaishan so badly? What had happened to make Lu Kaishan, an expert at the Cave Heaven realm, defy the emperor's decree and secretly make his way to Qi State to specifically kill him?
The next morning, Xu Yang had just gotten out of bed when he heard a loud voice shouting.
"Old Ancestor Xu, it's bad! We are surrounded by an army! It's a sea of people! They're attacking our Mountain Protection Array, and it's about to break!"
"What?" Xu Yang froze for a moment, quickly getting up and heading towards the mountain gate.
The Mountain Protection Array was capable of resisting the attacks of dozens of Yuanying realm cultivators, but now, it was on the verge of breaking.
When Xu Yang arrived at the mountain gate, he saw that the base of Tianlan Sect was surrounded by soldiers in armor, a dark sea of people, at least ten thousand strong.
However, what was truly important were the dozens of Nascent Soul realm cultivators in the sky above them.
The leader, wearing a black battle robe and holding a long spear, was coldly surveying Tianlan Sect with a sharp gaze.
This man had already reached the Cave Heaven realm!
Xu Yang felt that this expert from the Cave Heaven realm seemed somewhat familiar.
After taking a closer look, he immediately recognized him.
"Lu Kaishan, it's you."
Xu Yang smiled as he spoke.
Lu Kaishan laughed upon hearing this, saying, "Hahaha, I didn't expect you to remember me! Since you remember me, why not run?"
As he spoke, Lu Kaishan walked slowly towards Xu Yang.
With a wave of his hand, the Tianlan Sect's Mountain Protection Array vanished into thin air with a thunderous crash.
Lu Kaishan stood in front of Xu Yang, his eyes filled with vengeful fury.
"If I were you, I would take your disciples and leave far away!"
Inside Tianlan Sect, many disciples were terrified by the scene before them, and the aura emanating from Lu Kaishan made them tremble.
Although Ling Qingshu also felt a chill run down her spine, like a mouse being eyed by a cat, fear seeped into her bones, but she suppressed the fear and tried to calm the disciples.
Suddenly, an elder in the Golden Core realm rushed out, his face fearless as he shouted.
"I, Zhang Dong, if it weren't for the Old Ancestor, I might still be at the Foundation Establishment stage. I believe you all were like me once!"
"Tianlan Sect has treated us with great kindness! Now that the sect is in danger, we should sever all obstacles for the sect! If necessary, we will live and die together with Tianlan Sect!"
"Exactly! What are we afraid of? If we die, then so be it! Who dares to cause trouble at Tianlan Sect? I, Liu Dan, will be the first to refuse!"
"I say, you two, why are you so pessimistic? We have our omnipotent Old Ancestor! Even if they bring a thousand men, what is that? Even if they bring a hundred thousand, I still believe in the Old Ancestor!"
Several other Golden Core cultivators who had been promoted by Xu Yang came out to reassure the other disciples.
Soon, the chaos within Tianlan Sect subsided.
The disciples, who had been deeply helped by Tianlan Sect, stood together as one, no one escaping, ready to live and die with the sect!
Xu Yang turned and looked at the people with solemn expressions, his lips curling into a smile.
"Calm down."
His calm words seemed to have a magical effect, and the disciples of Tianlan Sect immediately began to calm down.
Xu Yang then turned to look at Lu Kaishan, casually taking out a red fruit, eating it as he said:
"Come on, why should I run? I'm not an idiot."
Xu Yang looked at Lu Kaishan again and clicked his tongue.
"As for you, if I were you, I'd probably be running as far as I could from Qi State. Yet, you're here, sending yourself to your death?"
Seeing Xu Yang's disdainful expression, Lu Kaishan clenched his fists, his anger flaring.
He snorted coldly and rapidly dived down from the sky.
"Hmph, to be so arrogant in the face of death. Today, I will avenge the disciples of Yunshan Sect who died!"
As his words fell, his massive right fist was raised high, and a blazing fireball quickly formed in his hand.
Lu Kaishan's armor began to glow red from the intense heat of the fireball, crackling and snapping.
Xu Yang looked at the fireball coming toward him, sneering as he easily dodged it.
"Hmph, what is your Tianlan Sect? Even if you're powerful, you're still no match for me, an expert of the Cave Heaven realm!"
Lu Kaishan, seeing Xu Yang dodge, remained calm, pulling out a long sword ablaze with intense flames.
The sword swirled in the air like a storm, its dense red flames turning the sky red. The flames hit the ground, turning half of Tianlan Sect into a sea of fire!
Even the stone slabs on the ground melted into magma from the heat.
Xu Yang's brow twitched, and his heart burned with an overwhelming rage!
"You're courting death!" Xu Yang roared as he took a step forward!
The next moment, Xu Yang appeared behind Lu Kaishan.
Boom!
Xu Yang threw a punch, the air howling as if it were the scream of death itself!
Lu Kaishan's scalp tingled, and an instinct as a Cave Heaven realm expert told him that he was in a life-or-death situation!
Just as he thought to dodge, he felt a sharp pain in his chest and smelled the metallic scent of blood.
Looking down, he saw a large hole torn through his chest.
Blood poured out, and his life force was rapidly draining away.
"This... you're a Primordial Spirit realm expert?" Lu Kaishan muttered, his voice growing faint with disbelief.
At this moment, Lu Kaishan was filled with shock!
"A small place like Qi State... actually has an expert of the Primordial Spirit realm!?" he gasped.
And then, he no longer had any breath.