Divine Emperor Demon Emperor

Cao Tianxing and his son were dead. However, the Celestial Spirit Auction House had been reduced to piles of rubble. The battle with Luo Feng’s group had obliterated almost eighty percent of the premises, and this was with the Defense Array active.

Having successfully killed Cao Tianxing and his son, Lin Yun and the others began discussing their plans amidst the ruins. Looking at Chairman Qian, Lin Yun said, "Chairman Qian, I don’t think there’s any point in repairing this place. Take your men and secretly head to the He Family’s estate. Wait there for the coming battle with the Qing Zhu Association."

"Yes." At his words, Chairman Qian nodded with almost no hesitation. From the day he reached an agreement with Lin Yun, Chairman Qian knew that he would sooner or later become Lin Yun’s subordinate.

This young man couldn’t just be described as a monster; he was deeply cunning, incredibly talented, and possessed immense combat power. Chairman Qian had no doubt that if Lin Yun were given more time, he would reach a level unimaginable to ordinary people.

To fight the Qing Zhu Association, Lin Yun had recruited two allies: one was Chairman Qian, and the other was the Taiqing Academy. The reason Wei Yunhang had left Wind City was to go to the Taiqing Academy and gather reinforcements.

Wei Yunhang was helping him eliminate the Qing Zhu Association in Wind City. Once the battle started, Guang Xuanji would certainly mobilize the Qing Zhu Association’s forces from Fire City. Fire City was one of the Five Great Cities closest to Wind City, and the Qing Zhu Association definitely had a stronghold there too.

Moreover, if Guang Xuanji relied solely on the Qing Zhu Association members in Wind City, it would be impossible to challenge the Flawless Palace. Only by combining the forces of two cities, plus the experts sent from the Qing Zhu Association’s headquarters, would they have a chance to slaughter Wind City despite the Flawless Palace’s protection.

Lin Yun had guessed all of this from the beginning. However, he wasn’t sure just how strong the Qing Zhu Association truly was. Now that things had come to this, their only option was to fight.

"Chairman Qian, first find a place to store the bodies of Cao Tianxing and his son. When the Central Domain headquarters asks about this, just say that Cao Tianxing and his son were secretly collaborating with the Qing Zhu Association, intending to lead the Eastern Domain’s Celestial Spirit Auction House to defect to them. You had no choice but to act first and report later," Lin Yun instructed.

After handling the cleanup, Chairman Qian did not shut down the Defense Array. Although activating the array consumed an immense amount of resources, this was a critical moment. Even if it meant keeping it active for a week, Chairman Qian couldn’t shut it down now, as word of what happened here could not get out.

Soon, Chairman Qian gathered all the guards of the Wind City Celestial Spirit Auction House, over a hundred people in total. Ten of them were at the Celestial Spirit Realm, and the rest had Primordial Ocean Realm cultivation.

With the addition of ten more Celestial Spirit Realm experts, Lin Yun’s forces were now even stronger.

Led by Chairman Qian, the group secretly left the Celestial Spirit Auction House. After emerging, they dispersed, making their way covertly to the He Family’s estate. As for Lin Yun, Luo Feng, and the others, they went to the Bai Family’s residence.

With the Celestial Spirit Auction House affair settled, Lin Yun had also paved the way for his own future. As long as Chairman Qian became the head of the Eastern Domain, Lin Yun would have one more steadfast ally.

Taking up residence at the Bai Family’s estate, the members of Flawless Palace were already in position. There were over a thousand in total, and by now, both the inside and outside of the city were filled with Flawless Palace members.

Twenty Main Seat Elders, the Six Supreme Elders, the Ten Core Disciples, over a hundred Direct Disciples, and a number of Inner Sect Disciples—this was the main force of Flawless Palace.

After they waited at the Bai Family estate for two days, the contingent from Taiqing Academy arrived. It was clear that the Taiqing Academy had also come in earnest.

The group accompanying Wei Yunhang included the Taiqing Academy Director, five Supreme Elders, and fifteen Main Seat Elders.

Although their numbers were small, the contingent from Taiqing Academy was composed entirely of experts. In fact, eighty percent of Taiqing Academy’s strongest members had followed Wei Yunhang to Wind City.

The forces from Flawless Palace and Taiqing Academy were now ready. Just one day after the people from Taiqing Academy arrived in Wind City, a Disciple from Flawless Palace stationed outside the city sent word.

Several thousand people, suspected members of the Qing Zhu Association, had already gathered around Wind City. While there were some Celestial Spirit Realm experts among them, they were few in number; the majority were Primordial Ocean Realm Martial Artists.

Upon receiving this news, Lin Yun and the others gathered that very night in the Bai Family Main Hall to strategize for the upcoming battle.

Under normal circumstances, even if Lin Yun and Wei Yunhang could attend, they would have had absolutely no say. However, Lin Yun was the sole architect of the entire Wind City affair, and now Luo Feng and the others were eager to hear his ideas for the battle plan.

Li Tian was not brought along. After all, everyone present was a supreme expert of the Spirit Realm. Even Bai Ling was not qualified to participate in this war council.

Called upon by Luo Feng, Lin Yun came to the center of the main hall. He first bowed to everyone, then slowly revealed the plan he and Li Tian had long since discussed.

"Seniors, according to the intelligence we’ve received, the Qing Zhu Association’s gathering points are clearly the four main gates of Wind City. They must be planning to attack from all four sides and coordinate with their people already hidden inside the city, attacking from both inside and out..." Lin Yun said slowly.

In truth, for this first battle against the Qing Zhu Association, Lin Yun didn’t have any brilliant plan. It would all come down to which side was stronger.

The main problem was that no one knew just how strong the Qing Zhu Association really was. The truth would only be revealed once they fought.

The Qing Zhu Association wanted to attack from the four city gates simultaneously and coordinate with their people hidden in the city for an attack from both inside and out. This meant the forces of Flawless Palace and Taiqing Academy naturally had to be divided as well.

According to Lin Yun’s tally, his side now had a total of 1,800 Primordial Ocean Realm Martial Artists, 50 Celestial Spirit Realm experts, and 13 supreme experts of the Spirit Realm. This was even after including the forces from Wind City’s major families.

As for the Qing Zhu Association, Lin Yun still didn’t know their exact numbers. He only knew about the members that had been discovered so far, gathered outside the city.

There were at least two thousand at the Primordial Ocean Realm, no more than ten at the Celestial Spirit Realm, and not a single supreme expert of the Spirit Realm.

However, Lin Yun did not believe this was the Qing Zhu Association’s entire main force. He suspected these people were just the ones Guang Xuanji had transferred from Fire City. As for the experts sent by the Qing Zhu Association’s headquarters, they had likely not yet shown themselves.

Lin Yun’s suggestion was simple: this battle could only be a head-on clash. There was no room for clever tricks. If they won, the Qing Zhu Association in both Wind City and Fire City would be uprooted. If they lost, Wind City would be slaughtered, and Fire City would certainly suffer as well.

After hearing Lin Yun’s words, Luo Feng and the others all nodded. They agreed with his assessment. This battle would indeed come down to pure strength. The stronger side would win; there was no room for trickery.

They deliberated late into the night and finally divided up the battlefields. Lin Yun was, of course, grouped with Luo Feng. A Supreme Elder from Flawless Palace would also accompany them, and Li Tian, Bai Zhicheng, and He Yuntian were assigned to Lin Yun’s group as well.

Both sides’ forces were in position. The decisive battle was imminent. Everyone, including the major families of Wind City, knew that tonight was probably the last moment of peace.

(Please add to your collection, vote with monthly passes, send recommendations, and give tips!)