With the main island of the Sacred Puppet Sect as the center, the originally sunny weather suddenly changed. Out of nowhere, black clouds that stretched for hundreds of miles appeared and pressed downwards, almost touching the surface of the sea.
The sky above the sea was dark, as if it was past dusk. Strong winds howled on the surface of the sea, and it looked like a storm was about to arrive.
Yun Ni and the other two came to the square outside the secret room. Looking up, they saw dark clouds rolling in the sky, and there were faint flashes of lightning in the clouds. Dozens of huge gold and black spirit boats were lined up in front of the sea of clouds like sturdy fortresses, and they were densely packed with people.
These spirit boats were slightly different from the flying spirit boats that they had seen in the past. There were black platforms that were more than ten feet tall built on them, and all kinds of talisman inscriptions were engraved on them. They looked like arrays and sacrificial altars.
Seeing this, Bai Fengyi's expression changed slightly. With a wave of his hand, a stone array board appeared in front of him. After making a few strokes on it with his finger, he decisively ordered, "Pass down my order, activate the prohibition, and prepare to fight the enemy!"
As soon as she gave the order, the entire Sacred Puppet Sect's main island, including the eight array islands outside, let out a series of sharp screeches.
Immediately after, the spirit inscriptions on the grayish-white stone pillars that stood all over the island lit up, and the arrays engraved on the ground of the entire island and the arrays engraved on the buildings began to operate.
Amidst a series of rumbling sounds, the entire main island began to tremble violently, and the terrain began to undergo drastic changes.
At the peak of the highest mountain on the island, smoke and dust billowed, and the entire mountain slowly sank into the belly of the mountain, revealing a huge hole. Hundreds of golden spirit inscriptions all over the flying ship rose into the sky at almost the same time, and hovered in the air, ready to fight.
At the original bend of the river, the water was led to the bottom of the island by a huge tunnel that suddenly appeared. On the exposed riverbed, there was also a golden glow, and huge strange puppet beasts that looked like turtles appeared. The talisman inscriptions on them shone brightly, and green light flowed, emitting waves of dense water spiritual power.
In the dense forest on the second layer of the island, the sound of trees collapsing and breaking kept ringing out. Puppet beasts that were more than ten feet tall and shaped like tigers and leopards rushed out of the forest, squeezing at the edge of the second layer and roaring soundlessly toward the sky.
Several True Immortal Elders flew to the square from all over the island. Behind them were tens of disciples and hundreds of humanoid puppets.
Some important areas on the island were also heavily guarded by True Immortal Realm elders, disciples, and puppet armies.
In less than ten breaths of time after this anomaly occurred, all of the restrictions on the entire main island were activated and all of the power was mobilized.
At the same time, the sea around the main island shook violently. The seawater surged and spun around the eight small islands, forming huge whirlpools.
The white light in the whirlpool shone brightly. The white round towers standing on the islands were like lighthouses on the sea, releasing rings of bright light that illuminated the sea in a snow-white color.
Han Li and Lin Jiu had already returned to the square near the white tower and met up with the cultivators of the Sacred Puppet Sect who were guarding the area.
Blue light flashed in his eyes as he looked up at the dark clouds in the sky. He could clearly see the figures standing on the clouds.
These people were all masked with black cloaks and wore black cloaks that were similar to the one Lin Jiu was wearing. However, their sleeves and collars were embroidered with a layer of gold. There was also a cross embroidered on their chests.
Han Li was familiar with the cross as he had seen it on the Ten Direction Tower token that he had obtained from Ping Yaozi.
"I didn't expect them to be from the Ten Direction Tower," Han Li muttered with a complicated expression.
"Strictly speaking, they are not from the Ten Direction Tower. They are just people who were summoned by the 'Ten Direction Killing Order'," Lin Jiu said after a moment of silence.
"Oh? What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Lin Jiu?"
"The Ten Direction Tower is a secret organization in the Northern Frost Celestial Region. They are similar to the Anicca Alliance.
However, they are mainly involved in the intelligence and assassination business. Bounties, arrest warrants, and assassination orders are all within their scope of business.
They issue and accept missions not only for their internal members but also for everyone.
In other words, anyone can issue a mission as long as they can afford it. If they are capable enough, they can also accept their missions. As long as they are involved in one of the two, they will be considered a beginner member of the Ten Direction Tower.
Therefore, their organization is not as strict as the Anicca Alliance and their internal relationships are more complicated, "Lin Jiu explained.
"That means that the people of the Anicca Alliance can issue and accept missions from the Ten Direction Tower?
Did these people gather because they received the Omnidirectional Extermination Order? "Han Li asked after a moment of thought.
"That's right. This order is a massacre order issued by the Ten Direction Tower and it costs a lot of money.
Once it is issued, it gathers all the forces in the entire Celestial Region to launch an attack on a certain sect or family.
Anyone who participates in the attack will be able to keep everything they obtain from the destroyed sect. After that, they won't have to worry about being held accountable, "Lin Jiu explained solemnly.
Han Li understood when he heard that. The terrifying thing about the order was that it was extremely tempting to a large number of itinerant cultivators, especially those cultivators below the Great Vehicle Stage who were stuck at a bottleneck due to a lack of cultivation resources. How could they not take the risk when they saw their lifespan slipping away bit by bit?
Once such people joined, they would be protected by the Ten Directions Tower and would not have to worry about anything. Thus, they would often be more brutal than most people and would be more ruthless towards the sects and families. On one hand, it was to plunder more cultivation resources, but on the other hand, it was also to vent the resentment and jealousy that had accumulated for a long time.
Moreover, the Sacred Puppet Sect had been operating for so many years. Just by selling the puppets, they had accumulated a large amount of resources and wealth. In the eyes of everyone, they were a fat piece of meat that could not be any fatter.
As the two of them spoke, they suddenly felt the ground beneath them shake violently. The grooves in the ground seemed to be flowing with silver liquid and were overflowing with white light.
Rumbling sounds could be heard from the bottom of the island and a circle of huge cracks appeared on the ground around the square, separating the area around the White Tower.
The area that had been separated actually rose to a height of several thousand feet.
Han Li flew out and hovered in the sky as he looked down at the island. He realized that the area in the center of Array Island had separated from the island and turned into a huge stone puppet.
It looked like a warrior and its body was made of stones that were as white as jade but as hard as steel. In its hand was a huge silver sword that was a few hundred feet long. The sword was covered with spirit patterns and it gave off a sharp aura that shocked people.
The other Array Islands around them were all in the same situation. They had all turned into huge puppets that were almost a thousand feet tall. Some of them looked like wild apes, some looked like stone armoured giants, some looked like snowfield wolves … In short, they were of different shapes and sizes.
Moreover, the spirit patterns on these puppets were different in color and shape. Some of them were in the shape of dark yellow rings that covered their torsos. Some of them were in the shape of red ribbons that wrapped around their arms and torsos. Some of them were in the shape of pitch black and looked like tattoos on their chests.
At this moment, in the dark clouds high up in the sky, there were three figures standing side by side at the front of a pitch black spirit boat.
There was an extremely long and deep scar on the face of the person in the middle under the cloak. It ran from the left side of his forehead all the way to his right eye. When it reached the lower part of his face, it was covered by a black cloth.
On his right stood a young man with a slender figure and a sword at his waist. He didn't wear a cloak or hat on his head and only wore a black cloth that covered his face, revealing half of his face that was fair like jade, a pair of dense brows slanted to his temples, and his eyes were bright and full of expression, causing him to seem extraordinarily handsome.
The aura of these two people was very strong. They were actually Golden Immortal Realm cultivators.
As for the other side, it was a big man who was nearly ten feet tall and had a sallow face. Although he was wearing a cloak, one could still see a circle of dark green metallic luster on his forehead. Obviously, he was wearing some kind of metal forehead protector.
Although this person was only at the peak of the True Immortal Realm, it was enough to show that his identity was not ordinary since he could stand side by side with these two Golden Immortals.
"Hehe … Fellow Daoist Lu Ji, are you satisfied with the arrangement of our Ten Directions Tower this time?" The scar-faced man chuckled and looked at the man with a sword beside him.
"This time, we spent so much money to find your Ten Directions Tower because we wanted to see your influence. It is indeed a little unexpected that you can gather so many people this time.
However, the cultivation of these people is a little too messy, isn't it?
Just like a miscellaneous army put together by scattered soldiers, how much combat power can they have? "The man with a sword replied indifferently.
Apart from the three of them, among the two to three thousand people on the warship, there were only about forty True Immortal Realm cultivators. As for the rest, they were mostly Great Vehicle cultivators, and there were even quite a few Void Integration Stage cultivators. In terms of cultivation level, it was indeed very messy.
"Hehe, most of these people are originally rogue cultivators from the mountains. To be able to cultivate step by step, which of them did not climb through years of fighting and killing?
If they were at the same cultivation level, how could their combat power be weaker than those Sacred Puppet Sect guys who only know how to control puppets? "The scar-faced man said with a smile.
"At this time, isn't it a little inappropriate for the two of you to chat about these things here?
Fellow Daoist Xue Han, I came to this Ancient Cloud Continent to complete a task given by my master. Let's get this over with as soon as possible. "The sallow man suddenly said.
"Fellow Daoist Zhong Luan, don't worry. Just now, we were just testing the waters.
At this moment, the full picture of their defense has been revealed, and it is basically the same as the information we collected before. We can just follow the original plan.
However, after we attack the Sacred Puppet Sect, Fellow Daoist, don't forget what we said before. "The scar-faced man said with a smile.