Chapter 1310: Cloud Platform

The great hall fell into dead silence.

Daoist Qi sighed inwardly and quietly instructed his trusted subordinates to keep a close watch on the movements of the Two-Domain Alliance. These old monsters were arrogant and unruly. They would never fully obey his commands.

"Where are Old Devil Ye’s trusted followers being held now?" an old man suddenly said, turning to look at Daoist Qi.

Just as Daoist Qi was about to answer, a middle-aged man beside the old man let out a mocking laugh. "Old Devil Ye has clearly gone completely mad. You still think you can use those people to threaten him? Those trusted aides and disciples of his were nothing more than tools to conceal his true intentions. There is no way he would have revealed any real secrets to them."

"Now that I think about it, I’ve never heard of Old Devil Ye having any blood relatives still alive. Still, those few disciples of his were all quite talented. A pity," someone said indifferently.

Old Devil Ye had offended far too many factions. One could easily imagine what fate awaited his disciples. Unable to find him, those factions could only vent their fury on them instead.

These old monsters were never short of methods to torment others. Even death would be beyond reach.

Among the Spiritual Infant cultivators, there had also been diehard loyalists to Old Devil Ye, such as Jiang Chenzi. Yet before anyone else could act, Old Devil Ye had killed them all himself. It showed just how sinister and ruthless he truly was.

As for the other old devils, they had only submitted because of Old Devil Ye’s overwhelming strength. None of them were truly his confidants.

"I’ll go have a look." The old man snorted coldly, rose, and strode toward the door.

Daoist Qi silently mourned for those people.

A sudden fluctuation came from outside the hall. "The sage has returned!"

Everyone shot to their feet. In the next instant, Canghong pushed open the door and entered. The old man hurriedly stopped where he was.

The moment they saw that Canghong had returned alone, a bad feeling rose in everyone’s heart.

"I have disappointed you all. My strength was insufficient. I failed to stop Old Devil Ye and he escaped into Sin God Palace. Fairy Qiuzhi is currently setting up an array to seal the celestial gate exit." Canghong swept his gaze across the room, his tone turning grave. "There is also another piece of news I have just received..."

An hour later, everyone filed out one after another, each wearing a heavy expression and moving in haste.

***

Within the camp of the Two-Domain Alliance, voices rose and fell as everyone discussed ways to break the array.

Suddenly, a junior of the Golden Core Realm entered to report and presented a jade slip.

Zhenyi took the jade slip. After reading it, a trace of surprise appeared on his face, and he chuckled. "This is a handwritten message from Canghong. Sin Abyss wishes to negotiate peace."

"Negotiate peace, or surrender?" Everyone was astonished.

They had long expected this day would come. Even if they drove their enemies out of Sin Abyss territory, it would still be difficult to wipe them out completely, given that the other side still had top-tier experts overseeing them.

What none of them had expected was that it would happen so soon.

"Negotiate peace!" Zhenyi emphasized. "As for the specific terms, both sides will send representatives to meet face-to-face at dawn tomorrow. What do you all think?"

As he spoke, he passed the jade slip around for everyone to read.

"It’s no surprise they want peace. The Withered Origin Pill was a complete fraud. Continuing this war brings no benefit at all to Sin Abyss."

"But unless we force them to the brink, they’ll never yield easily. Negotiating now makes it hard to extract the best terms."

"There’s no harm in meeting them first. Let’s see what they can offer. If talks fail, we resume fighting!"

"No one knows whether Old Devil Ye is dead or alive. They’re in such a hurry to negotiate, which means some new variable has appeared. We must get to the bottom of it."

"That’s right. We must uncover everything about Old Devil Ye, from beginning to end!"

"In his message, Canghong wrote that he is willing to discuss matters concerning Old Devil Ye with us. It seems like he intends to use that as bargaining leverage."

The discussion quickly shifted entirely onto Old Devil Ye.

Clearly, just like the Sin Abyss’s Spiritual Infant cultivators, they were far more interested in Old Devil Ye than in anything else. To them, annexing Sin Abyss would only mean seizing more territory. That was nowhere near as valuable as the secrets hidden on Old Devil Ye himself.

Canghong had seized precisely upon that point!

Devil Lord Tongyou tapped the table lightly with his finger and said in a deep voice, "This war has inflicted severe losses on both domains. People long for stability. It is time to recuperate. However, what my fellow Daoists said is also true. We cannot let them off so easily. Sin Abyss must compensate us for all the losses they caused. And now that the tides have turned, if they want peace, there are certain things they must hand over. Also, the offensive plan we just finalized will proceed as scheduled!"

Everyone nodded in agreement. Negotiations were fine, but Sin Abyss would never be allowed to use peace talks to stall for time!

Qu Huan suddenly said, "I don’t care about anything else. Tell them they must deliver a stalk of Yellow Rotem!"

"Yellow Rotem? Isn’t that one of Xingheng Sect’s most precious spiritual herbs? I heard only one matures every thousand years, and it has never been allowed to leave the sect," Elder Ji said in astonishment, immediately revealing the herb’s origin.

Qu Huan chuckled. "Elder Ji, you are knowledgeable! That’s right. If Yellow Rotem weren’t so rare, I would have gotten my hands on it long ago."

Zhenyi nodded lightly. "Daoist Qu’s contributions are plain for all to see. Since Daoist Qu has a request, we will certainly do our utmost to secure it for him. If any of you have demands of your own, raise them now, so we may negotiate with a clear goal."

The initial delegation for the negotiations was soon decided: Zhenyi, Elder Ji, Devil Lord Tongyou, Qingjun, and Qin Sang, along with Qu Huan, who knew Sin Abyss best.

"Oh? Daoist Leng is still outside?" Zhenyi looked toward Qin Sang in surprise.

Qin Sang nodded. "Rest assured, Daoist Master. I will send Daoist Leng the full details. If he does not return by dawn tomorrow, we won't need to wait for him."

After breaching Yu City’s defensive array, Qingjun had found Qin Sang and said she had an urgent matter to handle immediately. She had then left and still had not returned.

Qin Sang had no idea what was happening, nor had he asked. For now, he temporarily assumed his senior sister’s duties.

Fortunately, Sin Abyss had withdrawn into the city and dared not launch an attack, so no unexpected changes arose.

***

Throughout the entire night, lights blazed outside the city. The Two-Domain Alliance calmly and methodically prepared for war, completely unaffected by the coming negotiations.

The next morning, dawn’s first radiance lit the eastern horizon, mingling with the golden shield of light overhead. Qingjun still had not returned.

War erupted, and battle cries shook the heavens. Very few noticed that five figures quietly rose into the sky.

White clouds gathered high above and formed into a vast cloud platform. The moment they stepped onto it, several figures appeared on the opposite side, with Canghong standing at the center.

Qin Sang spotted a familiar face, Fairy Qiuzhi. Their gazes met, and they nodded in greeting.

Though they had fought a great battle against one another, there was little hatred between them. If anything, they held a measure of admiration for each other’s supernatural abilities.

"You really dared to leave the city. Aren’t you afraid we might make our move here?" Zhenyi flicked his fly-whisk, a cold gleam flashing through his eyes.

"You are welcome to try." Canghong seemed utterly confident. His gaze swept over the five of them. When he did not see Qingjun, his eyes narrowed slightly, though his expression remained calm as he walked onto the cloud platform.

Qin Sang awakened the Sky-Eyed Butterfly and discovered that each of them was covered by a faint layer of golden armor, nearly imperceptible, seemingly born from the same source as the grand array's golden light shield.

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