The Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King's wolf eyes shot out greedy gazes upon seeing the item.
"The Mystic Yin Sect is truly fortunate to have obtained this item."
Guan Yan watched the dissipating gray mist and breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead with her empty left hand.
She hadn't expected that the Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King, sealed and imprisoned, could still control the demonic energy within the sealed space, and apparently with absolute ease.
"Since Senior recognizes this thing, then there's no need for this junior to introduce it, right?"
"Heh heh~ Junior, you don't know as much as this old wolf does.
This is a Boundary Breaking Stone, a treasure generated with a certain probability when a small world within a secret realm collapses. Although this Boundary Breaking Stone is only third-tier, it is even rarer than ordinary seventh-tier treasures."
"Since Senior Wolf King recognizes it, this junior need not waste more words. Senior, take it."
With that, Gong Yan unhesitatingly tossed the gray-white crystal stone in her hand towards the steel cage.
"Crack~"
With a crisp sound, the steel cage that could imprison great divine abilities of the seventh-tier Integrated Body realm could not block this unremarkable gray crystal stone.
"Hahaha~ Good! Good! Young friend is truly straightforward. As long as I leave this sealed space, I will immediately contact the Sky Devouring Horned Wolf tribe and send citizens of the designated cultivation realms to the Mystic Yin Sect."
The Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King laughed triumphantly, holding the Boundary Breaking Stone in his hand. With it, he could easily leave the cage and escape this seal.
"Since the transaction is concluded, this junior will take leave now."
Gong Yan saw the excitement and triumph on the Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King's wolf face and knew her mission was complete.
"Heh heh~ Young friend, go ahead. This king will follow soon."
"I look forward to meeting Senior Wolf King again. This junior will depart first."
Neither of them further discussed the details of their transaction, as if their deal was truly settled.
Gong Yan did not linger. In front of the Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King, she took out a golden talisman and tore it open.
A golden light flashed, enveloping Gong Yan, and she vanished from this gray space.
"Humans, you are sensible for not making me swear a Heavenly Dao oath. When I get out, I'll spare your lives.
As for you wanting this king's life? Hmph, dream on."
The Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King's voice echoed in the gray space.
He had no intention of fulfilling the transaction.
It seemed the Mystic Yin Sect had lost out in this deal.
And they had also provoked a formidable enemy.
However, was that truly the case?
...
In the imperial palace of the Great Sui, within the cold palace, a figure suddenly appeared in a desolate hall.
"As Patriarch said, there really is a gap in the Great Sui imperial palace's seal.
I wonder which sect left this gap?"
Gong Yan surveyed her surroundings, identified her location, and immediately transformed into a streak of black light, vanishing from the spot.
In just a few blinks of an eye, Gong Yan arrived at a palace on the eastern side of the imperial palace.
This was the Xuan Yin Sect's outpost in the Great Sui.
The five dynasties and their martial arts sects could only find a courtyard or even an inn to establish their outposts outside the imperial palace.
However, the spiritual cultivation sects' outposts within the Great Sui were located inside the imperial palace.
And they were grand palaces comparable to the Emperor's "Hall of Mental Cultivation," magnificent and opulent.
Gong Yan concealed her aura completely and landed cautiously in the palace, silently entering a secluded room.
The room was dim and devoid of light, but for cultivators, night vision and the ability to conjure light from the void were basic skills.
She arrived in the center of the room and bowed respectfully to a figure seated by a tea table.
"Greetings, Master. Disciple has returned after completing the mission."
"Mm~ You didn't make the Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King swear an oath, did you?"
A somewhat low, middle-aged woman's voice echoed. The figure opened her eyes, and a white light illuminated the room.
It extinguished in an instant.
This was the gaze of the middle-aged woman.
A single glance could illuminate a dark room; such was the power of a cultivator.
"As Master instructed, I did not make the Wolf King swear an oath, and then I left."
"Heh heh~ You did well."
The low voice held a hint of joy.
Seeing that her master was in a good mood, Gong Yan couldn't help but ask, "Master, why did you not make the Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King swear an oath? What if he doesn't honor the transaction? What if he retaliates and attacks us..."
"Heh heh~ This oath must absolutely not be made by the Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King, or else our Mystic Yin Sect will surely perish without a burial place."
"Why is that?"
"Because the Heavenly Secrets Sect in the Central Divine Continent would detect it, and then all cultivators under heaven would know that our Mystic Yin Sect released the Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King."
"Hiss~ If that's the case, we would truly be ground to dust and our souls scattered."
Gong Yan's face turned instantly pale, secretly rejoicing that she hadn't added insult to injury by making the Wolf King swear an oath, nor had she truly completed the transaction.
Her master seemed to be in an even better mood and continued.
"Cultivation in the Taiyuan Continent is divided into Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Integration, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Severing, Integration, Tribulation Transcendence, and Mahayana."
"Except for the Central Divine Continent, where there are still experts at the Tribulation Transcendence and Mahayana realms due to its abundant spiritual energy, it is extremely difficult for cultivators in the other four continents to reach the Integration realm."
"Our Eastern Li Continent originally had good spiritual energy. After a million years of development, it had the potential to become a first-class cultivation land like the Central Divine Continent."
"However, the great war between humans and demons 400 years ago shattered vast tracts of spiritual veins and land. Not only did the Eastern Li Continent lose its chance to advance, but its spiritual energy concentration also regressed significantly."
"To prevent the spiritual energy concentration of the Eastern Li Continent from further dissipating, the Ten Great Immortal Sects of Taiyuan and over a hundred ninth-rank sects joined forces to establish a sealing array in the region of the current Five Dynasties."
"As a result, the spiritual energy of the Eastern Li Continent's vast expanse has been stabilized."
"But..."
At this point, the middle-aged woman's expression turned grim again, and a cold, violent aura erupted.
"Crack."
Under the pressure of this aura, Gong Yan fell to her knees.
"Crackling~ Crackling~"
The furniture in the room instantly shattered, turning into powder.
If the room hadn't been protected by a barrier, the entire palace, along with several nearby ones, would have been reduced to ruins.
Cold sweat dripped from Gong Yan's face onto the ground, and she sighed in awe.
"This is the might of a Golden Core! Master is at the peak of the Golden Core realm, ready to advance to the Nascent Soul realm at any moment!"
"Hoo~ Thinking about the current situation of the Mystic Yin Sect makes Master furious."
The middle-aged woman quickly calmed down. With a wave of her right hand, the shattered furniture in the room turned into streams of gray smoke that flew towards her hand and were continuously compressed.
Finally, they formed a fist-sized earth ball.
"Master, tomorrow we'll have those lowly mortals send new furniture."
"Mm~"
Seeing that Master had calmed down, Gong Yan's curiosity was piqued again. "Then, Master, what does this have to do with us releasing the Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King?"
"It has a great deal to do with it.
The function of this sealing array is to absorb the spiritual energy within a certain area to stabilize the heavens and earth, and it also gathers the fortune of the countless lives in this land to stabilize the seal.
Theoretically, the sealed area should be fixed.
However, as the seal operates, the spiritual energy in the Five Dynasties gradually disappears, and the range of the seal begins to expand.
The first to bear the brunt is our Mystic Yin Sect, which is closest to the Five Dynasties."
"Hiss~ No wonder our Mystic Yin Sect has not had a Nascent Soul ancestor appear for 300 years, and it has become increasingly difficult for disciples, whether they are forming Core or establishing Foundation, to advance."
Gong Yan now understood the reason for her sect's gradual decline, but her doubts grew even stronger.
"However, Master~ the Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King..."
"Do you think Master wants to destroy this seal? Heh heh~ Naive!
The only way to break this seal is to kill everyone in the Five Dynasties. Not only must all living beings in the Five Dynasties be killed, but also all cultivators who have left the Five Dynasties.
Such a large-scale operation would absolutely attract the attention of all immortal cultivation sects, and it would be impossible to accomplish."
"As for releasing the Sky Devouring Horned Wolf King, it is merely to use its power to instigate another war between humans and demons in the Eastern Li Continent. At that time, some sects will undoubtedly be annihilated,
And our Mystic Yin Sect will have a new sect location."
Gong Yan's expression changed. She hadn't expected her master's scheme to be merely for the purpose of relocating the sect!
"Master, once the war between humans and demons erupts again, thousands of cultivators will perish, and countless mortals will die. Wouldn't that be bad?"
"Hmph~ We cultivators fight against the heavens for our lives! As long as it's not us who die, what does it matter if others die in large numbers?"
The middle-aged woman's imperious retort made Gong Yan's scalp tingle, and she lowered her head, daring not to reply.
This was the true, bloody reality of the cultivation world and its cultivators!