"You all stay in your residences, do not wander around, and do not make any random comments. Everything will be decided when I return." As soon as he returned to the other courtyard, Chen Yang immediately instructed the people from Qingyang City.

After saying this, without waiting for a response, he turned around and quickly walked outside.

Seeing this, the others exchanged glances, then silently returned to their temporary residences.

Han Li returned to his room, a thoughtful expression on his face.

He wondered what had happened to make E Kui directly order the Five Cities Martial Arts Competition to be suspended. Could it really be that, coincidentally, Puppet City had launched an attack at this time?

He had wanted to inquire about some information from Gu Qianxun, but considering that she was probably also confused, he dismissed the idea.

In fact, he had no interest in the conflict between Xuan City and Puppet City, but this disrupted his plans.

If the martial arts competition could not proceed smoothly, obtaining the Heavenly Lin Meteorite Crystal would become distant, and without resolving the hidden dangers of the Black Tribulation Insects, even if there was a way to escape this secret realm, it would still be a troublesome matter after going out.

Han Li pondered for a moment, then quickly shook his head, ceasing his pointless speculations.

Since things had reached this point, he would first wait and see what happened.

With this thought, he took a light breath, sat down cross-legged, and slowly closed his eyes.

The city was under martial law everywhere, with teams of black-armored soldiers guarding all key passages.

Near the Xuan City gate, the ground rumbled, and underground tunnel entrances appeared. Teams of black-armored soldiers emerged from them, ascended the city walls, and quickly filled them.

A series of "ka" and "ka" sounds echoed on the city walls. The stones on the walls seemed to come to life, shifting to the sides. Every hundred zhang, a dark stone tower rose.

A huge ballista of astonishing size was mounted on each stone tower, loaded with massive bolts.

Most of these bolts were silvery white, flashing with a hint of cold light, and looked extremely sharp.

A small portion of the bolts were fiery red, engraved with white patterns, and exuded explosive aura, obviously a special type of bolt.

In addition to these arrow towers, many catapults, mechanical weapons, and even various puppets stood on the city walls.

On the Chongxuan Mountains near Xuan City, some figures and giant mechanical weapons could also be faintly seen.

Everyone looked into the distance with wary expressions, as if facing a great enemy.

……

Han Li meditated in his room for about half a day when a Qingyang City servant suddenly arrived and asked him to gather at Chen Yang's residence.

He did not hesitate and immediately went to the reception hall. There were already seven or eight people there, including Gu Qianxun, Yi Liya, and Xuan Yuanxing.

When Gu Qianxun saw Han Li, she nodded to him as a greeting.

Han Li walked over and sat down beside her.

"The city is under martial law everywhere, so the situation doesn't look good," Gu Qianxun said slowly.

Han Li frowned upon hearing this but remained silent.

"I know what Fellow Daoist Li is worried about. If the Five Cities Martial Arts Competition is indeed canceled, I will find a way to help you obtain the Heavenly Lin Meteorite Crystal," Gu Qianxun said through voice transmission.

"There's no such thing as a free lunch. Why would Fellow Daoist Gu help me?" Han Li asked, his eyes flashing slightly.

"I have my reasons for helping you. Simply put, you still have some value," Gu Qianxun said indifferently.

"Then I'm relieved," Han Li said with a smile.

While they were talking, all the people from Qingyang City arrived, and Chen Yang also walked out of the inner room.

"I called everyone here for no other reason than the commotion outside. I have already inquired about the cause. A large number of people from Puppet City have been discovered within ten thousand miles north of Xuan City," Chen Yang said with a solemn expression.

Although everyone had vaguely guessed something, their expressions varied when they heard this.

Some looked fearful, while others had hatred shining in their eyes.

Han Li's eyes lit up slightly when he heard this.

Since he had not found Zi Ling's踪迹 within Xuan City, he had planned to go to Puppet City as soon as he had a chance. He didn't expect that they would come to him first.

"City Lord, how many people came from Puppet City? Could it be a small number of people from Puppet City who mistakenly came here due to some matter?" Someone said.

"The exact number is not yet clear, but City Lord E Kui has already confirmed that Puppet City Lord Sha Xin is among them. Xuan City has issued a warning, but they have ignored it and are still heading towards Xuan City. Their intentions are not good," Chen Yang said, shaking his head.

"Are Xuan City and Puppet City going to have another great war?" Gu Qianxun asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Puppet City Lord Sha Xin personally came without prior warning. This is not a good sign," Chen Yang said slowly.

The room fell silent. Everyone's eyes were on Chen Yang, but no one spoke. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Everyone, don't worry. Now that the elites of our Xuan City and the four affiliated cities are gathered here, and with the advantage of the terrain, the people from Puppet City will definitely not gain an advantage," Chen Yang said, changing his tone as if he felt the stifling atmosphere.

Hearing this, everyone's spirits lifted slightly.

"During this period, you should prepare as much as possible. If the war really starts, we will definitely have to take action," Chen Yang said slowly, his eyes sweeping over everyone.

Although everyone was worried, they were not cowards and agreed in unison.

Chen Yang nodded in satisfaction at everyone's response, then announced some regulations issued by the city.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, do you think that Puppet City Lord's sudden appearance is really to attack Xuan City? Or is there another purpose?" Han Li asked Gu Qianxun through voice transmission.

"It's hard to say. Xuan City and Puppet City are sometimes friends and sometimes enemies, but most of the time they are hostile to each other. Small-scale conflicts are constant. After so many years of mutual fighting, both sides have long-standing grudges, so every large-scale conflict involving the two forces is extremely fierce," Gu Qianxun replied through voice transmission.

"Presumably, the relationship is eased due to some external reasons?" Han Li asked.

"Only when facing natural disasters or large-scale scale beast stampedes will they temporarily join forces. If I remember correctly, the last large-scale battle was three thousand years ago. The main battlefield was in Baiyan City. The two sides fought for nearly a century. Most of Baiyan City was destroyed, and countless people died on both sides. The Baiyan City Lord at that time was not Sun Tu, but another person. This person unfortunately died in that great battle, and Sun Tu took the opportunity to become the Baiyan City Lord," Gu Qianxun said.

"I didn't expect the conflicts and disputes among the survivors in this desolate secret realm, which is almost forgotten by the outside world, to be so fierce," Han Li said, shaking his head.

"All struggles are for the scarce resources. In fact, whether it is Xuan City or Puppet City, the ultimate goal is to escape this dark secret realm," Gu Qianxun glanced at Han Li, saying meaningfully.

"I should have thought of that, but more of the upper echelons here probably have this idea?" Han Li nodded and said.

"Who knows... If the war really starts, you must not be careless. Personal strength is really insignificant in large-scale conflicts," Gu Qianxun warned.

"City Lord, although the people from Puppet City have appeared outside the city, it is hard to guarantee that their target is not Qingyang City. We are all in Xuan City at the moment. If the puppet does something to dispatch its main force to attack Qingyang City, it will be difficult to defend with the power within the city," Yi Liya said after Chen Yang finished the announcement.

"How could I not know this, but even if we go all out to defend Qingyang City, it will definitely be too late. We can only pray that Puppet City's target is not there," Chen Yang said with a sigh.

Chen Yang warned everyone about some precautions at the moment before dismissing them.

The other three cities in the other courtyard also received the news of Puppet City's approach and hurriedly gathered their forces to prepare for battle.

Before long, the sound of horns rose and fell in the city, echoing the sound of the Heavenly Might Battle Drum.

The once bustling streets had become empty. Even the few pedestrians were hurrying along, their faces full of panic. The shops on both sides were all closed.

On the main streets of the city, teams of soldiers in armor or beast-drawn carts sped past from time to time, heading to various parts of Xuan City. The air was filled with a tense atmosphere of an approaching storm.

On the city walls of Xuan City's main gate, countless black-armored soldiers were busy in an orderly manner.

At this moment, a group of people climbed onto the city walls, and the soldiers in front hurriedly made way.

The leader was E Kui, accompanied by seven or eight people. Tong Song, who had led Han Li and others into the city that day, and the hook-nosed man were also there.

E Kui looked towards the distant sky, silently. The people beside him did not dare to interrupt.

After a moment, E Kui's eyebrows furrowed.

A gray line appeared in the distant sky, accompanied by muffled thunder-like roars, rolling in.

The black-armored soldiers on the city walls quickly saw the situation in the distance. There was a commotion, and everyone tightened their grips on their weapons.

E Kui was expressionless and raised his arm forward.

The Xuan City gate opened with a bang, and countless black-armored soldiers poured out. Most of the soldiers marched out on foot, while about 30% rode various scale beasts, forming several square formations on the open ground outside Xuan City.

A sharp cry came from the Chongxuan Mountains near Xuan City, and then flying scale beasts soared down from the mountains. Most of them were vulture scale beasts, carrying some black-armored soldiers on their backs. They densely covered almost half the sky, vaguely forming a formation, preparing for battle.

The gray line in the distance had now become much larger. It was a sandstorm-like gray cloud, and in the gray cloud, one could vaguely see an army composed of countless puppets.

The puppet army seemed to have sensed the formation outside Xuan City and stopped about a thousand miles away from Xuan City, no longer moving forward.

The soldiers above and below Xuan City saw the puppet army, and their fighting spirit surged. They all looked at E Kui, waiting for him to issue the order to attack.

But what happened next was somewhat unexpected.

The puppet army just stayed in the distance, without continuing to advance. This made E Kui frown, and he did not issue an order to attack.

The two sides were deadlocked in place.