Dragon King Dynasty, Tianzang Mountain
In the mountains, there is a secluded cave. Outside the cave, the forest is unusually quiet, seemingly peaceful and calm. However, upon close observation, one can discover that there are hidden black figures in the forest.
Within the cave, Xiao Tianyi, dressed in a black silk gown, sits in the corner with a vigilant expression. For several days, he has been chased and intercepted by the Imperial Army and Kuoshan Clan, who have dealt him heavy losses.
The spider web's intelligence messages have been completely cut off. At this moment, he is like a wild beast trapped in a cage. He has sharp claws but can't use any of them.
All plans have been systematically eliminated, and it was only then that Xiao Tianyi realized what it meant to call to the heavens and receive no response, or call to the earth and get no echo.
A mysterious person in a black robe quickly enters the cave, seeing Xiao Tianyi sitting cross-legged inside. Upon seeing him, the person instantly kneels on one knee and bows respectfully, saying, "Master."
Xiao Tianyi raised his eyes slightly and glanced at him with a casual tone, "What's the situation?"
The figure in the black robe hung his head, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke in a trembling voice, "The intelligence messages from the spider web can't be transmitted out. Not only is the divine punishment unreachable, but even Shadow Pavilion doesn't know about our current situation."
Snap
A crisp sound echoes as Xiao Tianyi slaps his palm on the stone next to him, instantly turning it into powder. He roars angrily, terrifying the figure in black robe who trembles in fear and can't utter a word.
"You fools, all of you are fools! You can't even handle something like this. I've been raising you, the spider web, for so many years. What on earth have you been doing?"
Xiao Tianyi angrily asks, and the black-clad figure remains silent. After a while, when he felt that Xiao Tianyi's anger had subsided a bit, he dared to answer with a little courage:
"Master, it's not that we have done poorly in our work. It's just that the opponents are too strong. These days, Kuoshan Clan has been secretly investigating our situation without making a move. They waited until you were down and out and then unleashed their full might with the old patriarch of Kuoshan Clan leading the charge. Our spider web couldn't react in time, and we were all killed off. The only ones who survived are the elite members of the spider web…"
Xiao Tianyi clenched his fists, and the veins on his forehead bulged. "Chen Sanzang, no... it's Chen Mo, that bastard who should have died three hundred years ago. He has endured in silence for three hundred years and only struck when I was at my weakest. Fine, I made so many preparations, yet I couldn't even match him..."
Xiao Tianyi felt like he had always been living under the shadow of Chen Mo. Every move he made seemed to be within Chen Mo's expectations. He was originally the one on the outside of the chessboard, but at this moment, he suddenly felt that he had become a pawn on that chessboard.
"What about the situation over at the Forbidden Zone?"
Xiao Tianyi suppressed his anger and changed the subject, asking.
The black-clad figure saw that the master's anger had subsided a lot, so he dared to answer, "Master, we have used special means to make those people move... However, we have just received the latest news that the Tianlong Empress has led the army to defend the Forbidden Zone."
"Expected"
As Xiao Tianyi was speaking, he suddenly sensed something amiss. He jumped up immediately, "What about Chen Mo? Do we have any news of him? Did he go to the Forbidden Zone with the Empress?"
"Okay, it seems there is no news of him..."
The black-clad figure hesitated and stammered. At that time, they had encountered the army sent to attack Xiao Tianyi. They had wanted to gather more information, but their informants died for no reason, in a manner that was extremely cruel, clearly the work of the poison sect's witchcraft.
Even though they were high-level spies, they dared not approach such a powerful enemy. As a result, the information they could gather was limited.
Xiao Tianyi pondered for a moment in silence, then suddenly realized something was wrong. How could Long Feiwu have rushed to the Forbidden Zone so quickly? It must be that they had already set out early. If they set out this early, where could they possibly be heading?
Their whereabouts have been exposed.
Chen Mo not being with Long Feiwu indicates that the other party is targeting him specifically.
This assumption had just occurred to him when a series of chilling screams echoed from outside the cave, causing Xiao Tianyi's expression to darken. "No good, they are indeed coming after me."
"Master, what should we do now?"
The black-clad figure was terrified and leaped to his feet, then stepped in front of Xiao Tianyi.
Xiao Tianyi looked at the cave mouth and sighed helplessly, "I just hope that old man doesn't let me down..."
Zhongzhou, the Academy of Divination
At the top of a vast mountain shrouded in mist, there is a magnificent palace. As the mist disperses, the palace appears like an enchanting paradise. Inside the palace, an old man dressed in white sits next to a chessboard, with his right hand holding black pieces, preparing to make a move.
Suddenly, his index finger gripped the black piece tightly, reluctant to place it on the board. He raised his eyebrow, lightly flicked the black piece with his fingers, and it fell into a nearby box of discarded pieces.
The old man then reached for a turtle shell not far away, dropping six copper coins into it. With a firm clap of his withered and creased hand, the turtle shell spun in the air for several turns before landing, and the six copper coins landed one by one.
"Another dead end?"
The old man's eyebrows, as white as snow, flew upwards, and his aged face showed a hint of worry. He muttered to himself, "Why? Could it be that I'm getting old?"
Having said that, the old man made a casual gesture, and all the copper coins on the ground fell into the turtle shell...
"Master, it's pointless to try anymore."
A lazy voice resounded from outside the palace. A middle-aged man in a casual, dark-green qipao with a tight bun on his head and a few strands of hair falling across his cheeks slowly entered.
"Yunzhi, why aren't you preparing for the Great Divination Contest and why are you here?"
The old man frowned dissatisfiedly.
"I happened to calculate some things and came to discuss them with Master."
The middle-aged man came uninvited and then lay lazily on the floor of the hall, supporting his face with his right hand and yawning, "Master has already calculated 64 hexagrams, but there are no living hexagrams. It seems that he must be doomed to death, isn't that so?"
"What do you want to say?"
"Since fate has been decided, why does Master need to go through all this trouble?"
The old man did not respond, but held the turtle shell in his hand and shook it a few times, as if he wanted to draw another hexagram. However, seeing the middle-aged man's appearance, he could not help but sigh and gently placed it back down.
"Why is Master so obsessed with him? For his sake, he doesn't hesitate to dispatch people in secret to intercept and kill the man, prevent him from reviving, and even send people from the Academy of Divination to rescue him... Master are you going against the heavens? When I said I wanted to save that man, you went to great lengths to stop me"
The middle-aged man vented his dissatisfaction in a lazy tone, and upon hearing this, the old man raised an eyebrow. "So you mean the people I sent were stopped by you?"
"How could I dare defy Master? It wasn't me. It was the Daoist sect of Tianmo, the saintess Yun Chunqiu and all the high-ranking generals of Tianmo Daoist sect who mobilized their forces to intercept and stop all the experts you sent."
"The Empress of Tianmo Daoist sect, Liu Wu xin, knew that person three hundred years ago. My apprentice suspects that it must have been his idea. But I'm curious, how does he have such a mystical foresight..."
"Shut up."
The old man's face darkened when he heard the middle-aged man praising someone else, scowling at his apprentice who was flipping sides. "Who are you helping?"
"It depends on my mood. If what Master does is right, of course I'll help you..."
"Everything I do is right, he, is my Academy of Divination... No, is the last hope of my human race..."
