Xiao Chenlei thought about it for a while before he finally made a decision. “Investigate this thoroughly at once! Transfer some more manpower over from the base camp. Other than that, pass down the order — Responsibility lies on everyone’s shoulders; punishment will be extended to their families too if anything goes wrong. Ensure that nothing goes wrong in every single aspect.”“The enemy is not exceptionally strong this time. However, their joint strength is not to be underestimated! Thus, if any of you needs to head out for any reason, you must move in teams of three. Take up a battle-ready formation at all times.”

When Xiao Chenlei said this, he was rather emotional.

He was thinking about the battle that had taken place today. The more he thought about it, the more he felt belated fear coming over him.

“Elder Master, are those people today really the Nine Tribulations Sword Master and his Nine Tribulations?” Horse Face asked curiously.

“There’s no mistake about that for sure!” Xiao Chenlei heaved a deep sigh. “It’s not just all of you who are in disbelief. Even this old man didn’t expect that the Nine Tribulations Sword Master would choose us, the Xiao Clan, as his opponent when he makes his debut in the Nine Heavens!”

“Could the Nine Tribulations Sword Master be from the Chu Clan?” Horse Face frowned.

At the side, Ji Mo’s ears also perked up.

“Not necessarily.” Xiao Chenlei said, “It was pitch-black, so their faces couldn’t be seen clearly. In addition, they came one after another and everything had taken place amidst clouds of flying dust. Not just that, some of them had also changed their appearance…”

He paused for a moment before he went on. “However, even if the Nine Tribulations Sword Master isn’t from the Chu Clan, he is definitely related to them.” He circulated his energy and treated his wounds as he spoke. “At the very least, one of the Nine Tribulations must be from the Chu Clan!”

Everyone took in a sharp breath of air. “If that’s the case, this would mean that we’re standing against one of the future Nine Super Clans!”

“We must inform the clan about this as soon as possible.”

Frowning, Xiao Chenlei asked, “Is the Communication Jade still unusable?”

A troubled Horse Face replied, “Yes, the Communication Jade is completely unusable within the effective zone of the dragon and phoenix remains’ power. It is necessary to go out of Aspen Valley in order to resume communications.”

“Go out of Aspen Valley?” Xiao Chenlei’s brows furrowed. “Doesn’t that mean that we’ll end up entering their strike zone? That’s too risky. We’d better hurry and dispatch the Invisible Falcon.”

“Alright.”

Someone went off hurriedly to pen the message and get ready to dispatch the Invisible Falcon.

Sighing, Xiao Chenlei staunched his bleeding. A bearded Supreme Martial Artist commented in puzzlement, “Elder Master, the battle earlier was visible to us at the bottom too. However, there’s something that I can’t figure out for the life of me.”

Xiao Chenlei let out a breath of air. “You’re referring to my injuries?”

The bearded Supreme Martial Artist replied respectfully, “Yes, one could easily tell from the battle earlier that that Sword Supremacy is fourth-grade at best, while that Saber Supremacy definitely hasn’t crossed the boundary between immortal and mortal! As for the others, they are more or less third to fourth-grade too… Such levels of cultivation shouldn’t have been able to breach your protective energy barrier at all… Even if they are the Nine Tribulations, they definitely shouldn’t have been able to hurt the Elder Master.”

“Much less…” The bearded Supreme Martial Artist fell silent for a moment before he mustered the courage to finish his words. “…such grievous injuries.”

Xiao Chenlei sighed to the heavens. “There’s naturally a reason for this.”

Everyone’s ears perked up to listen.

Blinking, Ji Mo also leaned forward.

Xiao Chenlei said, “People have always said, ‘When the Nine Tribulations come together, they are invincible!’ Today, I have finally understood the meaning behind these words.”

“The first wave of attack, which was the combined attack of the Sword Supremacy and the Saber Supremacy, has already exceeded the power limit range of their own personal cultivation. As each of the Nine Tribulations appeared one after the other, the power of their attacks also became increasingly stronger. It was then that this old man finally realized that as long as the one striking was one of the Nine Tribulations, there seems to be a mysterious link among them that allows them to freely make use of each other’s remnant force to its limit… By the time the Sword Master struck, the power in that strike of his was already equivalent to an attack coming from a seventh to eighth-grade Supreme Martial Artist!”

Sighing, Xiao Chenlei said, “In the past, when people said ‘When the Nine Tribulations come together, they are invincible’, this old man refused to believe it. After all, the Nine Tribulations were ultimately made up of nine different people. There are both strong and weak people mixed in there. Even if they were to join hands, what can they do?”

“It’s only now that I realize… the Nine Tribulations naturally complement each other… If this goes on, once all of them become Supreme Martial Artists, they will develop successfully into greatness. Eliminating them… will become extremely difficult.”

When Xiao Chenlei finished, he sighed rather forlornly. His eyes stared blankly into the far distance, somewhat out of sorts. After a long while, he murmured, “Today’s trap was meant to kill them all… But judging from the situation today, if we can kill just one of them…”

“…victory will be ours!”

Xiao Chenlei uttered the last four words only after a long pause.

“I’ll head to where the dragon and phoenix remains are and see if there’s any way to move them out!”

Xiao Chenlei’s form moved and drifted toward the bottom of the cave.

However, all of them felt as if the back of the Elder Master in this instant seemed rather… bleak.

Xiao Chenlei’s telepathic message echoed in the bearded Supreme Martial Artist’s ear. “If anything untoward happens… Preserve Jiang Ye’s life. This fellow may be our hope…”

The bearded man was stunned for a moment. By then, Xiao Chenlei had already gone far away.

On the other side.

Mo Tianji and the others hid quietly in the enormous phoenix nests at the top of the sycamore trees, watching the place where the Yang Clan used to be and also where the current base camp of the Xiao Clan was.

They could vaguely see someone going in the direction of the Purple Crystal mine. 40 to 50 people, all prepared and ready, followed after him.

It was already the later half of the night!

Mo Tianji mused for a moment. When he felt that they had more or less gone far enough, he waved and softly gave a command. “We’ll take action in ten minutes. Flip the ground upwards completely from underground and attack with full force immediately! Take note, all battles must end in two breaths at the longest. Destroy all their resources and withdraw immediately after that!”

In the Purple Crystal mine, a few Invisible Falcons spread their wings and took off into the air. They circled one round before swooping into the sky and flying swiftly to the east.

With his head raised, the bearded Supreme Martial Artist watched as the Invisible Falcons soared into the skies and disappeared. He followed their trail for a period of time with his mental energy. After ensuring that they had already flown out of Aspen Valley, he set his mind at ease and turned around and left.

Outside Aspen Valley.

Yue Lingxue stood charmingly in the bright moonlight and mild breeze, his robes white as snow.

It was as if his entire self had merged as one with the universe.

He smiled lightly, his hands behind his back.

The moment the bearded Supreme Martial Artist withdrew his divine sense, Yue Lingxue opened his eyes, a relaxed smile appearing on the corners of his lips.

Raising his head slightly, he said calmly, “Come down!”

He reached out his arm, palm facing the sky.

Rustling sounds subsequently rang out. Five Invisible Falcons flapped their wings agitatedly as they plummeted several thousand feet down a straight path from the sky. They landed quietly in Yue Lingxue’s palm, tilting their heads in puzzlement as they stared at this stranger, as if wondering why this person was here and why they couldn’t fly anymore…

A smiling Yue Lingxue said, “Little fellow!”

He removed the cylinder from the Invisible Falcon’s leg and poured out the wax ball inside. He pinched it casually, disintegrating it instantly.

Then, he let go of them. Smiling, he said, “Go now…”

The five Invisible Falcons glanced at him strangely, probably wondering to themselves, “Is there something wrong with this person? Capturing us yet not doing anything to us…”

With their heads still tilted, they got up. Spreading their wings, they took flight into the sky once more. Before long, they had already vanished in the sky.

Holding his hands behind his back, Yue Lingxue smiled, taking in the peace and quiet in the far distance. Then, he murmured softly, “Tonight… the world shall enter an upheaval again.”

He reached his arm out. Looking at his fair fingers, he remarked softly, “These hands are going to be covered in blood once again!”

“…Ten, nine… six… three, two, one!”

As Chu Yang’s fingers bent one by one, Gu Duxing, Dong Wushang, Luo Kedi, Ao Xieyun, Xie Danqiong, Rui Butong, Mo Tianji, Mo Lei’er and Mo Qingwu struck out together!

Several waves of rich and vigorous energy penetrated into the underground at the same time, permeating into the underground from all directions. Gradually, they formed a spider web-like structure in the underground and started spinning!

Originally, It should’ve been Mo Tianji to give the signal, but he firmly insisted on giving this right to Chu Yang instead.

Mo Tianji’s reasoning was very simple —”An organization can only have one core! I can only take command when you specifically say to have me take command!”

“But before that, it can only revolve around the core! Otherwise… it definitely won’t do!”

When Chu Yang counted down to ‘one’, during that one instant of pause, the power of all ten of them erupted simultaneously!

A thundering boom rang out!

The entire Yang Clan compound in Aspen Valley, along with the ground and a few earth mounds in the surroundings, as well as all the greenery, were tossed up into the sky in one motion!

The chaos and the great battle earlier had convinced everyone that the Purple Crystal mine was where the true core battleground was. Hence, all the main battle forces had already gone there!

Besides, although Xiao Chenlei did not believe Mo Tianji when he said ‘three days later’, he would never think that they would actually be able to launch such a devastating attack tonight right after their great battle with a ninth-grade Supreme Martial Artist!

No matter what, their injuries were in no way something that could heal in a short amount of time.

Even though Xiao Chenlei was also aware of the wonders of the Nine Tribulations Pill, it definitely wouldn’t occur to him that the Nine Tribulations Pill could actually instantly heal even injuries such as broken bones and reinstate them to their original healthy state!

All miraculous elixirs, even the mythical celestial elixir of immortals, would need time to take effect.

However, the incomplete version of the Nine Tribulations Pill simply did possess such heaven-defying effects!

Cries of surprise and alarm could be heard from the still-intact houses in mid-air. The houses were then thrown forcefully up several thousand feet high into the sky!

Chu Yang’s countenance was calm and composed as he shouted, “Go!”

With his sword in hand, ten thousand flashes of icy light erupted from around him. His entire self shot outwards like a dazzling and colorful pillar of light!

He had merged together with his sword instantly. He wielded the Nine Tribulations Sword in a frenzied manner as he charged ahead!

‘A ray of chilling light illuminates ten thousand feet’, ‘What harm is there in slaughtering the entire world’…

He continued all the way until ‘I hold the decisive power over one’s life in my hand; the heavens are on the brink of collapse when my fingers close. Wind and clouds gather when the nine tribulations disperse; blood splatters like ink beyond the Nine Heavens’.

At the same time, he put all his power into the Nine Tribulations Sword Technique, launching all 24 moves from the first fragment to the sixth!

The sword intent was launched at the same time!

In an instant, wind and thunder raged between heaven and earth. Blinding sword light seemed to envelop the moon and stars in the Nine Heavens! Lighting up the entire sky and ground at the same time!

From another position, Gu Duxing charged out after merging with his sword. He was like a cold and sharp meteor shooting across the sky, drawing a lonely and stubborn arc!

Dong Wushang’s Dark Saber was like the skies collapsing upon the earth, its saber light as if the milky way falling from the skies as he charged over with great momentum! Everywhere he passed by, his mighty momentum caused countless tall trees underneath him to break and fly everywhere!