At the very moment the words left his mouth, a furious shout erupted from the direction of Dengxiantai: “You wretch, I’ll make the Lishi pay for this!”
With this accusation, the true culprit was determined on the spot.
Given the circumstances, the cultivator at the North Gate who had reached the Combined Body stage didn’t dare to speak up and say he might have made a mistake.
Awkward and embarrassed, he held his tongue. Instead, he forced himself to focus on the figure he’d just glimpsed—but in that brief moment of distraction, the silhouette had vanished entirely from his senses.
What was going on?
Suspicion flickered in the mind of the Combined Body cultivator.
He hesitated, debating whether to pursue the figure, but when he sensed strange activity among the foreign clans outside the city, he finally halted his steps.
At this moment, guarding the North Gate was his top priority.
The Combined Body cultivator at the North Gate wore a stormy expression.
In his mind, there was no doubt: the four of them were confined to the city gates by the enemy’s deliberate scheme.
A truly formidable move—so easily, the four Combined Body experts had been restrained.
Had they not come to Zhongxin Cheng, even the city’s foremost powers would have been tied up by this scheme, leaving the enemy free to wreak havoc within the city.
The Combined Body cultivator at the North Gate glared coldly at the subtle unrest among the foreign clans beyond the city walls. With a wave of his hand, he slapped outwards toward the outskirts.
Inside the city, there were too many civilians for him to strike carelessly, but outside, they were all foreign clans.
How dare these foreigners provoke him right before his eyes?!
Naturally, they deserved death.
As for how they were provoking him…wasn’t it obvious?
For a foreigner, simply daring to breathe in his presence was provocation enough!
***
Meanwhile, upon hearing their esteemed guest’s furious outburst, everyone from the Bo Hai Chamber of Commerce was stunned. In the next instant, their expressions changed drastically.
The higher-ups quickly sprang into action, gathering up all the chamber’s valuable possessions.
Just as they finished packing, a stranger appeared among them.
Well, not exactly a stranger.
They’d watched this person’s surveillance footage countless times; her figure was already etched deep into their memories.
The executives of the Bo Hai Chamber of Commerce froze in place, all their movements coming to a halt.
Li Yunxian, with the smile of a devil incarnate upon her face, stretched out her hand to them: “Thank you for packing everything. Now, hand it all over to me.”
The members of the Bo Hai Chamber of Commerce were twisted with shock!
Li Yunxian didn’t care in the slightest about their reactions.
She swung her sword, dispatching several desperate men who charged at her, then raised her hand and ruthlessly smashed the face of the chamber’s leader.
After sending the man flying, Li Yunxian found her hand full of all manner of items. Without a hint of nostalgia, her figure vanished from the scene.
The members of the Bo Hai Chamber of Commerce looked at each other in mutual bewilderment.
They realized, with some astonishment, that everyone present was still alive. Someone muttered, “Could it really have been the Lishi? Would the foreign clans have spared us?”
But none of them could say for sure that it was Li Yunxian’s group who’d done this.
How could someone from the Lishi be so bold?
The head of the Bo Hai Chamber of Commerce, face bruised and swollen, struggled to his feet and ground out, “Whether it was them or not, the Lishi owe us an explanation!”
“If not for them, who would dare rob us?”
He had long abandoned cultivation to focus on commerce; right and wrong meant little to him.
Having suffered such indignity and loss, he was determined to find someone to blame.
If he couldn’t take revenge on the foreign clans, he’d target the Lishi instead!
As for what these people thought, Li Yunxian couldn’t care less.
She’d deliberately let the Combined Body cultivator at the North Gate spot her, just to ensure the deed was pinned on the Lishi.
Li Yunxian’s gaze slid toward a concealed corner.
She could sense a foreign clan Nascent Soul cultivator trembling in hiding, whispering over the ship’s communicator, “Why are we suddenly fighting the righteous path?”
A response came, “No intel, that’s impossible… Lishi? Bohai? This must be infighting among the righteous sects!”
“We won’t be discovered, will we?”
“Just be careful!”
Caught amid the chaos of so many combatants in the Combined Body stage, these Nascent Soul and lower cultivators could do nothing but huddle together, bolstering each other’s courage.
Once Li Yunxian confirmed the message had reached these people, she could proceed boldly with the next step.
She scanned her surroundings, but didn’t hear or see any of the signals her allies were supposed to give; her heart sank.
Now, with all four city gates dismantled, both Dengxiantai and the command tower uprooted, and Su Wenjing handling the academy, surely something should have been noticed by now?
Was the enemy simply hidden that well, or had she misjudged?
Pondering, Li Yunxian recalled that according to the plan, her next move should be the factory.
But now…
With a flicker, Li Yunxian appeared where Dengxian Tower once stood.
Her current constitution was nearing the Nascent Soul stage, and with her deepening understanding of the Dao of Time, her speed allowed her to visit Dengxiantai before heading to the factory.
She wanted to verify for herself—was there really nothing to be found at Dengxiantai?
Her instincts said otherwise.
In their earlier discussions, everyone had agreed there was something at Dengxiantai.
She might be mistaken on her own, but with so many agreeing, Li Yunxian doubted the opposition could hide things so flawlessly.
Upon arrival, she halted at once.
Li Yunxian’s focus was immediately drawn to a particular presence within Dengxiantai—something she could sense only vaguely.
It exuded an oppressive aura, both repellent and threatening, with a faint sense of Daoist operation.
Though she’d never seen it before, just by feel, Li Yunxian realized what it must be.
That crucial artifact present in every city, meant to repel common feral beasts and suppress strange occurrences within the city.
The Town-Sealing Artifact.
So, this is what the interstellar version of the artifact looks like?
The thought floated through Li Yunxian’s mind.
She’d learned about the Town-Sealing Artifacts from her master back in Shenzhou.
Naturally, she couldn’t build one herself yet.
But she understood the basics, at least the fundamental principles and structure.
The differences between the two were vast.
Still, Li Yunxian detected nothing amiss.
The aura emanating from this artifact was perfectly orthodox.
A true righteous artifact.
If the enemy planned to tamper with something, this would certainly be the most convenient place.
Li Yunxian took a step forward—when suddenly, the distant sound of a building collapsing reached her ears. This time, it was the official Government Building.
As the noise faded, Li Yunxian’s eyes flickered.
She sensed the artifact before her shudder, sending out a faint ripple.
It wasn’t a problem in itself.
Before she’d arrived in this world, neither Shenzhou nor the interstellar realms had a concept of “formations.”
But in fact, formations and artifacts were always somewhat linked; with the interstellar world’s advanced craftsmanship, some artifacts inevitably exhibited features of formations.
Such as the interconnectedness of key nodes.
As the core of city defense, the Town-Sealing Artifact naturally connected with several crucial buildings in the city.
When those buildings were damaged, the artifact would inevitably ripple in response.
But this particular ripple…
Why did it carry the aura of the Dao of Time?
With her heightened focus on this aspect, Li Yunxian immediately detected the subtle leakage of energy. In the next moment, someone appeared beside her.
It was Su Wenjing.
“What are you doing here?” Su Wenjing asked.
According to their plan, Li Yunxian should have been at the factory by now.
“Did you discover something?” With Li Yunxian appearing here, this was the only possibility he could think of.
“Not necessarily.” Li Yunxian didn’t even glance at Su Wenjing, her full attention fixed on the artifact and its formation plate. “I’ll go take a look.”
“You take care of things at the factory for me.”
Without waiting for Su Wenjing to reply, Li Yunxian leaped away and vanished before his eyes.
Su Wenjing’s face became expressionless.
He resisted the urge to complain about always being assigned new tasks whenever he neared Li Yunxian.
Only two words echoed in Su Wenjing’s mind:
It’s over.
For Li Yunxian to show such a look, something major was clearly about to happen.
And this…
Su Wenjing’s gaze landed on the Town-Sealing Artifact.
In his perception, Li Yunxian had just disappeared into the artifact itself.
He wasn’t especially knowledgeable about artifact crafting, but even he knew that many artifacts allowed one to enter their inner space.
Yet, as far as his meager understanding went, the Town-Sealing Artifact shouldn’t have such a feature.
It didn’t need further explanation—Su Wenjing instantly realized this artifact was the key to dismantling the entire city.
But now…
It seemed only Li Yunxian could enter.
What a colossal incident this would become!
Su Wenjing’s first instinct was not to worry about Li Yunxian’s safety, but rather to fret about this very point.
As Su Wenjing lingered at Dengxiantai, others began to sense that something was amiss and soon arrived.
One of them, a Combined Body stage cultivator native to Bohai Star, asked the same question: “Did you find anything?”
Su Wenjing had already sorted through all the clues from his meeting with Li Yunxian, and now explained the current situation to the other cultivator.
He added, “The last thing she told me was to continue dismantling the factory.”
“In my perception, the artifact responded most strongly when the Government Building collapsed.”
“There must be some connection there.”
In the end, Su Wenjing gave his assessment: “Continue dismantling.”
“It should help her.”
At this point, the Combined Body cultivator who had spent his life defending Bohai Star had no complaints left—the entire Zhongxin Cheng was already dismantled.
After all, it would all have to be rebuilt in the end.
If they could actually identify the problem, instead of all their effort being wasted, that was the best possible outcome for him.
At least, all these sacrifices would be worth it.
He didn’t object to Su Wenjing’s plan, but instead turned to him with a question: “Is there still room in your spatial storage for more people?”
None of these demolitions had been announced to those outside official channels.
That meant there were people on the city walls, in the command tower, in the Government Building, and everywhere else.
The safety of these people had relied entirely on Su Wenjing’s spatial storage.
When the command tower was uprooted, Su Wenjing had first stored it away, just to get everyone inside to safety.
And as for the battered city walls, Su Wenjing had been the very first to evacuate those stationed there as soon as the operation began.
“My space isn’t that small,” Su Wenjing replied calmly.
After all, he’d once reached the Tribulation Crossing stage.
As for what was happening outside, Li Yunxian could sense none of it. The scene before her commanded her entire attention.
What materialized before Li Yunxian’s eyes was a multitude of brains, embedded in the seams of time.
Chilling to the bone!