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Facing Yan Nanlai’s discerning gaze, the Tai Yi Holy Man, the Zheng Yi Holy Man and the Xuan Lin Holy Man shook their heads. "We couldn’t do it. We still could not reopen the Spirit Sea."

Yan Nanlai, the Qing Yi Holy Woman and the Xuan Yi Holy Woman nodded their heads quietly, not saying anything else.

This was originally an experimental effort, so failure was well within expectations, which did not call for much disappointment. However, this did delay the battle for the Netherworld Sea which was a slight pity. Indeed, the situation at the Netherworld Sea would be a mystery even without the trouble at the Spirit Sea, but the cost incurred could only measured in their own hearts.

The Qing Yi Holy Woman asked, "Have we confirmed the whereabouts of the Hades Tribe?"

The Zheng Yi Holy Man shook his head and replied, "Not yet, we still cannot confirm their location."

"We all know what happened at the Netherworld Sea," the Tai Yi Holy Man sighed, "Although we ultimately could not detain the Emperor of the Dead, it was still an acceptable result since things have progressed to such a state."

The Zheng Yi Holy Man looked at Yan Nanlai and the Qing Yi Holy Woman, and said, "Are we still pursuing whatever’s left of the Hall of the Dead?"

Yan Nanlai nodded, "Yes. The whole of the Divine Lands has activated their forces.. The operation is underway, and the rewards so far have been substantial. Now, the majority of whatever forces are left of the Hall of the Dead have fled to the Void Battleground. Cultivators from our sect and other forces are all hunting them down in the Void Battleground."

"Although the situation inside the Void Battleground is extremely complicated, with mounting difficulties during the chase, we have nonetheless obtained a large amount of clues from those that we captured, hence the hunt is still continuing."

"In that case, I think it’s about time that we begin our original plans," said the Zheng Yi Holy Man.

The Qing Yi Holy Woman beside him nodded. "Everything has been prepared and we were just waiting for your return. Without the both of you, our sect cannot effectively control the overall situation even if the entire state of things undergoes a massive upheaval."

"Our original plans were to complete our preparations, and mobilize our forces if you returned before the hunt for the Hall of the Dead’s cultivators concluded, and to not do anything reckless if you could not return in time. Even though it’s a pity that we couldn’t re-open the Spirit Sea, it’s still a relief that you both could rush back in time. After all, now is the prime opportunity to strike, with our chances of success higher than ever, and time waits for no one. The longer we delay, the worse the situation becomes."

The Zheng Yi Holy Man replied, "It would be best if all the preparations have been completed. I only have myself to blame - I returned empty-handed after the Battle of the Starry Sea and even lengthened the recovery period of the Supreme Heavenly Mirror."

The Tai Yi Holy Man shook his head with his eyes shut, "That could not be helped. Junior Zheng Yi, there’s no need for you to blame yourself. Lengthening the recovery period of the Supreme Heavenly Mirror is no big deal, but by the looks of it, the current situation is constantly changing. I’m afraid it’s very difficult to steer it in the direction that we want."

The Qing Yi Holy Woman chimed in, "In that case, the earlier the War of the Two Worlds begins, the better it is for us. The Emperor of the Dead may have been severely injured, but he would gradually heal himself as time passes. If he continues wrecking havoc when he completes his recovery, things would easily get out of hand."

The Xuan Yi Holy Man remained silent for a moment before uttering softly, "Are we really going to do this?"

The Zheng Yi Holy Man and the Qing Yi Holy Woman gazed at the Tai Yi Holy Man in silence. The Tai Yi Holy Man said softly, "This is the plan that would be most beneficial to the Divine Lands."

The rest nodded in unison. The Xuan Lin Holy Man asked, "But we have a little problem. Besides Wang leading the charge for the Celestial Sect’s pursuit of the Hall of the Dead’s cultivators, Zhu Yi is also accompanying him with the Higan Golden Bridge in tow. I’m afraid it isn’t very safe for us to follow our original plan."

"I’ll go then. If you all go instead, the plan certainly isn’t foolproof with Zhu Yi’s Higan Golden Bridge around," said the Qing Yi Holy Woman.

The Zheng Yi Holy Man looked at the Xuan Lin Holy Man and Yun Yuanzhen. "The both of you should follow Junior Qing Yi and lend her your combined strength."

The Xuan Lin Holy Man and Yun Yuanzhen bowed and answered, "Yes, Master."

The Qing Yi Holy Woman continued, "Once we snag King Doushi of the Hall of the Dead’s sub-halls, our chances of success would certainly increase."

"I’ve already informed Junior Cai and Junior Yu Yuan to complete their preparations. Once the plan succeeds, they’ll be ready on Mount Taihua, so our sect can immediately ride Mount Taihua to the Barren Expanses and seize the control over the War of the Two Worlds," said Yan Nanlai.

The Tai Yi Holy Man nodded with his eyes still shut. He turned to the Zheng Yi Holy Man and the Xuan Yi Holy Man, "Junior Zheng Yi, head for the Barren Expanses and prepare to receive Junior Qing Yi at anytime. Junior Xuan Yi, stay at Mount Baiyun with me. If the need rises, I’ll bring the Supreme Heavenly Mirror over to the Barren Expanses, and when that happens, I’ll leave Mount Baiyun in your care."

The Zheng Yi Holy Man and the Xuan Yi Holy Man nodded together.

The bright reflected glow from the mirror rose into the sky as everyone’s gaze converged on the mirror’s light. "The War of the Two Worlds would definitely incinerate everything in its wake, but fortunately for us, we can move the main battleground to the Barren Expanses with our sect at the helm," the Tai Yi Holy Man explained.

"Go forth," the Tai Yi Holy Man sighed. The Qing Yi Holy Woman, the Xuan Lin Holy Man and Yun Yuanzhen nodded in unison. "We’ll depart now."

...

In the middle of the Ying Sea, atop the Yingzhou Celestial Mountains, Lin Feng’s newly-crafted avatar was staring at the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl in a trance.

Inside the golden pearl, the Big Luo’s soul asked, "Master Lin, it seems like they didn’t manage to reopen the Spirit Sea."

Lin Feng nodded. "That’s indeed the case. They did not succeed." As he said this, Lin Feng continued gazing at the Heavenly Oyster’s Golden Pearl blankly. When the Big Luo saw this, he became curious but did not ask about it.

"This feels a little werid. Why do I feel disorientated and uneasy?" Lin Feng creased his eyebrows and shook his head, and sat down cross-legged again.

Meanwhile on Mount Yujing, Lin Feng’s actual being left the Tripitaka Block and departed from the sect. He traversed the void and headed straight for the Ying Sea. Upon entering the Ying Sea, Lin Feng navigated through the multitude of illusory waters by connecting his consciousness. After a brief moment, a towering Celestial Mountain appeared before him.

Amidst the distorted space surrounding the Celestial Mountain, tens of thousands of clear jade pieces floated about. Each jade piece was incomparably enormous, reaching half an acre in size. The giant rectangles piled together in stacks, then spread evenly outwards like tiles, encircling the gigantic Celestial Mountain in a huge sphere.

With a point of Lin Feng’s finger, the numerous clear jade pieces started shifting, creating an opening for him to enter. This gigantic Celestial Mountain was naturally the Yingzhou Celestial Mountains, one of the three mountains of the Ying Sea.

Lin Feng landed on the Yingzhou Celestial Mountains and walked to the Jade Nectar Spring at the foot of the mountain. He looked at the two black shadows quietly floating in the spring water and conjured a spell with both hands, pointing towards the two figures. The two figures jerked and floated above the water surface, halting in midair. They emanated formidable mana waves.’

The shadow on the left was a long, pure black sail with a faint purple glow and a frightening image sewn onto it. It depicted a gargantuan, monstrous snake coiled up in the middle of a pitch-black marshland. The snake had the body of a serpent but faces of a man, with nine identical faces in total. All nine faces wore icy-cold, incredibly vicious expressions, with their eighteen eyes exuded terrifying bloodthirst, menacing and frightening, while their gaping mouths spat out columns of black smog and torrents of black liquid.

The spiritual energy of the Yingzhou Celestial Mountains began shrivelling after coming in contact with the black smog and toxic liquid, with the bountiful life force coming under direct threat.

The terrifying monstrous snake on the black sail was the Xiangliu.

With a simple thought in his mind, Lin Feng immediately halted the dispersal of the black smog and toxic liquid, withdrawing all these noxious pollutants back into the sail, reverting the tragic state of the draining life energy around the sail back to normal.

This sail is the magic treasure that Lin Feng crafted from the corpse of the Xiangliu Grand Sage, the great demon in the Cardinal Tribulations Beginning Stage which he slayed during his previous visit to the Barren Expanses. It is the Xiangliu Sail.

The Xiangliu Tribe’s most potent poison is its toxic blood. During the Antiquity Age, there was a Xiangliu in the Vipralopa Stage that was killed, and the remnants of its toxic blood at its place of death reduced that corner of the Barren Expanses into a sinkhole of death, which could only be completely cleansed after an agonizingly long period of time. It’s fair to say that the Xiangliu Tribe is terrifyingly poisonous in life and in death.

Even Lin Feng had to spend considerable effort to treat the Xiangliu Grand Sage’s corpse and craft it into a magic treasure, but Lin Feng was still very satisfied with the power of this magic treasure. Although this magic treasure was only crafted a while back, being still in the Gestation realm, its power was extraordinary.

Beside the Xiangliu Sail was a dark grey suit of armor. It looked like any ordinary, inconspicuous suit of armor, sturdy yet cumbersome. Wearing this looked like wearing a suit grinded from rocks. However, the defensive prowess of this suit of armor was astonishing, because Lin Feng crafted this from the corpse of the Zu’e Grand Sage at the Third Level of the Undying Demon Soul.

The Zu’e are the leaders of the mixed-blood dragon tribes. Their body of stone armor gathers the energy from the stars and earth as a pivot, formed from the combined essence of earth and water. The essence of earth is sturdy and impenetrable, while the essence of water attacks opponents with their incessant flow.

Among all the dragon tribes, only the Bastille Black Dragons can match their defensive prowess at the mastery level, but the Zu’e can easily rival both the Bastille Black Dragons and Yellow Dragons in terms of pure physical strength.

This suit of Zu’e Holy Armor not only protects the wearer exceedingly well, it even boosts the wearer’s physical strength while slightly increasing all other forms of power. Although both the Zu’e Holy Armor and the Xiangliu Sail are both magic treasures only in the Gestation realm, the could unleash powers that exceed current expectations when used in the hands of suitable cultivators.

Lin Feng looked at these two magic treasures, nodded, and kept them both. He then left the Yingzhou Celestial Mountains and returned to the Greater Worlds.

On the way back, Lin Feng received a message from Zhu Yi. "Master, we’ve captured a cultivator from the Hall of the Dead and chanced upon a remarkable discovery. We’ve obtained information about Little Junior’s parents!"

Lin Feng was stunned. "So sudden? We didn’t obtain an ounce of information back then with the Emperor of the Dead. Have you received any other news from the other cultivators you captured? Have you confirmed this?"

Zhu Yi replied, "I’m afraid it’s true. It seems that King Chujiang of the Ten Kings of Hell chanced upon Little Junior’s parents when he was fleeing the Void Battleground to avoid our pursuit. He intended to use them as hostages and bargaining chips, so he captured them."

Lin Feng asked, "Can you find him?"

"We have specific clues, so Third Junior and I are focusing all our efforts to find him," said Zhu Yi. "But finding someone inside the Void Battleground is certainly difficult, so we’ll need some time."

Lin Feng raised his head and cracked a smile. "We’ve finally found them. Tianhao can finally be reunited with his family. In that case, notify him. Although searching from someone in the Void Battleground is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack, and adding more manpower to the search party may not make a significant difference, but since we do have specific clues, one more person searching would equate to higher chances of success. Among your fellow disciples, Tianhao himself is the one that is most familiar with the Void Battleground besides Wang Lin."

Zhu Yi replied, "Yes, Master. I’ll contact Little Junior at once."