Inside the Eternal Immortal Sect.
The sect's grand array was activated, and the disciples floated into the air, all gazing in horror toward the direction of the Azure Cloud Prefecture.
From the border of Westfall Prefecture, one could see black clouds hanging in the cloudy sky like a waterfall, along with lightning constantly flashing and radiating brilliance within the gloomy curtain of heavy rain.
It was as if the two prefectures had been divided into two separate worlds.
The black clouds pressed down, and a terrifying Spiritual power permeated the rain, seemingly ready to drown and destroy everything beneath the dark clouds at any moment.
There were many experts in the Eternal Immortal Sect, and one look was enough to tell that disaster had struck the Azure Cloud Prefecture.
"Ancestor Lan!"
Sect Master Duanmu Qi wiped cold sweat from his forehead and hurriedly walked into the rear mountain, a place few were willing to enter.
He paid his respects to Ancestor Lan, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed.
However, Ancestor Lan turned a deaf ear, making Duanmu Qi incredibly anxious inwardly.
He hastily reported,
"The Xuanyuan Clan and the Zhangsun Family of Clearpeak Prefecture sent a message to this disciple.
Over the past few years, many experts have secretly gathered in Clearpeak Prefecture, and now they have all charged into the Azure Cloud Prefecture."
Ancestor Lan remained silent.
Duanmu Qi grew even more anxious.
"Nothing must happen to the Li Clan. In this chaotic world, our Eternal Immortal sect and the Li Clan share resources and mutually benefit within the Department of Immortal Suppression.
Our major factions have established an alliance. Now that the Li Clan is in danger, I entreat Ancestor Lan to take action!"
Perhaps his tone was too urgent, for Ancestor Lan slowly opened his eyes.
He looked up at the dark clouds visible in the distance, raised his hand to perform a divination, and said nonchalantly,
"Sixteen Void Refining cultivators have come, along with two Body Integration experts within the borders of Azure Cloud."
"What?!!"
Due to the Li Clan's Ten Deadly Sins, there were many in the Imperial Dynasty who coveted the Southern Frontier. Duanmu Qi was well aware of this, but sixteen Void Refining experts... two Body Integration experts...
Duanmu Qi's vision went dark, and he let out a tragic cry, "It's over."
One side came fully prepared, while the other was caught off guard and scrambling to respond.
Under the current circumstances in Azure Cloud Prefecture, even if the entire Eternal Immortal Sect went to their aid, they might not be a match.
After a brief moment of thought, he knew the sect wouldn't face such formidable enemies for outsiders.
But Ancestor Lan's next words made Duanmu Qi's legs go weak.
"One of the Body Integration experts there is Uncle Rain."
"Uncle Rain... Uncle Rain!"
A mighty merit figure of the Imperial Dynasty, personally bestowed by the Human Emperor and protected by heaven and earth.
"Uncle Rain" was actually a title of office, someone who was once revered by the people of the world as a god.
The Eternal Immortal Sect possessed profound foundations.
Even while in seclusion, Duanmu Qi had heard of affairs in the outside world, and Uncle Rain's grand reputation was especially well-known. This was a...
A condemned minister of the Imperial Dynasty.
Back then, the previous generation's 'Uncle Rain', who had followed the Human Emperor to conquer the world, lost his life, and a new Uncle Rain took over.
This Uncle Rain governed the dispensing of rain across the world and always obeyed the Human Emperor's commands.
However, even a 'god' in the eyes of the world harbored selfish desires.
Tens of thousands of years ago, Uncle Rain worked diligently, bringing rain wherever there was a drought. But even a Body Integration expert would grow tired.
Back then, the physical body of the master of the Wu Tribe's Divine Fire Totem withered, and he reincarnated using his Mahayana Spiritual power.
This reincarnation took place within the Imperial Dynasty, resulting in a severe drought that plagued the entire dynasty for a millennium.
For a millennium, Uncle Rain traveled everywhere to dispense rain and provide disaster relief. Yet, even a Body Integration expert had times of exhaustion.
He fell into a deep slumber that lasted for centuries.
But when Uncle Rain, who had once saved the people of the world, awoke, the very people he used to save wherever there was drought had changed.
During his slumber, everything relied on the natural course of heaven and earth.
The commoners, who were no longer under his protection, began to curse and insult him.
His merit regressed, and his cultivation plummeted.
If it had only been that, he might have let it go.
But Uncle Rain's statues were spread all over the world, and those vulgar, crude insults and curses instantly pierced through the power of faith and directly into his mind.
He pretended as if nothing was wrong. It wasn't until two thousand years later that even the Human Emperor was caught completely off guard.
During those two thousand years, Uncle Rain had completely blanketed the mountains, rivers, lakes, and wells of the Imperial Dynasty with array formations.
In just a single night, he devoured them all entirely.
He abandoned the position of Uncle Rain bestowed upon him by the Imperial Dynasty, stepping off the Great Dao of Heavenly Rain.
Relying on all the water sources in the world, he carved out a brand-new Great Dao exclusively for himself.
The major merit figures of the Imperial Dynasty were shaken and attacked him together. However, they never expected that Uncle Rain was no longer the Uncle Rain of the past.
Having obtained the rain and water of the world and forced open the Dao Gate, Uncle Rain killed the merit figure who once governed the heavenly fire of the world.
That particular Dao was subsequently occupied by the Wu Tribe's Divine Bird Totem, and to this day, the Divine Bird Totem still fears Uncle Rain.
The selfless Uncle Rain turned into the greedy Uncle Rain.
For the rest of his life, he fought solely to pursue the Mahayana realm, hiding and fleeing throughout the Imperial Dynasty while plundering madly.
He trusted no one; whatever treasures he saw, he only wanted to pocket them for himself.
In the end, he provoked a reclusive tribe, was severely injured, and fled. From then on, he never showed himself again.
"Wherever rain falls, he can go; all karmic opportunities in the world, he can obtain..."
Duanmu Qi's face turned ashen.
"The Li Clan has developed to this point in less than a millennium; they must possess a heavy treasure.
If it's Uncle Rain, having arrived at Azure Cloud Prefecture, he will absolutely leave no path of survival for the Li Clan. He will simply pocket everything belonging to the Li Clan members."
"Ancestor Lan..." Duanmu Qi looked at Ancestor Lan, at a loss for what to do.
Unfortunately, Ancestor Lan only shook his head.
Gritting his teeth, Duanmu Qi had no choice but to leave, muttering along the way,
"The Li Clan still has people in the Western Frontier; absolutely nothing must happen to them.
I must contact the Zhangsun Clan, Heavenly Monarch Dao Sanctuary, and Sanctuary Sword Pavilion.
We absolutely cannot just sit and wait for death; otherwise, the Li Clan of today will be our immortal sect tomorrow."
In the rear mountain.
A Dharma Eye manifested before Ancestor Lan.
With a mere wave of his hand, he saw Li Kuanghua transforming into a Bodhisattva within the Azure Cloud Prefecture, pulling a dark iron chain.
This kind of Spirit Treasure, along with the Body Integration realm mighty figure behind Li Kuanghua, wasn't taken seriously by Ancestor Lan at all.
He merely stared intently at Perfected Qiuyue, who was shouting, "I deserve to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple," and "The world should unite to exterminate the Li Clan."
He was in the immortal sect, and Perfected Qiuyue was in Azure Cloud Prefecture, yet he could sense the anomaly within Perfected Qiuyue.
"How could this little bug from the Imperial Capital lose his mind to such an extent? Even with Buddhist fire burning him and his life hanging by a thread, he still insists on fighting the Li Clan to the death."
"This is not a disturbed mind, but rather... a man-made disaster. Someone secretly cast a technique—who knows what kind of Daoist method it is—that prevented Perfected Qiuyue's obsession from fading, resulting in this battle in Azure Cloud Prefecture today."
Ancestor Lan's eyes grew increasingly solemn as he continued to calculate and deduce.
"Once the Azure Cloud Li Clan is destroyed, the contract forbidding the Wu Tribe from entering the Azure Cloud Region for ten thousand years will be voided.
Naturally, the Wu Tribe will not pass up this opportunity to enter our borders. Once they invade through the Azure Cloud Prefecture, they will reach our Westfall Prefecture."
"Borrowing the power of the Wu Tribe to fight me."
Ancestor Lan slapped his thigh, blowing his beard and glaring.
"Damn it, they're coming for me. Back then, I shouldn't have exposed my abilities in Duskwild Prefecture just to vent my anger over the undergarments sent by those juniors in Duskwild Prefecture."
Soon after, he waved his hand again, looking at the image.
Atop the Myriad Dao Divine Bell Pagoda, the Li Clan's black-mist figure and Li Yaotie inside the pagoda bathed in heavenly fire, confronting Uncle Rain.
Ancestor Lan frowned slightly.
"That kid Uncle Rain... I've met him before. For the Li Clan to have developed to this stage in a millennium, they must have heavy treasures.
Even with this pagoda possessing spatial and time rules right before his eyes, he wouldn't let it go, unless..."
"He is restless and wants to break the Dao Seed planted in him."
"And there's this Li Clan Old Ancestor."
Glancing at the black-mist figure, Ancestor Lan's eyes widened.
"What kind of inheritance does this person have? Why can't even I see through it?"