"Nangong Yu, once the most talented prodigy of the Nangong clan to ever awaken the True Phoenix bloodline.
When he was born, the clouds in the sky converged into a phoenix, circling the heavens for nine days and nights, attracting the attention of martial arts experts from all over the world.
The then Nangong Clan Head, Nangong Wanjiang, who was Nangong Zhenyuan's father and Nangong Yu's grandfather, greatly valued him. Everything for Nangong Yu, from his childhood trials and tribulations, his cultivation paths, to the friends he made and enemies he killed, was meticulously arranged by the clan.
Later, the Nangong clan arranged a companion for him. It was a chance encounter. The Nangong clan orchestrated a plight for Miss Bai Ruxue, a direct descendant of the Bai family. Nangong Yu happened to be there to rescue her. However, things took an unexpected turn, and the entire process was witnessed by a female attendant with extremely poor talent.
Xu Mu's brow twitched upon hearing this:
"Bai Yun?"
The old man in the green robe nodded:
"Indeed, it is Clan Head Bai Yun."
"Nangong Yu not only saved the young lady but also Bai Yun. Later, Bai Yun let slip a detail, and Nangong Yu began to suspect his family. However, the family was unaware of this and continued to arrange his life. Eventually, everything was exposed, and Nangong Yu left home in anger.
After leaving home, Nangong Yu went to seek out Bai Yun, and their feelings developed.
Perhaps, at first, it was just an impulsive act of revenge against his family. The family did not pay much attention to it, as the two were from entirely different worlds.
But later, no one expected that Nangong Yu would truly fall in love with Bai Yun and form a betrothal. The family tried every means to break them up, but they could not sway him. Unexpectedly, after Nangong Yu returned to the ancestral land for a period of cultivation, he suddenly changed his mind and married Xi Lengxue.
Following that, the Xi clan gathered many powerful figures to visit the Nangong clan's ancestral land. However, upon their return, they were reportedly injured. The specific circumstances remain unknown.
Beyond this, I know of no other secrets."
After the old man finished speaking, he slowly fainted, and the Wine Immortal immediately awoke.
"I heard it all."
The Wine Immortal got up, rubbing his temples wearily. His complexion was visibly haggard.
His soul-searching technique was far superior to others. Not only was it harmless to the user's soul, but the other party would also not remember what happened during that time. However, the only drawback was its immense consumption, so much so that even a half-step Human King like him could not withstand it.
Xu Mu clicked his tongue and said,
"He said so much, yet he still didn't get to the heart of the matter.
I'm curious why Nangong Yu's heart changed, and why the powerful figures of the Xi clan were injured?"
The Wine Immortal took a sip of wine and said wearily, "Perhaps something similar to what is happening now occurred in the ancestral land back then."
Xu Mu: "What is there in the Nangong clan's ancestral land?"
The Wine Immortal shook his head, "Their ancestral land can only be entered by those who have awakened the Heavenly Phoenix bloodline through generations. I only know that there is a volcano there. At the bottom of the mountain are scorching lava and fire veins that can incinerate all things in the world.
Xu Mu sighed,
"All the clues lead here.
It seems if we want to know the truth, we must make a trip to the Nangong clan's ancestral land."
The Wine Immortal chuckled bitterly and was about to say something when he saw a brilliant white light suddenly flash in the air.
Following closely behind, a world-shattering explosion awakened the silent world. Countless empowered individuals rushed out of their tents, their faces grave and solemn.
"This is..."
Xu Mu's expression flickered. He shielded part of the white light with his hand, trying to understand what was happening.
"It seems we have wasted a lot of time. The time for the decisive battle appears to have arrived."
The Wine Immortal remained silent for a moment, then looked ahead and said.
The sky had, at some unknown point, turned pitch black. As the setting sun was swallowed by the black mountain range, the last of its afterglow was also consumed.
Around the gate of the Nangong clan, amidst the dim and ravaged battlefield resembling ruins, a group of powerful cultivators exuding a terrifying aura emerged.
They stood silently on the ground, looking up at the mountaintop.
The people on the mountaintop were also looking at them. The two sides were in a standoff, neither speaking.
The one who was supposed to speak had not yet appeared.
"Light the fires!"
At this moment, from the central military tent below the mountain, a white-haired old man clad in heavy armor and wielding a halberd emerged.
He roared loudly, his voice shaking the heavens and spreading in all directions. Numerous cultivators lit the torches they had prepared.
Before the mountain gate, it was instantly ablaze with red, illuminating the night.
On both sides of the mountain gate, the auxiliary attacking Eastern clan and Cheng clan did the same, thus turning the night into a dim daylight.
On the perilous peaks of the mountain gate, countless cultivators floated, connected by a special line. At the center was an old man with white hair and a childlike complexion, wearing a scarlet robe adorned with a phoenix.
He looked at the old man from the Bai family below and shouted coldly,
"Bai Ze, how dare you!"
"Do you understand? If you fail to capture my Nangong clan tonight, from this day forward, your Bai family will be annihilated. Not a single direct descendant will be seen on this continent, thus ceasing to exist!"
The old man in heavy armor, who had issued the command to light the fires, let out a hearty laugh and slammed his halberd onto the ground, saying, "Rest assured, old man, you will not live to see that day. Your Nangong family will be destroyed tonight!"
Upon hearing this, the old man's face instantly turned extremely grim.
If he were at his peak, or if the Nangong clan were at its peak, Bai Ze would have to prostrate himself and kowtow the next second for daring to address him in such a manner. But now, it was impossible, as he was injured, and severely so internally.
The Heavenly Water Daoist stepped on a white cloud, floating high above the mountain gate, and addressed those below:
"Bai Ze, as the Supreme Elder of the Bai family, are you so easily manipulated by outsiders?"
"The Golden Tent Royal Court is clearly trying to use you to stir up conflict, with malicious intent. Do you truly not understand?" https:/
Bai Ze's expression became slightly solemn. He glanced at Agudamu beside him, then laughed heartily,
"Daoist Heavenly Water, your words are mistaken. The annihilation of the Nangong clan is our clan's wish. As for who is being manipulated... hehe, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Agudamu also smiled, "It is not manipulation, but merely going with the flow, acting in accordance with the situation."
The Heavenly Water Daoist's face was serious:
"Agudamu, have you considered that you might die tonight?"
Agudamu smiled calmly, "If your White Cloud Daoist Temple had mobilized all its forces, or if many people had come, I would certainly be afraid. But the problem is that only you have come."
"And I have no intention of inciting war, because I am here to uphold fairness."
"The Royal Court and the Daoist Temple are on equal footing. According to our agreement, without reason, they cannot arbitrarily interfere in the struggles of secular forces."
"I am here today not to attack the Nangong clan, but to supervise you, Daoist Heavenly Water."
"If I do not act, then you also cannot act. And since I have not acted, what reason do you have to surround and kill me?"
Agudamu said with a smile that infuriated the Nangong clan members.
"This Agudamu is truly silver-tongued! He, a member of the Royal Court, interferes in the affairs of the Hundred Clans, and he even has a logical reason!"
Nangong Maoguan angrily pounded the city wall, gritting his teeth.
Beside him, the old man who had spoken first, Nangong Zhenyuan, was also extremely indignant but could only sigh in resignation.
"He is indeed correct. Superpowers like the White Cloud Daoist Temple cannot rashly interfere in our family disputes."
"Even if, due to good relations, other superpowers like the White Cloud Daoist Temple and the Medicine King Valley were to get involved, they would not be able to send their entire forces, as there are other superpowers to counterbalance them."
"As far as I know, in addition to the Golden Tent Royal Court, the powers of Great Xia and Great Zhou have also entered the Hundred Clans' territory, presumably to seize an opportunity. Therefore, the Daoist Temple can only send Heavenly Water alone."
Upon hearing this, Nangong Maoguan clenched his fist and punched the air, creating crackling sounds.
"Old Clan Head, what do we do now?"
Nangong Zhenyuan, his face grim, tightened his grip on his scepter, then turned his head, his solemn gaze sweeping over all the cultivators behind him.
"Are you all ready?"
The cultivators of the Nangong clan, along with other empowered individuals who had come to their aid, nodded gravely:
"Reporting to the Old Clan Head, we are ready at all times!"
Hundreds of Domain Lords floated in the air, their voices unified and resounding, their surging battle intent mixed with a hint of readiness to die.
No order was given, and the battle began silently.
Bai Ze was the first to charge. With a roar, he trod upon the laws of the Great Dao and unleashed a terrifying white radiance towards the heavens, like the white spots erupting from a shattered star. Everything it illuminated turned into fragments.
On the peak of the mountain gate, Nangong Maoguan floated, gathering a dark golden pool of Dao Origin water between his hands, then unleashed a terrifying golden heavenly lightning strike from it.
"—BOOM!!!"
The heavenly lightning rumbled, the white light illuminated the world. The collision of these two most fierce and intense energies unleashed terrifying fluctuations that shook the entire earth and made the mountains tremble.
This blow was evenly matched.
Bai Ze took a step into the air and shouted, "Everyone, storm the Nangong mountain gate! Leave no one alive who stands in our way!"
Nangong Zhenyuan also stamped his scepter and said in a deep voice,
"Nangong clan, fight to the death!"
"Nangong clan, fight to the death!"
"Kill!!!"
Myriad cultivators floated in the air, their formations complex. Brilliant abilities erupted from their hands, various laws of the Great Dao, beautiful to the point of making one's heart race, yet carrying destructive power.
Forests and rocks turned to ash the moment they came into contact, and then the ash was vaporized by another ability, returning to ash, repeating this cycle, destination unknown.
The war intensified.
More and more Domain Lords fought desperately. The air was filled with turbulent energy flows. Hundreds of rocks weighing hundreds of thousands of pounds flew about the space like feathers, but most did not hit anyone, as they were crushed by another unknown ability the next moment.
Space trembled, the Great Dao hummed, and powerful figures clashed, like generals engaging in a battlefield of a million soldiers, their roars shattering the heavens, their sound waves pulverizing vegetation.
In such a battlefield, empowered individuals below the fourth stage would not even dare to watch.
Aside from the Nangong, Dongfang, Bai, and Cheng families, every cultivator who could participate was a pillar of the major powers in the Hundred Clans' territory – either an elder, a sect leader, or a distinguished guest of a super power.
In short, their status was noble.
But in this battlefield, those with noble status were not lacking, as even the Supreme Elders and Clan Heads of the Four Great Families were fighting within it.
Xu Mu and the Wine Immortal hid in a corner, quietly watching the two sides fight.
"What do we do now?" Xu Mu clicked his tongue and asked.
"What else can we do?" The Wine Immortal's lips twitched, and he turned to leave the trench.
"I know a small path up the mountain."
"Follow me. You want to uncover the truth, don't you? I'll take you to the Nangong clan's ancestral land!"
...