Elder Tianhuo jerked back two steps, then bowed deeply to Lin Moyu and said in a loud voice, "Upper-grade Steward of the Central Domain God-Alliance pays respects to the Grand Elder."
At his side, Qingyu was stunned for a beat, then also hurriedly bowed low, her voice trembling. "Qingyu greets the Grand Elder."
Only then did Lin Moyu notice his identity token wasn't quite the same as before. It now gleamed with a purple-gold luster, and the aura it emitted was different as well. He understood Mu Tianze must have done something to it. He recalled Mu Tianze fiddling with the token for a few seconds, saying only that with it Lin Moyu could go to the North Extreme and no one would bar his way. He hadn't mentioned more. Lin hadn't expected Mu Tianze to make him a Grand Elder of the Alliance.
Within the Central Domain God-Alliance, aside from the main and deputy Alliance Leaders, the greatest authority rests with the Grand Elders—currently eight in number, all apex Perfection experts, figures on the level of the Wine Venerable. Below them are the Elders—over a hundred, also Perfection experts. Beneath Elders are Stewards, divided into upper, middle, and lower grades—Perfection as well, just tiered by strength. The Alliance has countless members and even more affiliated forces; Perfection experts are as common as ox hair, yet only about a hundred become Elders, and a mere eight are Grand Elders. Elder Tianhuo here is an Elder within the Four Seas Sect, but within the Alliance he is only an upper-grade Steward. The Alliance has a strict promotion system: to move from Steward to Elder requires harsh trials—purely on battle strength.
Now that Lin Moyu held a Grand Elder's token, it meant his battle strength was deemed equal to a Grand Elder's. The Four Seas Sect's own sect master is one of the Alliance's eight Grand Elders—meaning Lin Moyu now stood on the same tier. As for "realm"—realms can be disguised. Seeing Elder Tianhuo's reaction, no one would imagine Lin was truly only Chaosrealm Lesser-Achievement; that would simply be a superb disguise. If you can't see through it, that's your problem.
Lin's thoughts flashed—he understood. The Alliance's hierarchy is ironclad. He was a Grand Elder; Elder Tianhuo, merely an upper-grade Steward. Even before considering strength, their ranks were worlds apart. Proper etiquette demanded a full bow; otherwise it would be disrespect.
"No need for such a grand salute," Lin said. "Elder Tianhuo, what did you wish to discuss?"
Elder Tianhuo shook his head quickly. "Nothing, nothing." He had nothing to discuss; earlier he'd only found Lin a bit unusual. Now, learning Lin was a Grand Elder, what right did he have to "chat"? He turned instead and asked, "Grand Elder, may I ask your purpose here?"
"I'm going to Wang North Boundary," Lin said. "But your people have the array locked down, so I can only wait."
Elder Tianhuo's face changed; he gave a wry smile. "We didn't know you were headed for Wang North Boundary. Had we known, the Sect Master would never have monopolized the array."
"It's fine," Lin replied. "I'm not in a rush—waiting a couple days is nothing. But you've come in force; does that mean the East Extreme is about to start a war?"
Elder Tianhuo nodded. "According to our intel, yes—they intend to act, and some have already slipped in."
"For them to infiltrate unnoticed, it should be Perfection experts, yes?" Lin asked.
"Likely so," Tianhuo said. "The Sect Master gathered us here to deal with those East Extreme people. Not just us—others are coming as well. Several Alliance Elders have already gone to Lin East City to prepare for battle. But I think…" He paused.
"You think what?" Lin prompted.
"I think it isn't that simple," Elder Tianhuo said. "This batch of intel came in oddly. I can't assert anything—just a suspicion."
"No harm in saying it," Lin said. "Let's hear your guess."
"When the Extremes go to war, the Great Venerables make pacts. They won't intervene directly; they watch from the sidelines. But they can still scheme and steer the larger war behind the scenes.
"This time the South Extreme moved first, while the East Extreme's actions are covert—unlike past cases. That suggests the East Extreme's Ji Yan Venerable is laying a board. In past wars the East Extreme always struck first; not so now, which is strange.
"And the intel we received is vague—just that the East will move 'anytime.' That's pulled most of our strength toward Lin East City and left other areas thin."
Though a Fire-Dao cultivator of the Four Seas Sect—fiery temperament on the surface—Elder Tianhuo's mind was meticulous. As an Alliance Steward he knew much of its internal affairs. He had concerns, but lacked the authority to voice them.
"Have you told the Four Seas Sect Master your thoughts?" Lin asked.
"I have," Tianhuo said, "but once he received the intel, he left. He didn't manage things here."
"Why?" Lin frowned.
"If I'm not mistaken, the intel mentioned the East Extreme's Ji Yan Venerable," Tianhuo said. "That's the Sect Master's mortal enemy. The Sect Master's Dao companion was killed by him; they are death-feuding. Compared to that, nothing else matters."
"Ji Yan Venerable?" Lin glanced to Tianhuo, who hesitated—it was the Sect Master's private matter, and as a Four Seas Elder he couldn't say more.
"Do you know?" Lin asked Qingyu.
She nodded. "It's no secret. Ji Yan Venerable is an apex Perfection expert of the East Extreme. He killed the Four Seas Sect Master's Dao companion. The Sect Master swore a blood oath: he and Ji Yan are not-to-rest-till-death."
A killed Dao companion was indeed a hatred unto death. In peacetime, the Sect Master couldn't enter the East Extreme to kill; now that war loomed, it was the chance for vengeance. For such people, once revenge is possible, everything else is secondary—even sacrificing countless lives.
"Did you tell the Alliance Elders your suspicions?" Lin asked.
"The Sect Master is a Grand Elder," Tianhuo said. "If he hasn't spoken, telling others is useless—they'll just go ask him anyway." He added, "We Four Seas Elders discussed it and all felt it was odd, but we can only follow orders."
The array flashed again—more arrivals. It pulsed repeatedly as the Four Seas Sect's people poured in. After the Fire-Sea Division came the Ice-Sea Division, turning Wang East Boundary into a world of fire and ice; then the Soul-Sea Division; and lastly the Blood-Sea Division. Midway through the Soul-Sea transport, a strange ripple swept in from the chaos, instantly blanketing Wang East Boundary. The operating teleport array gave a droning hum and halted. Space was sealed—so thoroughly even the array stopped.
In the next breath, Wang East Boundary's formations fully deployed. A colossal formation wrapped the boundary tight; apertures opened across it, each exuding the aura of death. This protective array was no mere shield—it was offense and defense in one, with tremendous striking power. At the same time, Alliance-built fortress-towers within Wang East Boundary rose into the sky, merged into the formation, and became its cores.
Elder Tianhuo's face changed. "They really made it in. This is the East Extreme's Space-Fixing Grand Array."
"No need to panic," Lin said, calm as ever. The so-called Space-Fixing Grand Array wasn't much in his eyes. Sealing space and stopping arrays—he could do that with a flick. Its real strength was scope: it covered a mind-boggling area billions of miles across. Within its bounds, not only is space sealed, the rules are scrambled; everyone's speed drops sharply. Even Perfection experts are reduced to something like the Lesser-Achievement's speed. Its purpose is to keep enemies from escaping. The East Extreme, of course, has counters—its forces are much less affected, widening the power gap.
Seeing Lin so composed, Elder Tianhuo steadied as well. Lin was a Grand Elder, with apex Perfection battle strength—no weaker than his own Sect Master. With him present, the ambush need not succeed.
A force appeared outside Wang East Boundary—a war fortress flew in, its battlements bristling with figures. They were East Extreme beings: humanoid in shape, but none true human. In the East Extreme, humans are few; it's almost all exotic beasts. Even the occasional "human" is usually a half-blood.
The boundary array was fully active. A voice rang across Wang East Boundary: "All cultivators below Chaosrealm within Wang East Boundary, heed the order! Enter the nearest formation node as indicated by the grand array and prepare for battle!"
Millions of beams dropped from the sky. Everyone below Chaosrealm moved into the array, becoming formation nodes to power it. Wars between Extremes pull in all realms—once it begins, even ordinary folk can't avoid it.
Qingyu bowed to Lin. "Grand Elder, I'll enter the formation."
"Go," Lin nodded.
Entering the array was also a protection for them—so long as the grand array held and Wang East Boundary stood, they'd be safe. Otherwise, even the aftershocks of battle would be fatal.
As people filed into the formation, a silhouette appeared in the void. "Four Seas Sect, hear my order—out of the boundary to array for battle!"
Elder Tianhuo jolted. "The Sect Master! He's here!"
Lin smiled faintly. "He's been here all along."
Pan Sihai, Four Seas Sect Master—an apex Perfection on par with the Wine Venerable—had never left Wang East Boundary. He hid well—fooled everyone but not Lin Moyu. If Elder Tianhuo could sense the intel was off, how could Pan Sihai not? He had judged the East would strike here, so he never left—waiting within Wang East Boundary. It is a crucial Alliance hub; if destroyed, the Central Domain's lines would suffer greatly. Hence he seized the teleport array to bring his sect over, and deliberately slowed the pace to buy time. Sure enough, just halfway through the transfer, the enemy struck.
Pan Sihai manifested outside the boundary, radiating a terrifying aura—a stern middle-aged man standing atop a Sea of Blood. Countless tormented souls rose from the sea and wheeled behind him, chained by scarlet links from the blood below. They were those he had slain, refined in the sea so they would never reincarnate. The Sea of Blood was a supreme treasure—extremely dreadful. Pan Sihai himself had walked out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood; the killing intent rolling off him alone could shatter a Chaosrealm cultivator's Dao-heart.
He stared at the fortress from the East Extreme, voice low. "Ji Yan—we settle our accounts today."
A laugh pealed from the fortress. "So you still sniffed me out!"
Volcanoes, fire-seas, fire-birds, fire-serpents, blazing suns—countless fire-visions spread through the void, fire evolving ten thousand things, even worlds. Without seeing the man, Lin already judged: this one's attainment in the Dao of Fire had reached its peak.
Ji Yan Venerable flew out, descending like a monarch of flame. All the blazing visions bowed as he appeared. In that instant, every Fire-Sea cultivator of the Four Seas Sect paled—their flames slipped from their control. The fire-Daos they cultivated wanted to kneel to him. It was suppression at the Dao level: Ji Yan was Sovereign of Flame, and others were his subjects.
Pan Sihai snorted. A drop of inky blood rose from the Sea of Blood and detonated—black light swept the void and wiped away Ji Yan's suppression. Hatred burned in Pan Sihai's eyes, but he didn't lose his reason. "We change the place."
"Haha! Today let's settle victory and defeat," Ji Yan laughed.
Pan corrected him: "Life and death."
"Fine—victory and defeat, life and death!" Ji Yan split the void and sped off. Pan Sihai raced after him. In a blink, both were gone. As apex Perfection experts, if they fought here, the aftershocks alone would be disastrous—for Wang East Boundary and for the East's fortress alike. They needed another venue to unleash fully.
After they left, the Four Seas Elders knew the field was theirs. The transfer was only half done; their forces were incomplete. Other factions hadn't arrived; only they were here—plus some loose cultivators—and Wang East Boundary's grand array. How many stood within the enemy fortress? How many powerhouses? Unknown. Regardless, they had to fight.
The Four Seas began to form up. Fortunately, Fire-Sea and Ice-Sea had arrived; their battle formations were relatively whole. Soul-Sea was only half here—no formation, fighting solo. Even Elder Tianhuo was tense now. This wasn't a minor clash—it was war between Extremes. Each time, many Perfection experts fall. He didn't know if he'd survive.
The enemy fortress thrummed; its formations flared. Powerful figures flew out one after another—East Extreme beings, not human, revealing their true forms in the void. Not many—only a hundred—but every last one was Perfection.
Four Seas faces went grim. A hundred Perfection experts—how to stop that? And behind them, over ten thousand Chaosrealm Great-Achievement. They had only a few hundred here. Space was sealed; reinforcements wouldn't make it in time.
A yin-cold laugh sounded. "Pan Sihai's gone. This place is finished!"