Both Mu Cangyang and Wine Monk were people with outstanding talent. Mu Cangyang was slightly behind Wine Monk, but stepping into the Heavenly Core Realm and even entering the Heaven Ranking in the future would not be difficult for him.

As for Wine Monk, he even had the potential to compete for the top spot on the Heaven Ranking. Maintaining a good relationship with these two had no downside for Li Yun.

After exchanging a few more words, the three of them parted ways again.

[Host has ruined the plans of the Ironblood Sect.]

[Reward for the last mission is being calculated.]

[Host has gained 200,000 EXP.]

"I would not want anything less after experiencing what happened inside the Lost Ancient City."

Li Yun muttered softly.

Afterward, Li Yun set off to return to the Heavenly Sword Sect. While passing through Mistcloud Prefecture, he also met with Prefect Mu Yun.

Prefect Mu Yun felt great regret over Yue Cangshan’s death. If Yue Cangshan had not died, he would have been a great help in the future and might even have broken through to the Heavenly Core Realm one day to become one of his trusted confidants.

Unfortunately, with Yue Cangshan’s death, all of that had become nothing more than an illusion.

Upon learning that the Ironblood Sect had emerged again, Prefect Mu Yun’s expression became even more solemn. He immediately issued orders to tighten the defenses of Mistcloud Prefecture and instructed his subordinates to notify him at once if they discovered any suspicious activity.

Li Yun did not interfere in this matter. After chatting with Prefect Mu Yun for a while, he politely declined the prefect’s warm invitation to stay and continued his journey back to the Heavenly Sword Sect.

What Li Yun did not know was that it was precisely because he refused Prefect Mu Yun’s invitation that he avoided a certain death calamity.

Inside a hidden cave in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, a gaunt old man with a withered face like a skeleton stood before a hunched youth with his head lowered and his face deathly pale.

The youth’s complexion was extremely pale, almost strangely so. He wore a dark gold robe covered in peculiar patterns that emitted waves of essence qi fluctuations. It was actually a high-grade Heaven Rank spiritual artifact.

On his left thumb, he wore a dark gold thumb ring. A playful smile appeared on his pale face as he toyed with the ring and suddenly spoke.

"Left Protector, the sect entrusted such an important matter to you because it trusted you. Yet look at what you have done. You turned a perfectly good task into a complete mess and even allowed news of the sect’s imminent emergence to spread. For this, should you not give me an explanation?"

"Lord Holy Son, I..."

The gaunt old man broke into a cold sweat. His head lowered even further, but in his heart, he was cursing those useless subordinates. They had failed to handle even such a small matter, and in his view, they deserved to die.

"There is no need to say more."

The pale youth smiled slightly and interrupted the gaunt old man. He said indifferently, "Left Protector, you should know that if not for the fact that the sect’s return is imminent and we are in need of manpower, you would already be dead."

"However, while the death penalty can be waived, punishment cannot be avoided. Starting now, you will set off for the Annihilation Battlefield. Do not return until you have accumulated one thousand battle merit points."

"This..."

Upon hearing the pale youth’s words, the gaunt old man’s face instantly turned ashen.

The Annihilation Battlefield was a renowned place throughout the entire Azure Void Region.

It was once an extremely ancient battlefield where countless experts and factions had fought and bled. As a result, innumerable remains, treasures, and legacies were left behind there.

In comparison, even the Lost Ancient City fell far short.

After all, the Lost Ancient City had been created by only three Spirit Manifestation Realm experts. As for the Annihilation Battlefield, the number of fallen Spirit Manifestation Realm experts there alone reached several hundred.

In the Lost Ancient City, the ones who ventured inside were all Earthly Core Realm cultivators. However, for the Annihilation Battlefield, the minimum entry requirement was combat strength at the 1st level of Heavenly Core Realm.

Even at the 1st level of Heavenly Core Realm, one was merely the lowest level of cannon fodder in that place and could die at any time. Only after reaching the 3rd level of Heavenly Core Realm would one barely possess the capital to establish a foothold in the Annihilation Battlefield.

According to the rules of the Ironblood Sect, killing a 1st level Heavenly Core Realm cultivator in the Annihilation Battlefield counted as one battle merit point. Even killing a 9th level Heavenly Core Realm cultivator only granted twenty points. From this alone, one could imagine how difficult it was to obtain one thousand points.

The gaunt old man understood very clearly that when the pale youth spoke of letting him redeem himself through service, he was actually being pushed aside with no intention of being allowed to return alive.

Even though his heart was filled with sorrow, the gaunt old man did not dare to disobey the pale youth. He lowered his head in silence, bowed, and left the cave.

Seeing this, the pale youth’s expression remained indifferent, and not the slightest ripple appeared in his eyes. With a slight wave of his hand, the cave completely dissipated into thin air as if it had never existed.

Then, he took a step forward.

His pace did not look fast, yet his speed was incredibly swift. Just one hour later, he appeared before a palace.

The palace was magnificent and grand, covering an area of tens of thousands of feet. It was filled with various formations and restrictions that could instantly kill even a cultivator at the 3rd level of Heavenly Core Realm.

This palace was precisely the imperial palace of the Cloudheaven Ancient Kingdom.

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