The next morning, Patriarch Hua Shi appeared in the hall on the first floor of the pavilion, then relayed a message he had received during his meeting with the Ice Phoenix.
"So Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix was abducted by the Six-winged Frost Centipede, and he's harboring a lot of animosity toward me, is that correct?" Han Li confirmed as he stroked his own chin in a contemplative manner.
"That's what Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix told me. On top of that, the Six-winged Frost Centipede only agreed to act as lure after Senior Ming Zun promised him that he would convince you to leave the Six-winged Frost Centipede alone for the next 1,000 years," Patriarch Hua Shi replied.
"I see. By the way, did you pass on those protective treasures I gave you to Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix?" Han Li asked.
"I did."
"Good. You can go now. Before the battle begins, get as far away from here as possible," Han Li instructed.
Patriarch Hua Shi gave an affirmative response before taking his leave in a respectful manner.
In the coming days, Han Li remained in his pavilion, meditating the entire time without leaving even once.
During this time, not only did the other Grand Ascension Stage beings who were yet to arrive finally show up, the trade guild was also setting up the Bipolar Annihilation Formation.
As for the two Profound Heavenly Treasures acting as the formation core, they were surrounded by a layer of restrictions, and everyone was prohibited from approaching that area aside from Ming Zun and several other trade guild elders.
Interestingly enough, the true spirits that Ming Zun had mentioned were still nowhere to be seen, and it was unclear whether they had concealed themselves, or were only going to be summoned on the day of the battle.
Close to a month later, Han Li was meditating in his pavilion when a crimson fireball suddenly appeared before him amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then exploded on the spot, upon which a voice rang out in the room.
"Fellow Daoist Han, the true immortal is not far away from Baleful Cry Point, and we're about to commence our operation; please come to the hall where we had our last meeting as soon as possible."
A serious look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and he made a hand seal before flying out of the pavilion as a streak of azure light.
Around 15 minutes later, everyone was gathered within the hall, and by the time Han Li arrived, there were already over 10 other Grand Ascension Stage beings present, among which were several unfamiliar faces.
In particular, there was a pair of cultivators who bore strong resemblance with one another that caught Han Li's attention.
Both of them appeared to be around 20 years of age, and the man had a set of cold and handsome features, while the woman was very seductive and beautiful.
However, both of them had a layer of reddish-purple baleful Qi emanating from their bodies, and the space within a radius of several tens of feet around them would occasionally blur and warp, creating a very peculiar sight to behold.
Yin Gangzi and the others were also appraising this duo with a hint of wariness in their eyes.
Meanwhile, Ming Zun was sitting on the main seat, listening to a report being delivered by a middle-aged man.
"The Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix have already lured the true immortal to the edge of Baleful Aura Point. At their current speed, it would take around five more hours at most before they enter the area encompassed within the Bipolar Annihilation Formation. All of our trade guild's disciples and elders have already gone on ahead, and the spirit summoning ceremony is also ready to commence, so we'll be able to summon those true spirits at any time."
"Good. Begin the spirit summoning ceremony in an hour. As for the Bipolar Annihilation Formation, no one is permitted to activate it without my orders. Everything else can proceed as planned; we'll all travel to the pre-determined ambush spot soon. After that, leave everything to us," Ming Zun instructed.
The middle-aged man immediately gave an affirmative response before quickly departing.
"As you've all heard, all of the preparations are complete; we just need to work together to defeat that true immortal now. However, let me make one thing clear: if anyone tries to flee or back out, then don't blame me for turning on you," Ming Zun said with a serious expression.
"Hehe, rest assured, Brother Ming; no one would back down at a time like this."
"That's right, if anyone tries to do so, we'll kill them together!"
All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings quickly chimed in in agreement.
"Fellow Daoist Ming, why is it that we Xuan Jiuling still isn't here? Could it be that he changed his mind?" the man among the duo suddenly asked in a cold voice.
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Yun Dan; Fellow Daoist Xuan Jiuling already arrived several days ago, but he's refining a powerful secret technique and has been assigned with another important task, and that's why he's absent," Ming Zun replied in a polite manner.
"I see. We had heard that Xuan Jiuling was able to slay true spirits on his own, and we had always wanted to witness his powers, but haven't had the chance to do so," the woman by the name of Yue Shu said with a smile.
It seemed that this duo harbored some animosity toward Xuan Jiuling.
Ming Zun had no response to this, and could only offer a wry smile.
Thankfully, Yun Dan and Yue Shu didn't ask any further questions, and they began to converse with one another through voice transmission.
Ming Zun was quite relieved to see this, and he began speaking to everyone else.
Right at this moment, Ming Zun's voice transmission rang out in Han Li's ears, and a surprised look appeared on his face upon hearing what Ming Zun had to say.
However, he only considered what was being said briefly before nodding in response, and a hint of elation flashed through Ming Zun's eyes upon seeing this.
After a while, most of the Grand Ascension Stage beings departed from the hall to travel toward the pre-determined ambush spot, leaving only Ming Zun, Han Li, Yun Dan, and Yue Shu in the room.
Yun Dan and Yue Shu appraised Han Li with a hint of a surprise in their eyes before Yun Dan said, "Do you really want my sister and I to guard the Profound Heavenly Treasures in the formation, Fellow Daoist Ming? This is a very heavy responsibility, one that we may not be able to handle."
"Hehe, you're far too modest, Fellow Daoist; no one is more suited to this task than you and your sister. The Bipolar Annihilation Formation is the key to success here. As long as the two Profound Heavenly Treasure remain unscathed, the formation will be able to continue to operate," Ming Zun replied.
"My sister and I have always stayed together, so we'll only be able to guard one formation core. As such, it looks like the other formation core will be guarded by this fellow daoist; will he be up to the task?" Yun Dan asked in a skeptical voice.
Han Li merely offered a slight smile and didn't respond to this rather rude question.
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han is extremely powerful in his own right, and I'm confident that he'll be up to the task," Ming Zun replied.
"In that case, we'll take your word for it and follow your arrangement, Brother Ming," Yue Shu said with a smile before casting another curious glance toward Han Li.
Ming Zun was ecstatic to hear this, and he clapped his hands together as he said, "Alright, I'll get someone to guide you to the formation core."
A guard immediately strode in from outside the hall before respectfully leading the duo out of the hall.
Following their departure, Ming Zun turned to Han Li with a serious expression, and asked, "Fellow Daoist Han, you won't object to guarding the other formation core, right?"
"You really do have a high opinion of me, Brother Ming. In that case, I can only do my best," Han Li replied in an unhurried manner.
"Haha, this is an all-important task that I could only assign to you. With the three of you guarding the formation cores, the formation's safety will be assured," Ming Zun chuckled.
Han Li didn't say anything in response.
Right at this moment, another guard strode into the hall, then extended a respectful bow toward Han Li before leading him out of the room as well.
As soon as Han Li left, the smile on Ming Zun's face faded, and his brows furrowed tightly in contemplation.
"Are you sure this true immortal has a way to disregard the power of laws of this realm and temporarily return to his full power? If that turns out to not be the case, then this plan of yours won't work." An unfamiliar male voice suddenly rang out, following which a humanoid figure emerged from Ming Zun's shadow.
Ming Zun was completely unsurprised by this, and he replied calmly, "Rest assured, the footage of the battle on the Blood Sky Continent that I received isn't very clear, but the golden giant in the footage is clearly the true immortal in his ultimate form. Otherwise, Bi Ying and the others wouldn't have been defeated so easily. The true key to this battle will be whether you can successfully land the killing blow. Otherwise, we'll suffer the same fate as Bi Ying and the others."
"As long as he recovers his true immortal body and gets caught off guard, there's no way he'll be able to withstand my Nine Tribulation Spirit Vanquishing Arts. This is an immortal secret technique passed down by my ancestors, and it specifically targets true immortal bodies. I had to refine the souls of nine true spirits to attain the power to unleash this strike once, but it'll be more than enough against this descended true immortal," the blurry figure replied in a confident manner.
"Indeed, that true immortal may be extremely powerful, but all of the measures we've prepared will force him to expend most of his powers, so there's no way he'll be able to evade your attack. Once you break his true immortal body, he'll only be slightly more powerful than the average true spirit, and that would make him an easy opponent to defeat," Ming Zun said.
"None of the others know about your plan, so it's hard to say how many of them will survive. Even those four true spirits are destined to act as cannon fodder, right?" the blurry figure said in a cold voice.
"We have no choice. In the face of such a powerful true immortal, how can we hope to defeat him without making sacrifices? I've already cautioned everyone on multiple occasions about how formidable this true immortal is going to be; I can only hope that they've taken my advice to heart," Ming Zun replied.
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