“Actually… Chief, I heard that the Tang have two Great Generals garrisoned at Baghdad. If it’s possible, it’s best if we don’t participate in this operation,” a Kailong cautiously and softly said. “After all, we Kailong are few in number and can’t compare to the other big tribes!”
Whoosh!
The raucous laughter of the Kailong instantly died, the atmosphere turning somber.
The Kailong turned their heads to the speaker, and their chief coldly scanned the group before setting eyes on a scrawny member of his tribe.
This Kailong clearly sensed the strangeness of the mood, and he turned red as his head dropped. He seemed to know that he had misspoken.
“Did you forget the fate of the Ka-er people?
“Do you really think those divine emissaries are so easy to speak to? Any tribe that dared to defy their orders were dust long ago. Do you want our Kailong to suffer the same fate?
“This is the divine emissary’s order. All the nomadic tribes of the northern region must participate. We cannot defy it!” the Kailong Chief harshly said.
“Chief, I was wrong,” that Kailong softly said.
“The divine emissary will be here soon. All of you, shut your mouths. None of you are to speak without my permission. Let’s go!”
The chief pressed on the flanks of his horse and led his men in the direction of the Caspian Sea.
“Follow them!”
Deep underground, Wang Chong took the faceless man and pursued the Kailong, swiftly heading in the direction of the Caspian Sea.
It was easier for them with the Kailong leading the way.
……
As they advanced, the air grew colder and colder. After ten-some li, the temperature had dropped to zero, and the ground was covered in a thin sheet of white frost. This sheet thickened the closer they got to the Caspian Sea, and the temperature dropped even more.
The Kailong had turned somber, having long since ceased to be in a joking mood. They pressed their bodies against their horses, trying to borrow the heat from their horses to resist the cold.
After another hour of travel, the ice was a finger’s length thick, and spread out over the land like a thick carpet. The scent of salt hung heavily in the air.
The scene on the horizon also began to finally change.
Towering pavilions and palaces began to appear in the distance, powerful energies gathered within them.
Wang Chong stuck his head out of the ground and looked around. He could see men in black everywhere, at least three hundred.
The faceless man began to speak in his wooden voice. “This is the perimeter of the teleportation gate. There are at least seventy Saint Martial realm experts in these men in black, and ten-some at the Great General level. There are three leaders in this group, calling themselves the Sky Official, the Earth Official, and the Water Official. They are stationed here permanently and keep a vigilant watch on their surroundings.
“I estimate that these three leaders are at the peak of the Subtle realm, their strength at least on par with the Tianfu Divine Lord. But these people belong to a different faction, and though I’ve never seen them fight, I sense that they should have some special ability!”
Wang Chong slightly frowned.
He had not seen these three officials the faceless man had spoken of, but he could feel three massive vortices of energy in the region ahead, exerting a powerful pressure on the entire area.
The stronger one’s Psychic Energy, the stronger one’s senses. As for those who were too weak, like the Kailong, they couldn’t sense anything at all.
This is problematic. These three leaders are all Psychic Energy experts, and the range of their Psychic Energy is huge. It won’t be easy to escape their senses! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.
These three black-robed leaders were clearly responsible for guarding the perimeter, with Firmament Supreme holding the interior.
If he made too much of a ruckus, he could end up alarming them, or even draw out Firmament Supreme.
Through his Psychic Energy, Wang Chong could also sense that there was some place in the region in front of him that was unleashing powerful ripples of energy through the earth. These ripples seemed to even be able to significantly hinder Divine Embryo 1’s Earth Movement technique.
A formation!
Wang Chong’s heart sank in realization.
The defenses placed around the teleportation gate by the men in black were far more formidable than he had imagined. Not only had they gathered several hundred experts, along with three peak Subtle realm experts in the Sky, Earth, and Water Officials, they had also laid down a powerful sealing formation.
These people had not sent down these measures to specifically target him, but were probably doing all this purely out of caution. After all, someone at the Grotto Heaven realm could simply use their control of spacetime to directly enter.
But these formations were unquestionably effective against movement techniques like his.
At the very least, it made it impossible for Wang Chong to travel into the interior through the ground.
Wang Chong’s brow furrowed.
Gallop!
As he was thinking, the Kailong, who had spotted their destination, urged their horses into an even faster gallop as they rode toward the men in black.
More cries could be heard in other directions as the nomadic tribes converged.
Tens of thousands of nomadic horsemen had gathered on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Almost all the nomadic tribes of the northern region had been summoned by the men in black.
Whoosh!
In the center of these nomadic tribes, a massive banner, thirty-some meters tall, had been thrust into the ground. On this banner was a silver crescent moon, somewhat similar to the war banner of the Arabian Empire.
A dark cloud of worry passed over Wang Chong’s brow as he looked at this banner.
It was his first time seeing this crescent moon banner, but he was not unfamiliar with it. The most recent letters from Gao Xianzhi and An Sishun had mentioned this banner many times.
New rebellions had begun to stir in the various provinces of the Arabian Empire. These rebels declared that as Mutasim III and the original Arab imperial household had surrendered to the Great Tang, they had lost the legitimacy to rule over the Arabian Empire.
The rebels wanted to topple both the Great Tang and the house of Mutasim to establish a new Arabian Empire!
So this was all their doing!
Wang Chong’s eyes narrowed as they gleamed with killing intent.
Tens of thousands of nomadic horsemen had gathered at the shores of the Caspian Sea, but this provided the perfect chance for Wang Chong and the faceless man to infiltrate their ranks.
After some time, Wang Chong found a chance. He dragged two nomadic warriors at the very edge of the group into the ground, changed into their clothes, and returned to the surface.
The divine embryos were blank slates with no fixed features. They could transform into anyone, Wang Chong or these nomadic warriors.
The two of them drew no attention as they mixed into the crowd and proceeded forward.
This base of the men in black was heavily guarded, and there was a clear division between the areas in which the men in black operated and in which nomadic tribes like the Kailong operated.
As Wang Chong and the faceless man walked over to the massive crescent moon banner, they were stopped by two men in black before they could get close.
“Stop! Is this a place you’re allowed to approach? Get back!”
“The men in black are extremely cautious, and infiltration will be very difficult,” the faceless man whispered, his voice still cold and emotionless. “Moreover, I previously ambushed some of the men in black, probably only increasing their vigilance and making the task even harder.”
“Relax! They can’t guard against me!”
Wang Chong smiled, dropped his head, and left with the faceless man, not causing a stir.
As time passed and darkness descended, the noisy tribal warriors settled down.
Wang Chong and the faceless man looked around and then headed for the banner once more.
“Stop–” The men in black guarding this area spotted the pair, but before they could finish speaking, several massive streams of Psychic Energy slammed into their minds, causing their bodies to shiver and their eyes to go slack.
“Let’s go.”
Wang Chong controlled these men in black and proceeded farther inside, drawing no attention.
At Wang Chong’s current level of strength, it was far too easy to control these men in black without drawing attention.
Wang Chong silently entered one of the pavilions with these men in black, then he killed them and changed into their clothes.
“The men in black are not familiar with the others in their own organization. Now that we’re in, things get much easier,” the faceless man said.
“Master, we can now move freely!”
The faceless man took a token from their bodies, quickly altered his aura, and walked out of the room.
Creeeak!
The door opened, letting in a gust of icy wind. A man in black appeared at the door, staring at the faceless man in shock.
The faceless man did not panic, speaking in a voice of cold rebuke.
“What are you looking at?! Are you allowed to come here?”
The man in black was just about to question the faceless man, but the faceless man’s unyielding and harsh attitude immediately cowed him.
“But the lord ordered me…”
The man in black wanted to argue, but before he could finish, the faceless man cut him off.
“Bastard thing! Are you defying an order?”
The faceless man’s voice chilled as he turned his hand over, a black Flame of Mara erupting from his palm. At the same time, the faceless man leaked out some of his peak Saint Martial energy, the massive pressure frightening the man in black so badly that he hastily lowered his head, his legs shaking in fear.
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