“How do I feel about it…”

Lei Yao asked herself, then gave a bitter smile.

“How I feel doesn’t matter. Family background is ultimately external support. In the cultivation world, strength is king.”

With that, she looked at Wang Yu with a trace of envy in her eyes.

After so many years apart, Wang Yu had already achieved the Nascent Soul realm. Back then, her strength had even been slightly higher than his, yet now he had surpassed her. Even today, Lei Yao was only at late-stage Core Formation.

The Nascent Soul realm was still far away.

“Oh right. Fellow Daoist, how old are you this year?”

Seeing how curious she was, Wang Yu thought for a moment and decided not to reveal his true age. After all, he was not even two hundred years old. Even with one fortunate encounter after another, his cultivation speed was still far too shocking.

Throughout all ages, speaking purely in terms of cultivation speed, there was…

Not a single person who could compare with him!

“Two hundred.”

Even after inflating his age, Lei Yao was still stunned. Her thin red lips parted slightly, wide enough to fit half an egg.

“Fellow Daoist’s talent is unparalleled, truly rare in this age.”

“Perhaps.”

This time, Wang Yu did not deny it. The benefits brought by the Innate Demonic Embryo were in truth no less than the Idle Slot, and they could even play a major role in cultivation after reaching the Nascent Soul realm.

After chatting for a while, the two finally moved on to business.

There was only one topic.

Whether or not he would join her team.

She did not ask it so bluntly, but the meaning was conveyed perfectly clearly.

“If Fellow Daoist Lei does not mind, then I will follow you for a period of time. What do you think?”

“Excellent.”

He already possessed a Earth Net Ghost Face Mask. Blending into the Moluo Horde and taking a position was only natural. As for treatment and benefits, he did not particularly care.

A massive change had occurred at Strange Peak Pass, and the war was beginning ahead of schedule.

What position he could obtain was not the main point. Just the spoils of war alone would be more than enough to fill his hands.

Besides.

Ancestor Qingyi was hiding within Strange Peak Pass. Over these past few days, Wang Yu had used the blood of the Plum Crest City Lord to search multiple times, and he was still inside the pass, showing no movement at all.

That made Wang Yu strongly suspect something had gone wrong with Qingyi.

And with True Lord Yang Lei mobilizing so many people to forcefully attack Strange Peak Pass, the matter of Li Mingsheng was clearly only incidental. The other party seemed extremely confident that they could break through this formidable fortress.

Wang Yu joining temporarily would not have much impact on the overall battle. Victory or defeat would not change because of him, and there was no need to mention factions either.

He had no faction at all.

As for the Blood Reversal Sect, if not for the reasons that had prevented him from leaving in the early stages, he would have defected long ago. He had already poured so much effort into it over the years, and leaving at this point would make the sunk cost far too great.

Otherwise, he would not even bother hiding his identity.

Over the next several days, the Taihu side had Cloudsky Warships providing overwatch, launching harassment assaults day after day. Nascent Soul level combat power had not yet entered the field. The ones dying were all disposable frontline cannon fodder.

This made Wang Yu feel somewhat suspicious.

They had made such a massive show of force, yet only harassed and feinted… no matter how one looked at it, something felt off.

“Could it be… their real objective is somewhere else?”

His thoughts churned.

All this time, he had been thinking about capturing Strange Peak Pass. A fortress of this level could only be breached from within, so he had been thinking about internal agents. And the fact that Ancestor Qingyi had remained motionless for so long was also highly suspicious.

Right now, while the Blood Reversal Sect had not yet sent more Nascent Soul cultivators, there was still a slight chance and possibility if they attacked urgently, attacked forcefully, and fought a lightning war.

Was it luring the tiger away from the mountain? Besieging a point to ambush reinforcements? Or a coordinated attack from inside and out?

Unfortunately, Wang Yu’s identity made it hard for him to earn full acceptance. Even if Lei Yao trusted him, True Lord Yang Lei would never allow him to gain access to the decision-making behind this war.

Just as Wang Yu believed it would become a long period of stalemate and mutual slaughter, change arrived with terrifying speed, ferocity, and complete unpredictability.

The next day.

In the rear of the Taihu cultivator army, Wang Yu and Lei Yao sat calmly atop a high tower. A Go board lay between them. His left hand held a tea cup, and his right hand pinched a stone.

Like two old friends, they enjoyed a quiet and natural atmosphere.

At that moment, the Cloudsky Warships all trembled violently. Five thick beams of light shot out from the prows, sweeping from front to back like a cleansing flood, forcibly plowing out deep trenches.

Huge numbers of cultivators died instantly because of it, vaporized like ants. Not even the slightest trace of their existence remained.

Terrifying indeed!

This was the Cloudsky Annihilation Divine Ray!!!

A true large-area fourth-rank offensive method.

The moment this battlefield-suppressing superweapon was unleashed, the demonic cultivators defending Strange Peak Pass were slaughtered on a massive scale, and the situation immediately became completely one-sided.

Cultivators from the Taihu army swarmed like locusts, leaping onto the tops of the pillars in the Ironstone Forest. All kinds of spell lights bombarded the defensive formation array Strange Peak Pass had deployed.

Wang Yu and Lei Yao exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.

“The situation has changed. Looks like Fellow Daoist Yang Lei found the decisive timing.”

“Let’s go. We’ll take a look together.”

“Alright.”

The two set off side by side, transforming into twin streaks of escaping light and landing on the foremost Cloudsky warship. Aside from the chief commander, True Lord Yang Lei, there were also two early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators present.

Both were among the ancestors of Thunderfire Temple.

They were called True Lord Burning Heart and True Lord Violet Lightning.

Seeing the two arrive, they merely nodded, then continued speaking as if to themselves.

“The Blood Reversal Sect has sent two people here. One is Ancestor Cloudsmoke, a Nascent Soul cultivator of the Feng Clan of the Hidden Valley. The other is Black Heaven Talisman Lord. He rushed here from Maple Prefecture… If we can kill both of them here, “then the price we’ve paid during this period won’t count for much at all.”

Hearing this, Wang Yu’s eyes lit up. Now he understood why Ancestor Qingyi had stayed motionless within Strange Peak Pass the whole time. The Feng Clan of the Hidden Valley had only two Nascent Soul ancestors in total.

Qingyi and Cloudsmoke, both at the third layer of the Nascent Soul realm.

If both fell here, the Feng Clan would naturally be devoured by its enemies.

However, what surprised him was that Black Heaven Talisman Lord had come as well. The situation over in Maple Prefecture was not looking good. With so few Nascent Soul cultivators, there was simply no way to hold the line.

Wang Yu felt that something was off.

But he could not quite put his finger on it.

After Yang Lei and Burning Heart briefly summarized the situation, they assigned opponents to the others. Aside from the two Nascent Soul reinforcements, Strange Peak Pass already had Nascent Soul cultivators stationed here.

True Lord Yang Lei was the commander, and it was inconvenient for him to personally enter battle.

Thus, the task finally fell to Wang Yu. He did not refuse, and directly claimed his target.

“Ancestor Cloudsmoke is mine.”

“Good.”

“Fellow Daoist Wang, pay attention to the signal. After three waves of assault, if you still can’t take him down, retreat to the rear immediately. Do not get greedy in battle.”

Soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals.

No matter what their tactical objective was, the two Nascent Soul ancestors of the Feng Clan of the Hidden Valley were already treasures in his pocket. How to fight this battle required careful planning.

Some methods needed to stay hidden.

“Move out!”

True Lord Violet Lightning was a young cultivator dressed in a purple lightning robe, wearing a long crown shaped like a lightning serpent. To some extent, a cultivator’s appearance reflected their state of mind.

This one was clearly the type who loved battle and carried himself with pride.

“I’ll be the one to issue the challenge. I’ll make that dogshit Black Heaven kneel and beg for mercy.”

He surged forward first, transforming into a bolt of violet lightning that shot into the sky, his voice carrying across a hundred-li radius.

“Black Heaven brat! Get out here and face your Grandpa Violet Lightning!”

Seeing this, Wang Yu found it mildly amusing. He had exchanged blows with Black Heaven Talisman Lord before, and he knew this was not some insignificant Nascent Soul old monster like Qingyi. What Black Heaven Talisman Lord condensed was also a nine-inch Heavenly Soul.

And the Great Black Heaven Talisman in his hand was, among everything Wang Yu had ever seen, the most lethally destructive talisman divine ability. Even compared to the destructive nature of the spatial Great Dao, it was not far off.

Ironstone Forest battlefield.

The ground and low-altitude layers were the battlefield for those below Nascent Soul. High above was where Nascent Soul cultivators confronted each other and fought with divine abilities. If pursuit and escape began, the battlefield could expand outward by three thousand li.

With Violet Lightning’s provocation, the prideful Black Heaven Talisman Lord flew out from Strange Peak Pass. In his right hand, he held the Black Heaven Talisman Banner and planted it into the void.

He sneered and said,

“Violet lightning, green lightning, whatever. I only need half an incense stick to kill you.”

In an instant, black talismans patterned with red markings filled the sky, transforming into talisman dragons. Like snow silkworms spinning threads, they swept toward Violet Lightning to engulf him.

“Snap!”

A crisp crack rang out. True Lord Violet Lightning’s life-bound treasure was quite unusual. It was actually a long whip crackling with electricity, its barbed reverse blades resembling a hedgehog’s spines.

With a surge of electric current, all of them stood erect.

Countless violet lightning shards shot forth, tearing apart the approaching talisman dragons into fragments. The initial exchange produced a stable stalemate, but Black Heaven Talisman Lord was clearly not being serious yet.

One black talisman after another ignited, and black-flame fireballs carried a scorching heat that could melt everything, warping the air into a twisted haze.

At the same time, a massive hand formed from endless condensed cloud qi suddenly took shape out of the void and clenched Violet Lightning in its grasp.

It was none other than the other Nascent Soul reinforcement stationed at Strange Peak Pass: Ancestor Cloudsmoke!

“How dare you!!”

Burning Heart roared loudly in front of everyone. In the blink of an eye, his body transformed, turning into a crimson-flamed fire dragon as he shot forward to block in front of the Violet Lightning.

This was the True Art of the Flame Dragon.

It was one of the top-tier fire-path cultivation methods of the Thunderfire Temple. Once cultivated to perfection, and then continuously advanced through further rank breakthroughs and metamorphosis, this life-bound divine ability would allow him to transform into a true fire dragon, all the way until the Spirit Transformation Great Dao.

At that moment, Wang Yu vanished from where he stood without anyone noticing.

High above, somewhere within the clouds, a startled cry suddenly rang out. The white clouds in a radius of dozens of miles were blasted away in an instant.

A streak of flaming meteor light traced across several thousand meters.

Then, with a thunderous crash, it slammed into the ground.

Wang Yu stepped down with one foot on Ancestor Cloudsmoke, whose face was twisted in agony, looking as if he had swallowed something disgusting, and laughed.

“Old thing, launching a sneak attack from the shadows is not the way of the strong.”

As he spoke, Wang Yu had already subconsciously begun treating himself like an upright powerhouse of the righteous path, completely forgetting that ambushes had once been his favorite style. The moment he opened his mouth, he planted himself on the moral high ground and condemned others with full confidence.

While feeling indescribably pleased, he also faintly realized the refreshing joy of being a “righteous senior.”

Both battlefields were now engaged at once.

Another figure flew out from Strange Peak Pass. Wang Yu flicked his divine sense over and saw that it was an unfamiliar Nascent Soul cultivator engaging Burning Heart True Lord’s incarnation, the flame dragon. He did not pay it much attention.

His eyes held only Ancestor Cloudsmoke.

And he discovered something rather peculiar.

Cloudsmoke… seemed not to recognize him?

That was a little intriguing.

Ancestor Qingyi had been so heavily injured by him that he abandoned his body and fled. After using a Nascent Soul shifting technique, he did not return to the Feng Clan of the Hidden Valley, and most likely did so because he knew Yunyuan had been transferred to Strange Peak Pass.

With the distance being so close, it made sense for him to rush over immediately to save his life and seek protection.

After all, no matter how fiercely they competed in private, to outsiders they were both Feng Clan ancestors. The death of either one would be a massive loss to the Feng Clan and would cause a major decline in the clan’s overall power.

So Wang Yu had never even considered the possibility of the dogs biting each other.

But… what if?

The two of them came from the same lineage. Limited by talent, it was extremely difficult for them to break through any further, but within the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain, talent limits were only part of the equation. When faced with hardship, one only needed to think more about one’s own family.

Then everything would be “resolved.”

If Ancestor Cloudsmoke could use forbidden techniques or bizarre arts to devour the Qingyi's Nascent Soul, breaking through into a higher realm, then it would make perfect sense for them to strike at each other.

The Crimson Kite Demonic Domain never lacked ruthless, heartless monsters who would slaughter an entire clan in a blood sacrifice for the sake of realm and power.

Countless thoughts surged through Wang Yu’s mind, yet in reality it was only a single instant. The Ancestor Cloudsmoke beneath Wang Yu’s foot suddenly dispersed into a mass of cloud vapor.

His form re-condensed several hundred meters away.

With an ugly expression, he flung his sleeve and snorted coldly. A tremor of demonic essence surged through his body, shaking away all the filthy grime. Narrowing his eyes, he examined Wang Yu.

“A fourth-rank body cultivator… I never expected there would still be a ruthless figure like Fellow Daoist in this era. How about you and I talk?”

Wang Yu heard him.

The ground underfoot exploded instantly.

With a single stomp powered by divine strength, his speed became too fast for the naked eye to follow. The moment he threw a punch, the air ripped apart and detonated into a white shock-ring.

Ancestor Cloudsmoke brought out a special defensive treasure.

Cloud qi.

This was also his life-bound treasure. It was a special gaseous magic treasure shaped like smoke, capable of both offense and defense. It could adapt to nearly any situation and take effect immediately.

This was also the origin of his title.

Thousand Transformations of Heavenly Net Smoke!

Using a technique of deflecting force with minimal effort, he forcibly shifted the trajectory of Wang Yu’s air-punch. Even so, the impact still sent him flying backward out of the Ironstone Forest.

Along the way, he smashed through many ironstone pillars.

High above, upon the Cloudsky Warship,

True Lord Yang Lei had been observing Wang Yu the entire time. Although Wang Yu had saved his second son and had connections with Lei Yao, Lei Yao had also told him a portion of Wang Yu’s history.

Whether he trusted Wang Yu or not did not depend on Lei Yao’s face.

It depended on a fair and objective judgment.

Now, seeing that Wang Yu walked the path of body refinement, and that he had not displayed any sinister demonic divine abilities, nor any demonic-path treasures refined from human blood and bone, True Lord Yang Lei unconsciously developed a sense of approval.

“If he can severely injure Cloudsmoke, I can consider assigning him a military post and granting him an official stipend.”

The quartermaster beside him nodded in full agreement.

“Your Excellency is wise. No matter what, Senior Wang is a Nascent Soul cultivator. For Miss Lei’s sake alone, we should have already given him a stable official income long ago.

“Otherwise, if word spreads, outsiders might think our Thunderfire Temple is too arrogant, looking down on Nascent Soul cultivators who wish to serve.”

True Lord Yang Lei glanced at him, speechless, then snorted.

“Only you think you’re clever. We will talk about that after this is over.”

“Prepare to mobilize the Cloudsky Warship. Along this route we are mainly conducting a feint, but there is no harm in getting serious. If we can take Strange Peak Pass, the advantages for Taihu in the coming war will become even greater.”

“Yes!”

Black Mountain Pass was already under the control of the Taihu Spiritual Domain, facing Blood Abyss Prefecture. Strange Peak Pass faced Night Jewel Prefecture. Maple Prefecture still had another fortress pass controlled by the Exalted Sect.

With the exception of Cloud Ridge Prefecture, which did not border the Northern Severed Boundary Mountains, these three passes were the most dangerous meat grinders of the northern battlefield. Another force, formed by Moon Gazing Palace and Azure Cloud Sect, had its sights set on the Maple Prefecture stronghold, Ice River Pass.

Everything over there was going smoothly. If nothing unexpected happened, they should be able to take it.

True Lord Yang Lei was thinking that if they could also seize Strange Peak Pass, Taihu would hold all three major pass fortresses. Using them as invasion anchors, they could then push straight into the four prefectures under the Blood Reversal Sect’s rule.

The strategic significance was immense.

And being able to find such an opening in the first place was thanks to Yellow Springs Monastery and the Joyous Union Demonic Sect, who had tied down a large number of the Blood Reversal Sect’s late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivators. Otherwise, things would never have gone so smoothly.

At this moment, Wang Yu and Ancestor Cloudsmoke fought their way farther and farther away.

Ancestor Cloudsmoke suddenly bellowed.

“Fellow Daoist, how much did they pay you? Why must you force things to the point of life and death?!”