Chapter 151: More Than a Dozen Cobblers

With the continuous emergence of ancient divine artifacts and the increasingly prominent manifestation of the laws of heaven and earth near the East Sea, nearly half of the young cultivators across the entire continent had gathered here over the past year or so.

Given the immense cultivator population of the Martial Soul Continent, even just half of the young cultivators amounted to a scale of hundreds of thousands, with more people constantly converging upon the region.

Around the ancient city of Loulan, nearly ten super-sized cities had risen from the ground almost overnight, transforming this place within a mere year into the second sacred ground for martial cultivation in the East, second only to the Tianwu Imperial Capital.

However, over the past month, the appearance of various mysterious experts had made an already tense atmosphere even more extraordinary. In the span of just one month, over a hundred young experts had met unexplained deaths, causing everyone in the area to feel a sense of imminent danger.

Of course, powerful figures hailing from super-factions understood that the root cause of all this was merely mutual probing between two major powers.

After more than a year of strategizing, the Sacred Land had once again dispatched experts on an eastward expedition. This time, besides the hundreds of young powerhouses visible on the surface, there were even dozens of older-generation experts accompanying them in secret.

Clearly, for a cultivation treasure trove like the ancient city of Loulan, the Sacred Land—which considered itself the premier faction of the Martial Soul world—would certainly not let it go unchecked. At the very least, they intended to occupy half of the territory to provide for the cultivation of their descendants.

Inside a courtyard covering nearly a hundred acres in the ancient city of Loulan, more than ten core members of the Heavenly King Alliance were currently furrowing their brows tightly, lying listlessly on grand master chairs.

It had to be said that Ye Feng had a profound influence on these youths from the capital; just those rows of grand master chairs were proof enough of that.

"The experts of the Sacred Land are gathering continuously. Although they currently fall short of us in terms of sheer numbers, the quantity of their top-tier cultivators far surpasses our Heavenly King Alliance. In our recent clashes, we have gradually fallen into a slight disadvantage. Once their Holy Son arrives, we will suffer a total collapse!" Kong Kong let out a helpless sigh as he swept his gaze across the silent group, speaking up first.

Yet, after he finished speaking, no one responded. Among the dozen or so people seated here, aside from He Tao and Xiao Chong, almost everyone was a cultivation maniac, completely clueless when it came to strategizing and management.

"Can you all at least make a sound? If this goes on, the Heavenly King Alliance will fall apart sooner or later. How are you going to face the Boss when he returns?" Kong Kong grew frantic, slamming his palm fiercely against the armrest of his grand master chair.

"Squeak..." Zhou Yi, as the last newcomer to enter this circle, very cooperatively chimed in with a sound.

At this, everyone was startled, casting expectant gazes toward him all at once.

"Don't... don't look at me like that... Boss Kong Kong asked for a sound, so I made one... Please, really don't look at me like that..." Meeting the burning gazes of the dozen-plus people, Zhou Yi quickly stood up and waved his hands repeatedly, indicating that he was merely complying.

The group lapsed into silence once more. Jialuo, who was usually perceived as cold and aloof, now wore a face full of deep worry... and a trace of shame.

When Ye Feng left, he had explicitly stated that Jialuo should manage the Heavenly King Alliance on his behalf. Now that the alliance was facing such a crisis, Jialuo felt completely helpless.

"Actually, our disadvantage isn't that great. Back at the ruins, the Boss slaughtered nearly half of the Sacred Land's young experts as if cutting vegetables; many of the people they've sent this time around are not actually part of their core bloodline." While everyone remained silent, He Tao spoke up.

Throughout the past year or so, the trivial daily affairs of the Heavenly King Alliance had actually been managed by He Tao, Xiao Chong, and Ao Yun. Among them, He Tao acted as the strategist, coming up with numerous ideas for the group.

After He Tao spoke, everyone, just as before, shifted their expectant gazes toward him. Jialuo and Xiao Ye, in particular, gripped the armrests of their grand master chairs tightly, fearing there would be no more following words.

"As far as I know, among the younger generation of the Sacred Land, there is definitely no one who has stepped into the Spirit Emperor realm yet..."

Before he could finish, Xiao Chong interrupted him irritably, "My foot there isn't! The night before yesterday, if those three terrifyingly powerful mysterious youths hadn't interfered, would we have suffered losses?"

"Shut up and let He Tao finish!" Xiao Ye glared fiercely at his younger brother, signaling He Tao to continue.

"I wonder if any of you still remember that when we were in the ruins, an expert named Xing Yun once said that the 'Star Palace' was also involved in this matter." Glancing at Xiao Chong, He Tao continued:

Back when we fought the Boss, Xing Yun mentioned that three members of the Star Palace had come to the Martial Soul Continent. I reckon that the three mysterious experts who suddenly appeared the night before yesterday were precisely those three from the Star Palace.

Hearing this, the crowd nodded repeatedly. But after a short while, Xiao Chong spoke up again, "No! We've seen the eldest of the Nine Sons of the Star Palace before, and his physique differs vastly from the three individuals from the night before last. He is definitely not among those three."

Pausing for a moment, Xiao Chong continued: The night before last, the swordsman must undoubtedly be Xing Yun. And the other person wielding the halberd is likely the Sixth Brother he mentioned. Then, who could the last person be?

"The Chaotic Domain—that mysterious youth who lured out the ice Flood Dragon!" He Tao replied.

The two of them went back and forth, chatting away for quite a while. However, from the perspective of Xiao Ye and the others, the content of their discussion was utterly useless, because the problem they currently faced was how to contend with the Sacred Land, rather than investigating the identities of the mysterious experts.

"What on earth are you trying to say?" Kong Kong waved his hand impatiently, addressing He Tao.

"My point is, since the Sacred Land can attract experts to assist them, why can't we do the same?" He Tao smiled faintly and continued, "The Sacred Land acts perversely and has provoked universal indignation. It's just that many people are intimidated by their might and dare to harbor anger without speaking out. If we gather these people, we might just get some unexpected surprises!"

"What kind of fucking surprise? Those so-called strong figures outside—their absolute peak strength is at most on par with the Lesser Heavenly Demon King. What use are they to us?" Kong Kong retorted.

With Kong Kong's current strength at the half-step Spirit Emperor realm, he indeed had the qualification to look down upon high-level Spirit King cultivators. Yet he failed to remember that back in the ruins, Ye Feng had led them—a group of Spirit Kings—to outmaneuver and exhaust forty or fifty Spirit Emperor experts to death.

"Wrong! If you sense carefully, among the hundreds of thousands of young experts outside, there are at least dozens whose strength is likewise at the half-step Spirit Emperor level. Perhaps... there are even some whose strength we cannot fathom at all. Tell me, if such people exist, what realm would they be in?" Xiao Ye swept away his previous sorrow, his eyes burning with bright radiance as he spoke.