Chapter 752: Surprising Turn |
As the commencement of the decision stage drew closer, the conference venue gradually began to quiet down, and everyone turned their attention to the three figures seated at the head of the table.
Right at this moment, Xiao Buye abruptly raised his head to inspect his surroundings, and Huang Fuyu's expression also changed slightly.
"What's wrong, Palace Master Huang?" Wyrm 3 immediately asked.
All of the other regional monarchs had also noticed the changes in Xiao Buye and Huang Fuyu's expressions, and the tension in the air only became heavier.
All of a sudden, Huang Fuyu rose to his feet as a layer of radiant white light emerged over his body, and he glowered intently at Yin Chengquan as he asked, "What's the meaning of this, Regional Monarch Yin?"
As soon as Huang Fuyu rose to his feet, all of the regional monarchs who were allied to the Reincarnation Region immediately followed suit, and some of the more aggressive ones among them had even summoned immortal treasures in preparation for battle.
Xiao Buye hadn't risen to his feet, but he was also glowering intently at Yin Chengquan with an accusatory look in his eyes.
In the face of the rapidly escalating tensions, Yin Changquan remained calm and silent.
However, all of the regional monarchs allied to the Infernal Region had stood up to oppose those allied to the Reincarnation Region.
"Rebel? Are you implying that the Infernal Region is the ruler of the Gray Realm? What a joke!" Xiao Buye scoffed in a cold voice.
Tian Ku knew that he had misspoken, and he had no response to this.
Yin Chengquan remained seated as he took a glance at Huang Fuyu and Xiao Buye, then said, "What's going on all of a sudden, everyone? The decision stage is about to commence, and we're going to be deciding the future fate of our Gray Realm. Why have we suddenly all taken up arms against each other at a time like this?"
"Do you take us for fools, Regional Monarch Yin? You've activated spatial restrictions all around the Fallen Lake Area to isolate this place from the outside world. What is the meaning of this?" Huang Fuyu asked in a cold voice.
Only then did everyone finally understand what had just happened, and the entire conference venue erupted into chatter as everyone turned their attention to Yin Chengquan.
In the face of everyone's hostile scrutiny, Yin Chengquan remained calm and collected, and a faint smile had even appeared on his face.
At this point, all of the preparations were complete, so it hardly mattered that he had been caught.
After plotting for so long, he could finally enact his plan.
"Everyone..." Yin Chengquan began.
Right at this moment, an explosion rang out in the distance, and a tremendous evil aura erupted into the heavens before proliferating outward in all directions.
At the same time, an enormous ball of black light had also emerged from the epicenter of the explosion, and all of the baleful qi near Asura City was churning violently as rumbling thunderclaps rang out above the swirling gray clouds overhead.
Even the three dim suns in the sky were beginning to undergo a change as they were approaching each other, even overlapping in some parts, but they hadn't completely overlapped yet.
Furthermore, they were glowing far brighter than usual, and rays of bright gray light were emanating from the three suns before flowing rapidly down into the ball of black light in the distance like rivers flowing into the sea.
Everyone at the conference venue, including the bystanders below the elevated platform, were all looking at the ball of black light with alarmed expressions, and Huang Fuyu and Xiao Buye's expressions also changed drastically upon seeing this.
A hint of surprise also flashed through Yin Chengquan's eyes upon seeing this, but he then quickly improvized, "That's our city's Soul Cleansing Area, which is home to many of our treasure refinement and puppet refinement facilities. Some type of mishap must've taken place, leading to the activation of the spatial restrictions of the Fallen Lake Area.
“These are just prophylactic measures that our Infernal Region has taken to ensure the smooth running of the conference, so don't be alarmed, everyone."
Skeptical looks immediately appeared on many people’s faces upon hearing this, but the tension in the air had deescalated significantly.
The white light around Huang Fuyu's body faded, and he also gestures for all of the Reincarnation Region's allies to stow away their immortal treasures.
All of the Infernal Region's allies also followed suit upon seeing this.
Xiao Buye took a glance in the direction of the Soul Cleansing Area, then turned back to Yin Chengquan, and there was still some suspicion in his eyes, but it wasn't as apparent as before.
"Go and see what's happened, then take care of it as soon as possible," Yin Chengquan said to the two Great Encompassment cultivators behind him.
The two of them gave an affirmative response, then flew toward the Soul Cleansing Area as two streaks of black light.
"My apologies for the delay, everyone. I hereby declare the recommencement of the conference," Yin Chengquan said as he sat down.
Everyone exchanged some glances with one another, then sat down as well, but it was clear that everyone was still a little shaken, and no one said anything.
Wyrm 3 took a step forward, then asked through voice transmission, "Do you think Yin Chengquan was telling the truth just now, Palace Master Huang?"
"Of course Yin Chengquan is not to be trusted. He definitely has some type of ulterior motive for activating the spatial restrictions around the Fallen Lake Area, but that explosion was also rather strange. If I'm not mistaken, something most likely really has gone wrong in the Soul Cleansing Area," Huang Fuyu replied with a cold sneer.
"You've always been the head of our Reincarnation Region's brains trust, Palace Master Huang. Have you managed to guess Yin Chengquan's plan?" Wu Yang asked.
"You're far too kind, Palace Master Wu Yang. My tactical nous can't even begin to compare with that of our regional monarch. Right now, I don't have enough leads to fully extrapolate what Yin Chengquan's plan could be," Huang Fuyu replied.
"What should we do then? Do we just stay here?" Wyrm 3 asked.
"There's no need to be concerned. Our regional monarch has already predicted that Yin Chengquan will be up to no good during this Three Region Conference, and he's already made preparations in advance, so let's just watch and see for now," Huang Fuyu replied.
Wyrm 3 and Wu Yang's eyes both lit up slightly upon hearing this, and they didn't say anything further.
......
In the underground palace in the Soul Cleansing Area.
Both Yin Xu and Gui Mu were staring at the giant arm and gargantuan head of the Kun Hou with deathly pale complexions.
Gui Mu took a deep breath, then took a glance at Han Li and the others, who were fleeing the scene, and he asked, "Elder Yin Xu, should we capture those people? Maybe if we take them to the regional monarch, that'll spare us from some punishment."
"It's almost time for our regional monarch to enact his plan, yet we've completely messed up! Do you really think catching a few rats will be enough to spare us from punishment? The only silver lining here is that the Kun Hou hasn't been completely freed yet. Our top priority right now is to contain it, then wait for reinforcements to arrive!" Yin Xu spat through gritted teeth, then flew directly upward while making a string of hand seals.
A streak of black light flew out of his body, then transformed into a black badge.
The badge appeared to be quite similar to the infernal badge, except there were nine ghostly heads engraved onto this one.
Yin Xu opened his mouth to expel several balls of blood essence into the badge, and it immediately began to glow radiantly with black spiritual light.
At the same time, the nine ghostly heads swelled to several times their original size before opening their mouths in unison, releasing nine bursts of black light that vanished into the nearby space in a flash.
Numerous red chains shot out of the nearby space, then wrapped themselves around the Kun Hou's arm and head.
However, these chains summoned by Yin Xu were clearly far thinner than the ones already around the Kun Hou's body.
Meanwhile, Gui Mu took another glance at Han Li, seemingly still rather reluctant to let them get away.
The flames within the Kun Hou's eye flared up as it swung its arm through the air again, releasing a burst of tremendous force that caused the nearby space to tremble violently.
A string of loud clangs rang out as most of the chains summoned by Yin Xu were instantly snapped.
Yin Xu's complexion instantly paled significantly as he threw up a mouthful of blood, then turned to Gui Mu as he yelled in a furious voice, "What the hell are you doing, Gui Mu?! Hurry up and help me!"
Gui Mu didn't dare to hesitate any longer, and he immediately flew over to Yin Xu's side before releasing two thick beams of light out of the palms of his hands and into Yin Xu's body.
Yin Xu's complexion instantly improved slightly, and he made a rapid string of hand seals, upon which more chains flew out of the black badge before wrapping themselves around the Kun Hou's body.
Han Li was ecstatic to see this from another corner of the hall, and he immediately flew toward the black vine cage that Weeping Soul was trapped in.
At the same time, the Profound Heavenly Gourd appeared in front of him, then immediately began to radiate bright green light.
As Han Li chanted an incantation while making a rapid string of hand seals, the green light radiating from the gourd grew even brighter, while the gourd itself swelled to several times its original, and rows of green runes appeared on its surface.
Gui Mu was curious to see this.
The entirety of Asura City was most likely on high alert at this point, so it didn't matter if he allowed Han Li and the others to get away for now as they would eventually just be captured again, but he couldn't allow You Luo to go with him.
With that in mind, Gui Mu let loose a low roar, and eight black talismans flew out of his body, then transformed into eight giant spiked mace-like weapons.
A tremendous evil law aura was emanating from these weapons, and every single one of them was no less formidable as a graded immortal treasure.
The eight giant weapons shot forth toward Han Li, and at the same time, the black cage around Weeping Soul rose up from the ground before flying toward Gui Mu and Yin Xu.
Instead of being dismayed by this turn of events, Han Li's eyes lit up as his Mantra Treasured Axis appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light.
The axis released countless golden ripples that encompassed the eight giant weapons, and they were instantly slowed down, but they were imbued with such tremendous power that the entire area of golden ripples immediately began to tremble violently, looking as if it could fall apart at any moment.