NOVPUBLuo Feng left Wei Yang Palace Master's cave mansion.
"What a piece of trash!" Before this meeting, Luo Feng had already anticipated it, especially since places like the Insect Nest, Deceit Workshop, and Shadow Tower were all under Wei Yang Palace Master's faction. This meeting only confirmed Luo Feng's judgment.
Wei Yang Palace Master, truly a piece of trash!
"To maintain the operation of a city, relying on trade, residence fees, and rental profits—these are understandable," Luo Feng thought. "But still dissatisfied with that, resorting to theft, plundering, and even using the guise of investigating suspicious cultivators... squeezing them even further."
"Wei Yang Palace Master, you truly are trash."
"Luckily, you haven't yet obtained the City Builder authority. If you did, I can only imagine the atrocities you'd commit."
Wei Yang Palace Master and Luo Feng were vastly different.
Wei Yang Palace Master had reached the level of a Half Primordial Enlightened a long time ago, deeply entrenched in this stage, making further progress extremely difficult. He no longer strove for improvement and only sought easy access to more resources. Naturally, he attached great importance to Yulan City.
Luo Feng was different!
Luo Feng's cultivation soared to new heights, and the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm's Yulan City was merely one of many stops on his cultivation journey.
"Once I accumulate enough, break through in the Life and Death Dao, and obtain the City Builder authority, I'll drive Wei Yang Palace Master out." Luo Feng thought.
"Yuan Xiang Palace Master!"
Walking through Yulan City, Luo Feng transmitted a message to Yuan Xiang Palace Master, "From now on, I intend to start investigating all hidden low-level Primordial lifeforms in the entire city."
"You're going to start the investigation now?" Yuan Xiang Palace Master sounded pleasantly surprised, laughing in his reply. "Brother Luo Feng, you act way faster than the other elders. You've just taken the position of Heaven Patrol Palace Commander, finished screening the suspicious cultivators, and now you're starting a thorough city-wide investigation."
"The formations around every cave mansion in the city currently shield the cultivators inside, making it temporarily impossible to investigate them," Luo Feng explained in his transmission.
Outside the cave mansions, the cultivators accounted for only a small portion of the city's population.
"Start your investigation first. Once you're done, I'll arrange for all cave mansion formations to be closed in batches," Yuan Xiang Palace Master transmitted back.
"Okay," Luo Feng responded.
Naturally, the Eye of Biomimetic Destruction opened at the center of his brows, scanning his surroundings. He could vaguely perceive the souls of numerous cultivators on the streets nearby.
"Whoosh." "Whoosh." "Whoosh." "Whoosh." "Whoosh."
From his cave mansion, five of Luo Feng's avatars flew out.
Each avatar had its Eye of Biomimetic Destruction open.
A total of six Luo Feng avatars divided the city into zones, conducting a meticulous sweep.
At this moment, Yulan City was cloaked in light rain. The cultivators within the city came in diverse appearances, while Luo Feng, with an additional eye at his brow, blended seamlessly into the city's scenery. His six avatars flew casually, surveying area after area.
"Found one lurker, Enchanting Heart Worm avatar."
"Found a second, Enchanting Heart Worm avatar."
...
"Found the ninth, Soul-devouring Snake avatar."
...
Even upon discovering them, Luo Feng refrained from stirring the pot and instead quietly recorded the cultivators' identities. Using Yulan City's detailed database, identifying their designated cave mansion locations was an easy task.
After half a day, all six of Luo Feng's avatars traversed the city in its entirety, finally regrouping.
"Yuan Xiang Palace Master, I've completed the sweep of the entire city. Everyone outside their cave mansions has been screened," Luo Feng transmitted, "I identified a total of twenty-two lurkers."
"Twenty-two?" Yuan Xiang Palace Master was elated. "Once we eliminate them, following the causality line should allow us to capture a batch of additional lurkers."
Luo Feng nodded.
In terms of observational secret techniques, he was unmatched in Yulan City! However, in matters of causality, there were still others stronger than him.
"I'll now organize the elders into teams. They'll exterminate these twenty-two lurkers and follow the causality lines to capture more lurkers," Yuan Xiang Palace Master transmitted. "This minor affair doesn't require your involvement."
"Understood," Luo Feng responded.
Tracking them via causality was something the elders could handle.
******
The Eye of Biomimetic Destruction allowed Luo Feng to view the entire city. However, the larger the range he observed, the less detailed his vision became; he could only discern the faint aura of many cultivators, making it difficult to probe their physical bodies, let alone their souls.
"Action time." Luo Feng's Eye of Biomimetic Destruction had long locked onto the twenty-two suspicious lurkers.
He saw everything clearly. Twenty-two elder-level figures launched their attacks simultaneously, striking down the twenty-two lurkers in an instant.
Using the causality lines, related avatars were rapidly captured thereafter.
...
In a plain cave mansion in Yulan City's outer district, a red-robed cultivator lived in solitude.
"King, our mid- and low-tier clan members lurking inside Yulan City are being killed one by one," a voice echoed within the red-robed cultivator's mind. "At least thirty clan avatars have died, and the number is quickly increasing."
"Mid- and lower-tier clan members, avatars getting slaughtered?" The red-robed cultivator murmured in confusion, "Why have so many been exposed?"
"This operation's details were known only to leadership-level figures. We carefully restricted core members, but as for mid-tier and low-tier clan members... the constraints weren't strict." The voice explained.
"Naturally, those mid-tier and low-tier clan members are unaware of the importance of the operation. Their true bodies remain outside the city. Those lurking inside are nothing but offspring avatars," the voice added.
"Then there's no need to act,"
The red-robed cultivator responded, "Remain patient. Now is not the time to act."
"Understood." The voice replied.
...
In Yulan City, tracing the twenty-two identified lurkers by Luo Feng along the causality line produced seventy-six additional avatars. Furthermore, implicated suspicious cultivators were sent to the Heaven Patrol Palace in large numbers.
During the capture process, over a hundred of these suspicious cultivators committed suicide.
"Brother Luo Feng truly deserves great credit. This round of screening has already forced out around two hundred lurkers," Yuan Xiang Palace Master was pleased. They had suspected that a considerable number of low-level Primordial lifeforms were hidden.
Previously, uncovering them had been extremely challenging.
Now, things were much smoother.
Luo Feng worked tirelessly, stationed at the Heaven Patrol Palace to screen every suspicious cultivator one by one. These cultivators were captured, interrogated, and released on the same day, without being extorted for treasures, causing widespread discussion within Yulan City.
...
"King, we've lost 205 clan avatars this time. These avatars belonged to 23 clans, with most wielding power at the Middle Stage or Early Stage Divine Emperor levels," the voice reported.
"Ignore it," the red-robed cultivator responded indifferently.
A few Middle Stage and Early Stage Divine Emperor clan members held no significance to the true "City Annihilation Operation."
"Taking advantage of this, I've issued orders for all members to go entirely dormant. No unauthorized actions are permitted," the voice said. "Having lost so many in succession, they are now obediently following orders."
"Patience is key. Once the timing is right, we will move," the red-robed cultivator declared, remaining composed.
He gazed in the direction of Yulan City's core region.
"The elders of Yulan City are clueless about how many clan members have infiltrated. Across the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, the core members of both the Enchanting Heart Worm and Soul-devouring Snake clans have concentrated here--half of the core strength of their respective branches," the red-robed cultivator mused.
Only those with Late Stage Divine Emperor strength could be considered core members.
Divine Emperor Perfection-level figures are the leaders of a clan branch.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, Yulan City trembled violently, as a terrifying pressure erupted.
The red-robed cultivator was stunned, his gaze piercing through the formation to glimpse the outside, where dense purple light enveloped the entire city.
"Boom!" Another earth-shaking sound reverberated; the city's rain transformed into mist, with an invisible force emanating throughout every corner.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
Explosions thundered through Yulan City as one formation after another detonated! The surge of Heaven and Earth power grew increasingly chaotic and overwhelming, with the city's skies resembling turbulent seas.
Ordinarily, the elders only devoted a fraction of their consciousness to maintaining Yulan City's defensive systems. But during critical moments like siege battles, they concentrated their full strength to bolster the formations, amplifying their power considerably.
This was such a moment—the city's formations were being activated in succession, their might escalating rapidly.
This methodical activation signified that Yulan City was not yet in a state of urgency.
"What's happening? Why are Yulan City's formations operating at full strength?" The red-robed cultivator asked in alarm. "Could the operation be compromised?"
"Impossible."
"All participating core members were strictly constrained; even the detailed operational plans are known only to the leaders," the red-robed cultivator felt unease.
After tens of breaths had passed, the vast array of formations throughout Yulan City erupted fully, their formidable power enveloping every corner of the city. This left the cultivators within tense and anxious.
"I am Yuan Xiang." A soothing voice resonated across the entire city. "Fellow cultivators of Yulan City, do not panic! Our city has developed a method to detect low-level Primordial lifeform lurkers. From this moment, all cave mansion formations will be shut down in batches. Please voluntarily deactivate any personal formations within your residences to facilitate identity verification."
"The entire screening process will be completed within a day," Yuan Xiang Palace Master's voice echoed throughout the city.
"They can screen the entire city now?"
"Wonderful!"
"It's about time we eradicate all the lurking low-level Primordial lifeforms."
Throughout various districts, the vast majority of cultivators cheered. Over ninety percent of the city's cultivators were below the Divine Emperor level, powerless against those lurking low-level Primordial lifeforms—a true nightmare for them!
If the screening successfully removed all of them in one go, subsequent periodic checks would markedly enhance the city's safety. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
"King! They're preparing to screen the entire city!" The voice sounded urgent.
The red-robed cultivator naturally heard the city-wide announcement, his expression darkening.
He was the mastermind behind the "Annihilate Yulan City" operation and the first to arrive. The other "Kings" hadn't all gathered yet, as the designated time for the operation hadn't arrived.
"The city's forces require meticulous infiltration, so they've arrived ahead of schedule, and they're all here. However, only thirty percent of our forces outside the city have arrived, with the rest still en route," the red-robed cultivator seethed.
"No matter. Even if we launch prematurely, our low-level Primordial lifeforms may suffer heavier losses, but the probability of annihilating the city remains above ninety percent."
The red-robed cultivator's gaze turned icy.
He realized there was no time to wait.
Delaying further risked exposure to a full-scale screening!
"Transmit my order: Follow the planned operation—begin!" The red-robed cultivator's voice abruptly echoed within the minds of all lurking low-level Primordial lifeforms in the city, an intangible mental wave inspiring their unconditional compliance.
Ps: Rest day tomorrow; the day after, the battle for Yulan City begins!
