Chapter 638: War Prelude

The Sixth Hall gritted his teeth and recounted the entire sequence of events in detail. This included the deserted streets, the heavily guarded church, the lavish hall, the mad Brand, and Lord Wuji, who had awakened from the Mercury Moon.

During this time, the Second Hall also summoned all the other Halls. Except for the Fifth Hall, Elder He, who had been killed by the Twilight Society more than half a year ago, the Seventh Hall, killed by Lord Wuji, and the Ninth Hall, imprisoned within *Guernica*, the remaining Halls had all gathered here.

"The Philosopher's Stone..." the Second Hall murmured to himself.

"Among the Nine Monarchs, there's actually such a depraved being?" Yang Mujuan's brows furrowed tightly. "But why specifically choose the Mortal Realm? In terms of population, the South Sea Realm should be more suitable, shouldn't it? And it's closer to the Wuji Realm."

"I don't know. Their decision to attack the Mortal Realm probably has some deeper reason... but that's no longer important." The Second Hall said gravely:

"Currently, the Wuji Realm not only has Lord Wuji, a ninth-tier master, presiding over it, but also a vast Witchcraft Association, an ancient repository of Witchcraft teachings, and the entire realm's population and productivity... In a sense, its danger is even greater than that of the Twilight Society! If such a behemoth chooses to attack other realms, the devastation will be catastrophic. The new order that humanity spent centuries establishing after the Great Cataclysm might well be destroyed."

"Wait, but the Mortal Realm has already been hidden among the flowers by Lord Hongchen," the Fourth Hall suddenly spoke. "Even if they come to kill us, they won't be able to enter, right?"

"Have you forgotten? The runes laid on the tracks of the inter-realm trains all originated from the Way of the Witch Gods. From the day the inter-realm train connected to the Mortal Realm, the Wuji Realm gained the key to enter it..."

"...Damn it, they couldn't have been planning this since then, could they?! That was over three hundred years ago!"

"Since they intended to kill the envoy, they must have already prepared to completely break ties..." Lu Liangren's eyes narrowed slightly, and a wisp of killing intent emanated from him. "Unless anything goes wrong, they are already mobilizing forces and preparing to carry out a realm massacre."

"So what should we do now? Should we seek help from other realms?"

"All we can do now is relay the news of the Wuji Realm to other realms, but reinforcements... will likely be difficult to obtain," the Second Hall said gravely. "The distance between realms is already vast, and mutual communication relies solely on inter-realm trains. However, the trains connected to the Mortal Realm communicate with the Aurora Realm and the Wuji Realm respectively. To reach other realms, one must transfer through these two. Now that the Aurora Realm has been destroyed, it's as if the Mortal Realm is only connected to the Wuji Realm. This means even if other realms send reinforcements, they'd have to pass through the Wuji Realm... Do you think the Wuji Realm would allow those trains to arrive smoothly? As long as they employ a small trick, such as cutting a section of track in the Grey Realm, or directly altering the runes on the tracks, the Wuji Realm and the Mortal Realm would be completely isolated from all other realms."

"No wonder they chose the Mortal Realm..." Yang Mujuan's expression was exceedingly grim. "This location is far too advantageous for them."

"So, what's next...?"

After a round of discussion, everyone turned their gaze to the Second Hall, their expressions extremely grave. With the Chief absent, the Second Hall was the spokesperson for the Transient Life Painting and the highest decision-maker for the Mortal Realm base. With external enemies approaching, only he could oversee the entire situation.

The Second Hall's abstract face slowly scanned over everyone, before he finally spoke with gravity:

"I believe you are all aware of the situation currently facing the Mortal Realm... What we face now is the greatest turning point in human destiny since the Great Cataclysm, and the first inter-realm war in human history. Our Mortal Realm has never done anything wrong... but war is never reasonable. Do you remember what the Chief said when he founded the Transient Life Painting?"

The Halls exchanged glances and nodded in unison:

"The Transient Life Painting exists only for the Mortal Realm;"

"It does not wield power, nor does it interfere, but it will always exist, and it will always protect."

"That's right," the Second Hall's voice grew increasingly stern. "Now, war has arrived. I know there are some within the Transient Life Painting who are greedy for life and afraid of death, and some who harbor ill intentions, but now I want them to understand that neither the Transient Life Painting nor the Mortal Realm has any retreat... If they don't want to become fodder for the Philosopher's Stone, they must fight with their backs against the wall. It's also time to let the Wuji Realm know that the guardians of the Mortal Realm are not to be trifled with."

"I'll go," Lu Liangren's voice sounded from behind the others. His eight-foot brush, heavy with killing intent, seemed tinged with a hint of frosty white. "I'll personally lead people to the front lines to meet the enemy."

His gaze was sharp as a knife.

The Second Hall nodded slightly:

"Good. Recall all architects still in the Mortal Realm, and all Halls should follow Lu Liangren to meet the enemy, dragging them to the realm's edge if possible."

"All of them?" Yang Mujuan was startled. "If all architects leave, there will be no one to maintain 'Mortal Realm,' and then the truth of the realm will be exposed, won't it...?"

"This concerns tens of millions of lives and the survival of the realm; we can't afford to worry about such things anymore," the Second Hall replied decisively. "The Wuji Realm has certainly mobilized all its forces this time. If we don't go all out now, we are sure to lose."

"...Yes!"

All the Halls present followed Lu Liangren, about to leave, when Lu Liangren suddenly seemed to remember something and turned back to look at the Second Hall.

"The front line is my responsibility, then..."

The Second Hall paused for a moment, and the abstract face within the picture frame slowly turned, as if looking behind a door:

"...I will awaken the Chief."

*Guernica*.

"So, what tier are you now, exactly?"

"Tier six," said Plum Blossom 8 helplessly. "This Divine Path thing, moving from tier three to tier four is a hurdle, and from tier six to tier seven is another... Crossing this hurdle brings earth-shattering changes in power, but countless people also get stuck here. I've been stuck at tier six for several years now."

"Aren't you the top genius of the Azure Divine Path? You get stuck for so long too?"

"You haven't reached tier six, so you can't understand it... This hurdle has nothing to do with talent." Plum Blossom 8 shrugged. "By the way, are you done asking questions? You've kept me talking for hours... My mouth is all dry."

"Well, there's really nothing else to do... Besides, you won't tell me about the secrets of the Transient Life Painting, so I can only ask about other things."

Chen Ling saw Plum Blossom 8's resentful expression but felt no guilt. He glanced at the audience's expectation value. Ever since he started continuously chatting with Plum Blossom 8 to gather information, although the expectation value was still dropping, its rate had slowed down somewhat. "Talk therapy" was still quite effective!

Chen Ling didn't give up on the "therapy," but continued to ask: "Let's change the topic then... What do you know about your Chief Hall?"