Chapter 263: Strange Strategy Defeats the Enemy Raiders

**Angry Squid**

The Myriad Immortals Alliance's announcement did not disclose how many of the Nine Hedao cultivators from the Five Elders Council ultimately died. However, heavy losses were certainly incurred. Otherwise, the Five Elders Council, which had just been arrogant and aggressive, would not have instantly become like a toothless tiger, withdrawing its forces and shifting from offense to defense.

The only Hedao cultivator known to have perished in this incident, however, was from the Myriad Immortals Alliance. He was not killed in battle but was executed because he was a spy. This spy had been deeply embedded within the Myriad Immortals Alliance for nearly a thousand years, undetectable by anyone. His status was highly respected; before his identity was exposed, no one would have suspected him of being a Five Elders Council spy.

This was Immortal Venerable Ziqiong of Tianyu Prefecture, who was stationed at the headquarters of the Myriad Immortals Alliance's Martial Arts Hall, holding an incredibly noble position. It was precisely because Immortal Venerable Ziqiong secretly relayed information that the Five Elders Council, after conducting trials and verification, became convinced of the news that "a Hedao cultivator was about to ascend to Longevity Celestial Venerable status." This led them to undertake the extremely high-risk strategic move of "dispatching nine Hedao cultivators deep into enemy territory."

This was not the first time such an action had been taken. In previous operations, the Five Elders Council had reaped considerable benefits. The last time they did this was to raid the Great Five Elements Grotto-Heaven. Indeed, at that time, it was also Immortal Venerable Ziqiong who leaked the information about the Great Five Elements Grotto-Heaven. His subordinates had received a distress call from an exploration team, requesting assistance from the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters to relocate the Great Five Elements Grotto-Heaven. Immortal Venerable Ziqiong was more aware of the grotto-heaven's true value than most others in the Myriad Immortals Alliance, so he secretly relayed the information to the Five Elders Council. This allowed the Five Elders Council to react so swiftly, even arriving before the Myriad Immortals Alliance's reinforcements.

Even the pursuit team of eight Hedao cultivators later dispatched by the enraged Myriad Immortals Alliance — whose personnel composition was clearly known to the Five Elders Council due to the leak from the high-ranking Immortal Venerable Ziqiong — would likely have perished on the battlefield if it weren't for an unexpected turn of events. A overlooked Spirit Transformation cultivator in the team unexpectedly erupted with Hedao-level combat power, turning the tide in a critical moment. Nevertheless, the Myriad Immortals Alliance suffered significant losses in this incident. Although the Five Elders Council also sustained some losses, they were entirely acceptable in comparison. The only pity was that due to the suddenness of the event, there wasn't enough time to mobilize sufficient personnel, and the mission to steal the Great Five Elements Grotto-Heaven was considered a failure.

Regardless, as the deepest mole the Five Elders Council had planted within the Myriad Immortals Alliance, the information provided by Immortal Venerable Ziqiong should have been absolutely trustworthy. Therefore, even though "dispatching nine Hedao cultivators deep into enemy territory" was theoretically an extremely high-risk action, the Five Elders Council still proceeded with it. Thus, they fell into the trap meticulously woven for them by the Myriad Immortals Alliance.

Within the Myriad Immortals Alliance, some had always harbored resentment over the inexplicable leak of information concerning the Great Five Elements Grotto-Heaven during the previous incident. The name of this cultivator was not disclosed in the announcement; he was only referred to as "Lone Hero." One of Lone Hero's close friends was among the eight Hedao cultivators who participated in the pursuit. With his friend's tragic death, coupled with his sense of duty, Lone Hero vowed to uncover the spy deeply hidden within the Myriad Immortals Alliance's headquarters.

After the conclusion of the great battle in Tianling Prefecture, the Myriad Immortals Alliance initiated an internal investigation, and Lone Hero was put in charge of this matter. Unfortunately, Immortal Venerable Ziqiong's status was too high, and he was too well-hidden. Even with some suspicion, without concrete evidence, nothing could be done against him, and the investigation ultimately led nowhere.

However, Lone Hero did not give up easily. A daring plan began to form in his mind. To be precise, it was quite simple: merely a variation of "luring the snake out of its hole." But the plan involved too much; even a slight misstep could lead to complete failure. Lone Hero was initially hesitant, but he ultimately withstood the pressure and gradually completed the setup.

Gradually, news began to circulate quietly among the Myriad Immortals Alliance's high-ranking members: a Hedao cultivator within the Alliance was about to attain Longevity Dao. Furthermore, many Hedao cultivators received invitations to assist and then disappeared without a trace. Immortal Venerable Ziqiong naturally also learned of this news. However, Ziqiong could not guarantee the accuracy of the information. Moreover, he had only recently been investigated and had not yet been fully cleared of suspicion, so Ziqiong had no intention of personally risking verifying the truth of this information. However, the matter was too significant. If a new Longevity Celestial Venerable were to emerge in the Myriad Immortals Alliance... After much hesitation, Ziqiong still relayed this information to the Five Elders Council, merely instructing them to verify it themselves.

Upon receiving the news, the Five Elders Council attached great importance to it. Coincidentally, a sectarian ruin suddenly appeared in Jiushan Prefecture, bordering both factions, attracting the attention of countless cultivators. The Five Elders Council seized this opportunity to conspicuously dispatch a Spirit Transformation cultivator to provoke and test the situation. The Myriad Immortals Alliance's reaction was peculiar. They uttered fierce threats, more defiant than anyone, issuing solemn warnings like "Dare to come, and you will die," yet they only sent a mere handful of Spirit Transformation cultivators to hold the line. Since when could Spirit Transformation cultivators hold the line? Where were all the Myriad Immortals Alliance's Hedao cultivators at this moment? It's important to remember that if no Hedao cultivators were stationed there, what could the Myriad Immortals Alliance do to the Spirit Transformation cultivator named Luoxi in Jiushan Prefecture, with only Spirit Transformation cultivators present, even if they didn't use other forces and merely let him go alone? The Myriad Immortals Alliance couldn't have been unaware of this. Could it be that they would just tolerate such a resounding slap? What had happened?

The so-called solemn warnings, in the eyes of the Five Elders Council, clearly reeked of bravado covering underlying weakness. Rather than being for the Five Elders Council, they seemed more for the Myriad Immortals Alliance's own people, merely to appease the public. It seemed the information relayed by Immortal Venerable Ziqiong was highly likely to be true! Within the Myriad Immortals Alliance, there truly was a Hedao cultivator attempting to defy the laws of heaven and earth (i.e., attain forbidden ascension). Even multiple divination and deduction results verified this to be true!

The Five Elders Council immediately grew anxious. No wonder the Myriad Immortals Alliance would swallow its pride; compared to a newly ascended Longevity Celestial Venerable, losing a bit of face, or even several prefectures, was acceptable. Once the ascension succeeded, everything lost would instantly be regained. "No, it must be stopped!"

Thus, the Five Elders Council abruptly declared war. Simultaneously, a team of nine Hedao cultivators, based on the information provided by Ziqiong, proceeded to Tianyu Prefecture to execute the mission of disrupting the ascension. However, they never expected that it was all a trap.

Li Fan's expression was unreadable as he reread the Myriad Immortals Alliance's triumphant announcement several times. He finally let out a long breath. "Without being at that level, one cannot understand the full scope of what happened. Perhaps only after the events conclude, by looking back at them, can one truly grasp what transpired."