Although Earth-Prime Hall now has more than a thousand Golden Immortals, the disappearance of thirty-eight Golden Immortals is still no small matter.
Adrian Moon made a snap decision, immediately sending out three hundred Golden Immortals, ten in each team, to investigate the cities where pills were being delivered. At the same time, all upcoming pill deliveries were canceled, and for any teams that had just set out, at least three Golden Immortals were dispatched to catch up and escort them.
After making these arrangements, Adrian Moon immediately sent someone to report the incident to Gale Division.
Ever since Gale Division took over the top-grade Immortal Essence Pill business, they stopped targeting Earth-Prime Hall, and relations between the two sides have eased considerably. Adrian Moon also doesn’t want things to get too tense, so he sends one hundred million immortal stones to Gale Division every month.
"Hall Master, should we tell Ian about this?"
Queenie Green asked tentatively.
Adrian Moon thought for a moment. "You should go to Greenrock Town yourself."
"Alright!"
Queenie Green nodded. Thanks to an abundance of immortal stones over the past two years, her cultivation had already reached the peak of late-stage Golden Immortal.
Two hours later.
Chu Estate, rear courtyard.
After inviting Queenie Green to sit, Ian Song smiled and asked, "What brings Hall Master Green to my place today?"
Queenie Green said solemnly, "Something happened at Earth-Prime Hall."
"Oh?" Ian Song raised his eyebrows slightly.
Queenie Green continued, "In just seven days, thirty-eight Golden Immortals dispatched to deliver pills have not returned."
Ian Song wasn't surprised at all.
Earth-Prime Hall's growth these past two years has been almost too fast. The native Immortal clans aren't blind—they didn't make a move because they were just fattening up Earth-Prime Hall for the kill.
Ian Song pondered and asked, "What do you think about this?"
"Most likely the native Immortal clans have made their move against us!"
At this, deep worry appeared on Queenie Green's face. Even though Earth-Prime Hall had over a thousand Golden Immortals, that was still way too weak compared to the native Immortal clans. If the natives really were coming after them, she really didn't have any confidence.
"If the native Immortal clans really are behind this, what do you plan to do?" Ian Song asked again.
"I don't know!"
Queenie Green shook her head, looking utterly deflated and a bit lost.
Seeing this, Ian Song sighed inwardly. After being suppressed by the native Immortal clans for so many years, the Saint Alliance not only hated them, but also developed a kind of instinctive fear. That’s why Queenie Green was so lost after the natives made their move.
Ian Song said, "The situation may not be as bad as you think. I'll send a message to Victor Sima and have him dispatch two Profound Immortals to guard Earth-Prime Hall."
"Thank you, Ian!"
Queenie Green said gratefully.
After seeing Queenie Green off, Ian Song fell into deep thought. He had already anticipated the natives’ reaction when he made his plans, so their move didn’t surprise him—in fact, he felt a trace of excitement and anticipation.
The situation was much worse than Adrian Moon and the others imagined.
That very night after they sent out three hundred Golden Immortals, a severely wounded Golden Immortal staggered back. Their team had been ambushed while out, suffering heavy casualties.
By the next afternoon, of the thirty squads sent out, nineteen had some survivors return, all wounded. Only one squad managed to bring back five members.
The other squads brought back no more than three Golden Immortals each.
As for the remaining eleven squads, not a single Golden Immortal returned—most likely, they were completely wiped out.
The attack was fierce!
This cast a heavy shadow over Adrian Moon, Queenie Green, and Piper Willow. Was Earth-Prime Hall about to be wiped out again?
No! Absolutely not! Earth-Prime Hall cannot be destroyed a second time!
Adrian Moon roared inwardly. He immediately made a decision: keep requesting reinforcements from Gale Division, offering five hundred million immortal stones for each Profound Immortal who came.
The next day, Gale Division sent five Profound Immortals to Earth-Prime Hall, calming the hall’s anxious members considerably.
Meanwhile—
On a mountain peak two thousand miles from Earth-Prime Hall, three factions had gathered, totaling more than two thousand people.
The weakest among them was at early Golden Immortal stage; among the group, there were thirty-three Profound Immortals.
At the center of this group stood a blue-jade table, where three Profound Immortals sat drinking tea—one was a young man, the other two were middle-aged.
The young man wore a feathered crown and a golden-threaded robe, his looks exceptionally handsome and his whole demeanor radiating confidence.
He was Ethan Yao, direct heir of the Yao Clan—one of the Eight Great Clans of the Purple Dragon Domain. His cultivation had reached the peak of mid-stage Profound Immortal, but even late-stage Profound Immortals could not easily defeat him.
The other two middle-aged men were Samson Bu, an elder of the Bu Clan—another of the Eight Great Clans in the Purple Dragon Domain—who had reached late-stage Profound Immortal,
and Jude Xuanyuan, an outer-elder from the Xuanyuan Clan—also one of the Eight Great Clans—who likewise possessed late-stage Profound Immortal cultivation.
This time, the operation against Earth-Prime Hall was led by Ethan Yao, as the Yao Clan was the most skilled in alchemy among the Eight Great Clans and controlled over sixty percent of the pill business in the Purple Dragon Domain.
At the same time, thousands of outlying barbarian cities beyond the Eight Immortal Domains, Thirty-six Cave-Heavens, and Seventy-two Blessed Lands were also part of the Yao Clan’s business territory.
Though the combined pill profits from these barbarian cities amounted to less than a tenth of the Purple Dragon Domain’s total, they still brought in several billion. But starting two years ago, the Yao Clan’s income from these cities plummeted—especially after the rise of top-grade Immortal Essence Pills and Elephant-Origin Pills, their profits hit rock bottom.
The mighty Eight Great Clans had their business snatched away by a bunch of lowly ascended immortals.
How could the Yao Clan swallow this humiliation? After a secret investigation, they discovered Earth-Prime Hall’s profits were astonishing, so they held off on attacking.
They waited for Earth-Prime Hall to amass more immortal stones, planning to wipe them out in one blow and seize all their wealth.
Whoosh!
A streak of green talisman-light shot over; Ethan Yao reached out and caught it in his palm.
After reading the message in the transmission talisman, Ethan Yao grinned: "Elder Bu, Elder Xuanyuan, good news—my spy in Earth-Prime Hall reports that Gale Division just sent five Profound Immortals there!"
"Ha! That is good news!"
Samson Bu’s eyes lit up: "If we can take out five Demon Alliance Profound Immortals, this trip will be worth it!"
Jude Xuanyuan narrowed his eyes: "In that case, let’s go at once—if the Demon Alliance remnants get wind of this, they might flee!"
Agreed!
Ethan Yao rose to his feet and waved: "Let’s move out!"