"Take it away? Are you crazy? That's impossible—it's the Free Alliance's most mysterious artifact. If we take it, those two will definitely come after us for revenge." Benson Blue immediately objected.
"I don't care. No matter what, we have to take it—use the Devouring Ring," the Blue Clan Patriarch decided.
Benson Blue stared at the Blue Clan Patriarch, unsure what to do.
"We've already offended them, so offending them again doesn't matter," said the Blue Clan Patriarch, knowing what Benson was worried about, and made up his mind.
Since they were already enemies, Benson nodded after hearing this. "Alright."
Then Benson Blue stretched out his hand. A blue ring with a small circular opening appeared. He aimed it at the Sky-Piercing Tower and commanded, "Absorb!"
Immediately, the Sky-Piercing Tower began to tremble, and the part embedded in the concrete slowly started to rise.
The Blue Clan Patriarch watched the process, inwardly shouting, "Faster!" Normally, ordinary items would be sucked into the Devouring Ring in no time.
This Devouring Ring was originally left to Benson Blue by the Blue Clan's supreme figure. It was treated as one of the clan's greatest treasures, even bordering on Immortal-grade.
It could absorb objects—and even people—so cultivators of the same realm found it nearly impossible to escape from Benson Blue.
Watching the Sky-Piercing Tower loosen bit by bit, Benson Blue was both shocked and delighted. When the tower gave a loud 'whoosh,' it broke free from the concrete and flew straight into the ring.
A deep tower imprint was left behind on the concrete.
"Let's go." Seeing the tower taken, the Blue Clan Patriarch urged quickly.
Benson Blue nodded and quickly followed the Blue Clan Patriarch out of that inner space.
They rushed out at full speed, not daring to linger for a moment, afraid those two guardians might appear.
Luckily, they didn't run into either of those two. When they returned to the outside, they saw the eight were still fighting the seven. Benson Blue called out directly, "Stop!"
Everyone paused. Vice Alliance Master Grant glared at Benson Blue, furious. "Your Blue Clan is truly outrageous!"
"Vice Alliance Master, regardless, we went in and didn't find him. Just chalk it up to a misunderstanding," Benson Blue said.
"A misunderstanding? You lot are something else—go in, don't find him, and call it a misunderstanding." Grant snorted coldly, though inwardly he scoffed, "He's in the Sky-Piercing Tower; of course you couldn't find him."
"It really was a misunderstanding. Next time, our clan's supreme senior will come personally to apologize. For now, we'll take our leave." Benson Blue said, then turned to signal their allies to withdraw quickly.
Just like that, the ten departed in a swarm, leaving the seven Alliance experts staring at each other.
"Let's go inside and check," Vice Alliance Master Grant said, eager to know what the Blues had searched and whether they'd found the Sky-Piercing Tower.
A group of five headed toward the mountain cave, while the other two stayed at the entrance to guard.
Grant asked the cultivators along the way, and once he confirmed the Blues had indeed gone toward the Sky-Piercing Tower's space, he hurried there.
When Grant led the five into that inner space and saw the scene inside, he exploded in fury. "Outrageous! The Blue Clan is utterly outrageous!"
"Vice Alliance Master, did they really take the Sky-Piercing Tower?" someone asked in disbelief.
"How did they even manage it? The Sky-Piercing Tower is at least five stories tall and incredibly heavy—it's not some ordinary building you can just carry off," Grant said, still finding it hard to believe the Blues had actually taken the tower.
"The Blue Clan has plenty of treasures. Maybe they have a ring that can store the Sky-Piercing Tower," someone mused, frowning.
"The Blue Clan is too reckless. No, we must take the Sky-Piercing Tower back—that's the Alliance's most sacred treasure. We can't let the Blues just steal it like this," Grant said angrily. He was even more worried about Evan inside; if the Blues managed to break the tower, Evan's cultivation could be ruined, and the Alliance would suffer a huge loss.
With Evan missing and the artifact gone, Grant's greatest worry was how to get them both back.
The other five thought Grant was furious only because they'd lost such a sacred artifact, so they all wanted to hunt down the Blue Clan for payback.
Grant nodded, then took several people outside and had others spread the news. The continent instantly erupted again.
The Free Alliance and Blue Clan were now openly at odds, all because the Blues had brought outsiders to steal the Alliance's artifact.
Many people already favored the Free Alliance, so they began criticizing the Blue Clan, with some even resisting Blue Clan rule outright.
Several Alliance strongholds started plotting new movements.
The whole continent was ablaze, as if the Free Alliance and Blue Clan were about to go to war.
"The Blue Clan really thinks they're invincible—now they've provoked the Alliance and stolen their treasure," some Spirit-Wandering experts said, eager to see the drama unfold.
Except for a few hermits or cultivators training in remote areas, nearly everyone knew about it.
Naturally, the Blue Clan wouldn't sit still and let the Alliance smear them.
So the Blue Clan launched their counterattack, claiming they'd only arrested a criminal—and that the artifact was just a coincidence. The criminal was Evan, who happened to be cultivating inside an artifact, so they took both.
Not only that, the Blue Clan continued to spend heavily to retain those Spirit-Wandering experts, aiming to prevent the Alliance from launching a sudden attack on them.
"What now? It's been days and we still can't open the tower," Benson Blue said, staring gloomily at the tower inside the ring.
"Even if we can't open it, we have to keep it. I don't believe he'll hide in there forever," the Blue Clan Patriarch said, now branded as a criminal by the Alliance. He couldn't possibly take the tower out, so even if it was stuck, he'd keep Evan trapped inside, never letting him escape.
"Alright, I'll keep trying," Benson Blue replied, then continued studying the Sky-Piercing Tower inside the ring.
The Blue Clan Patriarch went to another room, which was inside Bainai's fortress.
"How are things in Central Province lately?" the Blue Clan Patriarch asked, still worried about the reactions down below.
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"It's chaotic. Many cities have appeared, and some openly oppose the Blue Clan armies," Blue Cai Tian replied.
"Anything else?" The Blue Clan Patriarch had expected this, especially since the Free Alliance was such a massive organization—far more dangerous than the Demon Sect.
"The Demon Sect is involved too," Blue Cai Bei said, face darkening.