Only when Gavin Gu, Warren Gu, and Martha Ma joined forces to slaughter the native Immortal clans in five cities were they intercepted by five Profound Immortal patrol squads who rushed over.
The three didn't surrender after being intercepted; instead, they fought back with wild ferocity.
It took considerable effort and losses before the patrol squads finally managed to capture the three.
Inside a room filled with restrictions and formation arrays.
Why did you three do this?
Looking at the three, whose cultivation was sealed, the five late-stage Profound Immortals interrogating them were all visibly furious.
Suddenly, the trio's bodies trembled slightly, and a look of confusion appeared on their faces as they realized their cultivation had been sealed.
The hot-tempered Martha Ma immediately demanded, "What are you doing? Why did you seal my cultivation?"
One of the late-stage Profound Immortals glared and said, "Martha Ma, stop pretending to be clueless. I'm asking you—why did you slaughter so many native Immortal clans, and where did Jason Longwind and the others go?"
Martha Ma's face turned even more bewildered. "Slaughter native Immortal clans? We didn't! No, wait, weren't we on the immortal boat? How did we end up here?"
Gavin Gu and Warren Gu exchanged a look, then turned to the late-stage Profound Immortal and said, "Leon, did something happen? Why did you seal our cultivation and bring us here?"
Hearing their words, Leon Liang grew even more suspicious. He quickly scanned their faces, noting they didn't seem to be faking, and asked in a low voice, "You really don't know what happened?"
Gavin Gu looked thoughtful. "We were patrolling and found a late-stage Golden Immortal ascender and two unknown beings. We went to arrest them, and after that... I can't remember anything. When I woke up, my cultivation was sealed."
No, wait!" Martha Ma added. "You two brought those three onto the immortal boat, then I took the ascender into a cabin, and then... what happened next? I can't remember a thing!"
And you?
Leon Liang looked at Warren Gu. "Do you have anything to add?"
Same as Gavin. We went to capture those three, but after that, I can't remember anything. By the way, what was that about slaughtering native Immortal clans?
Hold them for now. Let's discuss.
Leon Liang said to the other four late-stage Profound Immortals.
Hey! Why are you locking us up? Unlock our cultivation and let us out!" Martha Ma shouted.
But Leon Liang and the others ignored her completely.
They left the room.
Leon Liang asked the other four, "What do you think about all this?"
"It's really strange! The three of them seem to have had their minds controlled by some kind of secret art," one of them mused.
"Maybe they're just pretending to be clueless?" someone questioned.
"No way!" Leon Liang shook his head. "They have no reason to fake it!"
Another late-stage Profound Immortal exclaimed, "But they're all early-stage Profound Immortals—their minds should be incredibly strong! How could anyone control them so quietly? It's unbelievable!"
Yet another looked worried. "So how do we deal with those three? The impact is massive—they wiped out native Immortal clans in five cities, and killed over a hundred thousand natives!"
Let's wait for the others to arrive before deciding.
Leon Liang said in a low voice, secretly suspecting the Ascender Alliance was behind it all.
They'd used schemes to ruin the Ascender Alliance's reputation, and now the Alliance was getting revenge.
An hour later.
The other patrol squads arrived.
An emergency meeting was called.
"Leon, you were the first to discover this. What happened? Why did they suddenly slaughter all those native Immortal clans?" Mason Meng asked, his schemes having ruined the Ascender Alliance's reputation.
His status among the patrol captains had soared.
Leon Liang explained everything, then shared their joint theory: Gavin Gu, Warren Gu, and Martha Ma must have been controlled by some secret art.
The patrol captains all tensed up at this theory.
They called in Gavin Gu, Warren Gu, and Martha Ma for direct questioning, and got the same answers Leon Liang had reported.
Martha Ma kept shouting for someone to lift her seal, but no one paid her any attention.
After ordering the three taken away, Mason Meng spoke up again:
"The impact of this incident is really terrible. We have to suppress it! If word gets out, it'll be a huge embarrassment for all of us!"
"That's not going to be easy! We're talking about nearly ten million people across five cities. How could we possibly keep their mouths shut?" Shawn Shang sneered.
"It is tricky," Mason Meng nodded. "Here's the plan: each of us goes to one of the five cities to keep things under control. At the same time, send people to neighboring cities to strictly forbid any spread of the story!"
While the Profound Immortals schemed to contain the fallout, Ian Song set out with Joy and Cici toward Jasper Splendor Cave-Heaven, one of the Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens.
Jasper Splendor Cave-Heaven is famous for its unique feature: at least a third of its Immortal cities are built in the sky—more precisely, on continents that float above the clouds.
These floating continents are incredibly sturdy—even ordinary Ancestral Immortals can't destroy them.
All thirty-six Cave-Heavens are sealed worlds; you can only enter or exit through special tunnels. Each one is like a small world inside the Immortal Realm.
There's even a legend that every Cave-Heaven was formed from the corpse of a dead divine being.
A day later.
Ian Song and his two vampire maids arrived at a guarded tunnel leading into Jasper Splendor Cave-Heaven.
Thousands of Golden Immortal troops stood guard, led by a late-stage Profound Immortal commander.
Neither native Immortals nor ascenders from outside could enter Jasper Splendor Cave-Heaven freely.
Native Immortals had to pay two thousand immortal stones to enter, while ascenders were charged a whopping ten thousand stones each.
For Human Immortal ascenders, ten thousand stones is a fortune—so you rarely see ascenders of that realm inside the Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens.
After paying thirty thousand immortal stones,
Ian Song led Joy and Cici through the tunnel and into Jasper Splendor Cave-Heaven.
Compared to the outside, the immortal essence here was much denser, the Laws more active—even Golden Lily Blessed Land couldn't compare.
Consulting his mental map of the Immortal Realm, Ian Song brought Joy and Cici to a nearby city, bought a small courtyard, and settled in.