Two days later, in the outer region of the Demonic Sect.
After the Assault Emperor Alliance families and various forces joined, vast expanses of buildings had already been constructed in the outer areas of the Demonic Sect.
The entire Assault Emperor Alliance territory spanned dozens of times the original size of the Demonic Sect, extending hundreds, even thousands of miles outward with the Demonic Sect at its centre.
This forest area, a thousand miles in radius, was filled everywhere with houses and buildings, teeming with personnel from the various Assault Emperor families.
In this massive Assault Emperor Alliance, aside from those on guard and patrol duty, the vast majority of personnel were in a state of utmost busyness.
Even martial artists at the Martial Venerable and Martial King realms were constantly hurrying back and forth.
At this moment, on the outermost edge of the Assault Emperor Alliance, a team of dozens, even over a hundred people, was hurrying back.
This team was exceptionally strong, with over a dozen high-rank Martial Lords, and the rest all Martial Lords as well.
If Lin Xiao were present, he would certainly recognise that this team was composed of his enemies, mainly personnel from the Xing Family, with a small number from the Duan Family and Xiang Family.
In addition, there were Martial Lords from the Cao, Xu, and Lu families.
After Jian Wudi was slain by Lin Xiao, to avoid punishment from the Lingjian Sect, the three families had left the Lingjian Sect.
Over a month ago, seeing the Assault Emperor gaining momentum, they joined the Assault Emperor Alliance, integrating into the ranks of the Martial Emperor families that held grudges against Lin Xiao.
Together with them, they plundered resources in various places, seeking to establish merit within the Assault Emperor Alliance.
On one hand, they could evade pursuit from the forces where Lin Xiao resided; on the other, they anticipated that the Assault Emperor Alliance would eliminate Lin Xiao.
As long as Lin Xiao remained, they could never find peace.
“I wonder what the Hall Master is preparing that requires such vast resources.” While walking, Cao Tianchao could not help but remark.
They knew that the true leader of the Assault Emperor Alliance was not the Demonic Sect Master, but that mysterious Hall Master; the plundering of resources was an order directly from that enigmatic Hall Master.
The entire Assault Emperor Alliance had already seized enormous resources, and members who joined had nearly offered up all their personal and family resources to the alliance’s upper echelons.
Yet it was still far from enough; they needed to plunder continuously.
“How could we, mere folk like us, presume to guess the Hall Master’s intentions?” Lu Yuan shook his head.
“Indeed!” Xu Zilan nodded as well and said: “However, with the need to consume such enormous resources, the grand plan the Hall Master is preparing will surely annihilate the Righteous Cultivation Alliance in one fell swoop.”
“Exactly. Once the Righteous Cultivation Alliance falls, Lin Xiao won’t last much longer either.” A ninth-rank Martial Lord from the Xiang Family also chimed in.
Due to their shared enmity, and with the patriarchs of the Cao, Xu, and Lu families all being ninth-rank Martial Lords, they now treated the three as peers and equals.
“The Hall Master is immensely powerful and will surely slay Lin Xiao.” Yang Lan coldly agreed, her eyes brimming with hatred.
“Our patriarch will certainly not let Lin Xiao off either and will find a way to kill him!” Beside her, Duan Tianya nodded, his tone laced with chill.
It could be said that Lin Xiao was the heart demon of mother and son alike; the blows Lin Xiao had dealt them were simply too devastating.
Two of their close kin had been slain by Lin Xiao, and in the previous duel, Lin Xiao had killed off most of their family’s upper ranks, driving them to despair time and again.
This time, witnessing the Hall Master’s awe-inspiring might, surpassing even Sikong Jian and Dongfang Kaiyuan, and with the Hall Master preparing powerful contingencies, they had only just rekindled a sliver of hope for slaying Lin Xiao.
Their patriarch, a second-rank Martial Emperor, still had a chance too, perhaps joining forces with others to ambush and kill Lin Xiao.
“Quite right. No matter how strong Lin Xiao is, he can only contend with a second-rank Martial Emperor at best. Our two families still have our Martial Emperors. I hear Lin Xiao has been away for over a month now. If our two patriarchs can track him down, they might yet slay him.” Mentioning Lin Xiao, the Xiang Family members were also filled with hatred.
The family with the largest contingent in this team, the Xing Family, was shrouded in gloom.
For their Xing Emperor had already fallen, and without a Martial Emperor to hold the fort, their confidence in acting had waned considerably.
Their status within the Assault Emperor Alliance now relied entirely on the protection of the Duan Emperor and Xiang Emperor; the Xing Family was gradually losing its standing as a Martial Emperor family.
Without eliminating Lin Xiao, they could scarcely stand firm.
At this moment, their group had entered the throng of the Assault Emperor Alliance, and the voices of a cluster of people discussing reached their ears.
“What? The Xiang Emperor and Duan Emperor were both killed by Lin Xiao?” A young man’s shocked voice carried over from afar.
“What?” At these words, Yang Lan, Duan Tianya, the Xiang Family, Xing Family, and all from the other three families froze in place.
At that instant, the discussion from the group ahead continued unabated.
“I hear Lin Xiao broke through two levels of spiritual power and one level of elemental power cultivation, slaying the two in one go.”
“How is that possible? Are you sure this news is real?”
“Absolutely true. It was personally announced by the Demonic Sect’s Grand Elder and the Evil Sect’s Sect Master, among others.”
“Heavens, this is too unbelievable, isn’t it? Our Assault Emperor Alliance has lost two Martial Emperors, and they were killed by Lin Xiao, no less.”
“How could Lin Xiao have broken through so quickly?”
“If I hadn’t heard it with my own ears, I’d have thought it a hoax.”
“That Lin Xiao is too terrifying. To slay a second-rank Martial Emperor in such a short time, if we let him grow further, who knows what he’ll become.”
“I hear Lin Xiao didn’t just kill those two; he wiped out an entire team led by one half-step Martial Emperor each from the Xiang Family, Nether Sect, and Demonic Sect.”
Waves of astonished voices followed one after another without cease.
The team containing Yang Lan and the others had already come to a stunned halt on the spot.
Especially the Duan Family and Xiang Family members, whose minds were a complete blank.
The pillar of their family, their Martial Emperor patriarch, had fallen? Slain by Lin Xiao?
This news struck like a bolt from the blue, leaving them unable to recover for a long while.
They had just been saying that their two families still had two Martial Emperors to hold the line, biding their time to slay Lin Xiao.
Now, they heard that the two had been killed by Lin Xiao.
In this moment, everyone in the team was dumbfounded, utterly unable to believe the words from that group.
However, among the people ahead was a Demonic Sect elder; within the Assault Emperor Alliance’s domain, no one would dare spread false rumours of a Martial Emperor’s fall, nor would anyone fabricate such tales.
In other words, everything that group said was true.
“This, how is this possible?” Cao Tianchao was stupefied. He had been hoping those two Martial Emperors would aid the Assault Emperor Alliance in devising ways to deal with Lin Xiao, only to return and hear of their demise.
“He has become this powerful again?” Xu Zilan felt a mix of shock and despair. Lin Xiao had risen from mere Martial Venerable strength to this point in a mere year, nearly extinguishing the hopes they had just begun to nurture.
“Our patriarch has fallen, this, this…” Yang Lan was on the verge of madness, unable to accept this reality. They had only just regained some hope, and now it plummeted straight back to the abyss.
Duan Tianya’s expression darkened instantly, his entire spirit wilting.
Their Duan Family’s Martial Emperor patriarch had been killed by Lin Xiao? What were they to do now?
The Xiang Family members were equally dumbfounded. The Xiang Emperor, along with their family’s strongest batch of experts, had died at Lin Xiao’s hands? What future did the Xiang Family have left?
The Xing Family personnel were likewise shocked into speechlessness.
