Eternal life begins with saving my clan

The raging sound of battle echoed throughout Qianlong City. The mere presence of forty Celestial Heavenly soldiers threw the metropolitan city into upheaval.

Cries and screams echoed from every corner of the outer city. Ten minutes after the battle began, a thick cloud of smoke rose to the sky, followed by the bright yellow flames burning fiercely.

The chaos in the outer city spread quickly, leaving the people speechless. Those residing in the inner city and the core city were wide awake, deploying their guards to protect their estates from any potential attacks.

In the heart of the core city, a paradoxical atmosphere of calm and tension coexisted. The city lord's mansion served as the epicenter of this conflicting storm.

The assembled city lords, representing their respective domains, wore pensive expressions that mirrored the palpable unease in the air.

The tension hung thick, creating an almost suffocating atmosphere that pervaded the expansive chamber.

The city lords exchanged glances filled with uncertainty, their minds racing to decipher the cryptic circumstances that had brought them together.

Suddenly, breaking the silence, the Qianlong city lord emerged from the inner chamber with determination etched across her face.

The air grew heavier as she strode into the room, her steps echoing with a sense of urgency.

Without mincing words, she demanded answers from the gathered assembly.

"Who the hell can tell what the hell is going on?!" The question, delivered without a shred of courtesy, hung in the air like a challenge.

For a fleeting moment, the gathered city lords were rendered speechless. Their eyes darted between one another, seeking solace in the faces of their counterparts.

None dared to speak, as confusion and bewilderment painted their expressions.

The enormity of the situation weighed on each of them. The closest cities were separated by thousands of miles, making a conventional attack virtually impossible without detection.

The perplexing question lingered in the air—how had an adversary managed to breach their defenses, slipping through the vast distances between their domains?

There was only one possibility left: the hidden expert in Baiyun City.

But how was that even possible? Baiyun City was hundreds of thousands of miles far from Qianlong City. How would they possibly move their army without being noticed?

The air in the city lord mansion grew heavy with tension, thickening into an almost tangible force that pressed down on the gathered assembly.

The urgency of the situation demanded swift action, yet the city lords remained frozen in the grip of surprise and uncertainty.

Mai Chen, the Qianlong city lord, seethed with frustration at the seeming incompetence of her counterparts.

The nine city lords before her, once figures of authority, now appeared helpless and mute in the face of the unfolding crisis.

The fury in Mai Chen's eyes burned brighter with every passing moment of silence.

"Why are you all quiet!" she bellowed, her voice echoing through the hall. "Speak! My city is on fire."

The oppressive atmosphere crackled with an intensity that matched the flames consuming Qianlong City.

The city lords shifted uncomfortably, glancing at one another as if seeking refuge from the storm brewing in Mai Chen's gaze.

Bang! The resounding slam of the hall's door interrupted the uneasy quiet, signaling the arrival of Mai Chen's personal maid.

Panic etched across her features, and the air seemed to still as the maid hesitated before conveying the impending doom that hung over the city.

"My lord…," she stammered, her voice laced with trepidation.

"What!" Mai Chen demanded, her knitted brow betraying the mounting anxiety beneath her facade of authority.

She braced herself for the revelation, steeling her resolve against the impending storm of bad news.

The maid, with a deep breath, finally spoke. "The enemies have… They have invaded the inner city."

"What!" The exclamation reverberated through the hall, leaving the city lords bewildered and stunned.

The gravity of the situation hit them with the force of a tidal wave. The inner city, the heart of their domain, had been breached within minutes of the initial attack.

The realization sent shockwaves through the room. The once-stalwart city lords, now confronted with the vulnerability of their defenses, struggled to comprehend the audacity and swiftness of the enemy's advance.

Panic and disbelief etched itself onto their faces as the deafening silence lingered, each heart sinking with the realization that their foes were more formidable than they had dared to imagine.

The fate of their cities rested on a precipice, the inner city now a battleground where the future of Lingtian City would be decided.

The tension, like a taut bowstring, reached its peak, leaving the city lords on the precipice of an unprecedented crisis.

With the heavy tension dangling over their heads, the door to the hall was slammed open once again.

The slammed door almost gave the city lords a heart attack, and they jumped from their spots.

When they turned their heads to look at the newcomer, it was a guard. His face was laced with urgency. He gave a deep bow and announced.

"My lord, all the clan masters in the core city have come, and they demand your audience."

Huh! Mai Chen creased her brow laced with sweat; she knew things were getting out of hand by the seconds.

Before she could order the guards, rapid footsteps came from outside, and seven people rushed into the hall.

When they entered the hall and saw many unknown faces, the various influential clan masters in Qianlong halted in their steps for a moment before they continued to stride forward.

"City lord, can you tell us what the hell is going on?" Patriarch Tang demanded directly.

Mai Chen looked at Patriarch Tang with a deep frown on her face. She knew what a pain in the ass Patriarch Tang was, but she was also not a pushover.

"As you can see, I'm having a meeting with other city lords, and we come up with a solution right away," she responded as calmly as possible.

"If you hadn't sent our main force for such an unreasonable conquest, we wouldn't have been this helpless against this sudden attack."

"Enough! I said I will deal with it." She released a powerful aura from her body that sent those near her a couple of steps back. She was a powerful expert in the Early Core Refining realm stage. She wouldn't allow just anyone to talk to her any way they wanted.

"Really!" Patriarch Tang didn't back down under such a powerful aura. He maintained his gaze with the city lord, shocking the other city lords.

They thought Mai Chen to be a domineering lady, but who would have expected she would have such a hard bone stuck in her throat.

The two locked gazes without blinking, and the air in the main hall shook vehemently. Those with lower cultivation quickly retreated to the back.

From Patriarch Tang's body, a powerful pressure of a Half-step Core Refining expert rose out from his body.

Even though he was only a Half-step Core Refining expert, his foundation was deep and stable, giving him the confidence to contend with a normal early Core Refining expert.

"If you don't know, let me remind you?" Patriarch Tang broke the deadlock with his speech. "The two powerful organizations in the city have been destroyed."

"What do you mean?" Mai Chen asked with a slightly confused expression.

"Crimson Jade Pavilion and Death Shadow Assassins."

"What!"

Mai Chen and other city lords widened their eyes in shock.

In every city, those two organizations were immovable mountains that must be respected, but now, they were destroyed like they were nothing but garbage.

Patriarch Tang didn't care about their reaction and continued. "If you don't handle this situation right now, we will be forced to impeach you."

Huh!

Everyone sucked in a cold breath.

The situation was now out of hand. Since the two powerful organizations could be destroyed by the enemies, then what could ordinary guards do against them?

"My Lord… the enemies have entered the core city." A guard shouted from outside, his voice laced with urgency.

Everyone inside the hall didn't seem to be surprised by this. They turned their gaze to the city lord, waiting for her decision.

It was then that Lingtian city lord spoke, "Why don't we gather the experts in each clan and battle out the enemies? With many Half-step Core Refining experts, Peak Foundation Building realm warriors, and Core Refining experts, I don't believe we won't be able to stop them."

Hmm! Everyone turned their gaze at him and looked at him for a couple of seconds before they turned to look at Mai Chen.

Mai Chen's brain ran at a speed faster than light speed with various thoughts flashing back and forth. "I think that is the only option we've got left. If we don't join hands to fight our common enemy, we all die to their blade."

"Why should we join in the fight?" Patriarch Tang demanded. "If you hadn't provoked that hidden expert, this wouldn't have happened."

All the city lords rolled their eyes at Patriarch Tang. What an old stubborn bull! They exclaimed in their minds.

Mai Chen didn't have any change in her expression and asked. "What do you want?"

Without thinking twice, Patriarch Tang listed his demands in one breath.

"Fine! I agree to everything."

"Good. We will support and defend the city." From beginning to end, his expression didn't change.

It was as if what he just did was nothing short of a gasp. He just forced the city lord to accept his demand and behaved as if it was nothing.

What a shrewd and dangerous man?! Mai Chen knew what happened but controlled the burning fury in her mind.

First, she needed to handle the enemies before she came back to handle this jerk.

"Everyone should gather their men. We will meet at the city square." She commanded and left the hall.