Chapter 9: The Four Forces (Part 1)

Li Ran, Guo Shier, and Zhen Wuji didn’t move. Feng Miluo sent seven or eight professionals forward to take inventory, while the three of them watched from the side. Though they knew the others wouldn’t dare act recklessly, they still couldn’t relax their vigilance.
The inventory was quickly completed. Several large talisman bags were placed on Guo Shier’s altar, with a few more given to each of the others. Guo Shier put the talisman bags on the altar for the old master to count. After glancing at them, he tapped the Soul Calming Cauldron, retracting the Spirit Beasts. When he tapped the cauldron, everyone in the Yuanke Alliance and other clans’ professional groups couldn’t help but jump in fear, worried he might release more Spirit Beasts to wreak havoc.
It wasn’t until all the Spirit Beasts were back in the Soul Calming Cauldron that everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
No one was unafraid; even the professionals from the Gu Miluo clan felt their hair stand on end. Only after seeing the Spirit Beasts disappear did they relax a bit.
Li Ran said indifferently, “Are you planning to give us two ways out as well?”
Guo Shier burst into laughter. This guy really spoke in a cold tone.
Ruo Wangtian didn’t dare argue. He stood up and said, “Please!” It was as if sending away a plague—he just wanted those people to leave as soon as possible.
At that moment, countless talisman gates flickered, and a large number of professionals took the chance to flee. The entire sky was filled with talisman gates, creating complete chaos. No one was stupid enough to stay put—would they wait until Guo Shier’s group left before the Yuanke Alliance vented its anger on them? Professionals weren’t fools; they fled faster than rabbits.
A few minutes later, only the people from the Yuanke Alliance and Guo Shier’s group remained in the world. Ruo Wangtian was so angry he almost spat blood. He had hoped to recover some losses from the professionals of other ancient clans, but now all his plans had failed.
Yao Zebu shook his head in relief. He couldn’t stop others from leaving because the talisman pillars that controlled this realm had been destroyed by Guo Shier’s Spirit Beasts, so he couldn’t stop them from using the talisman gates.
Only after everyone else had fled did Guo Shier say, “Let’s go!”
The professionals from the Yuanke Alliance glared at them angrily. Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh and say, “Hey, that Ruo Wangtian—this place is a huge treasure trove. You’re going to get rich…”
If the Bone Mountain fell into the hands of the Yuanke Alliance, they would indeed become rich. But their greed led to such a fierce counterattack.
Li Ran said, “Let’s go.” Before his words faded, the sky twisted, and another huge talisman gate appeared. With the space-blocking talisman pillars no longer in effect, others could enter easily.

Batch after batch of professionals poured in. In just a few minutes, thousands of high-level altar professionals appeared, leaving Guo Shieru stunned. He said, “Damn… another group!” Before his words faded, another giant talisman gate appeared, and yet another large group of professionals streamed in. In moments, tens of thousands of professionals had arrived, their strength nearly on par with that of the Yuanke Alliance. Li Ran and Zhen Wuji had already packed up their altars as they were about to leave. Guo Shieru asked, “Who are they?” Li Ran shook his head. “I don’t recognize them at all. Strange… where did so many large organizations come from?” Guo Shieru asked, “Why call them large organizations? Uh… I get it now.” He quickly realized that the professionals who emerged quickly formed formations in the air—only people from the same organization could form such well-organized ranks. This was another group of professionals, clearly possessing considerable strength. Before their numbers could be complete, another large talisman gate appeared, from which another group of professionals flew out, led once again by a ninth-level altar professional. Li Ran shook his head and said, “Damn it. We’re trying hard to find ninth-level altar professionals, but can’t find a single one. Yet here we are, encountering so many of them by chance. If only there were one who surpassed the ninth level… I hope there’s another…” Guo Shieru knew that to leave this world, at least two professionals who surpassed the ninth level would be needed. With one more, the chances of leaving would increase, so he understood Li Ran’s feelings—he too hoped for another such professional. There were four teams in total. On the surface, the Yuanke Alliance had the largest number of people and the strongest strength, with two ninth-level altar professionals. The other two teams each had only one ninth-level altar professional, but they brought along a significant number of professionals—nearly 40,000 altar-level professionals in one group and over 20,000 in the other. The smallest group was Guo Shieru’s team, which seemed extremely weak. A confrontation quickly formed among the four groups. Since Li Ran was hoping for another professional who surpassed the ninth level, their team didn’t take any action, and those who had planned to leave also stopped. Guo Shieru laughed and said, “What a spectacle! Hehe, we might as well just watch.”

At that moment, a very small talisman gate opened, right in the center of the confrontation between the four sides. More than fifty professionals emerged from it, most of them being those at the fifth-tier altar. Leading them was a master at the seventh-tier altar. As soon as this guy and his men appeared, they were terrified by an overwhelming aura of menace.

He stared around in a daze, his mouth hanging open involuntarily. It took some time before he regained his senses. The expressions of the other professionals were similar—they were all stunned. The area was filled with high-level professionals, densely packed in the air, creating a truly desolate scene.

Fortunately, the place wasn’t blocked. Once the leader, the patriarch of his clan, regained his composure, he immediately reopened the talisman gate and, with a loud shout, led his small group of professionals to flee quickly. Thankfully, none of the professionals on the opposing sides moved. They just watched them come in, watch them escape, and then watch the talisman gate disappear.

Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. He said, “Good luck—they managed to escape because no one dared to act.”

Eagle Demon laughed and said, “I guess they’re terrified after running away too.”

Luo Zhan said with a grin, “Heh, another group has arrived…” Another talisman gate appeared, and another group of professionals emerged. It was a weak hunting party of only about twenty people, including a few at the third or fourth-tier altar, with the highest being at the sixth-tier altar. As soon as they stepped out, they saw countless high-level professionals and were stunned into silence.

Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh again. Those twenty or so professionals were like ordinary people suddenly thrown into a battlefield, surrounded by enemies on all sides, all fully armed. Their expressions were extremely comical.

The group almost simultaneously let out screams, as if a group of beautiful women had stripped naked to take a bath only to find themselves surrounded by burly men, screeching in terror and running around in panic.

The professionals on all sides continued to stand off, with none ready to attack. When involved in too many conflicts, it’s harder to make a decision. So, upon seeing this scene, these professionals couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Over a hundred thousand altar-level professionals burst into laughter, and the sound was truly terrifying. The group of professionals became even more panicked. Fortunately, no one attacked them. They reacted quickly, hurriedly opening their own talisman gates and fleeing, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

By this time, some people had already begun to seal off the space. The professionals here were all high-level altar practitioners, and sealing off space was easy for them, though it also depended on their respective strengths. For example, practitioners at the eighth-level altar could seal off space, preventing those below the eighth level from using portal magic, but practitioners at the ninth-level altar could force their way through the seal and use portal magic freely, while those beyond the ninth level could even tear open space and leave directly.

If the space was sealed using a magic array, even practitioners at the ninth-level altar couldn’t leave; only those beyond that level could ignore the spatial seal.

When the space was filled with countless virtual talismans from the practitioners, the entire area around Bone Mountain was completely sealed off, with overlapping seals. Among the practitioners present, none except Li Ran could leave.

Guo Shier was already a practitioner at the seventh-level altar, which gave him a place among the high-level practitioners. However, there were many seventh-level altar practitioners here—several thousand in total. Eighth-level altar practitioners were also common, at least a few hundred. Ninth-level altar practitioners were rarer; only five could be seen so far, including Zhen Wuji. Li Ran wasn’t counted, as he had already surpassed the ninth level.

Ruo Wangtian, Yao Zebusong, and Zhen Wuji were the three known ninth-level altar practitioners. The names of the other two ninth-level altar practitioners were still unknown; they seemed to be in a group together. Among those who arrived later, no ninth-level master had appeared yet, but everyone present had no doubt that there must be one among them.

Ruo Wangtian and Yao Zebusong felt bitter. If not for Guo Shier’s Spirit Beast destroying the magic pillars, none of these people could have entered. Unfortunately, with the pillars destroyed and the spatial seal removed, they were able to force their way in. Now the situation had become complicated—they could no longer monopolize Bone Mountain.

They had just been extorted by Guo Shier for a large amount of materials, many of which were extremely precious. Even though the two of them had reached the ninth-level altar, they still felt immense pain. They had planned to seize Bone Mountain to make up for their losses, but now it wasn’t that easy. Their feelings were easily imagined.

The teams behind Ruo Wangtian and Yao Zebusong were neatly arranged. Although they were heavily suppressed by Guo Shier and the others, their momentum remained undiminished. Ruo Wangtian shouted, “Please have the leader come over for negotiations! I am Ruo Wangtian from the Yuanke Alliance!”

Three people flew out from the other two groups of practitioners, all of them ninth-level altar practitioners.

Li Ran said with some regret, “There’s no one beyond the ninth level… Sigh, so many practitioners, and not a single one…”

Guo Shier said, “Maybe he’s hiding in the group? Maybe he, like you, likes to stay behind and manipulate things?”
Li Ran retorted with a laugh, “Nonsense! Who said I like to stay behind and manipulate things? I’m just lazy. Some things… you can handle them.”
Yang Miluo asked, “Should we send someone over?”
Li Ran replied, “Why send someone over? We’re not dividing profits anyway… I just want to see if there are anyone at my level here.”
Among the four factions, Guo Shier’s group seemed the weakest, but Ruowangtian and the others knew that the strongest ones were these unassuming guys—they had already suffered greatly.
Five professionals from the Ninth-Level Altar gathered together. Ruowangtian glanced back at Guo Shier’s group and saw that they hadn’t sent anyone over. He felt slightly disappointed and now didn’t want them to leave.
Hua Wulang sat alone on the Ninth-Level Altar, feeling annoyed. He hadn’t expected that bringing his group here would reveal so many high-level professionals—five experts from the Ninth-Level Altar! His own faction was clearly much weaker. Yet, he was confident he could secure a share of benefits for his sect.
“Ancestor of the Daylight Sect, Hua Wulang, a professional from the Ninth-Level Altar.”