The atmosphere in the City Lord Mansion was somewhat somber, and everyone inside was grim-faced and silent.

　　Yunxiao came slightly late, so he asked with a frown, “What happened?”

　　Chen Dasheng gave him a look and said in a heavy voice, “We’ve sent five batches of scouts, but all of them vanished quietly! A total of one thousand and five hundred men each were equipped with a cloud-piercing arrow, which they could release if they come across any danger, and the last two batches set out almost at the same time. But, they are all gone!”

　　Yunxiao was shocked. “Do you mean every batch of scouts was killed in an instant, so they couldn’t release the cloud-piercing arrows?”

　　With a puzzled look on his face, Chen Lin explained, “It seems that way, but in fact, it’s not that simple. Each time we sent three hundred scouts, they were divided into many small teams of five to six men, and each team acted separately. It is impossible for someone to kill them all at once without alerting others.”

　　All the officers looked distressed and confused.

　　A hint of irritation crept into Chen Dasheng’s voice as he said, “There has been no news at all! After all these years, this is the first time I have encountered a situation like this!”

　　Yunxiao’s eyes flickered as he walked to a chair and sat down. “It seems that the situation is likely to be as I mentioned earlier. They have no fear of us and are actually waiting for our arrival!”

　　Chen Dasheng’s pupils constricted as he said in horror, “You mean they have deployed many experts in the three towns?”

　　“Not only experts,” said Yunxiao calmly, “but there must be a formation that covers a huge area. I suspect that all the three towns are under the formation’s coverage, and it explains why the none of the one thousand and five hundred men who entered sent out a signal.”

　　“A formation!”

　　Everyone present was taken aback, and they fixed their eyes on Jia Rong in horror one after another. In their minds, only alchemists could have constructed something so magical as a formation. Most people only knew that he was a second-tier alchemist following the army, and had no idea about Yunxiao.

　　After such an analysis, Yunxiao and several others, who had been dispensable, became even more important.

　　“What should we do, then?” asked Chen Dasheng, his face grim.

　　Suddenly, a voice came from outside the door, “My lord, there is a strange phenomenon in the southern sky!”

　　“A strange phenomenon?”

　　That gave everyone a pause and reminded Yunxiao something. He lurched to his feet and bolted out of the door.

　　As soon as he was out of the mansion, he saw streams of flaming clouds hanging over the southern sky, within which, a golden light flashed and flickered. Suddenly, they transformed into a fire phoenix and danced gracefully in the sky, before plunging down from the clouds and vanishing from the sky.

　　It was exactly the same as the phenomenon he saw in the Divine Realm Tablet!

　　Astounded, Yunxiao asked loudly, “Lord Zijin, what is the place the Fire Phoenix fell just now in?”

　　Yuan Zijin was stunned by the phenomenon as well. When he heard someone shout his name, he thought for a while and then said, “The town of Feifeng. All three towns are located under Mount Phoenix. Legend has it that there are phoenixes in that mountain, but I don’t know if it is actually true!”

　　“Mount Phoenix?” Yunxiao’s pupils constricted and his face grew solemn. “That explains it!”

　　“What is it, Yunxiao?” asked Chen Dasheng.

　　“Let’s talk inside.” Yunxiao waved as he turned around and walked toward the City Lord Mansion. Soon, everyone sat down according to their ranks and then turned their eyes on him.

　　“I finally know what is going on. The strange phenomenon in the sky just now is actually the sign of a precious treasure about to be born, which is certainly related to the phoenix. Baizhan’s operation this time is not necessary to invade Tianshui. I think their target should be this treasure.”

　　Xiao Qingwang’s pupils constricted slightly. “A treasure that can trigger a strange phenomenon…I’ve only heard of such things in the legends, but I didn’t think they are real! Since it is a treasure born in Tianshui, we can never let it fall into the hands of Baizhan.”

　　“Yes!” Chen Dasheng agreed. “The fact that they sent an army of eight hundred thousand soldiers as a cover-up tells us that the treasure must be an extraordinary one! We can’t just sit here and wait any longer. We need to send the army to attack the towns! I don’t believe a formation can trap an army of eight hundred thousand soldiers!”

　　Yunxiao did not express his opinion, but he thought in his head, ‘I’ve even seen a formation that can trap eight billion men, not to mention one that can trap eight hundred thousand. And these formations will keep killing anyone who runs into them until they are destroyed.’ But, Baizhan would not have the strength to construct such a powerful formation. He considered a moment, and then said, “I think we need to handle this matter with great care. Since they dare to do it so blatantly, they must have something they can rely on. I think we better investigate the actual situation there first.”

　　“Investigate?” Chen Dasheng’s eyes grew wide, and he said with a wry smile, “How are we going to investigate when all our best scouts are gone?”

　　Yunxiao smiled. “Let me do it.”

　　“You?” Chen Dasheng fell silent. If truth be told, Yunxiao was the best candidate. But in Chen Dasheng’s mind, his safety was more important than the whole army.

　　“No!” Luo Yunshang said coldly. “I don’t agree!” For the first time in so many days, she finally spoke.

　　Yunxiao looked over in astonishment, but when his eyes met the blade-like gaze, he quickly looked away.

　　“I’ll go with Young Master Yun then. We should be fine,” Xiao Qingwang said while smiling. “I also wish to see with my own eyes the treasure that can trigger a strange phenomenon.”

　　But, Yunxiao rejected him. “No, you need Teacher Luo’s pure Yang energy to suppress the cold poison in you. You will become a burden if the poison loses control when we are out there. Ji Meng can come with me.”

　　Luo Yunshang stood up suddenly and bellowed, “Li Yunxiao, are you turning a deaf ear to what I said? We are at war here, and this is no place for you to play the hero!”

　　Although it was a rebuke, her concern for him was plain to hear. Everyone was silent.

　　Yunxiao smiled and moved his lips slightly, transmitting his voice directly into her ears. Luo Yunshang’s angry look immediately melted away, replaced by an incredulous expression. “Really?” she asked doubtfully.

　　Yunxiao nodded with a smile.

　　Only then did she sit down while frowning, but did not say another word.

　　The crowd was struck dumb, and everyone was looking at each other, wondering what the two had said in secret and how did they come to terms so quickly.

　　Chen Dasheng was still worried though. “You’ve really decided to go, Yunxiao?”

　　“Of course!” Yunxiao laughed. “It is such a rare opportunity. How can I miss it?”

　　“Since you insist, I’ll not stop you. But remember, safety first!”

　　“Just wait for my good news here.”

　　In the blink of an eye, both he and Ji Meng disappeared from the hall. There was deep concern in Luo Yunshang’s eyes as she watched the figure vanish outside the door.

　　…

　　They ran at full speed, which was several times faster than the fastest horses. The distance between Mount Phoenix and Anyong was only about one hundred miles, so they already saw the vague shape of Feifeng after an hour and slowed down.

　　Yunxiao narrowed his eyes and looked up at the sky in the distance. A moment later, beams of divine sense shot crazily out of his body, all heading toward the town.

　　His divine sense was much stronger than those second-tier alchemists. Soon, they were over the town, but were immediately stopped by a strange force that prevented them from going further.

　　He gave a cold snort. “Eye technique, Demon Moon!”

　　His pupils transformed into two blood-red crescents, and before very long, the situation in the town began to emerge in them. There were rows of houses, but they were all deathly still and lifeless. Corpses were scattered in the streets, some belonging to soldiers, and some to common people.

　　Sure enough, all the scouts were dead in the town, and the local people were completely slaughtered as well. The town was in a ruinous state without a living thing. There was a strange force exuding and spreading out from Mount Phoenix outside the town.

　　Yunxiao’s pupils returned to normal, but his face was slightly flushed, showing that he had exhausted quite a significant amount of soul power.

　　“How is it, Young Master Yun?” Ji Meng asked.

　　Yunxiao took a few moments to regulate his breath, then opened his eyes and said calmly, “All dead. There is no one alive in the town.”

　　Ji Meng’s eyes flashed with a trace of fury as he said in a grave voice, “Could it be that everyone had entered Mount Phoenix?”

　　Looking at the strange town ahead, Yunxiao said slowly, “Not necessarily. The situation here is more complicated than I expected. Those people in town all died in a very strange way. We need to be extra careful.”

　　They raised their vigilance to the extreme and began to walk step by step toward the town.

　　Soon, they seemed to have walked through a layer of rippling force, and they felt as if something had swept past them. They knew they were inside the formation now.

　　The sight before them was exactly the same as what Yunxiao saw through the eye technique, only more dreadful and startling. Meanwhile, the air was thick with a foul stench. Had it not been because of their strong cultivation base, they would have long vomited. Even so, what they saw still put deep frowns on their faces.

　　“This is simply a mass grave!” Ji Meng said in a dark, furious voice. “The people of Baizhan are too malicious! How can they kill all the common people who are defenseless!”

　　As they walked past all the horrifying scenes, Yunxiao’s face grew heavy and serious. “They killed common people to prevent the news from leaking. What concerns me the most now is how did these people die? Look at their wounds, those are not the works of humans.”

　　Shocked, Ji Meng studied the corpses. Sure enough, all the wounds were messy, as if these people were snapped and torn by some wild animals. “Could it be…”

　　Yunxiao halted suddenly as he sensed weak auras coming in their direction from all over the place, growing stronger and greater in number as they approached. His face turned dark as he said coldly, “As I expected, demon beasts!”

　　Ji Meng glanced around in horror. All of a sudden, a burst of buzzing noises rang out from the surrounding houses as tiny faint light dots appeared out of nowhere. In the blink of an eye, both of them were completely surrounded by these things that looked like fireflies.