On an unnamed path at the border of Nanlin Road and Mozhou Road, before the sky had brightened, a convoy of nearly a hundred people hurried anxiously toward Mozhou Road.

"WAAAH..."

A baby’s cry suddenly rang out, only to be abruptly silenced. In a small ox-cart near the middle of the convoy, a woman nervously pressed a hand over her infant’s mouth. An elderly guard beside her walked over, channeled a wisp of Spiritual Qi into the baby to make it fall asleep, and gestured for the woman to let go.

The woman carefully released her hand. Looking at the child now fast asleep in her arms, she let out a sigh of relief.

Just then, a commotion erupted from the front of the convoy, startling both the woman and the elderly guard beside her. Then, they saw a green signal flare shoot into the sky somewhere ahead of them.

When the people nearby saw the flare, despair washed over most of their faces. The once-quiet convoy instantly descended into chaos. Some began to flee into the mountain forests on either side. The elderly guard glanced back at the woman and the child in her arms, then gritted his teeth and bolted into the woods to the left.

The woman looked around, dazed and terrified, her arms tightening around her child. She scanned the chaotic scene, seemingly searching for something. Soon, her eyes lit up when she saw a middle-aged guard returning from the front of the convoy.

At that very moment, the sound of arrows slicing through the air came from above.

The next instant, the woman saw the returning middle-aged guard get struck, an arrow piercing straight through his neck. She froze on the spot. A moment later, she instinctively started to get up to check on him, but the movement reminded her of the child in her arms.

Just then, the sound of arrows cutting through the air rang out again.

To the west of the path, dozens of Longbowmen clad in the pale red uniforms of the Daoist Scripture Hall’s action team gazed coldly at the convoy below. Every arrow they loosed claimed the life of a guard.

On a main road farther away, two ten-man squads of Qi Cultivators were rushing toward them.

In mid-air, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator held up a Token and shouted, "By order, we are to apprehend the remnants of the ’First Day’ Evil Cultivators! All who resist will be killed without mercy!"

"Bullshit!"

A powerful, resonant voice boomed from within the convoy. "I was hunting ’First Day’ Evil Cultivators when you were still in your mother’s womb."

As the voice faded, an old man also rose into the air. A gourd floated to his left, from which a dense Water Spirit Qi flowed out. It combined with the Array Runes materializing around him, coalescing into dozens of ice shards.

"Old senior, you’d best consider the consequences of your actions. This calamity of yours is the result of someone’s impulsiveness!" the Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Daoist Scripture Hall warned, brandishing his Token.

"You’re already killing people, and you ask if I’ve thought it through? Have you no shame?" The old man formed a Spell sign with his hand. A portion of the gathered ice shards shot toward the Foundation Establishment Cultivator, while the rest rained down upon the Longbowmen on the mountaintop.

"How dare you!"

With an angry roar, the Daoist Scripture Hall’s Foundation Establishment Cultivator summoned a silver Treasure Tower. It circled in front of his chest, blocking the incoming ice shards. He then formed a Spell sign and uttered a single, sharp command at the old man: "Suppress!"

’This is a Cultivator from the Earth Cave Sect!’

The old man was prepared. As the Mountain Suppressing Technique fell, he dodged aside. However, several people below were not so lucky. In an instant, it was impossible to tell who had died. All that remained was a deep pit filled with blood and severed limbs.

Meanwhile, a barrier of fire appeared in front of the Longbowmen. Two Qi Cultivators had landed beside them and summoned their Magical Artifacts, igniting the Spiritual Qi in the air.

At the same time, the two squads of Qi Cultivators from the main road arrived on the scene.

As they charged down the mountain, they slaughtered all the guards who had fled into the forest along the way. By the time they reached the path, the old man in the sky cried out in pain and fell into a nearby stream.

"By order, we are to apprehend the remnants of ’First Day’! All who resist will be killed without mercy!"

The Daoist Scripture Hall’s Foundation Establishment Cultivator raised his Token high and shouted again. At the same time, he formed a Spell sign to control the tower before him, intending to use it to crush the old man who had fallen into the stream.

CLANG!

But just as the tower was about to fall, a cold light flashed. The tower’s base shattered completely. The Daoist Scripture Hall’s Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s face tightened in alarm, and he instinctively pulled out two red signal flares and tossed them into the air.

The flares never went off, however. Two broken blades sliced them in half. The next moment, even more signal flares were launched into the sky from nearby, and these ones exploded.

"You have some nerve, daring to slaughter innocents on my Mozhou Road!"

The rebuke came from above, where an Artifact Cultivator in a blue Daoist robe was hovering in mid-air.

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator composed himself, suppressing the flicker of nervousness in his heart. He cupped his fist and said, "Senior, if you look closely, you’ll see this is still the territory of Nanlin Road. But more importantly, Senior, are you intending to protect the remnants of the ’First Day’ Evil Cultivators?"

"Quite the sharp tongue. Are these women and children Evil Cultivators too?"

"Senior, we are not required to answer your questions. You should understand the rules of the Daoist Scripture Hall. I am acting under the orders of a Patrol Envoy."

"Insolence! A junior like you dares to speak to me this way."

At that moment, a clever person on the path took the opportunity to run toward the border of Mozhou Road. But as soon as he moved, a Longbowman on the mountain ridge instinctively raised his bow and fired.

"You are the insolent one!"

The Artifact Cultivator opposite him roared. The vital energy around his body surged as two broken blades tore through the void. One sliced the incoming arrow in two; the other wiped out the entire squad of Longbowmen on the ridge!

It all happened in the blink of an eye. Then, an absolute silence fell over the scene.