After the Heart Shadow Sect arrived in Hu Yang City, their actions were swift. They first occupied the majority of the estates in the Chaos Armor District, then visited the Yan Feng Pavilion's master and Luo He Shenjun, calming these two major threats before proceeding to the most critical step of their plan—gaining effective control over the entire city.
As part of this effort, they occupied the estates of the Five Great Families and dispatched their forces to seize the city's three forbidden zones.
The rumbling of five colossal mechanical treasures heralded their arrival at one of these forbidden zones. The Hu Yang Legion that had been stationed there had long since retreated, leaving only a few Hu Yang Guards to hold the line.
"What are you doing?" the Hu Yang Guards, clearly nervous, watched as the five massive mechanical treasures loomed over them.
"Surrender immediately, or die," came a voice from above, the combined power of the five colossal treasures casting an oppressive shadow over the forbidden zone.
The Hu Yang Guards exchanged glances. Their generals and commanders had already withdrawn to the City Lord's Mansion, leaving only ordinary guards to hold the line. The City Lord's Mansion did not expect these ordinary guards to hold the forbidden zone; they were only meant to confuse the enemy.
"We're just Void True Gods, ordinary True Gods. Resisting is just throwing our lives away."
"There's no way we can fight back."
The difference in power was too great. These ordinary Hu Yang Guards obediently surrendered.
In no time, this group of Hu Yang Guards was captured and stored away in a spatial treasure. The five colossal mechanical treasures then shrunk in size and quickly entered the depths of the forbidden zone. With their power, they quickly dismantled the layers of defenses within the forbidden zone.
"The core of the forbidden zone's formation has already been dismantled, leaving the Hu Yang City formation at only its weakest power."
"The Five Great Families preemptively dismantled the formation's core before we even attacked."
When the five colossal mechanical treasures entered and investigated, they discovered that everything that could have been dismantled had already been removed by the City Lord's Mansion.
The three forbidden zones had been preemptively dismantled, leaving only the regular formations that were integrated into the city. This reduced Hu Yang City's grand formation to only ten or twenty percent of its original power.
"Quickly set up the sect's formation."
"Hurry."
From the five colossal mechanical treasures, Eternal True Gods flew out one by one, swiftly setting up formations according to their plan. The Heart Shadow Sect had many sect formations as a former God King-level sect. Their formations were far more intricate than Hu Yang City's. The most powerful formations even required the power of Chaos Sovereigns to activate.
At this moment, they were setting up three simplified sect formations that could be established in a short time.
These mobile formations were generally less powerful than fixed formations. Even when the three sect formations were stacked together, they were only slightly stronger than the fixed formation of Hu Yang City. However, in the event of a large-scale battle, the impact of these formations would still be significant.
The three sect formations required seven locations for setup, and these forbidden zones were large enough to be used for this purpose.
Hu Yang City's Chaos Armor District resembled a massive ring surrounding the City Lord's Mansion. At this moment, the entire ring, except for a small spot occupied by Luo He Shenjun's estate, had become the base of the Heart Shadow Sect.
"Sect Leader, the Five Great Families have already dismantled the cores of the three forbidden zones' formations. The sect disciples are working at full speed to set up the formations, and it won't be long before they're completed," a sect elder in charge of setting up the formations reported.
"It needs to be done quickly," the Heart Shadow Sect Leader stood atop the highest mountain in the Chaos Armor District, surveying the surroundings. "Elder Yun Wing, take control of the four city gates immediately. From now on, all entry and exit are strictly forbidden."
"Yes."
Several elders, each commanding part of the disciples, responded.
At the command, eight colossal mechanical treasures flew to the four city gates, teleporting multiple times along the way. With the weakening of Hu Yang City's grand formation, the spatial blockade had also been significantly reduced.
"The entire Hu Yang City could become a battlefield at any moment. We need to leave quickly."
"Let's get out of this dangerous place first."
Many cultivators, sensing the danger, began heading toward the city gates.
Unfortunately, even though Hu Yang City's grand formation was only operating at ten or twenty percent power, very few Eternal True Gods could force their way through space. They had to fly slowly, and it took time to reach the gates.
As these cultivators continued to flee, two colossal mechanical treasures teleported to the East Gate.
"Seal the gate!" The terrifying presence of the mechanical treasures enveloped the entire East Gate, and a shroud of darkness descended, instantly capturing the guards stationed at the gate.
"This is bad; the gate is sealed!"
Those still on their way to the gate, who hadn't reached it yet, felt a chill as they saw this from afar.
Meanwhile, the cultivators who had already made it outside the city let out a sigh of relief.
"Did they start moving this quickly?" Outside the city, the leader of the Zhu Clan, Zhu Hu, looked on from a distance. "I managed to escape with fifty percent of our clan members, but the rest… they might be in trouble."
The Zhu Clan had been rooted in Hu Yang City for a long time, with countless clan members involved in every industry across the city.
Even if they wanted to flee, Zhu Hu could only directly evacuate the massive number of clan members who were already in their family estate, storing them in a spatial treasure. As for those spread throughout the city, he didn't have time to gather them.
"The Zhu Clan has only two Eternal True Gods left in the city. Zhu You and Zhu Fu Qing, one with extensive connections and many friends, the other a member of a major force. They should be able to protect themselves and perhaps shelter more of our clan members."
After all, many of the remaining fifty percent of the clan members were elites that the Zhu Clan could not afford to lose.
"It's up to Zhu You and Fu Qing now," Zhu Hu sighed, feeling an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.
Facing the Heart Shadow Sect, he didn't even have the ability to resist.
"Against such a powerful sect, even the strongest Eternal True Gods in the Shi Kingdom can only focus on survival," Zhu Hu quickly teleported away, heading toward the neighboring Chaos Province.
Eight colossal mechanical treasures arrived at the four city gates, sealing all entry and exit!
Once the sect's grand formation was fully established, a dark shroud enveloped the entire Hu Yang City, sealing both the sky and the ground, leaving no escape routes.
The original four city gates were also sealed by the dark shroud, making them impassable.
"We've done it."
"We can head back now." Looking up at the vast sect formation, the eight colossal mechanical treasures that had guarded the city gates began to depart.
The sect's grand formation sealed the entire city, leaving no way out.
Trying to force an escape?
Perhaps only Luo He Shenjun had the power to do so.
The Heart Shadow Sect even hoped that Luo He Shenjun would leave on his own.
"This isn't the Hu Yang City formation."
"The Heart Shadow Sect has set up a formation that now covers the entire city?"
All the Eternal True Gods in Hu Yang City sensed the change in the formation. With their experience, they could immediately tell that this dark formation was different from the original Hu Yang City formation.
"It's getting more intense," said Di Chu Yu, the master of the Yan Feng Pavilion, who watched the scene with calm detachment.
In his long years of wandering the Origin Continent, he had seen all kinds of conflicts. The turmoil in Hu Yang City was merely a small ripple in his life of cultivation.
"Our Yan Feng Pavilion is above these worldly conflicts, so it's best we don't intervene in the war," said the pavilion's vice master, whose body was shrouded in gray mist.
"If every branch of our pavilion were to intervene in wars, we would lose our position above these conflicts," Di Chu Yu responded.
"Pavilion Master, it seems that the Heart Shadow Sect's arrival has been a blessing in disguise for you, as you've just comprehended the Chaos Laws," the vice master remarked with a smile.
"Hahaha…" Di Chu Yu's laughter was hearty and filled with satisfaction.
"After countless years, even with the guidance of secret manuals, it's only today that I've finally broken through to the Chaos Realm," Di Chu Yu said with a sigh. "In the path of the laws, reaching the Chaos Realm is incredibly difficult."
The secret manual he practiced was the exclusive heritage of the Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom's royal family, far stronger than an ordinary God King-level inheritance.
To advance from Eternal True God to Chaos Sovereign, the usual approach was through relentless accumulation, eventually achieving a breakthrough. However, in the Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom's royal family, there was already a detailed guide to follow, which greatly reduced the difficulty of breaking through.
In contrast, Luo Feng was accumulating power aimlessly. Despite possessing God King-level will, a perfect divine body that provided a massive soul, and insights from the Life Source Path and Destruction Mysteries, he had mastered more Chaos-level moves than Di Chu Yu, yet still could not break through.
"With the guidance of the secret manual, the nine combined Chaos-level moves that complement each other, and various resources to assist, I've finally broken through today," Di Chu Yu said. "I wonder when Luo He will make his breakthrough."
In the path of laws, reaching the Chaos Realm was the minimum requirement to become a guest official of the Di Chu lineage.
"His accumulation is deep, but breaking through to the Chaos Realm still requires some luck," the vice master remarked. "By the way, Pavilion Master, when will you return? When will you inform the clan of your breakthrough?"
"No rush," Di Chu Yu replied. "I've already reported to the old ancestor, and he's advised me to keep it secret for now. He'll be sending resources, and once my divine body fully matures and my strength is solidified, I'll return."
The vice master smiled with delight. "Whatever the old ancestor instructs you to do, it's best to follow."
In the royal family of the Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom, those who could cultivate a perfect divine body were considered elite. The Di Chu lineage had accumulated only around a hundred such individuals over countless eras, each with direct access to the old ancestor.
The vice master's status within the clan was relatively low. Despite being an Eternal True God of the bloodline cultivation system, even with exceptional strength, there were still many others like him within the royal family, which naturally meant he did not have the privilege of contacting the old ancestor.
The old ancestor of the Di Chu lineage was one of the emperors of the Yan Feng Ancient Kingdom, known as Emperor Chu!
"A perfect divine body in the Chaos Realm is even more colossal and grows more slowly. Plus, I need to cultivate secret methods to solidify my power," Di Chu Yu said. "I hope Luo He can break through before I leave. It would be great to take him back with me."
"In one or two eras, you should be fully solidified in your strength, Pavilion Master. There's no way Luo He will break through that quickly," the vice master said. "It's normal to be stuck at a bottleneck for thousands or even tens of thousands of eras."
"Once my strength is solidified, if Luo He hasn't broken through, I'll leave him a communication talisman, and we'll return ahead of him," Di Chu Yu said as he glanced at the chaos within the city before stepping into the small pavilion.