Seeing that Li Yao was still able to sit up, the other Cultivators participating in the Mist Clearing Operation were overjoyed. Many of them took out medical drugs and magical equipment.
"Fellow Cultivator Sand, are you alright?"
Li Yao blinked his eyes. His face suddenly turned pale and green. Sweat the size of beans was pouring out of his forehead.
His hands shivering, he tore apart the last layer of his mustard-seed combat suit. There was a black and purple saber mark on his chest, as if a venomous centipede had crawled on it. The mark was bulging, glittering, and purple, as if pus would burst out at any moment.
"I — cough, cough, cough. I'm fine!"
Of course, he was fine.
Everything had been a disguise. He had destroyed the surface of his body with his spiritual energy and caused the 'heavy wounds' that seemed horrifying but were in fact harmless.
'Hellsword 'was best at soul attacks. Li Yao's soul had been blasted by Ou Yezi before. Therefore, soul attacks were the last thing that he was scared of.
Therefore, when he learned that the Black King, one of the Four Kings of the Temple of Immortals, was very likely to be 'Hellsword', a lone wolf, he took the risk to come up with such a plan.
If it were another Yuanying expert who was best at strength, speed, and computational ability instead of mental strength, Li Yao wouldn't have dared to use only 80% of his speed in the Sky Scorpion Armor.
He would've put on the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, summoned Black Wing, and boosted his combat ability to the maximum!
"Senior Cai, I — I'm fine. What's the situation?"
Li Yao asked, breathing heavily.
He recognized that the leading Yuanying expert was Cai Qi, a well-respected professor of the Flying Sword Department of Flying Star University.
Professor Cai was also an elder of the Silver Moon Clan, one of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City.
Different from the 'leak plugging team', who only learned about the Mist Clearing Operation at the last moment, Professor Cai was a central member of the Mist Clearing Operation and had been involved in the operation since the very beginning.
Naturally, the files he knew were much more extensive than Li Yao and the rest of the Cultivators.
Cai Qi, the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, was wearing a plain, light crystal suit, but he was surrounded by more than ten weird flying swords that did not have handles and looked like silver crescent moons. The speed of the crescent moons seemed to be extremely slow, and they were not emitting any dazzling brilliance. However, the trajectory of the slide was very strange. With just a few glances, it gave Li Yao a feeling of chest tightness.
Silently calculating in the depths of his brain, Li Yao discovered. If the two of them were to fight now, he would not be able to calculate the trajectory of these flying swords, nor would he be able to dodge them!
It was like being under the cold moonlight. No matter where he fled, he would be caught by the moonlight.
Cai Qi waved his left hand. A tactical crystal processor ejected from the armguard of the Crystal Suit and projected almost a hundred light beams in the blink of an eye.
As a Yuanying and a central member of the Mist Clearing Operation, Cai Qi's tactical crystal processor was much more advanced than Li Yao's. After all the light beams were unfolded, it was almost a temporary command center.
That was the plan of the 'Mist Clearing Operation'. Once the situation went out of control and the experts such as Hellsword or the Eight Blades of Black Spider escaped, the net would be expanded. With every Yuanying as the center, all the Core Formation Stage Cultivators, Building Foundation Stage Cultivators, and Refinement Stage Cultivators would listen to his command.
Cai Qi's voice was very calm, but Li Yao vaguely sensed that he was relieved.
"All the secret bases of the Immortal Cultivators have been breached!
"More than fifty Immortal Cultivators have been executed on the spot. More than a hundred have been captured. Some of them are still on the run, but they failed to escape the siege!
"Five of the Eight Blades of Black Spider have been executed on the spot. Two have been captured alive. One is still on the run!
"All the concentrated liquids of the 'Heart Gnawing Mist' have been controlled. Specialists are analyzing their components!
"Other than that, a large batch of powerful explosive magical equipment has been controlled, too!
"The Black King, the leader of the entire 'Mist Plan', has been confirmed. 'Hellsword 'Zhuang Ziyou, a lone bandit from Spider Den, is still on the run. There is a chance that he has escaped from the central area of Heavenly Saints City! "
Good news came one after another.
Although it was not a total victory, the entire Mist Plan had been ruined.
Although Hellsword had broken out of the siege, he had been caught in an environment with a dense population and a complicated terrain. If a Yuanying Cultivator was determined to run for his life, it was not easy to catch him.
Besides, seven of the Eight Blades of Black Spider had been killed!
Seven Core Formation Stage Cultivators who were adept at assassination were not easy to raise for any organization. The operation had been a heavy blow for the Temple of Immortals!
Did I guess wrong again?
Li Yao leaned against a ventilation tube and pretended to apply medicine to his chest, but he was quite confused.
The Mist Clearing Operation had gone smoothly. All the nests of the Immortal Cultivators had been taken down. Right now, the central area of Heavenly Saints City was filled with Cultivators from all directions. All the Cultivators were more vigilant than ever.
It was safe to say that the central area of Heavenly Saints City had the highest defense ever since it was built!
Even if the Immortal Cultivators had other plans, the best time to activate them had passed!
Cai Qi said solemnly, "Don't be too happy yet, everybody. It is still possible that there are Immortal Cultivators left in the central area. Besides, the riot of the ordinary people hasn't been pacified yet. Trouble may break out at any moment!
"Also, Hellsword is still on the run. If he goes on a rampage, he may turn into a human-shaped beast at any moment and cause a bloody massacre!
"Right now, all the connecting tubes between the 'inner three space rings' and the 'outer seven space rings' of Heavenly Saints City have been cut off. All the connecting starships have stopped working, too. The inner three space rings have become a fully enclosed place!
"Cheer up, everybody. Do not be scared of sacrifices. We must find Hellsword!"
Li Yao's heart was beating like a drum. The strategy of the decision-making group of the Mist Clearing Operation was impeccable and flawless.
Heavenly Saints City was a space city made of ten super-large circular space stations and a central fortress. Between every space ring was the vacuum of space, which was connected by logistics tubes and barges.
Right now, the tubes had been blocked, and the barges had stopped working. Even if Hellsword could break out of the space rings and escape into space in the Crystal Suit, he would still be very eye-catching and would be locked onto immediately.
But why did he still feel somewhat uneasy?
"Master Ye."
Li Yao's eyelids suddenly twitched. He said to Ye Hongfei in a low voice, "The Mist Clearing Operation is the largest operation you've ever seen in your life. The entire Heavenly Saints City and even more than half of the experts in the world of Cultivators have been gathered. Countless Cultivators in the Refinement Stage and the Building Foundation Stage have been mobilized, right?"
Ye Hongfei was dazed for a moment. He replied, "Yes. The central area of Heavenly Saints City is populated. The environment is complicated. Not only do we have to annihilate all the Immortal Cultivators, we also have to protect the ordinary people. We cannot cause too many casualties. Therefore, including the six sects of Heavenly Saints City, almost all the sects large and small in Heavenly Saints City have been deployed in the three inner rings!
"Just rest assured. Although Hellsword is on the run, the three inner rings have been sealed, and the security has been raised to a high level. Even if he is Yuanying, he won't be able to get away from the dragnet! "
"Yes …"
Li Yao mumbled. "All the forces of Heavenly Saints City have been mobilized to the three inner rings. The connection with the seven outer rings has been cut off.
"Then, what about the seven outer rings?
"The security of the seven outer rings should be at the lowest point in history, shouldn't it?"
Ye Hongfei blinked, somewhat confused. "Well … I guess so. Right now, the three inner rings are in chaos, and all the Cultivators are carrying out the 'Mist Clearing Operation' in the three inner rings. Naturally, the security of the seven outer rings is weak.
"However, there are no targets worth attacking in the seven outer rings, either!"
The structure of Heavenly Saints City was interconnected. Starting from the central area, the importance of the three outer rings decreased bit by bit.
The headquarters of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City, the Grand Illusionary Group, the three Crystal Suit Centers, Flying Star University, Heavenly Saints Institute, and other important institutions. They were all established in the central area and the third ring.
As for the areas beyond the third ring, they were mostly unimportant institutions such as the Crystal Suit Arenas.
Outside the fifth ring … It was almost the residential area of the ordinary people.
Li Yao rubbed his face so hard that it was almost smoking. He pondered for a moment and said, "The ten space rings of Heavenly Saints City are all connected to each other. Therefore, the second ring is larger than the first ring. The third ring is larger than the second ring, isn't it? "
Ye Hongfei smiled. "Isn't that obvious?!"
Li Yao continued. "Therefore, the ninth ring is larger than the eighth ring, and the tenth ring is the largest and most populated of all the space rings!"
Ye Hongfei nodded. "Exactly!"
Li Yao's voice was colder and colder. "When I first came to Heavenly Saints City, I saw that the tenth ring was not completed yet and was still expanding.
"In other words, the tenth ring is not only the largest and most populated area of Heavenly Saints City, but it is also a super chaotic construction site.
"Of course, such a large construction site has a lot of loopholes and filthy places. It is very easy for somebody to infiltrate, isn't it?"
Ye Hongfei became solemn, too. He pondered for a moment and nodded slowly. "That's true. However, there are no targets worth attacking in the seven outer rings."
"That's right," Li Yao said.
"In the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting that is held once every five years, all the specialists and scholars in the world of Cultivators will gather in the central area. Even the Cultivators who usually live in the seven outer rings will come to the central area for the meeting.
"Since the Mist Clearing Operation is going to be held this year, even more Cultivators will gather in the central area.
"Therefore, the number of Cultivators in the outer seven rings of Heavenly Saints City, especially in the tenth space ring, has dropped to the lowest point in history. Everybody's attention is focused on the central area, the three inner rings, the 'Mist Plan', the 'Mist Clearing Operation', and the 'Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator' Hellsword!
"No one is going to take a look at the 10th Star Ring."
"After all, there are no targets worth attacking there at all.
"There are only hundreds of millions of ordinary people there!"
"Ah!"
Right then, exclamations suddenly came over in the communication channel.
Li Yao raised his head, only to discover that all the Cultivators had opened the facial cover of their Crystal Suit, with shock and fury on their faces, as if something big had happened.
The hundred light beams that Cai Qi triggered were now in chaos, as if a major turning point had just taken place.
Li Yao felt that his heart was heavy. "What's going on?"
"Torch Dragon's body has been found," Cai Qi said in grief.
"It's in 'Hellsword' Zhuang Ziyou's hotel room. He's lying on the bed, with three lines of blood on his chest."
"Billions of techniques of the Great Dao.
"I only have one question.
"Can you live forever?
"This is obviously a demonstration to the entire world of Cultivators!"
Li Yao asked, "Who is Torch Dragon?"
Cai Qi asked for permission from the command team of the operation. After he was granted permission, he glanced at everyone who was still in a daze and sighed. "Candle Dragon is the secret code name of a Cultivator. He was the spy of the Immortal Slayers who infiltrated the Temple of Immortals in the beginning. It was through Candle Dragon's critical intelligence that we gradually learned the general picture of the 'Mist Plan'.
"We didn't expect that … Torch Dragon would be killed by an Immortal Cultivator!
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