Ch. 45 - Frog At The Bottom of The Well

That was why he reached out to the Wang and Wan Clans, aiming to use their influence to take advantage of the chaos and assassinate the three sons of Situ Yuntian.

That included Situ Yunlei, the Situ Clan's last secret weapon.

As for how to deal with the three senior elders? A faint smile appeared at the corner of Xu Zimo’s mouth.

At that moment, Xiao Guizi had returned to his room. He still couldn’t quite figure Xu Zimo out, he always had this sense that his senior brother didn’t play by the rules.

...

As night gradually fell, Imperial Gate City seemed unusually quiet.

Inside Xu Zimo’s room, he looked at Dark Thirteen and said, “Send those three old men off.”

“You mean out of Imperial Gate City?” Dark Thirteen asked, puzzled.

“No,” Xu Zimo replied flatly, “I mean out of this world.”

Dark Thirteen froze for a second, but then nodded and left the room.

...

Outside the city, four figures were dashing forward. The Grand Elder looked at Dark Thirteen in the lead and said politely, “Sorry to trouble you this late, sir, for escorting us to the Sacred Ground.”

Dark Thirteen simply shook his head indifferently.

A cold night breeze swept by, and the moon cast a pale white glow across the land. The wind seemed unusually sharp tonight.

From behind them, in the silent city, the faint barking of dogs could still be heard.

As their line of sight extended, the image of Imperial Gate City slowly faded into the distance.

Eventually, they arrived at a hilltop. Dark Thirteen stopped.

His eyes, devoid of emotion, looked at the three elders like he was staring at corpses.

“What’s wrong?” the Grand Elder asked with an awkward chuckle.

“Nothing. It’s time for you to be on your way,” Dark Thirteen said, unsheathing his longsword.

“What do you mean by that?” the Second Elder frowned, taking a cautious step back.

Dark Thirteen didn’t respond. With a sharp “clang,” his blade was drawn.

Boom boom boom boom!

The four meridian gates of Springwheel, Deepbone, Dawnwind and Vastsea burst open.

The aura of the Desolate Meridian Realm poured out like a mountain, enveloping the surroundings.

“And to think you were disciples of the True Martial Sacred Ground. I knew we couldn’t fully trust them,” the Grand Elder shouted.

The three elders quickly took their positions in a triangle, spiritual energy surging as three of their meridians opened.

They each retrieved a formation disk from their spatial rings and poured spiritual energy into them.

When the disks were activated, the elders tossed them into the air.

A brilliant black light flared. The three disks merged into one, forming a dark cage that enclosed Dark Thirteen.

The disks shattered, and countless formation symbols flew out, aligning into formation according to preset rules.

“Luckily, we came prepared,” the Grand Elder said smugly.

The purpose of a formation disk is to store pre-arranged formation symbols. Normally, formation masters must weave symbols live in battle, which is slow and easy to evade.

A long time ago, someone invented the formation disk to solve this, letting users pre-store formations that could be instantly activated in combat by breaking the disk.

Though it seemed complex, all of this happened in an instant.

Dark Thirteen frowned at the black prison surrounding him. His longsword erupted in a flash of blue.

The sword energy whipped up dust and carved a long chasm into the earth, surging with unstoppable force.

But when it struck the black cage, it was completely absorbed, leaving no trace, no impact at all.

“Don’t waste your strength,” the Grand Elder smirked. “This is a Level Four Formation: Dark Prison. We may not be able to kill you, but we can trap you till morning.”

“Since Xu Zimo was the one who betrayed us first, don’t blame us for what we do next.”

“That’s right, we’re going to expose all his crimes,” said the Second Elder through gritted teeth.

That bastard had promised to bring them into the True Martial Sacred Ground and help them reach the Desolate Meridian Realm.

But now, he’d gone back on everything, and tried to silence them permanently.

Their fury was easy to understand. They had betrayed the entire Situ Clan for this, and now they were to be discarded.

“You really think everyone else is a fool?” the Third Elder sneered. “From the moment you approached us, we planned for this. We prepared this Level Four Formation in secret, and now, it’s paid off.”

“Frogs at the bottom of a well,” Dark Thirteen muttered, giving up on breaking the formation. He sat cross-legged on the ground.

“What did you say?” the Grand Elder asked with a frown.

“I admit, you weren’t stupid to prepare a backup. But you’ll never understand how vast this world truly is,” Dark Thirteen replied calmly.

“Who are you trying to scare?” the Third Elder scoffed. “You’re trapped and powerless, and you’re still talking tough?”

Dark Thirteen coldly glanced at them but said nothing more, closing his eyes to rest.

“What do we do now?”

As the three elders discussed, a sudden voice echoed from above.

“Looks like the Young Master was right, three little rats really thought they could escape the cage.”

“Who’s there?!” the three shouted in unison, looking up in alarm.

Above them stood a man in white, holding a sword across his chest, casually yawning as he walked through the sky.

“Who are you?” they stammered, nervous.

Anyone who could walk through the sky had to be at least at the Meridian Void Realm.

Though he hadn’t released any aura, the pressure he exuded felt even heavier than Dark Thirteen’s.

“The show’s over,” said the man lazily, his name was Tenmile Vastsky.

Without even unsheathing his sword, he simply traced the air with it.

A brilliant flash of sword light bloomed before the elders.

In that moment, their lives were frozen.

...

The next day, Imperial Gate City seemed the same as always.

Vendors rose at the usual time, opened their stalls at the usual places, and the city bustled as usual.

“I’m willing to help you manage the Situ Clan,” said Situ Yunqing earnestly, having tossed and turned all night, arriving early to see Xu Zimo.

Xu Zimo introduced Vastsky to her. “From now on, he’s your personal bodyguard. The two of you will manage the Situ Clan together. If there’s danger, he’ll protect you.”

After sending her off, Xu Zimo called Vastsky aside privately.

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