Gu Ruoyun relaxed after she heard Qianbei Ye's explanation. As Qianbei Ye's Underworld subordinates had remained loyal to him for so long, she naturally does not want anything to happen to them...

At that moment in the Underworld, a black-robed man who was sitting with his legs crossed slowly opened his eyes. A cold and sharp light flashed across his arrogant red eyes.

He then slowly rose to his feet and curled his lips into a cruel angle.

"It's a good thing that I had consumed that demi-beast human's corpse. Now, I'm nearly restored to the peak of my power. Qianbei Ye! If I can merge with your soul, I can use you to break through to the Full Circle State! I will become the only Full Circle State cultivator on this mainland! Once I've reached that state, this entire mainland will become the ground beneath my feet. Hahaha!"

Cang Ming burst into laughter. He was already imagining himself at the Full Circle State and his eyes flashed with complacency.

It has been two years!

During these two years, he has finally returned to his peak strength! It was now time to make Qianbei Ye pay!

"Men, gather everyone and attack the Cloudy Wind Empire immediately! I want Qianbei Ye to pay for opposing me all these years!"

A vicious light flashed through Cang Ming's eyes as he exited the room immediately.

...

The call for battle has been raised! Gu Ruoyun felt very uneasy as she began her battle preparations as well.

Grand Lord Hong Lian and the others realized that the situation was unusual and wanted to take Gu Ruoyun back to the Red Lotus Territory. However, Gu Ruoyun had rejected their suggestion to avoid dragging the Red Lotus Territory down with her.

Still, Grand Lord Hong Lian and his wife were a stubborn pair. How could they leave Gu Ruoyun here to face the danger alone? In the end, they had insisted on staying no matter how much Gu Ruoyun tried to persuade them.

Gu Ruoyun could only accept the situation in exasperation. In order to ensure her parents' safety, she put in even more effort with her battle preparations and placed the whole of Cloudy Wind Empire through rigorous precautions.

While everyone was in the midst of the preparations, the loud noise of a powerful fight suddenly sounded from outside the city gates. Gu Ruoyun's expression sank when she heard this.

"Father, Mother." She took a deep breath, turned towards Grand Lord Hong Lian and instructed, "I've built a formation in this palace. Even if Cang Ming himself were here, this formation cannot be broken by external force. You can only get out when two cultivators in the Ninth Transformation State join forces in the formation."

This formation was similar to the one that Qianbei Ye had set up in the Deserted Snowlands. Now, she was using it on her loved ones. She had to do this to keep them safe from harm.

"Yun'er, what are you doing?"

Grand Lord Hong Lian's heart clenched. He quickly grabbed Gu Ruoyun hand and asked nervously, "We've once said that no matter the difficulties ahead, we would face them together as a family. Why must you build this formation?"

Gu Ruoyun smiled serenely with a hint of exasperation.

"Father, all of you here are most important people in my life so I can't let you join such a dangerous battle nor do I wish for anyone to lose their life because of me! I'm sorry and I have no choice but to do this! Also, I've managed to coax Xiao Xun'er to sleep. Don't tell him about the battle. I hope that I would be by his side when he wakes up..."