CHAPTER 408: A BAD JOKE FROM THE HEAVENS

"Sun Ancheng! So that’s it—you’re all jumping at the chance to kick us while we’re down, huh? Fine. Have it your way!" Lu Tingze’s eyes narrowed as he swept a cold, scornful look across Sun Xiangyuan, Sun Ancheng, and Sun Anming.

"Ancheng! Watch your mouth," Sun Xiangyuan cut in sharply. "The Sun and Lu Clans are both part of the Purple Crest Immortal Sect. We should be settling things peacefully. How can you throw insults at someone from the same sect?"

At that, Sun Ancheng clamped his mouth shut and said nothing more.

Lu Tingze and Lu Tingguang didn’t say a word, but their eyes flickered. Outwardly, they eased up a little—but inside, they were scoffing. The Sun Clan’s ambitions couldn’t be more obvious.

Just then, Sun Xiangyuan turned to them and pulled out another storage artifact. "We’ve known each other a long time. You know what I’m like. Consider this extra compensation—a gesture of goodwill."

"Fine," Lu Tingze said, taking the artifact. He gave it a quick scan and nodded slightly. "We’ll talk more once the truth comes out."

This time, what Sun Xiangyuan offered actually seemed sincere. Combined with the earlier compensation, it might be enough to train a cultivator all the way to Peak-stage Nirvana Peering realm.

But that didn’t mean Lu Tingze was letting his guard down. If anything, he was even more on edge.

"Now that that’s settled, let’s get back to Jiang Chen. Finding him is the real priority," You Shaojun said, glancing at the five members from the Sun and Lu Clans.

Sun Xiangyuan looked over without much expression. "What do you suggest?"

You Shaojun took a breath and spoke slowly. "Cracking the secret behind Lu Tingyun’s immortal tool—that gridded board—won’t be easy. On top of that, it’s damaged. If we want to use it, we’ll need to get it repaired first."

"My recommendation is to reach out to the Profound Jade Immortal Alliance for help. Ask them to handle the repairs, and while we’re at it, report everything about Jiang Chen. Even if we’ve labeled him a traitor, they still need to be informed. If we keep it from them, and they find out later, we’ll be the ones in serious trouble."

"Agreed." Sun Xiangyuan gave a nod. "Let’s get in touch with the Profound Jade Immortal Alliance."

"Fine by me. Once that gridded board is repaired and we find that bastard Jiang Chen, I’ll tear him apart," Lu Tingguang growled, seething with rage.

"I’ll handle it right away." You Shaojun pulled out a special transmission jade token—it shimmered faintly with starlight and had an unusual texture. Without wasting time, he began sending a message to the Profound Jade Immortal Alliance.

On the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star, both the Purple Crest Immortal Sect and the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace had ways to contact the Alliance directly.

The tool they used was called a void transmission jade token. It looked a lot like an ordinary one, but it worked in a completely different way.

Normal transmission jade tokens drew power from the Earth’s ley lines.

Void transmission jade tokens, though, ran on the law of space—and they were considered high-grade artifacts.

In moments, You Shaojun activated the token and reached out to the Profound Jade Immortal Alliance.

After a brief exchange, the Profound Jade Immortal Alliance agreed—Jiang Chen needed to be captured and questioned to confirm who he really was.

Of course, that couldn’t happen without fixing the shattered gridded board. To help with that, the Alliance promised to send their top artifact refiner straight to the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star to repair Lu Tingyun’s immortal tool.

They also shared an update on the war against the demons.

For reasons still unclear, the demons had suddenly strengthened their forces in the Profound Jade Immortal Domain. On top of that, a large number of long-hidden demon spies had been activated all at once.

The result was a disaster—the Alliance’s frontline troops had taken heavy losses in a series of defeats.

In response, the Profound Jade Immortal Alliance issued a new order to the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star: send reinforcements.

The number required—five million cultivators.

The Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace would be getting the same order soon.

Once both groups were mobilized, ten million cultivators would be heading to the frontlines to join the fight against the demons.

The directive made all six of them frown slightly—but that was about it.

Ten million cultivators might sound like a lot, but for the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star, it wasn’t anything alarming. And they didn’t have to pull from their own sects either. Weaker factions could be drafted to fill the numbers.

As for the Profound Jade Immortal Alliance getting pushed back by the demons, none of them seemed particularly worried.

That was because the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star was far from the frontlines, tucked deep within the Profound Jade Immortal Domain.

Their only job was to keep an eye on the Immortal Martial Continent—a task they’d already taken care of by sending over a dozen Transcendence realm cultivators after the demon purge.

"The Alliance has made their decision, so let’s pass the message down. First, we need to sort out which subordinate factions we’ll be drafting from," You Shaojun said, putting away the void transmission jade token.

Sun Xiangyuan didn’t hesitate. "The Imperial Origin Sect, the Heavenly Moon Sect..."

Lu Tingze added, "As for my side, I plan to draft from..."

...

In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, explosive news had already swept through the major cities of the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star—spreading faster than ever.

Every cultivator who heard it reacted with visible unease. Faces turned grim, hearts sank.

"What’s going on? Why are they sending more people to the front?"

"Didn’t we just send cultivators not long ago?"

"Must mean things are worse now. Sounds like the Profound Jade Immortal Alliance can’t hold the line anymore."

"Last time they drafted people, hardly any came back. Nine out of ten died out there. If it’s even worse now... getting picked is basically a death sentence."

"You heard about the Northern Dipper Immortal Sect? They’re a top-tier faction under the Purple Crest Immortal Sect. The Mo Clan was part of them—had a Nirvana Peering realm expert too. Got sent to the front, and almost the whole clan was wiped out."

"Exactly! If even someone like the Mo Clan couldn’t survive, what chance do the rest of us have?"

"I don’t want to go! I don’t want to die!"

"All of this—every bit of it—is because of those damn demons. If they didn’t exist, none of this would be happening."

"Demons should be wiped out. Every last one of them!"

"If I really get drafted, I’ll at least make sure I take one of them with me!"

All across the star, cultivators vented their fear. But underneath it, something darker was growing—pure, burning hatred for the demons.

...

Meanwhile, ten million kilometers from the Purple Crest Immortal Sect, in a quiet corner of Burning Sun City, there was a simple house with a small courtyard.

In the yard, an old man lay sprawled on a lounge chair, seemingly enjoying the sun.

But a closer look would show something strange—his eyes were wide open, staring at the sky, and filled with sheer panic.

What the hell? I’ve actually transmigrated?

Lu Yi’s mind raced. How is this even possible? And why this body—an old man on his last legs? This isn’t just crazy. This is absurd stacked on top of absurd.

His eyes stayed locked on the sky, mouth half open, looking like he’d just been hit by a cosmic joke he still couldn’t process.