If it were merely a matter of identical looks, it could perhaps be explained away as a coincidence. But for the other party to also be blind, that had moved far beyond the realm of chance.

Of course, there was another possibility.

Fang Chen looked at Zhang Shaoming with a faint, inscrutable smile. "In your demonic calamity, what you saw were merely illusions, and those illusions originated from your own memories. You say you saw me there. But we have never met before. You aren't very old, while I have lived for nearly a thousand years. Are you perhaps lying to me?"

Zhang Shaoming nearly clicked his tongue aloud. "Lived for nearly a thousand years?"

For a Qi Refining Realm cultivator like him, it was difficult to even imagine what it was like to live a thousand years.

After a few moments of silence, Zhang Shaoming shook his head, his expression firm. "I am not lying to you. In my demonic calamity, the Senior Demon Ancestor I saw looked exactly like you."

"Is that so..."

Fang Chen pondered for a few moments, then suddenly asked, "Let me ask you something."

Zhang Shaoming said respectfully, "Please speak."

Fang Chen smiled. "Suppose, and I mean suppose. If one day you woke up and discovered you weren't human, but a Demonic Beast. At that time, someone tells you that humans are evil and need to be slaughtered, and those Demonic Beasts or demons ask for your help. Would you help them?"

Zhang Shaoming was stunned, then blurted out in bewilderment, "How could I possibly be a Demonic Beast?"

Fang Chen chuckled. "I said suppose."

"I wouldn't," Zhang Shaoming shook his head. "Even if I woke up and found out I was a Demonic Beast, I've lived as a human for so many years. Why would I help those Demonic Beasts and demons deal with humans?"

After saying that, he suddenly froze and then hurriedly started checking his own body frantically.

Fang Chen laughed. "No need to look, you're human."

Zhang Shaoming breathed a sigh of relief; he had thought that waking up from the Demonic Calamity might have caused some strange transformation.

***

At that same moment, Chen Dongdong, who was patrolling the orbit of Lone Light Star within Qingming, suddenly felt something was off. A faint chill ran down his spine. He immediately stood up and peered into the distance. In the next instant, he saw various types of Immortal Boat Formations appearing one after another.

By a rough estimate, there were at least thirty of them.

"The Eight-legged Formation of the Grand Wei Study, the Immortal Sword Formation of the Nine Nether Immortal Sect, the Black Sun Formation of the Black Sun Empire..."

Chen Dongdong gulped. When he spotted a Lotus Formation among them—one condensed from over five thousand immortal boats—he frantically mobilized his immortal essence and maneuvered his own Lotus Formation to retreat rapidly.

Chen Dongdong's sudden movement instantly triggered a reaction from Core Disciple Xuan.

Aboard the Black Dragon, Fang Chen looked up toward Qingming. In the next second, with a light flick of his sleeve, the Black Dragon Formation soared into the sky, advancing toward Qingming at extreme speed.

"Go back to the meditation room and cultivate. Whatever happens next has nothing to do with you."

After saying that, Fang Chen grabbed Zhang Shaoming and gave him a toss, sending him into the meditation room. The heavy door slammed shut instantly. Zhang Shaoming tried to open it, only to find the door wouldn't budge an inch.

Zhang Shaoming fell into a state of dazed confusion. "Why did that Senior lock me in here? And why did he bring me back in the first place..."

***

Chen Dongdong breathed a massive sigh of relief when he saw Fang Chen and the Core Disciple Xuan arrive as reinforcements. However, his heart sank again as soon as he realized they only had three formations against the enemy's thirty-plus.

Among the opposition were core disciples who held prestigious rankings within the Wandao Immortal Sect. The situation looked grim.

Chen Dongdong's voice vibrated in their ears, "Sister Xuan, Brother Wang... it looks like the Blood Demon Hall has arrived. The enemy is right before us. Should we... retreat for now? I reckon Tenth Senior Brother and the others are still ten or twenty years away. Why don't we regroup then and take back Lone Light Star?"

Core Disciple Xuan's expression was heavy, especially after her gaze locked onto the enemy's Lotus Formation. It was the same one as hers. Her expression was a storm of shifting emotions.

The opposing formations didn't attack immediately. They seemed to be sizing up the three lone structures. Likewise, Fang Chen was observing them.

He had seen the various Immortal Boat Formations of the Fangcun Realm. After arriving in the Taicang Realm, he encountered the Eight-Legged and Lotus models. Today, he saw many new varieties. Thanks to the intelligence reports he had studied before the mission, he knew exactly which powers these formations represented.

That spherical formation, glowing like a dark star, was the Black Sun Formation. It belonged to the Black Sun Empire, the only non-sectarian superpower in the Taicang Realm. Their strength was immense. Even the Wandao Immortal Sect, arguably the leader of the realm, had never truly crushed them in actual combat. In a total war, the Wandao Immortal Sect might have a sixty percent chance of winning, leaving the empire with a solid forty percent chance. They were near-equals.

Beside it was the Immortal Sword Formation of the Nine Nether Immortal Sect. They weren't strictly sword cultivators, but they were famous throughout the Taicang Realm for their sword-based immortal arts.

Next to that was the Grand Wei Study's Eight-Legged Formation. It looked far more majestic than the one Wang Zhanqi had commanded, condensed from over four thousand immortal boats.

Other formations took the shapes of tripods or tigers. One even looked similar to the Black Dragon formation, but it shimmered with a cyan luster, resembling the legendary Azure Dragon of the Four Sacred Beasts.

These formations acted like stars surrounding a moon, guarding the central Lotus Formation. It was clear who was in command.

Suddenly, the enemy formations erupted with iridescent light, forming a bridge across Qingming. Figures began to step out.

The figure at the very center projected his voice. "Junior Sister Xuan, Junior Brother Chen, come out and meet us. And the Daoist from the Fangcun Realm's Enlightenment God Palace, you come out as well."

His voice pierced through the layers of the void, ringing clearly in everyone's ears. He stood tall and imposing as a mountain, radiating the aura of a high-ranking authority who had commanded others for ages.

"It really is Ninth Senior Brother... we're doomed. Sister Xuan, let's just bail," fretted Chen Dongdong in a low voice, a bitter smile on his face.

He was terrified to even show his face.

Core Disciple Xuan sent a private transmission, "Buy some time. Don't panic. Even if you're terrified, you must act like you don't have a care in the world."

The three allied formations then emitted their own iridescent light to form bridges. The three of them stepped out, standing in a remote confrontation against a force ten times their size.

"It has been a long time," Core Disciple Xuan said, looking at Ye Daoling with a complicated expression.

"Hello, Ninth Senior Brother. I'm Chen Dongdong. We met once at the Wandao Immortal Sect," added Chen Dongdong, waving with a forced, sycophantic smile.

Ye Daoling nodded with a smile. "I remember you. Though we only met once, your talent is excellent. You will make a name for yourself in the future."

He acknowledged Core Disciple Xuan with a tilt of his head before his gaze finally landed on Fang Chen. "Reasonably speaking, Lone Light Star should have sent back a message long ago. It seems Wang Zhanqi has already died at your hands, Daoist?"

"Speak! Did my Junior Brother die by your hands?" a female cultivator from the Eight-Legged Formation demanded, staring coldly at the trio.