The Elder Ice Drake's eyes glowed faintly, a shard of icy fury visible beneath his otherwise composed expression. "So they dare bring such numbers into my domain. It will be their end."

Lin Mu clenched his fist. "Not just that. Look closely, their formation pattern isn't random. They're using a layered scouting method. One group advances while another stays behind as support. This is military precision."

"Then they have planned this for months," Daoist Chu muttered.

"Perhaps longer," Lin Mu replied. "They knew their last raid would alert the drakes. They came ready to fight the entire clan this time."

But he had prepared for that too.

"Shrubby, Xiao Yin, Xiao Yang..." Lin Mu said mentally, "stay hidden and don't engage. I need you to sense their strengths."

"Understood," came the reply.

A few moments later, all three beasts began reporting their findings one after another. Their voices echoed in Lin Mu's mind, overlapping slightly but clear. "They're strong," said Little Shrubby. "Many of them are in the mid stages of the immortal realm. Fourth and fifth tribulation stages mostly."

Xiao Yin's calm tone followed. "A smaller number at the sixth tribulation stage. About forty or fifty"

Then Xiao Yang's deeper voice added the final piece. "Three of them stand out. Seventh tribulation stage, at the peak. Their qi feels strong, dangerous and yet suppressed."

"Probably using some qi suppressing technique to hide their presence. If they walked in openly, the Ice Drakes would sense it quickly." Cattaleya guessed.

Lin Mu relayed the information aloud. "Fourth to seventh tribulation stages. Three peak immortals among them."

Daoist Chu exhaled slowly. "That's enough power to destroy several small or even mid sized sects outright."

The Elder Ice Drake's expression turned solemn. "Then we will make this their grave. Every one of my kin has been told to remain patient until the command is given. When they strike, our retaliation will be absolute."

Lin Mu nodded. "We wait until they make the first move. Let them believe they've caught the Ice Drakes unguarded. Once they begin their attack, the arrays will activate, and the teleportation gates will link all nests."

The glowing map flickered again, showing the red dots moving steadily inward. Six hundred enemies closing in on four seemingly empty nests. The tension in the hall rose like the quiet before a storm.

Lin Mu's gaze never left the map. His voice was calm but carried steel beneath it. "Everyone, prepare yourselves. The Ephemera Sect has finally stepped into the dragon's den."

And deep in the frozen world outside, six hundred enemies advanced under the veil of snow, unaware that beneath their feet, the mountains themselves waited, alive and hungry for vengeance.

The atmosphere in the grand hall of the Ice Drakes was so tense that even the air seemed to hum with suppressed energy.

All eyes were fixed on the glowing formation map that floated above the floor, showing hundreds of red dots steadily creeping closer to three of the four the marked nests. The dots pulsed faintly, each one representing a member of the Ephemera Sect, the crimson hue a clear symbol of hostility.

"They're closing in," Daoist Chu said in a low tone, his fingers weaving small formations to adjust the sensitivity of the projection. "At their current speed, they'll reach the outer perimeter of the nests within minutes."

Lin Mu gave a silent nod, his gaze sharp as a blade.

The reflected blue glow of the array cast his face in a ghostly light. "Let's see how they move first. We strike only when they commit."

Around them, the others stood ready. Elyon's form flickered slightly at the edge of a cliff jutting out of a great peak, the darkness of his aura blending seamlessly into the corners of the rocky outcrop.

His voice came from the communication array, smooth and calm. "The three peak immortals... They're dividing their leaders equally. Each group has one peak immortal. It seems they intend to take three nests simultaneously."

The Elder Ice Drake grunted, the sound echoing like distant thunder. "Cunning, but predictable. They know not to provoke us directly with all their force gathered in one place. It will not save them."

Sure enough, on the projection, the enemy forces separated into three main groups. Each cluster of nearly two hundred cultivators advanced in different directions-north, east, and south. The western side remained untouched, just as they had anticipated.

"They are avoiding the western barrier," Elyon confirmed. "The empire's formation field scares them more than the dragons." He allowed himself a faint smile before adding, "I'll head back. It's time."

Lin Mu nodded once. "Return here. You'll come with me."

SHUA.

A ripple of black light passed through the cliffs as Elyon's presence vanished. Moments later, he reappeared beside Lin Mu, stepping cleanly out of a fold of shadow. The others barely glanced at him, they had grown accustomed to his unnerving method of travel using a special teleportation mark that combined his Darkness Dao with Space.

It was a difficult skill to use, as it required quite some time and expensive materials to set up. But it was also this skill which had allowed Elyon to escape dangers all these years in his thousands of missions.

Thankfully, with Lin Mu sponsoring him, he had no lack of them and could use it freely now.

The red dots on the map were now dangerously close to the glowing blue markers representing the Ice Drake nests.

Daoist Chu whispered, "They've reached the alarm threshold."

The array pulsed, and faint golden runes appeared across its surface. The invisible boundary had been crossed.

Lin Mu's voice cut through the silence. "We move. Plan D-execute!" Immediately, a surge of spiritual energy and spatial fluctuations filled the cavern as teleportation arrays activated all around them.

"The Elder and his forces... South," Lin Mu ordered. "You'll have the coldest

terrain advantage. Make them feel what true ice means."

The Elder Ice Drake inclined his head. "It will be done. None will leave that nest

alive."