“There are many strong fighters in the Second City, including Helan Shang, Long Yu, and Young Master Yan!” Gongsun Changjue stated.
“Oh?” A glimmer flashed in Su Mo’s eyes. So it seemed Long Yu and the Flaming Devil Ghost Sage were in the Second City.
The three Young Masters had actually gathered at the same spot.
“How about the others?” Su Mo asked some more.
“The Fourth through Seventh Cities have unleashed their moat formation, I cannot get through. Their situations are unknown!”
Gongsun Changjue sighed and continued, “The Eighth City had accessed their moat formation too but, before it started, I could feel the strong aura of Young Master Gu Mo coming from within, so I presumed he was in there. The Ninth City is weirder!”
What about the Ninth City?” Su Mo asked solemnly.
“It’s an empty city. There’s not a single person!” Gongsun Changjue said, looking dignified.
“What?” Su Mo, along with everyone else, were stunned to hear this. How could there be no one?
About nine hundred and forty other participants in the Thousand Selection Fight were randomly assigned to nine city clusters. How could the Ninth City Cluster be empty?
“That’s impossible!” Li Yan the Sky Tyrant frowned. He did not quite believe Gongsun Changjue, but then again the man had no reason to come up with such a hoax.
“I didn’t dare to enter the city. I only stayed above the city walls for a brief moment, but I saw no one and felt no aura!” Gongsun Changjue stated.
The crowd went silent. This was weird indeed.
“Su Mo, what do you plan to do next?” Gongsun Changjue asked solemnly. At the moment, he could not quite grasp the situation and had no idea what to do next.
Most importantly, they could not act rashly without knowing the condition of each city.
“Is it possible to abandon a city cluster? As in, if everyone leaves the city?” Su Mo asked doubtfully. Long Teng had not told him about this part.
“That’s possible, but we lose if our city cluster is occupied or destroyed by other people!” Gongsun Changjue replied.
“In that case, there must be people in there!” Su Mo’s eyes flashed as he muttered to himself.
At the moment, the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Cities had all initiated their moat formation. Presumably the situations within these cities had been stabilized.
Whether it was done by one man alone or with combined effort, in any case they had stabilized the inner parts of the cities.
The Ninth City seemed deserted on the surface. Its situation was unknown, making it difficult to decide the next step.
Currently, only the civil war in the Second City could serve as a better breach.
“Brother Gongsun, when you were checking on the Second City, how was the battle situation?” Su Mo asked again.
“The last time I checked, Helan Shang, Long Yu, Young Master Yan and a few others were fighting for the right to command the Second City. But, because there were more powerful fighters in that cluster, the situation had not been stabilized,” Gongsun Changjue answered.
Su Mo sank into silence. He glanced at Long Shuangshuang, who shook her head at him.
He had hinted at her to try communicating with Long Teng and Long Yu. And now that she was shaking her head, it seemed she was unable to do so here.
“Everyone, what do you think? How should we move from here?” Su Mo looked at the crowd around him and asked.
The situation was unknown, and he did not have any good strategies in mind and did not know how to act.
“I think we should take the initiative and ambush the Second City amid the chaos!” Li Yan the Sky Tyrant suggested.
“Not good. If we do that, someone will surely attack our city too!” Gongsun Changjue shook his head.
“Do you have any bright ideas, Brother Gongsun?” asked a disciple from the Human Palace.
“It’s impossible for any one of the nine city clusters to defeat the other eight on their own!” Gongsun Changjue made a serious statement.
“You mean, we should seek vertical and horizontal alliances? Su Mo squinted. He thought so too. They surely could not go at it alone.
Mainly because he was unsure of those powerful figures could do. The ones like Young Master Ba Yun and Prince Gu Mo had achieved training as high as Eighth and Ninth Grade, and even though their powers had been suppressed to First Grade, Low Rank, their battle prowess must still have been terrifying.
That was why Su Mo did not dare to act rashly. If he could be sure that his abilities could make a clean sweep, he would not need to be so cautious and could just take them out there and then.
“That’s right. Seek alliances!” Gongsun Changjue nodded. This was the safest way.
Su Mo considered it. Besides the Second and Ninth Cities, all other city clusters had initiated their moat formation. He could not know who were inside those cities.
He was only quite certain that Prince Gu Mo should be in the Eighth City.
But he did not really want to join forces with Prince Gu Mo. The man was too powerful, and he could not trust him.
“Right now, the best partner is the prince of my tribe!” Mo Ye spoke. It would work out for the best if they joined forces with their prince.
“The best way is to forge partnership with the Second City!” Long Shuangshuang spoke too. Long Yu was there, so she was hoping for an alliance.
“Yes, the Second City is most suitable!” Su Mo nodded. Long Yu and the Flaming Devil Ghost Sage were there, exactly who he wanted to work with.
But Helan Shang was there too. For whatever reason, he had made a move on Su Mo that time in the Space-Time City.
Mo Ye frowned but said nothing. He knew very well he could not beat Su Mo, so he chose to assess the situation a little more.
Gongsun Changjue had no opinion on the matter. Compared with the Eighth City and its uncertainties, the Second City was much more suitable.
Su Mo stayed silent as his divine thoughts penetrated the moat formation to investigate the Second City, hoping to get any sort of a hint.
Every city cluster had its code, and so Su Mo easily found the Second City.
But when his divine thoughts reached the Second City, it was found that its moat formation had been launched, which meant the situation inside had been stabilized for now.
“Long Shuangshuang, head to the Second City!” Su Mo turned to her and said.
“Me?” she said, stunned. Wasn’t Gongsun Changjue a more suitable choice?
“Yes, you. You’ll represent us, the Second City, and form alliance with the Third City. But remember, other than Long Yu, you cannot let anyone else know I’m in the Third City. Just say that Brother Gongsun is leading us!” Su Mo said to her. He did not trust Gongsun Changjue, hence it would be better to send Long Shuangshuang.
“But I’m not good at hiding. If I go to the Second City, those from other city clusters would know!” Long Shuangshuang said, looking rather solemn. It was not that she did not want to go, but she just was not good at covering her tracks.
“No matter, I’ll look out for you!” Su Mo said. Despite having others in the Third City who were good at hiding, next to Gongsun Changjue, he trusted Long Shuangshuang the most.
“Alright!” she nodded, and disappeared in the air, gliding across the sky. Exiting the moat formation was not a problem. It could be easily done.
Long Shuangshuang moved fast, like lightning, towards the Second City.
But she had indeed exposed herself to everyone else in all the city clusters.
Each one of them bore the code of their city on their person. The number “three”, made by the power of the formation, appeared above their heads.
Someone skilled at hiding would not be found out, but Long Shuangshuang could not hide well, and very soon she had exposed her identity, letting all city clusters know that someone had left the Third City.
She was going at top speed and, given the fact that the Third City was very close to the Second City, approached her destination in two breaths’ time.
Su Mo’s divine thoughts stayed locked onto Long Shuangshuang as he monitored the situation in secret. Everyone else in the city did the same.
It was precisely then when something happened!
A dazzling blade of light appeared from the other direction, like a gorgeous aurora, slashing towards Long Shuangshuang.