In the kitchen, top chefs from across the continent were bustling with activity. Rare and exquisite ingredients, seldom seen elsewhere, were abundant here.
Xiao He handed Ye Ling a set of waiter's clothes and earnestly instructed, "Little brother, many distinguished guests have arrived at the building today. Their status is worlds apart from ours, and many of them have rather peculiar tempers. If we make even the slightest mistake, they could take our lives."
"Every year, during banquets, no less than ten waiters have met their end at the hands of these guests. You're new and don't know the rules, so it's best you go to the warehouse to move goods. While you won't learn much, at least you'll preserve your life."
Ye Ling accepted the clothes and thanked Xiao He, "Thank you, Big Brother, for your concern."
Xiao He patted Ye Ling's shoulder and said with deep meaning, "Keep at it. Although Li Xiao is a playboy, he's also a decent boss. He brought you here because he values you. Stick with him, and you might get a raise and promotion in the future, perhaps even working for the Long Group."
Ye Ling simply smiled and replied, "Then I'll take your good wishes to heart, Big Brother. I'll work hard."
"Good."
Xiao He smiled at Ye Ling, then pointed towards the changing room. "Go change your clothes in the changing room. Then, turn left out the door and go straight to the warehouse. I have other matters to attend to, so I can't escort you."
"Alright, Big Brother, you go ahead and be busy."
Ye Ling watched Xiao He leave, then entered the changing room with the waiter's uniform.
At this hour, the changing room was empty. After entering, Ye Ling immediately erected a barrier and changed back into his own clothes.
Ye Ling stood before the mirror, admiring himself in his dark ancient robe, and chuckled, "It's much more comfortable to wear my own clothes. My mood has significantly improved."
The World Annihilation Spirit Fire said impatiently, "Alright, alright, we know you're handsome, no need to preen! I suggest you use a clone to disguise yourself as a waiter. We don't know how meticulous the hidden surveillance within the building is. If they notice someone missing, and trigger an alarm, all our efforts will be in vain."
"Naturally."
Ye Ling readily accepted the World Annihilation Spirit Fire's suggestion. He retrieved a clone from his spatial ring, dressed it as a waiter, and then imbued it with consciousness using runes, allowing the clone to act autonomously.
After sending the clone to the warehouse to move goods, Ye Ling completely concealed his aura and ascended to the upper levels of the building.
The headquarters of the Long Group's skyscraper had a total of a thousand floors, but Long Ye's birthday banquet was only held within the first hundred floors.
Beyond the hundredth floor, guests were prohibited from entering.
As Ye Ling bypassed the mechanical guards of the hundredth floor and reached the hundred and first, he discovered the entire floor was filled with fully armed mechanical soldiers!
The World Annihilation Spirit Fire exclaimed, "Holy cow! What's going on?"
Ye Ling concealed his presence and quickly scanned all the mechanical soldiers. "These soldiers are all in standby mode and haven't been activated yet... However, based on the current situation, Long Ye seems to be planning something..."
The World Annihilation Spirit Fire quickly said, "Let's head to the upper floors and see what this Long Ye is up to!"
"Agreed."
Ye Ling nodded and continued to ascend. He found that all floors above the hundredth were packed with fully armed mechanical soldiers. All he could see were intelligent machines; not a single living person was in sight!
Soon, Ye Ling reached the entrance to the thousandth floor and stopped before a bronze door.
The World Annihilation Spirit Fire, having surveyed the layout of the entire building, marveled, "A thousand-story building, and nine hundred floors are filled with fully armed mechanical soldiers! If these mechanical soldiers were to be deployed, the entire Eastern Xuan Continent would likely be wiped out!"
However, Ye Ling was no longer concerned with the mechanical soldiers. His entire attention was focused on the bronze door.
The World Annihilation Spirit Fire asked curiously, "What are you looking at?"
Ye Ling replied, "Compared to the mechanical soldiers in this building, I'm more curious as to why such an ancient bronze door would appear inside this high-tech skyscraper?"
The World Annihilation Spirit Fire looked at the bronze door but couldn't discern anything special. "It's just an ordinary bronze door. I don't see anything out of the ordinary. Perhaps Long Ye has unique tastes?"
Ye Ling, however, shook his head. "This bronze door wouldn't be out of place anywhere else, but within this building, it's exceptionally incongruous."
"I know my disciple, Long Ye, very well. He has extreme obsessive-compulsive disorder. This bronze door placed here would absolutely be a thorn in his side, and in severe cases, could drive him mad!"
The World Annihilation Spirit Fire exclaimed, "That serious?"
Ye Ling nodded slightly. "That serious. If Long Ye is truly the owner of this building, he would never allow this bronze door to be here..."
Creak—!
While Ye Ling and the World Annihilation Spirit Fire were conversing, the bronze door was pushed open. Ye Ling immediately used runes to conceal his aura and hid to the side.
A man with horns on his head, wearing white robes, a sword at his waist, and with snow-white skin emerged. As he walked, he said to a burly man over two meters tall behind him, "This blood sacrifice is extremely important to the Venerable Lord. It concerns whether the Venerable Lord can break through the cosmic barrier in the main timeline. Therefore, not a single mistake can be tolerated, do you understand?"
The burly man behind him patted his chest and laughed, "My lord, rest assured. Three Chaos Sovereigns are monitoring this building, and they can detect even the slightest disturbance, like a fly losing a single strand of hair! However, I never imagined that the ants from the Eastern Xuan Continent could cause any unexpected trouble!"
"In my opinion, my appearance alone is enough for this ritual; you didn't need to come personally, my lord."
The white-skinned man said, "Don't be careless. A strange incident occurred in Heavenly City a week ago. Wang Liren, who robbed Li Xiao, has still not been found. This is truly unusual."
The burly man nonchalantly replied, "Could that Wang Liren have already escaped Heavenly City? And isn't this just an ordinary robbery? Are you perhaps being overly sensitive, my lord?"
"Hmph!"
Boom!
An extremely chilling aura erupted from the white-skinned man, pressing down on the burly man, instantly turning his face pale!
The white-skinned man said coldly, "The Venerable Lord said that absolutely no accidents can occur with the blood sacrifice. I will not permit any unstable factors to emerge! Send out two Great Dao Immortal Lords to search the entire Eastern Xuan Continent. I want to see that robber Wang Liren before the banquet begins! Do you understand!"
The burly man trembled violently and quickly bowed, replying, "U-understood! I will arrange it immediately!"
The white-skinned man continued, "Oh, and! Keep a close eye on Long Ye. He has long been unwilling to be our puppet. This banquet must not have any mishaps caused by him!"
The burly man replied again, "But that Long Ye is inherently disobedient. If he disregards his own blood relatives and deliberately acts out..."
The white-skinned man's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he said coldly, "Then kill him! He's no longer of use. For this banquet, I only need his shell!"
Upon hearing the white-skinned man's command, the burly man grinned and bowed to the white-skinned man again, "I understand! My lord, I bid you farewell!"
With that, the burly man vanished into thin air, leaving only the white-skinned man standing there.
The white-skinned man beckoned, closing the bronze door. He then gazed at the bronze door alone for a moment before walking past Ye Ling and descending the stairs.
After the white-skinned man had left and gone downstairs, Ye Ling finally dispelled the runes and reappeared, saying softly, "It seems this time... I've overheard a world-shattering secret!"
The World Annihilation Spirit Fire: "Those two should be high-ranking members of the Remnant Evil Clan. Judging by their words, the Lord of Remnant Evil seems to be planning to break through the cosmic barrier from the future? But why did they mention the past era as the main timeline?"
Ye Ling shook his head. "I'm not sure... But this isn't what we should be discussing now. The Remnant Evil Clan intends to achieve some conspiracy using Long Ye's birthday banquet. Since we've learned this information, we naturally cannot stand idly by."
The World Annihilation Spirit Fire asked, "Then what will you do? Don't blame me for reminding you, but the two who just left, the big one is a powerful being who possesses both a Chaos Heart and Great Dao Origin, far surpassing your strength. As for the white-skinned one... even I couldn't see his strength clearly. Being able to hide from them under their noses with your runes doesn't mean you are their match!"
Ye Ling replied, "Don't worry, I won't take risks unless absolutely necessary! Besides, didn't they say that this blood sacrifice cannot have even the slightest error? We don't need to completely stop this blood sacrifice; we just need to cause them a minor disruption."
For a grand ritual, the greater the objective, the stricter the standards that must be followed.
Such rituals often result in complete failure with even the slightest minor error!
Ye Ling's current advantage is that he is in the dark, while the enemy is in the light, and the enemy cannot tolerate even the slightest mistake!
Under such circumstances, even if the Remnant Evil Clan dispatched a large number of experts, it is not impossible for Ye Ling to successfully thwart them!
The World Annihilation Spirit Fire asked again, "Since you have an idea, let me ask one more thing: where will you break through?"
Ye Ling walked to the bronze door, gently placed his hand on it, and said softly, "Didn't they already tell us... My precious disciple is restless, and their blood sacrifice ritual requires my precious disciple's shell."
The World Annihilation Spirit Fire: "You mean... we're going to rescue Long Ye?"
"No..." Ye Ling shook his head. "Not rescue... I want my precious disciple to personally destroy the Remnant Evil Clan's plan!"
As his words fell, Ye Ling transformed into specks of golden light and passed through the gap in the bronze door.
The moment Ye Ling left, the white-skinned man instantly reappeared on the top floor, frowning at the closed bronze door.
"Strange, there's no anomaly at all... Why do I feel so uneasy? It's as if this blood sacrifice is bound to fail? That shouldn't be the case..."
The white-skinned man's unease persisted. He finally shook his head fiercely and gritted his teeth, "No! This blood sacrifice cannot afford any mistakes! I must go and invite the Venerable Lord in advance!"