The cultivators from eight regions arranged their respective nationals, leaving them in the underground city in batches, employing tactics of "openly repairing a path while secretly crossing the plain."
These actions, though appearing clever, were clearly observed by Ling'er from the shadows.
When Ye Qingyi was absent, Ling'er was primarily responsible for managing everything in the underground city, which also involved a secret within the city.
The central array of the underground city was located beneath the ancient pagoda. From here, the array could clearly perceive the movements of everyone in the entire underground city, much like a surveillance system.
Ye Qingyi felt this was too invasive of personal privacy and had thus kept this function sealed. It was only upon the arrival of overseas cultivators that Ye Qingyi reactivated this function, tasking Ling'er with specifically monitoring those overseas cultivators.
Ling'er meticulously recorded the location of each of these individuals, and the information was quickly transmitted to Ye Bufan.
"It's about to begin," Ye Bufan smiled slightly. He then summoned Song Mingqin, Yan Yuzhu, Qu Fei, and Bai Zizhen, among others. These individuals were all genuine early-stage Core Formation cultivators, and their combat strength was more than sufficient to deal with overseas cultivators at or below the early-stage Core Formation level.
Under Ling'er's command, the city lord's guards quickly assembled in front of the city lord's mansion. Following Ling'er's arrangements, these guards were led by Ye Bufan, Song Mingqin, Yan Yuzhu, Bai Zizhen, and Qu Fei, and they were dispatched to the southeast, northwest, and central areas of the underground city to search for and drive out those individuals.
"If they refuse to leave, we can eliminate them," Ye Bufan stated.
This decision by Ye Bufan was the result of discussions with Song Mingqin, Qu Fei, Bai Zizhen, and others. Yan Se and members of Song Mingqin's sect were also present in the teams.
As Qu Fei put it, since the other party had already bullied them to their doorstep, they had to retaliate fiercely.
With the division of labor complete, everyone proceeded in their respective directions. Soon, in various locations, the overseas cultivators were apprehended on the spot.
Some were captured alive, while others fiercely resisted and were ultimately killed one by one.
"This is strange," Ye Bufan frowned as he looked at those killed and captured.
None of the overseas cultivators at the Core Formation stage were left behind; only a small portion of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators remained.
"It seems they believe the Core Formation stage represents true strength, and this is just a smokescreen for us," Ye Bufan remarked.
"Not good!" Ye Bufan suddenly thought of something and rushed towards the ancient pagoda with his companions.
"I say, Rupa, your plan is quite brilliant. How did you know they were monitoring us?"
Inside the ancient pagoda, Rupa and Johansen had already entered and were slowly making their way toward the top floor.
"The six senses of Yoga are naturally more acute than those of ordinary people, especially at the Core Formation stage. Ever since I moved in, I've felt extremely uneasy," Rupa replied.
"So that's how it is. Your Indian yoga is truly formidable, indeed one of the ancient civilizations," Anthony said.
Rupa smiled faintly and said no more. The group of Core Formation powerhouses continued their ascent, encountering Bai Qi repeatedly, defeating him, only for him to reappear.
"Didn't Ye Bufan emerge from the top floor back then?" Rani asked. "Who knows how many treasures are in this ancient pagoda."
"This underground city was originally an ancient ruin, but the Yu Star realm got the advantage first," Noda said. "However, soon, this place will be ours."
Noda became lost in his daydream. Their purpose this time was to empty out all the treasures in the underground city.
Ye Bufan and his companions, along with Song Mingqin, Bai Zizhen, and others, quickly rendezvoused beneath the ancient pagoda. At this point, Ye Qingyi also appeared.
"Sister, they've entered," Ye Qingcheng said with worry in her voice.
Ye Qingyi, however, remained unhurried. "It's alright. It won't matter even if they enter. Let's wait for them to come out."
"What?" Ye Qingcheng was somewhat confused, and even Ye Bufan found it perplexing.
"This ancient pagoda is not as simple as it appears," Ye Qingyi stated. "For them to ascend now only serves to prematurely unlock the pagoda's restrictions."
Ye Qingyi explained to everyone, "This ancient pagoda appears to have eighteen floors, but it's actually more. The City Lord, to accommodate the limitations of Earth, set restrictions on the ancient pagoda. The eighteen floors you see now are actually the first three floors of the true ancient pagoda, corresponding to the Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core stages."
After those people unlock the Golden Core layer, the ancient pagoda will fully restore its true hierarchical structure, with a total of ten major levels, each level being an independent space. Within each space, there are further divided into six realms.
Ye Bufan took a deep breath and transmitted his thoughts to Ye Qingyi, "So, even you haven't fully understood all of this in the underground city?"
Ye Qingyi nodded slightly and replied to Ye Bufan, "This underground city is connected to the Dragon Locking Well in the capital, and the secrets of the Dragon Locking Well go far beyond this. The underground city we are in is merely a part of the underground world of the Dragon Locking Well."
"Underground city... Golden Dragon..." Ye Bufan's mind churned with thoughts. "Could it be that the legacy of the Dragon Locking Well is a Dragon's legacy? After all, the people of Kyushu call themselves descendants of the dragon."
Ye Bufan shook his head. Now was not the time to ponder this. He suppressed these thoughts and began observing the situation at the ancient pagoda.
Approximately an hour later, the light at the very top of the ancient pagoda lit up.
"Bang—"
The moment the light ignited, an incredibly brilliant radiance erupted from the pagoda's spire, blinding everyone in the underground city.
The light persisted for about ten seconds before slowly fading. When everyone could open their eyes again, the ancient pagoda had completely transformed.
Externally, it was golden, a golden pagoda. Its structure had also changed significantly, with the original eighteen floors now reduced to ten major levels.
Each major level had three lights, presumably corresponding to early, mid, and late-stage cultivation.
Currently, all the lights were only illuminated up to the third major level.
"Hmm?" Ye Bufan noticed a spherical object at the very peak of the pagoda. On the top floor, two characters were faintly inscribed.
"Ling—Long—"
"Could this be the Eight Treasures Exquisite Pagoda that Master once mentioned to me?" Ye Bufan hesitated. "No, the Eight Treasures Exquisite Pagoda is a divine artifact; it shouldn't appear here..."