Chapter 1317: The Peerless Champion

The archway collapsed, massive stones tumbling down!

At that moment, the seated expert in this place immediately stood up, his gaze icy as he stared at the Great Elder. For countless years, no one had dared to act so brazenly here!

What kind of place was this? The Wang Clan—a long-life aristocratic family! Who would dare to cause trouble here?

Yet today, someone had arrived carrying severed heads and mutilated corpses, tossing them right before the Wang Clan’s archway. This was nothing short of a blatant provocation.

“You are strong, but if you think you can provoke my Wang Clan, you’ve miscalculated. This will bring you nothing but calamity!” The speaker was a middle-aged man, tall and in the prime of his life.

“Finally, not some savage beast, but an actual person,” the Great Elder remarked as he led Shi Hao onto the ruins.

From here, they could gaze into the distance, where countless dragon auras coiled around the mountains. Each peak seemed divine, with tens of thousands of mountains exuding dense spiritual energy!

This was astonishing. In the outside world, even a single sacred mountain was considered precious, yet here, tens of thousands stood side by side—vast and magnificent.

The peaks were shrouded in immortal mist, stretching endlessly. Silver waterfalls cascaded down, floating islands hovered in the sky, and auspicious beasts roamed freely. This was a true paradise of immortals.

In fact, it could be called a genuine immortal land!

During the Immortal Ancient Era, this place had birthed a true immortal—a peerless expert who achieved eternal life. This was his immortal sanctuary, preserved through the ages.

Nowadays, finding such a paradise in the outside world required excavating ancient caves left by ancestors. Yet here in the Wang Clan, it remained intact.

“Whoosh!”

The middle-aged man struck without hesitation, unleashing the Heaven-Sundering Technique. Sword beams, radiant as rainbows, slashed through the air, aiming to cleave the Great Elder apart!

For a moment, the sky was filled with streaks of light, like a swarm of comets hurtling toward a single point.

“Pop!”

Faced with such an assault, the Great Elder merely raised his hand and wiped the air. All the sword beams dimmed like dying candles in the wind, swiftly extinguished.

Then, he stretched out his arm and effortlessly seized the man. With a light squeeze, the powerful cultivator coughed up blood, nearly bursting apart.

At the critical moment, the Great Elder showed mercy, tossing him to the ground.

Behind them, many young witnesses trembled in fear, their faces pale. What kind of terrifying elder was this, who could suppress one of their clan’s top experts with a mere gesture?

To them, the middle-aged man had been an unshakable mountain. Yet now, he had been subdued so easily—utterly shocking.

“Enemy attack!” someone shouted.

In truth, there was no need for them to sound the alarm. The distant mountain gates had already noticed, and the deep, resonant blare of ox-horn trumpets echoed, signaling danger inward.

The archway was merely an observation post for vigilance. The true mountain gate lay ahead, where a grand hall stood, blocking the only path.

This hall was majestic, enormous, forged from some mysterious metal that shimmered with a silvery-white glow, like stars in the heavens.

“Star Hall!”

This was a crucial stronghold of the Wang Clan, guarding the mountain gate, always under the watch of supreme experts.

“Ancestor, disaster has struck!” someone wailed, carrying the injured middle-aged man, along with the severed remains of Wang Manglong and the head of the elder who had died alongside him, into the silver Star Hall.

“Calm yourselves!” the elder barked. Then his eyes narrowed. “These are our clansmen?”

“Yes!” someone whispered.

With a thunderous boom, the elder stood up, his gaze icy as he stepped out of the Star Hall, staring at the Great Elder and Shi Hao approaching from the horizon.

“Who are you, daring to kill members of my Wang Clan? Blood must be repaid with blood!” the ancestor declared, his tone domineering and resolute, leaving no room for doubt.

“Ninth Ancestor, that young man is… Huang!” someone recognized Shi Hao. Due to past conflicts, the younger generation of their clan had seen his portrait.

Shi Hao was infamous, once treated as a servant by their clan and forced to mine Life Stones in the Primordial Ancient Mine. The ensuing turmoil had made him impossible to ignore.

“Him? That arrogant brat?” The Ninth Ancestor’s eyes turned cold.

“Exactly! He has repeatedly opposed our Wang Clan, ignorant of his own insignificance. Ancestor, please capture him!” someone urged.

This so-called Ninth Ancestor was prideful, his advanced age doing little to temper his violent temperament. He was fiercely protective of his clan, to the point of extremism.

He cared not for right or wrong, only for his family’s interests. Hearing of Shi Hao’s defiance, he had initially dismissed him as unworthy of attention. But now that the boy had delivered himself to their doorstep, he would show no mercy.

“Young and ruthless, daring to kill my Wang clansmen? Then you shall not live!” the Ninth Ancestor said coldly.

“Won’t you ask why I killed him?” Shi Hao retorted.

“I need not ask. Even if you were entirely justified, laying a finger—nay, even a hair—on my clansmen is unforgivable!” the Ninth Ancestor declared arrogantly.

“So this is the Wang Clan of the long-life aristocratic families? Truly domineering!” Shi Hao seethed with anger.

“What a Wang Clan!” The Great Elder’s expression darkened. Their arrogance was intolerable—judging by affiliation, not reason.

“Displeased? It matters not. Those who provoke the Wang Clan shall pay in blood!” the Ninth Ancestor sneered.

As he spoke, he slashed his hand like a blade toward Shi Hao. The ensuing sword radiance was terrifying, peerlessly sharp, its power beyond measure.

This was the aura of a Supreme Blade! The Ninth Ancestor was monstrously strong, just a step away from becoming a true Supreme!

For someone of his status to attack a junior so ruthlessly was shameless. Had the strike landed, death would have been certain.

“Clang!”

The Great Elder intervened, flicking a single finger. The Supreme Blade aura shattered, and his finger continued unabated, rapidly enlarging.

“You—!” The Ninth Ancestor was both shocked and furious.

He had known the Great Elder was formidable, but never imagined to this extent. He had overestimated himself, thinking they were equals. The reality was far worse.

Realizing his peril, the Ninth Ancestor retreated hastily.

But the Great Elder’s strike was not to be evaded. His finger, now like a pillar of heaven, crashed down upon the ancestor.

“Gah!”

The Ninth Ancestor coughed up blood, his bones shattered, his spine broken. A single exchange had left him on the brink of death!

“Even if you were a true Supreme, you’d still be unworthy of arrogance before me!” the Great Elder said coldly.

The onlookers were dumbstruck. Their so-called peerless Ninth Ancestor had been defeated in a single move? It was inconceivable.

“Who… are you?” the Ninth Ancestor gasped, realizing the gravity of the situation. A supreme being had arrived.

Yet he still sought to intimidate with his clan’s prestige. “No matter who you are, this is the Wang Clan. The dignity of our immortal lineage cannot be defied!”

“The dignity of a long-life aristocratic family… cannot be defied?” The Great Elder recalled the ancestor’s earlier arrogance—judging by affiliation, not reason—and his expression turned frosty.

“The Wang Clan has stood atop the summit for too long, detached from the mortal world, treating all as ants. Your tyranny has become habit. Today, I shall teach you a lesson.” The Great Elder’s voice was icy.

With that, he raised his hand, forming a blade with his fingers, and slashed forward.

“No—!” The Ninth Ancestor screamed in terror.

“Thud!”

The blade reduced everything below his neck to bloody mist. His remaining head cracked, his soul grievously wounded.

“Bang!”

With a flick of his sleeve, the Great Elder sent the head hurtling toward the silver Star Hall.

“Boom!”

The hall exploded, shattering into countless silver fragments that scattered in all directions.

The impact was immense. Not just the mountain gate—the entire Wang Clan was shaken. Figures soared into the sky, gazing in shock.

This was unprecedented!

The silver Star Hall was their clan’s gateway, the sole passage guarding their sacred land. And now, it had been obliterated!

In all the ages since the Immortal Ancient Era, such an event had occurred only twice before, each time causing upheaval.

Now, someone had dared to strike again!

“Who… are you?” someone stammered.

Many in the Wang Clan seldom ventured out, devoting themselves to cultivation within their paradise. Few had ever seen the Great Elder, let alone recognized his supreme prowess.

“Summon Wang Changsheng to face me!” the Great Elder thundered, his voice like rolling thunder, shaking the ancient immortal sanctuary.

At these words, everyone’s scalps tingled with dread. Who was this man, to speak their ancestor’s name so boldly?

Wang Changsheng—the grandson of the Wang Clan’s immortal progenitor, their current patriarch. He had secluded himself for millennia, his very existence uncertain.

“So it’s you!” A voice echoed as immortal mist billowed, and an overwhelming pressure engulfed the sanctuary.

A figure clad in a moon-white daoist robe, wearing a purple-gold crown, stepped forth, each step traversing space itself.

His aura was terrifying, as if an immortal had descended!

Then, from another direction came a second figure, hair white as snow, shrouded in immortal light, his presence world-shaking.

A third followed, draped in golden robes, each step conjuring stars beneath his feet, a sight to awe all who beheld.

…

“Something’s not right!” The golden ant on Shi Hao’s shoulder shrank back, sensing danger. The Great Elder had called for Wang Changsheng, yet multiple supreme experts had emerged!

Their auras were overwhelming, bathed in immortal radiance, as if they had already stepped into the realm of eternal life—unstoppable and invincible!