Faced with this sudden turn of events, Venerable Heiyu was naturally startled, but his expression remained composed. With a swift hand seal, he spat out a small silver bell from his mouth.
With a resounding *clang*, the bell instantly projected a massive silver illusion over a hundred zhang tall, completely enveloping the old man. Simultaneously, rippling silver waves surged outward in all directions. Any falling boulders that touched these sound waves instantly turned to dust.
Meanwhile, the surfaces of the two mountains flickered with a grayish-white light. Suddenly, two enormous hands, each composed of countless boulders, forcefully emerged from the mountains. Their fingers spread wide, each hand spanning hundreds of zhang, as if containing boundless strength.
Two earth-shaking *booms* erupted!
The two colossal palms struck the silver illusion from both sides like swatting a fly. Despite the silver bell being an extraordinary treasure, under such overwhelming force, it could only let out a mournful chime before shattering and vanishing.
Now trapped within, Venerable Heiyu finally showed panic. With a loud shout, he flicked his sleeve, and a streak of silver light shot out.
A thunderous crackle later, a shimmering net woven from countless silver lightning threads appeared, poised to unfurl—none other than the famed *Silver Sky Lightning Net* from the Chaos Spirit Ranking!
With such a mystical treasure, he could surely counter this sudden assault. The old man relaxed slightly, muttering an incantation while reaching into the air with one hand. Several glowing orbs materialized in his palm—he was summoning more treasures to retaliate.
But at this critical moment, something unbelievable happened.
The nearby space rippled, and a delicate, jade-white hand emerged, casually grasping the still-unfurling lightning net. With a gentle squeeze, the old man felt a soul-rending agony as his spiritual connection to the net was severed. He let out a pained cry, staggering mid-air.
In that brief delay, the two massive stone palms clapped together like colliding mountains.
Though the old man frantically mustered all his magic power and conjured a gleaming green battle armor, the force of the stone palms was simply too immense.
A deafening *boom* shook the earth!
His protective aura and armor shattered under the impact, and his body exploded into a bloody mist.
A streak of black light shot from the mist, vanishing into the void in a flash.
A melodious chuckle followed.
The jade hand holding the silver net flipped, extending a finger to lightly flick toward the fleeing black light.
A silver streak shot out, disappearing into the void.
A moment later, a muffled *thud* echoed as space trembled a hundred zhang away. The black light reappeared, staggering, before darting off again like a bolt.
Within the black light was a purple infant, mere inches tall, bearing Venerable Heiyu’s exact features—pale-faced, furious, with traces of blood at the corners of his mouth.
“Thinking of escaping now? How delusional!” a woman’s cold voice mocked.
The jade hand flicked, the lightning net vanishing, replaced by an ancient black mirror. It swayed slightly toward the fleeing infant, releasing a dark beam that instantly ensnared it.
The infant, mid-flight, suddenly felt the air constrict as an irresistible force yanked it backward.
Terrified, the infant spat out a triangular token, followed by several drops of blood essence, which dissolved into mist and merged with the token.
The token, a rare treasure meant to protect his spirit, emitted a clear chime, transforming into a blue radiance that enveloped the infant.
Instantly, the backward pull halted, and the infant surged forward again.
“Oh? Interesting—a human’s *Azure Nether Token*? It seems I’ll need to exert more effort, or this little one might truly escape,” the woman’s voice mused, now tinged with surprise.
Space rippled as the owner of the jade hand—a blue-robed palace lady—emerged from the void.
Her figure was graceful, her face flawless, yet her eyes glowed faintly with an indescribable authority.
Glancing at the infant, her expression darkened. She raised a hand, forming an intricate seal.
A soft *pop* sounded as a three-headed, six-armed demonic shadow materialized behind her.
Crystalline light shimmered over its form before it solidified into a black-armored monstrosity.
The armor was exquisitely crafted, etched with intricate runes, while the three heads were concealed beneath dark visors.
The demon let out a piercing shriek, its six eyes blazing with green flames. All six arms reached out, clawing toward the infant.
Six black vortices erupted where its hands struck, collapsing space into a massive whirlpool.
Countless black runes surged forth, dissolving into the void.
The fleeing infant suddenly felt an icy dread. Before it could react, an identical vortex appeared above it, and a demonic claw wreathed in black flames shot out, seizing it in an instant.
With a final shriek, the infant and its protective aura were dragged into the vortex, which then vanished without a trace.
Meanwhile, the vortex before the blue-robed woman remained, slowly spinning.
She smiled, reaching into it and pulling out the captive infant—now bound tightly in black threads, unconscious and pale.
Her gaze swept over it before she flicked her sleeve, summoning a faintly glowing yellow storage bracelet from below.
Tapping it lightly, she closed her eyes.
“*Yellow Dreamstone Spirit*… So that’s it. No wonder Six-Extremes asked me to intervene personally. It seems the humans are plotting something—best not to underestimate them,” she murmured upon reopening her eyes.
“To uncover the truth, I’ll need to probe his soul. But high-ranking human cultivators often seal their memories. Even with demonic arts, I can only extract fragments. Let’s hope luck is on my side.”
Resolved, she waved a hand, dismissing the demon and vortex, leaving only the suspended infant.
The black mirror reappeared in her grasp. A dark radiance engulfed the infant, pulling it into the mirror.
“Let’s go. Find me a quiet place—this soul-searching will take days,” she said airily, as if addressing unseen subordinates.
“As you command, Lady Yuansha!”
Two resonant voices boomed from the half-collapsed mountains.
The colossal stone hands retracted with a rumble, and the shattered peaks writhed under grayish-white light.
Within moments, two towering stone giants stood before her—four-armed, a thousand zhang tall, their rocky forms terrifying to behold.
“Many thanks for your aid in destroying his body. Capturing him alone would’ve been troublesome,” the lady said courteously.
“The honor is ours, Lady Yuansha,” one giant replied, its rigid face contorting into something resembling a smile.
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