Upon hearing the woman’s words, the black-armored man had no further doubts and immediately nodded repeatedly in agreement.
With a flick of her sleeve, the palace-robed woman unleashed a dazzling burst of pink light, and their figures blurred before vanishing entirely.
At the same time, atop a towering peak in the Spirit Clan’s territory adjacent to the human lands, three Saint Spirits at the Body Integration stage were warily surrounding an exceptionally handsome young man.
Clad in a golden robe, the youth stood mid-air with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression cold as he regarded the trio before him.
Emblazoned on the front of his golden robe was a strikingly radiant golden lotus, impossible to overlook.
Below, the mountain was littered with craters, piled with countless mutilated corpses and shattered artifacts—over a thousand in total—all devoid of spiritual energy.
“Whoever you are, slaughtering our kin in Zuyun Mountain and daring to absorb their essence has violated our clan’s greatest taboo. The three of us will ensure you suffer a thousand cuts to avenge this!” spat one of the Saint Spirits, a short and stout elder, his voice trembling with fury.
The other two Saint Spirits—a disheveled old man wielding a verdant bamboo staff and a beautiful woman in her thirties—glared at the golden-robed youth with equal intensity, their eyes blazing with rage.
Unlike other races, the Spirit Clan, due to the difficulty of awakening their intelligence, had always been scarce in number, making each member highly valued. However, once awakened, they possessed considerable innate abilities, with Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators being the most common, allowing them to coexist with races like the Yaksha and demons in a corner of the Spirit Realm.
Zuyun Mountain was a renowned stronghold of the Spirit Clan, and these three Saint Spirits were its three Grand Elders.
A few days prior, the three had left on urgent business. Upon their return, they found their entire clan slaughtered, their essence completely drained. The perpetrator—this golden-robed youth—had remained at the scene, unperturbed. Their shock and fury were unimaginable.
Though the youth’s aura seemed unremarkable, none of the three could discern his true cultivation level, fueling both their rage and an underlying unease. Otherwise, they would have already captured him rather than remaining locked in this standoff.
“Hmph, have you finished your prattle? Mere spirit slaves daring to act so insolently before me. Their essence served its purpose in my hands. As for you three, your cultivation far surpasses the others. If you submit to me as your master, I may spare your lives,” the golden-robed youth sneered, his tone dripping with condescension.
“Spirit slaves? You—you’re from the Immortal Realm?” The three Saint Spirits, previously seething with rage, suddenly gasped in unison.
“Oh? You know of this? Did one of you escape from above? No—with your cultivation, that’s impossible. Someone must have told you. In that case, I’m even more interested in whoever revealed this to you. Now that you know my origins, surrender your true forms and submit to a blood pact. Otherwise, I’ll simply capture you and erase your intelligence myself—though that will be more troublesome,” the youth replied, momentarily surprised before smirking coldly.
The three Saint Spirits paled, exchanging horrified glances.
If this man truly hailed from the upper realm, their Body Integration cultivation would be utterly insignificant before him.
“Wait—if he were truly from the Immortal Realm, why would he cause such a commotion when dealing with our kin? He’s lying to deceive us!” the old man with the bamboo staff suddenly exclaimed, though fear still lingered in his eyes.
“Elder Brother is right! I’ve never heard of Immortal Realm beings descending to our world. Even if he is from above, something must have gone wrong. Otherwise, why waste words with us? The three of us together need not fear him!” the beautiful woman added, her expression darkening.
The golden-robed youth’s face stiffened imperceptibly at their words—a detail the three Saint Spirits didn’t miss, further solidifying their resolve.
“Attack! We cannot let this liar leave alive!” the stout elder roared, forming a hand seal. A white bronze mirror materialized before him, aimed at the youth.
With a *whoosh*, a pillar of white flame erupted, transforming into a towering inferno that surged toward the youth.
The disheveled old man and the beautiful woman acted simultaneously.
The old man slashed his bamboo staff through the air, summoning countless emerald bamboo shadows that materialized above the youth, covering over a hundred acres before silently descending.
The woman flicked her fingers, releasing a cluster of cyan light that spiraled and transformed into ten massive azure birds, each dozens of feet long, shrieking as they dove toward their target.
Though skeptical of the youth’s claims, the three Saint Spirits recognized his extraordinary power and instinctively unleashed their deadliest techniques, hoping to eliminate him in one strike.
The golden-robed youth’s eyes gleamed with disdain. “Fools,” he muttered.
With a single hand seal, a transparent halo erupted from his body before shattering into countless gold and silver runes, instantly forming a colossal protective barrier around him.
The emerald bamboo shadows crashed down as towering green logs, while the azure birds unleashed a storm of razor-sharp wind blades. The white flames engulfed the barrier entirely.
Yet the youth inside the runic shield merely smirked, placing a hand against the barrier and uttering, “Open.”
A thunderous roar echoed as the shield expanded violently, each rune swelling in size and solidifying into a translucent, corporeal form.
The logs, wind blades, and flames rebounded harmlessly upon contact, unable to breach the shield.
The stout elder’s expression twisted. Without hesitation, he pointed at the flames, which roared and coalesced into several silver-fire-spouting kirin, each the size of a calf. The inferno intensified, its hue shifting to pale silver as the surrounding air grew furnace-like.
The old man and the woman exchanged glances before summoning several radiant treasures, preparing to unleash them.
But then, the youth’s icy voice echoed from within the barrier: “Enough playtime. Time to send you on your way.”
The faint silhouette within the shield vanished instantly.
Without his support, the gold-silver barrier crumbled under the silver flames.
Yet instead of relief, the three Saint Spirits’ faces darkened as they formed a defensive circle, releasing their spiritual senses to scan their surroundings.
“What’s happening? My senses can’t locate him!” the old man exclaimed in alarm. The woman remained silent, but her grim expression spoke volumes.
Just as the stout elder opened his mouth to speak, a thunderclap split the sky. Countless silver dots materialized before a golden flash revealed the youth reappearing amidst them. He casually raised a hand and clenched his fist.
With a *boom*, the silver dots surged and condensed into a massive net spanning miles, ensnaring not only the three Saint Spirits but the entire mountain beneath them.
Strangely, the net exuded an eerie aura that sapped their strength, rendering a portion of their mana inaccessible before it even descended.
“Damn it—the Spirit-Seizing Heavenly Net! He really is from the Immortal Realm! Run!” the stout elder bellowed, his face contorted in terror. His body blurred as he merged with the ancient mirror before him, shooting away in a piercing screech.
The other two, hearing the net’s name, turned deathly pale. One transformed into a cyan hurricane, the other into a towering bamboo, both erupting with blinding light as they fled in opposite directions.
“Thinking of escaping now? Don’t delude yourselves,” the youth chuckled, flicking his wrist. A silver glow in his palm split into strands connecting to the net, which he then tugged lightly.
The net expanded, radiating a bone-chilling cold as it descended like a shroud over heaven and earth.
In a flash of silver, it seemed to envelop the entire world.
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