“Wu!” A sharp, urgent alarm echoed piercingly through the heavens and earth, quickly spreading far and wide, causing every Ancient Clan member’s face to abruptly change expression.
“Hun Tiandi!” Gu Yuan’s face turned icy cold as he glared at Hun Tiandi. The sky suddenly dimmed greatly; vast heaven-and-earth energy roared behind him, connecting heaven and earth. Viewed from afar, it seemed as if endless tidal waves of energy surged forth endlessly, creating a thunderous, unceasing roar. Such energy tides typically only form under freak heavenly phenomena, massive scenes that human power cannot replicate. However, today, this once-in-a-century energy tide had been instantly condensed by Gu Yuan’s mere thought—an indication of just how terrifying a Dou Sheng of Nine Star caliber really was.
Endless energy tides boiled and stirred, and the pervasive pressure even made Hun Yan and the other four Hun Clan Demon Saints stiffen their expressions considerably. None among them harbored any doubt: if they dared attack, they wouldn’t last more than a few rounds against Gu Yuan. Their bodies—and even their souls—might disintegrate beneath such terrifying pressure, vanishing into oblivion. Within this world, only Hun Tiandi and Xu Wu Tun Yan remained utterly calm in the face of Gu Yuan’s celestial tidal might.
“Chief, Elder Guyang injured Ancestor Hall’s elder and stole Gugu Yu!” Just as Gu Yuan’s expression hardened with rage, a streak of light shot forth from the mountains. A somewhat battered figure quickly flew forth, letting loose a shrill, frantic cry.
“What?!” Hearing this cry, the whole Ancient Clan broke out in unrest; disbelief filled every pair of eyes.
“Elder Guyang? How could it be him?” Xun’er’s cheeks changed drastically, and before she could stop herself, she gasped aloud.
“What happened? Could Guyang possibly be a traitor from the Hun Clan?” Xiao Yan’s expression darkened slightly; such treacherous tactics were what the Hun Clan excelled most at.
“Guyang is the Second Elder of our clan’s ancestor hall, having loyally safeguarded our ancestral shrine for centuries; how could he betray us and flee with Gugu Yu?” Xun’er murmured softly, obviously surprised, since it appeared that she had known Elder Guyang and held favorable memories of him.
“Did you orchestrate this?” Gu Yuan’s icy gaze landed on Hun Tiandi’s smirking face as he asked slowly.
Hun Tiandi smiled slightly again but did not speak, nor did he show any sign of retreating. Fixing his eyes steadily on Gu Yuan, he stood rooted there like a mountain, daring even the formidable Gu Yuan not to turn away. Both knew all too well—if Gu Yuan left, none would remain here capable of challenging Hun Tiandi.
Understanding Hun Tiandi’s intent completely, Gu Yuan’s facial chill soon gave way to increasing composure; at his level, self-discipline had become rock solid. Despite the stolen relic incident, his temper had calmed instead of raging unchecked.
“Block off all exits of the Gu Realm space! Go forth with Heiyan Army—track down Guyang immediately and bring me the thief!” Gu Yuan ordered loudly.
“At once!” The three Immortals of the Ancient Clan replied at once. Yet no sooner had they begun moving when Hun Tiandi’s Four Demon Saints darted forward as well, apparently attempting to halt them.
“Hehe, Elder Gu, those men mustn’t leave,” Hun Tiandi said with a smile.
“That isn’t your decision to make!” Gu Yuan growled, taking an aggressive step forward; behind him, boundless energy tides reared up tumultuously, forming an enormous tidal palm several ten thousand zhang wide that lashed out fiercely toward Hun Tiandi. Wherever the palm swept past, space itself shuddered violently. This was clearly the mark of truly supreme beings—an accidental strike could easily rip a space apart!
“Fascinating—you can finally hold back no longer, although I’m sure you realize this won’t trouble me greatly,” Hun Tiandi laughed lightly as he raised his palm. In an instant, a black hole formed in its center, rapidly expanding outward to encompass an astonishing tens of thousands zhang across, swallowing everything within Heaven and Earth into its gaping void. Seeing that pitch-black abyss, even Xiao Yan and others felt chilling terror surge through their hearts. None doubted: should one fall inside, soul and body alike would vanish entirely within moments.
In the remote heavens above, palm met whirlwind-blackhole with a devastating collision—not with loud roaring sounds, but marked silently by collapsing spatial fractures and overwhelming torrents of destructive power pouring everywhere. Had it not been for centuries of reinforcement stabilizing the Gu Realm space, the two mighty forces’ duel alone could’ve shattered it effortlessly.
Seeing that Gu Yuan had actually engaged Hun Tiandi directly, Yanjin and Leiyin exchanged uneasy glances briefly before nodding covertly. It became clearer: clearly, the Hun Clan aimed every ancient race for obliteration next time if allowed to strike now—next might very well be the Flame or Thunder Clans themselves.
“Attack!” Yanjin barked lowly. Almost simultaneously, the two shot forward like meteors, radiating fearsome Eight-Star Dou Sheng auras rising straight up to pierce the clouds. Even space emitted crackling creaks from the sheer oppressive weight of their advance. Together, these two warriors posed unmatched might—one would say perhaps rivaling only Gu Yuan, Hun Tiandi, and Xu Wu Tun Yan on the continent.
“Tsk, why get so anxious, gentlemen? If sparring appeals, I’d happily join you,” remarked Xu Wu Tun Yan suddenly as he moved into action, striding seamlessly across space to appear before both men. Dark flames surged endlessly from his frame until several colossal black dragons coiled menacingly around his body, roaring to shake heaven and earth.
“Hmph!” Facing Xu Wu’s assault, both Yanjin and Leiyin snarled contemptuously. True enough, their opponent had indeed reached early-Nine-Star stage recently—but these two were seasoned late-Eight-Stars united; fighting alongside each other, they stood undaunted against him yet.
“Xun’er, lead everyone onward—we must locate Guyang swiftly; retrieve Gugu Yu!” On the battlefield high above, Elder Gu Dao commanded sternly. “The rest, form protective arrays around our clan! Fortify the boundaries—blockade this realm and the mountain range! Under no condition shall we allow Hunites exploiting loopholes here!”
At Elder Dao’s commanding roar, elders hovering midair responded collectively in affirmation. Though skirmishes above merely involved probing exchanges for now, all realized they needed also to prepare vigilantly for unexpected Hun attacks from below, preventing divided attention from endangering further support coordination efforts.
“Qingyang brother—scour every ridge!” Atop the sky, Xun’er shouted gravely, turning her exquisite eyes toward Gu Qingyang and his companions.
“Aye!” Responded Gu Qingyang and Heiyan officers together. Instantly their hands shifted through seals, summoning numerous shadowy figures like locust swarms pouring en masse into every crevice throughout the mountains searching painstakingly inch by inch!
Watching the entire Ancient Clan spring instantly into full battle readiness sent seriousness etching over Xiao Yan’s expression. Admittedly the Hun Clan didn’t dispatch troops broadly this round; however, those battling overhead undoubtedly comprised top Hun leadership—this formation dwarfed beyond compare the previous Pharmacist Clan episode strength. He grasped intuitively—the battles above, albeit cataclysmically forceful, remained tentative or even delaying contests.
Clearly their delaying strategies hinged exclusively upon Elder Guyang. The Hun likely stalled, hoping to receive the relic secretly transferred by Guyang eventually while the Ancients delayed likewise hoping first to capture and reclaim the Gugu Yu before it slipped beyond reach.
Thus, although appearing fierce, both sides’ real decisive point lay singular—the elusive thief Guyang!
“Xun’er, tell me, how strong exactly does Elder Guyang stand?” As his sight scanned mountains densely searched already, yet without news so far, Xiao Yan frowned.
“He stands around Late Fifth-Dou Saint territory.”
That name alone chilled Xun’er teeth clenched painfully—Guyang, though respected among ancients, had never crossed betrayal suspicion.
“Did his Soul Realm attain Celestial Completion?”
“Perhaps still falls short by small margins.” Paused slightly for contemplation, Xun’er responded. Reaching Celestial Perfection meant immense hardship after all.
Then, Xiao Yan’s focus sharpened.
“Keep watch over me.”
Instantaneously positioning himself cross-legged mid-air, hands formed incantation gestures merging fully again momentarily with Xiao Yi, enhancing already vast soul-strength exponentially. Like invisible oceanic currents, this intangible soul-force stretched outward from between Xiao Yan’s brows extending far across landscapes swiftly sweeping thorough every hidden valley and crevice beneath mountains.
Mastery of manipulating profound soul-energy ranked near absolute peak levels in Xiao Yan: countless threads of soul-force resembled densely interwoven serpentine strands filling terrain expansively—even delving underground temporarily using magma pulses detecting disturbances hidden from view.
Now augmented further via temporary unification with Xiao Yi, his soul-sense enveloped territories spanning thousands upon thousands li effortlessly—if ever Guyang hadn’t escaped yet deep underground concealment still offered him no sanctuary escaping discovery entirely.
Observing Xiao Yan’s meditation trance posture, faint sensations brushed Xun’er physically—a spectral essence subtly passing through flesh. She edged closer protectively, eyes sharply vigilant scanning surroundings warily.
Yet amidst prolonged silence stretching nearly ten-minutes long, Gu Qingyang grew restless about to resume search anew when suddenly Xiao Yan’s tightly closed lids flung wide open!
Instantly slapping the ground, a single palm strike reverberated ominously sending explosive detonations miles distant where suddenly an entire mountaintop blew asunder showering molten magma raining downward. Through fiery eruption blasted an emerged fleeing shadow—visibly disoriented.
“Guyang!” Witnessing recognition amid magma veiled shadows, Xun’er and company hardened their features instantly ice cold—vengefully focused!
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