A Fierce Dragon Crosses the River

"It was actually a puppet at the first level of the Immortal Platform—truly terrifying!" The other four great figures were still reeling from the shock brought by the puppet before them.

No matter what faction it was, Immortal Platform-level powerhouses were absolute pillars, and Immortal Platform-level puppets were even more precious!

In an instant, they overturned their earlier speculation that this was similar to the man from the Ji Family.

If it were truly a faction that had encountered a fortuitous opportunity and sought to rise in rank, there was no way they would so lavishly assign an Immortal Platform puppet to one of their disciples.

After all, such factions might only have five or six Immortal Platform cultivators in their entire sect. Once that generation was cut off, they could face the danger of annihilation. At such a time, an Immortal Platform puppet could be used to protect the sect through its perilous period!

"Could these two be from the starry sky?"

Just as the four of them let their imaginations run wild, they suddenly heard the Ji Family great figure cry for help.

Two of them instantly pulled away from him. Who even are you? We're not that familiar!

"Damn it, this bastard is trying to drag me into the water!" The Yaoguang great figure was inwardly furious, yet he could not pretend not to have seen it.

After all, Yaoguang Sacred Land and the Ji Family were both giants of the Southern Region; they would inevitably cross paths. If he watched an important figure of the Ji Family perish before his eyes, it might create a rift between the two great factions.

Seeing that the Ji Family man was about to die on the spot, the Yaoguang elder immediately cast a Holy Light Technique and shouted, "Your Highness, this is a misunderstanding—a misunderstanding!"

Seeing someone from Yaoguang intervene, the Ji Family great figure immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Yet he soon realized that the pressure coming from his enemy had only lessened by ten or twenty percent.

Clearly, this Yaoguang elder merely wanted to put on a show.

"My life is over!" Just as the Ji Family great figure wailed inwardly, he suddenly felt the pressure on him sharply diminish!

Turning around, he saw that, after hesitating again and again, the fairy maiden of Jade Lake had ultimately decided to intervene!

Jade Lake had always upheld the principle of remaining aloof from worldly disputes, but while staying above such disputes, it also maintained friendly relations with all major factions. She truly could not watch an important figure of the Ji Family fall before her eyes.

"Your Highness, Fellow Daoist Ji may have acted improperly, but the immortal path values life. Please give him a chance to mend his ways!"

Yet no matter how floridly she spoke, Shen Ye merely said calmly, "Next comes the third strike!"

What terrified the Yaoguang and Jade Lake elders even more was that this axe strike had included them within its range of attack as well!

Moreover, its offensive force was far more fierce and savage than the previous two axe strikes!

In that instant, the two who had come to help also sensed fatal danger!

They understood that their forceful intervention had displeased Shen Ye.

They did not dare vent their anger on Shen Ye, and could only glare furiously at a certain member of the Ji Family.

The Ji Family great figure felt bitterness fill his heart as he shouted, "Fellow Daoists, let us join forces to survive this calamity first! Afterward, I will certainly offer a grand gift!"

Things having come to this, the two could only throw out every Forbidden Armament and treasure they had kept hidden away.

For a moment, divine energy surged, Precious Arts filled the sky, and brilliant radiance poured down like an overturned Milky Way. It seemed as though this entire stretch of heaven and earth was about to boil!

Yet the Xingtian Warlord simply brought down its axe. There were no flashy halos or dazzling lights, but it seemed to split apart the Chaos Universe itself!

"Breaking techniques with brute force, invulnerable to ten thousand laws!" The two great figures who had chosen to stand by in silence were utterly shaken.

With their insight, it was not difficult for them to see that this puppet's level surpassed their prior estimates. It had failed to reach its intended grade only because of limitations in its materials!

Logically speaking, no one would begin crafting such a high-level puppet without even having the materials prepared!

"Unless... they came from a planet with immense foundations but exhausted resources!"

Their gazes met, and they suddenly felt that many things now fell into place!

After splitting apart the river of treasures, the giant axe continued onward without losing momentum and struck the three of them. Before that enormous axe, the divine abilities they had cultivated to protect their bodies were torn apart as easily as paper!

In the end, the three were sent flying several miles away by that axe strike, their bodies nearly split apart!

The Ji Family man in particular had grown so feeble in aura that one could not help worrying he would die the next moment!

"A fierce dragon does not cross the river without cause. The Ji Family has kicked an iron plate this time!" Duan De laughed in glee at their misfortune, boasting, "Kid, now do you know just how sharp Daoist Master's eye is? I already guessed that His Highness was not someone to be provoked!"

Yet after waiting several seconds, he still did not receive Ye Fan's praise. Turning his head, he saw Ye Fan staring blankly at the puppet.

"Kid, what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing!" Ye Fan came back to himself and replied perfunctorily, but monstrous waves were surging in his heart!

As a member of the Hua Clan, how could he not know the tale of Xingtian dancing with shield and axe?

Though not every headless warrior was necessarily modeled after Xingtian, with breasts as eyes and the navel as a mouth, there could be no second possibility!

"Could they also be from Earth, on the Other Shore of the Starry Sky? Could I perhaps still return home in this life?"

For a time, Ye Fan, who had only just entered the world of cultivators, was a tangled mess of emotions. He wished he could rush forward at once and ask them everything clearly.

However, he also knew that with his status, it would be difficult for him to come into contact with those two.

"It seems I still need to cultivate twice as hard. Only with strength can I rescue Pang Bo, approach those two, and learn information about Earth from them!"

In the sky.

Seeing the miserable state of the three, the two great figures who had watched from the sidelines felt a wave of lingering fear. Fortunately, they had not stepped forward, or they would be the ones suffering now!

Suddenly, the two noticed that Shen Ye seemed to glance in their direction, intentionally or otherwise, and hurriedly made their stance clear.

"With Your Highness's strength, not taking part in the contest for those three treasures was already more than enough face for us!"

"Exactly. His own fortune was insufficient, yet he blamed others for it. We are ashamed to keep company with such a person!"

The two from Shaking Light and Jade Lake did not dare flee on their own. Dragging the Ji Family man along, they barely flew back from afar. Hearing those words only filled them with greater resentment.

Indeed, with the strength Shen Ye held in his hands, the fact that he had not joined the scramble for the treasure was already out of consideration for the forces behind them. What happened afterward was purely someone reaping what he had sown!

Of course, if possible, they would still do their utmost to preserve that Ji Family fool's life. With that one axe strike, half a lifetime of their savings had gone up in smoke. If they did not recover some blood from this fool, their hearts would never be at peace!

Thus, the Shaking Light elder asked tremblingly, "The three moves are over. May we leave now?"

Shen Ye waved a hand dismissively. "I said three moves, and three moves it is. You may go."

Seeing that Shen Ye's expression did not seem feigned, the few of them were shocked once more. "He is truly letting us leave without placing any restrictions on us? Is he really not afraid that his affairs will leak out and bring the encirclement of the three great factions upon him?"

For a moment, their thoughts ran wild. Fearing that Shen Ye might change his mind, they hastily rode divine rainbows away from this land of trouble.

Shen Ye paid no heed to whether they stayed or left. He merely toyed with the Golden Page in his hand and thought to himself, "Even after the Sea of Wheels Secret Realm is cultivated to completion, this Golden Page would still count as a rare treasure. Unfortunately, no matter how good the treasure is, it is not fated for me. Since this Golden Page is bound to be lost in an 'accident' sooner or later, I might as well take the initiative and trade it to him. Using something that already belongs to that person to make a deal with him—there is no loss in that!"

(Though it was refined by mobilizing the resources of the entire City of Flowing Moon, the City of Flowing Moon had long since declined and could not produce many precious resources. An Immortal Platform First Heaven puppet was already the limit. Some readers may ask: You only have an Immortal Platform First Heaven puppet as your trump card, yet you dare offend the Ji Family? Do not panic—the protagonist had long since planned where to go next.)