When Lin Feng's indifferent gaze fell upon him, Huo Teng felt as though an invisible hand had gripped his heart, stopping it dead in an instant.
What kind of look was that?
There was no anger, no killing intent, not even the slightest emotion.
It was like a god Above the Nine Heavens looking down upon an ant that had carelessly crawled to his feet.
Indifferent, yet filled with an absolute detachment born of a difference in Life Level.
Huo Teng's blood froze at that moment, and his mind went blank. The terrifying suspicion that had just surfaced now seized all his thoughts like a nightmare.
Grand Unity Golden Immortal!
This man was absolutely a Grand Unity Golden Immortal who had concealed his cultivation!
He had actually wanted to seize a Grand Unity Golden Immortal's maidservant? He had even called him an ant?
"Gulp."
Huo Teng swallowed with difficulty, his throat so dry it felt as though it might burst into flames.
His legs had gone limp as noodles, and he could barely stand. If not for the railing behind him supporting him, he would likely have collapsed onto the deck.
It was over.
Completely over.
He had provoked a Grand Unity Golden Immortal. Let alone a mere young master of the Fire Spirit Immortal Sect, even if he threw in his entire sect and the East Sea Dragon Palace he was so proud to rely on, they would not be enough for the other party to crush with a single finger!
Just as Huo Teng was terrified out of his wits and thought his soul would be destroyed the next second, following in the footsteps of those two guards—
The terrifying man who held his life in his hands suddenly withdrew his gaze.
Huo Teng's entire body relaxed sharply, only to tense up again the next moment.
Because he saw that Lin Feng was no longer looking at him. Instead, he lowered his head, his gaze falling upon the peerless fairy in his arms.
A trace of... gentleness had actually appeared on that face as cold and indifferent as ancient black ice?
Lin Feng ignored the group of ants on the immortal vessel who had already been scared senseless. He merely lowered his head and spoke softly to Qiong Xiao in his arms, his voice so quiet that it seemed he feared disturbing something.
"Go on."
"Use them to get some practice. Let me see how much you've improved."
That brief sentence clearly entered the ears of everyone present.
On the immortal vessel, everyone, including Huo Teng, was stunned.
Practice... practice?
Use their entire group as practice targets for a maidservant?
What humiliation!
And what... arrogance!
The tension in Qiong Xiao's heart completely eased the instant she heard her master's words.
A warm current surged from the depths of her heart and spread through every limb and bone.
Her master was not acting personally because he disdained them. Rather... he was giving her a chance to prove herself.
He wanted to see her growth.
He was using this method to affirm all her efforts during this time!
Qiong Xiao's eyes grew slightly hot, and a powerful impulse rose within her.
She would let her master see that his efforts had not been in vain!
She would use the most perfect result to answer her master's trust and expectations!
"Yes, Master."
Qiong Xiao answered respectfully, her voice crisp and brimming with unprecedented confidence.
With graceful steps, she took the initiative to leave the embrace that had made her feel incomparably safe. She walked forward alone, facing the luxurious immortal vessel and the group of cultivators aboard it, whose expressions were filled with doubt and alarm.
Under her master's gaze, she no longer felt the slightest fear. All that remained in her heart was blazing fighting spirit and the desire to prove herself.
Yet to Huo Teng, this scene suddenly offered a ludicrous chance of turning things around after his heart had already sunk to the bottom.
What was going on?
That terrifying man... was not going to make a move?
He was merely sending out his maidservant?
Huo Teng's thoughts raced. Fear and his instinct for survival drove him to wildly speculate.
Could it be... could that world-destroying pressure from before have been some one-use forbidden secret technique?
After using it once, this Great Being was now in a weakened state and did not dare act again so casually?
Or perhaps he had some restriction that prevented him from attacking juniors, which was why he had sent his maidservant in his place?
Yes! It had to be that!
The bearing of an expert! Senior experts all had such annoying habits!
The moment this thought surfaced, it spread like wild grass and instantly occupied Huo Teng's mind.
The fear in his heart receded somewhat like the tide, replaced by relief at surviving the ordeal and humiliation that swelled without limit into rage.
He had actually been scared so badly by someone putting up a front that he had nearly wet himself!
What utter humiliation!
Huo Teng stared fixedly at Qiong Xiao, who had stepped out alone.
No matter how strong this woman was, how strong could she possibly be?
On his side, aside from the two crippled Golden Immortal guards, there were still five True Immortals, along with himself, an Early Golden Immortal and the young master!
Seven against one woman was more than enough!
As long as they captured this woman as a hostage, would that weakened man not be at his mercy?
At this thought, Huo Teng's courage instantly surged, and he straightened his back once more.
His expression twisted viciously as he pointed at Qiong Xiao and shouted, "What audacity! You dare play tricks before us!"
"You think a mere woman like you can stand against us?"
"Get her! Take her down! Dead or alive!"
Finally, he turned his venomous gaze toward Lin Feng behind her and roared, "As for that man, tear him into ten thousand pieces and pull out his soul to light a heavenly lantern!"
"Yes, Young Master!"
The cultivators behind him, who had also been badly frightened, immediately regained their spirits when they saw their young master recover his "manhood."
Indeed, what was there to fear?
The other side only had one woman!
They had the advantage in numbers. What was there to be afraid of?
"You wretch who doesn't know life from death, you dared offend our young master! Die!"
"Attack together! End this quickly!"
In an instant, the remaining five True Immortal cultivators, along with Huo Teng himself, six figures in total, transformed into six streaks of light and leaped from the immortal vessel.
The spiritual radiance of various magical treasures soared into the sky. Blades flashed, swords gleamed, and Treasure Seals flew through the air, weaving together into an impenetrable net of death that descended upon Qiong Xiao from all directions!
They intended to use the most thunderous methods to blast this woman who did not know her place into pieces!
Facing this siege that would have left even an ordinary Golden Immortal scrambling, Qiong Xiao's face showed not the slightest ripple.
She did not even bring out a magical treasure.
She merely watched those six aggressive figures in silence, a cold sneer curling across her lips.
A pack of frogs at the bottom of a well.
Were they worthy of witnessing her master's might?
Just as the first streak of sword light was about to brush the hem of her robe, Qiong Xiao finally moved.
She simply raised her right hand lightly, her slender jade-like fingers casually drawing a circle in the air before her.
There was no surge of Immortal Essence, no roar of laws.
A transparent formation disk, nearly invisible to the naked eye and formed from countless tiny runes, flashed into existence before instantly merging with the surrounding world.
Buzz—
A faint vibration, so slight it was almost impossible to detect.
Huo Teng and the others only felt their vision blur. The endless azure waves beneath their feet and the blue skies and white clouds above their heads vanished in an instant.
In their place was an endless void filled with Chaos Gray mist!
There was no distinction between above and below, no clear direction in any quarter!
"What is this?!"
"Where are we?"
"What kind of damned place is this?!"
All the cultivators' attacks missed, crashing into the gray mist without even raising a ripple.
To their horror, they discovered that although they could sense their companions nearby, it was as though an insurmountable chasm lay between them. They could only hear one another's voices and could not see each other's figures at all.
Huo Teng's heart skipped a beat, and a sense of foreboding rose within him once more.
A formation!
They had fallen into a formation!
When had it happened?
When exactly had that woman set up this formation? They had not noticed a thing!
"Ah—!"
At that moment, a shrill scream came from deep within the gray mist.
Everyone's hearts jolted.
"It's Zhang San! What happened?" Huo Teng roared hurriedly.
Yet no one answered.
After that scream, Zhang San's presence vanished completely from their senses, as though it had been wiped away.
Then—
"Save me! My spiritual power... my spiritual power is draining away!"
"No! What kind of sword qi is this? Where is it coming from?!"
"Ah!!"
The screams rose one after another.
One familiar presence after another disappeared in quick succession.
In just a few breaths, the once-noisy Chaos Space was left with only Huo Teng.
A deathly silence.
Huo Teng's entire body turned icy cold, as though he had fallen into an ice pit.
He frantically mobilized every shred of his Golden Immortal power and brought out his strongest defensive magical treasure—a flame-wreathed pagoda—protecting himself firmly within it.
Yet even so, the fear rising from the depths of his soul still made him tremble uncontrollably.
They were dead.
They were all dead!
Five True Immortals had been silently erased within this bizarre formation without even touching the edge of her robes!
What terrifying mastery of formations!
At that moment, the gray mist before him slowly parted.
Qiong Xiao's slender, graceful figure emerged from the fog step by step, her expression indifferent, like a goddess of formations who ruled over life and death.
Her gaze fell upon the trembling Huo Teng as though she were looking at a lamb awaiting slaughter.
"N-No... don't kill me!"
Huo Teng's psychological defenses completely collapsed at that moment.
As he looked at the completely unharmed Qiong Xiao, then thought of the man who had stood in place from beginning to end without even lifting an eyelid, a truth that filled him with unbearable regret finally surfaced in his mind.
Practice...
So it truly had been practice.
Before you continue