"Now," the corner of Lin Feng's mouth curled into a cold arc, "we can settle the score."
His icy words were like a frigid wind blowing from the Nine Netherworlds, instantly making Guang Chengzi and the other three feel as though they had fallen into an ice pit.
Settle the score?
What score?
You killed disciples of the Sect of Elucidation and humiliated us, disciples of a Saint, in public. We should be the ones settling the score!
The rage in Guang Chengzi's chest nearly solidified, but when he met Lin Feng's indifferent gaze, as though he were looking at dead objects, all his anger and resentment lodged in his throat, turning into a chill that seeped into his bones.
He did not dare move.
Behind him, Chi Jingzi, Taiyi Zhenren, and Huanglong Zhenren nearly stopped breathing, afraid that even the slightest movement would bring about their doom.
Yet after saying this, Lin Feng did not attack immediately.
His gaze shifted away from Guang Chengzi and the others, as though even one more glance would be a waste of time, and fell upon the island-protecting formation on Three Immortal Islands, which had long since become battered and dim.
That was the breach Daoist Qingxu and the others had blasted open after Bi Xiao exhausted her mana. It now looked like an ugly crack in a fine piece of porcelain, especially glaring.
Lin Feng's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, and he clicked his tongue softly.
"Full of holes."
His voice was not loud, yet everyone heard it clearly.
Bi Xiao had just had all her injuries restored by that vast life force and was in a marvelous state where her cultivation had soared and her Dao Heart was complete. Yet upon hearing those four words, her pretty face immediately flushed crimson.
This island-protecting formation had been created by the three sisters after pouring countless efforts into combining the essentials of the Interception Sect's formations. Though they did not dare claim it was unmatched in the Primordial World, it was still one of their proudest works.
Yet in Lin Feng's mouth, it received only the evaluation: "Full of holes."
That was even more humiliating than being slapped in the face.
And yet, she could not refute him.
Because reason told her that the man before her was qualified to say such words.
Just as Bi Xiao's emotions churned between shame and indignation, an intense wave of dizziness suddenly struck her.
This was not a relapse of her injuries. Rather, her Dao Heart had suffered too many violent shocks in such a short time today.
From despair to hope, from shattered understanding to rebuilt understanding, her mind had long been stretched to its limit.
At that moment, Lin Feng's evaluation became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Bi Xiao's vision went dark. Her delicate body went limp, and she toppled forward uncontrollably.
"Second Sister!" Qiong Xiao cried out, hurriedly reaching out to catch her.
But another hand was faster.
A warm and powerful hand had somehow already reached out, precisely and naturally wrapping around Bi Xiao's soft, slender waist and drawing her into an embrace.
A warm masculine scent, mingled with a faint, indescribable fragrance of chaos, instantly enveloped Bi Xiao completely.
Bi Xiao's body stiffened, and her mind went blank.
She could clearly feel her cheek pressed tightly against a broad, solid chest. That steady, powerful heartbeat was like a divine drum of the Heavenly Dao, pounding again and again deep within her primordial spirit.
The hand around her waist was like a branding iron, its heat leaving her entire body weak and limp.
In all her life, let alone being held so intimately by a man, she had never even touched a man's hand.
Bi Xiao had always been fierce by nature and could not tolerate the slightest offense. Instinctively, she wanted to struggle and rebuke him for his audacity.
But the moment she moved, she discovered that she could not summon even a shred of strength. It was not because her mana was insufficient, but because within this embrace, all her strength and all her pride seemed to have been completely melted away by an even greater power.
A shame she had never felt before surged over her reason like a burst dam.
With a boom, from her fair neck to her exquisite earlobes, everything was stained a breathtaking crimson.
She could only bite her lip tightly and bury her head even deeper, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Qiong Xiao stared in astonishment from the side. A faint, inexplicable blush soon appeared on her own pretty face, but she was even happier for her second sister.
To be treated so intimately by their master—what a blessing that was!
Yet Lin Feng seemed as though he had merely done something insignificant. He did not even lower his head to look at the beauty in his arms, who was nearly fainting from embarrassment.
He still wore that lazy, indifferent expression. Holding Bi Xiao with one arm, he finally raised his other hand and casually tapped the air several times.
There was no Mana Fluctuation.
No runes flashed.
His movements were as casual as though he were swatting away a few mosquitoes.
Yet at the instant his fingers fell.
A sudden change occurred!
Rumble!
The entire Three Immortal Islands, along with the sea for a million li around them, began to shake violently!
Deep within the islands, the source of the spiritual vein that made them a top-tier Blessed Grotto-Heaven in the Primordial World seemed to have received a supreme decree and was instantly stirred!
Endless Innate Spiritual Energy erupted madly from underground like a volcano that had found an outlet!
At the same time, above the Nine Heavens, wind and clouds reversed, and the stars shifted!
The spiritual energy of the East Sea spanning hundreds of millions of li seemed to be drawn by some fatal attraction, transforming into visible multicolored torrents that converged from every direction and formed a terrifying vortex that blotted out the sky!
At that moment, every living being throughout the East Sea, whether great demons cultivating in the deep sea or cultivators in immortal mountains and hidden residences, looked up in horror toward Three Immortal Islands, their eyes filled with shock and confusion.
"What happened? What a terrifying spiritual energy upheaval!"
"Heavens! The spiritual energy of the entire East Sea is being drained!"
At the center of the storm, Bi Xiao, held in Lin Feng's arms, felt it most clearly.
She could clearly "see" that the violent spiritual energy was instantly tamed by Lin Feng's seemingly casual gestures, then rapidly woven, outlined, and reorganized in a manner completely beyond her understanding!
Formation runes ten thousand times more profound than the Heavenly Dao Laws formed from nothing, branding themselves into the void and linking together to instantly form an invisible net that covered the entire Three Immortal Islands!
This net connected upward to the Nine Heavens Stars and downward to the depths of the earth veins, completely merging the islands with heaven and earth!
Buzz—
A soft hum that seemed to come from primordial ages resounded throughout heaven and earth.
A brand-new grand formation, ten thousand times more profound and magnificent than the previous one, rose from the ground and became a translucent barrier that protected the entire Three Immortal Islands as firmly as a fortress!
Upon the barrier, the sun, moon, and stars revolved; Earth, Water, Fire, Wind appeared and vanished. The Illusionary Images of three thousand Great Dao Laws faintly rose and fell within it, emanating an eternal, indestructible, terrifying aura of Myriad Laws Invulnerable.
Repairing the heavens with a wave of his hand!
No, this was not repairing the heavens. This was... creating the world!
Bi Xiao was completely dumbfounded. She stared blankly at everything before her, and her mind had utterly given up thinking.
Outside the formation, Guang Chengzi and the other three nearly had their eyes pop out.
What had just happened?
That man had merely tapped his fingers a few times, yet he had invoked the might of heaven and earth and set down a terrifying grand formation that even made their hearts tremble?
What the hell kind of mastery of formations was this?
Even if their teacher, Yuanshi Tianzun, had come personally, he could not possibly have done this so effortlessly!
"Tricks and deception!"
Guang Chengzi forcibly suppressed the shock in his heart and shouted sternly, as though trying to bolster his own courage.
"How strong can a hastily arranged formation be? Junior brothers, join forces and destroy it!"
Humiliation and fear had already caused him to lose some of his reason.
He refused to believe that the combined power of four Grand Unity Golden Immortals could not break a formation casually laid down by someone else!
"Yes!"
Chi Jingzi and the other two shouted in unison, once again summoning their magic treasures.
Fan Tian Seal, Yin Yang Mirror, Immortal Slaying Sword, Heaven and Earth Circle!
The four top-tier Innate Spirit Treasures erupted with dazzling divine light once more. Carrying even more violent and furious power than before, they became four streams of light capable of destroying everything and smashed fiercely into the translucent barrier!
Yet what happened next was something they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
The four terrifying attacks, each capable of severely injuring a Grand Unity Golden Immortal and sinking land, struck the barrier.
There was no sound.
No explosion.
They did not even stir a single ripple.
It was as though four drops of water had fallen into a boundless sea, vanishing without a trace as they were completely devoured and assimilated by the barrier.
The expressions on Guang Chengzi and the others' faces instantly froze.
From ferocity to astonishment, then confusion, and finally utter, ashen despair.
They had lost.
They had lost completely.
They could not even break through the other side's defenses. How were they supposed to fight?
Just as their minds faltered and their Dao Hearts stood on the brink of collapse, a calm voice carrying a hint of mockery drifted leisurely from within the formation, like a sharp blade piercing their last shred of dignity.
"Stop wasting your strength."
Lin Feng still held the beauty in his arms without even turning his head.
"This formation cannot be broken even if all Twelve Golden Immortals come together."
Before you continue