Masked Man

At the Absolute Sword Mountain Square, more and more people gathered. Yi Yun sat in meditation to regulate his breathing. He appeared calm and composed, but in reality, he was constantly on guard about his surroundings.

After several groups of prodigies arrived, it was noon. The sun was high overhead, but its rays seemed weak and powerless, as if even the sunlight was blocked by the chilling aura of Absolute Sword Mountain.

"Hmm? Someone's here..."

Yi Yun suddenly frowned. He sensed a slight fluctuation of Yuan Qi dozens of meters ahead, and from there, Yi Yun had a feeling of being spied on.

However, at a glance, there was only a solitary stone tower in that location, and nothing else.

Yi Yun narrowed his eyes; he could sense that this stone tower held a hidden secret.

"A formation?"

Yi Yun closed his eyes and sensed the energy fluctuations. They seemed to be hidden in a distorted spacetime, giving the impression of an array.

Therefore, Yi Yun directly activated the Purple Crystal's Energy Vision.

Under the Energy Vision, nothing can hide; everything can be seen through at a glance!

In the Energy Vision, there is no stone tower; the so-called stone tower is actually a magnificent black stone palace.

On either side of this great hall stand towering stone statues of demons, and above the hall is a plaque with three large characters inscribed on it: "Demon God Hall"!

Beneath the plaque, three or four young people dressed in the Martial Arts Alliance attire were pointing and gesturing at a group of people below.

These three or four young men looked like the talents of the Heavenly Dao Alliance.

Their cultivation level was also at the Dao Seed Realm; they stood within the great formation, and no one could detect them.

At this moment, one of the short young men among them was pointing at Yi Yun.

The reason Yi Yun had a feeling of being spied on was because he was pointed at by the short young man. Otherwise, even though Yi Yun was sensitive, he wouldn't have been able to see through the formation set up by the Martial Arts Alliance at the Absolute Sword Mountain Square immediately.

"Is that the guy?"

The short young man pointed at Yi Yun's nose and said in a playful tone.

"Yes, that's him. He looks very ordinary, kind of rustic." A tall young man said with a smile next to the short young man.

"Huh, why did he glance this way?"

Just as the others were commenting on Yi Yun happened to look over.

However, even when he met Yi Yun's gaze, the tall young man didn't care. He said confidently, "What could he possibly see! It's just a coincidence. This Illusion Formation was set up by Emperor Array Master. How could he possibly see through it!"

Taking advantage of the formation's cover, the group began to criticize Yi Yun without any attempt to conceal their opinions.

This kind of casual commenting, spying on, and mocking of the prodigies waiting to enter the Heavenly Dao Alliance without anyone's knowledge gives people an indescribable sense of superiority.

Yi Yun silently activated the <Empress Heart Sutra>. His senses could not penetrate the Illusion Formation set up by the Emperor, nor could he hear their conversation.

However, thanks to his Energy Vision, he could clearly see the lip movements of several people within the Illusion Formation. Therefore, even though their voices were blocked by the array, Yi Yun could read them out word for word.

Hearing these malicious words, Yi Yun remained unmoved and continued meditating to regulate his breathing.

"This Jiang Yi Dao doesn't seem particularly special, yet the Emissary Lord speaks of him so highly."

"Don't underestimate him. He defeated Junior Brother Wu Hen with just one strike."

"Wu Hen is too young and too arrogant. It's not surprising that he suffered a loss at his hands. If I had gone up against him, he might not have fared so well!"

"Hehe, you might not even beat him. But his days aren't going to be easy. Although the Emissary Lord made an exception and admitted him into the Heavenly Dao Alliance, his personality is too arrogant. The higher-ups of the Heavenly Dao Alliance won't tolerate someone like that. No matter who it is, once they enter the Heavenly Dao Alliance, they have to be obedient. Otherwise, wouldn't that be a slap in the face to the elders? Just wait and see, he'll suffer the consequences. We'll just watch the show!"

"It's too boring to just watch the show. He's just a barbarian from the South China Sea, and he's not familiar with the other Lineage and sects. When he's been suppressed and isolated, we can take advantage of that time to 'help' him. Maybe he'll be extremely grateful to us, and we can also get some benefits."

The group started talking and then burst into laughter.

Then, they stopped talking about Yi Yun and changed the subject to the Heavenly Proud Daughter who had entered the Heavenly Dao Alliance. They even began to comment on the appearance and figure of each of the genius girls, their words filled with frivolity and teasing.

For these young men, verbally harassing these proud young women through the array was a uniquely exciting experience.

Yi Yun had no interest in any of that.

He simply remembered these people silently, especially the two young men, one tall and one short.

Just as Yi Yun was about to withdraw his Energy Vision, he suddenly felt a pang of unease.

He saw several figures stride out of the Black Stone Hall.

The young men who had been pointing and gesturing at the talented individuals present under the "Demon God Hall" plaque immediately dropped their frivolous expressions and became respectful upon seeing these figures.

"Your Inspector Lord!"

Several young people bowed in greeting.

The figures who bowed to them all exuded a sharp aura. As soon as they stepped out of the Demon God Hall, a powerful surge of demonic energy swept out like a tidal wave, making people tremble.

Among the group, the leader wore a dark gold mask, exuding a sinister and terrifying aura. In his presence, the young men who had just been arguing didn't dare to utter a sound.

The Golden Masked Man coldly observed the young talents gathered in the square.

These young talents, still gathered in small groups, either whispering secrets or meditating to regulate their breathing, completely unaware of what was happening.

Except for one person... Yi Yun!

Yi Yun took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes.

He didn't look directly at the Golden Masked Man, but instead used the Energy Vision of the Purple Crystal to lock onto him.

He finally understood where that familiar chill had come from.

That feeling comes from the person in front of you!

Cold, evil, cruel—this aura...

It's that Evil Energy!

Yi Yun suddenly realized that back then, when he saw through the conspiracy Shentu Family and the Lin family to form a marriage alliance, he extracted an Evil Energy from the Empress's relic that could cause life to age rapidly.

This Evil Energy was extremely strange. None of the elders of the Lin family were able to detect its existence, yet it was controlled by Purple Crystal.

At that time Yi Yun evilly planted this Evil Energy into Shentu Nantian's body without anyone noticing. Next, Yi Yun killed Shentu Nantian, and that Evil Energy remained in Shentu Nantian's corpse.

And now... Yi Yun actually sensed the presence of Evil Energy in this Masked Man!

However, compared to before, this Evil Energy seemed to have undergone a strange change. It was this change that prevented Yi Yun from immediately associating the previous cold and evil feeling with this Evil Energy.

...(To be continued~^~)