Elsewhere.
In a turbulent stretch of the Chaos Void, Gu Chen and the others emerged from a spatial rift.
"Cough, cough..."
Gu Chen clutched his chest and coughed violently, his face as pale as paper.
Although the talisman had protected him during that clash of Da Luo True Realm-level power, the terrifying shock waves had still inflicted serious internal injuries.
"M-my lord, did... did we escape?" a Sage asked between ragged breaths, his face still bearing the relief of having survived a calamity.
"We escaped..."
Gu Chen looked at the spatial rift that had already sealed behind them, but he did not relax in the slightest.
"Their strength was terrifying," another Sage said, still shaken.
"Those fifty-odd Hunyuan Wuji experts were merely their subordinates. Just who were the people leading them?"
"And they actually had a treasure capable of countering the senior's talisman."
"We're in trouble now."
Everyone spoke at once, their faces heavy with unease.
Their greatest trump card had failed. That revelation was a devastating blow.
"Enough!"
Gu Chen snapped, cutting off their discussion.
"Now isn't the time to talk about this!"
"We must leave immediately, return to the Azure Spirit Realm, and report what happened here to Lord Liu Yuan!"
Gu Chen knew perfectly well that this incident had already gone beyond anything they could handle.
Their opponents had mobilized such an enormous force and brought a treasure specifically designed to counter the talisman.
That meant the Ten Great Dao Realms were now taking this completely seriously.
The pursuit to come would undoubtedly be even fiercer than this one.
"My lord is right. Let's go!"
No one dared say anything more. They forced themselves to rally and prepared to activate their teleportation tokens again.
Yet just then, Gu Chen's expression abruptly changed.
As though sensing something, he