"What is this...?"
Although Zhang Yuanshan had not reacted as quickly as Meng Qi, the sight of the Mystic Maiden casually setting up a barrier resembling an immortal realm still left a look of shock on his face.
A Mystic Maiden Incarnation could roughly be regarded as a peak expert who had crossed the Celestial Ladder, yet some of the unique methods she could employ were beyond even certain grandmasters.
Zhang Yuanshan had only ever seen a barrier arranged so effortlessly, without the slightest trace of worldly air, on the old ancestor.
Combined with what Meng Qi had said, this person was actually the Mystic Maiden of Su Nu Dao?!
Although Su Nu Dao had been listed among the Nine Demonic Paths mainly because of the Joyful Bodhisattva branch, while its own branch had committed relatively few evils—mostly just the emotional turmoil caused by the Mystic Maiden and the incarnations of the Mystic Maiden Successors—
the sudden visit of this great figure to Xuanwu City, directly into the core territory of the True Martial Sect, naturally caught Zhang Yuanshan entirely off guard.
What had insignificant juniors of the Aperture Opening Stage like them done to deserve the intervention of such a long-famous, supreme figure?
After all, although the Human Ranking only listed fifty outstanding talents, making it seem highly prestigious,
its turnover was actually extremely rapid, since anyone who entered the Half-step Outer Scenery realm or passed the age of thirty-five would automatically be removed. Nor could every genius on the Human Ranking enter the Outer Scenery realm.
Even among the prodigies who had once ranked near the top of the Human Ranking, very few ultimately achieved the heights of the present Mystic Maiden.
Whether through premature death or bottlenecks, there were simply too many unforeseen factors.
One side consisted