So he was half-crippled
At this moment, Lin Ming looked at Elder Zuo the Sacred Demon Palace in front of him, his mind racing with thoughts.
The current situation within this Ancient Heavenly Palace is such that no super-powerful expert at the Earth Sovereign level can enter. The array power that resides deep within the Heavenly Palace acts like an invisible sieve, blocking all beings who have reached the Earth Sovereign realm from entering.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken Zi Yan was about to advance, into his Inner World. Zi Yan was breaking through to the Earth Sovereign during the Perfect Baptism, and once that breakthrough aura was leaked out, it would be rejected by the Heavenly Palace's formation. Therefore, he had no choice but to hide her in his Inner World to avoid the limelight.
But how could the elder of the Sacred Demon Palace have arrived here without anyone noticing? Moreover, he has never shown his face from the very beginning, not even in the Heavenly River.
He set up fishing formations in the Heavenly River, gambled heavily with Zi Yan, and collected the Perfect Baptism Heavenly River, causing quite a stir. Yet, this Elder Zuo was like an invisible ghost, never revealing a trace of his presence from beginning to end.
"Hehe, does it feel strange?" Seeing Lin Ming looking at Elder Zuo with a hint of surprise, the disciple of the Sacred Demon Palace chuckled.
The laughter echoed through the empty, dilapidated hall, carrying a sense of smugness and boastfulness, like a lackey showing off his master's skills to others.
"The Ancient Heavenly Palace is indeed unable to withstand a powerhouse at the Earth Sovereign level. Therefore, our Sacred Demon Palace paid a heavy price to allow Elder Zuo to infiltrate secretly. Even so, he only had one chance to act, and his strength was greatly diminished. It will probably take decades or even longer for him to recover."
As he spoke, he slightly raised his chin, seemingly pleased to see Lin Ming's shocked expression. He then spoke more, like a peacock displaying its full plumage.
Upon hearing this, Lin Ming's eyelids twitched involuntarily. That Sacred Demon Emperor was truly ruthless, actually willing to let one of his subordinates, Lower-Rank Earth Sovereign, pay such a price.
An Earth Sovereign is a powerful overlord who establishes his own sect on the Sky Luo Continent. The Sacred Demon Palace only has a handful of such individuals, and losing one is like cutting off a piece of flesh.
But the Sacred Demon Emperor was willing to let a Lower-Rank Earth Sovereign infiltrate the Ancient Heavenly Palace in a way that was almost self-harming, for the sake of the opportunity there. This decision made Lin Ming secretly wary.
However, the words of the disciple from the Sacred Demon Palace eased his tense nerves somewhat. Clearly, this elder of the Sacred Demon Palace was not at his peak strength; on the contrary, he had suffered a great loss. A single opportunity to fight had severely damaged his strength, and it would take decades or even longer to recover. All this information combined was like a ruler, allowing him to measure the old man's true strength.
Even if a Lower-Rank Earth Sovereign loses most of their strength, they are still far beyond what Tier 9 Peak Realm expert can contend with.
The gap between Earth Sovereign and Tier 9 Peak is like a Natural Chasm; it's not just a difference in the amount of Spiritual Energy, but a complete crushing defeat on a different level.
Even if an Earth Sovereign only has 50% of their strength left, their control over Spiritual Energy is enough to leave any Tier 9 Peak expert with no chance to fight back.
Therefore, when Lin Ming walked in, in the eyes of this disciple of the Sacred Demon Palace, he was already a dead man.
The disciple looked at Lin Ming with an almost pity-like certainty, like a spectator watching an ant about to be crushed.
However, he could never have imagined that Lin Ming was no longer within the scope of the so-called Tier 9 Peak.
Lin Ming's body possesses the perfect Four Elements Origin, and the World Power resides within him. He has withstood even the full force of an attack from Upper-Rank Earth Sovereign like Xia Emperor, and he has personally killed Earth Sovereign like She Wuyou.
Although his realm is still stuck at the threshold of the Half-Step Earth Sovereign, his combat power has long exceeded the shackles of his realm. He is like a peerless divine Divine Weapon hidden in an ordinary scabbard, seemingly inconspicuous, but capable of cleaving mountains and rivers when drawn.
So just as the disciple of the Sacred Demon Palace was about to witness the fear and horror that would appear on Lin Ming's face, his pupils constricted slightly as he saw a faint smile appear on Lin Ming's handsome face.
The arc was extremely shallow and faint, like the first ripple on the surface of a deep pool after a pebble has been thrown in. If he hadn't been staring at Lin Ming's face the whole time, he probably wouldn't have noticed it at all.
Then a soft chuckle murmured quietly in the underwater palace. The sound was not loud, but it was particularly clear in the silence.
"So it was a Lower-Rank Earth Sovereign who was in a half-crippled state..." Lin Ming's voice carried a sense of relief, like a traveler who had encountered a tiger blocking his way on a mountain road and suddenly discovered that the tiger actually had one leg missing.
The mocking smile on the Sacred Demon Palace disciple's face seemed to freeze slightly at this moment.
He tilted his head slightly to look at Lin Ming, a faint hint of confusion flashing across his sinister eyes, which was then replaced by a more intense mockery.
He raised the corners of his mouth, a condescending pity in the curve, like a scholar listening to a farmer spouting nonsense.
"Are you so frightened that you can't even speak coherently?" The disciple from the Sacred Demon Palace smiled slightly, looking at Lin Ming with pity in his eyes.
He clearly mistook Lin Ming's unusual behavior for the ramblings of someone in a panic.
When people are in extreme fear, they often say nonsensical things. He had seen many such examples. Some people laugh when facing death, some cry out, and some say crazy things that they don't even know what they are saying.
In his eyes, Lin Ming's words "Lower-Rank Earth Sovereign in a half-crippled state" were as ridiculous as an ant telling an elephant, "You're nothing special."
Beside the disciple of the Sacred Demon Palace, the man dressed in a black and white robe, exuding an aura of old age, also raised his eyes at this moment, looking at Lin Ming with indifferent eyes.
His gaze was like a frozen lake, cold and undisturbed. Although he couldn't see through Lin Ming's strength with his keen eyesight, it barely stirred the slightest emotion in his eyes.
After all, not everyone is like him, so anyone who enters normally is still in the Supreme Realm below the Earth Sovereign Supreme Realm.
He had lived on this Sky Luo Continent for several hundred years and had seen at least eighty to a hundred Tier 9 Peak experts. Which one of them didn't tremble with fear and walk on thin ice when they saw him?
However, as long as one is in the Supreme Realm, given his usual status and position, even someone at the Tier 9 Peak would be like an ant in his eyes.
For a Lower-Rank Earth Sovereign, annihilating a Tier 9 Peak expert would be as easy as turning his hand, even though his strength at this moment was less than half of his peak.
The gap between the Tier 9 Peak and the Lower-Rank Earth Sovereign is so vast that it can induce despair, like a chasm carved into a cliff face, where the other side is right in front of you, but there is an abyss between you.
Elder Zuo slowly raised his head and stared at Lin Ming expressionlessly.
His gaunt face was devoid of any extra expression, like a piece of dried old tree bark, too lazy to even twitch a wrinkle.
He spoke slowly, his voice slightly hoarse, like two rusty pieces of iron rubbing against each other. "I am in charge of punishments within the Sacred Demon Palace. Those who die by my hand will suffer unimaginable torment, a fate worse than death. Therefore, if you were to end your own life now, I would grant you a more lenient end."
He spoke these words calmly, as if stating a pre-established rule, yet every word carried a chilling, sinister undertone.
It was clear that Elder Zuo was not in a good mood. After all, anyone who had paid such a price to enter this Ancient Heavenly Palace on a mission would probably not be in a good mood.
His strength was greatly diminished, and it would take him decades or even longer to recover. Anyone would be Child Flame in this situation, and Lin Ming's appearance at this moment was like a punching bag placed in front of him.
Lin Ming was also taken aback upon hearing this. His dark, unfathomable eyes widened slightly, as if he had heard a not-so-funny joke.
He couldn't help but laugh. The laughter wasn't loud, but it echoed throughout the hall, carrying an undisguised mockery.
A moment later Lin Ming's smile faded, his expression darkened, and the temperature in his eyes plummeted to freezing. He said in an icy tone, "You half-crippled piece of trash, if you get out of here now, you might still save your life."
Before the Stone Door, the expression on Elder Zuo's face seemed to freeze at that moment.
His half-closed eyes snapped open, a look of utter disbelief flashing across his pupils, like the astonishment of a tiger hearing a rabbit bare its teeth at it.
It took him a moment to recover, and he looked at Lin Ming with disbelief. This kid, who seemed like an ant, was actually speaking to him in such a tone?
He had been in charge of the Sacred Demon Palace's punishments for hundreds of years, and the souls of the dead who died at his hands numbered at least eight or ten thousand. Some of those people begged for mercy, some cried out, and some cursed him before they died, but no one ever dared to speak to him in such a tone.
Elder Zuo's face twitched slightly. Lin Ming could see that his hands seemed to be trembling, his withered fingers curling up one by one, his knuckles cracking as if they were a bowstring being drawn taut.
At the same time, a terrifying surge of Spiritual Energy suddenly erupted from his body with a devastating force.
Boom!
At this moment, the space inside the main hall shattered into dark, cracked patterns. These patterns spread outwards from Elder Zuo's feet, like an ice surface struck by a giant hammer, with fine and menacing cracks.
The Spatial Turbulence from those cracks was crushed into nothingness by that immense Spiritual Energy before it could spread.
As if unable to withstand the terrifying Spiritual Energy, even the dome above creaked under the weight.
Under such terrifying Spiritual Energy fluctuations, Lin Ming was like a faint flame in a raging storm; a slight gust of wind would leave not even bones behind.