The Sun Moon Divine Cult was a Supreme Dao Holy Land, with an imperial weapon anchoring its fortune.
Even on ordinary days, a special defensive formation enveloped the entire holy land. One could leave, but no one could enter!
Boom!
Bang!
High in the sky, the elder plummeted like a meteor and struck the protective barrier, only to bounce back up like a rubber ball.
"Pfft!"
The tremendous impact made the elder cough up a mouthful of blood. Her face was ashen and flushed, her teeth clenched tight.
"Who... was it?!"
The elder already had one foot in the Sage Tier. Even dismemberment could not easily kill her.
Though she was gravely wounded now, her rage outweighed her pain.
She was a venerable ancestor of a Supreme Dao Holy Land, thousands of years old, yet three slaps had laid her low!
Worse still, she did not even know who her attacker was!
Worst of all, her attacker had dragged her back to the Sun Moon Divine Cult to humiliate her before everyone.
That was the most devastating blow!
The thunderous impact rang throughout the holy land.
Many disciples emerged from their cultivation quarters and looked up at the sky, their faces puzzled.
"Who is that?"
"Ramming a Supreme Dao Holy Land's defensive formation headfirst in broad daylight? Now that's a ruthless character!"
"There's no way this person would strike our cult's defensive formation for no reason. Could it be... an attack on our cult?"
"Impossible! Our Sun Moon Divine Cult has an imperial weapon. Who would dare?"
Suddenly, a disciple with exceptionally keen eyesight noticed the crescent marking between the elder's brows. His pupils widened in shock!
He cried out, "Look! This person has the same mark between the brows as the Moon Yin Right Emissary!"
"Could that be the Moon Yin Right Emissary?"
Below the Sun Moon Divine Cult Leader, aside from the Great Elder who headed the elders, the Sun Yang Left Emissary and the Moon Yin Right Emissary held the highest status!
Like the position of Cult Leader, these two emissary positions were passed down through the generations. Every Cult Leader had his own Sun and Moon Left and Right Emissaries!
Another disciple noticed this feature as well and said, "No, the Moon Yin Right Emissary is a woman. This old fellow is clearly a man..."
"This... must be one of our cult's ancestral Moon Yin Right Emissaries!"
As the words left his mouth, he was stunned by his own conjecture and exchanged a glance with another disciple.
If this truly was a former Moon Yin Right Emissary, then there had to be a reason for the elder to be striking the Sun Moon Divine Cult's defensive formation.
Then they noticed the bloody wounds covering the elder's body.
At last, they realized the situation was far from simple.
"What scoundrel dares wound our cult's forebear?!"
A furious roar thundered like divine lightning from the nine heavens. Immediately afterward, a figure shot out of the Sun Moon Divine Cult, straight toward the elder in the sky.
He reached out to seize the elder and rescue her!
"It's the Great Elder!" a disciple exclaimed, his face alight with excitement.
The Great Elder was a late-stage lin dao realm expert whose strength was unfathomable!
Rumor had it that the Great Elder was about to take that next step and become a peak lin dao realm expert!
The Great Elder was a middle-aged man in silver robes, tall and imposing, with a face that commanded respect even without anger. With his every movement, the very might of heaven and earth bowed before him!
His hand grew larger and larger in the air as it reached for the Moon Yin Right Emissary!
Suddenly.
Just as the Great Elder was about to seize the Moon Yin Right Emissary, a Black Robe Man appeared out of nowhere and drove him back with a wave of his hand.
The Great Elder retreated seven steps through the air, his previously composed expression changing in an instant.
Forcing down the blood surging up in his chest, he stared at the Black Robe Man who had struck him.
The Black Robe Man was tall, with broad shoulders and hair hanging loose, his entire bearing exuding an unbridled air.
Merely standing there, he seemed to make heaven and earth revolve around him. A faint pressure emanated from him, leaving the Great Elder feeling as though he faced a formidable enemy.
An expert!
The Black Robe Man wore a bronze mask imbued with a special concealing Dao art that made it impossible to see through. Gripping one of the Moon Yin Right Emissary's legs, he held her like a dead dog and said in a hoarse voice:
"If you want the hostage, bring money!"
Bring money, ransom the hostage!
At those words, the Great Elder narrowed his eyes. His aura surged out like a mighty river, and he attacked at once!
He was the Great Elder of a Supreme Dao Holy Land, second to one and above countless others. How could he let someone twist him around their little finger?
Especially on his own doorstep!
Yet despite attacking immediately, the Great Elder was no reckless brute. Anyone who could gravely wound the Moon Yin Right Emissary must possess terrifying strength. He was very likely no match for this man.
But this was the sky above the Sun Moon Divine Cult. The entire holy land stood behind him!
He knew that all the Sun Moon Divine Cult's senior figures had already made preparations in secret, ready to deal the Black Robe Man a fatal blow at any moment!
That was why he attacked so decisively!
After all, with his cultivation, he could not possibly be utterly defenseless!
And yet...
Pfft!
The Black Robe Man raised his hand and made a grasping motion toward the Great Elder. In an instant, the Great Elder threw his head back and screamed. The Dao art he had unleashed vanished on its own, and blood seeped from every pore of his body!
Crack!
As the Black Robe Man continued tightening his grip, the Great Elder's bones shattered and snapped one after another.
The piercing sound of breaking bones made the Sun Moon Divine Cult disciples below bristle with fear and break into cold sweats!
"Aah!"
The Great Elder screamed, struggling to look at the Black Robe Man. He could not believe he was being toyed with like a child in the palm of this man's hand!
He was at the Lin Dao Realm Ninth Layer!
"I refuse to believe it!"
The Great Elder roared, his eyes wide. Bringing two fingers together, he beckoned, and a treasure pagoda flew out of his Purple Mansion Grotto-Heaven.
The pagoda had nine stories, a golden-gray color, and an ancient design. It kept expanding in the air.
At the very bottom of the pagoda was a doorway. It opened, and a tremendous spatial Dao art exerted an overwhelming suction, pulling at the Black Robe Man's body.
Yet even under the suppression of this powerful artifact, the Black Robe Man remained as immovable as a mountain.
With one hand gripping the Moon Yin Right Emissary and the other holding the Great Elder in an invisible grasp, he stood perfectly straight, utterly unaffected!
"Impossible!"
The Great Elder cried out, his handsome face almost twisting out of shape. This pagoda was a Sage Tier artifact, yet it could not even budge the Black Robe Man!
What was his cultivation?
Could it be...
A terrifying conjecture arose in his mind.
"How dare you!"
Just as the Great Elder exhausted every ounce of strength without managing to move the Black Robe Man.
The space around the three of them was suddenly sealed. A Purple-Gold Great Bell shattered space and burst out of the void.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The bell's peals thundered through heaven and earth. Its immense sound waves seemed to take solid form, becoming countless musical notes that formed a trapping formation around the Black Robe Man.
Then dozens of Sun Moon Divine Cult experts rushed out of the surrounding void. Among them was the Sun Moon Cult Master, dressed in black-and-white robes.
The Purple-Gold Great Bell was his artifact!
"Who are you?"
"You dare run wild on our cult's doorstep?"
The Sun Moon Cult Master's expression was cold beneath his black-and-white robes. He devoted all his strength to commanding the great bell and controlling the trapping formation, preventing the Black Robed Person from breaking free and escaping.
"Heh heh."
The Black Robe Man suddenly laughed. Paired with his bronze mask, the sound was rather unnerving. He looked at the Sun Moon Cult Master and said:
"So you're the Sun Moon Cult Master? I grew up hearing legends about you. Now that I've seen you, all that listening was wasted. You've truly led the younger generation astray!"
"At your age, with your cultivation, and as the master of a holy land with vast resources at your disposal, you're merely a half-saint who's entered the sacred heart stage!"
Upon reaching perfection in the lin dao realm, one could not advance directly into the Saint Realm.
Between the two lay three transformations: sacred heart, sacred body, and sacred arts.
They were commonly known as the three saint transformations!
Lin dao realm experts who reached these three transformations were also called half-saints!