I was actually exposed by a single tea leaf? x3
The three masters hidden from sight were aghast, the thought that their opponent was invincible exploding in all their minds at once.
Xiang Yuan frowned at the three uninvited guests. Dressed in black with bamboo hats, they looked like Stellar Palace assassins. Xiang Yuan wondered which famed orthodox sect had disguised themselves as such.
Had Heavenly Sword Pavilion staged this whole act and pretended to be victims, or was someone truly trying to frame Heavenly Sword Pavilion...
There were many possibilities. Thinking about them was meaningless; capturing them alive and interrogating them was the proper course.
The moment Xiang Yuan made his move, the three masters knew they had kicked an iron plate. After a brief exchange through voice transmission, the leading man in black opened his mouth and spat out a small pitch-black cauldron.
The little cauldron flew from the black-clad man's mouth. It had four legs and two handles, a square cauldron that swelled in the wind, becoming a colossal object over a zhang tall in the blink of an eye.
The cauldron was ancient and weighty. Its four legs stood like heavenly pillars pinning down the earth, while its twin handles coiled like dark serpents. Turtle-and-snake patterns floated across its walls, shifting restlessly in the dim light. Amid its trembling hum, it carried the faint majesty of a Black Tortoise's long cry.
Suspended in midair, the giant cauldron made the entire courtyard sink. Space solidified as a barrier formation sealed everything within, allowing entry but no escape.
The cauldron's mouth spewed boundless black water, spreading like spilled ink. Every drop weighed a thousand jun; it surged upward into a canopy of heaven, pressing down on space and locking it in place, leaving those beneath the cauldron unable