At this very moment...
The once prosperous and orderly Sea Suppressing Immortal City was swiftly dragged into a chaotic hell of arson, slaughter, and plunder.
Flames began to rise from several buildings, while thick smoke billowed skyward, lending the scene an even stronger air of apocalypse.
Human greed and ugliness were laid utterly bare the instant powerful restraints vanished.
Just as the chaos reached its peak, and more and more Mortal Cultivators were blinded by greed and joined this frenzied Taotie feast—
"Bzzzz—!"
At the edge of the bottomless crater in the city center, still radiating terrifying residual energy, the air suddenly twisted soundlessly.
The next moment, a towering figure in a plain azure robe appeared in midair without warning. Though not physically imposing, he seemed capable of holding up heaven and earth.
His face was calm, his eyes as deep as a starry sky.
Merely standing there, an invisible yet abyssal and terrifying pressure spread slowly outward from him, like a slumbering dragon awakening, enveloping the entirety of Sea Suppressing Immortal City.
It was Cheng Buzheng—
or rather, another dharma body that had descended in sync with the main body and remained behind in Sea Suppressing Immortal City to handle the aftermath.
Standing in the air, Cheng Buzheng's dharma body calmly looked down upon the Immortal City below, where flames raged in every direction and chaos reigned supreme.
Watching those Mortal Cultivators madly assaulting the defensive formations around the shops, slaughtering and robbing one another over scraps of resources, his deep eyes showed little fluctuation.
Only his brows drew together ever so slightly.
Then, a calm voice carrying supreme majesty rang out, clearly reaching every corner of the Immortal City and the depths of every Mortal Cultivator's soul:
"Stop."
The voice was not loud, yet it exploded directly within