At the very front of the inky river stood a figure.
His black robe snapped in the dark vapor, his back as imposing as a mountain, yet carrying an indescribable desolation.
It was Zhu Tiangang.
Zhu Tiangang, the Golden Core ancestor of the Beast Taming Sect.
At this moment, he was steering this inky river, sweeping up the surviving disciples of the Three Sects as it sped toward the Heavenly Fire Sect.
Inky waves churned across the river's surface, while the scenery on either bank stretched into blurred afterimages. The speed was astonishing, yet no matter how fast they went, it could not conceal the fact that this was a flight for their lives.
Most of the remaining disciples of the Three Sects were still utterly bewildered, their souls not yet recovered from the shock, their expressions blank.
"What's going on? Have we been saved?"
"That White Lotus Sect Golden Core True Lord... how could they descend directly into the Purple Mansion Battlefield? Aren't Golden Core True Lords forbidden from casually attacking low-level cultivators?"
Someone sensed that something was wrong, unable to suppress the panic in their voice. "Over at the Golden Core Battlefield... what exactly happened?"
Jiang Tian took a couple of steps through the inky river. Though its waters were thick as ink, they did not hinder movement. He pushed through the crowd and made his way to Zhu Tiangang's side.
Once he stopped, he lowered his voice and asked, "Ancestor, what happened?"
Zhu Tiangang slowly turned his head.
The instant that face turned toward him, Jiang Tian's pupils sharply contracted.
The Zhu Tiangang he remembered looked elderly, yet full of vigor. His eyes flashed like lightning, and every gesture carried an authority that needed no anger—a bearing unique to a Golden Core True Lord, the poise possessed