The courtyard was a shambles.
Half of the gate Kuang Dao had kicked apart still hung from its frame, swaying precariously.
The ground was covered in fragments of the stone table and stools, mixed with paving stones shattered by the Four Directions Sky-Sealing Array. It looked as though a Demon Beast had plowed through it.
Lin Qingzhu and several of her subordinates were pale, their calves still trembling.
The killing intent of Spirit Transformation cultivators, the oppressive might of a Longevity Realm Old Ancestor—none of them had ever witnessed a scene like this before.
Zhou Xuan brushed nonexistent dust from his sleeve, glanced at the wreckage strewn across the ground, then at the fading apparition in dragon robes. A meaningful smile flickered across his face.
He knew that, starting tonight, he had truly secured his footing in the Purple-Gold Immortal Vein.
And the piece he had quietly placed on the board, named cooperation, had finally begun to serve its true purpose.
Yet the apparition in dragon robes, which had already vanished completely, unexpectedly coalesced in midair once more.
He was more solid than before, and colder, too.
A pressure a hundred times stronger than that of Kuang Dao and his companions crashed down. This time, Zhou Xuan alone was its target.
Lin Qingzhu and the others felt the pressure around them ease, but seeing Zhou Xuan's plight sent their hearts leaping into their throats again.
"Is this what you wanted?"
The Dragon-Robed Elder's voice no longer held its earlier composure. Instead, it carried the fury of someone who had been used and toyed with, every word forced through clenched teeth.
"Offend everyone, then expect me to clean up your mess every single time?"
Under that immense pressure, Zhou Xuan did not budge. He did not even summon a protective layer