The other four Purple Dust Pavilion experts still standing were utterly stunned, their mouths hanging open.
Their entire bodies trembled as they stared at Elder Ao, who had been pierced through. They wanted to shatter the sword radiance impaling Elder Ao, but quickly realized they could not move a single part of their bodies.
The next moment, a voice rolling with coldness sounded from within the gates...
"Purple Bamboo, have you seemingly forgotten what I instructed you?"
"I said that all twelve selected people had to be knocked unconscious before being brought here. Why are they still awake?"
To Sikong Jing's senses, the voice carried vastness, severity, and anger.
How did such a voice sound anything like the kind and benevolent person Purple Bamboo had described?
Purple Bamboo immediately panicked. "Master, they are all from my Purple Dust Pavilion, so that is why I told them..."
"Ignorant. Laughable!"
Before she could finish, the voice within the gates thundered again. "None of my affairs are to be told to anyone. You were to keep your encounter with me secret, yet you actually told others."
"You did not even select the strongest among the variant human race. Instead, you brought your own people here to fool me?"
By this point, the voice had become increasingly terrifying...
Purple Bamboo hurriedly replied, "Rest assured, Master. They will not tell anyone."
"This subordinate did indeed have some selfish motives, but they are absolutely not weak. They can certainly rank among the top twenty in the entire Burial Emperor Sea. At their level, unless they have fought, no one can tell who is stronger or weaker."
"They are qualified to be selected."
Her voice was filled with desperate urgency as it carried into the gates. "Master, please spare Elder Ao."
But then... buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz!