Inside the palace, Ye Jingyu's formerly calm eyes now resembled those of a wounded, enraged wolf, gleaming with a chilling light.
He bit his lip, enduring the pain without making a sound. Only his trembling legs, streaming sweat, and body compressed like a fully drawn bow betrayed how badly he was suffering.
Even now, Ye Jingyu struggled to mobilize his powerful true essence. His Divine Domain and the manifestations of his cultivation art emerged as well, helping him resist the terrifying spiritual pressure.
Previously, when Ye Jingyu had merely watched Zou Wanqing fight the Wind Origin Clan, he had been unable to gauge Zou Wanqing's full strength.
Now, however, he understood it clearly. Even without those Heaven-Reaching spirit treasures, Zou Wanqing was beyond comparison with ordinary early Void Refinement cultivators.
Moreover, Ye Jingyu felt that Zou Wanqing had not used his full strength even against the Wind Origin Clan. He seemed to have activated less than half the power of his Dharma Manifestation.
Of course, astonishment was one thing.
His hand still struggled toward his waist. If the other man truly intended to attack, he would risk his life to cause a commotion.
Yet at this moment, he still felt that Zou Wanqing's pressure was somewhat deliberate.
If Zou Wanqing wanted to target him, he had had ample opportunities on the Red Immortal Grassland, or even in Willow Chancellor Prefecture. Ye Jingyu would have been powerless to resist then.
Even if Zou Wanqing had killed him, few people would have known.
He could then have blamed an alien attack, and even if Ye Jingcheng came to investigate, he would have struggled to uncover the truth.
Here, by contrast, if Zou Wanqing truly killed him, he would have no way to explain himself to the Immortal Ascension Sect.
He would even