A cold, arrogant laugh crushed the heavens and earth.
Then, from within a dark void rift, a hunched, black figure slowly stepped out.
Black mist churned like murky waves, carrying bone-piercingly cold soul aura as it spread wantonly, instantly diluting the rich fragrance of medicinal pills across the plaza.
The newcomer wore tattered gray-black robes. His face was withered and aged, wrinkled skin clinging tightly to his bones...
His triangular eyes were murky and sinister, overflowing with devouring malice and utter contempt.
It was none other than Soul Hall's Venerable Elder, Elder Mu Gu!
Elder Mu Gu stood suspended high in the sky. No vast, surging battle qi rippled around him, yet an icy stillness that seeped into the soul lingered about his body...
The soul pressure of an Eighth-Rank Alchemist poured down like a deluge, even more terrifying than that of an ordinary Three-Star Battle Venerable.
Elder Mu Gu's murky gaze swept indifferently over the crowd below. A cold, mocking smile curled across his lips, filled with disdain and contempt.
"A mere gathering in some backwater corner of the Eastern Region of Central Plains, with a bunch of fledgling juniors refining pills, and you dare set your sights on the Turtle Spirit Earthfire, a Heavenly Flame?"
"What a foolish dream. You truly do not know the immensity of heaven and earth."
Elder Mu Gu's indifferent words echoed through heaven and earth, every syllable filled with condescending scorn...
The Sword Venerable's hovering body suddenly stiffened. The battle qi he had been gathering, along with his barely suppressed fury, instantly stagnated within his meridians...
Extreme humiliation and apprehension churned across the Sword Venerable's ashen face.
After all, the Sword Venerable was a Three-Star Battle Venerable. He commanded the Myriad Sword Pavilion, one of the Four Pavilions, and presided over a region