He Came, Yet It Was as Though He Hadn't

"Boom"

Almost immediately after the Ice Venerable's cry for help faded, a terrifying aura suddenly surged from the deepest part of the Ice River Valley.

The power of this aura has already surpassed that of Nine-Star Dou Venerable!

"What's going on? Is there someone even more powerful than the Ice Venerable hiding in the Ice River Valley?"

Upon sensing this reviving power, Xiao Yan's expression immediately changed.

Now that Xiao Yan has entered the Dou Zun Realm, he naturally knows the special nature of this realm.

Unlike other realms, it is only divided into Nine Stars.

The Dou Zun Realm is above the Nine Stars, and there is also the Nine Transformations!

One Transformation in the Dou Zun Realm is equivalent to starting from scratch and cultivating to the Dou Venerable realm!

Only after stacking these nine times is it equivalent to reaching perfection in the Dou Zun Realm.

This is also why the Dou Venerable realm is a bottleneck for so many people.

Only after undergoing Nine Transformations transformation can Dou Venerable become a Saint.

This has led to the saying that everyone below the rank of Dou Sheng is like an ant.

Yao Lao was originally at the Nine-Transformation Peak Dou Venerable. He was first ambushed and weakened by the Soul Hall, then betrayed by his own disciple Han Feng, and finally died at the hands of Mu Gu.

However, if Yao Lao had been Dou Sheng, or even just Half-Saint, no matter how much he was weakened by the Soul Hall's sneak attacks, Han Feng and Mu Gu's little tricks wouldn't have been able to kill him.

Although Nine-Transformation Dou Venerable is only one step away from Half-Saint, the difference between the two is like heaven and earth!

The mere presence of the word "saint" signifies transcendence beyond the mortal realm.

Although Xiao Yan had only recently entered the Dou Zun Realm.

But it was precisely because he had reached this level that he could now better appreciate the terror of the owner of this aura.

The three of them plus the snake could indeed easily defeat the Ice Venerable.

However, Xiao Yan knew in his heart that they had no chance of winning against the owner of this aura!

However, Xiao Yan did not notice that neither Qing Lin nor Xiao Yi Xian's expressions changed in the slightest, as if they did not care at all about the owner of this aura of revival.

"Hahaha, the patriarch of my Ice River Valley has awakened! You will all die today! No one will leave my Ice River Valley! Hmph, do you really think my Ice River Valley is any different from the likes of the Four Pavilions?"

Today, I'll show you the true power and resources of my Ice River Valley!

As the owner of this aura revived, the Ice Venerable wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and let out a wild laugh.

Under normal circumstances, he would not awaken his own ancestor.

However, now that his Ice River Valley's First Elder, Tian Shuangzi, has perished, he is struggling to fight alone against four opponents. Furthermore, his covetousness of Xiao Yi Xian, who possesses Innate Calamity Poison Body, has forced him to choose to awaken his own ancestor.

"Buzz~"

"Pop~"

Just as Ice Venerable looked expectant, Xiao Yan looked nervous, and Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin looked calm, that terrifying aura that suddenly appeared came quickly and went even faster...

In less than five seconds, that terrifying aura fell back and disappeared without a trace!

It felt as if it had never existed.

At the same time, the Ice Venerable's arrogant laughter abruptly stopped.

His face was stiff as he looked toward the place where his ancestor usually lived in seclusion.

However, the place was calm and peaceful, and the person he wanted to see did not appear.

"Please, Ancestor, show yourself!"

Undeterred, the Ice Venerable shouted again.

After a while, there was still no movement.

This time, the Ice Venerable was completely dumbfounded!

No, what about his ancestor?

Didn't it just exude a terrifying aura?

Why have they suddenly disappeared without a trace?

Seeing this, Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin exchanged a smile, clearly already having guessed what was going on.

There was another person at the scene who was also completely puzzled; that person was Xiao Yan.

Although he didn't know what other ancestors existed in the Ice River Valley, the terrifying aura that flashed by just now was definitely not fake!

Moreover, judging from the Ice Venerable's reaction, it was clear that the other party wasn't trying to bluff them.

But why has this situation arisen?

There is only one answer.

That's the old ancestor that the Ice Venerable mentioned—something happened to him!

This is a good thing for them!

After all, the aura of that ancestor from Ice River Valley was far too terrifying, clearly beyond what the three of them and the snake could handle at present. However, the Ice Venerable alone was no match for them.

Therefore, after One Transformation glance, Xiao Yan said, "Let's finish this quickly!"

Xiao Yan understood the principle of striking while the iron is hot.

Although they didn't know what had happened to the ancestor mentioned by the Ice Venerable, that wasn't their concern.

For the three of them and the snake, the most important thing right now is to kill the Ice Venerable!

Sure enough, under the Ice Venerable's despairing gaze, the three people and the snake began a new round of righteous beatings against him.

Meanwhile, in a cave deep within the Ice River Valley, the ancestor mentioned by the Ice Venerable had completely lost his life force and become a corpse.

In front of the corpse, Xiao Lin calmly withdrew his right index finger, which had been pointing out.

Yes, when the Ice Venerable cried out "Ancestor, save me!", the corpse in front of him was originally preparing to attack Xiao Yan and the others.

However, just as he unleashed his aura, Xiao Lin appeared before him without warning and casually sent him away with a flick of his finger.

From beginning to end, the patriarch of Ice River Valley didn't even have time to utter a single word.

All I can say is that he passed away peacefully, without even feeling any pain!

"So this is Original Work Xun'er meant in the original story—that the Ice River Valley isn't as simple as it seems? A One-Turn Dou Venerable ancestor, his strength is decent, but that's about it."

Xiao Lin spoke calmly in a low voice.

With a One-Turn Dou Venerable ancestor at Ice River Valley, it's certainly not a place that the Four Pavilions can easily mess with.

However, such strength was completely insufficient for Xiao Lin!

If the other party hadn't intended to make a move, Xiao Lin wouldn't have bothered with him.

However, since he intended to bully the weak, Xiao Lin would not let him off the hook.

This is a normal practice for major powers when it comes to their own disciples.

In cases of competition among peers, or where the difference in strength is not too great, older generations who still have some sense of shame generally will not intervene.

Therefore, if Xiao Yan were to be defeated by a peer one day, Xiao Lin would not possibly make things difficult for the other party.

However, if some shameless old man is willing to give him a ride, Xiao Lin wouldn't mind.

Therefore, the Ice River Valley Ancestor ended his life before he could even leave behind his name.

Without the intervention of the Ice River Valley patriarch, who was at the One-Turn Dou Venerable realm, the outcome of Ice Venerable's 1v4 battle was already predictable.

After holding on for less than five more minutes, he too met his inevitable defeat.