"Th... This was impossible?"
"Sect Master Chao's Abyss-Cleansing Mountain Chariot had been refined in the Cloudglory Realm for over a hundred years!"
"Even Spirit Transformation cultivators could be burned to ashes by the Fire Phoenix. How had it been..."
"With just one hand?"
The former members of the Dongting Immortal Sect were all dumbfounded.
Naturally, their voices did not escape Zhao Lie's ears.
Unfortunately, he had no mind to listen, because he was also trying to process the very same reality.
No one knew better than they did how powerful Chao Jin was.
Two hundred years ago, Chao Jin had already been at the Late Spirit Transformation stage.
Then he had secluded himself in the Cloudglory Realm for over a century, refining the Abyss-Cleansing Mountain Chariot and merging the Fire Phoenix with it. His strength had long since approached the threshold of Void Refinement.
That was also the confidence that had emboldened them to emerge from the Cloudglory Realm and attempt to take control of the Heavenly Origin Realm.
But now, Xu Changqing had crushed that confidence with a single hand.
At this moment, Zhao Lie—or rather, most of them—finally understood.
They understood why Xu Changqing could become the sect master of the Azurewood Immortal Sect.
They understood why an elder-generation powerhouse like Xuan Yan had willingly stepped down to become a Supreme Elder.
It was not because these people had gone mad. It was because Xu Changqing's strength had reached a level they simply could not comprehend.
Strong enough that Xuan Yan had willingly yielded his position, strong enough that Mo Qiushui had been utterly convinced, strong enough to reunite the Seven Peaks.
Such cohesion was not grown from farming. It was forged through strength.
And Chao Jin was among those who understood this.
He stood at the very