Unfortunately, every attempt came to nothing, blocked by a black wheel spirit artifact.
The wheel was pitch-black all over, with sharp blades gleaming coldly around its rim. It, too, was a high-grade spirit artifact.
The black wheel maintained an airtight defense, seeking no glory, only to avoid mistakes. It left the Bearded Man deeply frustrated, yet utterly helpless.
The cultivator wielding it was the strongest of the White Cloud Temple cultivators stationed here, a Daoist dressed in black robes.
He clearly had extensive combat experience, wielding his spirit artifact with remarkable discipline. Even Liu Yu found several of his maneuvers eye-opening.
"Song Haocang."
Watching this, Liu Yu recognized the black-robed Daoist.
His name was Song Haocang, and he was one of White Cloud Temple's outstanding Foundation Establishment cultivators.
He had reached Foundation Establishment peak twenty years ago.
Though he was not one of White Cloud Temple's Golden Core prospects and fell far short of Daoist Ziyun, anyone who could reach Foundation Establishment peak was no nobody.
There were only so many notable Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Yan Kingdom. Liu Yu had long since committed their information to memory, so he recognized him immediately.
The Bearded Man, however, did not appear in those records.
Either he had concealed himself exceptionally well, or he was a "dragon crossing the river" from another country, hoping to seize cultivation resources amid the chaos.
As the saying went, "When a wall is falling, everyone gives it a shove." The Cultivation World had no shortage of those who fawned on the powerful.
When White Cloud Temple had been strong, its might had cowed everyone around it. No one dared tug the tiger's whiskers, and every faction across the two provinces had submitted.
But now, anyone with eyes could see that White Cloud Temple's days were