Rain poured down, and devastation lay everywhere.
Yet someone walked into the great hall at that moment, looking perfectly at ease, as though he were coming home.
This strange, abnormal sight immediately put the black-robed man and the others on alert.
He was a middle-aged man, not particularly tall or broad, roughly the same height as the black-robed man.
He wore a somewhat worn dark gray cloth shirt. His face was ordinary, his cheekbones slightly broad and flat.
Only his eyes were somewhat unusual.
His eye sockets were slightly sunken, and his irises were extremely pale, almost a murky light brown.
The black-robed man stared at him. The instant their gazes met, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end without warning.
"Be careful, miss. This man is far from ordinary."
The black-robed man looked as though he faced a formidable enemy, his expression more solemn than ever.
"Poison Cloud Mountain is fraught with danger, and Ghost-Faced Insects are running rampant. Sir, you had best leave at once. Otherwise, don't blame us for showing no courtesy!"
One of the guards shouted, his words cold and stern.
It was both a threat and a probe.
The middle-aged man stopped before the entrance to the great hall and spoke leisurely. "No courtesy? Heh, had I not been softhearted earlier, those Ghost Corpse Insects would probably have gnawed you into masses of mangled flesh by now."
"What?"
Everyone was shocked, immediately realizing something.
"You're controlling those Ghost-Faced Insects?"
The black-robed man spoke in a low voice.
"That's right."
The middle-aged man nodded. "The main reason I've shown myself to meet you this time is that I'm a little short on manpower."
"I'll be frank. As long as you all acknowledge me as your master and serve me loyally, you can live."
He stood amid the curtain of rain, with what seemed like an invisible force around his body scattering and repelling the rainwater.
He gave off an intensely oppressive presence.
"Acknowledge you as our master?"
"Who do you think you are?"
"What gives you the right to make such outrageous claims?"
The girl in military attire snorted.
"Once you submit to me, you'll naturally learn who I am."
The middle-aged man smiled faintly and raised his eyes toward the girl in military attire.
At that instant, everyone saw an eerie green light flash through his pale brown eyes.
Hum!
The girl's mind shuddered, her eyes went vacant, and she was about to kneel in homage.
The black-robed man reacted swiftly, seizing her shoulder and shouting in a low voice, "Miss, wake up!"
Every word rang out like a thunderclap.
A buzzing filled the girl's ears, and she abruptly snapped awake.
When she looked again at the strange middle-aged man in the distance, fear had entered her expression.
Her pretty face had gone deathly pale.
Just now, she had completely lost consciousness!
"Oh, quite a loud voice you have."
The middle-aged man looked the black-robed man over, his tone deeply unpleasant.
"So, if we refuse, you intend to use force?"
Taking a deep breath, the black-robed man's presence changed, and he unleashed his aura as a Five-Star Dou Ling without holding anything back.
Yet the middle-aged man merely said calmly, "I'm giving you a chance to live. I suggest you treasure it. Once we come to blows-"
His eyes narrowed slightly as he swept a glance over Xiao Chen and the others before continuing, "I guarantee that not one of you will leave alive."
His words were casual, yet brimmed with imperious confidence.
The hearts of the black-robed man and the others sank.
"Protect the young lady."
Taking a deep breath, the black-robed man charged out with his pitch-black bone saber in hand.
In that instant, even the pouring curtain of rain shattered. Countless droplets burst apart, turning into billowing mist that scattered away.
That display of might and valor left the girl in military attire and the others awestruck.
Only Xiao Chen secretly shook his head.
The middle-aged man remained standing where he was, extending two fingers in a casual pinch.
Clang!
A crisp sound rang out. The black-robed man's full-strength slash had actually been caught between those two fingers, unable to descend even a fraction farther.
"You're too weak."
The middle-aged man shook his head, raised his other hand, and threw an utterly ordinary punch.
The black-robed man felt an immense, matchless force crash into him like a towering mountain, sending him stumbling back more than a dozen steps.
The pitch-black bone saber flew from his grasp, and the middle-aged man casually tossed it to the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As the black-robed man retreated, the stone slabs beneath each footfall cracked and exploded with a crash, filling the air with dust.
One could well imagine how terrifying the power of the middle-aged man's punch was.
The girl in military attire and the others froze.
How could this middle-aged man be so strong?!
Uncle Gong was the strongest person on their side!
Yet now, the middle-aged man had driven him back with a single effortless punch!
"A Dou Wang?!"
The black-robed man looked grim, uncertainty and alarm shifting across his face.
"A Dou Wang?"
A self-mocking look appeared on the middle-aged man's face. "To tell you the truth, this Dou Zong currently possesses only the strength of a Nine-Star Dou Ling. Still, dealing with you won't be difficult-"
Hearing this, everyone felt as though they had plunged into an ice cavern.
This Dou Zong?
Could this man once have been a Dou Zong expert?
But how was that possible?!
There were no Dou Zong in the Jia Ma Empire. Everyone agreed on that.
If anyone was most likely to break through to Dou Zong, it would only be Yun Shan, the previous sect leader of the Misty Cloud Sect, and that person in the Imperial Family, wouldn't it?
Just where had this man come from?
Only Xiao Chen wore a look that said he had expected as much.
Clearly, he had already seen through the man's true circumstances.
The middle-aged man looked at the sky and sighed deeply. "It's getting late. I'll give you one final chance. Submit or die."
"Uncle Gong, take this!"
Suddenly, the girl in military attire took out a golden saber and handed it to the black-robed man.
The saber was golden throughout, seemingly forged from something other than ordinary iron, with a subdued yet scorching radiance flowing over it.
Its edge was as thin as a cicada's wing, yet beneath the light, it reflected a cold, hard arc of brilliance that made the heart tremble.
On closer inspection, fine, ceaselessly flowing golden runes seemed to pulse faintly inside the blade, giving off a powerful aura.
There seems to be a powerful force preserved inside it?
Xiao Chen looked thoughtful.
That the girl in military attire carried such a treasure made her background seem all the more extraordinary.
But the original story had clearly never mentioned anyone like her.
Could it be just as Yao Lao said, that quite a few powerful experts in the Jia Ma Empire really did live in seclusion?
This reminded Xiao Chen of the Jia Ma Empire's former ten greatest experts.
Were they dead?
Probably not, right?
After all, Hai Bodong was still alive. The others probably wouldn't have died so easily either-
With the golden saber in hand, delight appeared on the black-robed man's face, and powerful confidence radiated from his entire body.
Even his gaze held a trace of fervor as he looked at the saber.
The saber was named Sun Devourer, and it had once been Duan Ruifeng's personal weapon.
A portion of that Dou Huang expert's power was sealed within it!
The middle-aged man looked at the golden saber, a trace of wariness appearing in his eyes.
Clearly, he too had sensed the Dou Emperor aura sealed inside it.
Without wasting any more time, he immediately made his move.
Whoosh!
The middle-aged man bounded forward. At the same time, his hand flickered, and he actually drew out a blood-colored sword, dark light surging over it as baleful energy rose in clouds.
With a wave of his hand, a dense swarm of Ghost-Faced Insects rushed in from behind him.
In that instant, the surroundings darkened, and shrill insect cries rang through heaven and earth.
The black-robed man immediately advanced with his saber, stirring up a dazzling expanse of golden radiance.
Slash! Slash!
As saber energy swept in every direction, the Ghost-Faced Insects could not advance at all and were slaughtered to the last.
Yet under the middle-aged man's control, the masses of Ghost-Faced Insects knew no fear, charging at the black-robed man regardless of anything else.
In an instant, the black-robed man was surrounded by a dense swarm of Ghost-Faced Insects.
Seizing this opportunity, the middle-aged man sprang forward, his figure darting so swiftly that the black-robed man struggled to track him.
Spotting an opening, the middle-aged man suddenly struck with his sword, slashing at the black-robed man's saber-wielding arm.
Clearly, he intended to seize the golden saber in the black-robed man's hand.
But the black-robed man naturally would not let him succeed and immediately moved to activate the power within the saber.
The middle-aged man snorted coldly. Seeing little chance of successfully seizing the saber, his figure flashed, and he suddenly charged toward the girl in military attire inside the distant great hall.
"Oh no!"
The black-robed man's expression changed drastically.
Before you continue