The old monsters in hiding

In a desert,

Li Xiao stepped out of the void with a man and a dragon.

"The presence vanished here."

Li Xiao surveyed the surrounding desert and spoke mildly.

"There should be a formation sealing this place off."

"Young master, leave it to me."

Beside him, Long Aotian stepped forward and drew a deep breath. Then a dragon's roar rang across the entire desert.

Roar!

A moment later, a spatial opening slowly appeared before Li Xiao.

An old man with white hair and beard and a missing arm emerged, staring at Li Xiao and the others in shock.

"Sect master."

Upon seeing him, Du Lie excitedly stepped forward and bowed.

The old man's expression darkened. He hurriedly pulled them inside, and the spatial opening closed, blending into the desert as though it had never appeared.

"Du Lie, you..."

Sensing the chaotic Qi within Du Lie, Du Dehai sighed.

"Alas, there's no escaping it in the end. What exactly happened?"

Du Lie recounted his experiences.

"Sect master, I don't have much lifespan left. If I don't break through, our Azure Dragon Sect will be a host of dragons without a head. Countless ages of foundations will be destroyed in a single day."

At his age, only a breakthrough could extend his lifespan. If he died, the Azure Dragon Sect would lose a major fighting force and naturally be eaten away by other factions. Its fate then was easy to imagine.

Hearing this, Du Dehai said nothing more, then turned to Long Aotian in shock.

"A-Ancestor."

Long Aotian's dragon roar earlier had sent the blood within his body churning.

Long Aotian said little, merely nodding in acknowledgment.

In terms of bloodline, he truly was his ancestor. In fact, the entire Azure Dragon Sect would have to address him as ancestor.

After all, the bloodline it possessed was proof of its identity.

Suddenly, a handsome middle-aged man a short distance away attacked Li Xiao, bearing towering sword intent.

Li Xiao blocked with two fingers held together, and a crisp metallic clang rang out.

A flicker of surprise crossed the middle-aged man's eyes.

The next instant, another sword appeared in his other hand. He slashed at Li Xiao again, sending Sword Qi cleaving across the sky like the Milky Way hanging upside down.

Unhurriedly, Li Xiao raised one hand and caught the middle-aged man's sword tip between two fingers.

"You entered the Dao through the sword and wield a sword in each hand. Peerless Sword Gu Chungang, the genius sword cultivator from tens of thousands of years ago. To think you were hiding here."

Hearing this, Gu Chungang smiled faintly.

"It's an honor that someone in this world still knows of me. The younger generation is truly formidable. A Peak Saint so young, and I can't even withstand a single move from you."

From two wooden houses a short distance away came a soul-captivating voice.

"How lively it is today. After so many years, we finally have guests for the first time."

Li Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly and looked up.

A seductive woman emerged, wearing a tight-fitting long dress that exposed a large expanse of snowy white skin at her chest. Her alluring eyes were like silken threads, enough to draw anyone into their depths.

Right behind her, a man in a voluminous robe, with an uncanny presence about him, glanced toward Li Xiao.

A closer look revealed that half his body beneath the robe consisted entirely of skeletal white bones, without any flesh.

"You two must be Senior Liu Sanniang and Senior Undying Man, whose names once made the outside world tremble at the mere whisper."

Li Xiao looked in surprise at the two approaching figures.

Two-Handed Sword Gu Chungang, Liu Sanniang, and Undying Man had been geniuses whose might awed their respective regions in the Upper Realm tens of thousands of years ago.

There were many records of them outside, but unfortunately, all had eventually vanished inexplicably from the Upper Realm.

Who could have imagined that these old monsters had been hiding here all these years, and had all reached Early Saint?

"Hehehe, young master, you jest. Before you, none of us would dare lean on our age and call ourselves your seniors."

Liu Sanniang giggled, making the two balls on her chest bounce up and down.

"Still, this is the first time in all these years that I've seen someone in the Peak Saint Realm, and such a young Saint at that."

"What instructions have brought you to this remote backwater, young master?"

Li Xiao said nothing. A golden gleam flashed through his pupils, and he obtained the information he wanted.

Everyone before him had been branded with the Soul-Chasing Taboo. Their disappearance back then must have been because those people had made their move.

Then Li Xiao withdrew his gaze and spoke slowly.

"Everyone, would you like to leave?"

At his words, their expressions turned sober, and they looked at Li Xiao earnestly.

"Can you really take us out? What about the Executioners?"

"The Executioners."

Hearing the term, Li Xiao paused.

Undying Man, who had remained silent all this time, spoke.

"The Executioners is the name we gave them. We know very little about that organization. They act as though vested with supreme authority, hunting us down and executing us as they please."

"That name does suit them."

Li Xiao nodded in agreement, then addressed everyone.

"As long as you're willing, I'll take you out. But you must stay with the Li Lineage for ten years. After ten years, you can decide whether to stay or leave." His voice paused before he continued.

"As for the Executioners, they've already set their sights on me. I believe they'll come looking for me soon. I'll deal with them for you."

They looked at Li Xiao, then turned to Gu Chungang. Clearly, Gu Chungang was the one in charge here.

Gu Chungang pondered for a long while, then nodded.

"Very well. It's only ten years. We agree."

The young man in azure robes before them had already reached the Peak Saint Realm, the very ceiling of the Upper Realm. He really had no reason to fear the Executioners.

As for them, they had relied on Undying Man's mastery of the mystic arts to carve out this place and hide here for so many years.

Without question, they were willing to leave if they could. It was only ten years; how many decades had they already spent here?

Li Xiao nodded in satisfaction, then swept his hand toward Gu Chungang and the others, erasing the Soul-Chasing Taboos within them one by one.

"They could find you because you'd been marked with the Soul-Chasing Taboo. With your strength, you couldn't see those marks. But don't worry, I've erased them for you. Have all of you been to God-Worshipping Mountain to receive that Divine Blessing?"

Li Xiao asked slowly.

At his words, Gu Chungang and the others' pupils abruptly contracted. Their expressions filled with shock as they murmured,

"You mean...? No wonder, no wonder. What a scheme. People like us would certainly go to God-Worshipping Mountain to receive its baptism if given the opportunity. So that Divine Blessing was a trap all along. What a cunning plan."

Li Xiao waved a hand. "I'll handle the matter of God-Worshipping Mountain. There's no need to worry. From now on, you can address me as young master, just as Long Aotian does."

Hearing this, they composed themselves and bowed respectfully to Li Xiao. "We pay our respects, young master."

At the same time.

Several Saint Realm experts led by Tang Xuan were speeding toward the Li Lineage with an iron box.

Their purpose on this journey: destroy the Li Lineage.