"Everyone, don't panic! The ancestor has arrived."
Qiu Qianli raised his arm and shouted, his face alight with excitement.
Fortunately, he had been clever enough to keep a trick up his sleeve. As soon as he noticed something was wrong, he had notified the Demon Taming Sect's Void Return ancestor.
The speed of a Void Return Realm expert was naturally extraordinary.
After all, the sect's ancestors had been informed of the plan this time, so it wasn't a private operation.
Many nearby sects had even been warned not to interfere.
At that very moment, a gray figure on the distant horizon seemed to disregard the distance between them. With a single step, he appeared above the battlefield.
His face was withered, his eye sockets sunken, but the presence radiating from him was not to be underestimated. He was clearly a Void Return Realm expert!
He was also one of the powers the Demon Taming Sect had relied on to hold Youzhou for ten thousand years.
Even across the whole of Eastern Cang Province, he was a renowned expert.
His cold gaze swept over the devastated battlefield before settling on Han Xuanji, carrying a trace of scrutiny and icy killing intent.
"Who are you..."
"You dared injure members of my Demon Taming Sect and seize our sect's divine beast... Your Excellency, you have some nerve."
Another voice rang out. It seemed to come from the depths of the Nine Netherworlds, chilling and sinister beyond compare. It bore the pressure unique to a Void Return Realm cultivator, crashing down like an invisible iceberg.
The withered old man in gray robes stood suspended in the air. Behind him, another Void Return ancestor appeared, dressed in black robes with crimson patterns, his presence equally deep as the sea. He was powerfully built and held an ancient mirror wreathed in ghostly blue flames. Wherever its light shone, space faintly twisted.
The Demon Taming Sect's two great Void Return Realm powers in Youzhou-Soul Prison Ancestor and Sea-Burning Ancestor-had arrived together.
Their appearance lifted everyone's spirits. The Demon Taming Sect experts below who had survived by luck now seemed to have found someone to rely on. Hope rekindled in their eyes, and they looked at Han Xuanji with venom and the pleasure of impending revenge.
Sea-Burning Ancestor fixed his gaze on Han Xuanji as though he were looking at a dead man.
Soul Prison Ancestor, meanwhile, stared at the white tiger, whose fur was standing on end as it growled. He made no attempt to hide his greed.
"Hand over the white tiger, and I can spare your life."
Soul Prison Ancestor's voice was dry and hoarse, but it carried an unquestionable note of judgment.
In his eyes, what did a Void Return cultivator with an unstable presence amount to, even with a Demon Beast that had just entered Void Return at his side?
At the thought, a sinister smile crept onto Soul Prison Ancestor's lips, and a trace of disdain appeared in his eyes.
Against the combined forces of two Mid Void Return ancestors, the outcome was already decided.
However, Han Xuanji's origins were unknown, and they did not want to rashly antagonize him beyond reconciliation.
Then again, if the man really had someone backing him, he could have revealed his identity long ago. Why would he put himself in danger?
This time, we can obtain a Void Return Realm white tiger as a demon pet. Heaven truly favors my Demon Taming Sect.
At the thought, even an old antique like Soul Prison Ancestor, who had cultivated for thousands of years, could not help feeling a surge of emotion.
Yet Han Xuanji's expression had not changed in the slightest from beginning to end.
Calm and indifferent, like an ancient frozen pool without a ripple.
"Hmph, putting on a mysterious act!"
The ghostly blue flame mirror in Sea-Burning Ancestor's hand blazed with light, its surface locking onto the little white tiger. A terrifying heat that seemed capable of melting all things began to gather; he was clearly ready to strike and capture it at any moment.
Soul Prison Ancestor watched calmly and made no move to stop him.
Sea-Burning Ancestor understood at once and immediately mobilized his spiritual power.
A Void Return Realm expert's attack was naturally extraordinary. In an instant, a terrifying pressure enveloped the entire mountain range, and a frightening presence roiled through the air. Before he had even struck, strange phenomena had already appeared in heaven and earth.
"Go!"
Sea-Burning Ancestor waved his hand, instantly activating a Method Formula.
In the blink of an eye, torrents of flame erupted from the ancient blue mirror, and pillars of fire shot into the heavens. It was a terrifying power capable of burning mountains and boiling seas.
"The ancestor's divine might!"
The many remaining Demon Taming Sect cultivators could not help feeling a surge of pleasure. Qiu Qianli in particular wore a vicious expression.
So what if it was a great Void Return demon?
Did it really think the Demon Taming Sect was easy to bully?
Flames soared into the sky, and the temperature in the air rose sharply. The mountain range, which had been somewhat cold and desolate, now seemed to be in the throes of a volcanic eruption!
Even the little white tiger, so confident before, now had a grave look in its eyes.
The earlier battle had consumed much of its spiritual power and stamina. Now, suddenly faced with the full-force attack of a Void Return Realm cultivator, it was struggling to cope.
After all, no matter how powerful its bloodline was, it had only just entered the Void Return Realm.
Not everyone had Han Xuanji's monstrous cultivation speed, able to quickly master all manner of Divine Abilities and Law Techniques while stabilizing their realm.
Just then, Han Xuanji, who had stood motionless all this time, finally raised his hand.
A small shield abruptly grew larger, blocking the attack in front of them.
Boom!
The collision shook heaven and earth, whipping up a wave of heat that surged into the sky, as though giving the Heavenly Gloom Mountain Range a perm.
"My Heaven-Burning Devil Instruction has reached great accomplishment. How could it be blocked so easily?"
Sea-Burning Ancestor could not help showing a trace of smugness.
"Something doesn't look right."
Suddenly, a Demon Taming Sect cultivator spoke up at an inopportune moment.
Hearing this, everyone looked toward the center of the collision.
The man and tiger were completely unharmed. The Seven-Star Black Tortoise Shield protected them from every direction, while a group of Demon Taming Sect cultivators had instead been left covered in soot by the aftermath of the clash.
"This..."
At the sight, the many Demon Taming Sect cultivators present were dumbfounded and involuntarily looked toward their ancestor.
This time, Sea-Burning Ancestor's expression grew grave as well. Without a doubt, they had kicked an iron plate.
Anyone who could produce a defensive Law Treasure like this was no ordinary person.
Still, neither of the two Void Return cultivators who had cultivated to this point was the indecisive sort.
"Let's attack together. We mustn't let him escape."
Soul Prison Ancestor made his decision at once.
Since they had already offended him, they might as well offend him to death!
Of course, the one to die would be their opponent.
"Mm."
Sea-Burning Ancestor nodded immediately.
The next instant, the Ten Thousand Beasts Demon-Suppressing Diagram overhead, which covered the sky and shimmered with flowing light, grew even larger. Several terrifying phantom Demon Beasts manifested within it, their presence far surpassing what it had been before.
This was the true might of the Demon Taming Sect's guardian Law Treasure. It was a seventh-tier Law Treasure, and only now, activated by two Void Return Realm cultivators, did it finally unleash its true power.
Han Xuanji's eyes were utterly indifferent as he said coldly:
"Do you really think I'm already at your mercy?"
The instant his voice rang out, he had already circulated the spiritual power throughout his body. Bearing boundless Sword Intent and the fury in his heart, all the Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth seemed to converge on this one point.
Great Desolation Sword Finger, second form.
Heaven-Splitting!
He simply held his fingers together like a sword and slashed from afar at the Ten Thousand Beasts Demon-Suppressing Diagram overhead, which covered the sky and shimmered with flowing light.
There was no earth-shaking Sword Qi, no dazzling brilliance.
There was only a faint, nearly transparent ripple in space, spreading like a wave on water and brushing gently over the enormous beast-hide scroll.
Rip-
A soft sound rang out, like a thin piece of silk being torn in two.
The Heaven-Suppressing Diagram, which radiated a crushing pressure, was silently split in two down the middle by an incomparably smooth spatial rift!
The Demon Beast totems on the diagram let out soundless cries of anguish, instantly dimming and dispersing!
As though it had lost all its spirituality, the entire treasured diagram shrank countless times over in an instant and fluttered down from the sky!