A sinister laugh slowly echoed within the stone chamber. Before the stone door, five figures stood in staggered rows. The one in the lead was an old man in a gray robe with a pointed mouth, monkey-like cheeks, and gloomy eyes. The laugh had just come from his mouth.
Murder and robbery—these five have been committing quite a few such acts in the past few days. Whenever they encounter someone with some strength and the ability to open the stone gate, they quietly wait on the sidelines, anticipating the moment the stone gate is opened, and then all five of them simultaneously strike and kill the person who opened the stone gate.
In this way, they will not only be able to obtain the treasures from the Stone Gate, but also obtain even more. In just a few days, they have already killed more than a dozen Half-Emperor. At this moment, Xiao Yan is their fifteenth target.
As the gray-robed elder uttered his sinister words, the four figures behind him also let out a cold laugh. The five of them took a step forward simultaneously, and instantly, a terrifying aura swept towards Xiao Yan, who was currently inside the stone chamber.
Sensing the approaching oppressive aura, Xiao Yan slightly turned his head, as if only then noticing them. Beneath his black robe, his dark eyes fixed on the five people before the stone chamber door. A flicker of emotion crossed his eyes, and then he murmured softly:
"Two Nine-Star Half-Emperor, three Eight-Star Half-Emperor... I must say, if this lineup were elsewhere, no one would be your match, but in front of me..."
As he finished speaking, Xiao Yan's voice gradually faded until he fell completely silent.
At the same time, the combined aura and pressure of these five Half-Emperor arrived in front of Xiao Yan in the blink of an eye.
"Snort."
A faint, cold snort rang out, and instantly, an equally domineering aura and pressure from within Xiao Yan Xiao Yan's body transformed into a storm, sweeping out from his body. Then, the two equally powerful auras and pressures collided fiercely.
"Bang!"
With a deep thud, two powerful auras collided violently in the space in front of Xiao Yan. Instantly, the invisible void rippled violently. Then, the aura that the five Half-Emperor had condensed together actually shattered in front of the five people's horrified eyes!
The oppressive aura was shattered, and the expressions of the five Half-Emperor changed drastically. Their eyes revealed disbelief. The combined aura of the five of them had been broken by the black-robed man in front of them with a single blow. Just what kind of strength did this guy possess?
"Could it be Dou Di expert!?"
"Damn it! How could a powerhouse of this level be here? Shouldn't they have all gone straight into the depths of the ruins?!"
"What do we do now? We've provoked a Dou Di expert. Even with our strength, we have absolutely no chance against him!"
"But if we don't intervene, do you think he'll let us go?"
Behind the gray-robed elder, four Half-Emperor whispered to each other with extremely ugly expressions. Facing an opponent whose strength was very likely to be that of Dou Di, they really couldn't muster any desire to fight him. In the eyes of Dou Di, these so-called High-Level Half-Emperor were simply not worth mentioning.
When these words reached the ears of the gray-robed elder at the head, his face immediately darkened. These guys were, after all, High-Level Half-Emperor, and they usually acted arrogantly in front of others. How could they become so timid and fearful in the face of someone whose strength was not yet fully certain?
"What a useless piece of trash!"
Cursing under his breath, the old man raised his gaze to Xiao Yan inside the stone chamber. The muscles at the corners of his eyes twitched slightly. Then, he abruptly turned his head, his eyes sharply fixed on the four people behind him, and reprimanded in a low voice:
"What's the panic? If he were truly a Dou Di expert, he wouldn't need to exert himself to break this formation. True strength can't be demonstrated solely by aura and pressure!"
Upon hearing the gray-robed elder's words, the four people behind him finally realized that if the black-robed man before them was truly Dou Di expert, shattering the formation on the stone gate would be an easy task. Furthermore, given the arrogance of Dou Di expert, if anyone dared to say such things to him, they would have already attacked them. But judging from the current situation, the black-robed man seemed to have no intention of making a move.
Having figured this out, the expressions on the faces of the four Half-Emperor immediately turned cold and sinister.
"Hmph, trying to be mysterious, you're asking for it!"
"Hey, I almost fell for your trick! Let's all join forces and see just how strong you really are!"
The four men each let out a cold laugh, and then their bodies, which were standing in place, suddenly moved, instantly transforming into four streaks of light. With a fierce aura, they arrived in front of Xiao Yan in the blink of an eye. With a wave of their hands, the weapons in their hands were revealed in unison, carrying a sharp cold light, and fiercely attacked Xiao Yan's head.
Behind these four, the gray-robed elder followed closely, his Dou Qi rapidly gathering in his palm, clearly intending to kill Xiao Yan with a single blow.
Xiao Yan's expression remained unchanged, but the cold light emanating from his dark eyes beneath his black robe became increasingly apparent. His Xiao Yan was already circulating throughout his body, ready to unleash a Dou Qi attack at any moment with a thought.
The next moment, the four figures in front of him, their blades gleaming with a cold light, arrived above Xiao Yan's head. The powerful fluctuations of their Dou Qi aura caused the void around them to tremble violently. As the blades sliced through the void, they also emitted ear-piercing sonic booms, and spatial rifts began to appear around the four figures.
"Die!"
Seeing Xiao Yan so close yet seemingly terrified, the four men's eyes grew even more ferocious, and the weapons in their hands became even more menacing.
However, in the next instant, seeing the black-robed man become a dead soul at their hands, the pupils of the four men suddenly contracted, their breathing abruptly halting. Their forward momentum seemed to have lost all control; just as they were about to touch Xiao Yan's body, they were blocked by an invisible force. Then, their bodies went limp, and just before hitting the ground, they vanished silently, turning into a pile of ashes...
After that, the gray-robed elder, upon witnessing the extremely bizarre deaths of the four people before him, suddenly showed a look of terror in his eyes. He could never have imagined that this strange black-robed man before him had become so powerful. Could he really be a Dou Di expert?
But then, a sinister glint appeared in the old man's eyes. Regardless of whether the person in front of him was Dou Di expert or not, he had just attacked the four people and was now in an open position. This was the perfect opportunity to strike!
"Die!"
With a sinister roar, the gray-robed elder appeared before Xiao Yan and then delivered a powerful palm strike to Xiao Yan's chest.
"Puff..."
However, when the gray-robed elder's palm struck down, all that followed was a low, muffled thud. Instantly, the elder's expression changed drastically. Before he could react, Xiao Yan's body trembled violently, and a tremendous force was unleashed, sending the gray-robed elder flying with a single blow.
"You..."
After the old man froze in terror, he looked up and, before he could even utter a word, his expression changed again. The spot where the man in black had just stood was now completely empty.
Immediately afterwards, the old man's pupils suddenly contracted, and a chill ran down his spine from the back of his neck.
"I gave you the invitation to leave voluntarily, but since you insisted on courting death, you can't blame me."
The moment the indifferent words fell, a flash of fire appeared in Xiao Yan's palm, and then a rocket instantly pierced through the gray-robed old man's neck.