Boom!
With the two of them at the center, a devastating explosion surged in all directions, turning everything within a hundred-meter radius into thick clouds of smoke!
The pressure from their auras spread even farther, reaching a radius of more than two hundred meters!
It caused the monsters in the wilderness to tremble in terror and flee in panic without any sense of direction.
"Ah!"
The two of them shouted simultaneously!
The next second, two staggering figures suddenly emerged from the smoke cloud, flying out in opposite directions!
Their backs slammed heavily into the mountain upon impact!
...
One of them died in a severely injured state, his right hand having been split into two!
Meanwhile...
"Argh..."
A painful groan sounded from a distance ahead of the dead man.
It was Zhi Xuan's voice.
He knelt helplessly, his hand tightly gripping the sword hilt while the tip of the blade was embedded deep into the ground.
Zhi Xuan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and muttered, "It worked... I thought I was going to die at that moment. Fortunately, I was still superior in physical strength."
"Uhk!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood before muttering again, "I need to stabilize my power immediately before my Cultivation Realm falls like a receding tide due to the massive depletion of Spirit Qi..."
Zhi Xuan bit his own lip.
"Or in the worst-case scenario, I'll fall into a state of Qi Deviation."
...
He took Father Zhou Yu's spatial ring, then stored Father Zhou Yu's body inside it.
After that, Zhi Xuan immediately sat down cross-legged and entered a meditative state.
Four days later.
A group of people dressed in the green robes of a sect's disciples walked into the forest while holding a small discussion among themselves.
They were discussing the event that had occurred four days ago with serious and earnest expressions!
"I heard that four days ago, a battle between Masters took place here!" a female disciple spoke enthusiastically!
Her face was filled with deep fascination, and the person walking beside her immediately nodded after she finished speaking.
That person possessed a handsome appearance and an extraordinary temperament.
With a smile carved across his face, he said, "The sound of that terrifying explosion from the battle echoed all the way to my home."
That person was named Zhou Rouxue, a beautiful woman with an extraordinary temperament. Her appearance was as breathtaking as a fairy descending from the heavens.
Even her seemingly cold eyes gave off an extraordinary impression. They were crimson red like a sea of blood, and her double pupils made her appear even more captivating.
"A person capable of causing such a commotion must be an extremely remarkable individual," said a young man who appeared to be seventeen or eighteen years old.
A man walking beside the youth suddenly clenched his fist and said, "I think so too, and... because of that, I intend to make him my master!"
As those words reached everyone's ears, their eyes immediately widened in shock. With that shock, they all turned toward the man's face with strange expressions.
Zhou Rouxue suddenly frowned and said, "Don't you already have Master Jiang as your master?"
The man's expression immediately turned bitter, and he replied in a low voice, "That's true... but..." His eyes cautiously scanned the surroundings before he continued, "Master Jiang has never taught me any martial arts whatsoever. Every day, he only orders me to do household chores for him. That's hardly any different from a slave working without pay."
When his words entered everyone's ears, they were instantly shocked upon learning this fact.
Who would have thought that Master Jiang, a Master of Huo Mountain Peak, possessed such a terrible nature despite being one of the Peak Masters of the Xuanwu Sect?
Yet none of them dared to protest.
No matter what, Master Jiang was still one of the Masters of the Xuanwu Sect's peaks.
...
For a while, no one spoke, and they simply continued moving forward.
Suddenly—
Their eyes widened when they discovered a man sitting atop a massive boulder.
He was located on a mountain whose surrounding surface had been completely shattered.
The originally calm Zhou Rouxue suddenly swallowed hard as fear flooded her body.
She shuddered where she stood, her eyes fixed upon that man with overwhelming fear.
When Zhou Rouxue glanced to the side, she saw that all of her companions were also being suppressed by this person's aura.
The aura radiating from him was unbelievably intense.
Every surge of that aura overflowed continuously, generating shockwaves powerful enough to send a cow flying!
A vast amount of Spirit Qi revolved around him like a raging river current!
Zhou Rouxue suddenly collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.
In this situation, she could only kneel helplessly.
And it was not only Zhou Rouxue.
All of her companions had likewise fallen to their knees.
"Senior Sister... please do something."
The female disciple who had originally been cheerful had completely changed. Her face was now covered in tears as she could no longer stop herself from crying.
"Stay calm... I'll ask that senior to restrain his aura immediately."
Zhou Rouxue looked at her right hand.
Within her grasp was a talisman engraved with runic markings.
"I'll use the talisman Master gave me," she muttered.
She immediately threw the talisman forward, and it calmly floated in midair.
Without hesitation, Zhou Rouxue began chanting the incantation to activate the rune.
The next second, a cluster of energy emerged from the talisman and enveloped Zhou Rouxue, forming a protective barrier capable of blocking all kinds of attacks.
However, in the very next moment, cracks suddenly appeared at the rear of the energy barrier because it could not withstand the pressure emanating from the front!
The rear section was the foundation of this energy barrier.
Once it shattered, the entire barrier would collapse automatically because it no longer possessed a foundation capable of supporting the pressure.
It was like a three-story building.
Once the first floor collapsed, the floors above it would inevitably come crashing down as well.
Zhou Rouxue steeled her heart and slowly moved her feet toward the man.
Each step became heavier than the last.
The overwhelming aura pressure never ceased, not even for a moment.
Crack!
The front section of the energy barrier suddenly split horizontally.
Seeing this, Zhou Rouxue's eyes widened abruptly.
She immediately raised both hands to resist the aura pressure that was continuously pouring into the barrier like a raging torrent!
And after struggling with all her strength, she was finally close to reaching her goal.
"Just a little more. I only need one more step!"
The next second, as she took that final step, Zhou Rouxue suddenly took a deep breath and loudly shouted,
"Senior!"
Her sharp voice called out to the man, reaching everyone's ears!
The man slowly opened his eyes and muttered softly,
"Finally finished. I was quite fortunate this time. Not only did I avoid a decline in my Cultivation Realm, but my strength has also increased considerably. It seems it won't be long before I break through to the next layer."
Naturally, that person was Zhi Xuan.
He had just finished stabilizing his power after spending four full days doing so.
"And..."
Zhi Xuan glanced to the side.
"Who was the one that called me just now?"