Hall Master Zeng left the Sect Hall with his eyebrows scrunched together.

As he walked down a vibrant green path, many disciples bowed upon seeing him.

“Greetings Combat Hall Master Zeng.”

“Greetings Hall Master.”

He passed by them without a word as his thoughts were elsewhere.

“Dongwu Sheng…” He muttered under his breath.

While thinking about this person, he gave out a soft snort. Two streams of visible mist shot out of his nostril. It was a small action but it was enough to scare the nearby Sect disciples.

“Looks like the Combat Hall Master is in a bad mood again.”

“Why are you surprised, when’s the last time you’ve ever seen him happy?”

“Well, crap, I don’t remember. Perhaps only Elder Yueyin has ever seen that side of him.”

“Sigh… why can’t Hall Master Zeng be like Talisman Hall Master Dongwu, he’s much more affable.”

“Shhhh… are you crazy! He’ll hear you!”

Hall Master Zeng naturally was able to hear those disciples talking about him. Hearing their comparison between him and Dongwu Sheng, he stopped walking and his eyes slightly squinted,

The muscle on his arms tensed like he was ready to strike out. Sounds of cracking can be heard as his fingers furled into a fist.

He was of average size, definitely inferior to the bald man with bronze-colored skin, but his muscles are by far, more defined, seemingly sculpted by the gods.

No one would dare to question the amount of explosive strength that was hidden in his body.

He heavily took in a deep breath before exhaling it forcefully. He did this exercise a couple of times before calming down. He resisted the urge to look at the Sect disciples talking about him before walking away.

Suddenly, he remember the task the Sect Master assigned him and he took out a small jade tablet.

“Yueyin, that girl has been trying to contact me these past couple of days. It must be about the book from the Empress. I’m going to get an earful from her when she gets back.” He sighed and his tone was gentle.

As a short-tempered person as he is, when it comes to matters about his favorite disciple, he can’t help but soften up.

His True Essence churned as he sent it into the small jade tablet.

“…”

Seeing no reply. He frowned.

“What is this? Is it her turn to be busy now?”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

He let out another sigh before deciding to try again later and he continued on his way to the Combat Hall. He didn’t think for a second that she was in danger since they had already heard from Lin Guyi, the Island Lord of Solitude City. He would’ve notified them earlier if anything was wrong.

—————————————-

At this moment, Xiao Yueyin was still staring at the sky in shock, still reeling at what she had just seen. Her emotions were in such turmoil that she didn’t even notice the fluctuation from her small jade tablet in her spatial ring.

Perhaps she wouldn’t have acted this way if she was anywhere else but from where she was standing, it was obvious that the Universal Will had appeared directly above them.

Xia Lihua and herself were merely standing by, so whatever caused its appearance must've come from inside the formation!

What was going on in there!?

——————————————-

Inside the formation.

Ji Xian was awkwardly scratching his cheeks as he looked at the duo, Yahui, and Yazhu. From their horrible expression, it was clear that they have lost all motivation to fight.

Ah… what to do now? I think this is already the third time that this happened. I need to control myself better. Lihua must know I’m the cause of all those previous incidents in Mortal Haven now, after all, it’s too much of a coincidence… Ah, whatever, I’ll play with these two first.

After giving it a thought, he shrugged and walked toward the duo.

“You… wh-“ Yahui spoke but suddenly he saw a silver flash.

Looking down, he noticed an ordinary-looking sword had pierced him in the shoulder. His body shook slightly from the pain.

Ji Xian retracted the sword. He looked at the wound curiously.

Yahui’s shoulder had become physically visible. In the area that was stabbed, a green-colored robe can be seen.

“Ohh, so cutting the swirling fog wasn’t the reason your body materialized earlier. True Essence at a strong enough level can do that.”

“Hmm, no blood though.”

With another silver flash, the sword pierced the swirling ball of fog.

This time, Ji Xian took his hand off the handle. Surprisingly, the sword didn't fall but instead, remained attached to the fog!

Yahui was unable to react and his face winced from the pain.

Ji Xian watched as that part of Yahui's body partially materialized. Even though his form had become solid, the fog was still visible. It looked unchanged and merely wrapped around the sword while continuing to swirl, it was completely unaffected by the sword's presence.

“Interesting… hey, what’s this fog? Is this your version of a Dantian?” Ji Xian casually asked.

“Thi-“

Without even waiting for an answer, Ji Xian grabbed hold of the sword once more and waved.

This time his target was Yazhu, who was standing on the side. A thin line appeared across his neck and a pale white skin became visible before becoming translucent once more.

“Ugh..”

Yazhu grabbed his neck. Although the attack wasn’t fatal, he still feels the pain of his neck being cut.

Ji Xian inspected the wound carefully.

“If I remember correctly, you called this your specter form. Do you perhaps have another form?” He asked.

“We-“ Yazhu opened his mouth.

Unfortunately, before he can finish, he saw another silver flash aimed at his left arm.

“ARRHH!”

He cried out in alarm.

The amount of True Essence embued into the sword had suddenly increased!

The attack this time was no longer in the Early stage of the Holy realm but at the Middle stage of the Holy realm!

Yazhu held his arm and inwardly cursed. Feeling that Ji Xian was messing with them.

“Bastard! You’re asking us questions but not even giving us a chance to answer!”

Underneath his mask, Ji Xian had a thoughtful expression but he snapped out of it after hearing Yazhu.

“Huh? Oh, I was just talking to myself.”

Anger erupted from Yazhu as he heard this.

“You! Don’t think we’ll just stand here and let you attack us!”

He swiftly exchanged a glance with Yahui. They tightened their grip on their weapons.

“Soul Disintegrate!”

Two foggy beams of light exploded out and locked onto Ji Xian. A horrible shrieking sound echoed throughout the platform with its appearance.

Underneath his mask, a playful smile appeared on Ji Xian’s face. Just as the foggy beam approach him, he waved his hand.

Yahui, after attacking, suddenly felt his vision blur. And the next thing he saw, was the two foggy beams in front of him.

His eyes widened in horror.

“The Celestial race’s Astral Shif-“

Before he can even finish his words, the foggy beam struck him!