The steel on his throat burned in cold fire. A deep Yin energy was coming from it leaving a mark on his skin even without the edge actually touching him. This was a Highgrade Weapon that would easily be able to slit his throat! His expression became sullen as he looked helplessly at the other elders. Lady Eclipse gave a cough before flying closer.

"Don't approach just tell, granny." Kou was angry, she would not allow for any silly tricks! Lady Eclipse's mind became blank for a moment before a mixture of anger and panic flashed over her face. She had actually used a technique to approach silently, she was usually able to move without other core formation elders to notice!

"Fine..!" Kou's dagger moved just slightly closer, the baleful Yin energy piercing into the Elders Skin who quickly let out a pained groan! "Zenith Mountain.. he lives in Zenith mountain!" He spat out quickly, not daring to lie at all, he felt that if he gave the girl just the slightest reason his path of cultivation would end. While his life was not too long anymore. He wished to live it to the end.

However now Kou was in a tiny bit of a predicament. How to go towards Zenith mountain without having these elders follow her along. She did not think far enough ahead for this and for a moment she thought about just using the old elder as a hostage.

However. Her thoughts and the thoughts of the elders were interrupted by a loud bang as someone just flat out crashed through the grand sect formation. Xiu Shihong, standing on her flaming spear donning her firey armor was there! With the large horns stretching up to the sky and the strong heat she gave off, she looked like a demon!

Her red eyes glanced over the situation for a moment before she stretched out her hand. There was zero restrained in her action. With swift and overwhelming power demonstrating fully her heavenly might she nailed 2 elders against a stone wall with flaming spears. Clearly demonstrating her allegiances without even speaking a word. However, her blazing eyes drilled themself into Kou. Who...actually felt a cold shudder go down her back.

However she had no time for this now... she had no time to talk to Shihong. "Take care of them, please... I'll be back in .. a bit." She sends a voice transmission towards Xiu Shihong with a wave of her hand. With a swift kick, she kicked the elder to the ground before shooting towards Zenith Mountain... Under the stern gaze of Xiu Shihong.

...

"What the fuck, does she mean "I'll be back in a bit." Xiu Shihong felt dejected. It's been about 5 minutes since Kou had left out and by now she was sitting on a small pile of elders. She had actually dispatched all of them, each was wounded but not dead. Obviously, the fighting had taken its toll on her, her armor was broken and she was currently refining some Qi to recover.

"That sneaky fox better give me an explanation soon. Ah.. the god damn headache this will produce when the main elders come back and we have to explain this shit..." She shook her head slightly...Obviously, the most powerful elders of the great sects were currently still in Empire City. Otherwise, they would not be able to do as they wish. These Elders while in Core-Formation were rather weak.

"I don't think these guys will get up any time soon... might as well go and look at what is going on, before she can just slip away."

...

Kou quickly neared the large mountain on the outskirts of the sect. This was in the area where the inner disciples lived. People that grew up in the sect and would stay here for probably all their lives, not people like her and Xiu Shihong who just came for a while as outer disciples.

She quickly found a large sealed stone door in the mountain full of profound restriction spells. However it was not more powerful than the grand formation of the sect, so she simply stretched out her hand. Ice formed quickly into a large 40ft long spear, floating over the palm of her outstretched hand. She put quite a bit of over energy into this and simply threw it against the door.

For about a breath of time, the restrictions remained, before her spear forced its way through opening up the large immortal's cave behind it. She turned into a blur as she shot inside, she could actually feel Shi Shi with the faint link they had now that the restrictions were broken. And what she felt enraged her. The woman's lifeforce was drained, if this continued she would pass before the day came to an end.

Without any restrained Kou rushed into the large cave. There were many rooms filled with things. But she had no eyes for them as she rushed forward. Quickly she arrived in the large main hall. In it there were 4 large candles that had mysterious golden light burning. A faint yellow barrier surrounded a small jade table with many symbols carved into it.

On that table was Shi Shi. The woman was drained and looked like only skin and bones. Next to her, a middle-aged man stood in deep concentration, with his eyes closed. Red energy was constantly drifting from Shi Shi to him. Being absorbed into his body. However, this middle-aged man had quite the vexed expression on his face.

...

He was indeed the old ancestor of the Ancient Cloud Sect. He had remained at the very top of Core Formation for decades fanatically searching for a way to improve his cultivation! But whatever he did he could not. He was unable to cross the frozen wastes, having tried once he returned after 20 years of deadly travel.

He had given up long ago. But just as he returned he saw a golden light fall from the sky and enter the Ning Empire! He immediately made his way towards where the golden light had landed and was shocked to see a woman! She had a dainty appearance and heaven-defying beauty. But he did not care as much about that then he did the golden light around her! With his spiritual sense, he could not sense the woman's cultivation! That means just one thing. That she was far above Core-Formation!

And she had been gravely injured, weakening to a degree that she was barely stronger than a mortal woman right now! How was this not heaven send, he had cultivated a devil-dao technique in secret for many years. Having used it once already before to great success, it allowed him to feed off the Cultivation base of someone else. Slowly making it his own! With a rate of 80%, he could make their strength his. It was one of the reasons he had managed to break through to late core-formation and reenforce his own core making him just barely weaker than someone with a golden-core!

Quickly he pulled out some of the treasures he had braved wast dangers for before. The Soul binding candles! As well as many other restrictive treasures! He quickly went to work putting the woman under the binding, restricting her ability to recover and use her might!

For the first hundred or so years he had been very careful with her, slowly draining her power as he could feel himself grow stronger each time. But after a time he had reached his end. No matter how much power he siphoned away from her, he was unable to advance. Being stuck at the very top of core-formation for quite some time. Later he let the woman out. She was under the soul binding and would not be able to leave at all.

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Since she was useless to him now and her power and vital essence were damaged he employed her as a guardian for the sect. Forcing her to use her masterful Illusion techniques to enhance their defenses.

However... as time passed he had become deranged. The energy in his body was going wild. And he was already far over 700 years old. An age that was quite advanced and he felt how his time was quickly approaching. After many years he finally brought the woman back into his eyes... he would stake it all on it.. and try to absorb all of her essences into him to try and break through this bottleneck! If he managed to ascend his life would be extended!

...

Now his beady little gloomy eyes were wide open while looking at the girl that had just broken through all of his restrictions in one swoop. But he was still calm. With one swing of his hand about 100 small balls of fire appeared and shot towards Kou's Ice Spear.

Le Wuha was a genius, he was quickly able to understand Kou's energy just from glancing at her with his divine sense. He noticed the great power but also that she had not yet spent time solidifying her cultivation. While her Core was quite more powerful than his. He could make up with that with the wast reserves of Qi he had.

Kou's expression fell as she watched her spear being struck by the fireballs, they were too quick to avoid, each of them holding profound power. She quickly understood that this old man was comparable to Ning Jiao's Grandfather whom she did not feel like she could beat. However, this was not a moment to retreat and try again later. She had to do it now!

Without any hesitation she pulled out her dagger again, before cloaking herself in shadows, infusing her domain with both ice and shadow at the same time. This was only possible because they were both Yin attribute and Kou had equal talent in both! Much to the shock of Le Wuha. A cold snort followed before he actually pulled both of his arms up stopping the ritual that was going on.

"Who are you! Who led you here and why do you disturb me!" He growled loudly his voice carried a bewitching tone with it, creating fear and dread of any that heard it. Kou obviously was not immune to it, her ears flicked back but she continued to stare at him even if her body wanted to run away.

"Leave Shi Shi alone..." Her voice carried a hiss in it as she formed an incantation gesture with her left hand. The Cultivation art Shi Shi had given her so long ago had a few techniques in it. And one of them was to protect the mind. Quickly she calmed down after a faint gold glowing barrier formed around her body removing the effects of the old man's magic from her.

This made him narrow his eyes further as he looked back and forth between Kou and Shi Shi... a trace of fear appeared in his eyes for a moment before he just shook his head with an iron determination. "Leave her alone? Ha." Quickly he reached forward with his left hand. At the same time, a Ghostly Claw appeared just behind Kou, surprising her. Quickly she threw out one of the defensive treasures she had gotten to block the attack, however, the Ghost Claw just shifted through it as if it was not even there.

"Illusion!" Kou blinked and was hit in her back, this time by the actual demon claw. 3 large gushes appeared on her back and blood flew. Le Wuha clicked his tongue.. this was supposed to be a one-shot kill, but the girl was unexpectedly nimble just barely able to jump forward avoiding being grasped by his Yin Ghost Hand.

Pain. Her whole body was in pain, and there was thick Ghost Yin Qi on her wounds that colored the wounds in a sickly green as if it had been rotting for years already. Gritting her teeth she dissolved into shadows leaving some of the deathly Qi behind. In an instant, she appeared behind Lu Wuh her own claw of shadows striking the man but being repelled by an azure barrier that sprung into life around the man. However the strike was just one of many as Kou employed her full speed, she dissolved and reformed from the shadows at different spots hitting the barrier from all over.

Lu Wuha was alarmed "Yi! instantaneous movement!" He was unable to stop her from moving with this strange movement technique and had quite the fright. However his barrier continued to stand even if there were a few cracks here and there, they were already mending themselves.

He was a genuine hegemon of the Ning Empire's Cultivation World! One of the prime reasons the Ancient Cloud Sect could be called one of the great sects! He would not be easily defeated like this! With a snort, he surrounded himself in sickly green mist. Kou who was just about to strike him again hesitated and avoided the mist quickly. Much to her luck! Where the Mist had hit rock, the rock was slowly melting away.

However, at this moment an overbearing heat struck the old man from the side, Kou could faintly see the form of a spear in the flaming inferno as the old man was struck and flung away crashing against a wall. With surprise Kou noticed Xiu Shihong with a red face obviously exhausted after putting large amounts of Qi into this attack. She had snuck in and prepared a strike while the old man was busy dealing with Kou!

However! A dark figure stepped out of the dust. The old man was completely shelved half of his robes were burned off revealing his shriveled body that was covered in strange markings. Shockingly his right arm was now missing as was part of his right leg. "Imputent. To actually force me to use the body-part-sacrifice technique! Welp!" Quickly he slapped the strange markings on his body with his leftover hand. His arm and leg grew back in an instant, but they were covered in faint scales and had a weird red color. The Old Man swelled to about twice his size as two horns grew on his forehead. "I will strike both of you down and refine your souls and take your husks as playthings!" He howled his voice now filled with even more rage was distorted.

With her head ringing, Kou realized that she could not escape here. Shi Shi was still behind the faint barrier on the altar, and Xiu Shihong was also here. Suddenly she heard Xifeng in the back of her mind. The bird's voice was rather concerned. "Use Spiritual Weapon! This is a weak devil transformation. Incomparable to the true devilish arts! If you use Yang techniques it will harm him far more! Tell your friend to use fire to bind him as best as she can!"

With that advice, Kou quickly jumped to Xiu Shihong's side. Quietly sending the other girl some words via voice transmission...after which Xiu Shihong just nodded readying her spear. However...at this point more people barged in! Hei Tian...Li Zhi and Wu Xiao had hastily departed after Xiu Shihong... Even Ning Jiao was with them, Albeit the girl stood in the back...Each of them was out of breath and stared at the situation with wide eyes!

They had heard from Ning Jiao that Xiu Shihong chased after Kou and that they probably went to the Ancient Cloud Sect! Much to Hei Tian's shock! However, all of them quickly mounted their flying treasures and set off. Ning Jiao... unable to accept to be left behind, simply flew off and followed them. Much to the dismay of the Empirical City! Some Experts were already sent to pick her back up again!

Seeing the transformed and monstrous Lu Wahu nobody recognized him. Not even Hei Tian and they quickly pulled out their weapons! Shockingly Hei Tian was actually in Core Formation! And Wu Xiao was in False Core stage. He would only need to sit down and cultivate for a while and he would be able to form his core!

"BIND HIM!" Xiu Shihong commanded her voice echoing through the cave and valley behind them. Li Zhi, Hei Tian, and Xiu Shihong acted like one, quickly employing different arts of Wind, Water, and Fire to bind the old man. Wu Xiao actually pulled talisman out of his sleeve and golden light began to shine, much to the shock of everyone! "Ancient Talisman!"

"Give me 1 minute" He shouted as he sat down crosslegged channeling his Qi into the talisman.

Obviously.. this all happened in a span of 2 to 3 seconds. And Lu Wuha was still solidifying his transformation so he could not act. However, the azure barrier around him protected him from any harm. But the assult from 2 Core Formations and one 4th realm was nothing to scoff at, he was momentarily disabled.. and his eyes glinted with worry as he looked at Wu Xiao.

Xifeng nodded slightly "Now! Use your Spiritual weapon while he is bound and wound him! That way that junior can activate his magic and strike him!" Kou quickly nodded stretching her hand out in a waving gesture. A large golden bow formed next to her, in an instant, the bow fired 3 large and devasting arrows at the old man, while Kou's face visibly lost color. She had put almost everything into this, to the point that she even damaged her vitality.

The Old Man was shocked! This girl actually had so much energy! And he could not move at all. Gritting his now sharp teeth he growled deeply and spat out some blood, the blood quickly fused with the azure barrier around him, enhancing it.

What was happening today anyway! Suddenly two Core-Formation juniors bust in and fight him and then another one appears as well as 3 people in the fourth realm! He had been here for decades without anyone disturbing his meditation and now this happened!