Ahead of where Pang Ji's corpse lay, the group was remarkably composed. Aside from the one who had spoken earlier, none of them made any noise. They stood firm, their bodies gleaming with a metallic luster.

Indeed, it was metal. There were ten of them, each clad in full armor. The thick armor covered every inch of their bodies. Just by sight, the armor seemed to weigh hundreds of pounds, which made one wonder if they could move at all under such heavy armor.

Yu Ci had never seen a Cultivator in full armor before, but now he had. He stared at the man in the front, who seemed to hold a high position, as his armor was the most magnificent among the group.

The armor was a sky-blue color. The helmet, shoulder guards, cuirass, and heavy boots were separate pieces, but they were engraved with intricate patterns that gave a strong sense of unity. It was likely some sort of special Rune Pattern.

What was most impressive was the man's face. The main part of the helmet was made of sky-blue metal, but the faceplate was a striking bronze color. It was engraved with a fierce facial outline, with five sharp, fin-like blades evenly distributed around it, making it look like the skull of a strange beast, chilling to behold.

Yu Ci also noticed that the man had two objects crossed on his back that looked like flags or banners. They were about five feet long, and the flag surface was also metallic. The Talisman patterns on it were exquisite and beautiful, filled with a strong Divine Light. It was clearly extraordinary.

Yu Ci glanced at the Xi Guang Sword in his hand. He had a feeling that even if he were to slash or stab at the man in front of him, it would be difficult to penetrate the armor's defense. The armor itself was a formidable Magical Instrument. The nine companions behind him, each clad in various styles of heavy armor, might be slightly less colorful than the one in front, but the Divine Light flowing on them was incredibly strong.

"Quite the group," Yu Ci murmured. To be honest, facing such a group, Yu Ci felt a bit of pressure.

At that moment, the man at the front made a gesture, and someone stepped forward to inspect the corpse lying ahead. Yu Ci watched this man's movements closely, and was surprised to find that despite the heavy armor, his movements were as fluid as a normal person's. Whether walking or squatting, he moved with ease, as if the heavy armor were merely a prop.

Just a prop, but such a large one should have some impact, right? But the truth was: the impact was minimal, so much so that it was easily overlooked.

In the grey mist, Fish-Dragon carefully moved a little closer to gather more information. Then Yu Ci heard the man who had gone forward to inspect the corpse speak:

"This is Poison Wolf Pang Ji, a somewhat famous bandit from the North Wilderness. This is his signature Magical Instrument, the Curse Sword Conch Shell." As he spoke, he picked up the fallen conch shell from the ground and respectfully handed it over.

However, the leader in front did not move, but let someone behind him take it. After a brief inspection, he nodded and said, "I have met this man before and done business with him. It's not surprising that he recognized my Black Fog Battle Armor."

So, this was Elder Ma? As soon as this person spoke, Yu Ci recognized him as the one who had roared ten miles away. His judgment had been wrong again. He had always thought that the Elder Ma mentioned by the Thief was the leader in front. Now thinking about it, after Elder Ma's rude roar, there was silence, which must have been the leader stopping him.

Upon closer inspection, Elder Ma's armor was pitch black, exuding a powerful sense of bulkiness, as though it was stretched taut by massive muscles. Golden patterns shimmered on its surface, catching the eye. His helmet was also adorned with a faceguard, but it was of a deep green hue, etched with layers of black patterns. The leader's armor, standing before him, was equally imposing, yet comparatively, it was a size smaller.

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After Elder Ma finished his speech, he adopted the same respectful posture as the cultivator who had previously inspected the corpses, offering up the Curse Sword Conch Shell. The leader took it in his hands. Of course, no expression could be discerned from his faceguard. It only gave the impression that he had glanced at it before casually tossing it aside!

Yu Ci was taken aback.

He had been using the Fish-Dragon to monitor every move of the thieves. Having just been attacked by them and suffered a curse sword, he could certainly estimate the value of the conch shell.

A refining level of thirty or forty layers might not be sufficient to become the primary battle Magical Instrument of a Golden Elixir cultivator, but such an instrument that could convert a curse sword and launch long-distance attacks on the Divine Soul of a target was undoubtedly valuable. Even a Golden Elixir cultivator would be at a disadvantage if caught unaware. Only someone like Yu Ci, who possessed the Qi of the Heavenly Dragon True Form, would not fear it.

But had the leader just discarded it so casually?

After tossing aside the Curse Sword Conch Shell, the leader remained silent, his gaze seemingly unintentionally sweeping across the void fog. Yu Ci's heart jolted. That was the direction where the Fish-Dragon was. From the Fish-Dragon's perspective, it was as if he and the leader were having an eye-to-eye confrontation across the void.

Behind the leader's bronze-colored faceguard, where his eyes should have been, there was nothing but emptiness, as if it were pure void. Yet, an indescribable pressure pierced through the Fish-Dragon, traversed ten miles of space, and struck heavily at Yu Ci's chest.

Ten miles away, the Fish-Dragon shrank back. On this side, amidst a muffled grunt, Yu Ci could not bear it and took a step back, a dull pain throbbing in his chest.

"Who is this person?"

A chill ran up Yu Ci's scalp. This method of intimidating an enemy across ten miles with just a gaze was something he had never seen before, not even from Xie Yan or He Qing. It should be noted that he, with the Qi of the Heavenly Dragon True Form and the refining from the "Iceberg Information" in his Divine Soul, was most adept at dealing with such attacks on the Divine Soul. However, the leader's void gaze seemed to cause some strange turbulence in the void, unpredictable and elusive, causing Yu Ci to suffer a minor setback upon contact.

This was not to say that the leader was stronger than Xie Yan, He Qing and others, but Yu Ci quickly categorized him as one of the most dangerous individuals in his mind.

However, after the leader swept his gaze over the scene, he remained silent, turning on his heel towards another direction. Elder Ma and the others followed suit.

"Is that it?"

Yu Ci was puzzled when he noticed at the tail end of the group, two figures remained. These two had been at the rear of the party and now, they bowed towards the departing group, clearly under orders to stay behind and handle the aftermath.

Although everyone in the group was clad in heavy armor, the designs varied. Yu Ci noticed that among the two who stayed behind, the larger one wore armor similar to Elder Ma's - all black with golden Rune Patterns, albeit slightly smaller. He saw that this person's helmet sported two curved adornments, reminiscent of bull horns, while Elder Ma had four atop his head. If one were to count the leader's fin-like blade, there would be five.

Could it be that the spikes and horns on the helmets were used to distinguish rank?

As for the other figure, they were the only one among the ten without a helmet. Instead, they wore an ugly thunder god mask - iron blue with a bronze beak, resembling a metallic hawk. However, their physique caught Yu Ci off guard. It was clearly a tall and well-built woman, her armor perfectly conforming to her curves. It was slender and smooth, with some areas replaced by soft silk armor to accentuate her breathtaking figure. The sharp spikes and blades protruding from her hands, elbows, and knees, while chilling, also bore a different kind of allure.

Just as he was observing, Yu Ci suddenly realized something was amiss. After the group ahead had departed, the two armored figures rose into the air without a word. Were they facing his direction?

Yu Ci's face stiffened: "Two Golden Elixir True Shas?"

Moreover, they didn't seem friendly. With Yu Ci's current experience, distinguishing between the third stage of Tong Shen and Golden Elixir based solely on aura was somewhat challenging. However, discerning between Tong Shen and Golden Elixir based on the sensing of True Sha was more than enough.

Judging by the vigorous aura emanating from them, the two left behind, even ten miles away, were both Golden Elixir cultivators. And they were the lowest-ranking ones. By this estimation, this ten-person group consisted entirely of Golden Elixir cultivators!

Yu Ci suddenly remembered - he was in the Sword Garden, renowned for gathering the world's new generation of Sword cultivators.

He had to admit, the group of thieves he encountered earlier had given him an utterly wrong impression, almost causing him to confuse the inside and outside of the Sword Garden. But now, these cultivators from the "Heavy Weapon Sect" had forcefully corrected that impression.

The next moment, without a word, Yu Ci turned and left.

Facing two Golden Elixir cultivators, only a fool would stay!

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