The appearance of a Fifth Tribulation Stage Immortal was something Lin Mu had expected, eventually. But the fact that they were coming towards them meant that something had changed.

'Who might this be?' Lin Mu wondered.

After all, the number of Fifth Tribulation Stage Immortals in the entire tournament was limited. 

Other than the ones in the top five, that Lin Mu knew about, there were several more that were spread in the lower ranks.

'If I recall correctly, there was just one Fifth Tribulation Stage Immortal that was defeated before this round. Which leaves a total number of eighteen of them. Of these eighteen, I know that the four among the top five are not here.' Lin Mu thought about who it could be.

He had also sensed eight other Fifth Tribulation Stage Immortals enter the other planes, which left him with around ten that he had no idea where they might be.

'While the probability of them being in this plane is low, there might still be a couple of them. Though depending on who they are, we'll have to adjust our strategy.' Lin Mu thought to himself.

After all, the Fifth Tribulation Stage Immortals were different from the Fourth and Third Tribulation Stage Immortals that they had faced so far. These were the elites among the elites and could already be elders in various positions.

As for those that were at the Sixth Tribulation Stage of the Immortal, they would be too occupied to participate in the tournament, usually. While they didn't have a restriction that prevented them from participating, it was already confirmed that no one of that level was taking part.

As for the Seventh Tribulation Stage Immortals, it wasn't even that one needed to think about. The number of experts at that level were limited and they wouldn't sully their reputation trying to compete with juniors.

While they wouldn't be opposed if they tried to participate, their standing would utterly fall. Being mocked by fellow experts was not something they would like after all. One would have to be utterly shameless to try something like that.

And above all, they would even be shunned by the members of the temple of the Four Guardian beasts. While it was fully within their rights to participate, the members of the temple could easily see when someone was trying to take advantage.

So even if they do win and get rewards, their work after that would get difficult. After all, the temple's displeasure would be felt by several others and they would rather avoid a person like this than offend the temple by associating with them.

It was basically a way to commit social suicide.

No sane immortal would try that. Though there had indeed been a few that had done it in the past. While their attempt had worked, the aftereffects had been less than desirable.

In the end, they had to leave the Rust Sky World itself to be able to live with some semblance of peace. But with the ever-extending reach of the Temple of the Four Guardians, it was unknown whether they had been able to do that or not.

~SHUA~

But a couple of minutes after Lin Mu felt the presence of the Fifth Tribulation Stage Immortal, he also sensed the presence of several Fourth and Third Tribulation Stage immortals that were now heading their way.

'Something is strange…' Lin Mu's immortal sense was fully extended and checked on the state of the Fourth and Third Tribulation Stage Immortals. "They… seem to be scared." He realized.

"RUN! RUN!"

"He's coming!"

"Run if you want to survive!" 

Soon, the shouts of the immortals could be heard by his immortal sense. As soon as Lin Mu heard this, another doubt of his was confirmed.

'They are being scared into coming here. No other way they would cooperate, after all.' Lin Mu thought.

And a minute later, he saw at least twenty one, immortals appearing in the sky. Some of them seemed to be injured, while some were fine. Though one thing common among them was that many of them seemed to have burned clothes.

Those that were injured also had burn injuries on their bodies. There were even a couple of Fourth Tribulation Stage Immortals that had turned bald from their hair being burned off entirely.

There was even a woman who was turned bald, and along with her eye brows being burned off. She seemed to be in the worst station, her eyes red from crying, while soot covered her face.

"Who the hell…" Seeing the miserable appearance of several immortals, Lin Mu was now really curious about who could be that had forced them into this state. 

He was sure that it was the Fifth Tribulation Stage Immortal, but their identity was still unknown.

"Regardless of who they are, I first need to address the immortals that are coming this way…" Lin Mu muttered. "Get ready, we have twenty one immortals coming our way. Seven Third Tribulation Stage Immortals and fourteen, Fourth Tribulation Stage Immortals!" he quickly informed his companions.

"What!? That many?" Lu Xu was surprised.

"How are they all coming here?" Ming Aolian asked.

"Are they cooperating?" Ming Dandan questioned.

"No… rather than cooperating willingly, it seems they are running away from something." Lin Mu answered them.

"Running away? How or rather why?" Qian Wen inquired.

"Looks like we have a Fifth Tribulation Stage Immortal that has forced them to run. Some of them are injured as well." Lin Mu informed. "The two third Tribulation Stage Immortal that arrived earlier might have been forced to come by the Fifth Tribulation Stage Immortal as well." He guessed.

"Do you know who the Fifth Tribulation Stage Immortal is yet?" Lu Xu questioned.

"No… they are staying far from the range of my Immortal sense. Though their immortal Qi fluctuation can be felt by me." Lin Mu answered.

"If their immortal Qi fluctuations are reaching this far, it means they are probably using some Qi skill." Ming Aolian said after thinking.

"Do these incoming Fourth and third Tribulation Stage Immortals have any particular injuries?" Qian Wen asked after hearing it all.

"Burns. Their clothes are burned in several places, while some have burns on their bodies and burned hair." Lin Mu replied.

"Then there's no doubt." Qian Wen suddenly said. "It is Childe Wildfire." He stated.

"Are you sure?" Ming Dandan asked.

"Yeah, he's the only one who would act like this." Qian Wen replied.

"I did hear that he became rather irritable after his defeat at the hands of Dugu Shanhe." Lu Xu chimed in.

"But would his threats work on the immortals here? Why would they do his bidding? Or even be afraid, since they know they would just lose to him anyways?" Ming Dandan asked again.

"Probably because his threats would actually work and apply out of the tournament as well. He isn't one to reward others for doing his work, but his threats will truly be carried out once the tournament is over. 

He isn't one to back down from it and will probably kill the others if they don't listen to him. Thus to them, it is better to listen to him right now than just lose right away." Qian Wen explained.

"Hmm… won't the temple take offense to something like this?" Lin Mu questioned.

"They would only do that if he actually follows through with his threats. Since he hasn't acted on them right now, he has plausible deniable about it. The excuse will be enough for the Temple to not pursue him." Lu Xu replied. "Plus, this isn't the first time he's done this either. The same thing happened in the last tournament, though it was on a smaller scale." He added.

"I see…" Hearing all this, Lin Mu realized they were facing a dominating person. 'He might just be the final opponent for us.' He thought.

Though there were doubts for Lin Mu, as there was always a chance someone might still be hiding around the plane. 

"Let's just get rid of the incoming immortals first." Lin Mu stated, as the immortals were just five hundred meters from the limits of the ring now.

"We're ready!" Lu Xu and Qian Wen replied.

"I'll assist this time," Lin Mu added. 

~SHUA~

And as soon as he said that, the immortals finally entered the ring. is the owner.

~THUD~

~THUD~

~THUD~

~THUD~

Some of the immortals that were flying higher plummeted to the ground painfully. But a few of them seemed to have known about the Sky Cull Grounding Formation. 

Having known about it, they had been flying at a lower height and landed easily on the ground.

"FIGHT!" Lu Xu shouted as he charged in with his spear.

~SHING~ SHING~

Qian Wen slashed out several times, sending multiple sword lights that targeted the Third Tribulation Stage Immortals.

"ARGH!"

"THEY ARE HERE AS INFORMED!"

The immortals shouted, some in pain while some informed the others.

~TWANG~

But they didn't have the entire set of information, as the sound of a bow string was heard.