Shi Haoting smiled, and all traces of emotion vanished from his face. He sat down cross-legged on the spot and swallowed a pill to heal his injuries.

"Fuck, this bastard is ruthless!"

"With this kind of strength, if he hasn’t shown his full power yet, even if he can’t beat Hu, he’s probably not far off."

Shi Haoting could hardly keep calm inside.

On the other side, Li Wang’s face was gloomy, his eyes filled with hatred.

Xu Yang frowned slightly, his expression shifting unpredictably.

Should he trust Shi Haoting’s words?

But it seemed the other party had no reason to trick him.

The power of a top genius from the Spirit Realm—beyond doubt!

"Teacher, do you think that guy’s words are worth believing?" Xu Yang secretly asked Gu Jun.

Gu Jun pondered, then said, "Back when Daqian was in the Spirit Realm, do you think there were people supporting them?"

Hearing this, Xu Yang’s pupils contracted.

That’s right.

Though Daqian’s ancestors failed back then, the fact that they were able to unite so many powers against them meant they were never weak—how could such strength exist without followers? Isn’t that far too strange?

This War King Clan, could it be...

Xu Yang’s eyes flashed with a sharp light. He gave Shi Haoting a deep look, already making up his mind!

The Inverted Five Elements Heaven-Slaying City—even if it’s dangerous, with his power and many tricks, it might not be able to trap him!

At this thought, Xu Yang exhaled and strode straight toward the ancient city.

"What do you think you’re doing?"

Li Wang was stunned, and barked out a harsh warning.

Xu Yang replied blandly, "Just going for a stroll in the ancient city. Are you going to stop me?"

"..."

Li Wang was completely dazed—hadn’t he just told him not to go to the ancient city?

Wait a minute?

"Are you scared?"

"Wanting to go into the city to train some more, or maybe to avoid the War King Clan’s top genius, right?"

Li Wang couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

The Spirit Realm crowd, hearing this, immediately felt that Xu Yang might be thinking just that.

After all, next up he was facing one of the absolute top geniuses of the Spirit Realm!

He’s scared.

"The Inverted Five Elements Heaven-Slaying City, trying to trap him, might not be that easy. With his ability, just arriving in the Spirit Realm, maybe he’ll gain some improvements inside."

"But trying to compare with Shi Hu? He’s still far from it!"

"So it’s all just talk—hahaha."

...

Mocking laughter followed one after another.

Shi Haoting grinned, mocking, "People from the lower realms really haven’t seen much of the world!"

"The foundation of the ancient city’s inverted five elements lies in the top-grade Five Elements Spirit Crystal and Five Elements Spiritual Objects. If you can find and seize them, not only can you greatly boost your strength, but also weaken the city’s power!"

Again, Shi Haoting’s voice rang in Xu Yang’s ears, making his heart stir. Without even looking around, he ignored the ridicule from the Spirit Realm martial artists and quickly headed toward the ancient city.

Shi Haoting gazed at Xu Yang with a mysterious look, thinking to himself, "This guy seems bottomless—could he be planning something major once inside?"

"If he really has the ability to defeat Shi Hu, that would be incredible..."

Getting close, Xu Yang stopped to size things up.

The vast ancient city stretched beyond sight; within the city walls, there seemed to be a thin, hazy film of light.

Utterly still and silent.

Yet it made his heart skip a beat.

"Could those True Monarchs really all be trapped inside?"

Xu Yang mused over it.

Suddenly.

The ancient city gave a fierce shudder!

The Daqian martial artists who hadn’t entered yet all stopped at the gates, backing away in shock and staring into the city.

Boom!

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!

With thunderous explosions, the whole ancient city visibly started shaking for everyone to see.

The light membrane within twisted and sent up blazing spiritual light, as if violently shaken from within, chaos spreading wide.

"What happened?"

"Could it be those Daqian True Monarchs? But that’s impossible! How could they shake the city?"

"You know, the inverted five elements inside the city, trapping True Monarch-level folks, is terrifying—even the very best of True Monarchs can’t budge it."

"Look—something’s about to tear through the Five Element Spirit Light!"

Uproar swept the crowd.

This time, it was the Spirit Realm martial artists who were shocked.

Shi Haoting and Li Wang both stepped into the air, staring at the ancient city in disbelief.

Right at the center of the light membrane, a bulge became faintly visible, shuddering violently, patterned with a web of fine cracks.

In the void above.

The Spirit Realm’s top fighters turned pale in shock.

"Impossible!"

"To trap Daqian’s True Monarchs, the Five Elements Celestial Realm poured tremendous power into Heaven-Slaying City, using True Monarch-level peak Five Elements Spiritual Treasures as the foundation. Below the rank of Divine Firmament Lord, absolutely no one could break through!"

A powerful cultivator’s eyes were filled with disbelief.

"They can’t necessarily break out," someone muttered.

CRACK!

The jarring sound of something vast and fabric-like ripping echoed across heaven and earth, reverberating through the void.

Countless figures froze in place!

The light membrane was ruthlessly punctured by a single finger.

Immediately, cracks spread like a spider web, wildly expanding!

Five Element Spirit Light flooded out of control, surging in all directions like a tidal wave.

Outside in the world, Xu Yang’s heart pounded in terror as he retreated swiftly.

This pressure chilled his bones!

As if it was beyond the True Monarch level!

Listening to the stunned discussion all around, Xu Yang’s pupils narrowed to pinpoints.

"Could this be Can Sutian’s doing?"

Just as he wondered, he saw that blurred finger suddenly shatter into fragments.

Below, a figure leapt up, spiritual light burning wildly around him, his whole being like a blazing meteor. With manic and unrivaled force, he ripped the light membrane to shreds, breaking all constraints!

One after another, more figures soared up behind him.

All Daqian’s True Monarchs!

"Divine Firmament Lord’s finger bone... Damn it, how could Daqian possess the remnants of such a powerful figure?"

"Can Sutian, you—you played us!"

Frightened and furious howls shook the void and swept across the heavens.

"Did I break any rules?"

A cold laugh drifted over from far beyond the heavens, vast and overwhelming, pressing so hard on the void, it trembled constantly.

In the void above, instant silence fell.

"Divine Firmament Lord’s finger bone? That finger was actually the Lord’s finger bone?"

"How could Daqian have such a treasure?"

Cries of astonishment rose everywhere.

Xu Yang’s heart gave a jolt. At once, he thought of the corpse Song Tianchou had placed all his hopes on—only to have it broken to pieces by Can Sutian.

He was from the Spirit Realm!

Could it be Divine Firmament Lord himself?

Divine Firmament Lord—that’s what Daqian calls the Body-Burning Realm.

But in the Spirit Realm, there’s the source of the Spirit River; no need to step into the Body-Burning weakness. At this stage, with a Spirit Jade, one can already connect to the source of the Spirit River, beyond True Monarch, extremely powerful!

"It must have been Can Sutian who, when breaking that corpse, saved a finger bone and handed it to one of the True Monarchs to break the bonds here!"

"So many True Monarchs—more than half must have survived!"

Xu Yang secretly clicked his tongue in awe.

Can Sutian didn’t just scheme against Daqian, he even got the Spirit Realm wrapped up in it!

Terrifying!

"Isn’t that... Gu Hong?"

Xu Yang’s pupils contracted, fixing hard on the blazing figure suspended in midair.

It was Gu Hong!

"Spirit Realm? Nothing special!"

"Hahahaha."

"Everyone, have a safe journey!"

Gu Hong roared with laughter, then bowed to the other Daqian True Monarchs, his figure fading away bit by bit.

The True Monarchs all had complicated looks.

Gu Hong used his own life force to unleash the power of that finger bone, breaking through the ancient city’s inverted five elements and saving them all.

The mighty ones all looked at the burning Gu Hong and saluted together.

Not a word was spoken—in the silence, there was endless gratitude!

SPLAT!

Gu Hong was utterly annihilated, perished for good!