"How dare you!!!" The powerful shout reverberated across heaven and earth, and the overwhelming fury pressed down on everyone, leaving them stifled. They all wondered who this could be, with such an astonishing aura.



In a flash of light, a flying crane shot across the sky, blocking out the sun. It noticed Li Xiaoyao being flung toward the beasts and dove down like a meteor, heading straight for them.



Sensing the terrifying power of the newcomer, the demonic beasts began to wail in fear. But the phantom demon beast at the center extended a tentacle, wrapping Li Xiaoyao in dark mist and quickly retreating, apparently trying to flee.



The beasts at the level of spirit, they were not only able to absorb the energy of heaven and earth but had also opened their spiritual apertures, giving them high intelligence. Therefore, when they sensing the impending danger from the crane, they immediately attempted to escape.



The crane's wings glowed with a silver light sharper than any blade, flashing past the demonic beasts. Instantly, blood sprayed as the beasts fell dead to the ground.



These fearsome and powerful demonic beasts couldn't withstand a single strike from this person. The strength of the owner of Crane Martial Soul was unfathomable.



However, as the beasts were annihilated, the dark mist created by the phantom demon beast dispersed, splitting into countless gray wisps that scattered with the wind. Li Xiaoyao's figure had vanished without a trace.



"As expected, the phantom demon beast's illusion magic is truly formidable."



The crowd murmured to themselves upon witnessing this scene. The phantom demon beast was capable of countless transformations, lacking even a true form. Even if you were far stronger than it, capturing it was incredibly difficult.



The crane's wings trembled violently, creating a fierce gust that knocked the onlookers off balance. They then watched as the crane vanished, flying toward the depths of the Black Marsh Forest, leaving a trail of demonic beast corpses in its wake.



It was power—power so overwhelming it left one breathless.



That day, the young master Peng ,who had come to provoke the sect, even he has his Roc Martial Soul, but compared to this crane spirit, he was nothing—a mere weakling.



For most of them, it was their first time witnessing such a powerful person in action. Eyes filled with excitement, they speculated in silence about who this person could be, someone so fearsome that no any beast dared to challenge him.



"Our Canghai Sect truly lives up to its thousand-year legacy, flourishing in its time. The hidden experts are simply incredible."



In the crowd's eyes, flames of hope flickered, and many aspired to one day achieve such strength themselves.



At that moment, two figures appeared, striding through the air with elegance. They were none other than Sect Master, Nangong Shang and Xie Canglan.



"What's going on?" Nangong Shang's body landed on the ground, in front of Xie Yun, his tone displeased.

"Elder Xie Yun trapped one of our sect's disciples and sent him into the mouth of a demon beast." Before Xie Yun could speak, Zhao Xinyi, standing nearby, spoke up first, her eyes filled with hatred.

Zhao Xinyi hate Li Xiaoyao, that is the fact, but she wants to regain the dignity she had lost by defeating Li Xiaoyao with her own strength. She never expected him to die unjustly like this. Li Xiaoyao's talent was far superior to hers. He was a pillar of their sect. To die at the hands of his own sect's elder was truly tragic.

"Reporting to the Sect Master, an outer disciple has been troublesome with demon beasts, stealing beast cores from beasts that other disciples have hunted, and fled in the heat of battle. This boy deserves to die." Naturally, Xie Yun wouldn't admit to it. After all, Li Xiaoyao was already dead, and he would deny everything. Who could do anything to him?

"'Deserves to die,' you say? Alright, cool, cool, cool...today, I will make you die." A cold, domineering voice rang out, followed by a whirlwind sweeping through, causing the crowd to stagger back and struggle to keep their balance.

Xie Yun's expression changed drastically. His aura exploded, but before he could react, a streak of light flashed past, and a force more violent than a tidal wave slammed into him.

"Boom!"

Xie Yun's body crashed into the rocks, causing them to shatter, and blood spurted from his mouth. It was clear how powerful that blow had been.

The inner sect elder, Xie Yun, was sent flying with a mouthful of blood, and all of this happened before his father, the law enforcement elder, Mo Canglan.

The crowd found this scene unbelievable, like something out of a play.

Then, they saw the figure of an old man, one that everyone recognized.

"It's him, the elder who guards the Sun-Moon Pavilion."

The crowd trembled inwardly. As disciples of the sect, if there was one place that everyone definitely went to, it was the Sun-Moon Pavilion. Therefore, no one failed to recognize Elder Bei.

In the past, Elder Bei always appeared lethargic and disinterested, but his strength was undeniably shocking.

At this moment, Elder Bei's eyes are filled with murderous intent as he slowly walked toward Xie Yun, his tone as cold as ice: "As a sect elder, to break the law and harm the sect's juniors, if I don't kill you, how will our Canghai Sect face the future?"

Xie Yun's face turned ashen. He never expected that someone would dare to kill him over an outer disciple.

A figure appeared in front of Xie Yun, wary and alert—it was Xie Canglan.

"Elder Bei, don't you think you're going too over?" Xie Canglan said.

"Too over? Xie Canglan, you've really raised a fine son." Elder Bei's expression remained icy, not giving Xie Canglan any face, and he barked, "Get lost."

"Elder Bei, there's no need for such anger." Nangong Shang arrived in front of Elder Bei, trying to mediate.

Nangong Shang naturally knew Xie Yun's character, but for Canghai Sect's sake, Xie Yun still had value. And Xie Canglan was one of the strongest in Canghai Sect, also in charge of the law enforcement. So Xie Yun couldn't be touched, or else it would definitely cause conflicts within the sect's upper echelons.

"Sect Master, step aside. Today, I will cleanse the sect's ranks," Elder Bei said, no longer willing to listen to any persuasion. He saw Li Xiaoyao as the key to reviving the sect, but it was Elder Xie Yun who had sent him into the mouth of a demon beast.

"Elder Bei!!" Nangong Shang shouted, trying to make Elder Bei calm down.

"Xie Yun must not be touched. I hope Elder Bei will prioritize the sect," Nangong Shang transmitted through voice transmission.

"Prioritize the sect?" A faint, unreadable smile appeared on Elder Bei's face. It was precisely because he prioritized the sect that he wanted to kill Xie Yun.

"Nangong, do you know who that young man is?" Elder Bei suddenly stopped calling him Sect Master and addressed him directly by name, again using voice transmission.

Nangong Shang was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting this question.

"If Elder Kong were here today, Xie Yun would surely die without a doubt!!" Elder Bei suddenly said, his words full of hidden meaning. A bitter look flashed in his eyes. "Prioritize the sect? Nangong, since you became the Sect Master, you've lost the sharpness of the past."

With that, the wind howled, and the flying crane wings behind Elder Bei fluttered, disappearing in an instant.

"Elder Kong..." Nangong Shang thought of the old man who lived in the darkness, his body trembling uncontrollably. Suddenly, he recalled that the last time the Shadow Martial Soul appeared, it was when the young man, Li Xiaoyao, was in danger. Shortly after, the sound of the bells from the Drum and Bell Cliff had echoed, their resonance still lingering.

"Boom!!!" Nangong Shang's head suddenly shook, a cold murderous intent flashing in his eyes, but it was gone in an instant.

"Xie Yun!"

Xie Canglan's body trembled. The murderous intent—he could actually feel murderous intent from the Sect Master. What had Elder Bei and the Sect Master discussed just now?

Xie Canglan cast a cold glance at Xie Yun. His damn son was indeed becoming more and more outrageous, reckless, and uncontrollable.

...

Li Xiaoyao's body was enveloped in black mist, and soon he felt himself soaring like riding a cloud, though he had no idea where he was headed.

A cold, suffocating aura began to corrode his body, infiltrating his flesh and blood. He wanted to struggle, but he didn't know how.

He realized his strength was so weak.

Faced with the imminent danger of death, Li Xiaoyao, without any hesitation, released his twin martial souls. His pupils grew deeper, but all he could see was endless darkness.

"Tenshō."

Li Xiaoyao uttered a low shout, and dazzling, brilliant light flickered in his eyes. Suddenly, Li Xiaoyao saw a pair of eyes—cold, beastly eyes—staring at him, fixated on their prey.

"What is this? The true form of a demon beast!" Li Xiaoyao saw the chilling eyes and a dark face, hideous and terrifying.

Numerous tentacles reached out toward him, as though they wanted to devour his life essence. Similarly, the tentacles that touched his martial soul—the Tenshō martial soul and the small snake-like shadow, whose origin was unknown—seemed to want to devour his martial soul as well.

Li Xiaoyao struggled mightily. He could even feel his life essence being drained bit by bit.

However, at this moment, an unexpected change occurred.

The martial soul that had always remained silent—the small snake shadow—suddenly moved!