Upon seeing this, Han Li cast his gaze toward the surface of the pond.
Aside from the fact that the water in the pond was remarkably clear, it was completely mundane and nondescript otherwise.
Just as Han Li was feeling rather surprised and perplexed about this, City Lord Lan appraised the three identical young men, and he suddenly asked, "I heard that there's a mutated wolf demon in the Silvermoon Wolf Race that was able to cultivate its three heads into three different avatars with the assistance of an immensely powerful being. Each and every one of those avatars possesses a cultivation base at the pinnacle of the Nascent Soul Stage, and when all three join forces, they're capable of taking on a Deity Transformation being. Could you three be those very same avatars?"
The three young men chuckled in unison upon hearing this. One of them immediately said, "I didn't think us three brothers would be so widely-renowned. That's ready we are that Cerberus Moon Wolf. We've also heard much about you, City Lord Lan; care for a spar?"
"Hmph, I have no time for such activities. Fellow Daoist Xiao, what are you planning by entering the valley alone?" City Lord Lan disregarded the challenge being direct at him, turning toward the young woman instead with an interrogative gaze.
"What am I planning? Didn't Senior Huan say that there are Spirit Tribe cultivators trying to capture this s-called Spirit Tribe traitor in the pond? I came to stop them, of course," the young woman replied with a dainty smile.
City Lord Lan looked at the young woman for a while, then glanced at the pond before asking, "Is that so? I'm glad you have such intentions, Fellow Daoist Xiao. Please continue; I will guard the pond in the meantime to prevent any Spirit Tribe beings from entering the pond, how about that?"
The young woman faltered slightly upon hearing this before chuckling at the sight of Tou Tuo and the several other Nascent Soul cultivators beside City Lord Lan.
"If you hadn't come here, then perhaps I would indeed be venturing into the pond. However, seeing as you're here, I'll leave this opportunity to you, Brother Lan. You're not going to make a frail woman like me enter the pond in your stead, are you? I heard that you have a Water Warding Jade Rhinoceros Horn treasure; that thing will surely be very useful for when you enter the pond."
"I can enter the pond, but you have to take your forces and exit the Chaotic Valley first." City Lord Lan's expression suddenly darkened as his voice became cold and uncompromising.
Seeing as City Lord Lan had cast aside all semblance of pleasantries, the young woman's expression also changed slightly, and she gave a cold harrumph before falling silent.
Neither side was willing to back down at this critical juncture.
Meanwhile, City Lord Lan's lips were twitching as he discussed something with Tou Tuo through voice transmission. As he did so, a hint of malicious intent surfaced in his eyes.
Aside from the young woman and the three identical young men, there were only three other metamorphosis stage demonic cultivators present.
In contrast, aside from City Lord Lan and Tou Tuo, there were still seven or eight other Nascent Soul cultivators among the human forces, so they held a clear upper hand.
No one else had managed to arrive at this pond after all this time, clearly indicating that they were being held off by the Spirit Tribe beings. As such, neither side was going to receive additional reinforcements in a short time period.
If one side could take the divine blood first, there was no way they'd actually be willing to split the divine blood evenly between both sides.
Everyone knew that the prior agreement they had made was only for show, and it was merely an empty promise made so that a temporary alliance could be facilitated.
The young woman could sense the aggressive intentions from the humans, and her brows furrowed slightly as she unleashed a secret technique to caution her own troops. At the same time, she rustled a sleeve and an object fell into her hand.
The atmosphere became extremely tense, and a physical altercation appeared to be imminent. All of a sudden, the ground near the pond suddenly tremored violently, and the peaceful water within the pond abruptly began to tumble and surge. Immediately thereafter, strands of white light shot forth from within, some of which rose directly into the sky while others descended toward the nearby demons and humans.
Upon being struck by these strands of light, countless needle-sized holes were instantly punctured into the nearby rocks.
The beings from the two races were greatly startled upon seeing this, and all of them hurriedly unleashed their abilities or treasures to defend themselves.
Right at this moment, a layer of blinding light suddenly appeared within the transparent water of the pond, as if an incandescent sun was rising up from down below. Just as the water in the pond was churning and bubbling, a scorching burst of heat suddenly erupted from the white light within.
"What's going on? Are the Spirit Tribe beings down there doing this?" Han Li was hiding in the air up above, and had also been forced to take evasive measures in the face of the strands of light. Looking at the bizarre phenomenon taking place in the pond now, he was given a massive surprise.
He wasn't the only one; the young woman, City Lord Lan, and everyone was also quite bewildered and perplexed.
"Something's not right! Isn't the scorching light only able to hide within the pond? How is it able to leave the water? Could it be…" City Lord Lan was clearly rather familiar with this pond, yet before he could finish his analysis, a dozen or so pillars of white light that were as thick as water tanks rose into the air. As soon as they left the surface of the pond, they immediately changed directions, hurtling directly toward the humans and demons nearby at an astonishing speed.
This unprecedented surprise attack had caught the beings from the two races completely off guard.
The powerful beings like the young woman and City Lord Lan were immediately able to unleash a secret technique to flee the scene, while the three identical young men managed to also unleash some kind of secret technique that made them disappear without a trace right before the pillars of light struck them.No one had any time to activate any protective techniques or defensive treasures.
Everyone was beset with shock and rage upon seeing this. Before they had even had a chance to figure out what was happening, five pillars of yellow light suddenly erupted from the soil around the pond, and there was a series of indiscernible patterns carved onto the surfaces of these pillars.
The humans present had the largest number of Nascent Soul cultivators among them, but they also suffered the most casualties.
Most of these people were City Lord Lan's trust subordinates and disciples, and he was naturally furious that they had perished in a place like this. At the sight of the yellow pillars of light erupting from the soil down below, he immediately roared, "Who dares to attack us?"
Immediately thereafter, he laid a hand over the top of his own head, and five small blue swords immediately shot forth before transforming into massive swords that were several tens of feet in size.
"Slash!" City Lord Lan commanded in a cold voice.
The five massive swords immediately flashed through the air, flying toward the five yellow pillars before rapidly flying in several circles around the bases of these pillars.
A string of resounding booms erupted, but the pillars remained intact, with only a series of sword indentations left on their surfaces.
City Lord Lan's pupils contracted as he hurriedly made a hand seal to summon the five giant swords back to him.
Right at this moment, a green viscous liquid suddenly seeped out from the sword indentations on the pillars, emitting an extremely peculiar rank odor.
Meanwhile, City Lord Lan kept his swords circling above his head, preparing himself for any further attacks.
He was naturally well aware of just how powerful his flying swords were.
They were normally capable of easily slicing through small mountains, let alone a few pillars.
However, these pillars didn't appear to be normal pillars. Their surfaces seemed to possess a hint of suppleness, as if they were living creatures.
The young woman also wore a bewildered expression at the sight of City Lord Lan's failed attack.
A burst of low buzzing rang out from the pond down below, as if something had just been awakened.
Following the emergence of this strange sound, the five yellow pillars suddenly became completely stationary. However, a massive ball of light with a diameter of around 100 feet suddenly shot froth from within the pond.
The ball was entirely white in color, but there was a shimmering golden spherical object at its center that was roughly the same size as a human head.
"That's the Setting Sun Crystal!"
Tou Tuo suddenly exclaimed upon seeing this object. As soon as he blurted out those words, he deeply regretted not keeping a tighter lid on his own mouth, and he immediately hurtled forth as a streak of white light to claim the treasure for himself.
Upon hearing the words "Setting Sun Crystal", the young woman and the three identical young men were also ecstatic.
The young woman let loose a loud cry before transforming into a black flaming phoenix as she flew toward the object. Meanwhile, the three young men gathered together to form a thick pillar of silver light that shot forth in hot pursuit.
However, for some reason, City Lord Lan remained on the spot, refraining from taking any action.
Han Li also continued to look on without doing anything as he hovered up above.
His target was very simple; he was here for the divine blood. No matter what other valuable treasures existed here, unless they were more valuable than the divine blood, he wasn't going to pursue it and blow his own cover.
The young woman and the three young men had clearly sprung into action a split second slower than Tou Tuo.
The white light that Tou Tuo had transformed into reached the Setting Sun Crystal first, and he attempted to sweep it away.
However, right at this moment, a startling change suddenly struck.
An enormous burst of invisible suction force suddenly appeared around the ball of light, causing Tou Tuo's body to falter slightly in mid-air.
He was naturally shocked by this turn of events and hurriedly unleashed his magic power to resist this force. However, several peculiar silver runes then suddenly appeared over his robes, following which Tou Tuo was sucked into the pond, disappearing without a trace.
The ball of light remained floating silently in mid-air, as if nothing had ever happened.
The young woman and the three identical young men were naturally greatly startled upon seeing this, and they hurriedly retreated before casting their bewildered eyes toward the pond down below.
Meanwhile, City Lord Lan seemed to have gleaned something from the situation, and his expression suddenly became very strained.
Right at this moment, another thunderous boom erupted from within the pond, following which five more yellow pillars of light identical to the first five shot forth from the soil.
A roar that resembled violent thunderclaps then rang out from within the pond, gradually becoming louder and louder.
The pond and the 10 yellow pillars began to tremor violently amid the sound of this thunderous roar.
All of a sudden, City Lord Lan turned around and flew toward the entrance to the valley as a streak of blue light, disappearing into the mist in just a few flashes.
This came as quite a surprise to everyone else. Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he began to drift higher up into the air.
In contrast, the young woman and the three identical young men glanced at one another, and even though solemn expressions had appeared on their faces, none of them departed from this place.
Shortly thereafter, the water within the pond began to swirl rapidly, transforming into a giant vortex in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, the 10 yellow pillars suddenly grew over 100 feet taller. The ground also began to crumble as two gargantuan creatures emerged from either side of the pond.
Han Li was in the process of ascending to higher altitudes when he took a glance at what was taking place down below, and he was immediately flabbergasted by the sight that greeted him.
