"ON ALERT!" Tuo Bihan spiritually shouted to the thousands of members of the Myriad Monarch Sect. As if of unified mind, they all halted what they were doing and got into various defensive positions with their astral force surging and their spiritual strength reinforcing their Sea of Consciousness.
They were ready for any assault, be it direct or spiritual. Xue Yifei's pupils transformed into that of a dragon, vertical and sharp, while the navy blue flecks of her eyes became violet and exuded a demonic glint. Her physical presence shook the air with every motion.
Those around her got into a strange triangular formation with Xue Yifei at the center. Those at the tip of the formation were all wielding exquisitely fashioned shields. They all faced in different directions as if to cover all angles.
Wu Baozhai's formation was far more simple and direct. They were spread out in a rectangle with her at the lead. As a Grand Monarch, her job was not to be protected, but to be the tip of the spear that pierced their enemies. While her cultivation base was not the highest amongst her members, she was definitely the strongest.
Tuo Bihan couldn't marvel at Xue Yifei and Wu Baozhai's coordination and actions, and was focused on an incoming aura that was moving at an incredibly swift pace. He levitated off the ground and took to the skies, his aura permeating the entire area to prevent being caught off-guard by an abrupt Worldly Domain manifestation. The World Pressure alone could crush more than half of the cultivators in his group instantly.
Huang Boqing noticed their defensive actions, but he didn't halt his movements. With a few more seconds, he arrived roughly two hundred and fifty meters away from the group with a shortsword in his hand. "State your name and purpose!" She shouted with fierce authority befitting a Realmlord and City Lord.
Despite his strong external front, his entire heart was throbbing in shock as he inspected the auras of those in this group. There were monsters amongst them!! They were strange in shape and appearance, with vastly colorful skins and strange animalistic characteristics amongst them.
Their auras were also extremely strange and he was unable to determine their origin or energies. It was foreign and unknown. But there were humans and elves amongst them, and it was the only reason he hadn't attacked with extreme prejudice after seeing their defensive positions and trained killing intent.
As an inhabitant of the Four Extreme Continent, Huang Boqing had never seen demons or beastmen. While beasts existed, the hybrid variant of them had never been accepted. A few cultivators had tried to breed with the beasts on the continent, even intermixing themselves with strange fusion-type methods, but it was highly unsuccessful. They bred monsters with strange and weak talents.
Their cultivation speed was horrendous. This was because beastmen who were forced to use their dantians, the area above their navels, as energy centers and locations to nurture their Spirits of Cultivation would find themselves unable to do so effectively or at all. The proper location was their hearts!
However, the Four Extreme Continent was ignorant of this fact so the results of their experiments were unsuccessful and deemed abominations that went against the Divinities. They have been killed on sight since.
As for demons, they simply couldn't exist in this environment. The birth of a demon required Soul Impartation, a product by which the Heavenly Daos infuses a soul into objects, giving that normally inanimate object a sentience and a soul to cultivate.
These demons were as strange looking as beasts, looking vastly different than humans and elves, but they could give birth to humanoid children through a strangely unique method. The hybrids of these rare demons were roughly 99.9% of all demonic cultivators, fused with either human, elven, or beast DNA.
As for the actual demons, they were often in the shape of whatever their souls entered. Be it a leaf, a mountain, or a pebble, and only when they've exceeded Mortal Limits, reaching the Mystic Ascendant Realm, will they be able to forge their humanoid or beastly bodies and decide on their genders.
Yuan Longshi and Xue Yifei had obtained the Yin and Yang Dragon Soul from a Demonic Dragon, which was formerly the corpse of a dragon that had been affected by the Soul Impartation after millennia of preservation, giving birth to a new sentience. They were classified as demonic beasts and were exceedingly rare. There was even a chance for this to occur to humans and elves, creating demonic humans and demonic elves.
Thus, Huang Boqing was currently hyper-vigilant of all things. He had even taken out his weapon due to his alert state and trembling heart at the monstrous sights before him.
Tuo Bihan inspected Huang Boqing. His cultivation base was not inferior to his, but his actual strength wasn't certain. It was difficult to decipher a cultivator's exact foundation from a glance, only someone with strange spells and a terrifying spiritual sense like Wei Wuyin could do so.
Wei Wuyin had warned him that there could be hostile forces on this continent, and they should be prepared to fight. But he didn't act in haste, slowly floating in the air as he leveled a strong gaze towards Huang Boqing. "My name's Tuo Bihan, Grand Imperial Sage of the Myriad Monarch Sect. My purpose is to investigate this continent that had arrived mysteriously to our starfield."
While he leaked information, he also wanted to gather details about the continent from Huang Boqing's reaction. Wei Wuyin merely told him vague details before leaving, as if he didn't have time to send a lengthy explanation.
Wei Wuyin truly couldn't. His mind was pressed on returning in time before everything and everyone on the Four Extreme Continent was eviscerated.
However, Tuo Bihan was disappointed. Huang Boqing did not reveal any change in his expression or body language, calmly maintaining his strong facade of unreliability. However, internally, he was wild with theories! Starfield? Myriad Monarch Sect? The questions he had were endless!
He inspected the soldiers below and noticed they were all at the lower or middle stages of the Astral Core Realm. There wasn't a second Realmlord, and from the auras of everyone, none of which were mysteriously concealed and beyond his senses, he realized a Timelord was likely not amongst them. Since this old man garbed in grey seemed to be the leader of this group, they must be it.
His eyes flared as he thought about several things in a second, remaining silent as if processing Tuo Bihan's words. In truth, he was inspecting Tuo Bihan's aura and formed a judgement of his strength.
'Unknown insurgents from this strange world. They have several characters of strange form and origin, and they seemed ready for war. This could be a weaker force in this world. Regardless, its best to capture them and slowly interrogate every detail of this new world.'
At the end of his thoughts, his eyes brightly lit. He frowned and said, "You're visitors from this starfield? My name's Huang Boqing and I'm the Grandquake City's City Lord. As visitors, I invite you into my city as friends. We can exchange information. We, too, are confused by events." While speaking, he gradually eased his frown during the sentence as if he was accepting to learn more about this world in a friendly manner.
Huang Boqing's acting skills were exceptional to say the least. Even Tuo Bihan felt that this unknown Realmlord named Huang Boqing had good intentions. Of course, he wouldn't enter a city, but they could exchange information.
However, Xue Yifei had her draconic eyes affixed to Huang Boqing. She, for some strange reason, felt his ill-intent. Then, her heart raced. She screamed aloud: "Grand Sage!"
Another voice also shouted with an imposing tone filled with warning: "Grand Sage!" Wu Baozhai had also felt the strange peculiarity being given off by Huang Boqing.
Tuo Bihan's heart thumped into action, his eyes burst with spiritual light as his Worldly Domain manifested! A nearly translucent sphere expanded with him at the center. It exuded a purity of astral force untainted by Intent. It unfurled for one hundred meters in every direction, engulfing the others protectively.
Huang Boqing glanced at the two gorgeous women that shouted, his eyes unleashing bursts of spiritual light as well. His plan to lower Tuo Bihan's guard as he used a sonic-type spell was foiled by these two women. His spell was exceedingly difficult to notice and even the spiritual power within it was extremely subtle.
He unleashed his Worldly Domain, projecting a light blue-colored translucent sphere with him as the center. The World Pressure within was devastating, and it crashed against Tuo Bihan's, instantly expanding until it reached six hundred meters.
Huang Boqing had a maximum Worldly Domain range of six hundred meter diameter, so the two hundred and fifty meter distance favored his Worldly Domain size. He had always planned to crush Tuo Bihan, but he wanted to do so with less effort.
"Two hundred meters?" Huang Boqing scoffed. A Worldly Domain's strength was often displayed by its size, which usually displayed the size of one's Soul Idol, number of Spatial Resonance Ripples, and type of Primary Light. This indicated a large portion of their foundation.
The lowest, a Seven-Ringed Soul Idol, Seven-Ripple Spatial Resonance, and Indigo-colored Primary Light, was at least one hundred meters. All distances beyond that signified differences. This wasn't definitive, however. After all, it did not reflect Spiritual Strength, World Sea, and Astral Core foundational qualities. These determined the power of one's arts, spells, and formations.
But with this, Huang Boqing's confidence was renewed. He decided to subdue Tuo Bihan and learn what he needed from the weaker members.
A battle between Realmlords was about to unfold, and the hearts of all the Myriad Monarch Sect's members were racing fiercely!
