The old man stared in the direction of the spatial tear with a thoughtful expression, unaware that he was slowly gripping the wooden cane in his hand ever more tightly. Then, he relaxed his muscles within seconds and sighed, “This can't be a coincidence but... Han Lan, why did you never mention this to me…?”

He had a complicated look on his face as he spoke and one could only imagine what he was thinking.

“Hm?”

In the middle of his contemplation, he suddenly raised his brow before swiftly turning around.

Above the Second Peak, a three hundred meters long platform had unexpectedly appeared. It had, without warning, silently emerged from the void.

The old man narrowed his eyes upon seeing it and muttered, “The last Chaos Tunnel… the Graha are using it to cross over at this moment. An attack from both the Upper and Lower World? Looks like that person is getting impatient.”

The presence of the large platform didn’t go unnoticed. Everyone in the Arcane Mountain felt it and simultaneously raised their heads. The people’s faces turned serious and the majority of the sect flew up to greet their old enemy. At this point, the disciples that were too weak to do anything had already been evacuated, while those that are left are all those that can stay and fight.

The Saints and Saintesses of each hall were all here, including the Molten Saint of the Blacksmith Hall. He was the one who tried to pursue Xiao Yueyin when she had returned to the sect before but ended up getting beaten up.

There was another familiar face and he was Xie Wen, the current Heaven Chosen of the Arcane Mountain. His aura was concealed making it hard for one to see what his cultivation was but some of the stronger Elders could make out that he was at the Seventh Life Destruction. This surprised them because as far as they knew Xie Wen should’ve only been at the Fourth Life Destruction, how did his cultivation increase so fast? This kind of speed could almost rival the Dragon Saintess.

While the Elders were curious, this was not the time to ask so they stayed silent.

The old man noticed this as well and his eyes flickered with some confusion, ultimately, however, he also said nothing, only giving Xie Wen a meaningful look.

Afterward, he disappeared from the Second Peak before appearing beside Dong Zongying, who was standing at the forefront of the group. Beside her, were the remaining Hall Masters. With Dongwu Sheng gone and the Talisman Hall Master position vacant, there were only four Hall Masters left. They were the Combat Hall Master, Zeng Shihao, the  Formation Hall Master, Fan Qiang, the Alchemy Hall Master, Fu Gun, and the Blacksmith Hall Master, the copper-skinned Tong Yan. 

“Great Ancestor.”

“Greetings, Great Ancestor.”

Dong Zongying, the Hall Masters, Elders, and disciples all greeted the old man.

Many of them looked quite nervous. The opposing side was giving off incredible pressure. Just from a glance, it was obvious they were stronger. However, after seeing the arrival of this legendary person, who was said to have single-handedly stopped the war three hundred years ago, they straightened their backs and puffed out their chest in confidence. 

The old man took a moment to observe the members of the Arcane Mountain. He could see and feel all of their emotions. A lot of the disciples were scared, while a number of the Elders were worried. The most stable were the Hall Masters, who all seemed ready to fight to the death. 

Finally, he looked at Dong Zongying, this little girl whom he has watched grow up. Seeing her unwavering aura, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratitude. 

He didn’t waste any words and only gave them all a gentle smile of assurance before turning to the enemy. 

There, on the platform, stood roughly around five hundred translucent bodies, each with a ball of foggy mist swirling around in their Dantians. It was like an army of phantoms, and other than the outline of their hair, there were no distinguishing features that separated one Graha from the other.

Twenty-eight are in the Holy realm, several hundred are in Life Destruction, and the rest are all in the Crystal realm… Looks like they can only send this much over, any more and the Chaos Tunnel will become unstable.

The old man saw through the opposing side’s strength with just a quick look. Then, he focused on an individual and mocked, “Yatong, have you finally decided to stop hiding behind the Formatic?”

The person he was talking to was naturally the one leading the Grahas. He appears to be bald and the only notable thing about him was the size of the hazy fog in his Dantian, it was the largest out of all the other Grahas. Surprisingly, two recognizable figures were standing behind him. One of them has short spiky hair while the other has his hair tied up into a ponytail. If a certain unreliable fellow was here, he would recognize them as the two brothers, Yahui and Yazhu. Currently, they seemed rather restless as they were constantly looking around as though in search of someone.

Yatong unhappily snorted, ignoring the taunt, he said, “Hmph! You old fart, how are you able to live for so long?

A discomforting shriek came from his voice and it caused some disciples from the Arcane Mountain to feel a bit of pain.

The old man laughed, “You’re not dead yet so how can I be?”

“My race has a much longer lifespan than you humans,” Yatong said as he narrowed his eyes. “I’m beginning to suspect that you’re not from the Lower World.”

“Perhaps I am. Perhaps I’m not.” The old man replied nonchalantly. 

He continued, “Don’t tell me that’s why you’ve been hiding in the Formatic for so long. Were you planning to wait til I passed away before coming back? What a brilliant plan you have, Yatong.”

There was a blatant derision in the old man’s tone as he emphasized the word brilliant.

This made Yatong grit his teeth. If it was any other time, he would never allow his emotions to be so out of control but today was crucial. He has received word from above. There shall be no more failures, otherwise, he’ll be sent into the Paralix!

Just the thought of this made him shiver with despair.

The Paralix… the realm above the Upper World… a place of ill omen that’s controlled by Death. I can’t go there! I can’t! Only those Feys are so foolish to want to remain in there!

Yatong clenched his fists as he tried to calm down. He said, “Be arrogant all you want. I may have underestimated you three hundred years ago but this time will be different.”

“Oh?” The old man raised an eyebrow. “You sound so confident. If I were you, I’d be embarrassed instead. You actually needed to get help from the Upper World to deal with us.”

Dong Zongying pursed her lips upon hearing this. She had felt the spatial tear earlier, which meant the forces from the Upper World should already be descending. Unfortunately, the Arcane Mountain won’t be able to help as they currently have their hands full right now. She can only pray that the other nine sects would be able to hold out for as long as possible until their arrival. 

If only that man could’ve sealed this Chaos Tunnel as well… then maybe we could’ve… 

Dong Zongying shook her head and sighed. 

“You-“ Yatong wanted to retort but was suddenly interrupted by someone.

“Enough with this! Stop screwing around Yatong!”

On the platform, the Grahas parted away like an ocean and a petite figure slowly walked out. 

Yatong hurriedly bowed and timidly said, “Second Princess, it’s not safe for you to come out. If anything happens to you, how will I explain myself? Please stay back.”

“Shut up! I can take care of myself, now get out of my way!”

The petite little girl slapped Yatong aside.

He spat out a mouthful of blood but wasn’t actually injured.

“Father!”

Yahui and Yazhu wanted to check on him but Yatong quickly gestured for them to stand still.

The old man narrowed his eyes upon seeing this little girl.

Linghun Daiyu…? She’s here as well? This is getting complicated…

The petite little girl stepped forward and stared down at the old man.

He calmly returned the gaze.

“…”

“…”

After a while, she narrowed her eyes and her arm flashed.

An agonizing sharp screech unexpectedly sounded out from the void, causing the old man to frown. He put his hands up and a mirror appeared in front of him. At that exact moment, a red beam of foggy mist came into view and struck it.

The air exploded and it sent hundreds of the disciples flying back with blood seeping out from their orifices. 

The Elders fared much better but even they were resisting the urge to cough up a mouthful of blood.

Seeing how horrifying this little girl’s strength was, their eyes widened in disbelief. 

“A Soul Artifact?”

There was a hint of surprise in the little girl’s voice, which couldn’t be helped. Soul Artifacts are extremely rare even in the Upper World so to see one in the Lower World was astonishing. 

“Old man, you are lucky. If I weren’t in a hurry. I would personally kill you myself,” the little girl said impatiently. 

Then, she abruptly flew away, only leaving behind a few words for Yatong.

“I need to search for my Elder Sister. Hurry up and finish this. Remember, Yatong, this is your last chance. Do not disappoint my Father again.”

The old man saw that she was trying to leave so he softly tapped his cane, producing a mysterious rippling effect in space.

The mist surrounding the Arcane Mountain expanded from his action and it began to entrap her.

The little girl saw this and arrogantly smiled, she said, “The Wayfarer’s Maze? This formation was created by Han Lan. Do you think you can cage me? If this was personally made by her then I’ll be worried but since it’s just you…. Hah! A silly fantasy!”

Her petite translucent body continued flying upwards. As the mist surrounds her, her entire figure suddenly turned invisible and she completely vanished.

The old man knew that she had escaped the formation but he wasn’t at all surprised. Anyone who knew of Linghun Daiyu was aware that she was extremely proficient in formations.

He then turned back toward Yatong and the two sides stared at each once more. 

…

“Kill!”

A fierce battle broke out.