Just after the golden dragon fell to the ground, three more elders appeared out of thin air.
These three elders all had snow-white hair, longer than their own bodies, trailing down past their ankles as they stood hovering in the sky.
They must have lived for a very, very long time — far beyond a mere thousand years, perhaps close to ten thousand. For despite the excellent quality of their hair, their bodies were extremely aged and frail, as though even a gentle breeze could knock them over.
Yet in truth, they emanated a terrifyingly powerful aura, one that made even the void itself tremble.
Each of them possessed an aura far stronger than Nangong Beidou's, and all three were clearly more powerful than him — Fourth-rank Martial Emperors.
"The Supreme Elders have emerged! The Supreme Elders have emerged! Our Nangong Imperial Clan is saved!"
"So these are the Supreme Elders? I can't believe they're still alive. They're alive — this is wonderful!"
Upon seeing the three elders, the people of the Nangong Imperial Clan erupted into excitement once more. Yet even as they rejoiced, they all dropped to their knees and performed the grandest of bows toward the three figures in the sky.
And while bowing, many of them actually shed tears of excitement.
This was hardly surprising. The significance of these three was enormous — they were the Supreme Elders of the Nangong Imperial Clan.
Though they had each emerged during different eras, every one of them far outranked Nangong Beidou in seniority. One could say they were the three most authoritative figures in the entire Nangong Imperial Clan, its true rulers.
However, all three had been in closed-door cultivation for over five hundred years. In that entire span, not one of them had shown their face even once.
As a result, many members of the Nangong Imperial Clan had gone from birth to the present day without ever seeing them. Some had even speculated that they might have already died.
After all, even Martial Emperors, with their extraordinarily long lifespans, could rarely live past ten thousand years.
In the Martial Sacred Land, ten thousand years marked one cycle — the end of an era and the beginning of another. After ten thousand years, even the mightiest would perish, giving way to the figures of a new age.
These three had long since reached the limit of a Martial Emperor's lifespan. Had they not sustained themselves with mystical pills and medicines, they would likely have died long ago.
Indeed, many senior powerhouses had perished from old age while in closed-door cultivation. This was not unique to others — even the Nangong Imperial Clan had seen numerous such cases.
But looking at them now, it was clear the three Supreme Elders were far from dead. Not only that, they still possessed overwhelming combat prowess. This was evident from the golden dragon they had conjured together.
"Greetings to the three Supreme Elders."
As soon as the three elders appeared, Nangong Beidou hurriedly flew over and bowed deeply.
"Beidou, what exactly is going on? How did such a vicious evil spirit suddenly appear in our Imperial Clan?" one of the Supreme Elders asked.
"In reply to the Supreme Elder — it is a long story, and Beidou himself feels quite helpless about it," Nangong Beidou said, unsure of how to explain.
"Where is Nangong Longjian? Is he not within the clan?" another Supreme Elder asked.
"Longjian, he... sigh, he is in the clan, but you should know his character. He cares only about martial cultivation and pays no heed to the safety of our clan whatsoever — he couldn't care less whether we live or die." Nangong Beidou let out a helpless sigh.
"Five hundred years have passed, and Nangong Longjian is still this disobedient. He truly needs to be taught a proper lesson," the last Supreme Elder said, his face twisted with anger.