Although the blinding light pierced their eyes with searing pain, Elder Tuoba forced himself to endure it and kept his gaze fixed forward.
Through the glare, he could vaguely make out a figure at the center of the light. The figure was short in stature, hunched over with a crooked back, holding a long smoking pipe in one hand, puffing on it one draw at a time.
Although the image was somewhat blurred, Elder Tuoba could tell that it appeared to be an old woman.
Elder Tuoba mentally sifted through every powerhouse in his mind who could suppress him, but he simply could not recall any such existence.
"Who are you?" Elder Tuoba asked.
"Who I am is not important. What matters is what I am about to say." A aged, hoarse voice rang out — sure enough, it was not a man's voice but an old woman's.
"There are certain people you cannot afford to touch. If you do, the question will no longer be whether you live or die — whether the forces behind you will even continue to exist."
"Don't think I am trying to frighten you. If you don't believe me, you are welcome to try."
With those words, the old woman actually laughed. Yet her laughter was utterly terrifying — it hardly sounded like the laugh of a human being.
Accompanying her laughter was the sound of copper bells. Both sounds receded into the distance, and before long they vanished completely.
The old woman had left. After her departure, the elders present finally regained their freedom.
But at this moment, cold sweat streamed down their faces.
The pressure they had been subjected to moments ago was far too overwhelming. Even Elder Xing Yi, powerful as he was, could not stop himself from trembling.
Those whose strength was weaker had already collapsed to the ground with a thud, unable to muster even the strength to stand.
Even figures like Elder Tuoba and the silver-haired elder were now pale as paper, their hands trembling faintly.
"Such pressure… it must be at the level of a Venerable," the silver-haired elder said.
"Mm." Elder Tuoba nodded.
"You said this Chu Feng was not a member of the Chu Heavenly Clan. Then why would such an existence stand up for him?" the silver-haired elder asked, his voice laced with anger.
He had every right to be angry. They had not yet made a move against Chu Feng — but had they done so, they certainly would not be standing here as they were now.
"Chu Feng himself said plainly that he is not from the Chu Heavenly Clan. Who knows where he truly comes from? He may not be a clansman, but he could very well be from another Upper Realm."
"At the very least, that Venerable-level existence earlier was surely not from our Great Chiliocosm Upper Realm," Elder Tuoba said.
"In any case, you nearly got me killed," the silver-haired elder of the Nine Profound Sect said, his face still etched with fury.
It had been far too close — only a narrow margin had prevented a catastrophic mistake.
And now, seeing even these two great figures shaken to such a degree, one could only imagine how the others felt.
Zhao Kuangfeng — the Spirit World Master who had been scheming on how to deal with Chu Feng and avenge his grandson — was now trembling from head to foot.
His shaking was not caused solely by the crushing pressure. In truth, it stemmed far more from the fear that gripped his very heart.