"What are you panicking for?"
"Are we going to die just because Chu Feng left?"
"Even if Chu Feng is gone, I'm still here, and Wushuang is still here. All of you, fall back. No matter what this creature is, I will eliminate it," Zhang Tianyi shouted.
"You eliminate it? On what basis? Even your current cultivation was given by it—on what basis will you eliminate it?"
"Exactly! Everyone, stop listening to his big talk. Run! Before that creature shows up, everyone, run!"
The moment that cry to flee rang out, it jolted the panicked crowd awake. In an instant, people scattered into the air like a flock of startled birds, fleeing in every direction.
"A bunch of foolish creatures. You will all become food on my plate—not a single one of you will escape."
But just as the crowd was fleeing in disarray, a terrifying yet deeply mocking voice echoed out from within the volcano.
Along with that voice, a massive wave of oppressive pressure surged from within the volcano, blanketing the entire sky and earth in an instant. Every person present—except for Zhang Tianyi and Jiang Wushuang—was immobilized.
Because that pressure was that of a Ninth Grade Half Ancestor.
"We're dead. We're truly dead now."
At that moment, people were genuinely terrified beyond reason. These were cultivators who had been training for decades, yet some among them were so frightened that they dissolved into uncontrollable sobs and wailing.
They all believed they were doomed—since they couldn't even flee, all they could do was wait for death.
"Hahahaha…"
But right then, Zhang Tianyi burst into hearty laughter.
His sudden outburst of laughter left everyone baffled. Disaster was already upon them, and yet instead of panicking, this Zhang Tianyi was laughing—could he have been scared out of his mind?
"I thought you were something special, but in the end you're only a Ninth Grade Half Ancestor."
"With just a Ninth Grade Half Ancestor's cultivation, you think you can handle us? You're truly delusional," Zhang Tianyi declared.
"What? Ninth Grade Half Ancestor—that creature is only a Ninth Grade Half Ancestor?"
"Then doesn't that mean we might be saved?"
Hearing Zhang Tianyi's words, the crowd finally understood why he was laughing so joyfully.
They now realized that both Zhang Tianyi and Jiang Wushuang currently possessed Ninth Grade Half Ancestor cultivation.
If that creature was truly only a Ninth Grade Half Ancestor as well, then with Zhang Tianyi and Jiang Wushuang fighting two against one, their odds were far from hopeless.
"Heh heh heh… how truly foolish."
And at that very moment, a figure shot out from within the volcano. The creature had finally revealed its true form.
"You really think you can stand against me?"
"Have you forgotten who it was that granted you your current strength?"
The creature fixed its gaze on Zhang Tianyi as it spoke.
"What do you mean by that?" Zhang Tianyi asked.
"Heh heh, truly foolish indeed. Since words don't get through to you, then I'll show you directly."
With that, the fine hairs covering the creature's entire body began to vibrate violently, and at the same time, a bizarre and sinister energy radiated outward from within.
"Ughhhh—"
Simultaneously, every single person present—including Zhang Tianyi and Jiang Wushuang—let out agonized screams.
Everyone who had taken to the air came crashing back down to the ground.
In that moment, across this stretch of earth, billions of living beings clutched their heads, writhing on the ground, their hearts and souls torn apart by unbearable shrieks of pain.
Even Zhang Tianyi and Jiang Wushuang, both Ninth Grade Half Ancestors themselves, were utterly powerless to resist.