"This treasure that has sealed off the mountain range isn't all that powerful. I could shatter it easily."
"My friends, shall we force our way through?"
The Lord of the Demon Beasts Holy Temple gazed at the treasure that had sealed off that stretch of land, and communicated secretly with the Dragon Clan's Clan Chief, the Cloud Sky Immortal Sect's Supreme Elder, and the Yu Heavenly Clan's Clan Chief through concealed voice transmission.
It was worth noting that some among the younger generation also received his secret transmission.
And the one who received this secret transmission was naturally Chu Feng.
"This treasure used for the seal truly isn't all that powerful."
"But if we shatter it directly, we'll alert the enemy for certain."
"Young friend Chu Feng, tell me — could you use your art of barriers to quietly open a gap in this treasure, allowing us to slip in unnoticed?"
The Dragon Clan's Clan Chief asked Chu Feng.
"Seniors, I've already observed it carefully. This treasure cannot be broken by the art of barriers. Furthermore, it has already bonded with its master. There are only two ways to undo it."
"Either its master voluntarily retracts it, or brute force shatters it."
"But take a closer look at that spot there."
As Chu Feng spoke, he pointed toward a particular location on the treasure.
It was an unremarkable place at first glance, but when people looked, their hearts all lurched with shock.
There, four characters were inscribed. They were tiny — though printed upon the treasure, they had not enlarged along with it.
And given the distance, had Chu Feng not pointed them out, no one would have noticed those four characters at all.
But what those four characters read was: Nine Souls Sacred Clan!!!!
The Nine Souls Sacred Clan — they were the rulers of the Nine Souls Star River.
Their power far surpassed that of the Sacred Light Clan.
"Could it be that the ones who have occupied this place are from the Nine Souls Sacred Clan?"
Upon seeing the four characters "Nine Souls Sacred Clan," even the Lord of the Demon Beasts Holy Temple abandoned any thought of shattering the treasure by force.
He was domineering, but he was no fool. When facing an existence far more powerful than himself, he had no desire to offend them.
"There are so many people gathered up ahead. They must know something."
"Let us gather some intelligence first."
"Perhaps the situation isn't as dire as we imagine."
The Yu Heavenly Clan's Clan Chief spoke.
And his suggestion was unanimously agreed upon by all.
The Lord of the Demon Beasts Holy Temple was, after all, a figure who stood at the very apex. His style of conduct had always been overwhelmingly domineering, so his first instinct had been to strike directly and seize what he wanted through force.
But once he could not determine who exactly they were dealing with, the wisest course of action was clearly to gather information first.
And so, the group set about gathering intelligence. When they did, they were somewhat relieved.
There was one piece of good news: the ones occupying this place had not discovered that secret ground. Rather, a special spirit beast had been hiding in this area, and they had sealed it off in order to capture that spirit beast.
But there was also one piece of bad news: although the person who had occupied this place was not a member of the Nine Souls Sacred Clan, he had earned the deep favor of a princess of the Nine Souls Sacred Clan.
Rumors had it that a faction had once offended this person, and their entire clan had been annihilated for it.
Thus, although this person was not of the Nine Souls Sacred Clan, he nonetheless had the Nine Souls Sacred Clan backing him.
The treasure that had sealed off this stretch of land had very likely been gifted by that princess of the Nine Souls Sacred Clan.
The reason so many people had gathered here was that there were rumors the princess of the Nine Souls Sacred Clan would be arriving at this place before long.
People actually wanted to catch a glimpse of that princess of the Nine Souls Sacred Clan.
"If that's the case, then it's simple enough. Since they aren't here for the secret ground but are merely hunting a spirit beast, they'll likely leave once they've caught it."
"We just need to wait."
An elder of the Yu Heavenly Clan spoke.
"But how did someone as foolish as you ever become an elder?"
The moment those words left the elder's mouth, he was sharply rebuked by the Lord of the Demon Beasts Holy Temple.