But the thing was, those guards weren't weaklings to begin with.
Where had Chu Feng gotten such power?
"Could it be...?"
However, compared to everyone else, those who had witnessed Chu Feng ascend to the top of the Seven Star Gravity Tower that day had already spotted the clue.
After all, the power of starlight looked remarkably similar to the star formation that had pierced through the clouds when Chu Feng reached the summit.
Ling Mouzi, who had been present as a witness, confirmed this in short order.
And he, who had been brimming with killing intent yet desperately holding himself back, was no longer willing to restrain himself.
"Bastard! Using my Holy Land's own formation to kill my Holy Land's people?"
"Chu Feng, die!!!"
Ling Mouzi thrust a finger at Chu Feng.
The entire plaza shuddered violently as a colossal barrier hand descended from the heavens, slamming toward Chu Feng.
This was the eradication force of a Saint-level elder!!!
But Chu Feng showed not a trace of panic. His hand seals shifted, and the power of starlight contracted inward before a towering pillar of starlight erupted skyward, brute-forcing its way through Ling Mouzi's barrier hand and holding it at bay.
"A Saint-level elder?"
"Ling Mouzi, you're nothing impressive after all." Chu Feng's voice dripped with mockery.
Ling Mouzi said nothing, but covertly intensified the formation's driving power.
Under that escalation, even the plaza beneath Chu Feng's feet—reinforced as it was by barrier force—struggled to hold together, cracks spiderwebbing across its surface.
This was the power of a Saint-level elder.
Yet Chu Feng remained utterly unscathed, the sneer on his face only growing wider.
His hand seals shifted once more, and the pillar of starlight transformed into a gleaming sword that pierced straight through the barrier hand.
The next instant, Chu Feng swept his arm backward. The massive sword followed his motion, not only cleaving the barrier hand completely apart but also carving a devastating arc toward the spectator stands behind him.
If even a Saint-level elder's attack could be shattered by this strike, the consequences of it landing on the stands were unthinkable.
And the direction Chu Feng was aiming happened to be exactly where the Seven Worlds Holy Land's younger generation had gathered.
If this hit, it would wipe out the Holy Land's future in one blow.
Sensing the crisis, a barrier lotus bloomed beneath Ling Mouzi's feet. With just two steps, he had positioned himself directly in the path of Chu Feng's descending blade.
His left hand formed seals while his right hand pointed at the void. Barrier force surged skyward, coalescing into a barrier shield stretching ten thousand meters long, catching Chu Feng's strike head-on.
The barrier shield was extraordinarily sturdy. The starlight greatsword crashed into it and shattered apart, the residual starlight spilling downward along the shield's surface like a routed army in disarray.
At the sight, Ling Mouzi allowed himself a moment of smug satisfaction—but the very next instant, his face drained of all color.
The cascading starlight had split into countless starlight swords, all hurtling directly at him.
And these starlight swords were far faster than the greatsword had been. At this speed, there was no dodging.
But just then, a figure landed before him, wielding a barrier spear that blurred into a forest of spear shadows, forcibly intercepting every single starlight sword.
It was Jie Qinghe, another Saint-level elder.
After rescuing Ling Mouzi, Jie Qinghe turned his gaze toward Chu Feng.
His expression was complex, as though he wanted to say something, yet in the end he said nothing at all.
"Fellow elders, what are you all standing around for?"
"Join forces with me—kill this brat!"
Ling Mouzi bellowed, and then his eyes blazed with an eerie, otherworldly light.
Immediately, five more elderly figures materialized at the edges of the plaza.
They formed seals in unison, and a barrier formation descended, sealing Chu Feng within the confines of the plaza.
The plaza had been split cleanly in two. Everyone on the spectator stands was protected—only Chu Feng remained trapped inside.
Even Fu Xing and the others who had been standing on the plaza had long since retreated to the stands, safely out of reach.
And those five figures were no ordinary cultivators. Every one of them was a Saint-level elder.
Elder Zhenfu was among them.
"Chu Feng, if you stop now, there may still be time," Elder Zhenfu said.
But no sooner had the words left his mouth than Ling Mouzi's voice cut in: "It's already too late. This brat slaughtered our Holy Land's people—a death sentence ten times over."
"Fellow elders, join forces with me. Together we will execute this brat."
With that, an unusual barrier force poured from Ling Mouzi's body and merged into the sealing formation.
The other Saint-level elders did the same.
Elder Qinghe and Elder Zhenfu both hesitated, but under these circumstances they had no choice. They joined the formation as well.
With all seven working in concert, countless barrier lines emerged across the formation that enclosed the plaza.
The lines resembled something between a bird and a sword—neither one nor the other—yet they thrummed with limitless killing intent.
"The Feather Sword Extermination Formation?"
The Seven Worlds Holy Land members recognized it instantly.
But even they hadn't expected that eradicating a mere Chu Feng would require a formation of this caliber, laid down by no fewer than seven Saint-level elders working together.
"I suppose this is the end." Ling Xinian closed her eyes, unable to watch any further.
She was far from alone. Nearly everyone present believed Chu Feng's life had reached its final moment.
Caw——
The next instant, bird calls echoed without cease across the plaza. The barrier lines on the grand formation took shape, transforming into bizarre creatures—bodies like swords but fitted with wings—that streaked toward Chu Feng in rapid succession like a volley of arrows.
Ripples of barrier force raged wildly in every direction. The sheer destructive power radiating outward was so intense that the Extermination Formation itself suffered backlash, cracks blossoming across its surface.
But when the formation's assault finally subsided, a voice rang out, clear and unhurried.
"What kind of joke is this so-called Extermination Formation? It's nothing special."
As the words echoed through the air, a fierce gale swept through, and in the blink of an eye every ripple within the plaza had been blown clean away.