"It's hard to say. I can't be certain either, because I can't sense his aura at all."
"That only points to two possibilities. Either he's simply not here, or his strength surpasses everyone present."
"But what I do know is that whoever broke through my Concealment Immortal-Avoiding Formation must have received help from that blue-robed man. And that Demon-Subduing Commander's Seal — it was undoubtedly bestowed by that same mysterious blue-robed figure," Chu Feng said.
"It's useless. He won't help us," said the Kong Heavenly Clan Chief.
"Why not? Why wouldn't he help us?"
"Aren't we on the same side? Aren't we all trying to deal with that Chu Feng?" said the Zhou Heavenly Clan Chief.
"So it really is me he's after," Chu Feng muttered, his brows furrowing tightly. From that single remark, he understood clearly — the blue-robed man's true target had been him all along.
"That guy must be powerful — at least stronger than Senior Ying Mingchao. But if he's that strong, why not strike at me directly? Why instead help the Kong Heavenly Clan from the shadows and use their strength against me?"
Chu Feng's mind raced through the question.
He wasn't sure whether the other party felt it was beneath him to act personally, or whether he simply couldn't act.
Or perhaps he just found it amusing — treating the whole thing as a game.
"Listen. Now we can only rely on ourselves. Use me as the catalyst — activate that technique," the Kong Heavenly Clan Chief said to the Zhou Heavenly Clan Chief.
"What?!" The Zhou Heavenly Clan Chief's expression froze, unable to believe what he had just heard. The Supreme Elder behind him was even more visibly alarmed.
"Are you truly going to use that technique? Once we do, there's no turning back," the Zhou Heavenly Clan Chief said.
"I said I'll be the catalyst. If anyone dies, it'll be me — so what are you afraid of? If we keep dragging this out, we'll all perish. And when we die, my Kong Heavenly Clan will be destroyed, and your Zhou Heavenly Clan will be wiped out too. Have you thought about that?" The Kong Heavenly Clan Chief's voice was fierce with anger.
"Clan Chief, you mustn't! We can't use that technique! Our cultivation isn't strong enough — even if the Kong Clan Chief serves as the catalyst, with our level of cultivation we'll all die! We'll die!"
At that moment, one of the Zhou Heavenly Clan's Supreme Elders spoke in a panic, his face stricken.
"Silence! For the continuation of our clan, what are our lives worth?"
At the same time, another of the Zhou Heavenly Clan's Supreme Elders rebuked the elder who had protested, and then addressed the clan chief:
"Clan Chief, do as the Kong Clan Chief says. For our clan's sake, sacrificing our lives is nothing."
"Clan Chief, go ahead. We're not afraid of death."
"Clan Chief, reconsider — please, reconsider!"
After those words, the remaining three elders were divided — some urged caution, others accepted their fate.
And in the Zhou Heavenly Clan Chief's eyes, a flash of ruthless determination emerged.
"Kong — from here on, it's up to you."
Having said that, the Zhou Heavenly Clan Chief let out a great shout.
The moment his voice rang out, a strange glow erupted from the region of his Dantian.
"AHHH!!!"
The next instant, the Supreme Elders standing behind him all released agonized screams of unimaginable pain.
"No!!!"
"Stop — Clan Chief, stop!"
Those elders who had pleaded moments ago tried desperately to resist, but they could no longer control their own bodies — it was as though the Zhou Heavenly Clan Chief had seized command of them entirely.
Yet the Zhou Heavenly Clan Chief showed no intention of stopping.
"This formation!!!"
Chu Feng's eyes sharpened. He noticed that the light surging from both the Zhou Heavenly Clan Chief and the Zhou elders' Dantians now carried nine-colored lightning within it — lightning that had not been there before.
And most crucially, once that lightning was siphoned away, the Zhou Heavenly Clan Chief and the Zhou elders looked as though something vital had been ripped from their very beings.
Their bodies were aging at a terrifying rate. Their skin turned bone-dry and withered, and the Zhou elders in particular — in the span of a single blink, they had withered into something resembling desiccated corpses, as though every last drop of their essence had been drained.
Even their physical forms had shrunk considerably.