At this critical moment, the Barbarian Beard in midair suddenly looked up, snapping his gaze to a spot off to the side. His face a mask of frost, he bellowed: "Who's skulking over there? Get your ass out here, right now!"
The words had barely left his lips when his beard and hair bristled and he threw a punch. An enormous golden hand, roughly ten feet across, materialized in the air without hesitation and grabbed straight toward that spot.
A muffled bang rang out. A cyan barrier of light appeared, forcibly withstanding the golden hand's strike without shattering. Then a white-robed figure slowly materialized inside the barrier.
"It's you!"
"Star Palace?"
Several cries of surprise erupted from both the Righteous and Demonic sides. The faces of Barbarian Beard and Wan Tianming both changed.
"The Star Palace's law enforcement elder — since when do you resort to lurking in the shadows? Weren't you people supposed to have sworn never to enter the Inner Hall?" Patriarch Ji Yin's face was grim as he spoke first, demanding answers.
"Ahem! I've had truly wretched luck. I never expected the Xuantian Cauldron's emergence to cause such a commotion. While defending against the cold energy, I had no choice but to resort to a minor technique, and that's how Martial Brother Barbarian spotted me. It seems Daoist Barbarian must be the foremost cultivator here." The white-robed elder did not address Patriarch Ji Yin's words. Instead, he stood where he was and addressed Barbarian Beard slowly. His expression was perfectly composed, as if the person who had been hiding nearby was someone else entirely.
At the sight of this, Patriarch Ji Yin was naturally furious, but the Star Palace's reputation carried too much weight. He didn't dare make the first move against the elder.
Wan Tianming and the others seemed equally wary. With so many people hovering in the air staring at their opponent, the scene fell deathly silent.
"Wait — there's someone else! Watch out for the Blood Jade Spider and Han Li!"
The Confucian-robed elder had been stroking his beard in contemplation ever since the Star Palace elder appeared. Now, seeing the elder's evasiveness — suspicious in the extreme — he thought more carefully, and the realization hit him like a bolt of lightning. He cried out in alarm.
Han Li, who had already retreated to a considerable distance, heard this and froze.
Before he could figure out what was happening, two beams of white light erupted from the low sky on the other side of the altar. Blazing with fierce white radiance, shrieking as they tore through the air, they shot straight toward Han Li and the Blood Jade Spider. Only after they were launched did a second white-robed elder's figure appear at their point of origin.
Han Li's face went deathly pale.
"Too fast — way too fast!" After the white flash before his eyes, this was the only thought racing through his mind.
The only reaction he had time for was to desperately raise the jade ruyi he had been toying with in front of his chest.
A loud bang. Both of Han Li's hands went numb with a violent jolt, and sensation instantly vanished. Then a searing heat struck his chest and his body was sent hurtling backward.
The roar of wind and the furious curses of Barbarian Beard and the others filled Han Li's ears. Before he could even halt his retreating momentum, a searing pain lanced through his back. His body slammed into the enormous barrier nearby and slid slowly down along its surface.
"Oh?" A note of surprise escaped the lips of the white-robed elder who had launched the white beams.
He looked several times at Han Li, who had been sent flying with absolutely no chance to defend himself, and felt a twinkle of surprise.
Being struck at such close range by his treasure, the Sun-Piercing Sword, without being cleaved in two — the boy clearly had some top-grade protective artifact. But it no longer mattered, because the other flying sword had already done its work.
With that thought, his cold gaze turned toward the altar.
The Blood Jade Spider had already been sliced cleanly in half by the other beam of white light. Blood pooled across the ground. The Azure Ice Flame, which had already been partially exposed, silently sank back down.
With only those two variant fire serpents remaining, there was no way to haul up the Xuantian Cauldron.
Seeing all of this, the white-robed elder waved his hand at the two beams of white light with deep satisfaction, summoning both back. Then he turned to the Righteous and Demonic factions hovering in the sky above, their faces ashen with rage, and offered them a strange smile.
These Nascent Soul old monsters, their minds entirely consumed by the other person, had been far too slow to react. The elder had managed to sneak-attack both Han Li and the Blood Jade Spider before anyone could stop him. Now, seeing the Blood Jade Spider truly slain, every face burned with fury and fire in their eyes.
Barbarian Beard, least restrained of all, immediately launched into a string of vile curses. He slapped his palms together, golden light erupting all over his body, looking ready to strike at any moment.