Clap, clap, clap.
A burst of applause.
"So it really is the Path of the Void." A Gu Immortal materialized.
He was a towering figure, his face covered in stubble, his eyes devoid of whites — entirely black and deeply unsettling. Behind him draped a dark leather cape that drew the eye.
Bu Zhenzi's pupils contracted slightly. He recognized this person. Since the Central Continent Gu Immortals had come to rescue Ma Hongyun, how could they not have gathered intelligence on the Great Snow Mountain Blessed Land?
"So it's the Shadow King." Bu Zhenzi spoke flatly, revealing the identity of the Gu Immortal before him.
At the same time, he realized that he was now standing on the Seventh Snow Peak within the Great Snow Mountain Blessed Land.
Come to think of it, the former Peak Lord of the Seventh Snow Peak had been Xuesongzi.
But after Xuesongzi fell in battle, a Demonic Path Gu Immortal had voluntarily joined — the very person standing before him now.
In truth, the Great Snow Mountain Blessed Land was also a place yearned for by Demonic Path Gu Immortals of the Northern Plains, especially those demonic cultivators wanted by the Golden Families, who needed to find a backer like the Snow Hu Old Ancestor. Or it was Gu Immortals seeking to extend their lifespans who joined the Great Snow Mountain Blessed Land on account of Lady Ten Thousand Years.
Of course, in recent times, Snow Hu Old Ancestor's obsession with refining the Fortune Equal to Heaven Immortal Gu had caused morale within the Great Snow Mountain Blessed Land to crumble.
The Shadow King looked at Bu Zhenzi and smiled: "You Central Continent Gu Immortals really are something, traveling all this way just to throw your lives away."
"Who dies remains to be seen," Bu Zhenzi replied with a cold laugh.
"Oh really?!" The Shadow King suddenly transformed into a pitch-black silhouette, hurtling toward Bu Zhenzi at terrifying speed.
Rumble — in the next instant, a muffled thunderclap erupted from the Seventh Snow Peak.
The grand hall shook. Countless mounds of snow tumbled down from the mountainside, forming a small avalanche in the blink of an eye.
Unlike what Bu Zhenzi had expected, Zhao Lianyun was neither alone nor accompanied by all four immortals together.
Twelfth Snow Peak.
The two sides had already clashed.
"Oh? Two little ants. Hmph, hmph. Watch me crush you under my foot." The Peak Lord of the Twelfth Snow Peak let out a roar, raised his right foot, and stomped down with devastating force.
The Twelfth Snow Peak Lord transformed into a giant with a bull's head and a human body. His feet had become hard, thick hooves of a bull.
Crack.
The bull's hooves shattered the floor tiles instantly, forming a pit as deep as a wellhead in the blink of an eye.
The Peak Lord's imposing aura was overwhelming. The two Central Continent Gu Immortals scrambled to retreat.
One was Zhao Lianyun, the other Shi Zhengyi.
Zhao Lianyun's face was somewhat pale. The opponent's massive frame, combined with her own extremely limited combat experience, created an intense psychological pressure on her.
Shi Zhengyi had just been rolling across the floor, barely managing to dodge the bull's hooves. He nearly ground his steel teeth to dust: "Despicable!"
He flipped over abruptly, rising to his feet. "Watch this!"
"Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya!"
Shi Zhengyi opened his mouth, his tongue shooting in and out like a spring at full speed. With each extension and retraction, a streak of crimson sword light shot out from the tip of his tongue at astonishing frequency.
Zhao Lianyun was momentarily stunned.
Ordinary people could only curl their tongues, and some couldn't even do that. This was the first time Zhao Lianyun had ever seen someone whose tongue could compress and spring forward and backward like a coiled spring.
The crimson sword light was incredibly sharp. The Twelfth Peak Lord practiced the Transformation Path—having transformed into a giant, his skin was already as tough as leather. But after being struck by the crimson sword light, his entire body was riddled with bloody holes.
"Damn, it hurts!" The Twelfth Peak Lord howled in pain, raising his arms to shield his head—the vital target. For the moment, he could only defend and not attack, his earlier momentum completely suppressed.
"Amazing," Zhao Lianyun murmured in admiration.
"Of course. This is my natal Immortal Gu—the Tongue Sword Gu." Shi Zhengyi continued shooting his tongue back and forth, launching crimson sword light, all while responding to Zhao Lianyun. What was even stranger was that his words were perfectly clear and articulate.
"Could you be a Sword Path Gu Immortal?" Zhao Lianyun asked again.
"Uh... no. I follow the Faith Path," Shi Zhengyi answered.
"You can fight and talk at the same time—you're actually that strong!" Zhao Lianyun looked at this thick-browed, big-eyed Shi Zhengyi, who seemed a bit dim-witted, with entirely new respect.
"Hmph hmph, I've sworn to overthrow every last one of those evil and demonic paths!" Shi Zhengyi declared with a smug grin.
"You're getting too carried away!" The Twelfth Peak Lord let out a furious roar.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion erupted as a column of surging aura suddenly burst forth from his enormous body.
A vast, overwhelming presence radiated in all directions, stirring up boundless waves of energy.
"It's bad—an Immortal-level killing move!"
"Defend quickly!!"
Shi Zhengyi and Zhao Lianyun threw up their fullest defense, but it was useless. The energy wave was far too powerful; the two of them were sent flying like a pair of small toys, tossed aside with ease.
With the Twelfth Peak Lord at the center, the floor tiles of the great hall were sent scattering in every direction, throwing the entire scene into utter chaos.
With two deafening crashes, Zhao Lianyun and Shi Zhengyi slammed into the hall's walls. Both coughed up mouthfuls of fresh blood, their entire bodies wracked with searing pain—internal organs hemorrhaging, bones shattered in multiple places.
The Twelfth Peak Lord's strike hit its mark. What had been a slight disadvantage was now completely reversed — they had thoroughly seized the upper hand.
"That's a killing technique of the Qi Path!"
"How can it be this powerful?!"
Zhao Lianyun and Shi Zhengyi fought through the searing pain and scrambled to their feet. The two had been hurled far apart and were now separated by a considerable distance.