"Da Shi, it's all on you!"
After receiving the Vermilion Bird's warning,
That purple escape light rocketed skyward, dragging a batch of Danhuo City cultivators with it, hurtling toward the endless firmament like a streak of violet radiance.
"Right on time!"
The eight brothers of the Giant Stone Clan had been waiting atop the clouds of the endless sky for quite a while.
Seeing that purple arc surge upward, Da Shi slammed his enormous palm down without hesitation. His formidable might condensed into a titanic giant-spirit palm and crashed downward with devastating force.
BOOM!
The purple radiance was shattered on the spot by Da Shi's overwhelming giant-spirit palm. As the violet light splintered apart, cultivator after cultivator was crushed flat by the sheer crushing pressure—reduced to nothing more than meat patties.
Those among them with slightly greater cultivation, a handful of Emperor-realm powerhouses, scattered in every direction, fleeing in sheer terror.
But could Jiang Chen possibly allow them to escape at this point?
"Da Shi, don't let a single one slip through!" Jiang Chen issued a blanket command.
"Rest assured, Benefactor." Da Shi let out a strange cry, locked onto his target, and lunged straight at the Danji Great Emperor.
The Danji Great Emperor clutched his son, Young Master Tianlin, under one arm, and his speed was astonishingly fast. In the brief instant that the purple escape light shattered, he had found a sliver of an opening and was sprinting at full velocity.
He brandished yet another talisman in his hand—another ancient escape talisman—transforming his body into a sharp arrow that attempted to pierce through the spatial lock.
The airspace above had been thoroughly sealed off by the eight brothers of the Giant Stone Clan, creating a barrier more impenetrable than walls of bronze and iron.
The Danji Great Emperor crashed against it again and again from every direction but could never break through.
In that moment, his soul nearly fled his body in horror. He had never imagined that despite deploying one trump card after another, exhausting every trick in his arsenal, he still could not shatter this barrier.
Presently, the Danji Great Emperor looked every bit the panicked stray dog—there was not a shred of dignity left in him.
And this wretched spectacle was laid bare for every faction below to witness. Those powers, those leaders, all watched with trembling hearts.
None of them had ever imagined that the once-invincible Danji Great Emperor could be reduced to such a pathetic state.
Even as shock gripped them, a wave of relief washed through their ranks. They were grateful they had pulled back from the brink, grateful they had not followed the Danji Great Emperor down his road to ruin.
"Danji, do you know what this is called?" Jiang Chen's voice rang out, and to the Danji Great Emperor's ears, it was nothing short of excruciating.
"It's called shutting the door and beating the dog," Jiang Chen said with a leisurely smile. "An old mutt like you who has plagued the human domain for too long—if you aren't exterminated soon, the entire human territory will be dragged into an abyss of no return."
The Danji Great Emperor had not the slightest desire to trade barbs with Jiang Chen. His mind held a single thought now: escape, escape!
But how could the barrier erected by the eight brothers of the Giant Stone Clan be broken by the likes of the Danji Great Emperor? He burned every last ounce of strength he had, yet still he slammed into walls on every side.
Jiang Chen's gaze, however, was not fixed solely on the Danji Great Emperor. His eyes swept deeply toward the figures on the ground below.
"All of you sects made the wise decision in the end, and you shall be spared death. However, that does not mean your actions will be forgiven by this young lord. As of now, you still have the chance to atone through service. Every person who traveled to the Sinking Fragrance Valley that day—if any of them are in your ranks, you must hand them all over. Let me make one thing perfectly clear: these people are impostors. They infiltrated your sects with ulterior motives!"
Jiang Chen had not forgotten about this matter.
In truth, it concerned him even more than the Danji Great Emperor's antics.
No matter how much the Danji Great Emperor thrashed about, he had only so much ability, and Jiang Chen had already seen through everything he had. He could not produce anything new.
But these mysterious impostors—who did they belong to, and who was pulling the strings behind the scenes? That was what weighed most heavily on Jiang Chen's mind.
If the mastermind remained hidden, the threat would never go away.
Most importantly, Jiang Chen suspected that the Wushuang Great Emperor and the two Huaishan brothers, Er Jiao, had also fallen into this mysterious faction's hands. Those three were people he could not afford to lose.
The moment these words left Jiang Chen's lips, the impostors' faces changed drastically. One by one, they transformed into streaks of light and fled outward toward the perimeter.
Their reaction immediately gave away their true identities.
The sect members finally realized the truth—they understood that Jiang Chen had not been spouting nonsense. It was all real.
"Stop them!"
"Quick! Block their path!"
Chaos erupted across the battlefield. The impostors' sudden flight had thrown everything into disarray.
But under Jiang Chen's design, there was no way they could escape.
The perimeter of the ground was encircled by a countless horde of Gold-Munching Mice.
Above, the eight brothers of the Giant Stone Clan had locked down the skies with their impenetrable fortress.
The impostors streaked outward as rays of light but could not break free. They smashed into the barrier again and again, dazed and reeling, until they were finally bounced back.
And the faction members and powerhouses chasing after them arrived at just the right moment, surrounding the impostors so tightly that not a drop of water could seep through. There was no escape.