It had to be said that Old Man Guangdu's combat power was truly astonishing. After countless years in the Endless Prison, his origins, his identity, his strength — all remained a confounding enigma.
More and more Divine realm cultivators joined the fray, pouring into the battle one after another. In short order, nearly half of all available Divine realm fighting strength had been committed to the siege.
The other half, under Jiang Chen's direction, was sealing off the surrounding space to prevent Old Man Guangdu's escape.
It had to be admitted that the forces mobilized for this encirclement were unprecedented in scale and power.
True to his reputation as an ancient demon, Old Man Guangdu's combat strength was nothing short of terrifying. Under such a frenzied onslaught, he still appeared remarkably composed.
Jiang Chen watched the battle from a distance, his brow furrowed slightly.
He noticed something peculiar — Old Man Guangdu's combat power seemed to follow a pattern of growing stronger against stronger opposition. Despite being besieged by such an overwhelming number of Divine realm cultivators, the old man showed no signs of being pushed back step by step. While his offense had effectively ceased, his defensive formation was rock-solid.
For the time being, there was simply no way to break through his defenses.
Jiang Chen could see a faint purplish-blue mist clinging to the surface of Old Man Guangdu's dharma body, giving him an air of extreme mystery and an unsettling, almost eerie quality.
This layer of mist seemed to grant Old Man Guangdu some form of mysterious empowerment, causing his defensive strength to appear as though it was still gradually rising.
"That's strange — Old Man Guangdu's combat power is actually increasing?" Jiang Chen was a consummate master of martial cultivation; how could he fail to notice such a shift?
His heart was shaken, and the look in his eyes as he regarded Old Man Guangdu grew complicated.
During their previous clash at the Eternal Sacred Land, Jiang Chen had witnessed Old Man Guangdu's strength firsthand and formed a rough estimate of his capabilities.
But there was no mistaking it — Old Man Guangdu's combat power now was at least fifty percent greater than before.
A mid-stage Divine realm powerhouse surely had an upper limit to his strength. If the argument was that Old Man Guangdu had been holding back during their last fight, that hardly seemed realistic.
After all, the outcome of that battle had been every bit as critical to Old Man Guangdu. He would have had no reason to conceal his true power and choose to retreat.
Yet at this moment, the combat strength Old Man Guangdu was displaying was, Jiang Chen was absolutely certain, a massive improvement.
This left Jiang Chen deeply perplexed.
Fortunately, the besieging cultivators had yet to achieve the most effective coordination among themselves. Their attacks remained scattered and disjointed, failing to form a cohesive, powerful whole.
Jiang Chen called out, "Everyone, your individual strikes are formidable, but you lack any semblance of coordination. This piecemeal approach poses little real threat to him."
"Hahaha, boy — I never imagined that at your young age, you'd have the audacity to lecture these veteran Divine realm elders. It seems I underestimated you."
Old Man Guangdu's tone was eerie and mocking. The fact that he could still speak so casually in the midst of battle was clearly meant to tell everyone that he was still relatively at ease — certainly not under any great strain.
For the cultivators besieging him, this was a profound humiliation.
A thread of doubt flickered through Jiang Chen's mind. Something about Old Man Guangdu felt wrong. Logically, facing such an immense volume of attacks, the old man should not have been so relaxed.
And yet, the old fellow looked as though he were barely exerting himself. Where exactly was the problem? Why had Old Man Guangdu's combat power changed so drastically?