A voice rang out from behind Li Xuanxiao.

    Immediately after, Lingxu waved his hand and dispersed the massive demonic hand formed of overwhelming evil aura.

    The old emperor hidden beneath the black robe twitched his brow ever so slightly.

    At this moment, Lingxu was holding the Death Sect Leader by the collar.

    Two Tribulation Stage great fiends released from the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

    One was half-dead from Lingxu’s beating, the other still being tag-teamed by several Elders of Mount Shushan.

    Lingxu glanced at Xue Yun lying on the ground, and with his divine sense already detecting no signs of life, he let out a quiet sigh.

    He clenched his fist so hard it cracked and popped.

    “Xuānxiāo, take your First Senior Brother’s body and leave this place.”

    Lingxu said without even turning his head.

    Seeing this, Li Xuanxiao immediately used Earth Escape Technique and slipped away.

    The old emperor, who had just used the Ten Thousand Souls Banner to absorb demonic and evil spirits from the first to third levels of Mount Shushan, had seen his power greatly enhanced.

    Facing Lingxu, the old emperor hesitated for a moment.

    Run while the chaos lasts!!

    In the end, he still chose to flee. Although he hadn’t completely destroyed the Demon Suppression Tower, he had already completed part of his plan.

    That’s right, he had only hesitated for a moment.

    The old emperor swore—he really just hesitated for a moment.

    And in that moment, a deafening boom erupted.

    “BOOM——!!”

    The explosion seemed to rip through space and time, shaking the entire world.

    And at that moment, time itself seemed to tremble under the force, as though frozen—completely suspended in stillness.

    No, this wasn’t just an illusion. This was real—time had truly stopped flowing.

    The once-chaotic battlefield and flying dust all froze in that instant.

    The old emperor’s eyes widened in disbelief.

    In that daze, he seemed to see his great-grandmother who had passed away years ago, gently smiling and waving at him, her face as kind as he remembered.

    Lingxu didn’t choose to use a sword or any magical artifact to attack.

    He simply threw a punch.

    Yet, that punch was like an entire vast world crashing down upon the old emperor, its might absolutely overwhelming.

    So immense it instilled dread—utterly unstoppable.

    “RUMBLE——!!”

    A blurred figure was blasted away at a speed too fast for the naked eye to catch.

    A trench was carved into the ground.

    Lingxu had only thrown one punch.

    Then he vanished again.

    “RUMBLE——!!”

    “Don’t even think of running!”

    The voice thundered like a bolt from the heavens.

    The black figure raised the Ten Thousand Souls Banner toward Lingxu.

    Dark mist surged through the air, filled with countless wailing resentful spirits that chilled the soul.

    Lingxu turned into a long rainbow beam, and wherever he passed, the spirits and monsters were instantly crushed into dust.

    But even so, it still cost him half a breath’s delay. Sёar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    And in that half-breath, the black figure tore open a spatial rift and suddenly vanished from Mount Shushan.

    Lingxu’s divine sense swept over a thousand miles in an instant, then extended to ten thousand miles.

    “Gone!!”

    Li Xuanxiao, who had been observing everything, quickly jotted notes into his little notebook.

    Black figure = Old Emperor??

    (The other party was holding the Ten Thousand Souls Banner—very likely the old emperor, but can’t be completely sure.)

    He has divine powers that allow spatial movement—once he escapes,

    Even Master can’t track him!!

    If I ever plan to hunt the old emperor in the future, I must be extra careful.

    “.........”

    At this moment, inside the Mount Shushan dueling arena.

    All of this had happened in the blink of an eye.

    From the beginning of the upheaval to everything settling down now,

    It had only been about the time of burning one stick of incense.

    If Mount Shushan hadn’t reacted quickly, this place would’ve already descended into chaos.

    Within the arena were people from various forces, sects, and dynasties.

    Faced with Mount Shushan’s turmoil, they didn’t intervene.

    On the contrary, many forces were secretly happy to see it happen.

    Some even harbored sinister intentions, planning to take advantage of the chaos.

    But they soon gave up on that thought after realizing the defensive forces stationed by Mount Shushan around the area weren’t weak.

    Despite the sudden chaos, they didn’t lose their heads in panic.

    Some of Mount Shushan’s powerhouses didn’t act rashly but instead kept a close eye on these outsiders.

    Just in case they tried anything shady—quashing any ideas of fishing in troubled waters.

    “This time Mount Shushan’s in for a real show,” a Heavenly Dao Alliance Elder said with a gloating tone.

    Mo Ye of the Heavenly Dao Alliance had surrendered without a fight when faced with Xue Yun earlier.

    That had been a blow to the Alliance’s pride—so now they were more than happy to watch Shushan struggle.

    Someone immediately chimed in, “Yeah, during the Grand Tournament of the Five Great Immortal Sects, they got attacked by monsters and evil spirits—how is anyone supposed to trust Mount Shushan to protect peace in the world?”

    “By the way, anyone know what just happened? I saw Xue Yun suddenly collapse.”

    “That was a clone. Who knows where the real one is.”

    “Totally worth the trip—this was absolutely worth it.”

    “Hahaha....”

    Someone let out a chuckle.

    “Keep your voice down. Shushan people are watching.”

    “Speaking of, why did Shushan station so many people here? Don’t they trust us?”

    “Hehehe, it’s Mount Shushan. With so many people, even if they assign a big chunk to monitor us, they can still wipe out all the evil spirits!!”

    Voices overlapped one after another.

    Several Mount Shushan disciples nearby turned grim upon hearing this and stood up, wanting to argue back.

    But their masters or Elders held them back.

    Seeing this, the crowd became even more brazen with their words.

    The elders from these sects and forces didn’t stop them either, pretending not to hear anything.

    When the wall falls, everyone piles on.

    Mount Shushan hadn’t even fallen yet, and already the rumors were flying.

    Right then, thunderclouds rolled across the sky.

    “Since the founding of Mount Shushan over ten thousand years ago, what we suppress are monsters and demons, and what we protect is the common people!!”

    The voice boomed like a great bell, shaking all of Mount Shushan.

    Everyone present, regardless of cultivation level, felt a shock deep in their souls.

    Even their breathing stopped in that instant.

    Even those Tribulation Stage powerhouses now felt a profound fear.

    “I, Lingxu, don’t care who dares oppose Mount Shushan—no matter the ends of the earth, I will drag you out.”

    It wasn’t just Mount Shushan.

    Lingxu’s voice, mixed with thunder, rang throughout Central State—like a saint laying down the law for the mortal world.

    “The sky of Mount Shushan has never tolerated monsters or ghosts!!!”