A cold smile curled General Shi Jia's lips, for it could now catch Su Xuan's Ruyi Staff with its bare hands.

What did this mean? It meant that it had nearly exhausted all of Su Xuan's cultivation power.

But then, for some reason, General Shi Jia's eyes narrowed into slits. It, too, saw a cold smile gracing the corners of Su Xuan's mouth!

Why is he smiling? What right does he have to smile when his strength is so much less than mine? Does he really think he can turn the tables? Is there some kind of plot hidden in that smile?

Su Xuan simply let go of his Ruyi Staff, took a few steps back, and stood perfectly still, his posture like that of a bystander watching a play. Before General Shi Jia could understand what was happening, its body shuddered. A longsword, wreathed in roaring flames, had pierced straight through its chest!

General Shi Jia opened its mouth, as if to ask Su Xuan something. But before it could utter a single word, its entire body was engulfed by the spreading flames and burned to a pile of charred ash!

Su Xuan reached out, retrieved his Ruyi Staff, and blew the soot from its surface.

He knew what General Shi Jia had wanted to ask: Why use the Fire Spirit Sword to kill it now? Hadn't there been opportunities to use such a move before? But how could General Shi Jia have known Su Xuan's true intention? He simply wanted to use it to test the power of his Golden Body Mystic Armor. Just how powerful were the items left behind by Ancestor Meng? To what degree? Su Xuan desperately wanted to find out! He even wanted to gather information to learn what kind of person Ancestor Meng truly was!

The next second, Su Xuan looked to the sky, a rare anger flaring in his eyes. The white horse was battling the blood-colored bat in midair. Its body was already covered in numerous bloody gashes—a truly shocking sight. Its flight was unstable; it could only flap its single wing forcefully, struggling to maintain altitude. It even threw its body at the blood-colored bat, desperate to stop it from attacking its master!

"Little White, come down!" Su Xuan called out to the night sky, his heart aching at the sight. With a wave of his hand, the Fire Spirit Sword whistled through the air, slashing toward the blood-colored bat!

The white horse gave a low whinny, seizing the chance to land beside Su Xuan. To say it landed would be generous; it truly crashed to the ground. Su Xuan managed to cushion its fall, reducing the force of the impact.

Meanwhile, the blood-colored bat let out a piercing shriek. It tumbled through the air to dodge the Fire Spirit Sword before diving relentlessly toward the white horse, determined to kill it as if to avenge General Shi Jia! It was no longer spitting beams of blood; it must have exhausted too much energy fighting the white horse.

The white horse glared at the aggressively charging bat, its eyes filled with rage, but it was too weak to do anything.

"Little White, do you want to get your own revenge?" Su Xuan asked softly, ignoring the diving bat. As he spoke, he pressed the Thousand Faces Stone against the white horse and recited an incantation.

CRACK! CRACK!

The white horse's head began to change, reverting to its former golden crocodile skull, complete with terrifying fangs! The white horse opened its maw, let out an excited roar, and with a beat of its wing, shot toward the blood-colored bat!

An interesting scene followed. The blood-colored bat, clearly not expecting the transformation, seemed to slam on the brakes in midair. It turned to flee upward, but that moment of hesitation was fatal. Filled with intense fury, the white horse, with its fearsome crocodile maw, had already closed the distance. It opened its massive jaws and clamped down on half of the blood-colored bat's body!

The blood-colored bat began to struggle, its wails of agony echoing through the air. Blood rained down from its body, dripping endlessly from the night sky. It was an undeniably tragic sight.

Su Xuan watched from the ground, letting Little White have its moment of revenge.

But the scene did not last long. Su Xuan suddenly held his Ruyi Staff horizontally before him and shouted, "Little White, come back!"

An intense sense of crisis was bearing down on them from high above!

The white horse instantly released the bat and dropped down beside Su Xuan. It, too, had felt the profound danger; another second in the sky would have meant certain death! Still, it was deeply reluctant. With just a little more time, it could have bitten the detestable bat in two!

Then, a giant black crow broke through the grey clouds of the night sky, hovering in midair. On its back stood an elder in a black robe, his icy eyes looking down upon Su Xuan and the white horse. It was the largest crow Su Xuan had ever seen. Its black feathers seemed forged from steel, giving off a metallic sheen, and its sharp talons looked like deadly weapons!

As soon as it saw the elder on the crow, the blood-colored bat flew to his side and let out an excited yet aggrieved screech.

The elder's gaze locked onto Su Xuan as he steadily lowered his altitude. The sense of life-and-death crisis Su Xuan felt grew more intense. He was certain he could not defeat this old man, who was likely beyond the Longevity Realm. For above the Longevity Realm was another plane: the Observing Appearance Realm.

"What is your relationship with the monsters at the bottom of the Yu Xian Sect's sinkhole?" Su Xuan asked, his expression unchanging as he faced the imposing elder. He believed this elder must have some underhanded dealings with the creatures in the pit.

The elder remained silent, making no attempt to hide his killing intent as he drew ever closer.

But the next moment, the elder abruptly stopped his descent and even rose a dozen meters. The killing intent enveloping Su Xuan vanished in an instant.

Su Xuan glanced behind him and curled his lip. "You're here."

A woman in a black dress descended gracefully from the sky like a fairy from heaven, landing softly behind Su Xuan. It was none other than Su Pei, the Sect Leader of the Yu Xian Sect.

Su Xuan then said, "Your mount is quite pretty."

For a fiery red azalea—oh no, a fiery red phoenix—was hovering in midair, spreading its stunningly beautiful wings. Its body emanated a fiery glow that lit up the night sky, and Su Xuan could feel its presence without even turning around.

Su Pei, who normally disliked such flattery, offered a rare, beautiful smile. "It was a gift from Ancestor Meng."

Su Xuan sensed a distinct wave of happiness from her.

Su Pei looked up at the elder in the sky, her voice musical yet glacial. "Jiuyou Mountain Villa has already been struck from the rolls of the mountaintop world. As an elder of the villa, shouldn't you be hiding away to live out your final years in peace, rather than brazenly showing your face?"

The elder chuckled, his tone teasing. "I had assumed that after Ancestor Meng's departure, you would be left to manage that tiny sect all by your lonesome. I never expected you to find yourself a pretty boy. How very amusing!"

Su Pei asked, "So, you wish to die?"

The elder replied, "If Ancestor Meng himself were to say that to me, I would likely die of fright on the spot, even if he didn't kill me. But you... you are not worthy."

Su Pei's voice was cold. "Then we'll see if I am worthy or not."

Before the words had even left her lips, her longsword shot from her hand, transforming into a streak of white light that slashed toward the elder!

The elder cried out in disbelief.

"Oathkeeper?!"

"Ancestor Meng left Oathkeeper to you?!"

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