Chapter 27: Brushing the Tiger's Whiskers and Still Wanting to Leave?

With a furious roar, the slender man, skilled in spellcasting, swiftly changed his hand seals, unleashing a series of intricate spells. The burly man moved like crashing thunder, his presence formidable, while the graceful woman’s figure remained elusive. In an instant, the three formed a pincer movement, charging towards the Sect Master and Lu Ye.

The Sect Master flipped his palm, and small flags appeared out of thin air. He quietly commanded, "Go!"

The flags flew in all directions, vanishing into the void.

"Rise!" the Sect Master shouted again, his spiritual power surging around him. In a flash, a transparent, semi-circular barrier enveloped the main hall, with mysterious spiritual patterns flowing across its surface.

The spells cast by the slender man struck the barrier, creating ripples across it. When the burly man collided with it, several spiritual patterns on the barrier immediately shattered. The previously elusive woman's figure also became visible. Her face and hands were covered in strange patterns, obscuring her original appearance and making her look like a phantom. She held a serpentine dagger and slashed it fiercely, causing even more spiritual patterns to break.

"A formation!" the slender man's eyes narrowed. The intelligence they had didn't mention that Tang Yifeng was skilled in formations, but his speed in setting it up clearly showed he had mastered the essence of array arts.

"Three breaths!" the burly man roared, indicating that the formation could be broken within three breaths.

After all, this formation was hastily set up by the Sect Master. For it to hold off three cultivators of equal cultivation for three breaths was an extraordinary feat.

As he finished speaking, the burly man focused his Qi in his lower Dantian and slowly unleashed a punch. It appeared incredibly slow, but as his fist shot out, his arm continuously expanded and thickened.

Inside the formation, the Sect Master completely ignored the three outside. He grabbed Lu Ye and moved to the center of the dilapidated hall, where a crystal-like object, human-height and barrel-thick, stood.

"Place your hand on it and activate your spiritual power!" the Sect Master commanded in a low voice.

Although Lu Ye didn't know the purpose of this action, he understood that the Sect Master wouldn't harm him. He quickly did as instructed. The moment his palm rested on the crystal pillar and he activated his spiritual power, the Sect Master's figure in front of him suddenly began to blur.

He couldn't help but feel as if he was drifting further and further away from this world.

"Once inside, find a place to hide immediately. You must survive! And... never tell anyone you are a disciple of the Jade Blood Sect!" The Sect Master looked at him, his eyes filled with guilt.

Lu Ye opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't hear his own voice. The Sect Master's figure before him became increasingly blurry, and the entire world blurred along with it.

When he regained his senses, the Sect Master was gone, and even his location had changed.

*Crack...*

The formation shattered. As the burly man broke through, he charged fiercely towards the Sect Master, unleashing a punch, thinking to himself, "Success!"

The next instant, a violent surge of energy swept through. The already dilapidated hall was reduced to rubble, with only the crystal pillar remaining intact.

The burly man's eyes narrowed sharply as he stared at the Sect Master. The Sect Master's upper garments had burst open, revealing clearly defined muscles, and he had caught the burly man's punch with one hand. The burly man's eye twitched violently. "How is this possible?"

It was widely known that Tang Yifeng of the Jade Blood Sect followed the path of a spell cultivator. Yet, looking at him now, he was clearly not a spell cultivator, but a body cultivator!

Moreover, the cultivation Tang Yifeng displayed at this moment was far from what their intelligence suggested.

"Mission failed, intelligence is wrong, retreat!" shouted the slender man skilled in spellcasting.

The graceful woman, who had already lunged toward the Sect Master, retreated without hesitation. With their target gone, fighting Tang Yifeng to the death was clearly not worth it.

*Crunch!*

With a muffled groan, several bones in the burly man's fist, which was still clasped in the Sect Master's hand, were crushed. The burly man was tough and didn't cry out, but the next moment, a fist came from an unexpected direction, slamming hard into his jaw.

The burly man shot into the air, seeing stars.

"You dared to pull a tiger's whiskers, and you think you can just leave?" The Sect Master's eyes narrowed. As he spoke, he appeared in mid-air and delivered a side kick.

With a thud, the graceful woman, who had already vanished and was fleeing into the distance, was knocked out of hiding and sent screaming down towards the mountain below.

The Sect Master then raised his hand again, and a rope-like treasure shot out, coiling towards the slender man.

A moment earlier.

Inside a cabin on the Flying Dragon ship, Pang Zhen sat upright. Kneeling before him was a chubby figure, Pang Dahai, who was pinching his own ears with a pitiful expression.

Pang Zhen slammed the table, roaring, "You scoundrel, do you even know what you've done!"

Pang Dahai complained, "I merely gave some pointers to that Lu Yiye and told him to choose Old Tang's Jade Blood Sect, didn't I?"

"And do you know that's against the alliance rules?" Pang Zhen grew even angrier.

When Pang Dahai guided Lu Ye and Yu Xiaodie, he hadn't avoided others. Although people didn't know what they were discussing, many had witnessed it. Afterward, an investigation could easily trace it back to Pang Dahai.

For many years, Old Tang had undertaken numerous missions with the Vast Sky Alliance, rescuing many enslaved individuals. However, those rescued individuals with cultivation aptitude and talent rarely chose the Jade Blood Sect when selecting a sect, let alone exclusively. This time, there was an exception.

Pang Zhen felt something was amiss, suspecting someone had secretly given guidance. When he investigated, he found it was his own family member.

"So what now, Uncle? Why don't you punish me according to the alliance rules?" Pang Dahai looked at Pang Zhen, blinking his small eyes.

"You scoundrel! If it weren't for your mother's sake, I'd smack you!" As Pang Zhen spoke, he raised his hand as if to strike. Pang Dahai couldn't help but shrink his neck, but seeing that Pang Zhen didn't actually strike, he started to laugh again.

Watching his impish grin, Pang Zhen grew even more annoyed. After fuming for a moment, he said, "It's a good thing you still know your limits. That boy only has one-leaf talent and won't achieve much in the future. According to Old Tang, he'll find an opportunity to send him to another sect for cultivation later. I hope this doesn't cause any trouble."

Pang Dahai frowned. "Uncle, the Jade Blood Sect hasn't taken in any disciples for thirty years. If they don't, the entire sect will be abolished according to alliance rules. Old Tang and Senior Sister Shui Yuan are both good people. I couldn't stand by, which is why I guided that Lu Yiye. But Uncle, what exactly happened back then? Why do those people want to suppress the Jade Blood Sect so much?"

"Don't ask about things you shouldn't know. Remember, this matter runs deep, and it's not something a mere Cloud River Realm cultivator like you can meddle with. In the future, act less on your own initiative."

"Yes!" Pang Dahai quickly replied, knowing that he had escaped this ordeal. He then casually stood up from the ground.

"Who told you to stand up?" Pang Zhen glared.

*Thump...*

Pang Dahai knelt down promptly.

Pang Zhen gave him an exasperated look, about to scold him further, when he suddenly frowned. He looked down at the thumb ring on his finger. The next instant, his expression changed drastically. He stood up abruptly and rushed out!

Dozens of breaths later, a streak of light descended into the wilderness, revealing Pang Zhen, who had arrived swiftly. He hadn't delayed at all after receiving Old Tang's message.

He looked around. The wilderness was a mess, with traces of a fierce battle everywhere. The corpse of a burly man lay nearby, a large hole ripped open in his chest, as if he had been killed by a single punch. On the other side, a woman with ghostly patterns all over her face lay twisted and folded, embedded in a mountain wall. Another person was pinned under Old Tang's foot, their head shattered, brains splattered on the ground.

Old Tang stood bare-chested, surrounded by swirling energy, his spiritual power steaming.

Pang Zhen's eye twitched uncontrollably.