"Right now, the beasts are the ones pressing us. Otherwise, retrieving the treasures would be nothing but a dream." Hearing the conversation between the two elders, the young man with the Xu surname turned sharply and coldly glanced at the light curtain, expressing his dissatisfaction. "Hehe! This must be Xu Xuan, brother of the Tianlan Grasslands. I have no intention of seeing the treasures if I have to fight to the point of mutual exhaustion with some other party before even laying eyes on them. Moreover, even if all of us join forces, I doubt we could possibly overcome these three." The Dian elder sneered, and surprisingly said this, surpassing everyone's expectations. "What exactly does Brother Dian mean?" Although the Tianlan Grasslands and Yin Luo Sect had always maintained good relations, the young man's expression darkened upon hearing this. "Nothing much—these three have remained quietly observing us throughout our intense struggle with me and Brother Ye. They must have their own intentions. Otherwise, if they truly wished to harm us, they would have struck at the very beginning." A soft voice emerged from the massive white form. "That's good to hear. You're aware of this matter now." Even if you decide to take action, do you truly think you can overcome us? There's nothing to hide—our three have come here for a few items within the Kunwu Hall as well. Indeed, even before entering the great hall, we had no intention of fighting. The Silver-Winged Night Monkey flashed a jade-like light in his eyes, speaking calmly. The Ugly Woman and the Lion-Beast stood silently beside him, treating him as their own sovereign. "I and the Saintess have no interest in the treasures within the hall, but the items on the young man from Han's person—we, the Tianlan Saint Hall, are determined to secure them. Of course, should the Gui Luo Fan be found, I will return it to your hall in its original form." The young Xu, naturally unwilling to risk his life against these three powerful beings, only paused briefly upon hearing the meaning behind the old demon's words, then relaxed his expression. "Then, with that, we have no need to fight here. It would be far better to unite and jointly break the seal to retrieve the treasures." Otherwise, with so many of us gathered here, we'd end up having our treasures snatched by outsiders—what a great joke that would be!" Ge Tianhao also said in the same spirit. The cultivators and immortals here, as well as the beasts, had lived for countless years; naturally, they wouldn't truly allow others to reap the benefits while they themselves were left idle. Almost instantly, they reached a temporary agreement. Though as soon as they arrived at the Kunwu Hall, this agreement quickly collapsed—still, it was far better than seeing the treasures remain untouched while they fought among themselves. "Since none of you have any objections, let's all break the seal together," said the Dry Old Demon, who then burst out laughing. With a sweeping motion of his massive white form, he waved his sleeves and manifested two great white serpents, which charged straight at the luminous screen above. At the side, the broad-faced cultivator silently nodded and raised his two flying swords spinning above his head, instantly sending two streaks of brilliant light slashing through the air. The three immortals outside, along with the Xu-family youth and others, remained vigilant, but upon seeing this, all of them also stepped forward to attack the seal At once, a mingling of various hues of light and eerie qi erupted simultaneously inside and outside the luminous screen, accompanied by a continuous series of thunderous roars. "Hm, I never expected the old dragon-mage to be so fiery—yet in a flash, he's managed to ally himself with creatures like the silver-winged night warrior and the lion-fowl beast. From now on, I'll have to be more cautious when encountering him. Don't let him fool you." A graceful, emerald-toned figure, concealed within a thick stone pillar on the slope below, murmured softly. "Hmph. With your current cultivation level, the old dragon-mage doesn't even need to employ any strategy—he could simply launch his Five-Hearted Magic Attack, and you'd be completely helpless, unable to evade it." A neighboring green figure responded without hesitation. These two were clearly the Wood Lady of the Huaxian Sect and the young woman with a refined appearance. "Brother, do I really have no chance against the old dragon-mage?" the young woman said, showing some reluctance. "A cultivator at the early Yuanjing stage really expect to do anything against someone at the later stage?" Not even I could hold my own against the old demon face-to-face—my sect's techniques were never built for direct confrontation. However, if I could merely draw a thread of his vital essence and quietly weave in a series of incantations, I’d have about an eight-out-of-ten chance of striking him hard from behind. "The Wood Lady said with a cold smile. "Our Hua Xian Sect is a semi-hidden order. In terms of techniques and secret arts, we probably don’t fall behind any of the Ten Great Sects. If we hadn’t had to adhere to those ancient regulations across generations, we would have long since produced senior cultivators in the later stages—how could we still fear figures like the old Demon Master?" The young woman expressed her reluctance. "Our founding patriarch was a descendant of the Three Elders of Kunwu. When he established the sect not far from the seal, he set the rule of guarding the city specifically to oversee the Kunwu Mountain seal. Yet, over such countless millennia, this matter has been gradually forgotten across many generations. Had it not been for the recent message from Xiang Laoshi and our thorough re-examination of our sect's founding texts, we likely would have remained completely unaware of the sealing matter. Otherwise, what would have prompted us to risk so much and enter this mountain? Lady Mu sighed. "As for the old master, Qian, I'm more intrigued by the young man who commands the Divine-Defeating Lightning. The power of his fan is such that even a cultivator at the late Yuan-Ying stage would have to retreat. When used within a confined space, its strength is amplified even further—indeed, it is undoubtedly a fine replica of the famed Seven-Flame Fan from ancient times." The graceful woman suddenly mentioned Han Li. "It is true that this is a replica of a Celestial-Heavenly treasure, but whether it is exactly the Seven-Flame Fan remains uncertain. Still, the young man appears quite unfamiliar—his abilities are impressive, and his silver wings enable him to perform a rare technique known as Lightning Transcendence. He is clearly no ordinary cultivator. However, he seems not to be from our Great Jin sect, nor is he aligned with the Ye family. Well, no matter how formidable he may To be honest, Master Xiang should have entered this mountain long ago—yet he hasn't stepped in to stop these monks. With his divine abilities, a mere gesture from him would have sufficed to contain Qian Lao Mo and the others, who could hardly have continued their rampant attacks. Mu Lady found herself puzzled. "Perhaps Master has other matters to attend to, or has gone directly to the镇魔塔, after all, that place is truly the most crucial," the younger lady hesitated, offering her thoughts. "Impossible. Although the镇魔塔 is indeed the central point where the entire Kunwu Mountain's sealing array is controlled, to reinforce the seal anew, the Dragon Seal from the Kunwu Hall is absolutely required. Master, being well aware of the significance of this matter, would surely have gone to the Kunwu Hall first to retrieve the treasure." Mu Lady shook her head, her expression growing increasingly grave. "Do you mean Master has encountered some unforeseen incident? That seems unlikely—given his level of cultivation, who in this world could possibly have overcome him? Unless... unless that person has already broken free." As she spoke the last sentence, the young lady's face turned pale as a sheet. "It's unlikely he's just emerged now. The previous seals were only recently broken. If he had managed to free himself, he would have dismantled all the seals long ago—there's no reason to wait until now. Perhaps the elder was delayed by some matter and hasn't yet entered this mountain." The Lady Wood's expression changed, and she smiled勉强ly. "I hope so. Regardless, we should follow these people and see if we can secure the Dragon-Emperor Seal first. Still, back then, besides this Dragon-Emperor Seal, wasn't there another celestial crystal stele capable of reinforcing the seal? Why didn't that artifact remain with us, the descendants of the later generations? Otherwise, what's the point of taking such risks to follow these people?" The graceful woman listened and then expressed her slight frustration. "You haven't heard this. The celestial crystal stele was merely a backup. Its current whereabouts are held by the descendants of the other branch of the Kunwu Three Elders." In order to ensure that, should either of our two branches encounter an unforeseen event, there would still be a means to control the mountain's seal. It is said that the treasure lies in an unexpected location—besides the group whose whereabouts have long been unknown, no one else knows exactly where it is hidden within Kunwu Mountain. With this dual strategy—clear and reserved—clearly demonstrates the considerable thought and care given by the ancient cultivators who originally participated in the sealing process. "Then it makes sense why those from the past were so hesitant all along. Yet, how high is this person's cultivation? Even when I mentioned him to the elder, I could feel myself growing restless and uneasy. We've known the elder for a long time, but never have we seen such agitation from these old masters before." The graceful woman asked with further curiosity. "No matter how high this person's cultivation, the truth is, they can simply flick their little finger and extinguish our very existence. What good is guessing then?" The wooden lady glanced at her with a sigh, responding with impatience. "That's true!" The graceful woman nodded, showing a look of resignation. "By the way, did you bring the Four-Aspect Ruler? Our chances of securing the Dragon-Transformation Seal entirely depend on this artifact." The wooden lady shifted her tone, bringing up another matter. "My sister-in-charge has reminded me repeatedly. How could I possibly leave this foundational treasure behind?" Yet, it does seem a pity—had it not been for Sister’s cultivation method being fundamentally at odds with the Four-Aspect Ruler, she would have been the most suitable to command it. Sister mentioned that among the two celestial immortality treasures used to subdue that person, one was the Eight-Spirit Ruler—wasn’t that precisely the treasure the Four-Aspect Ruler was modeled after? I truly hope to witness its true form firsthand.” The graceful woman’s eyes sparkled, and she smiled gently. “The Eight-Spirit Ruler and the Black Wind Banner are only briefly mentioned in the scriptures. Can we truly see them? I… Ah, the Qian Old Demon and the others have already broken through the seals. We should hurry and catch up.” As the wife was about to offer further words to her sister, her gaze shifted—and suddenly, she noticed the platform’s luminous screen fracturing piece by piece under the onslaught of attacks. Her expression instantly grew serious. The graceful woman stiffened, lifting her head as well. Just in time, she caught sight of the Qian Old Demon and his companions passing through the crumbling light, hastening toward the mountain gate.