Several hours later, Qinglong Senior arrived at the Grand Transmission Hall of Tianyuan City, accompanied by two disciples. Several guards on duty were startled and immediately stepped out to greet them. "Greetings, Senior Qinglong. May I ask what brings you here today?" said the leading Lingxu cultivator, bowing with great respect. Clearly, he was aware that Senior Qinglong had been appointed as one of the City's Elders, and thus used this formal address. "Open the transmission array immediately. I have urgent matters that require my departure." Qinglong Senior glanced at the various transmission arrays within the hall and promptly issued his command without hesitation. "Wait a moment—Senior Qinglong intends to use the transmission arrays? May I ask if there is an official decree or token from the Elder Council?" The Lingxu cultivator paused, visibly surprised and uncertain. "Hmph. As a member of the Elder Council, using the transmission arrays is no mere formality. What's more, why the delay? Go ahead and activate the arrays!" Qinglong Senior narrowed his eyes and his expression grew stern. "Master Qinglong, it's not that I'm disrespectful to you, but just two days ago, the Council issued a final decree: from that day forward, regardless of rank or status, any cultivator wishing to use the teleportation array must have prior approval from the Council. Master Qinglong, I'd rather not put you or the others in an awkward position—otherwise, after I fail to comply, I'm certain to face severe reprimand," the transcendence-level cultivator said, his face showing evident difficulty. Not only him—other guards of the hall who had also stepped forward were equally immobilized by an invisible force, their faces filled with growing alarm. "Need not be frightened," said Master Qinglong, relaxing the hand seal he had been subtly pressing in his sleeve. "I have urgent matters to attend to; I cannot afford any delay. I shall simply teleport myself away." Then, with a single gesture, Master Qinglong raised his hand and suddenly produced a white jade plaque. He waved it at the series of seals behind the hall doors. At once, a beam of white light erupted, dissolving and dispersing the seals wherever it passed. Seeing this, Master Qinglong's expression brightened. He then led his disciples into the hall and located a dedicated small teleportation array, stepping onto it immediately. A hum began! The array instantly activated, and as a flash of white light enveloped them, Master Qinglong and his three disciples vanished into the beam. At that moment, the Xuangui cultivator and several guards finally felt their bodies loosen, regaining mobility. "This is bad! Quickly report what has happened to the Council! You—get the seals restored immediately!" The leading cultivator, filled with both shock and anger, urgently ordered his subordinates as soon as he regained his footing. Others heard the command and either hurriedly pulled out communication disks or immediately retrieved array flags and other devices to restore the protective seals that had been broken by Master Qinglong. The entire transmission hall was now in chaos. "Amidst the stunned silence, one of the guards swallowed hard, murmuring in doubt, questioning whether he had truly blinked and missed something. At that moment, Master Qinglong, accompanied by two disciples, was speeding through a winding stone passage carved within the mountain's body. After a few swift glides, they emerged through a concealed opening, skillfully masked by a magical seal. Once they had roughly oriented themselves, they swiftly accelerated in a chosen direction. Just as the Qinglong trio had been traveling for a short while, a faint golden glow surged from the opening, immediately taking off to closely pursue Master Qinglong without any pause. ... Half a day later, high above a vast, desolate expanse far beyond the city of Tianyuan, a broad streak of jade light enveloped three figures, soaring through the sky. Master Qinglong, within the flowing light, his expression grave and his eyes constantly shifting, seemed deeply engaged in contemplation. At that moment, a subtle yellow line became faintly visible at the far reaches of the land beneath." They had already begun to break free from the wilderness, preparing to vanish into an endless desert. At that very moment, just a few dozen paces behind the jade glow of their flight, two sharp explosions rang out! Two faint golden figures burst forth from the void, swiftly maneuvering to appear mere steps away from the fleeing light. A sharp crackling of clawed energy erupted, and a vast array of claw shadows surged forth from the two figures, completely enveloping the Qinglong Immortal in an unyielding shield. Where the claw energy passed, golden filaments rose from the void, densely interlacing to form a massive, intricate net—so dense that there was no place to escape. The Qinglong Immortal was stunned, his face now etched with profound fear. "Han, you intend to wipe us out completely!" With a roar of furious contempt, he suddenly shook his sleeves, and from within, two enchanted pens—one golden, one silver—sprang forth. With a swift motion, a deluge of golden and silver symbols surged upward, forming a radiant shield that fully encased him. Then, with a sudden shift in stance, scales of jade green emerged from his limbs and face, and as he moved again, they surged forward as a powerful gust of wind, forming a sweeping net of clawed force. At the very instant his body and the clawed surge made contact, he opened his mouth and expelled a burst of emerald light, which surged ahead and struck the net first. "Crack!" The seemingly sharp and formidable claw net was effortlessly torn apart upon contact with the light. The Celestial Dragon Master stood stunned, then burst into joyful excitement, flashing through the opening and transforming into a whirlwind that surged out of the net. With a flick of his trailing light, he materialized in the void some hundred paces away. His heart, finally, eased slightly. Yet at that very moment, two cries of agony suddenly rang out from behind! "Unfortunate!" Master Qinglong silently gasped and hurried to turn around. To his astonishment, the two disciples who had been accompanying him were now scattered like sheets of blood rain, falling from the sky. Not only had their protective treasures failed to withstand the claws' onslaught, but they were instantly torn apart and shattered—so completely that even their immaterial embryos failed to escape. "You're not the young thief, Han Xiaoze, are you? What kind of courage is this—daring to attack me directly!" Master Qinglong studied the two golden ethereal forms closely and immediately erupted into rage. "Heh, do I need my lord's personal intervention to take your life? With my own hands, I'm quite capable." A young woman's voice echoed from across the way. As the two faint ethereal forms converged, they merged into a single, delicate golden glow. Within this glow stood a golden creature, about one zhang tall, gazing coldly at Master Qinglong—the Leopard-Mare beast. "A combined-body spirit creature! Is this the spirit companion of Han Xiaoze?" "Master Qinglong, with a mere glance at the golden creature, couldn't help but draw in a deep breath. "Since you've already known, you should now be at peace, even if you perish. I've been commissioned by the young lord to ensure your complete disappearance from this world," said the Leopard-Necked Beast, its eyes flashing with fierce intensity. "Hmph. With just a mere early-stage Consolidation stage creature, you expect to take my life? That's nothing short of delusional, young Han," Master Qinglong replied, though his face had briefly shown astonishment, quickly recovering to issue a sharp, commanding roar. "You were wounded by my lord, and if you're lucky, you've retained only seven or eight parts of your original power. How dare you speak such bold words before me! When I extract your true essence, you'll see just how formidable I truly am!" The Leopard-Necked Beast paid no heed to Master Qinglong's words, its expression darkening with fierce determination. Then, as its form slightly blurred, golden light points began to emerge from the surrounding void, coalescing into a hundred identical golden beast silhouettes. "Indeed?" "The Master also lacks a fine spiritual hide just now—how about you, then?" Upon hearing this, Qinglong Shangren was deeply incensed. With a calm, composed tone, he raised his sleeve, and four or five treasures shot out simultaneously, swirling and circling around his body. As he rapidly stroked his two brushes, more characters and seals emerged in the air. The Bo-Lin beast roared low, and all its forms surged into motion, charging straight toward the opposing side. Seeing this, Qinglong Shangren took a deep breath, preparing to summon all his treasures to contain the beast forms. Yet, just as he began to draw upon a vast amount of inner qi, his face suddenly paled, and a strange black mist surged forth, completely enveloping his features. And shortly thereafter, the once tightly closed doors of the chamber suddenly glowed with a flash of light, a golden beam piercing through and soaring in, then spiraling to form a golden creature no larger than a foot in height. "Oh, you've finally returned. It's been so long since you left—was the journey not smooth at all?" Han Li asked calmly. "Master, what exactly did you do to Qinglong the Elder? Just shortly after I began working with him, he suddenly appeared severely poisoned, as if he were on the verge of death. It seems as though even without my intervention, he would have perished." The leopard-mountain beast stared intently at Han Li. "Heh, I merely infused a subtle streak of spiritual vortex light from the Spirit-Devouring True Fire into his body. If he doesn't expend much of his inner energy, it won't matter much. But as soon as he activates his magic, this malady immediately takes hold. With its potent toxicity, once it manifests, even a fully consolidated cultivator would find it unbearable. Unless he meditates diligently to refine and absorb it, or temporarily uses his inner energy to suppress it. Yet, during the intense battle with you, neither of these methods could be fully executed. In that case, he would naturally have no choice but to perish." Han Li said this without further concealment, speaking with calm ease. "The master's prowess continues to grow beyond measure—his ability to manipulate even the limbs of peers of the same rank without them noticing is truly astonishing." The Leopard-Monster marvelled, murmuring in admiration. "Heh, not much to boast about. This technique is actually one I only recently mastered. Had it not been for the Dragon-Sage not having sufficient time to thoroughly meditate and examine himself, I would not have succeeded so easily. Well, you haven't yet mentioned the outcome of this journey. Has the Dragon-Sage already passed away?" Han Li added a few brief explanations before narrowing his eyes and asking. --- Sick, taking leave of office. Will resume updates tomorrow!