Above the sky, a fiery beam resembling the setting sun suddenly emerged. In an instant, the crimson light drove away the daylight on the square, and waves of intense heat made the crowd feel as though they were inside a furnace. Under the watchful gaze of countless onlookers, the beam crashed with thunderous force onto Yun Ling's unprepared head, echoing like a deep rumble across the heavens. "Boom!" The beam struck hard against Yun Ling's forehead, and a powerful surge of energy erupted instantly, spreading sharp pain throughout his mind—so intense it felt as if his skull were about to tear apart. "Ah!" High above, Yun Ling clutched his bleeding head with both arms, emitting a piercing cry of agony. His body, like a bird with its wings gone, plummeted straight downward toward the ground. His body plummeted rapidly, but as he was still十几 meters above the ground, his wings flared suddenly, and he managed to steady himself mid-fall. A powerful gray-white light surged forth from within him, bursting with fury, and with an unstoppable pressure, instantly pushed against and forcibly dispersed the fiery beam. How could a Battle King-level warrior's enraged counterattack be anything ordinary? The fiery beam gradually faded, and the gray-white light that had surged from Yun Ling quickly receded back into his body. As the light subsided, Yun Ling reappeared once more in the collective gaze of all present. Yet, upon seeing his current form, the spectators below instantly fell into a profound silence, as if the entire arena had gone dead. Moments later, a series of soft, breathy sounds of astonishment began to rise, one after another. Above half the sky, the wings of Yun Ling扇动略显迟缓, his chest rising and falling violently as he clutched his head tightly. Crimson blood seeped through his fingers, dripping steadily and nearly staining his face blood-red. As his hands slowly moved away from his head, a deep wound, about an inch thick, stretched from his left temple all the way to beside his right ear. Within the wound, white bone was clearly visible—so severe was the injury that if Yun Ling had reacted any slower earlier, his head might have been cleaved off by Xiao Yan's strike. Normally, with Xiao Yan's strength—even employing a Ground-Rank Technique—such a devastating injury would have been impossible. Yet Yun Ling had been overly confident. If he had raised an energy shield over his head earlier, Xiao Yan's attack would have only caused a serious wound, not a near-fatal one like this. The palm trembled slowly, and Yun Ling's chest rose and fell with steady breaths, as he endured intense pain and lifted his head. The aged face, now transformed into a fierce and wrathful expression, fixed upon Xiao Yan in the sky, his eyes full of bitter resentment—his gaze seemed to want to crush the young man into fragments. "Well, well... well! Indeed, I've underestimated you!" With gritted teeth and a cold, bitter smile, the sharp pain radiating from his mind caused dizziness. Yet compared to the physical agony, the overwhelming fury surging within him nearly drove him to madness. Before nearly a thousand disciples of Yunlan Sect, he had nearly lost his life at the hands of a young man barely twenty—how humiliating! How utterly devastating this disgrace had become! Quickly pulled out several healing bottles from his vows, then applied them all over the wounds, feeling the gradually spreading coolness, Yun Ling finally sensed his pain easing slightly. He glared venomously at Xiao Yan, took a deep breath, and growled, "Xiao Yan, today, you won't leave Yunlan Sect without a scratch!" "Fa Ma nodded slightly, surprised, saying, 'I didn't expect him to have been holding on so long. It seems that even without relying on any tricks, winning against Na Lan Yan Ran must have been quite achievable.'" Xin Tian sighed and furrowed his brows, asking, "Where does this man get all these things? First, the unique flames, then a pet at the Battle King level—now, a Ground-Rank Battle Technique. Could it be that there's some powerful force behind him, one we haven't yet discovered?" Fa Ma shook his head. Honestly, he found it rather strange and extraordinary that Xiao Yan could present such strong assets—ones even they themselves found astonishing. After all, with the strength of the Pharmaceutical Guild he belonged to, it was simply impossible to produce even one unique flame or a single Battle King-level pet. "Could it be the Xiao family?" "As soon as the words came out, Fang Ma shook his head with a touch of self-mockery. With the Xiao family's current strength, it was already a rare achievement to present a Xuanyuan-level combat technique—let alone possessing a Di-level one, which would surely be a dream come true. The two exchanged glances, both frowning deeply and sighing in unison. Despite the extensive intelligence they had gathered through their established networks, they had found absolutely no reliable updates about Xiao Yan over the past three years. It seemed that since Lan Yan had withdrawn her engagement proposal, Xiao Yan had suddenly surged into prominence. Could this all have been triggered by the very shock of that engagement breakdown? The two exchanged a wry smile. If that were indeed the case, then could Lan Yan not be considered the one who had brought this upon herself? "Xiao Yan's really quite ruthless this time," remarked Hai Bo Dong, who had been startled by the sudden developments and turned to gaze at the scene. Seeing Yun Ling, now battered and bleeding severely, he shook his head and smiled to himself. "Hai Elder, break through the energy shield now—better we leave quickly." Xiao Yan looked up toward Hai Bo Dong and urged, "We must act now!" "Three minutes!" Nodding firmly, Hai Bo Dong wasted no time and began launching relentless attacks against the energy shield. Though the shield—constructed by over a hundred Cloud岚 Sect officials—was remarkably resilient, energy ripples continued to spread outward without breaking. "Hai Bo Dong, if you're not giving our Cloud岚 Sect any face at all, then I won't spare a single shred of dignity for the former Ice Emperor you once held in such high regard!" Cloud Ling, his face contorted with fury, roared at the ever-shaking shield. Ignoring Yun Ling's shouts, Hai Bo Dong continued launching fierce attacks against the energy shield. Now that the situation had escalated, he would deal with the rest of the matters later. He simply didn't believe that Yun Lan Sect had the courage to take any real action against the Mitel family—after all, a furious, vengeful Du Phong was enough to send anyone into a state of dread. Hearing the resounding cold command echoing across the plaza, countless disciples of Yunlan Sect were taken aback, hesitated slightly, then responded in unison, closing their eyes slowly. Moments later, streams of white energy seeped out from the tops of their heads. A continuous surge of white mist energy rose into the sky, eventually nearly concealing the entire heavens, appearing as if the sky itself were a sea of clouds—while the Yunlan Spire stood precisely at the heart of that cloud sea. "Senior Monks and Masters, lend me your strength!" gazing at the thick cloud and mist energy swirling around him, Yunlan Spire once again issued a sharp command, his facial wounds now hardened into distinct scars, looking especially formidable. As Yun Ling's voice fell, the十余 white-robed elders on the stone platform rose simultaneously, leaping into the air and swiftly dispersing to perch on some of the large trees surrounding the plaza. At the same time, they activated their hand seals. With the movement of their hands, the vast sea of clouds above surged and rippled. At the center of the cloud sea, cloud energy rapidly condensed, and within a moment, a white energy spiral sphere—about one zhang in diameter—solidified before Yun Ling. The white spiral sphere moved with astonishing speed. Where it passed, a vacuum stretching nearly ten paces in length was created—air itself, under the immense pressure of that energy, was compressed into nothingness. Xiao Yan stared intently at the energy sphere approaching ever closer. Just as he was about to grit his teeth and give it his all, a flash of seven-colored light suddenly swept across his peripheral vision. A massive shadow descended from the sky, and the colossal body of the Sky-Devouring Python surged downward. With a sweeping tail stroke, the serpent's body curled upward, firmly enclosing Xiao Yan within its protective embrace.