despair

Deep within a secret chamber of the Luo Family in Tianya City.

A chilling aura permeated the air, where two figures, one black and one white, sat quietly cross-legged, like vipers lurking in the shadows.

They were precisely the Black and White Heavenly Venerates sent by the Hall of Souls to guard this place.

"Counting the time, Shen Wen should be here by now."

Black Heavenly Venerable's voice was hoarse, his fingertips tapping lightly on his knee. "We've set up arrangements at several wormholes leading from the Northwest Continent to the Central Plains.

If he comes through Tianya City, he'll naturally fall into our hands.

If he takes another route... Hmph, it's merely a matter of a little more travel time to get there."

White Heavenly Venerable, with eyes closed in meditation, heard this and a cold arc appeared at the corner of his mouth. "To have the two of us personally set up a formation and wait like this for a junior under twenty... The Hall Master truly values this child."

"Values him?" Black Heavenly Venerable scoffed, a hint of disdain and cruelty flashing in his eyes. "He merely relies on a bit of alchemy talent and the protection of the Pill Tower, then becomes arrogant enough to dare shake the Foundation of my Hall of Souls.

This time, the Hall Master personally ordered to capture him alive if possible, then extract and refine his Soul.

If not, then kill him on the spot to eliminate future trouble."

He paused, his tone shifting to one of condescending indifference. "For the two of us to personally send him off, it can be considered this brat's 'honor'."

No sooner had he finished speaking—

"Oh?"

A faint, ageless voice of inquiry suddenly echoed in the secret chamber.

The voice wasn't loud, yet it seemed to resonate directly within the depths of their Souls, incredibly clear.

The Black and White Heavenly Venerates' expressions drastically changed!

With their cultivation as high-level Dou Zun, how sensitive was their Soul perception?

Yet, they hadn't detected anyone approaching in the slightest!

They couldn't even discern where the voice came from!

"Who?!"

Both men sprang up almost simultaneously, their vast Dou Qi and Soul Power erupting like night and day abruptly descending, filling the entire secret chamber as they tried to pinpoint the source of the voice.

However, the next moment, their expressions completely froze, turning into an incredulous horror.

The surrounding space... no longer obeyed their control.

No, it wasn't that it didn't obey; it was as if it had completely 'solidified,' turning into a block of peerless Profound Ice that they couldn't budge an inch.

Their Space Power, which they usually wielded with ease, now seemed completely stripped away; they couldn't mobilize even a trace of it.

This absolute sense of powerlessness and loss of control made them feel as if they had instantly been thrown back to the time when they first embarked on the path of Cultivation, weak and ignorant of the energies of heaven and earth!

Fear, like a cold viper, instantly coiled around their hearts.

"For this old man to personally make a move, it is also your honor."

The voice sounded again, calm and unruffled.

The space in the center of the secret chamber rippled gently, like water.

A child's figure, dressed in simple cloth clothes and appearing to be only eleven or twelve years old, materialized out of thin air. With small hands clasped behind his back, he looked with clear eyes at the Black and White Heavenly Venerates, who were facing a formidable enemy.

He looked like a child, his aura as ordinary as an uncultivated commoner.

But the moment the Black and White Heavenly Venerates saw this figure, their pupils constricted to pinpricks, the color instantly drained from their faces, leaving only the ashen gray of despair.

"Mysterious... Xuan Danzi?!"

White Heavenly Venerable's voice was so dry it was almost distorted, filled with boundless horror and absurdity.

The Ancestor of the Pill Tower!

That stabilizing force of the Pill Tower, who had taken human form from a Grade 9 Profound Pill, whose seniority was terrifyingly high, and whose strength was unfathomable!

How could he be here?!

How could he possibly appear here for a mere junior?!

Black Heavenly Venerable's heart sank even deeper, his body turning cold.

All their plans, all their confidence, became a ridiculous joke in front of this being.

They had anticipated someone from the Pill Tower would come, even speculating it might be Old Monster Lin himself.

For this, several of the top three Heavenly Venerates from the main Hall of Souls had been secretly monitoring the Pill Tower's movements, ready to intercept at any moment.

But who could have imagined that it wasn't Old Monster Lin who came, but this legendary Mysterious Pill Old Ancestor, who hadn't even appeared when the previous Pill Tower Master met with disaster!

For a Shen Wen, they had actually disturbed this great deity?

Despair, like a tide, engulfed them.

The moment Xuan Danzi appeared, they knew that this assassination attempt targeting Shen Wen had utterly failed.

Not only had it failed, but the two of them, too, were likely... Xuan Danzi looked at the two men, whose faces were ashen, and his small lips seemed to curve slightly, but there was no warmth in his clear eyes.

"Little bugs of the Hall of Souls, these past few years, you've become increasingly restless."

Xuan Danzi looked at the Black and White Heavenly Venerates, whose faces were ashen, with not a ripple in his clear eyes. He extended his small palm and gently clenched it towards the direction of the two men.

There was no earth-shattering sound, no burst of dazzling light.

Black Heavenly Venerable and White Heavenly Venerable only felt the space around them, which had already solidified like iron, suddenly collapse inward and compress!

That power was irresistible, surpassing all their understanding of power.

Their vast Dou Zun Dou Qi and their powerful Souls, cultivated for many years, under this gentle clench, melted and dispersed silently like thin snow under a scorching sun, without even room to struggle.

The bodies of the two, along with their horrified and despairing expressions, were crushed by the invisible Space Power, turning into the finest dust, and then even the dust was completely erased, as if they had never existed in this secret chamber.

Indeed, a Dou Zun is no different from an insect before a Dou Sheng. Especially when facing an existence like Xuan Danzi, the gap is a chasm.

Xuan Danzi withdrew his hand, as if merely brushing away a trivial speck of dust from before his eyes.

His expression was calm, even overly placid.

He had existed for too long, witnessing the ups and downs of the Pill Tower and growing accustomed to the feuds and slaughters on the continent.

His heart had long grown indifferent to worldly strife.

When the previous Pill Tower Master met with disaster and fell, he was not unaware, yet he never appeared.

In his view, the development of a force would always have its ups and downs, its sacrifices.

As long as the Foundation of the Pill Tower was not shaken, and its Legacy continued, specific individuals or particular grievances were not worth his personal intervention.

Perhaps that was also a necessary part of the Pill Tower's growth.

Moreover, he had a rough estimate of the previous Tower Master's talent and potential. That Tower Master, throughout his life, would likely never reach the Realm of a Ninth Grade Golden Pill Master.

But Shen Wen was different.

Xuan Danzi's gaze seemed to pierce through the secret chamber, looking towards Shen Wen, who was waiting in a distant valley.

This young man, not yet twenty, possessed a 'potential' that even he found astonishing.

A Grade 8 Alchemist, attracting Eight-Colored Pill Thunder, and unique control over Soul and Space Power... all of this pointed to astonishing potential.

In Xuan Danzi's long life, he had seen countless geniuses, but the 'quality' of potential in Shen Wen showed him a glimmer of light.

A glimmer that might illuminate his own path forward.