169: Chapter 169 Then let them reunite.

The Gaunt Old Man stood in place, his eyes fixed on the man from the Northern Border, filled with utter disbelief.

A powerhouse at the Middle Stage of Body Integration had actually been forced back and even injured by a single sword strike from a young man at the Initial Stage of Void Refinement.

The man from the Northern Border stood up from the rubble, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with gloom and fury.

He looked down at the robe on his chest, which now bore a scorched mark burned by the sword light. The stinging pain on his flesh was still present, reminding him that the sword strike just now had not been an illusion.

"Good, very good."

His voice was hoarse and low, sounding as if it were squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Since my Breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage over three thousand years ago, I, Ji Mang, have never been injured by anyone at the Initial Stage of Void Refinement. You are good, very good."

A flash of madness gleamed in his eyes, and the power of Law within his body seemed to be ignited, beginning to circulate at an accelerated pace.

Dark gray power of Law surged and gathered around him, turning into patterns that spread across the surface of his skin.

Yun Tianxiang stood holding his sword, watching the power of Law surging on Ji Mang's body with a calm expression. The golden sword light on the star-shattering sword did not dissipate; instead, it brightened by a few degrees.

However, at the very moment Ji Mang was about to make his move, a majestic pressure so suffocating descended from the sky, enveloping the entire back mountain.

That pressure was as vast as an abyss, as if heavenly majesty had descended, causing everyone present to freeze instantly.

The circulation of Spiritual Qi in the air came to a halt, the flow of the power of Law became sluggish, and even breathing grew difficult.

Yun Tianxiang's figure stiffened slightly. He raised his head and looked in the direction from which the pressure was coming.

In the Void Realm above the villa, a figure had appeared there at some unknown point.

It was a cold-faced, middle-aged man dressed in a dark gray robe.

Shrouded in the majestic aura unique to the Early Stage of Mahayana, he stood with his hands behind his back in the Void Realm, his gaze sharp as a knife, looking down imperiously at the entire back mountain.

The Gaunt Old Man was the first to see him. His expression changed drastically, and almost instinctively, he knelt to the ground, his forehead pressed tightly against the floor, his voice trembling: "Greetings, Lord Ji!"

The two enshrined elders at the Middle Stage of Void Refining knelt immediately after, not even daring to raise their heads.

Ji Mang also withdrew the power of Law gathering in his hand. His face was somewhat unsightly, but he still bowed slightly, his tone carrying a hint of respect and a hint of dread: "Lord Ji, why have you come?"

The figure in the Void Realm spoke slowly, his voice flat but carrying an unquestionable majesty:

"This seat happened to be passing by this place, so I came to see how your task was progressing. I didn't expect to witness such a good show."

His gaze fell upon Yun Tianxiang, a trace of scrutiny appearing in his eyes.

"An Initial Stage of Void Refinement injuring a Middle Stage of Body Integration, quite interesting indeed."

He paused, slowly descending from the Void Realm to stand upon the courtyard wall, sizing up Yun Tianxiang from above: "Which Sect's Disciple are you? To actually possess such combat strength."

Yun Tianxiang did not speak. He looked at the other party, his gaze calm, but his grip on his sword did not loosen in the slightest.

Standing behind him, Ji Mang saw that his deacon seemed to have taken an interest in Yun Tianxiang. He hurriedly stepped forward a few paces and whispered, "Lord Ji, this person's background is unknown. He sneaked into the villa with the intent to break someone out of prison, and just now he even injured me with a single sword strike. I suspect there is someone instigating him from behind."

"A prison break?" The deacon raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze falling back on Yun Tianxiang. "Who are you trying to break out?"

Yun Tianxiang remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking, "My younger brother is imprisoned here by you. I've come to take him back."

Hearing this, Deacon Ji revealed a slight smile on his face. "Your younger brother? So you came for this."

He quickly sensed that there was a figure in the dungeon whose aura was similar to Yun Tianxiang's.

He looked down at Ji Mang and said in a flat tone, "That youth in the deepest part of the dungeon, was he captured by you?"

Ji Mang nodded hastily. "Yes, that kid's Physique is somewhat special. I originally wanted to keep him."

"No need to keep him," the deacon interrupted, his tone as casual as if he were speaking of an insignificant trifle. "Since his older brother has come to pick him up, then let them be reunited."

He looked back at Yun Tianxiang, his smile deepening a bit.

"After you die, I will send your younger brother to be reunited with you."

Before his voice could fade, he raised his hand, and a dark gray spiritual light surged from his palm, pressing down toward Yun Tianxiang to crush him.

With the power of the Early Stage of Mahayana, the gap between the Body Integration Stage and the Void Refinement Stage was already like a chasm, let alone the Early Stage of Mahayana.

—

At the summit of the Main Peak in the Kunlun Small World.

Jiang Changge reclined on a lounger, holding an item he had just obtained from checking in, looking down to examine it.

It was a fist-sized clump of Chaos Qi, grayish-white all over, neither emitting light nor dissipating, yet faintly possessing a heavy texture that seemed capable of collapsing the Void Realm.

It hovered above his palm, sometimes condensing into a perfectly round sphere of light, and sometimes dispersing into thread-like wisps of cloud and mist, flowing and wrapping around his fingertips as if it were alive.

Jiang Changge examined it for a moment, a look of joy appearing on his face.

For the past half year, the daily check-ins had only yielded things like spiritual fruits and low-grade Medicinal Pills. He had almost forgotten that the System warehouse could still produce items of this caliber.

The System's notification sound suddenly rang in his mind, crisp and urgent, interrupting his interest in examining the Chaos Qi.

[Ding! It is detected that Kunlun Disciple Yun Tianxiang is being besieged by a powerhouse at the Early Stage of Mahayana at Muyun Villa. His vital signs are normal, but the situation is critical. It is recommended that the Host intervene to prevent the Disciple's demise.]

Jiang Changge frowned slightly, drew the Chaos Qi into his body, and stood up.

Yun Tianxiang, that Disciple who was the Reincarnation of an Immortal?

He remembered that when this person went down the mountain, he said he was going to look for his long-lost younger brother. He didn't expect him to run into danger so quickly.

A moment later, he withdrew his gaze. With a slight thought, a voice transmitted through the Void Realm, entering the immortal peak where Elder Cangwu was located.

"Elder Cangwu, come here for a moment."

A moment later, a figure in a green robe landed outside Kunlun Hall; it was indeed Elder Cangwu. He stepped into the hall and bowed to Jiang Changge, "Sect Master."

Jiang Changge did not say much and spoke directly, "Yun Tianxiang has run into trouble at Muyun Villa. The opponent has an expert at the Early Stage of Mahayana presiding over the situation. Go there and bring him back."

Elder Cangwu did not ask further questions, only nodding respectfully, "This subordinate understands."

Jiang Changge waved his hand, and the instant transmission array disk flew out from his sleeve, hovering before the two of them.

Runes flowed on the blue-black surface of the array disk. A streak of spiritual light sank into it, and the array disk suddenly lit up, enveloping Elder Cangwu entirely in blue light.

Elder Cangwu's figure rapidly blurred within the blue light, and in the next instant, he vanished from Kunlun Hall.

Muyun Villa, back mountain.

When that dark gray spiritual light surged from the palm of the Shadow Pavilion's deacon, the air of the entire back mountain seemed to be sucked dry.

Before the spiritual light even arrived, that heavy sense of oppression descended first, causing the bluestone slabs on the ground to begin cracking, with rubble tumbling outward under the invisible pressure.

Yun Tianxiang gripped the star-shattering sword tightly. The two wisps of Immortal power within his body were both urged to their limits, and the golden light on the dark red blade surged violently.

Just at the moment the dark gray spiritual light was about to descend, another aura descended from the horizon.