256: Chapter 256 The four of you alone are probably not enough to handle this.

Elder Jianchi did not speak, only slowly placing the pitch-black longsword he was holding horizontally across his knees.

His right hand, covered in calluses, gently pressed against the sword hilt, his fingertips tapping the crossguard rhythmically three times, each tap lighter and slower than the last.

Duan Xinghe stood not far behind him, and seeing this movement, his pupils slightly constricted.

Having followed his Revered Master to learn sword techniques since childhood, he knew his Revered Master's habit of tapping the sword well: one tap meant warming up, two taps meant preparing to strike, and three taps meant there was an opponent worth taking seriously ahead.

"Xinghe." Elder Jianchi suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse and calm, as if instructing a most ordinary trivial matter, "Take your friends and retreat to the back."

Duan Xinghe did not ask much, simply acknowledging it before turning and walking towards Lu Jinghan and the others.

Lu Jinghan glanced at him, then looked at the pale Sun Mingcheng and the heavily injured Clan Head Sun Henian behind him, nodding slightly.

Zhou Tianchen put away the qiankun furnace, quietly concealing the circle of golden fire at the furnace mouth. Together with Lu Jinghan, he helped support Clan Head Sun Henian. Sun Mingcheng held his father's other arm, and the group slowly retreated to a relatively safe alley entrance at the edge of the street.

Seeing this, Great Master Changming also pulled his granddaughter to the side of the alley entrance and stood with them.

At that very moment, in the Void Realm opposite Laifu Inn, four spatial rifts simultaneously and silently bloomed.

It was as if four invisible giant hands tore the canopy of heaven open from different directions, and from each rift poured out a breathtakingly majestic pressure of Undergoing Tribulation.

The four pressures intertwined together, like an invisible mountain descending from the sky, suppressing the entire street into absolute silence.

The watching Cultivators only felt a tightness in their chests, making even breathing difficult. Those with slightly lower cultivation even had weak legs and had to lean against the walls or companions beside them to barely stand firm.

Four figures slowly stepped out from the rifts, and the first to walk out was none other than Mu Jiu.

He stepped out from the window of the third-floor private room of the teahouse, stepping into the Void Realm, his robes fluttering and snapping in the spiritual wind.

Standing with his hands behind his back, his calm gaze swept across Elder Cangwu and the other two. Immediately afterwards, three figures walked out from the rifts in different directions, landing beside Mu Jiu.

Standing on Mu Jiu's left was an old woman dressed in dark purple robes, her figure hunched, holding a pitch-black dragon-headed crutch.

Her face was extremely aged, the wrinkles on her face layered like the growth rings of a millennium-old tree, but the eyes deeply sunken in her eye sockets were startlingly bright, like two clusters of will-o'-the-wisps burning in the dark night.

Mu Qigu ranked second among the four Grand Elders of the Fifth Elder of the Mu Clan lineage, at the Peak of Tribulation Transcendence, and was also the only female Cultivator among the four.

She rarely showed her face within the Mu Family, but her name was thunderous among the older generation of Cultivators in Central Continent, not because of her cultivation, but because of her sealing arts that were unrivaled in Central Continent.

Standing on Mu Jiu's right was an elderly man as burly as an iron tower, his beard and hair standing on end, with a rugged face and knotted muscles all over his body, stretching his dark red robes tight.

Slung diagonally across his back was a giant axe matching his stature; the axe blade was dark gold, and the axe face was carved with dense runes, faintly shimmering with blood-red light.

Mu Zhanye ranked fourth among the four Grand Elders of the Fifth Elder of the Mu Clan lineage, at the Late Stage of Undergoing Tribulation.

His cultivation was the lowest among the four, but in terms of pure Physical Body strength and head-on combat, no one among his peers in the entire Mu Family could surpass him.

Standing on the outermost side was a middle-aged man with a slender figure and a refined face, looking to be only in his early forties, but the vicissitudes of years settled in those eyes could not deceive anyone.

He wore a green shirt and a longsword hung at his waist. His temperament was gentle and refined, making him look more like a Confucian scholar well-read in books rather than a Grand Elder of the Mu Family.

Mu Xuanji ranked fifth among the four Grand Elders of the Fifth Elder of the Mu Clan lineage, at the Middle Stage of Undergoing Tribulation.

He was the youngest of the four, yet also the most inscrutable one.

He rarely fought others head-on, but his sword, it was said, had never been seen by anyone in the moment it was unsheathed.

Four Undergoing Tribulation Cultivators, four majestic pressures, intertwined into an invisible giant net above the street in front of Laifu Inn.

The entire street fell into an unprecedented dead silence; even the sound of the wind seemed crushed by that pressure, not daring to make the slightest noise.

The watching Cultivators had long retreated dozens of zhang away, yet many people were still turned pale by the aftershocks, having to urge their spiritual power to protect their bodies just to barely stand firm.

City Lord Wu Zhengyuan of Huaiyang City stood on the flying eaves of the restaurant, his face ashen, cold sweat trickling down his forehead. This City Lord whose word was law in Huaiyang City could at this moment only stand far away like a bystander, lacking even the courage to speak up for mediation.

Alchemist Association President Gu Yuntian's hand holding his crutch trembled slightly, and his gaze looking toward Elder Cangwu and the other two was filled with worry.

Mu Jiu stood at the very front of the four Undergoing Tribulation Cultivators, standing with his hands behind his back. His gaze slowly swept past Elder Cangwu and the other two, lingering on Elder Jianchi for a moment.

He saw that aged and indifferent face clearly, and also recognized that pitch-black longsword without any decorations.

"Fellow Daoist Jianchi." Mu Jiu spoke, his voice hoarse yet calm, yet clearly spreading across the entire street, "I haven't seen you for thousands of years, I didn't expect you to end up joining forces with Kunlun."

Elder Jianchi raised his eyelids to glance at him. There were no emotional fluctuations in those turbid eyes; he only gave a faint "Mn" in response, considering it a greeting.

He maintained his posture of sitting cross-legged with the longsword horizontal across his knees, but the knuckles of his right hand pressing on the sword hilt had tightened slightly.

Seeing him so indifferent, Mu Jiu said no more.

His gaze fell back onto Elder Cangwu, his tone still calm, but faintly carrying a hint of aggressive sharpness: "Fellow Daoist Cangwu, Valley Master Qin Cangyan is a person of the Mu Family. He acts on behalf of the Mu Family, which represents the face of the Mu Family."

"You beat him into a cripple in broad daylight and publicly disparaged the Mu Family. This account, this old man must settle with you."

Elder Cangwu stood in the Void Realm with his hands behind his back, his green shirt gently fluttering in the spiritual wind.

He looked at Mu Jiu, then glanced at the three Grand Elders behind him, suddenly letting out a light chuckle.

The chuckle was not loud, but everyone present heard it clearly. There was not a shred of tension in the laughter, but rather a lazy composure.

"Four Undergoing Tribulation Cultivators, quite a lineup." Elder Cangwu's tone was casual, as if reviewing how well a dish was made, "However, with just the four of you, I am afraid it is still not enough."

As soon as these words were spoken, a sound of gasping in cold air suddenly rang out among the watching crowd on both sides of the street.

Four Undergoing Tribulation Cultivators, among whom three were at the Peak of Tribulation Transcendence and one at the Middle Stage of Undergoing Tribulation; such a lineup was enough to sweep across any region.

Yet Elder Cangwu not only remained completely unperturbed, but even deemed it insufficient. This confidence made everyone present realize that the strength Kunlun had previously displayed was truly only the tip of the iceberg.