475: Chapter 490 Nephew, it's your turn!

"Who is Your Excellency? Why have you appeared here?"

The voice of the Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party sounded again, his tone faintly tinged with impatience.

Seeing that Lu Ming had not glanced at him even once from start to finish, the feeling of being ignored made him feel somewhat stifled.

However, he was truly wary of this person's unfathomable background, so he could only put on a brave front, hoping to probe for details with his words.

And this time, Lu Ming finally withdrew his gaze and looked at him.

"Who I am is not important."

Lu Ming loosened his two fingers, releasing the struggling Magic Treasure sword, and then spoke in a bland tone.

"What is important is that I am protecting this person."

Once these words were spoken, the crowd of the Tianshui Luo Family immediately erupted into an uproar.

"You say you're protecting him, so you are? Who do you think you are?"

A Tianshui Luo Family deacon with a fleshy face jumped out and shouted, pointing at Lu Ming.

"Exactly! When the Tianshui Luo Family does things, it is not for an outsider like you to point fingers!"

Another person chimed in, their tone full of disdain.

"If you know what's good for you, get lost quickly; don't be an eyesore here!"

A third person even cursed directly.

These people had never faced Lu Ming directly and were unaware of his background.

In their eyes, they had the upper hand with their superior numbers.

The opponent was just a lone individual; no matter how strong he was, how strong could he really be? To be so arrogant clearly meant he did not hold the Tianshui Luo Family in high regard.

Hearing the reckless and wild words of his clansmen, the expression of the Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party darkened.

He knew deeply that this person was powerful and feared that his clansmen's words would provoke him.

But he looked at Lu Ming, then at the Tianshui Luo Family Cultivators arriving one after another behind him, and felt slightly more at ease.

This time, in order to capture the Heavenly Diviner of the Zhuge Family, the Tianshui Luo Family had almost mobilized their entire force.

Besides himself, there were two Late Golden Core Stage Elders, five Mid-stage Golden Core deacons, and over twenty Early Golden Core Stage elites.

This force, as long as they did not provoke those from the Grotto-Heavens and Blessed Lands within the Secret Realm, could almost be considered one of the largest factions.

No matter how strong this person was, he was only one man; could he really turn the world upside down?

Therefore, he did not stop his clansmen and followed suit, sneering.

"Your Excellency has quite the big mouth."

"When the Tianshui Luo Family acts, it is not for an outsider to point fingers.

Today, this person, the Tianshui Luo Family is determined to have him.

If Your Excellency is sensible, leave now, and I can act as if nothing ever happened."

Lu Ming looked at him, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted.

"What if I don't leave?"

"Then..."

The Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party raised his hand, and the cyan longsword flew back into his hand. He pointed his sword at Lu Ming and said coldly: "I will keep you here too!"

Before the words faded, dozens of Tianshui Luo Family Cultivators behind him simultaneously activated their magic power, and spiritual lights of various colors soared into the sky, filled with chilling killing intent.

The Tianshui Luo Family was famous for their water techniques; one could see water vapor permeating the Void Realm, turning into surging torrents, like streams of Dragons made of water tossing and turning in the air.

Those water Dragons were entirely azure blue, with complete scales and claws; as they opened their mouths, endless water mist surged out, shrouding the entire canyon in a veil of water vapor.

Wherever the water Dragons passed, the air became viscous and heavy, as if one were deep in the ocean, making even breathing difficult.

This was the signature skill of the Tianshui Luo Family, the "Tianshui True Art".

Based on the Water Element Law, they drew upon the water vapor of heaven and earth for their own use, transforming torrents into weapons and waves into barriers.

It was both offensive and defensive, with hidden blades in the softness, and it had always enjoyed a prestigious reputation in the Northern Territory.

However, in response to this, Lu Ming shook his head.

"Overestimating your own capabilities."

He raised his hand, and a bronze ancient bell flew out from his sleeve, hovering above his head.

The body of the bell was mottled, engraved with countless ancient runes, emitting a faint, eerie light.

It was precisely the taixu ancient bell he had recently obtained.

"Just right, let me use you all to test the power of this bell."

As his voice fell, the taixu ancient bell suddenly vibrated.

The bell body suddenly expanded, becoming several zhang high, like a small mountain hovering in mid-air.

The runes on the bell lit up one by one, emitting a dim light, carrying a sense of ancient, unchanging heaviness.

It seemed to have walked out from the ancient wilderness, standing firm even after enduring endless years.

An invisible force field spread out from the bell, rippling in all directions, shrouding everything within a hundred zhang.

Where the force field passed, the air solidified, the water vapor dissipated, and even those aggressive azure water Dragons seemed to have been frozen, stuck in mid-air, unable to move.

The Tianshui Luo Family members only felt their vision darken; looking up, they discovered that the ancient bell had, at some unknown time, expanded to the point of blotting out the sky.

Like a giant inverted bowl, it covered the entire canyon, along with them, underneath.

The ancient runes on the bell wall flowed slowly, completely isolating this space from the outside world.

"Is this... a Magic Treasure? Or a Formation?"

"Whatever it is, everyone attack together and blast it open!"

An Elder of the Tianshui Luo Family shouted sternly and was the first to attack.

He formed seals with both hands, water vapor surged around him, turning into an ice-blue spear about a zhang long; the tip of the spear glinted with cold light as it thrust fiercely towards the wall of the ancient bell!

"Boom!"

The ice spear struck the bell wall, stirred up a ripple, and then dissipated into nothingness.

The bell wall did not move at all; not even a single crack appeared.

"I'll come too!"

Another Elder attacked; this time it was an endless barrage of ice cones, pouring down like a rainstorm, smashing against the bell wall with a clanging sound.

But aside from stirring up more ripples, it was completely useless.

"Attack together!"

The Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party shouted in a deep voice, and the cyan longsword in his hand turned into dozens of sword shadows, all striking the bell wall together.

The remaining Tianshui Luo Family Cultivators also attacked one after another, throwing various Spells, Magical Artifacts, and Talismans as if they were free.

Boom, boom, boom—

For a moment, the roaring sound was deafening, light scattered in all directions, and shockwaves surged.

The ancient bell was struck, humming loudly, and the runes on its body flickered constantly, but the bell wall remained completely unmoved.

Seeing this scene, the expressions of the Tianshui Luo Family members became uglier one by one.

"This... this is impossible!"

"We attacked with so many people; even a top-grade Magic Treasure should have been pierced through!"

"What on earth is this thing?!"

Lu Ming stood with his hands behind his back in the Void Realm, looking down at them with an indifferent expression, as if he were just watching a group of ants struggling to survive.

That feeling of being ignored made the Tianshui Luo Family members feel both angry and afraid.

However, something even more terrifying for them was yet to come.

Someone suddenly noticed that this space was shrinking.

This was not an illusion; they could clearly feel the surrounding bell walls slowly closing inward.

Although the speed was slow, it was indeed moving.

The space they were in was being compressed bit by bit by the ancient bell.

"The space is shrinking!"

"Quick! Quickly think of a way to get out!"

"The bell is closing!"

The Tianshui Luo Family members finally panicked, running around in all directions, trying to find a gap in the bell wall.

But the ancient bell was airtight, not even a ray of light could penetrate it; where could there be any gaps?

Someone tried to fly upward, wanting to escape from the bell mouth.

But the bell mouth had long been sealed by an invisible force field; they flew into mid-air only to collide with that force field and be bounced back.

"Grand-uncle! What should we do!"

An Elder rushed to the Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party and asked anxiously.

The Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party had a livid expression; he gritted his teeth and took out a pitch-black Talisman from his bosom.

Complex patterns were drawn on the Talisman with gold powder, emitting a heart-palpitating fluctuation.

A Tier 3 Restriction-Breaking Talisman.

This was one of the Tianshui Luo Family's trump card treasures, specifically used to break spatial seals.

Once activated, it could tear open a gap in any seal, allowing one to escape to safety.

The entire Tianshui Luo Family only had three; for this trip, he had brought one just in case, never expecting to have to use it now.

"Everyone move aside!"

The Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party didn't have time to feel sorry for the Restriction-Breaking Talisman; he just shouted sternly, then bit his tongue and sprayed a mouthful of Essence Blood onto the Talisman.

The Talisman suddenly lit up, instantly turning into a pitch-black blade, slashing fiercely towards the bell wall!

This strike was enough to tear apart the seal of any Tier 3 Formation.

Then, it struck the bell wall.

But there was no movement; the pitch-black blade was like a clay ox entering the sea, sinking into the bell wall, and then... it disappeared!

The scene of tearing the Void Realm and opening a path to the outside world, as expected, did not happen.

The expression of the Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party, at this moment, finally changed completely.

"This... how is this possible?"

The Restriction-Breaking Talisman had failed, which meant that the ancient bell's seal on space had already exceeded the scope that a Tier 3 Restriction-Breaking Talisman could break.

"Grand-uncle, what should we do?"

"We... can't get out?"

The Tianshui Luo Family members looked despairingly at the slowly closing ancient bell, their eyes full of fear.

Lu Ming looked at their panicked appearance, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted.

"Isn't it a bit too late to realize it now?"

His voice was not loud, but it clearly entered the ears of every Tianshui Luo Family Cultivator.

The tone was casual, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

But to the ears of the Tianshui Luo Family members, it sounded like the verdict of the Grim Reaper.

"Your Excellency! Your Excellency, let's talk this over!"

An Elder of the Tianshui Luo Family hurriedly spoke, forcing a smile on his face.

"We have no grudge against Your Excellency; why harm the peace for the sake of an irrelevant person?

As long as Your Excellency lets us out, the Tianshui Luo Family will definitely reward you heavily!"

Lu Ming ignored him.

He raised his hand, and the taixu ancient bell suddenly vibrated.

"Clang—!!!"

This time, it was not spatial contraction, but sonic vibration.

The bell toll no longer came from the outside, but echoed within the ancient bell.

The bell wall locked the sound waves firmly, not allowing them to escape in the slightest.

Thus, the sound reverberated back and forth in the enclosed space, circle after circle, wave after wave, layering on top of each other, becoming stronger and stronger.

The sound became substantial, turning into visible ripples of sound waves, frantically reverberating in the space.

Cultivators below the Golden Core Stage bled from their seven orifices the moment the bell rang, falling straight down.

Their Divine Souls were shattered by the sound waves, their consciousness dissipated, and they didn't even have time to scream.

The Early Golden Core Stage Cultivators held on for a moment, then also fell down one after another.

Although their Divine Souls were not completely shattered, they suffered heavy damage, their consciousness became blurred, and they collapsed on the ground, unable to get up again.

The five Mid-stage Golden Core deacons were pale, desperately activating their magic power to protect their Divine Souls.

But the sound waves were pervasive, penetrating their defenses and striking their Souls directly.

They felt as if their heads were about to explode, their vision went black in waves, their ears were buzzing, and blood seeped out from their seven orifices.

Some began to scream, some began to wail, and some began to kneel and beg for mercy.

The situation for the Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party and the two Late Golden Core Stage Elders was slightly better, but not much better.

They sat cross-legged, operating their Cultivation Technique with all their might, using their magic power to protect their minds.

But the sound waves were like tides, one wave after another, impacting their defenses, leaving them with no time to attend to anything else.

Blood spilled from the corner of the mouth of the Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party, and blood threads also seeped out from the ears of the two Elders.

"Who... who on earth are you?!"

The Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party asked hoarsely, his voice full of terror.

Lu Ming did not answer. He was just examining the taixu ancient bell, his gaze carrying a touch of satisfaction.

"It's okay for cleaning up small fry."

Useful, but that was all.

Hearing this sentence, a sense of despair surged in the heart of the Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party.

He, a dignified Late Golden Core Stage Great True Person of the Tianshui Luo Family, was nothing more than "small fry" in this person's mouth.

He wanted to beg for mercy, wanted to negotiate, wanted to make a final struggle.

But Lu Ming no longer intended to give him a chance.

Lu Ming raised his hand, and the taixu ancient bell vibrated once again.

This time, it was spatial contraction.

The ancient bell began to shrink slowly.

And accompanying the shrinking of the bell itself, the space inside it was being compressed as it shrank.

The Tianshui Luo Family members felt their bodies being squeezed.

It was because the space they were in was shrinking itself.

They wanted to struggle, wanted to resist, but found that their bodies could not move at all.

The space was contracting, and their bodies were contracting along with it.

"No—!"

Someone let out a desperate roar.

"Grand-uncle! Help!"

"I don't want to die yet!"

Screams, wails, and pleas for mercy intertwined, echoing in this enclosed space.

The Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party watched helplessly as his clansmen were compressed and crushed one by one.

There was no tragic scene of flesh and blood flying, but rather the space itself was devouring them.

Their bodies were shrinking, their flesh and blood were being compressed, and their bones were shattering.

Some were compressed to the size of a fist, then smaller, and smaller, until they turned into a singularity invisible to the naked eye, and then completely disappeared.

This scene was too bizarre, but the Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party was powerless against it, because he himself was overwhelmed at the moment.

His body was also being compressed.

The Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party felt his internal organs being squeezed, his bones were creaking, and his blood was surging wildly in his body, but it had nowhere to go.

Blood gushed from his seven orifices, his skin began to crack, and his eyes bulged due to the pressure.

"Your Excellency... spare me..."

He used his last bit of strength to squeeze out these few words.

Lu Ming looked at him, expressionless.

The taixu ancient bell continued to shrink.

The body of the Leader of the Tianshui Luo Family hunting party was compressed into a ball, and then, it disappeared along with it.

Along with his two Elders, five deacons, and over twenty elites, they all disappeared together.

There was no gore, no tragic scene.

They were just ground into powder by that contracting space, compressed into particles invisible to the naked eye, and then, with the disappearance of the space, completely dissipated between heaven and earth.

Cleanly.

Nothing was left.

Only their shrill screams still echoed in the space, attempting to prove that they had once existed.

Lu Ming retracted the taixu ancient bell and turned his head to look at the face of the Heavenly Diviner of the Zhuge Family, who was leaning against the mountain wall with a dazed expression.

Then he grinned, revealing a mouthful of large white teeth, and smiled gently.

"Dear Nephew, it's your turn!"