The silver light over the horizon caused YanZaizen''s eyes to constrict and his heart to palpitate.He knew where his sensation of imminent crisisoriginatedfrom.However, upon seeing the silver light, hisbodyfroze.He tried urging his body to move, to survive, but it refused to budge.It was almost as if his soul was telling hisbodyto stay still and obey its will.The feeling was almost asstrangeas the self-observation from earlier.


    “Hahahahaha!Stillwish to run?!”Laughterfilled with malevolent will surged across tens of miles in distance.YanZaizenurged his utmost strength toturnhis head toseeits source, only toseeseveral blips of light from the horizon speeding towards his direction and becoming larger.


    “Shit!”YanZaizenshouted.Atthismoment, his struggles to rid himself ofthisstrange paralysis intensified only to be met with failure.His bones uttered cracking sounds, but his body didn''tbudgean inch.He could only watch as the blips of light flew over to reveal what surprised him even further.


    A group of people wearing similarmartialattireswere being chased by adirtyold manwho laughed at the sky with a scythe in hand.Thedirtyold manwas dressed completely in black, his eyes seemed overly sunken and almost unhealthy shade of pale-whitecoveredhis face, but his body released a tyrannical aura.His teeth were sparkling white, lips thin, and body seemed to be frail-reminiscent of YanZaizen''sscrawnyphysique.The most notable feature was the glowing orb emitting resplendent and pulsating smoky light into the air from the man''sdantian.


    Origin Core Realm!!!


    His heart released erratic heartbeats from this realization.


    Meteorite City was a relativelylargecity with influence in the country ofPresba, and not asinglemember has reached the Origin Core Realm.InPresba,hecould only imagine the top clans and sects in the country would possess such domineering experts.The upper-echelons of his clan, even his grandfather, were only at the peak of the Qi Unification Realm.The Origin Core Realm was essentially a legend in his eyes andnot once didheever thinkhe''d witness one with hiseyes.Their status was lofty;their strength,insidiouslypowerful.


    Hedidn''thavemuch time to think on this revelation any longer as the group of experts who were running stopped just above him several hundred feet in the air, andtheyignoredhis existence like a humanignoresan ant.Don''tgethim wrong,helovedthis, but hated thattheyhad tostopwherehewas.Dotheywant totakehislittlelife in their battle?


    The experts'' expressions were odd astheystopped,theylooked around here and they thenturnedtheir eyes towards thedirtyold man, whostoppedjust a few dozen meters from them while laughing.They seemed to be surprised, and their eyes hid a deep-seated level of fear.One of the experts spoke, “A formation?”Thisexpert, unlike the others,hadonlyvigilancein his eyes-no fear.


    “You like it?”Thedirtyold mansaid with relaxed and laughing expression.It would seem as if he was justaskinganoldfriend about how they liked his new tool or home.However, the expert couldn''t help but retort, “HanGenji,doyou really wish to go against my Soaring Cloud Sect?!”Histone held a hint of arrogance and aggression.


    Soaring CloudSect?!


    YanZaizenknewof the Soaring CloudSect, just like heknewof the Water VeilSect.Theywere, with three others, apartofthe Five Great Sects ofPresba.The Soaring Cloud Sect had extraordinary prowess in cultivation and had a varied and agile number of methods.Theyweren''t the weakest of the Five Great Sects either, andtheydefinitelyhadOrigin Core Realm experts holding the fort.


    The Five Great Sects ofPresbawere the Soaring CloudSect, Water VeilSect, Earthly TitanSect, Vanishing FiendSect, and Solitary SwordSect.With the Solitary SwordSectat the forefront of strength,theywere extraordinary enough to possess enormous influence over theentirecountry.However, the fivesectsdidn''t just inspire awe inside YanZaizen, but also a little bit of sadness.If recalled, YaQinqan''sdreamof entering the female-only Water Veil Sect led to himgivingher everything hehadtorealizeherdreamonly to marry another.YanJinzenwas also attemptingto jointhe Soaring Cloud Sect.Thus, his feelings were undoubtedly complex.


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    In response to the Soaring Cloud expert''s words, thedirtyold mansimply flashed his teeth in a sinister smile that seemed to send a cold chill down one''s spine.


    Witnessing this, the Soaring Cloud expert expression fell, and the others around himhadthe fear in their eyes intensify.Now they were caught in his formation, and it just meant their current predicament had been a premeditated act.Escaping with their lives mayverywellbe a dream unless they werewillingto pay an exceptional cost.


    “Fine.I,GaoShiyan, shallfightyou to the death.”Ashe said this, a sword inexplicablyrevealeditself in his hands.The tightening of the hilt of his blade only revealed his fluctuating emotions, despite his calm expression.However, thedirtyold mansimply laughed, "Withjust you?Hahaha!" Theothersrealizedthe situation and adjusted their positioning rather quickly; each of them glowed with a resplendent smoky silverlightthat interconnected with eachother, and then abrighterlightpoured intoGaoShiyan''s body.GaoShiyan''s expression turnedevencalmer, and his grip on his sword tightened to the point where itresoundedevento YanZaizen''s eyes.


    However, seeing this, the dirty old man— named HanGenji—simply shook his head.His eyes brimmed with playful amusement and a hint of pity.Unaffected by their attempts atestablishinga formation, he began to finally take the initiative to speak.“Youall chased me under the shade of beingrighteousand ridding this world ofevil, but didn''tyoujustwantmy life for your own gains?Now that I''veascendedto the Origin Core Realm,youwant to retreat and even bargain for your lives?How laughable!Whatagooddream,what agood Soaring Cloud Sect!”


    His tone held grievance, and it seems like he had a thousand words to say, but could only say these.GaoShiyan, however, just readied hisQi.From YanZaizen''s perspective, he wasfamiliarwith the level ofQipulsation, itwas at theQiUnification Realm, and likely not at the initial-stage, but a realm excellently cultivated.Normally, YanZaizenwouldn''t be able tonoticethe difference, but with his soul having properlyascendedto a cultivated status, it allowed his memory and sensations of before to become more vivid.


    The others aroundGaoShiyanalso possessed a similar aura ofQiUnification, butconsiderablyweaker.Likely, they were at the Initial or mid-stage.


    At this point, YanZaizendetermined a few things from their exchange.Firstly, he was currently in a formation.Itmakes sense that rarely any lifeforms were in this area except ratherweakones, and why no one even comes to these isolated plains.Itwassimplythat he neverperceivedit.Secondly, this formation has trapped not only him but also them.Itseems he''s been restricted from moving due to his low cultivation while they are likely weakened and understood running away was an impossibility within this formation.Third, they were going to fight to the death right here.


    Lastly, it''s likely he''lllosehislittlelife in theensuingchaos.