The Daoist tucked his wine gourd at his waist, and then a colossal Dharma form rose behind him.
*Buzz!*
It was, remarkably, a True Person of the Daoist Ancestral Court who had already ascended.
Wearing a three-petaled lotus crown and a Tai Chi robe, its surface flowed with unrestrained dark golden Dao source, wielding a wooden sword carved with clouds, encircled by a long-bearded golden dragon and a four-clawed white tiger. Its aura was immense.
"This..."
The moment the Dharma form appeared, everyone present froze in stunned silence. Especially the Domain Lord standing at the forefront; he had been about to strike just moments before, and then he saw this Dharma form.
Consequently, his tightly controlled aura abruptly ceased.
A Dharma form… the White Cloud Daoist Temple… a wine gourd. The eunch, standing before the Heavenly Wall, exclaimed in a shrill voice, "You are the Wine Immortal Daoist!"
*Boom!*
Upon hearing this title, many of the Lords present showed astonishment, clearly familiar with him.
The Wine Immortal Daoist's expression was calm; he was not surprised that someone recognized him.
There were many Domain Lords in the world.
But few possessed Dharma forms. For a Domain Lord to have a Dharma form meant they could be called a Half-Step Human King.
Each of them was a leader in their respective domains, possessing the strength to rank on the World Rankings.
He himself was known in the martial world as the Wine Immortal Daoist, named so for his insatiable love for wine and his cultivation. He was ranked seventy-fourth on the World Rankings.
Although lower than Burning Fire, this did not mean his strength was truly inferior to those ranked above him, for before a true confrontation, everything was uncertain.
What was not uncertain, however, was this:
—Domain Lords with Dharma forms were undeniably stronger than those without.
"Why has everyone stopped fighting? If you're going to fight, do it quickly!"
Seeing the other side hesitate, the Wine Immortal Daoist grumbled impatiently.
It had been a long time since he had summoned his Dharma form.
This was because the vast majority of his opponents did not warrant such effort.
And these present, a collection of utter trash, certainly did not deserve it. He was acting this way because he wanted to put on a spectacular display for Xu Mu.
The old man sighed, glancing back at Xu Mu, who was peacefully meditating and healing, his brow furrowed.
His senior brother had tasked him with bringing this boy back to take him as a disciple. He had initially thought it a simple task; with his strength, it should be easy to persuade a young man.
But he had not expected the young man he was looking for to already be a fourth-stage Lord.
Furthermore, the boy had displayed such incredible talent and strength. If the people from the Demon Extermination Department found out, they would never let him go.
The old man was vexed. The most critical issue was that Burning Fire's Dharma form had already been revealed outside, reaching into the heavens and earth.
And his own, constrained by the rules of the palace's Great Dao, had become so "diminutive," compressed countless times.
There were no auspicious clouds to herald its arrival, nor was it as majestic and imposing.
His attempt to show off had failed.
It was incredibly embarrassing.
Therefore, he decided to vent his frustration on the Wang family.
"Come on, if you want to attack, you can all come at once."
"This... this..."
The people from the Wang family were filled with fear.
They were to attack a powerful expert on the verge of becoming a Human King?
The old man grew increasingly impatient, wondering why the men of Great Xia were always so hesitant. Fierce one moment, cowardly the next.
If you're going to fight, fight. If you're going to kill, kill. Such indecisive actions, and they call themselves men?
"Since you've recognized the Senior, how could we dare to make a move."
The Domain Lord chuckled bitterly, then bowed his head respectfully.
He was merely a guest elder of the Wang family, with vested interests, but not to the extent of dying for them.
Engaging a being with a Dharma form was truly perilous.
"No one is making a move? The Daoist scanned the surroundings; no one dared to meet his gaze directly.
"If you want to fight, fight. If you don't, then retreat. It's not that simple."
"You three eunuchs, and you, and the one standing before the fifth Heavenly Wall, all of you, come over here!"
The Daoist's eyes narrowed. He mused that if he couldn't gain an advantage in appearance, he had to overwhelm them with strength.
When Xu Mu opened his eyes, he would see his enemies lying in disarray, and naturally, he would admire him.
Thus, the nine-foot-tall Dharma form extended its hands simultaneously.
Like a golden dragon head emerging from a sea of clouds, from the midst of the swirling mist, a translucent yet shimmering dark golden hand of Dao source emerged.
It seized the Domain Lord, then, hugging the edge, grabbed all the Wang family advisors he had summoned from behind, as easily as a farmer catching chicks.
Everyone was held in that massive hand, their supernatural abilities sealed by an unseen rule, rendering them immobile.
"Senior, please calm down!"
Within the massive hand, only the Domain Lord could still speak. Although he could resist slightly, he feared exacerbating the conflict, so he made no move.
As for the others, they could only watch helplessly.
"How do you expect me to be rational!"
The old man, his face devoid of emotion, controlled the Dharma form to place these individuals before the eighth Heavenly Wall, instantly subjecting them to eight-thousand-fold gravity that crushed down fiercely.
*Crack!*
Bone-deep pain surged through, and the eunuch let out a cry of agony:
"Ah!!!"
Blood splattered from his body, some even landing on the Dao source, which disgusted the old man.
He then controlled the Dharma form, yanking the man into his palm and hurling him to the ground like a stone.
*Crack!*
The earth shattered. In the very spot where Xu Mu had stomped earlier, another enormous pit was gouged out.
The old man pointed his finger, sealing them all within, including the Domain Lord.
"If you want to live, then behave yourselves."
"When this young friend wakes up, you will be dealt with according to his wishes!"
At the bottom of the pit, everyone exchanged bewildered glances, their bones nearly rattling apart.
Especially those few eunuchs, whose physical bodies were already weaker than others. Now, after such torment, it seemed they would die at any moment.
"Alas, your Wang family has truly brought great misfortune upon yourselves."
A guest elder curled up in a corner, blood trickling from his head.
He was different from the others; he had only recently managed to get on the good side of the Wang family after much effort. He had never expected that his first mission for them would result in such a predicament.
"Master Gao Jun, can you... help us escape?"
A Lord who primarily cultivated his physical body cautiously approached the Domain Lord who had exchanged a blow with the Wine Immortal Daoist and asked.
"Escape? To where?" Gao Jun's face was grim. He didn't even know how he had entered this place. The space seemed void, likely inscribed with some spatial formations.
He was merely a martial artist; finding a way back was nearly impossible.
"Stay put. He doesn't intend to kill us." The man suppressed his humiliation and sighed.
If the Wine Immortal Daoist truly wanted to kill them, the place his Dharma form had gone earlier would not have been the eighth Heavenly Wall, but rather the center.
And since the other party was holding back, he, too, would show proper respect, as they were in the wrong to begin with.
"And what if Xu Mu wants to kill us?"
The man asked timidly again. He could naturally guess that the Wine Immortal Daoist held no intention of killing them, but what about Xu Mu, who had already made an enemy of the Wang family patriarch?
Would he spare them, the advisors of the Wang family?
...
Xu Mu sat cross-legged on the ground, the boundless Dao source above him, the Dharma form enveloping him.
Whether by accident or design, it greatly aided the recovery of his injuries.
After an unknown period, perhaps sensing the eerie silence outside,
Xu Mu opened his eyes in a daze. The first thing that greeted him was the smile of the lean old Daoist.
"Senior, if you stare at me like that, I'll think you have ill intentions."
Xu Mu shivered. The man's wrinkles were like the bark of an old tree, right in his face, and his eyes were narrowed, making it hard not to misinterpret.
"Mainly out of curiosity," the old man said, showing no embarrassment and rising with a chuckle.
"Let's see how you plan to deal with these people."
Xu Mu was stunned. Just as he was about to stand, he found he couldn't feel his legs. The moment he stood, he collapsed back down.
"Ouch!"
The young man landed on his backside, feeling as if countless ants were crawling all over his legs.
"Damn, they're numb."
Xu Mu's face contorted. He lightly placed his hands around his thighs, and whenever he touched them, a tingling sensation like an electric current spread outward.
"Your meditation posture was incorrect, and you sat for nearly four hours. Of course, your legs would go numb."
"Four hours? I thought it had only been ten minutes."
Xu Mu scratched his head, realizing that indeed, four hours had passed.
"You fell asleep, Host."
Charles's voice sounded in his mind.
"I watched you use your powers to heal your body. That process took less than fifteen minutes, and then you didn't open your eyes again."
"During this time, you were sleeping."
Xu Mu grinned sheepishly. So that was it.
No wonder he felt so refreshed upon opening his eyes, as if all his fatigue had vanished. It was because he had slept.
"I suppose it's past ten o'clock outside now. Eight hours of sleep, the people of Earth were right."
Xu Mu mused, then continued to try and control his legs. After two minutes, he finally regained feeling.
He stumbled to the pit, now filled with Dao source, and looked inside clearly. Nestled within were the Wang family's supernatural beings, including those three eunuchs.
"Kill them or let them go, the choice is yours."
The old man's voice sounded from behind him.
"Best to be quick, otherwise, we might truly miss them."
Xu Mu looked up the stairs, whose number of steps was indeterminate, then shook his head.
Although the second floor wasn't significantly higher than the first, and the space between was empty, for some reason, he felt as if they were separated by two worlds.
What concerned him was above.
That was related to the survival of the world, and the secrets of the ancient era and the Apocalypse.
Here, he could deal with things as he saw fit.
"Young friend, we bear no deep animosity towards each other, and I am merely a guest elder of the Wang family."
"If you are willing to spare my life, I guarantee that after escaping, I will never participate in the conflict between the Wang family and you again. What do you say?"
The Domain Lord remained vigilant. He no longer had any thoughts of the holy relics; he only wished to survive.
If Xu Mu did not agree, he would have to force his way to the second floor to seek protection.
But doing so would come at a great cost, potentially even costing him his freedom.
Xu Mu met his gaze, his own eyes narrowing slightly. Should he trust him?
"Have you thought this through? While he's willing to stay down there, if you wish to kill him, he cannot escape."
The old Daoist looked down at him from his superior position, his eyes full of indifference.
Domain Lords possessed domains, and their supernatural abilities were abundant and their Dao arts strange and unpredictable, making them indeed difficult to kill.
But here, there were too many restrictions, and the space was small. As long as his strength was sufficient, killing the opponent was only a matter of time.
However, doing so might also result in some injuries, as he was not yet a true Human King.
"The Wang family's guest elder may leave."
"You, you, and you few castrated ones, I'm sorry."
Xu Mu extended his hand, like Yama, the King of Hell, pointing at a few of the Wang family cultivators who had been the most boisterous earlier, and then specifically at the three eunuchs.
The old Daoist waved his hand, and the restriction was lifted. The Domain Lord's face lit up with joy, and he hurriedly leaped out from within.
Following him were two small, slender Lords.
"Did he say you could leave!"
The Wine Immortal Daoist snorted coldly and reached out to grab one of their arms, intending to fling him back into the pit.
"If I don't leave, am I supposed to wait for death?"
"Everyone, attack together!"
The Lords who were not spared by Xu Mu unleashed their strongest supernatural abilities almost simultaneously.
Half of them attacked the Wine Immortal Daoist, and half attacked Xu Mu. Clearly, this plan had been devised from the beginning.
But they had overestimated their strength.
The Wine Immortal Daoist, a ranked expert on the World Rankings, whom even Domain Lords dared not easily provoke out of fear for their lives, what threat could the attacks of those Lords pose?
The old man sneered, and his Dharma form immediately materialized behind him, then slammed down a palm, without discrimination, accompanied by the roars of dragons and tigers!
"Ah!!"
In an instant, those people were once again caught in the Daoist's hands, and then directly thrown into the center.
"Hiss!"
The Daoist quickly retracted his Dharma form. The gravity he had sensed in that moment was truly destructive.
He truly didn't understand how Xu Mu had endured it!
...