Chapter 6: Retribution (Part 1)

The portal flickered, and wave after wave of professionals emerged, with even two large flying vehicles passing through it. Within minutes, over a thousand professionals arrived, all at least at the Saint level, including several at the Altar level. The first few hundred of them immediately surrounded the teleportation array for protection.

Guo Shier and Luo Jie hovered motionless not far away, coldly observing the large group of professionals. They cared nothing about their numbers.

As soon as the Gu Mi family’s professionals stepped out of the portal, they spotted Luo Jie and the others and immediately assumed a battle formation, fearing them greatly. However, they dared not attack. Luo Jie and the others had already activated their altars, clearly showing their high professional ranks. Such terrifying deterrence made the Gu Mi family’s professionals hesitant to act rashly.

Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan’s altars were at the front, while Guo Shier, Eagle Demon, Luo Zhan, and Nan You were behind them. Chen Hong and Luo Weijie sat on Nan You’s altar; his task was not to fight but to protect them.

The Gu Mi family’s professionals nervously formed a line in front of Luo Jie and the others, their expressions serious. They were extremely panicked, as none of them expected their enemies to be such highly skilled Altar-level experts.

As more Altar-level experts arrived, the Saints and Grand Saints felt slightly more at ease. The invisible pressure exerted by the opponents was too terrifying, even for Grand Saints.

Guo Shier counted the numbers: “Another Altar-level expert has arrived. Hmm, there are already seven Altar-level experts. The highest is at the fourth layer. Hehe, as expected, they don’t dare to attack…”

Nan You smirked. He knew the people of the Gu family best and understood why they weren’t attacking.

Since Guo Shier and the others weren’t attacking, the Gu Mi family’s people also dared not act. Although they were in numbers, their momentum wasn’t as strong as that of Guo Shier and his group. They stared nervously, ready to fight at any moment.

As time passed, more and more professionals emerged from the portal, making the atmosphere increasingly tense. Whenever the Gu Mi family’s professionals stepped out of the teleportation array, they could see Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan hovering in the air. These two stood out greatly—one with a seventh-layer altar and the other with a sixth-layer altar, signs of top-tier experts.

Finally, another group of Gu Mi family professionals stepped out of the teleportation array. One of them was the clan’s patriarch, possessing a fifth-layer altar. This was the most powerful Altar-level expert the Gu Mi family could field at the moment. Together with the fourth-layer expert who had arrived earlier, two of the clan’s top professionals were now present.

Most of the other altar-level professionals were mere shadow altars, with three at the first layer of solid altars, making a total of nine altar-level experts. Together with nearly a thousand Archmaster-level and over three thousand Master-level professionals, this force was already quite formidable. Yet it was far from enough to deal with Guo Shier and the others; not to mention Luo Jie, even Qi Nanshan alone was sufficient to handle them.

A cold smirk appeared on Luo Jie’s lips as he said, “Too few. Is this all the experts?”

Qi Nanshan replied calmly, “They’re all going to die!” His words, squeezed between his teeth, carried a chilling tone.

Both of them emitted soul pressure simultaneously, causing the professionals of the Gu Mi family to retreat in terror. Some Masters and Archmasters couldn’t even stay in the air and were forced to land under the pressure of the soul force, with thuds echoing as they crashed to the ground, battered and humbled. Even worse, some were unable to get up at all.

The two elders of the Gu Mi family stepped forward immediately, also emitting soul pressure in an attempt to relieve the pressure on their subordinates.

Luo Jie stared at the teleportation portal and said, “So few? What a pity…” He hoped there would be as many altar-level experts as possible. Killing these experts would deal a severe blow to the Gu Mi family. With his Soul Fire, if he could absorb the souls of many altar-level experts, his strength could increase further.

Guo Shier already had quite a number of Soul Beads. Recently, the old man Shuai had begun refining them to extract purer soul energy. These refined Soul Beads, also known as Soul Power Beads, were the best material whether for professionals to absorb, to enhance altars, or to craft sacred treasures. However, producing such Soul Power Beads required a large amount of original Soul Beads.

Qi Nanshan said, “I guess these are the fastest experts the Gu Mi family can mobilize.” He wasn’t in a hurry to act. Due to his intense hatred, his thoughts were similar to Luo Jie’s—without causing them some trouble, he wouldn’t be able to vent his anger.

The professional at the fifth-layer altar of the Gu Mi family was named Miler, and the one at the fourth layer was named Mitz. Both were elder-level experts of the Gu Mi family. Miler was the patriarch of the main branch of the Gu Mi family and held great prestige there, while Mitz was the patriarch of a side branch. The two were good friends.

Hearing Miler step forward to sign up, Guo Shier couldn’t help but mutter, “Miler? As if… What a ridiculous name.”

Guo Shier and the others were dealing with professionals using virtual-shaped altars and low-level solid-shaped altars. As for the two grandmaster-level experts, Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan would take care of them. He wouldn’t fight against such experts, even though his strength was sufficient to take on one of them or even defeat them.

Luo Jie moved forward about ten meters and said, “Maitreya? Good. Is that all of you?”

Maitreya’s heart pounded in fear as he stared at the opponent’s blazing altar. He felt a bitter taste in his mouth—unexpectingly, the opponent wasn’t only an expert with a seven-layer altar but also a terrifying professional with a Soul Altar. He spoke cautiously, “Elder… who are you?” In truth, he was a very proud person, but upon meeting Luo Jie, all his usual pride vanished.

Luo Jie said indifferently, “Who I am isn’t important. What matters is… my hometown was destroyed by your Ancient Mi Continent!”

Maitreya immediately felt his hair stand on end, as if his heart had been punched hard. He cried out inwardly: This is the most terrifying opponent. A super expert whose home has been destroyed can only avenge itself with blood. He forced a laugh and said, “Could it be… there’s some misunderstanding?”

Qi Nanshan suddenly rushed forward and snapped, “There’s no such thing as a misunderstanding!” Seven black flames erupted from the altar and, guided by spells, rushed toward Maitreya like seven black dragons.

Luo Jie shouted, “Attack!”

Guo Shier had already instructed Old Shuai to get ready, and he immediately released the tentacles of the Ancient Xi Bi. This sacrificial spirit beast had been refined by Old Shuai many times and now possessed qualities similar to a sacrificial treasure. It could not only collect souls after death to form numerous Soul Beads but also devour many soul fragments, greatly enhancing its strength.

Old Shuai quietly released the Sacrificial Treasure Boundary Pearl. He and Guo Shier had practiced several coordination tactics earlier, and this one was designed to deal with group attacks.

Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan rushed toward the ranks of the Holy Master and Grand Holy Master, speeding into the crowd like lightning. Nan You protected Chen Hong and Luo Weijie as they retreated quickly. His task wasn’t to fight but to safeguard the two girls.

Maitreya didn’t expect the opponent to attack right after just a few words. Although he was prepared, he was still shocked by Qi Nanshan’s fierce attacks. He tried to teleport away, but he never expected the attack of the Soul Flame to be so extreme—once locked onto him, he couldn’t teleport. Panicked, he immediately activated his strongest defense.

Qi Nanshan had already been a fierce-type professional since his days as Master Fu Wu. After advancing to the sixth-tier altar, his attacks became even more terrifying, and his killing methods even more ruthless. Seven black fire dragons swiftly wrapped around him, with two of them heading for the professionals at the two phantom altars behind Maitreya.

Luo Jie reached out and grasped in the air, and a spear formed from black flames appeared in his hand. With a flick of his wrist, he shot it forward. The spear emitted a rumbling sound like thunder and wind as it roared toward Mitz.

Mitz hurriedly dodged, but the spear made of black flames pursued him like a cruise missile, never giving up. Mitz reached out and grasped in the air, and a golden hand flew out—not at the black spear, but at one of the experts at the phantom altar—before throwing him toward the incoming spear.

That professional at the phantom altar never expected his own clan’s ancestor to turn against him. Terrified beyond measure, he screamed, “Save me…” Despite activating his strongest defenses, he was still struck by the spear formed from the Fire of Souls. With a loud explosion, the altar ignited with eerie black flames.

That pitiful scream immediately scared all the professionals of the Gu Mi clan into fleeing in all directions. In just a few moments, that man turned into nothingness; his soul was burned and merged into the black flames, which were then sucked back by Luo Jie.

Luo Jie said indifferently, “Not bad reaction. Try again!” In an instant, three more flaming spears were launched.

Mitz was terrified to the core.

Maitreya was also in a desperate situation. His reaction was identical to Mitz’s—he tried to block with his subordinates first because he needed to understand the strength of their attacks. Only when he saw three phantom altar professionals turned to ashes did he realize he was no match at all. By then, he had made up his mind and shouted, “Retreat!”

Luo Jie sneered, “Thinking of escaping now? It’s too late!” With that, he charged forward.

Guo Shier’s altar also rushed into the crowd. Like Yingmo Luo Zhan, he planned to kill the weaker ones first before surrounding and attacking the stronger ones.

The tentacles extending from his altar, like whips and spears, swung and slashed, killing hundreds of Saints and Great Saints in an instant—all because the tentacles swiftly drained their souls.

The old man Shuai controlled the Dingkuo Pearl to seal off that area, preventing all professionals from teleporting.

Maitreya and Mitz were chased around frantically by Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan. Since the surrounding space was sealed off by the Dingkuo Pearl, the two could only teleport short distances. Fortunately, both of them were altar-level experts, while the professionals at the other phantom altars and the first-tier solid altars couldn’t even teleport short distances. They kept getting caught in the battles and suffered heavy losses.

The battle was almost a one-sided massacre. The professionals of the Gu Mi family had no chance to resist. Unless someone could hold off Luo Jie and Qi Nan Shan, they simply couldn’t stand a chance. Ying Mo and Luo Zhan fought with great intensity. With their strength, they would surely be defeated if fighting against Mi Le Mi Ci, but fighting against Grand Saints was extremely easy for them, with overwhelming advantages. In just a few moments, they killed dozens of people. The entire scene was in chaos. The professionals of the Gu Mi family couldn’t organize any effective defense or attack and could only be killed passively. In just a short while, they completely collapsed and fled outside in a frenzied manner. Yet, there was still a deadly force lurking on the periphery, targeting those Grand Saints who managed to escape. Nan You rode on the altar, moving rapidly around the battle zone, turning anyone who escaped into his prey. Chen Hong and Luo Wei Jie were stunned, unable to believe that Luo Jie and the others were so terrifying—killing professionals was even easier than killing chickens. Especially the Soul Flames of Luo Jie and Qi Nan Shan were utterly terrifying; even a slight touch would cause someone to burn like a human torch. Guo Shier was no less formidable either—his Gu Xi Bi tentacles swept across a wide area, killing anyone they touched. He didn’t even use his Moon Blade for attacks, only using it for protection as he moved through the crowd. In the end, Mi Le still couldn’t evade and was entangled by two fire dragons. He held out for less than a minute before the entire altar caught fire. If there had been a few experts like him around, they might have been able to hold off Luo Jie, but now he was powerless. All his subordinates who could have provided some resistance had fled far away—no one was a fool. So he ultimately couldn’t avoid being struck by the Soul Flames. After all, as an expert at the fifth level of the altar, he still had strong resistance. Mi Le was terrified and used one sacrificial treasure after another, each holding out for at most a dozen seconds. In less than two minutes, he had used up all his sacrificial treasures. As the flames on the altar spread, he stood up and screamed in horror, “No!” Qi Nan Shan sneered, “No? When you were destroying my hometown, you must have heard plenty of ‘no’s too! Die!” The flames surged upward and engulfed him. In an instant, Mi Le burned like a pillar of fire. He howled, “You… you won’t die easily… The family… the family will… avenge me… You… ah… ah…” Layer by layer, the altar collapsed, and soon both he and the altar turned to ashes. That ball of Soul Flames suddenly grew even stronger.