Chapter 8: Terroristic Threats (Part 1)

Feng Miluo was stunned and asked, “Me to negotiate? Negotiate about what?” He inwardly smiled bitterly: The two top experts aren’t stepping in, so they send an ordinary professional like me to negotiate? That’s just asking for trouble! Before he could go negotiate, Ruo Wangtian started speaking.
“Which team came in first? Come out. I know you’ve gained the most. You have two choices: either leave your materials or join us…”
Li Ran smiled and said, “It seems we’ve been targeted. Don’t they know that more people don’t necessarily mean victory?”
Zhen Wuji said with a smile, “This fight… will definitely be interesting. Li Er, go and negotiate. Be confident—don’t embarrass your elder brother. Feng Miluo, come back.” He was excited. If he could fight someone of the same rank, he might uncover some secrets to advancing beyond the ninth-tier altar. After all, in his life, he had never seen another professional at the ninth-tier altar.
Feng Miluo immediately breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back. Facing two experts at the ninth-tier altar would put immense pressure on him. Even with two even more powerful experts backing him, he would still find it extremely difficult.
Li Ran couldn’t help shaking his head. The Gu Miluo family was still far behind. They had lost their fighting spirit and could only maintain their status within a small circle. Outside that circle, they didn’t even dare to compete.
Guo Ershii smiled and said, “Alright, I knew it… I’ll go.” Li Ran habitually pretended to be clueless, while Zhen Wuji deliberately let him act arrogantly. It was unclear what he was thinking. If Li Ran went, the fight might not even start. But with Guo Ershii involved, avoiding a fight was almost impossible.
Ying Mo and Luo Zhan said at the same time, “Be careful, Ershii. Don’t go too far away.”
Instead of moving forward, Guo Ershii flew higher, making himself visible above the crowd. Holding the altar and the Soul-Stabilizing Cauldron above his head, he shouted, “We’re the first team to arrive. We won’t take either of your paths… What do you want to do?”
This tone wasn’t at all negotiable—it was outright demanding. Normally, given Guo Ershii’s temperament, he wouldn’t be so bold. But with two top experts behind him, he couldn’t help acting overconfident, relying on their strength. Of course, he also understood Li Ran and Zhen Wuji’s intention: to push him into trouble.
Guo Ershii might not have many other skills, but he was quite good at stirring up trouble. His expression was filled with utter disdain, as if his opponents weren’t professionals at the ninth-tier altar but mere low-level ones.

Johannes Tianhe and Yao Zebusong were stunned. Since ascending to the ninth-tier altar, no one had dared speak to them in such a manner. Johannes Tianhe’s expression darkened as he said, “Oh, you won’t take either path? Very well. I haven’t fought in ages—today, I’ll kill you to assert my dominance.”

He slammed his hand on the altar, and a black beam shot out abruptly from it with the force of thunder, slashing down at lightning speed. Guo Shier didn’t even have time to react.

A colored light rose from beneath Guo Shier, also moving at blinding speed, and collided violently with the black beam.

Crack… Boom!

Sounds like distant drums and bells echoed, shaking the souls of everyone present. A broken black blade appeared, emitting mournful vibrations. Johannes Tianhe’s face paled—just that one strike had damaged his sacred black blade. Without hesitation, he recalled the blade, grabbed a sacrifice, and thrust it into it. Glaring fiercely at Guo Shier, he demanded, “Who did this? Come out!”

Guo Shier was drenched in cold sweat. He hadn’t even had time to react and snapped in anger, cursing, “You bastard! Let’s see who’s stronger!” He slammed his fist on the Soul Suppressing Cauldron above his head. Instantly, colored lights flashed, and countless Soul Beasts surged forth, attacking the professionals of the Yuanke Alliance frantically.

No one expected Guo Shier to release so many Soul Beasts—both flying and crawling, too numerous to count, at least two hundred thousand of them. What was even more terrifying was that almost every Soul Beast was a high-level one, its body refined to the extreme, not much different from true mutated talisman beasts.

Not only were the professionals of the Yuanke Alliance terrified, but even Li Ran and Zhen Wuji were shocked.

Johannes Tianhe and Yao Zebusong’s faces turned pale. These Soul Beasts were clearly different from those they had seen before. Their sizes weren’t large—none exceeded a hundred meters in length, with most being only a dozen meters long—but they exuded an extremely ferocious aura. Especially the tens of thousands of flying Soul Birds in the sky were truly terrifying.

Both felt something was wrong. A professional at the seventh-tier altar could launch such a bizarre attack. After all, Soul Beasts weren’t easy to obtain. Releasing hundreds of thousands of them at once was unheard of and unbelievable, leaving them in a state of confusion as if they were in a hallucination.

Chaos ensued instantly. Guo Shier didn’t launch an attack right away; if he had, he would have become the mortal enemy of the Yuanke Alliance. He controlled the Spirit Beasts to form a massive encirclement, trapping the people of the Yuanke Alliance in the middle.

Li Ran knew he couldn’t hide in the crowd any longer. He exchanged a glance with Zhen Wuji, and together they summoned altars, soared up, and landed beside Guo Shier. One on each side, they stared at Ruo Wangtian and Yao Zebusong. Li Ran said calmly, “The Yuanke Alliance… is quite impressive.”

Ruo Wangtian and Yao Zebusong stepped back simultaneously, their faces turning pale. These were experts beyond the ninth-tier altars, the top-tier fighters in the world—professionals said to be invincible. Their hearts were overwhelmed by fear; they never expected to encounter such terrifying opponents.

Zhen Wuji sneered, “How many options do you give me? Tell me.”

If it weren’t for Guo Shier unleashing so many Spirit Beasts, Ruo Wangtian and Yao Zebusong might have had some hope of overwhelming them through sheer numbers. But with hundreds of thousands of Spirit Beasts on the other side, their small group of professionals became a joke.

Guo Shier also sneered, “How many professional teams are here? Are you… ready to accept the terms offered by the Yuanke Alliance?” He then set fire to the professionals from the Gu family standing nearby.

The professionals from the Gu family immediately started shouting. They understood well that if they didn’t want to fall under the control of the Yuanke Alliance, it was best to side with Guo Shier—especially since there were two super experts on his side, along with a group of Spirit Beasts that made them uneasy. This was the perfect moment to declare their allegiance.

The professionals from the Gu family grew louder, shouting to kill the professionals of the Yuanke Alliance, which amused Guo Shier. The enemy had two experts at the ninth-tier altar—those weren’t opponents to be trifled with. Once such people went all out, any Gu family would be terrified.

Li Ran, Zhen Wuji, and Guo Shier kept a close eye on the people of the Yuanke Alliance. If they dared to make a move, the three would strike instantly with devastating force.

Eagle Demon stared at the overwhelming number of Spirit Beasts, his mouth never closing. He was utterly shaken. Luo Zhan’s eyes were wide as he muttered, “Damn… terrifying. Since when does Shier have so many Spirit Beasts?”

The professionals from the ancient Miluo family were also terrified, though they were more excited—after all, Guo Shier was their clan’s ancestor and one of their own. Yet, the two hundred thousand spirit beasts were truly astonishing, including many abnormally powerful spirit beasts at levels sixteen or seventeen. They had never seen such monstrous sacrificial treasures before.

Li Ran said softly, “I’m afraid we can’t fight anymore. Shier, you released your spirit beasts too early…”

Zhen Wuji also expressed regret, “That’s right, Shier. Wait until we start fighting before releasing your spirit beasts. Then… hehe, we’ll scare them to death!”

Guo Shier looked at the two unscrupulous old men silently and said, “If we can’t fight… it doesn’t matter. Are you interested in robbing again?” He was addicted to robbery—it was the fastest way to gather materials. Since the other side wanted to rob him first, he had to get even at all costs. They weren’t easy to provoke.

Li Ran smiled faintly. Zhen Wuji started rubbing his hands together eagerly. He had robbed before too, but robbing tens of thousands of high-level professionals really got his blood boiling.

Ruo Wangtian had nothing to say. He didn’t know what to say either—their strength far surpassed that of the Yuanke Alliance. He felt bitter in his mouth. He had spoken too boldly at the beginning, leaving little room for them to back down. He could only look at Yao Zebusong for help.

Yao Zebusong’s face turned pale. He didn’t know how to handle this either. Fighting was out of the question—if they started fighting, the Yuanke Alliance wouldn’t stand a chance. Those spirit beasts scattered everywhere could eliminate most of the Yuanke Alliance’s experts. If they released tens of thousands more, total annihilation wasn’t impossible.

Ruo Wangtian gritted his teeth and said, “Elders, you can leave…”

Yao Zebusong was shocked. He knew Ruo Wangtian had spoken improperly, but he was similar to Ruo Wangtian—already accustomed to being in a position of power—and simply couldn’t say words of surrender.

Li Ran sneered coldly and said harshly, “You say I stay, so I stay; you say I leave, so I leave. What do you think you are?”

Ruo Wangtian retorted angrily, “What do you want?”

Guo Shier laughed loudly. “Haha, aren’t you so great? Leading a group of high-level professionals, wanting to do as you please. Old man, I’ll give you two choices…” He began to imitate their tone, “…One, hand over the materials you’re carrying… The other is to fight us. If you die, it’s your fault! If you can escape… consider yourself lucky!” With that, he slapped the Soul-Stabilizing Cauldron.

A burst of colorful light surged, and in an instant, over two hundred thousand more spirit beasts appeared, covering the sky and earth.

Nearly five hundred thousand Soul Beasts covered the sky and ground completely, dimming the light. The Soul Birds flying in the sky blocked out the sunlight, while the ground was packed with Soul Beasts, forming a kind of sandwich with Soul Beasts on top and below, and all the practitioners in the air in between.

Seeing over two hundred thousand more Soul Beasts appear, all the practitioners were stunned. They had never seen such a terrifying person who could control nearly five hundred thousand Soul Beasts, most of them being advanced ones. If these Soul Beasts launched an attack, who could escape? Aside from a very few practitioners at the eighth or ninth level of the altar, no one could survive. Even worse, the opponent had two super experts as well.

Li Ran and Zhen Wuji were also extremely shocked. Li Ran couldn’t help but ask, “Shier, how many Soul Beasts can you actually control?”

Guo Shier smiled faintly and said, “Seventy or eighty thousand should be doable!”

Li Ran rubbed his head, not knowing what to say. Seventy or eighty thousand Soul Beasts—if they attacked in an organized manner, even he would have to flee. That was beyond what human strength could withstand.

Zhen Wuji said, “You’re really twisted!”

Ruo Wangtian and Yao Zebusong were on the verge of going crazy. Who was this person? How could they release so many Soul Beasts again, making it impossible to breathe?

With a thought from Guo Shier, tens of thousands of Soul Beasts suddenly attacked, targeting the talismans set up. With a single strike, all the talismans were reduced to dust. He smiled and said, “Two paths… which one will you take, you two elders?” Although the talismans had been destroyed, no one dared to leave. Once the talisman gate opened, who knew if those flying Soul Beasts would attack?

Ruo Wangtian realized he had hit a wall this time. The consequences of not yielding were beyond what even a giant of the Yuanke Alliance could bear. After whispering a few words with Yao Zebusong, he asked with a pale face, “What do you want?”

Guo Shier couldn’t help but smile. Robbing was truly delightful. He said, “Materials. I need a large amount of materials… Well, consider it compensation from you…”

Ruo Wangtian snapped, “Compensation? What compensation?”

Guo Shier said, “I was almost scared to death just now, so… it wouldn’t be right not to demand compensation.” He bluffed loudly, and all the practitioners were stunned. Was that even a reason?