478: A century of seclusion among the icy peaks

A hundred years of time, in this dead silent Saint Fallen Space, was but a flick of a finger.

Xiao Zhuo slowly opened his eyes, divine light contained within them, as if countless tiny runes were constantly being born and destroyed, flowing ceaselessly.

After a hundred years of quiet meditation, he finally comprehended all ten thousand "Spirit Groups" contained within the halo on the Saint's chest, engraving them deep into his Sea of Consciousness.

His Divine Soul had been tempered through countless deductions, and he had already returned to the Heavenly Immortal realm. His perception of the Laws of Heaven and Earth had greatly improved, and the intensity of his Divine Thought had also significantly increased.

However, his cultivation remained at the Quasi-Immortal limit because he had never Undergone Tribulation. Yet, his Physical Body had reached the True Immortal level during these hundred years, and the first stage of the Free and Natural Heavenly Art had been completely cultivated.

He stood up, taking one last look at the majestic Saint's corpse, his gaze complex and reverent.

After a hundred years of contemplation, he became increasingly convinced that this Saint might not have truly fallen. He had no intentions regarding the Saint's corpse; the Karma involved was too great for him to bear.

He bowed solemnly to the Saint's corpse, then turned around. Silver light and even more profound Spiritual Root Runes flowed at his fingertips, easily piercing through the spatial membrane, and he left this Saint Fallen Space...

The moment Xiao Zhuo's aura reappeared in the Northern Region Ice Plains—

A hundred miles away, in an ice and snow Formation, Feng Qingxue suddenly opened her eyes. The replica of the sky patrol mirror in front of her vibrated violently, and a dazzling light spot on its surface suddenly lit up!

"He's out! Form the array! Lock onto him!" Feng Qingxue shrieked, the anxiety of a hundred years of waiting transforming into sharp killing intent.

Nine True Immortal Rank auras erupted, forming a battle array, like nine howling meteors, tearing through the sky and charging fiercely towards their target!

... Xiao Zhuo had just stabilized his figure when nine powerful killing intents locked onto him.

"Tianyi Immortal Dynasty, Heavenly Patrol Guard... So they've come after all?" His expression was calm, and his Divine Sense instantly perceived their true strength.

A battle array formed by one True Immortal Middle Stage and eight True Immortal Early Stage cultivators of the Immortal Dynasty, their Qi seamlessly integrated, exuding immense pressure, clearly not easy to deal with.

If he were to fight head-on, even with his numerous methods, it would be impossible for him to directly defeat or even eliminate these nine individuals in their array.

His advantage lay in his higher-level insights and the Spiritual Group Divine Ability he had just comprehended, which had not yet been tested in actual combat.

Spiritual Group was not only the foundation of the immortal root but also a Saint's Divine Ability.

A thought flashed through his mind: This was a good opportunity to test the power of this Spiritual Group Divine Ability.

Seeing the nine immortal lights closing in, and the powerful immortal force pressure squeezing in like a cage, Xiao Zhuo remained unhurried. He pointed his fingers like a sword, making a feint forward.

This time, what emerged from his fingertips was not mere immortal force, but a "Law-Breaking Spiritual Group"—nearly a hundred basic Spiritual Root Runes instantly combined in an extremely complex and profound manner!

A thread of light, as tiny as dust and appearing in a chaotic, void-like color, suddenly shot out. It had no earth-shshattering momentum; instead, it gave off an eerie feeling of devouring all energy and disintegrating all structures.

"Be careful! It's strange!" Feng Qingxue's Divine Sense was the strongest, and she was the first to detect the strange power contained within the light thread, immediately warning in a sharp voice.

The nine-person battle array glowed brightly, and the ice-blue immortal force barrier was as thick as a divine mountain, with layers of defensive runes lighting up!

Hiss—!

The moment the chaotic light thread struck the barrier, there was no violent explosion. Instead, it emitted a grating, corrosive sound.

The powerful barrier, which had condensed the power of nine True Immortals, had its immortal force Law in the contact area decomposed, annihilated, and turned into nothingness at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The barrier fluctuated violently, its light rapidly dimming, as if a chunk had been bitten off out of thin air!

Although it wasn't completely pierced through, it was clearly damaged. The nine people maintaining the battle array simultaneously felt a surge of chaotic immortal force and churning Qi and blood!

"What the hell is that?!" A Heaven Patrol Guard exclaimed in shock, his face filled with horror.

Their combined defense had been so greatly weakened by the opponent's casual strike?

A flicker of understanding and satisfaction passed through Xiao Zhuo's eyes.

"The power is acceptable. It focuses on breaking Laws and annihilating energy structures, but the consumption of the overall immortal force of the array is not fast enough to break it in one strike," he instantly assessed the effect of this Spiritual Group Divine Ability.

"Let's try this one next."

His hand gesture changed, and he spread his five fingers, pressing down on the Void Realm.

This time, it was not a single Spiritual Group, but hundreds of runes instantly combining, drawing upon the surrounding Space Law.

"Spiritual Group: Void Realm Shackles!"

In an instant, centered on Feng Qingxue and the other nine, the space within a hundred-zhang radius suddenly became incredibly viscous, as if it had transformed into an invisible quagmire!

Countless subtle, almost invisible spatial folds appeared in layers, frantically entangling and hindering their movements and even the speed of their immortal force circulation!

The nine immediately felt as if they had fallen into a deep-sea vortex. Their figures paused, and the circulation of immortal force within their bodies became sluggish. A noticeable delay appeared in the operation of their battle array!

"Space confinement? No, that's not right! It's stranger than ordinary space confinement!" Feng Qingxue's heart trembled. She fully unleashed her immortal force, attempting to break free from this strange binding power.

Xiao Zhuo nodded slightly: "A binding Spiritual Group combined with Space Law. The effect is good; it can effectively interfere with battle array coordination."

He could see that the opponents were only temporarily bound and would soon be able to forcefully tear open this Void Realm Shackles with their powerful immortal force. But this amount of time was already sufficient.

His objective had been achieved.

He had initially tested two different types of Spiritual Group Divine Abilities and gained an intuitive understanding of their power and characteristics.

At this moment, Feng Qingxue and the others had already forcefully shattered most of the Void Realm folds. The battle array's radiance once again became brilliant, and attacks imbued with anger began to brew.

"Fellow Daoist! You have not yet become a True Immortal; it's better to surrender!" Feng Qingxue's gaze was solemn as she spoke in a deep voice.

However, Xiao Zhuo no longer gave them a chance.

"The experiment is over. I'm not playing with you anymore."

He smiled faintly, a silver light flashed around him, and the power of his Space-Time Spiritual Root completely erupted.

The next moment, under the angry and unwilling gazes of Feng Qingxue and the nine others, his figure swayed gently like a reflection in water, becoming blurry, then completely merged into the Void Realm, disappearing without a trace.

Not even a ripple of space was left behind, as if he had never appeared.

All their attacks fell on empty air, causing the ice plains to crack and snow to fill the sky.

Feng Qingxue's face was ashen. Her Divine Sense frantically swept the surroundings, but she could no longer detect any trace of his aura.

On the replica of the sky patrol mirror in her hand, the light spot also completely dimmed and vanished.

"He got away again!" A Heaven Patrol Guard growled unwillingly.

Feng Qingxue clenched her fists tightly, her nails almost digging into her palms.

A hundred years of waiting, a single strike, not only failed to capture the opponent, but was instead toyed with as the opponent tested two unheard-of, bizarre Divine Abilities before leaving triumphantly!

This feeling of powerlessness and frustration almost drove her mad.

But what shocked her even more were the opponent's two Divine Abilities—that chaotic light thread that disintegrated immortal force, that strange spatial binding... completely beyond her scope of understanding!

"The fortune he obtained in that Secret Realm is far more terrifying than we imagined..." Feng Qingxue's voice was dry, her eyes filled with solemnity and a hint of unconcealed greed, "Report immediately! Transmit the recorded images of his Divine Abilities back to the Immortal Dynasty! This person's importance has far exceeded our estimates! We probably can't capture him! We must ask a Heavenly Immortal, or even a Profound Immortal, to act!"

She looked in the direction Xiao Zhuo had disappeared, her eyes complex.