167: The steadfast defense of the isolated island and the return of the woman in blue.

Tianxing City, Fiftieth Floor.

The once bustling streets were now a scene of utter ruin. Amidst the broken walls and shattered pillars, only a solitary small courtyard remained standing, tightly protected by a thick, starlight-shimmering Formation barrier.

[Qingyun Recycling Station].

This was the Star Palace's last stronghold on the Fiftieth Floor, a nail driven into the throat of the Reverse Star Alliance.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Dozens of multicolored rays of light from Magic Treasures bombarded the starlight Formation like a violent storm. Each impact caused the light barrier to tremble violently, emitting a groaning sound of being overwhelmed.

Inside the Formation, the front hall.

"Puh!"

Ling Yunxiao spat a mouthful of blood onto the Formation Plate.

Twenty years had passed. The brash youth of the past was now a middle-aged man with temples streaked with white. His left sleeve hung empty (it had been severed during a breakout attempt five years ago), and a hideous scar ran across his face.

But his eyes were even more resolute and ruthless than before.

"Shopkeeper! The Formation's energy is below ten percent!"

Beside him, Lei San, now hunched over like a shrimp, was frantically feeding Spirit Stones into the Formation's core. "Those bastards used a 'Restriction-Breaking Pearl'! Our turtle shell can't hold much longer!"

"It has to hold!"

Ling Yunxiao formed a Seal with his single hand, desperately stabilizing the Formation Plate. "Old Man Han entrusted this shop to me before he left. If I lose it, I wouldn't have the face to see him even in the Yellow Springs!"

"Heheh, kid Ling, don't force yourself."

A maniacally arrogant laugh came from outside the courtyard.

A black-robed, Early Stage Nascent Soul old man with golden embroidery was hovering mid-air, toying with two pitch-black skulls in his hands.

Reverse Star Alliance Elder — [Skeleton Old Demon].

"I gave you a chance. Hand over the copy of that 'Hidden Dragon List' and surrender all the inventory in this shop, and I'll let you keep your corpses intact."

Skeleton Old Demon stared malevolently at the small courtyard below.

For these twenty years, the Reverse Star Alliance had been trying to uproot this stronghold. Not only because it guarded the vital passage to the upper floors, but also because of the rumor that this unremarkable recycling station hid a massive Treasure Trove left behind by that "Green Robe Old Demon."

"Dream on!"

Ling Yunxiao spat a bloody mouthful. "Want to come in? You'll have to step over my corpse first!"

"Stubborn fool."

Skeleton Old Demon's face darkened. "Since you wish to die, I'll grant your wish!"

"All Disciples, heed my command! Form the 'Myriad Bones Soul-Devouring Formation'! Smash this turtle shell to pieces!"

"Yes!"

Hundreds of demonic Cultivators roared in unison. Countless vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts converged into a colossal bone hammer, which smashed down fiercely upon the already teetering light barrier.

Kaboom!

A deafening explosion.

The [Cloud Seal Star Concealment Formation] that had held for a full twenty years finally shattered at this moment, like broken glass.

"Kill!"

As the Formation broke, hundreds of demonic Cultivators charged into the courtyard like wolves and tigers.

"Lei San! Activate the self-destruct Restriction!"

A flash of resolve crossed Ling Yunxiao's eyes. He pulled out a red jade talisman from his robes—this was a detonation talisman connected to the underground Spiritual Vein node.

Even in death, he couldn't let Old Man Han's legacy fall into the hands of these bandits!

"Alright! Let's blow them all to hell together!" Lei San also wore a ferocious expression, ready to press the trigger.

However.

At this critical juncture.

"Hummm—"

A strange fluctuation suddenly emanated from the underground chamber in the backyard.

This fluctuation wasn't a destructive explosion, but rather... an extremely pure and vast spatial tremor.

Immediately after.

A dazzling silver pillar of light shot up from the backyard without warning, instantly piercing through the roof and soaring into the clouds!

The hundreds of demonic Cultivators who had just charged into the courtyard, weapons raised, were swept by the residual waves of this light pillar. They instantly stiffened, as if paralyzed.

"This is... the light of a teleportation Formation?!"

Skeleton Old Demon hovering in the air, his pupils constricting sharply. "How is that possible?! The space of Tianxing City has long been sealed by the 'Sky-Locking Grand Formation.' How could any teleportation Formation still activate?!"

Unless... it was a super-long-distance fixed-point teleportation... of a higher level than the Sky-Locking Grand Formation!

The light pillar dissipated.

In the backyard, the door to the basement, sealed for twenty years, slowly opened.

"Creeeak."

The heavy scraping sound was exceptionally clear at this moment.

Tap, tap, tap.

Footsteps sounded.

Unhurried, each step seemed to fall in sync with everyone's heartbeat.

The first to emerge was a steel giant, over ten feet tall, covered entirely in pitch-black dragon-scale armor, its eyes burning with five-colored flames.

In its hand, it held a still-dripping... giant bone sword.

That was the upgraded version of [Tie Zhu].

Immediately after.

A young man in green robes, with handsome features and an indifferent expression.

His hands were clasped behind his back. His gaze swept over the devastated courtyard, over the one-armed Ling Yunxiao, and finally settled on the arrogant Skeleton Old Demon in the air.

The air froze in that instant.

Ling Yunxiao stared dumbfounded at that familiar yet unfamiliar figure, tears instantly welling up in his eyes.

Although the figure looked much younger, the aura that made him feel both safe and awed had never changed.

"Old... Old Man Han?"

Ling Yunxiao's voice trembled, the detonation talisman in his hand clattering to the ground.

Zhou Wannian (Han Li) did not speak.

He looked at Ling Yunxiao's empty sleeve, a flash of bone-chilling coldness passing through his originally indifferent eyes.

"Who did it?"

Just three simple words.

Yet they sent a chill shooting up Skeleton Old Demon's spine from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

"You... Who are you?!" Skeleton Old Demon blustered, trying to sound fierce. "I am an Elder of the Reverse Star Alliance..."

"I asked you."

Zhou Wannian raised his head, his starry eyes like abysses firmly locking onto Skeleton Old Demon.

"Who cut off his hand?"

"Hmph! Pretending to be mysterious!"

Skeleton Old Demon, after all a Nascent Soul Cultivator, quickly regained his composure. "Since you've crawled out of this rat hole too, then die with them! Myriad Bones Hammer! Fall!"

He waved both hands. The colossal bone hammer, accompanied by a howling Yin wind, smashed down viciously towards Zhou Wannian.

Zhou Wannian didn't move.

He didn't even blink.

"Star Lord."

Boom!

A black shadow shot out from Zhou Wannian's shadow, instantly appearing beneath the falling bone hammer.

It didn't use a weapon.

It merely extended a withered, skeletal palm and gently caught the mountain-like hammer as it descended.

Thud!

A dull thump.

The Nascent Soul-level Magic Treasure attack, powerful enough to shatter a mountain peak, was held perfectly still in mid-air by that withered palm.

"What?!"

Skeleton Old Demon's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Shatter."

The Star Lord Clone clenched its five fingers abruptly.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The top-grade Magic Treasure bone hammer crumbled like brittle biscuit in the Star Lord's hand, disintegrating into a cloud of bone dust.

"Puh!"

His Lifebound Treasure destroyed, Skeleton Old Demon spat a mouthful of blood and turned to flee.

"This isn't human! It's a monster! Retreat! Quick!"

"Retreat?"

Zhou Wannian gave a cold laugh.

"You wrecked my shop, hurt my people, and still think you can leave?"

"Great Geng Sword Formation · Rise."

Hum!

Zhou Wannian did not summon any Flying Swords.

He merely willed it.

Suddenly, countless golden threads, fine as gossamer, materialized in the air for a hundred miles around.

These golden threads normally remained invisible. Now, driven by Zhou Wannian's immense Nascent Soul Stage Divine Sense, they bared their ferocious fangs.

Seventy-two [star thunder bee cloud swords] had already filled the Void Realm of the entire Fiftieth Floor the moment he emerged from seclusion.

"Slash."

Zhou Wannian gently drew his finger downward.

"Sssshhhh—"

A dense, ripping sound filled the world.

The hundreds of Reverse Star Alliance demonic Cultivators who had been so arrogant moments before—whether running on the ground or flying in the air—

Their bodies all froze at the same time.

Then.

Like toppling dominoes.

Every single body was cleanly bisected along the same horizontal line.

The blood didn't even have time to spray before it was instantly vaporized by the Evil-Warding Divine Thunder attached to the sword threads.

As for that Skeleton Old Demon.

He had just teleported a hundred zhang away when he was forced out of the Void Realm by an impenetrable golden sword net.

"No! Fellow Daoist, spare me! I am..."

Swish!

The sword net contracted.

Skeleton Old Demon's voice cut off abruptly.

His Nascent Soul had just fled his body when it was seized by a starlight giant hand that appeared out of thin air.

Zhou Wannian made a grasping motion from afar, pulling the struggling Nascent Soul before him.

"Now, you can answer my question."

Zhou Wannian looked at the tiny figure in his hand, his tone so gentle it was chilling.

"Which 'hero' of your Reverse Star Alliance cut off Ling Yunxiao's hand?"

Skeleton Old Demon's Nascent Soul trembled violently, its eyes filled with terror. "It... it was the Grand Disciple of Ancestral Master Extreme Yin! The current Island Lord of Black Rock Island! It wasn't me!"

"Very good."

Zhou Wannian nodded, casually slapped a sealing talisman onto the Nascent Soul, and tossed it into his Storage Pouch.

"Debts have their creditors, vengeance has its targets."

"But the interest..."

Zhou Wannian turned, looking at the corpses littering the ground and the Qingyun Recycling Station stained red with blood.

"...I've collected a bit today."

He walked up to Ling Yunxiao, looking at this old comrade who had followed him for decades.

"Old... Old Man Han..." Ling Yunxiao wept openly, tears streaming down his aged face. "You've finally returned... I thought..."

"Stop crying, it's embarrassing."

Zhou Wannian pulled out a bottle of Medicinal Pills (a supreme healing elixir refined from void heaven cauldron waste slag) from his Storage Pouch and tossed it to Lei San.

"Treat your injuries first."

"As for this severed arm..."

Zhou Wannian patted Ling Yunxiao's shoulder.

"Don't worry."

"I'll get you a better one."

"I recall seeing a section of 'Heavenly Demon Bone Arm' in that Skeleton Old Demon's Storage Pouch. It'll be perfect for you."

After saying this.

Zhou Wannian looked up, gazing at the sky sealed by the starlight Formation overhead (that was the Star Palace's inner city).

And into the distance, at the various spies watching from afar, trembling.

Zhou Wannian took a deep breath. His voice, infused with the terrifying Spiritual Pressure of the Nascent Soul Stage, instantly spread throughout the entire Fiftieth Floor of Tianxing City, even diffusing towards the higher floors.

"Tell Extreme Yin. Tell Six Paths Extreme Sage."

"Qingyun Recycling Station, from today onward..."

"...is open for business as usual."

"We recycle old Magic Treasures. We recycle waste Medicinal Pills."

"Of course..."

A cruel smile curled at the corner of Zhou Wannian's mouth.

"...we also recycle... the heads of Nascent Soul Stage old monsters."

"Clearly priced, fair to all."

On this day.

The "Green Robe Old Demon," missing for twenty years, declared his kingly return on the Fiftieth Floor of Tianxing City.

The entire Chaotic Star Sea was shaken.