60: Shameless old thief, white-haired man

Cold East Star gripped the hilt of his sword, his gaze fixed on the vaguely visible outline of the pavilions within the protective formation, his voice cold and authoritative:

"I only closed myself off for a few months, and my direct disciple's foundation was injured."

"If you don't give this old man an explanation today, I, Leng, will overturn this Tantai Family mountain!"

Spiritual energy surged around him, and the seventy-two sword lights suspended behind him hummed, each Cohesioning the sharp killing intent of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

In his opinion, Li Sanqian's crippling was no accident.

Although that boy was a bit arrogant, he was also a rare sword dao genius in the Immortal Academy, encountered only once in a century, and the protective magic treasure he wore was a high-grade Profound-tier item he had personally acquired. An ordinary Spirit Sea Realm cultivator couldn't harm him in the slightest.

It must have been those old rivals who had figured out the timing of his seclusion, deliberately setting a trap to humiliate his disciple, but in reality, they wanted to slap Cold East Star's face.

...

On the square in front of the Tantai Family ancestral hall, although the clansmen also looked at the suffocating pressure outside the formation, they were not as panicked as expected. A few young cultivators were even wiping their weapons, though their movements were slower than usual, with a hint of nervousness in their eyes, but more so, a sense of calm.

If it had been in the past, facing the deterrence of a Nascent Soul Realm mighty figure, they would have probably fallen into disarray long ago.

But now, with Su Chen, the unfathomable Old Ancestor, everyone had a sense of confidence and a backbone.

At this moment, Su Chen was in a bit of a dilemma.

He swiped his fingertip, bringing up the backpack interface:

"Normal: Thousand-Mile Instantaneous Talisman"

Effect: After activation, can ignore space confinement and instantly teleport a thousand miles away.

"Advanced: Heaven-Burning · Potential Burst Pill"

Effect: After consumption, forcibly raises three major realms for a quarter of an hour. (There is a very small probability of causing side effects, affecting the foundation.)"

"Supreme · Battle Assistance Gift Pack"

Realm suppression, forcibly pulling the enemy's realm to the same level as one's own.

"Supreme · Imperial Clan Inheritance Gift Pack"

"Profound Abyss Imperial Token" × 1: Summons the projection of the strongest historical figure of the family, effective for the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

Besides these gift packs, there were also 2 disposable items, "Imperial-tier Disguise Talisman." Although they were disguise talismans, for those below the Saint Realm, they had a 100% group suppression and control effect.

Su Chen clicked his tongue. For a Supreme Gift Pack, although it could easily resolve the situation, he felt it would be a bit of a waste to use it on this old man.

The "Potential Burst Pill" from the Advanced Gift Pack was not bad. He glanced at the red-haired, golden-eyed young girl not far away, who was staring intently at the sword light outside the formation—this pill might allow her to temporarily match a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, but if it damaged her foundation, it wouldn't be worth it.

"Still too little stocked," Su Chen muttered to himself, then shook his head, "Can't always rely on old reserves; I still have to rely on myself."

Thinking of this, Su Chen leaned into Tantai Lie's ear and whispered a few words.

"Call the young lads over and do as I say."

...

Cold East Star stood with his hands behind his back outside the formation, the sword lights behind him still suspended, but no longer as restless as before.

He had calmed down quite a bit and began to carefully ponder this Tantai Family.

The other party seemed to be just an ordinary eighth-rank humble family, with the strongest in their clan being only in the Spirit Sea Realm. Logically, he could crush them with a flick of his finger.

But this protective formation exuded an oddity; his divine sense couldn't penetrate it!

What level of formation was this?

Furthermore, that purple-haired girl just now, at the same realm, had crippled his precious disciple with a single finger.

Didn't this mean that the girl was an even more talented existence than his disciple?

He gradually began to have second thoughts, somewhat wanting to go back and ask the Immortal Academy's Headmaster to ascertain the Tantai Family's background before making a decision. After all, Li Sanqian was merely his direct disciple; though close, he was not his biological son.

Even if there was only a slight risk, it wasn't worth gambling his own cultivation path for him.

Just as his thoughts stirred, he suddenly saw more than twenty young cultivators, dressed in brand-new black armor, appear on the Tantai Family's square, clutching something in their hands.

The next moment, without any warning, the buzzing of the amplification talismans pierced through the clouds:

"Cold East Star! When you stole the Li family's matriarch, did you use this Imperial Sword Art?"

"Immortal Academy students, listen up! Your Vice Dean Cold East Star, locked young female students in the back mountain and forced them to learn cultivation techniques!"

"Was the cuckold's hat on your disciple Li Sanqian's head woven by your own hands?"

"Shameless old thief, white-haired scoundrel, how dare you act so presumptuously and bark!"

"You're still being too reserved in your insults — Cold East Star, WCNMD * 100 (repeated)"

Filthy insults rained down like hail outside the formation. The spiritual power amplification of the talismans made each word resonate with a deafening hum, and the curses echoed through the valley, clearly audible for hundreds of miles around.

The flying swords behind Cold East Star suddenly trembled violently, some even losing control and plunging into the ground.

He was shocked, "How do they know about me and the female student cultivating in the back mountain!"

The other family heads standing together on the square were instantly dumbfounded:

"Oh, my heavens, help!" The old man from the Zhang family's legs went soft with fright, and he collapsed to the ground, his face ashen, "They're crazy! The Tantai Family truly doesn't want to live!"

"Quick, let us out!" Another family head frantically slapped the light curtain of the protective formation, his voice tearful, "When the sword domain explodes later, we'll all be buried with them!"

Su Chen stood in front of the ancestral hall, looking at Cold East Star's livid face outside the formation, and smiled contentedly. The "boss's" aggro was firmly drawn.

"Truly good sons of our Tantai Family," he said to Tantai Lie beside him, "Little Lie, these young people should be heavily rewarded."

Tantai Lie nodded mechanically, his face still showing a bewildered expression. From receiving Su Chen's command until now, his mind was still a mess. The Old Ancestor's move was too... unexpected. But he knew that he would not question the Old Ancestor's words, nor did he want to; just execute them, and it would be done.

Cold East Star's face slowly turned from ashen to purplish-red, and the veins on his forehead throbbed. He had already intended to leave, but he hadn't expected the other party to humiliate him so. As a teacher his entire life, highly respected, he had never suffered such an insult. Especially with those amplification talismans, which made his ears buzz and even made the circulation of his spiritual power somewhat sluggish.

"You... you..." He pointed at the young people inside the great formation, trembling with rage, but couldn't think of a single word to retort.

"How dare you, you brat!" In the end, that was all he could squeeze out.

The next second, countless sword intents erupted from his body. The flying swords originally belonging to other cultivators were actually drawn by an invisible force, breaking free from their masters' control and converging towards him. These flying swords collided and merged in mid-air, finally forming a sword dragon ten feet long.

The sword dragon was surrounded by seventy-two sword lights. When its dragon head opened, what dripped from its fangs was not saliva, but dewdrops condensed from air shredded by sword intent.

"Roar —"

The sword dragon let out a deafening roar and plunged fiercely towards the protective formation. Wherever it passed, rocks were pulverized by invisible sword qi, leaving a deep gully on the ground.

"Bang bang bang!"

The sword dragon continuously slammed into the formation's light curtain, emitting dull thuds. It seemed to be a mighty display, but the protective formation didn't even show the slightest ripple.

For this Saint-tier formation, the attack of a Nascent Soul Realm sword dragon was merely a tickle.

Just as the sword dragon hit the light curtain for the third time, a clear system notification finally sounded in Su Chen's mind:

"Ding ~ Detected that the player has encountered a crisis (Nascent Soul Realm suppression) with a game difficulty far exceeding the current stage, triggering a limited-time Supreme Rescue Gift Pack!"

"Gift pack options generating..."

"I tricked another gift pack!"