Thick clouds of purple fog hung above the moss-green forest grounds. Saint Realm experts stepped onto the void, using their various techniques to fly. All made possible by the weakened Mortal Laws that governed this world. In their Transdimension, Mortal Realm cultivators didn't have the qualification to surf the air with nothing but their pure power. Here, it was a bit different.
About fifteen of the hundred Saint Realm experts came from the Transcendent Factions and the Spectral Haven Sect. They were the only Transcendent to wear colorful robes of intricate designs and texture. The rest were savage old men with strong bodies, wearing various animal skins and leather. Some of them didn't even have shoes and others had pieces of flesh and drying blood splattered across their deep rich brown and rosette skin colors. Long nasty beards that never touched water since a thousand years ago dangled from their chins.
Aside from three Mortal Transcendents from the Transcendent Factions, the rest came with the barbaric experts flying in the sky.
Bai Yunru, a talent from the Spectral Haven Sect, dressed in their signature white robes, separated from the group. His hand held onto the hilt of a sheathed thin blue sword. His expression was as frigid as snow. The aura exuding from him hinted at his mastery of cold and iced-based spirit techniques. He condensed his entire aura toward the eighty-five other Saint Level Experts.
Instead of the blue shoulder pads worn by most disciples, his had blue with a few silver stripes, signifying his status as an Inner Court Disciple of the highest caliber, at least in the Mortal Realms.
Most Inner Court Disciples of the Spectral Haven Sect were Immortals, and few that weren't were total monsters within the Mortal Realms. With most of them having the combat power to battle Pseudo-Immortals to a draw.
Bai Yunru was a beast of a different caliber when compared to the others. He was only thirty, yet his combat power already reached past the threshold of the Mortal Realms sinking into the Human Immortal Realm. Weak Human Immortals were no match for him in drawn-out battles. And with all his trump cards on the table, he could fight a Mid Stage Human Immortal to a draw.
"We found this treasured temple first. And the treasures that lie within are not yours to claim. But ours," Bai Yunru spoke.
His voice was laced with absolute zero temperatures, freezing the air in front of him in seconds. The intent behind his words was clear, even if the drawl of his voice was emotionless.
"You foreigners come from nowhere and think that the lands given to us by our ancestors belong to you? Are you broken?"
A man as large as four humans standing side by side in width and as tall as an elephant flew out of the group of eighty-five Saint Level Experts and matched Bai Yunru's energy and aura. From head to toe, he was covered in ornaments and artifacts that jingled to the tune of the gentle breeze. From the teeth of ancient beasts to processed ores and artifacts, the man shone in natural light. He wore the hide of an ancient creature Bai Yunru recognized as the Arch Tiger, a species of Vicious Beasts that terrorized an entire era for decades. The crreature's hide could block attacks from Human Immortals with relative ease.
Only the one the man wore could at most withstand the attack of a few Pseudo-Immortals. Which would have been a problem for normal Saints.
He was different.
"You speak for your friends? Or would you like to die alone?" Bai Yunru didn't bother entertaining the man's thoughts.
"We have you outnumbered. No matter how talented you are. Numbers always win," Rubra, the native man that confronted Bai Yunru, said.
"How about we split the rewards? We can work together like civilized cultivators and split the rewards after exploring this temple. We'll split it down the line. Fifty-Fifty," Kun Hui, a prized member of the Kunpeng Clan, tried to ease the situation before it blew over.
His rotund physique jiggled with every word he spoke, and spoke he did. Every muscle on his face moved, telling an intricate story that could not leave out even a single detail. What his words spoke, his features added to. Kunpengs had a tendency to shy away from conflict. As long as that possibility existed they tried. But when things went south, they were counted among the top ten savage godbeasts.
"Do you take us for idiots?" A thin black man spotting long-tinted dreads wearing dull brown beastskin flew right next to Rubra.
He was called Afanzo by the natives, and one of their strongest warriors. The legends he created thousands of thousands of years ago still remained the centerpiece of their culture. He had a thick long beard that dangled all the way against his chest. His features were extremely handsome, only losing out to Long Wei's by a few notches.
"How can the split be so unfair? We are thousands. And you are only a few hundred counting the pitiful wastes of space below. We have more Experts in the Saint Realm. Hence a larger share of the pie should be ours. I suggest a ninety-ten split. Ninety is ours," Afanzo spoke with conviction and righteousness.
"Numbers? Since when did it matter? Lovely Yunru? Am I saying it right Bai Yunru? Lady Mo has a way with her voice," a fair young man with striking green eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses spoke from within the crowd behind Bai Yunru, "What matters is strength. And Strength alone. Your numbers? What a joke. Bai Yunru over there can take out all of your people before you can blink.
I'd listen to that fatso instead. Fifty-Fifty is pretty kind."
"Hmph," Bai Yunru scoffed.
He didn't have the energy to correct Tang Pengfei. Bai Yunru and Tang Pengfei had known each other for years. They were brothers, as close as a pair of conjoined twins. There was a moment when they hung out together every hour of the day. Ranging from training to eating and lastly sparring. Their bond transcended the realm of words and reached something deeper.
"Don't give me that~"
"Brother Feii, can you tone down the playing or whatever you are doing with Brother Bai. This is a serious predicament," Kun Hui pleaded. He even pressed his palms against each other and mimicked a tearful expression.
Tang Pengfei rolled his eyes and blew a strand of hair dangling at an awkward angle.
The savage natives on the other side of the air space didn't quite find the situation amusing. To them, it was disrespect of the highest caliber. Their prized fighters, heroes of the era, weren't given respect by the pale-skinned foreigners. Was that not mocking everything they stood for as the people?
"We speak no more." Rubra slammed his chest with a fist, "People of Umwazo. Let's rip these foreigners to threads..."
Before Rubra could finish his words a brilliant wave of chilling blue light swept out in all directions. It was a sudden flash that blinded all but a few experts.
One moment Rubra was urging his men to fight to the death and the next, total silence. Then last minute gurgles erupted as people behind Rubra choked on their own blood. The moss-green forests and grass below became tainted in the crimson liquid of fearsome warriors. Not a single native was spared from the gush of blue light. Even the poor Heavenly Door Realm cultivators were killed in an instant.
Rubra clogged the blood around his neck with a burst of qi, trying to save his head from sliding off his neck. With enough time his Saint Level Body would repair it.
Bai Yunru's thin blue sword clicked into place. An arrogant expression, one rife with aloofness only those born and raised with silver and golden spoons from the Heavenly Dao bore, appeared on his face.
"Noisy," Bai Yunru uttered a single word.
Tang Pengfei wasn't shocked at the outcome. He understood what was going to happen the moment Bai Yunru tried negotiating. Killing was no different from cutting trees and grass to him. He rarely thought too much about it. When something displeased him, he hacked his sword at it and called it a day. Paired with his night-insurmountable background, no one could complain.
"..."
Kun Hui opened and closed his mouth multiple times, his lips quivering. Weren't they just having a normal discussion a few seconds ago, he thought, what changed?
Afanzo was the only one not affected by the onslaught of blue light. He remained where he was, a frown dragging the corner of his lips down. He didn't make a move to defend his people, nor did he try to save them. He just watched ahead. Killing the Umwazo people in their territory was a sin the Heavens Never Ever Forgave. And these people would understand, what true fear meant.
Afanzo smiled.
The moment the blood of the Umwazo people tapped onto the floor a gush of bright orange light engulfed the entire hundred mile radius.