"Stubborn brat, I'll listen to you this time." Yan Huo used his spiritual sense to probe the cultivation levels of the two opponents, and in turn, they also assessed the strength of Yan Huo and Hu Bai.
"Hmph! One of them has just entered the Dao Solidification Stage, and the other is a mere beast at the mid-stage of Demon Transformation," said the man on the right with a cold sneer.
"Second Brother, don't underestimate them. If Second and Third were killed by them, they must have some skill. Perhaps they have a top-grade spiritual weapon," the elder, Mu Jun, warned.
"Top-grade spiritual weapon!?" Tu Jun was shocked.
"How could that be? How could they possibly have a top-grade spiritual weapon?" Tu Jun was visibly incredulous. Even their masters only possessed a single top-grade spiritual weapon, so how could these two young men have one?
"You forget, they are disciples of the old freak Chongyangzi. Do you really think that Chongyangzi wouldn't leave them some treasures for protection?" Mu Jun explained.
"Ha ha! How could I have not thought of that? A top-grade spiritual weapon, ha ha!" Tu Jun laughed excitedly. A fine spiritual weapon was something that every cultivator dreamed of.
"Second and Third really are useless. Even if the enemy has a top-grade spiritual weapon, they managed to bring down the two medium-grade spiritual weapons our masters secretly brought down from the mountain," Tu Jun grumbled, still agitated.
Mu Jun looked at Yan Huo and Hu Bai, saying, "We can't blame them. After all, their cultivation is weaker than ours, and they have a top-grade spiritual weapon to assist them. And who would have thought that they would have a fox who's reached the Demon Transformation stage? It seems that our two younger brothers died at its hands. Leave the fox to me, and you can deal with that brat. We still have to hurry back and protect the masters."
With that, the two slowly descended from the air and landed on a high building across from the Xiangque Tower. After retracting their flying swords, the one who resembled Pan An, Mu Jun, spoke.
"We are disciples of the Golden and Silver Holy Thrones. He is Tu Jun Wei Liuhen, and I am Mu Jun Si Tong. You killed our two junior brothers a few days ago. Since we are both cultivators, I do not wish to make things difficult for you. If you hand over the 'Escaping Heaven Five Elements Formation' manual and all your spiritual weapons, I will guarantee you a whole corpse."
"Strange! How did they know we killed Shui Huo and the others?" Yan Huo looked at Hu Bai and asked. He hoped Hu Bai could answer the question he had in his mind.
"How would I know how they know? Please, Junior Brother, it wasn't us—it was *you* who killed them," Hu Bai corrected him.
The truth behind this lay in the *mingpai*, or life tokens. Every sect crafted a life token for each disciple, which contained a trace of their spiritual energy. When a disciple was killed, their life token would break, and the sect would immediately know about their death.
"They talk about leaving us a whole corpse, but they just want us dead," Yan Huo muttered in his heart.
"Heh! So, you also want the formation and the spiritual weapons? Fine, of course, I can give them to you." Yan Huo grinned wickedly, adding, "But whether you have the ability to take them is another matter."
Tu Jun Wei Liuhen chuckled, "Such arrogance! Do you really not understand the gap between us? Be careful, you won't even know how you die later."
"I'm curious! How did you kill our junior brothers?" Mu Jun Si Tong asked coldly.
"How did we kill them? Ha! We just gave them each a sword and that was it," Yan Huo mocked.
"Each a sword!?" Mu Jun Si Tong's face darkened with anger. He could not believe such an absurd claim.
"Well, let me see how you managed that," he sneered.
A powerful aura surged from Mu Jun Si Tong, and his true energy erupted, fully covering his body. His energy rose like a raging tide, surging higher and higher, crashing against new peaks. At the same time, his flying sword floated above him, ready for combat. Mu Jun's eyes snapped open, and a blinding light shot out. Suddenly, a fierce wind began to howl, and debris flew everywhere, causing the soldiers below to fall into chaos as rooftops and walls crumbled.
With a mental command, his flying sword shot toward Yan Huo, as if a streak of light aimed directly at him.
"Change of plans. You go after the fox. I'll handle this arrogant brat," Mu Jun ordered.
As Mu Jun activated his powers, Hu Bai, having already transformed into his true form, dashed southward, his speed as fast as lightning.
"Hmph! How difficult could it be?" Tu Jun Wei Liuhen sneered before soaring into the air on his flying sword, swiftly pursuing Hu Bai. Meanwhile, Mu Jun's flying sword, like a falling star, pierced through the air toward Yan Huo.
"Boom!"
The five-story building was cleaved in two by Mu Jun's sword. Poor Chen Qing, who was still clinging to the rafters, never had a chance to scream. In an instant, both he and Xiangque Tower were reduced to rubble.
"Young Master!" The officers below, unable to evade, screamed in terror.
"Evacuate immediately!" A wise officer shouted. In his eyes, battles between cultivators were far beyond the comprehension of ordinary mortals.
"Where can you hide?! Come out!" Mu Jun coldly ordered.
After his first strike, Mu Jun realized that Yan Huo had vanished. His brow furrowed in surprise. Despite having locked onto Yan Huo with his spiritual sense, he hadn't anticipated such speed. Mu Jun broke into a cold sweat and quickly expanded his spiritual sense, searching for any trace of Yan Huo.
Suddenly, he spun around to see Yan Huo standing right behind him.
"Heh heh! You've finished your attack. Now it's my turn," Yan Huo laughed, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Dream on!" Mu Jun shouted coldly, not believing a word. But he remained on high alert, his entire body tensed.
"That's just a Dao Solidification kid with a mask. What's there to fear?" Mu Jun thought, dismissing the threat. But unbeknownst to him, Yan Huo had already removed his hat and replaced it with his silver mask.
Bare-handed, Yan Huo shot toward Mu Jun like a comet, closing the distance in an instant.
"Looking to die!" Mu Jun yelled as he summoned his flying sword once again to strike.
"Boom!"
In an instant, Yan Huo's sword, *Zi Qing*, glowed with a bluish-green light, and with a single swipe, Mu Jun's flying sword was shattered into pieces.