The tomes here are far too precious. Even Zhuo Shengfeng himself would find it unbearable if a single one were truly destroyed.

So, he deliberately yielded the path, allowing the intruder to escape, yet he held absolute confidence that if the person managed to flee this room, he could certainly intercept them midway.

At this moment, his claws were already saturated with true qi, erupting with unstoppable force.

He Yi Ming’s body, suspended in mid-air, paused momentarily, as if bound tightly by a pair of invisible, massive hands.

But he showed no panic. With a flick of his wrist, two wooden boxes spun rapidly backward.

The sneer on Zhuo Shengfeng’s face instantly solidified. Anger surged within him; this person, even while fleeing, had not forgotten to take two secret manuals—this was utterly intolerable arrogance.

Releasing one hand, he summoned with an empty draw, lightly guiding the two wooden boxes into a corner. However, his vision blurred, and immediately two more wooden boxes hurtled toward him like projectiles.

Zhuo Shengfeng’s face turned ashen. How many manuals had this person managed to take?

He silently vowed that once he captured the intruder alive and removed their venomous fangs, he would make them wish for death but be unable to attain it.

He swept his wrist, emitting a gentle force that guided these two wooden boxes away. But this time, he was prepared; he suspected the manuals in the intruder’s possession were not limited to just four.

A flash of dark light in his eye confirmed it: there were more.

Yet, as he extended his hand this time, he suddenly realized something was wrong. What was rapidly enlarging in his vision was not a wooden box, but a dark, menacing trident-like sword (chā jiàn).

This trident-sword appeared silently, like a viper lurking in the shadows, striking out its tongue and revealing its fangs at the last possible moment, lunging fiercely at him.

Zhuo Shengfeng’s heart tightened. From this strike, he felt a formidable power, a sharpness so acute it evoked in him a faint sensation of facing death.

Since ascending to the Venerable realm and entering secluded cultivation here, he had not experienced such a feeling for over a hundred years.

His eyes immediately darkened. A beam of white light instantly manifested on his right hand, coalescing into a long sword.

The tip of his sword flicked out, producing a crisp ding sound as it deflected the viper-like trident-sword.

However, Zhuo Shengfeng felt no joy. To resort to drawing a weapon against someone who was clearly not a Venerable was an embarrassing disgrace.

But for some inexplicable reason, upon seeing this sudden trident-sword, his sense of danger surged dramatically, compelling him to use a weapon almost without conscious thought.

The very instant he deflected the trident-sword, He Yi Ming, who had been held fast before him, suddenly exerted force. Taking advantage of Zhuo Shengfeng’s focus being largely concentrated on the deflection, his qi erupted violently in an instant, shattering the confinement and causing him to bolt through another grand door like a fleeing arrow.

Zhuo Shengfeng snorted coldly, his body shuddered, and he immediately gave chase.

As he exited the doorway, his gaze swept across the trident-sword one last time.

He could not fathom why he had become so cautious of this unremarkable trident-sword, as if it were something more terrifying than the man in black. He had clashed with the Forked-Sword Assassins of the Yellow Springs Sect before ascending to the Venerable realm, but he had never felt this way.

Simultaneously, he found the actions of the man in black in front of him utterly incomprehensible.

In his memory, this trident-sword was the second life to a Forked-Sword Assassin. The sword exists, the man lives; the sword is lost, the man dies—this was deeply ingrained in the very bones of these assassins. Yet, at a critical juncture, the other party unhesitatingly hurled this weapon out as a projectile. This act equally defied his expectations.

Still, at this moment, he couldn't dwell on such subtleties. His figure blurred and vanished from the room.

After they had all departed, the trident-sword on the floor unexpectedly moved. It transformed into a puddle of liquid, swiftly flowing toward the exit of the room, vanishing along the dimly lit corners.

※※※※

The two figures, one leading and one following, shot out like arrows loosed from a bowstring, instantly traversing from the fifth floor to the first, and then dashing out from one of the main tower entrances.

The tower possessed twelve entrances. Though night had fallen, each entrance was guarded by one disciple at the Ninth Layer of Inner Strength and three at the Eighth Layer.

They stood facing forward, eyes keenly observing the front, when they suddenly sensed movement behind them. Before they could react to what had happened, the four men at one entrance felt a sharp constriction around their necks, then were flung backward as if soaring through the clouds.

The moment a cry of surprise escaped their lips, they felt a gentle push on their backs, and then they were standing steadily.

From start to finish, they never knew what occurred; in the blink of an eye, they had been removed from their original positions and were now standing steady in the central area of the tower.

The four exchanged glances, a chilling coldness shooting up their spines to their minds.

Then, they heard a sharp, piercing long cry echoing from outside the tower.

This cry sliced through the silence of the night sky, sending the entire Spirit Sky Treasure Hall into an uproar.

Jin Zhanyi sprang up from beneath him as if his backside were fitted with springs. He leaped out the door and glanced toward He Yi Ming’s room.

From there came a rhythmic sound of air being broken, like the ticking of a machine.

Jin Zhanyi had personally witnessed He Yi Ming executing the initial moves of the Thirty-Six Forms of Mountain Splitting the previous night, so even with his eyes closed, he knew the young expert in the room was continuously cycling through forms one through twenty-three.

However, during this repetition, He Yi Ming was not employing his Inner Strength, merely linking the forms in succession. From the first stance to the twenty-third, and then immediately starting again from the first, repeating this cycle endlessly.

Although Jin Zhanyi did not understand the benefit of such cultivation, those who reached their level of attainment each had unique training methods suited specifically to them, so Jin Zhanyi had no intention of interrupting the practice.

But upon hearing the long cry that sounded like a warning signal, he hesitated before speaking: “Brother He.”

The sounds of punches and kicks within stopped, followed by He Yi Ming’s displeased voice: “Brother Jin, what is it?”

Jin Zhanyi clearly detected the irritation in the voice—the inevitable reaction when anyone is interrupted during cultivation. He was certain that if he hadn't spoken up, He Yi Ming might have turned hostile on the spot.

With a wry smile, Jin Zhanyi said, “Brother He, someone has invaded our Spirit Sky Treasure Hall. Uncle-Master Zhuo is personally giving chase. Are you interested in coming along?”

He Yi Ming’s response came immediately: “Brother Jin, I have no interest.”

With that, the sound of air being broken by fists and feet resumed from inside. He had clearly resumed his practice, making it obvious he wanted nothing to do with external affairs.

Jin Zhanyi shook his head slightly. He soared upwards, and as he moved through the air, space around him rapidly contracted. By the time his feet touched the ground, he was already scores of feet away.

However, he did not realize that the person in the room, while appearing to be He Yi Ming, had an incredibly rigid expression.

After an unknown period, a stream of liquid seeped out from under the door, flowing into the room and surging toward He Yi Ming.

This He Yi Ming stopped his movements, lowering his gaze. Half of one of his feet was missing. The liquid flowed to the gap at his foot, instantly adhering to it, completely restoring the missing part.

Then, he lifted his head, his eyes brightening, shining like twin suns.

※※※※

On the other side of the tower, the Qilian Twin Devils rose almost simultaneously. Their eyes fixed on the source of the cry, alight with eager excitement.

The voice of another elder suddenly rang out: “What are you doing? Do not forget, this is the Spirit Sky Treasure Hall, not your blessed cave sanctuary. Do not go out looking for trouble.”

The Qilian Twin Devils exchanged a glance and reluctantly sat back down.

The Great Devil said in a deep voice, “Master, listening to that cry, it sounds like someone is calling for aid.”

Although every sect had slightly different distress signals, most were generally similar.

The elder nodded slowly. “Correct. This is the distress and warning cry of the Spirit Sky Treasure Hall, and the one issuing it is a Venerable.”

“A Venerable?” The Qilian Twin Devils looked at each other, the hint of horror evident in their eyes.

Even a Venerable calling for help—this was truly hard to accept.

The elder frowned, softly chanting several names. But soon, he crossed these names off his list. Although these individuals had been powerful masters renowned across the lands hundreds of years ago, the elder firmly believed they would never dare provoke the Spirit Sky Treasure Hall now.

After a long pause, the elder sighed deeply. “Chaos erupts in the West; could it be the Venerables of the West…”

Following Zhuo Shengfeng’s long cry, the entire tower was thrown into commotion.

Although no one knew precisely how many old monsters of the Venerable realm resided in the Spirit Sky Treasure Hall, these elders recognized Zhuo Shengfeng’s voice. As the Venerable guarding the Armory, although his cultivation wasn't top-tier among these powerful figures, his responsibility was the most critical.

In mere moments, several figures flashed past the Armory doors. They entered and immediately saw the devastation within the book repository, causing the expressions of all present to darken.

Two among them exchanged a look, and without a word, they turned and left.

The others opened the other main door, where the divine weapons and sharp implements were stored, and only then did they breathe a small sigh of relief; at least the divine weapons had suffered no loss.

During the subsequent inspection, they discovered that although most of the wooden boxes had been displaced, the books within were intact—a small consolation amidst misfortune.

Even so, their faces were grim. Someone had dared to target the Armory of the Spirit Sky Treasure Hall; this was absolutely intolerable.

Their gazes turned in one direction. Three Venerables had gone out in pursuit; they should apprehend the intruder swiftly, one would think.

Ps: Second update, three more tonight^_^