"Xue Tong!" the Third Elder cried out urgently. Although he agreed with Mu Xue Tong's reasoning—that what happened today was entirely the Sixth Elder's own doing—now was hardly the time to provoke him!

"Let me down! I'm not dead yet! Let me walk on my own!" The Sixth Elder roared in anger. "How I conduct myself is not for a junior like you to lecture me on! Even your master wouldn't dare speak to me like this. What right do you have! Before you speak, you ought to gauge your own standing; what qualification do you have to critique my methods!"

Mu Xue Tong's face went pale with anger, and she muttered inwardly, If you really had such backbone, you wouldn't have groveled before Ying Bokong earlier. Now you just take it out on me. Does anyone actually care if they carry you?

As Mu Xue Tong hesitated, the Sixth Elder on her back struggled free and managed to get onto the ground. However, this movement pulled at his broken bones, causing cold sweat to bead on his forehead. Injury was injury, after all.

"Truly spirited, hehe. A fitting elder of the Wind and Snow Silver City! If you had been this forceful earlier when facing that little eagle, if your conduct hadn't been so despicable, perhaps I might have admired you a little!"

Before the Third Elder could intercede, a sudden, cold voice sliced through the air, dripping with mockery. Simultaneously, a colossal pressure materialized out of nowhere between heaven and earth, crashing down. A masked man in black, appearing as if a deity had descended or a phantom had materialized, suddenly stood before them in an unnervingly strange manner. In his stern eyes flickered a chilling, icy glare.

"It's him! It's him!" Little Princess Han Yanmeng shrieked, trembling as she ducked behind the Third Elder, clutching the edge of his robe, her terror evident on her face. She was clearly terrified beyond measure of this sudden arrival. "It's him, he hurt Brother Xiaoshao, and—and he hit me!"

The Third Elder's heart sank!

What they feared most had arrived! The real trouble had finally come!

A nightmare potentially more terrifying than Ying Bokong had descended!

The high-ranking officials of Silver City clearly felt this overwhelming, astonishing pressure; all four were somewhat intimidated. Oddly enough, Little Princess Han Yanmeng appeared somewhat more composed. Although the young girl was indeed intimidated by the imposing aura of the man before her, her fear stemmed mainly from the deep impression left when he had brutalized Xiao Fengwu, and the slightly embarrassing memory of witnessing something so alien to her own make-up. Her actual fear of an irresistibly strong figure was minimal—perhaps this was the so-called "ignorance is bliss."

But the other three from Silver City were shrewd, experienced, and sharp-eyed observers. Judging by this burst of powerful aura, this mysterious master was clearly incandescent with rage, which was why he made no attempt to conceal his presence, allowing his momentum to soar as if intent on swallowing heaven and earth. Such a phenomenon undeniably signaled his deep malice toward their group.

This aura was identical to the one they had sensed when they first approached Tianxiang City—vast and boundless, like towering cloud-capped mountains or the immense deep sea, reaching from the highest heavens to the deepest abysses of the earth!

Unrivaled in its domineering nature, utterly irresistible!

This person must be the one who emitted that aura that day, and absolutely the peerless master who burned down the Maple Forest today! Upon initial contact, the Third Elder and the others were certain!

What they didn't know was that this immense aura was not something the main body of the great senior Master Jun possessed; rather, it was the vast field generated by Young Master Jun activating the Grandmist Pagoda. Since the Grandmist Pagoda was always situated within the great senior Master Jun's body, its activation naturally merged with Young Master Jun’s own aura, making it impossible for even the most astute master to discern the difference.

However, even though Young Master Jun could activate it, his current meager cultivation meant he could not control it freely. Whether he was feeling happy or intensely furious, the aura remained the same, with no variation whatsoever!

Yet, the surging might at this moment perfectly matched the enraged state of mind that the Third Elder and the others had deduced for this "master."

And this heaven-shaking might far surpassed that of even those among the Eight Supremes!

Comparing the gap between their most familiar figure, the Old City Lord Han Fengxue, and the man before them, the three were horrified to realize that even the City Lord, ranked third in the world, was, before this man, not quite an ant, but perhaps just a slightly robust infant. There was simply no possibility of comparison!

This realization utterly crushed the courage of the two Profound God Realm masters and the one Heavenly Profound Realm master to resist. The Sixth Elder, who bore the brunt of it, turned ashen-faced.

Such cultivation was likely beyond human reach. We are merely lambs awaiting the butcher's knife, the man is the cleaver?

The masked man in black's cold, sharp gaze swept over the four. His feet moved, closing the distance step by step, yet they emitted faint footfalls.

But these faint sounds shocked the Third Elder and the others far more than silence would have!

A master of this level should have already achieved the supreme state of walking on water or leaving no trace on snow. The fact that he was making audible steps indicated that his fury had reached an uncontrollable, terrifying degree!

It seemed that the possibility of the four leaving this place alive today was now as remote as scaling the heavens.

"Are all of you from the Wind and Snow Silver City?" The masked man in black stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking up at the sky as if intending to ride the wind away. His voice was clear, utterly devoid of earthly trace.

"We are, may I ask, Senior...?" The Third Elder forced himself to stand tall, respectfully still, and cupped his hands in greeting.

Facing such a powerful figure, any reverence was deserved and proper. Courtesy costs nothing. Being extremely respectful now could only benefit them.

"Oh," the masked man in black let out a long 'oh,' revealing neither pleasure nor anger. After a long pause, he murmured as if in a dream, "Long ago, I once had dealings with several generations of Silver City Lords, and I even met Han Fengxue once. Time flies; decades have passed. I never expected the Wind and Snow Silver City to have declined to such a state now! Is this the whims of fate, or is it truly as the mortal world says: wealth does not pass three generations?"

He shook his head, sounding deeply regretful, sighing, "Pitiable. Alas!"

"Since Senior was an old acquaintance of the Old City Lord, then we are certainly not strangers. Hehe." The Third Elder bowed even more deeply, yet his mind raced: Which Old City Lord was he referring to? The second generation? Or the first? Heavens above, this man must be at least one hundred and twenty years old!

Truly an unparalleled master!

"Previously, a junior from Silver City trespassed into the scope of my exertion, disturbing my practice, so I administered a small punishment. You, as his elders, instead of instructing your own descendants, merely act as accomplices. You flagrantly implicate those uninvolved! Is such wanton disregard the inherited custom of the Wind and Snow Silver City?" The masked man in black's voice gradually grew severe.

The Third Elder and the others felt their hearts pound with fear. Only Little Princess Han Yanmeng seemed utterly unconcerned by the danger, her eyes filled only with confusion. She felt an extreme sense of strangeness, unable to reconcile the image of the naked, violent man with this senior master radiating esteemed virtue and graceful composure.

Can this really be the same person? Is this peerless master, filled with an ethereal transcendence, truly that completely naked man of violence? If they are the same, why the such a massive contrast? Is it merely because he is now clothed?

The masked man in black spoke for a while, seemingly growing angrier, finally letting out a heavy snort. "I hear you are tracking me? Seeking revenge? I have delivered myself to your doorstep today, offering you that chance!"

"Heh heh, Senior, please forgive us. The root of this matter involved a young couple who accompanied us being taught a lesson outside. Although we have generally grasped the cause, as their elders, we could not simply ignore it. Furthermore, before we left, the Old City Lord and others in the city earnestly instructed us; if we have caused any offense, we beg Senior not to take it to heart." The Third Elder smiled slightly, neither denying the pursuit nor failing to offer a reasonable explanation.

Indeed, if one's child was bullied outside, how could the parent not investigate afterward? Even if they knew the whole story, they still needed to seek an explanation. The Third Elder was a veteran indeed; his words were flawless yet supremely respectful, leaving no weak point for the other to grasp.

"Is that so? If it were only that, I wouldn't take it too seriously. But you used the pretext of tracking me to go to the Jun family and act aggressively! If the Jun family was humiliated because of you, wouldn't that be my fault? A dignified Profound God Realm expert actually attacking a mere child! Don't you people have any shame left?"

The masked man in black's fury surged as he stared down the Sixth Elder. "Very well done, esteemed Profound God master, to injure a child! What mighty authority! What imposing spirit!"

"Senior, what you say may be too hasty; the Jun family and our Wind and Snow Silver City have long been entangled in old grievances with a deep history, the intricacies of which are too complex to explain in a few words. Since Senior is unfamiliar with the past causes and effects, judging us rashly is perhaps unbecoming of a great master's demeanor..."

The Sixth Elder coughed, but held his head high and did not retreat. The humiliation inflicted by Ying Bokong earlier had utterly destroyed his dignity. Having just come from the Jun family, he now faced an unprecedentedly terrifying, peerless expert demanding accountability. The Sixth Elder was close to a breakdown!

The Sixth Elder felt as though all the misfortunes in the world had converged upon him today; no matter what he said or did, it only got worse. Such repeated humiliation—he was utterly tired of living!

This infuriates me! Even if your cultivation is higher, at most you can kill me. I won't endure it any longer! Nothing is more serious than death, what else can you do? I'm squaring off against you!

"You mean to imply that I am meddling in affairs that don't concern me?" The masked man in black let out a heavy hum, then suddenly his body flickered, vanishing into thin air—completely gone without a trace.

A living person had been before their eyes one moment, and the next, he had disappeared so abruptly. Such lightness skill—forget having seen it, they had never even heard legends describing anything like it!

The Third Elder, possessing the highest cultivation, was the first to react. He was so startled his soul nearly fled his body, and he cried out involuntarily, "Senior, please have mercy!"