"Still the same words, how dare I, how dare I! This seat merely advises Venerable One to consider and reflect," Li Jue Tian's voice was steady. "Venerable Mei, Heaven and Earth cannot be lightly insulted, and the Sacred Lands cannot be casually spoken of! I fear you have already transgressed a taboo!"

"Heh heh, consider? Reflect? Taboo?! Li Jue Tian, do not overestimate yourself so much. When did this Venerable One ever pay heed to such taboos? Even if the Hidden Immortal Palace, the Supreme Golden Citadel, and the Dreamlike Blood Sea—the three great Sacred Lands—were to descend upon Heavenly Punishment all at once, what could they do to me?"

The voice roared with wild arrogance, "Eight years ago, a single word from my Mei family was enough to make Yun Bie Chen never dare to show his face in the mortal realm again. Today, I am just as confident in sending the three great Sacred Lands back from Heavenly Punishment in defeat!"

"Since Venerable Mei speaks thus, this Li shall wait and see," Li Jue Tian finished, his figure floating gracefully as he leaped down from the rooftop, signaling the end of the conversation.

A clear whistle echoed again from the distant woods.

Immediately following, a sound like mountains collapsing and seas overturning rumbled in a continuous barrage—East, West, North. Three directions roared simultaneously toward the heavens, sending clouds of dust surging upward, obscuring the sun, moon, and firmament.

Countless Xuan Beasts poured out of the forests like tides, marching in perfectly ordered ranks. Wave after wave galloped across the open ground outside the city, their direction singular: South.

It seemed the King of Heavenly Punishment was also drawing back his forces.

Yet, the presence of Xuan Beast forces from just these three directions made every single person in Tiannan City’s scalp tingle with dread!

To the East, dozens of great tigers, golden in hue with a sharp silver horn atop their heads, formed a single file. Leading the charge, at the very front of the formation, was a tiger king entirely covered in snow-white fur, but its horn was already golden. It streaked past like a gust of wind. Following it, various species of Xuan Beasts each formed a long, neat square formation, passing by as if reviewing a parade. At such lightning speed, this procession lasted a full hour.

"Ninth-rank Xuan Beast, the Golden Tiger!" Ying Bo Kong, standing behind Li Jue Tian, stared wide-eyed. "There are still so many of them! The leading Tiger King is likely already at the peak of the Ninth Rank..."

To the West, dozens of magnificent lions, appearing as if carved from white jade, took the lead, surging past in rolling waves.

"The Jade Lions of the West," Dongfang Wen Qing introduced heavily. These two knew that Jun Mo Xie was just starting out and certainly wouldn't recognize many high-level Xuan Beasts, so they deliberately explained things when he moved close to them.

To the North, heavy footsteps sounded as hundreds of massive bears led an army of tens of thousands of Xuan Beasts thundering past.

"The Mountain-Splitting Bear, also a Ninth-Rank Xuan Beast... The foundation of the Heavenly Punishment Forest is truly this deep!"

When these processions were about halfway through, suddenly, countless noses shot skyward from the thousands of mountains and ravines surrounding them. Instantly, like a hundred birds returning to the Phoenix, great birds of all colors wheeled in the sky. After a brief moment of confusion, various species clustered together, sweeping over Tiannan City like a tapestry of colored clouds.

"These are the flying Xuan Beasts—there are too many!" Dongfang Ran Dao sniffed, his eyes wide, his mouth practically splitting open to reveal his molars. "Every single one is above the Eighth Rank! My heavens... How could Li Jue Tian have provoked these ancestors? How could he summon such a grand display?"

The rustling sound in the forests continued, making one’s scalp crawl—the sound of crawling Xuan Beasts scraping the ground. Just listening to that incessant, rain-like noise, one could imagine how many there were.

Everyone, at some unknown moment, had already ascended to high ground, watching the incomparably spectacular scene with ashen faces. They watched these high-level Xuan Beasts, creatures whose appearance usually caused a sensation and drove up market prices to astronomical sums, now passing before them by the tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands...

God, this world had gone mad.

Among these thousands upon thousands of surging Xuan Beasts, not a single one was below the Sixth Rank!

Almost everyone’s mouth was slackened into an 'O' shape.

If one absolutely had to find an exception whose mouth wasn't shaped like an 'O', there was one: Young Master Jun Mo Xie. Although his eyes were fixed on all this, no one knew what was truly going through his mind.

At this moment, his mind was filled with countless question marks!

The entire world knew and accepted that the two pinnacle powers on the Xuan Xuan Continent were the Wind Snow Silver City and the Blood Soul Manor! No one could deny that the might of these two behemoth families was transcendent.

But now, from the mouth of this mysterious King of Heavenly Punishment, other names had appeared: The Hidden Immortal Palace, the Supreme Golden Citadel, and the Dreamlike Blood Sea!

What did these names represent? What did they imply? Where were these Three Great Sacred Lands? And how terrifyingly powerful were the people within them? Why had no one ever heard of these names before?

Recalling Li Jue Tian's earlier words—"Heaven and Earth cannot be lightly insulted, and the Sacred Lands cannot be casually spoken of"—even in the mind of a powerhouse like Li Jue Tian, these so-called "Three Great Sacred Lands" were elevated to the same level as Heaven and Earth!

What did this mean?

The world commonly recognized ten peak masters: the Eight Sovereigns, plus the Mad Wind Sword God Feng Juan Yun and the Assassin Supreme Chu Qi Hun. Compared to the powerful presence of the unseen Tian Jia Yuan that had just manifested, what were these others?

Anyone with ears could hear, and anyone with eyes could see, the overwhelming strength possessed by this foremost King of Heavenly Punishment!

"Eight years ago, a single word from my Mei family was enough to make Yun Bie Chen never dare to show his face in the mortal realm again. Today, I am just as confident in sending the three great Sacred Lands back from Heavenly Punishment in defeat!"

That sentence still echoed in the air.

A single sentence, just one sentence, could render Yun Bie Chen, the First Sovereign, never to show his face in the mortal realm again!

What kind of strength did that require?

While everyone else was filled with horror, Jun Mo Xie’s face remained as calm as still water. Yet, beneath the surface, a turbulent surge of emotion arose, breeding several new questions: Since this foremost King of Heavenly Punishment possessed such formidable power and had already decided to reveal himself, why wait a few more days until the war truly erupted to strike, delivering a devastating blow to the Allied Forces?

If he had done that, the Allied Forces would surely have suffered a fatal blow, perhaps even one significant enough to decide the final outcome of this Human-Beast War!

The conflict had been ongoing for nearly two months, and he had not appeared until now.

But why appear now? He had endured for two months; was he suddenly impatient for these few days?

It was undeniable that his appearance brought an incomparably powerful deterrent. That god-like, mythical strength, held high above as if dwelling among the clouds, was an indelible, heavy blow to all the masters of the Allied Forces! It exerted an irreversible, destructive effect on the morale of the Allied Forces!

But the problem was, he didn't need to do this at all. With that level of strength, what was there to fear? No matter how the Allied Forces attacked, they shouldn't have been on his mind! The moment he showed himself, it should have been enough to turn the tide, enough to change everything!

What, in the end, was this all for?

This series of 'whys' made Jun Mo Xie dizzy. He rubbed his eyes and discovered another strange thing.

As the Xuan Beasts retreated en masse to the South, almost everyone had moved to high vantage points to watch. But there was one person who remained standing on the spot, unmoved! At this moment, the silhouette of this person appeared so solitary and jarringly out of place!

It was a young man, standing tall beneath the banner belonging to the Baili Family. His face was utterly indifferent. His bearing, his expression, clearly conveyed one thing: I have absolutely no interest in these matters! Everything happening here is completely irrelevant to me!

Amidst this detachment, there was an underlying feeling of despair, as if nothing and no one in these surroundings still held any sway in his eyes!

Jun Mo Xie suddenly became intensely interested in this youth—extremely so!

For no other reason than that solitude, that indifference, it reminded Jun Mo Xie of his former self, adrift outside the masses, uncaring about everything. Hadn't he once been just like that?

Jun Mo Xie was undoubtedly a peculiar character, so he generally wasn't moved by common gestures of goodwill or solicitous behavior. What captured his attention were always the lonely ones!

Just then, Dongfang Wen Qing and the others had returned to his side. Upon realizing Jun Mo Xie was gone, they had immediately abandoned watching the Xuan Beast tide outside the city and rushed to find him.

To these three, the current Jun Mo Xie was a veritable treasure, a solid piece of gold. The three even imagined how overjoyed Old Madam Dongfang, his mother, would be when they brought back such an outstanding grandson. Moreover, since the heart connects mother and son, perhaps he could even awaken his little sister who had been in a deep sleep for ten years.

Thus, the three of them were like mother hens who had just hatched chicks, refusing to allow their nephew to stray outside their sight! Although his marvelous movement techniques ensured he could protect himself, the three remained uneasy. After all, people from the Wind Snow Silver City and the Blood Soul Manor were present. Those people had no regard for gentlemanly conduct. If any unexpected mishap occurred, they would truly have nowhere to weep.

So, the moment they noticed their nephew was missing, they immediately withdrew and came to Jun Mo Xie's side, finding that even such a spectacular scene outside could no longer capture their attention.

"Do you know who that person is?" Jun Mo Xie pointed toward the solitary youth standing below.

"Someone from the Baili Family; moreover, someone destined to be abandoned and discarded by the Baili Family. Why bother asking?" Dongfang Wen Dao glanced dismissively and replied.

"Why? Why is he destined to be abandoned and discarded? What is the reason?" Jun Mo Xie asked, perplexed.

"Look at the people who have come. None of the major families are fools; everyone understands the terror of a Xuan Beast tide. Although they were forced to send personnel to assist due to pressure from the Blood Soul Manor and Li Jue Tian, every family sent primarily peak Heaven Profound experts. Are there any weaklings? These powerful figures, even if they couldn't win, would still have many chances to escape, thus preventing too great a loss to their own strength. But, have you seen any family send young experts?" Dongfang Wen Qing’s face held a mocking look.

"To seek death? Cannon fodder?" Jun Mo Xie appeared somewhat surprised.