Four colossal serpents, as if hearing a divine decree, raised their heads and shrieked.

Instantly, a surging mass of snakes gathered outside the city walls, their chilling hisses rising one after another. Three Heavenly Spirit Realm experts simultaneously materialized on the east, south, and north city walls.

"Crack!"

A bolt of lightning, dozens of meters thick, suddenly erupted in the void. It then burst forth with a roar, bathing the entirety of Jiyang City in brilliant, crackling thunderlight. The three figures—She Jun, She Jian, and She Na—who had just appeared on the walls seemed to be struck by an immensely powerful force, instantly driven back several thousand meters.

At almost the same moment, the hordes of snakes near the walls were torn apart by the pervasive lightning, disintegrating into fine dust.

"Spirit Masters within the city, hasten to the west side!"

Immediately afterward, Suda’s vigorous, resonant voice shook heaven and earth. The Spirit Masters inside Jiyang City awakened one after another, surging towards the west side of Jiyang City from all directions.

"Trying to run now? Too late!" Watching the torrent of people flooding the city alleys, She Jun's pupils gleamed with a sinister smile. His monstrous maw opened again, unleashing a blood-red hurricane that roared outward. Last time, the hurricane targeted the west side of the city, but this time, as soon as the tempest appeared, it swept wildly outwards in all directions.

"Too late? Not at all!"

Just then, an angry roar exploded across the firmament, and three figures streaked towards them from a thousand meters away.

The instant the sound echoed, a verdant shadow materialized above Jiyang City—it was a green tree, dozens of meters tall. Upon appearing, the tree rapidly expanded: twenty meters... fifty meters... one hundred meters... in the blink of an eye, the colossal tree towered over three hundred meters high.

Its branches stretched and angled wildly, its green leaves blotting out the sky, while gnarled, ancient roots extended diagonally in every direction, resting upon the four walls of Jiyang City, virtually enveloping the entire metropolis.

"Whoosh!"

The giant tree trembled slightly, and with a sound like the earth splitting, a violent roaring noise resonated from the swaying foliage. A terrifying suction force surged forth, instantly drawing in the blood-red hurricane swirling everywhere, absorbing it into the endless expanse of leaves.

The next moment, the three figures also arrived above Jiyang City simultaneously, landing respectively on the east, south, and north city walls. They were a young man in his early twenties and two mature, stunningly beautiful women.

They were Nie Kong, Mu Qingyi, and Mu Jinzhu—and the hundreds-of-meters-tall giant tree hanging over Jiyang City was Mu Xueyi, manifested in the form of her "Ancestral Heaven Divine Luo Tree" Heart Aspect.

Everyone within the city, as well as the few Spirit Masters lingering on the walls, was utterly dumbfounded.

After hearing the voice from the horizon, they hadn't even fully processed the situation before Jiyang City was obscured. The Spirit Masters on the walls could still vaguely glimpse portions of the giant tree, yet their spirits trembled in awe. Those inside the city, however, only saw the dense cluster of massive roots overhead, leaving them paralyzed with terror, their thoughts momentarily suspended.

"Greetings, Clan Leader, greetings, Ninth Elder."

Nie Kong let out a soft breath and bowed slightly toward Nie Qingsong and Nie Xingdong, who stood frozen on the city wall.

"Oh, oh..."

The two responded unconsciously. Their vacant gazes finally swept around before settling on Nie Kong's face. After another moment, they suddenly snapped back to reality: "Nie Kong?"

As the Clan Leader and Elder of the Nie family, they had not fled to the west side at the first sign of crisis but had remained on the walls, intending to depart last. Yet, before they could move, the situation had abruptly shifted—first, a giant tree neutralized She Jun's attack, and then Nie Kong appeared before them.

"It is I."

Nie Kong was filled with remorse. He hadn't anticipated the Snake Spirit Clan’s arrival would be so swift. After receiving the spirit message from his master, Nie Xingyun, he was still more than ten kilometers away from Jiyang City. Thus, he, along with his mother Mu Xueyi and the others, sped along like lightning, managing to reach Jiyang City at the most critical juncture.

Thankfully, besides Nie Shen Gong, there was another supreme expert hidden within the city. If that person hadn't held them off for a while, the situation would have become irredeemable, and he would have become the primary culprit in the Nie family's downfall.

As soon as he arrived at Jiyang City, he captured this vital piece of information from the voices echoing within the city and felt immensely grateful to Suda, who lived in seclusion within the city.

"You are Nie Kong?"

High above, She Jun’s two blood-red gazes seemed to solidify, projecting onto Nie Kong on the East Wall, but they quickly retracted, shifting to the giant tree enveloping the city. His tone was impossibly grim. "I didn't expect people from the Yin Ruins. Do you intend to interfere in the feud between my Snake Spirit Clan and the Nie family?"

"Nonsense!"

A cold laugh rang out from the North Wall. It was Mu Qingyi speaking. "If we didn't intend to interfere, why would we waste our time traveling here just to amuse you?"

She Jun’s pupils constricted, his gaze growing even more sinister. "Have you considered the consequences of doing this?"

"Consequences?"

Mu Qingyi looked up at the colossal blood-red serpent coiled a thousand meters in the air. A mocking expression touched her exquisitely clear face. "The consequence is that you few old snakes, along with all your snake-sons and snake-grandsons outside, will all end up as dead snakes!"

"Such arrogance!"

A sharp roar echoed, emanating from the Snake Spirit Clan expert positioned by the North Wall.

As soon as his words fell, Suda’s hearty laughter erupted from the West Side. "With the friends from the Yin Ruins lending aid, the Spirit Masters within Jiyang City are safe. This old man can finally relax. She Jun, since things have come to this, perhaps you should withdraw now. Otherwise, you will only incur needless loss of life."

"That's right. Besides the four of us here, there is also Senior Suda. You have no chance of victory. If you retreat now, it won't damage the goodwill between the Yin Ruins and the Snake Spirit Clan." The sweet voice of Mu Xueyi drifted from within the giant tree. Though her tone was not loud, everyone heard it clearly.

"..."

"So, it was the strong experts from the Yin Ruins protecting Jiyang City! That almost scared me to death just now!"

"Yin Ruins? What sect is the Yin Ruins? I've never heard of it?"

"Who cares what sect it is, as long as they came to rescue Jiyang City, that’s what matters. Wait, listening to She Jun’s words, perhaps Nie Kong brought them here."

"I wonder if the Yin Ruins can hold them off? There are so many strong experts from the Snake Spirit Clan outside!"

"Didn't you hear Adult Suda say that with people from the Yin Ruins present, he could be at ease? If even Adult Suda says so, the Yin Ruins must be superior to the Snake Spirit Clan."

"..."

Mu Xueyi’s words seemed to carry the power to soothe anxious hearts. After her voice faded, the crowd inside the city, previously obscured by the dense roots, finally regained their senses and couldn't help but feel ecstatic. With the support of the Yin Ruins experts, perhaps they wouldn't even need to fight; the Snake Spirit Clan members would be forced to retreat.

After a moment of silence, She Jun finally spoke again: "It is also simple not to damage the goodwill—let Nie Kong submit to death obediently, and my Snake Spirit Clan will spare Jiyang City."

"She Jun, did you not only turn into a snake, but did your brain regress too?" Before Mu Xueyi could speak, Mu Qingyi was already laughing so hard her body swayed like a flower branch. "Nie Kong is my sister's son, my son-in-law, and the husband of the new Mu Sect Master of the Yin Ruins! You actually expect us to hand him over for you to kill? You're killing me!"