The stream of fire arrived over Divine Splendor Peak in an instant, like a celestial meteorite ablaze, plunging directly toward the mountainside where the residences of the elders of Divine Splendor Peak were located.

Indeed, it was heading straight for Taishuang!

Luan Yexin’s expression shifted slightly as she glanced at Marquis Wu and Zhuang Yu ahead of her. If even these two Spirit Gods couldn't stop the "Chaos Heaven Fire," Taishuang facing it meant his fate was precarious!

"Hmm?"

The figures of Marquis Wu and Zhuang Yu froze in mid-air almost simultaneously, letting out surprised, low cries.

Just then, a world-shattering roar suddenly erupted from a pavilion midway up Divine Splendor Peak. An extraordinarily massive torrent of blood-red energy spiraled up like a tornado, shooting straight into the heavens, and the intensity of this aura was climbing at a frantic pace.

"This is…"

This blood-red aura was immense, far surpassing the strength of a Ninth-Rank peak master. The experts of the Pill Immortal Sect, including Luan Yexin, exchanged bewildered glances. This power emanated from Taishuang’s residence, yet it definitely didn't belong to him. Could such a formidable powerhouse be hidden beside him?

Zhuang Yu’s face darkened: "Someone is breaking through to the Spirit God realm there!"

"...Second Spirit Tribulation... Third Spirit Tribulation... Spirit God!"

Taishu Yan’s eyes snapped wide open as he gauged the rapidly ascending power, muttering involuntarily. His handsome face was etched with disbelief. "That person actually navigated the Threefold Spirit Tribulation so easily in such a short time, achieving Spirit God status in one go?"

Hearing Zhuang Yu and Taishu Yan, the Ninth-Rank experts trailing behind were utterly stunned, waves of uncontrollable shock surging through their hearts.

It had only been a few breaths since the blood-red aura appeared, and the person had already consecutively passed three Spirit Tribulations?

Was this how they witnessed the birth of a Spirit God?

How was this possible?

Since antiquity, had anyone ever ascended to the Spirit God realm so effortlessly? Everyone stared fixedly at the swirling aura, their chests heaving.

"Heh, hehehe..."

Marquis Wu’s cheek twitched slightly, and a laugh, uglier than a cry, escaped his throat. "I understand now. This must be the culprit who slew so many people on Divine Splendor Peak that day! I never would have guessed. We've plastered bounties all over the Sky God Realm, yet he was hiding right here in our own stronghold!"

"What?"

Gasps of horror spread. Even Taishu Yan and Zhuang Yu looked utterly astonished. They had been preoccupied with the speed of the breakthrough, neglecting to examine the aura itself. Now, jolted by Marquis Wu’s reminder, those who had searched the valley earlier suddenly realized the truth.

"That’s right, it’s this exact aura!"

"No wonder it felt familiar earlier—that person is the killer."

"How arrogant, daring to achieve Spirit God status hidden within our Pill Immortal Sect!"

"...”

Exclamations and angry shouts rose one after another. Luan Yexin’s face grew even paler. A faint premonition tugged at her heart: the events of that day might be inextricably linked to Taishuang. Just as her thoughts raced, the blood-red aura suddenly retracted back into the pavilion, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

"Hah!"

Immediately afterward, the blazing torrent of fire dragged a streak of scarlet afterimage, roaring as it plunged into the pavilion. Had this happened anywhere else, the "Chaos Heaven Fire" would have ignited everything, reducing it to ash in seconds. But to everyone’s utter bewilderment, there was not the slightest disturbance from within the pavilion.

"Taishuang! Get out here for this old man!"

Marquis Wu suddenly roared, his voice like crashing thunder. His pitch-black eyes pierced out with lethal intent. He thrust out his arms, and a fiery, vermillion alchemical cauldron shot forth, instantly expanding to a hundred meters in diameter, pressing down upon the pavilion hundreds of meters away. The very void groaned and shook in its path.

For a moment, heaven and earth trembled.

"Brother, I'll handle this."

A delicate, sweet voice suddenly rang out from within the pavilion, followed by the ascent of a giant, blood-red eye from the structure, appearing both enchanting and sinister.

Luan Yexin had heard that voice countless times. An unbelievable thought flashed through her mind, and her lips instinctively parted wide enough to swallow several eggs.

"Whoosh!"

Above the pavilion, the blood-red eye suddenly exploded...

It was only then that the crowd realized it wasn't an eye, but a flower shaped like one. Everyone seemed to faintly hear the slight rustle as the petals unfurled.

"Boom!"

The giant cauldron smashed into the center of the flower, sending an earth-shattering roar echoing throughout Dragon Ascending City.

In the eyes of the onlookers, such a ferocious blow should have shattered the flower into pieces. But to their absolute shock, the flower first sank a few meters, yet managed to firmly cradle the cauldron. Then, boundless scarlet energy permeated from the massive petals, enveloping the cauldron.

In mere seconds, the petals closed, completely swallowing the great cauldron.

"Senior Marquis Wu, you are an elderly man; please try not to get overly agitated. What if you truly scorched those eyeballs blind? That would be quite unfortunate," a light chuckle sounded, and a robust figure rose slowly from the hole in the pavilion’s roof, standing beside the giant flower.

The flower swayed and transformed into a woman in red with peerless beauty, standing gracefully beside Nie Kong, a joyful smile gracing her pretty face.

"Taiyan!"

Hearing her manifest her human form, fresh waves of gasps erupted from the crowd.

Although most of them had little interaction with "Taishuang," they had all seen the captivating woman standing beside him during his initiation ceremony into the Pill Immortal Sect. In their minds, "Taiyan" was just an ordinary person, yet she had hidden her depth so profoundly and now had ascended to Spirit God status!

Luan Yexin finally closed her mouth, her beautiful eyes filled with unconcealed bitter amusement. The Spirit God who had just broken through was indeed this little lass named "Taiyan."

"Taishuang! Taiyan!"

Taishu Yan spat out those two names with venom, his face turning icily cold, his eyes blazing with the shame of deception and rage.

Marquis Wu laughed in his fury: "Taishuang, you were right. This old man has lived for centuries, and I never thought I’d misjudge you so completely. Those memories I witnessed in the Pill Heaven Palace that day—were they real?"

Nie Kong smiled. "Of course... not. I merely wove a touching little story within my own soul and sent it over for you to view."

"You, you..."

Marquis Wu nearly spat blood. He had always been supremely confident in his cultivation of the 'Heavenly Eye Mind-Reading Art,' yet he ended up having his eyes blinded by the very geese he hunted, being utterly fooled by Nie Kong, a Ninth-Rank peak Illusionary Spirit Master. "Did people from Divine Splendor Peak kill those people?"

"That much is true."

Nie Kong said lightly, "My wife and I came to the Sky God Realm from the Heaven Spirit Continent specifically to hunt down those ruffians like Kou Xilai who stole my 'Chaos Jade Scroll.' Since we saw them in the Pill Immortal Sect, naturally we couldn't let them go. However, we didn't lay a single finger on anyone from the Pill Immortal Sect."

"Heaven Spirit Continent? I hear that was the western region of the Illusionary Spirit Continent back in the day."

"The 'Chaos Jade Scroll' was stolen by Kou Xilai and the others? That seems unlikely?"

"...”

The crowd was immensely astonished upon hearing this. These "Taishuang" and "Taiyan" were not native humans of the Sky God Realm, but visitors from another continent!

... ...RO