The severed head tumbled, and only as consciousness began to slip away did the man in black finally glimpse what lay ahead. Startlingly, suspended in the air, was a silvery-white creature no larger than a palm. It seemed humanoid, six pairs of transparent wings unfurling from its back, its entire form wreathed in sacred white flames. Brilliant and sanctified, two pairs of inch-long blade-arms flashed with an icy, chilling gleam.

At this moment, the two nearby Eighth Tier Martial Venerables had only just reacted. After stepping forward a few paces, a mournful roar erupted, instantly causing the very atmosphere in the area to shift. Spiritual energy surged within a hundred thousand zhang, and two overwhelming killing intents locked firmly onto Han Xi.

But before they could strike, another dragon's roar sounded. A sudden flash of lightning tore through the air ahead, followed immediately by a sky full of spear shadows imbued with violet thunder, enveloping the figures of the two men.

Within Han Xi's eyes, a sharp, faint purple light glittered. The instant the weapons of the two men clashed with Zong Yuan's Violet Thunder Spear, she flashed again, dissolving into a pinpoint of white light. She threaded her way through the surging torrent of sharp qi blades. With a spin of her twin blade-arms, she pierced directly through one of the men, grinding his viscera into dust!

The two Spirit Masters from Jue Long City behind had already sensed danger long before the man in black's head was severed. Without hesitation, they began summoning their mounts, slapping their spirit beast pouches, and two Seventh Tier fierce beasts materialized to shield them.

They then tossed out several Soul Stones, chanting true incantations, guiding their spirit arts, and one by one, several Eighth Tier Soul Beasts were summoned forth. In mere moments, they were thoroughly protected.

The one on the left was just preparing to unleash a spirit art. But as he managed only to coax the surrounding fire-element spiritual energy toward him, his face turned ashen white.

A blade shadow appeared beside him without warning. Silently, it struck down one protective talisman after another before he even noticed it.

Alarmed, this man's Primordial Spirit attempted to leave his physical body and ascend. Yet, the sword shadow followed like a shadow, stabbing into his soul. The blade body, fully infused with true power, twisted violently, shredding the Primordial Spirit—which had almost taken human form—to pieces.

Seeing this, the other man turned pale with shock. Instinctively, he prepared to soar into the air and flee far away.

But just as he ascended three zhang above the ground, he saw the Zong Shou below suddenly smile at him.

The very next instant, four silver lights flickered and pierced through. At first, he felt only slight caution.

But as the four lights—front and back—which vaguely contained a blade glow imbued with the ultimate Sword Intent, bore down upon him, he found himself utterly unable to evade, no matter how he shifted or dodged. It was near despair. The two summoned guardian spirit beasts were instantly slain by the first blade shadow! The two Eighth Tier spirit artifacts used for temporary defense were shattered one after another by the second and third blade strikes! The final strike hammered directly into his brow, piercing straight through!

Then the Sword Intent erupted violently! The entire array of flying blades immediately exploded into countless fragments! His skull was blasted into fine dust. Even his Primordial Spirit had no time to escape, fragmenting and collapsing under the impact of that vast Sword Intent.

In just a few breaths, the Dragon Punishment Platform returned to complete tranquility. The last Eighth Tier Martial Cultivator was killed by Han Xi and Zong Shou working together, his entire body utterly atomized into bloody chunks by the rampaging thunderous power.

From beginning to end, Ye Feishuang and Ye Feihan simply stood by, watching dumbfounded. By the time they thought of helping, all five Eighth Tier experts from Jue Long City were already dead.

Silence fell once more upon the Dragon Punishment Platform. Only after a long pause did Ye Feishuang manage a somewhat stiff, forced smile: "Actually, those people from Jue Long City didn't dare to make a move just now."

Zong Shou looked at Ye Feishuang with a half-smile, a touch of surprise in his eyes: "I know, of course they didn't dare!"

He was perfectly aware of the five men's plan. They intended that if threats and extortion failed, they would temporarily withdraw and make other plans later.

But precisely because of that, he would never let these men leave alive.

Ye Feishuang hesitated slightly, then mumbled again, "These people hold significant status in Jue Long City; at least they are all at the Unified level—"

Zong Shou’s expression grew stranger: "If I let them go, will the people of Jue Long City stop troubling you and me later?"

He and Jue Long City still had at least two unresolved grudges. Including this incident, it was fair to say they were now mortal enemies.

Five Eighth Tiers were quite powerful. Although he didn't care overly much, they still represented some trouble. Since they were already enemies, it was only natural to reduce the opponent's strength wherever possible.

If he wanted to subdue people with virtue, he had to choose his audience.

It was a relief this wasn't a game where one could respawn. The opponents he faced in the Divine Emperor game ten thousand years later would relentlessly oppose him no matter how many times he killed them, which was utterly exhausting.

Ye Feishuang fell silent, but the way she looked at Zong Shou had shifted slightly. Her impression of him on their journey together had remained fixed on the youth who could handle everything with detachment from two years ago when they parted. Though they had engaged in a fierce battle before separating, it had been brief, leaving her little deep impression.

Only now did she realize that this 'commoner' youth, whom she remembered as always calm, possessed a ruthless decisiveness and cruel methods, appearing utterly fearsome!

And the strength of the men currently before them could vaguely contend with her Ice Flood Dragon puppet!

For a time, her thoughts were in complete disarray, unsure how she should face Zong Shou.

Zong Shou paid no further attention to Ye Feishuang, merely beckoning slightly to collect the Qiankun Bags carried by the deceased.

After flipping through them for a while, he began taking out several spirit artifacts. Nearly every one made Ye Feishuang's heart pound; they carried a dense aura of dragon blood, clearly indicating that more than one dragon had been slaughtered. Any pity she had felt for these men moments ago had completely vanished.

She opened her mouth as if to speak again, but before she could, Zong Shou casually tossed a few items over, causing Ye Feishuang a start before her expression softened into gratitude.

Most of these spirit artifacts were specifically targeted at dragons, possessing devastating lethality against those with dragon blood.

Zong Shou didn't pay them much mind; he didn't really care for such things anyway. In the few Qiankun Bags, there were several more spirit artifacts, along with other talismans and spirit stones, the collective value of which was enough to equal ten Ninth Tier Beast Cores—a decent haul.

Moreover, there were quite a few exquisite items among them.

"Those torture implements possess too much malevolent energy! If you find suitable equipment later, you can ask me for it. If you trust me, I can even refine them for you! Hmm? What is this?"

Speaking casually, Zong Shou's brow suddenly arched as he took out a few objects.

There were two paper talismans made of peculiar material. They should have been formed from a mixture of ten-thousand-year Snow Silkworm Silk and an extremely pliable golden thread.

The quality of the material was even comparable to the Grand Profound Heart-Locking Immortal Talisman that he had already used on Han Xi.

Looking closer, Zong Shou let out a short laugh as he glanced at the Ice Flood Dragon: "No wonder these people from Jue Long City were so confident."

This was a 'Puppet Descent Talisman,' the kind Yang Fan had used before. When activated, it could transform into a silver-armored puppet. However, this talisman was of a higher rank.

The silver-armored paper figure summoned could reach the strength of an early Ninth Tier cultivator. Two Puppet Descent Talismans were indeed sufficient to contend with the Ice Flood Dragon.

Both talismans had been in the possession of the man in black. It was fortunate that Han Xi had instantly killed him; otherwise, if he had been given the chance to activate them, things would have become truly troublesome.

Zong Shou was slightly pleased, tucking one of the Puppet Descent Talismans away. He flicked a drop of vital blood into the other, then cast several spirit seals to activate it.

The talisman dissolved, and in just a moment, a tall, silver-armored paper figure materialized beside Zong Shou.

He tested its control, and indeed, it moved as his will directed. When he struck the ground with a fist, the stone platform remained completely undamaged.

Yet, Zong Shou knew its power was truly comparable to a Ninth Tier Martial Cultivator. The more skilled the controller was in martial arts, the more formidable the silver-armored paper figure became.

There was another method of use: allowing the Primordial Spirit to leave the body and enter the paper shell for direct control, which was even more convenient—essentially granting the controller the physical body of a Ninth Tier Martial Cultivator.

However, this method had one drawback: if the paper figure sustained damage, the Spirit Master's Primordial Spirit would also be harmed. Sword cultivators disdained this, and ordinary Spirit Masters dared not risk it. The value of this item far exceeded that of top-tier spirit artifacts; since it was made from a high-grade talisman, it naturally could not be single-use. As long as it wasn't completely destroyed, simply exposing it to sunlight for ten days would restore it. Each restoration required twenty-four hours, a full two days.

The next object that caused him some surprise was a scroll. Zong Shou opened it, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

The scroll was naturally flat, but to the eye, a three-dimensional spirit formation appeared upon the painting.

Identifying it carefully, another expression of surprise flashed across Zong Shou's face.

"This is the formation diagram of this Dragon Hall?"

Saying this, Zong Shou turned toward Ye Feishuang: "How did Jue Long City acquire this thing?"

Based on the diagram, it was quite detailed. However, the shortcut Ye Feishuang had used to bring him here was not marked.

Ye Feishuang glanced at it, her expression also changing. Then she shook her head, indicating ignorance: "Legend says Jue Long City possesses a technique for soul searching and spirit seizing. Perhaps they captured a high-ranking dragon who held inherited memories of the Dragon Hall."

She then speculated: "Perhaps some human cultivators who sought refuge in the Nine Great Dragon Halls ten thousand years ago later joined Jue Long City. Or perhaps these memories were left by them."

Zong Shou gave a dry laugh, neither confirming nor denying. He continued looking and discovered that it wasn't just formation diagrams; there were also markings indicating the locations of various precious spiritual items within the Dragon Hall.

First was the Divine Realm Dragon Elixir, which made Zong Shou’s heart skip a beat. This item was also marked, situated right in the core area of the Dragon Hall.

The next moment, Zong Shou frowned in confusion: "What is the use of this Yuan Yun Spring?"

There were several red dots on this map. One was the Dragon Punishment Platform, the second was the Elixir Accumulation Cave, and the third was the Yuan Yun Spring.

"The Yuan Yun Spring? This Third Dragon Hall has a Yuan Yun Spring? Are you sure you didn't misread it?"

Ye Feishuang gasped in alarm and hurriedly asked.