Only after hearing Cao Qiushui’s explanation did a enlightened expression appear on Nie Tian’s face.

He was also shocked upon seeing the five Worldly realm experts charging right into the army of Specters in midair above the lake.

If weren’t for Cao Qiushui’s explanation, he would have thought that Dong Mingxuan and the others had suddenly entered the Profound realm.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Countless Specters let out sharp screeches as they pounced at the five Worldly realm experts, giving rise to loud whistling sounds.

The Phantasms’ vague shapes flashed about every now and then within the sea of Specters. Although Nie Tian couldn’t get a clear view of them, they seemed to have joined the battle as well.

“Gu Haofeng! Kill these Specters with your thunderballs!” Shen Zhong’s voice echoed out from within the army of Specters.

The might of the gravitational field around him boomed. Even though the whistling Specters were in an intangible form, they still seemed to be affected by the gravitational field, and fell into the lake one after another.

As a large number of Specters fell from midair, one of the Phantasms finally showed itself.

Wreathed by rich, cyan phantasm Qi, the Phantasm was dressed in a dark-cyan robe, which was covered in numerous detailed, mysterious patterns.

It was a male with a handsome appearance and long, straight hair. He had eyes that looked like a pair of green jades, which were so deep that they seemed to hide countless secrets, like the unfathomable lake underneath him.

At this moment, a cold, gruesome smile could be seen at the corner of his mouth. There seemed to be a prismatic crystal in between his eyebrows, which looked very much like a third eye.

He could have wreathed himself in the rich phantasm Qi, yet he intentionally scattered the phantasm Qi veiling his face.

After a soft laugh, he said to Shen Zhong in perfect human language, “Worldly realm human Qi warrior. You seem to be stronger than the two humans I encountered in the Realm of Split Void who had the same cultivation bases as yours. Supposedly, Worldly realm humans are equally as strong as those of us with fifth grade bloodline power. I hope you can live up to that promise.”

With these words, the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows suddenly shone with a bright, cyan light.

It was as if that crystal had become a third eye that snapped open at that moment.

As it did, Shen Zhong’s expression flickered. He let out a muffled groan, as if he had taken a heavy blow to the chest.

In the meantime, very strong soul fluctuations were born in midair above the lake, and the rich phantasm Qi grew increasingly torrential.

Upon hearing the Phantasm’s words, a shudder ran through Nie Tian’s body, and he immediately confirmed his speculation. “It’s him!”

It was none other than the first Phantasm that had descended upon the Realm of Split Void in a meteor!

Back in the Realm of Split Void, since he had been surrounded by rich phantasm Qi, Nie Tian hadn’t been able to see his face at all. He had only been able to see him as a vague shape and hear his voice.

Now, facing Shen Zhong, he finally emerged from his army of Specters and unveiled his face.

Upon seeing the Phantasm’s face, Dong Li immediately turned to ask Nie Tian in a low voice, “Is that the Phantasm you saw in the Realm of Split Void?”

The Phantasm said himself that Shen Zhong was stronger than the two Worldly realm Qi warriors he had encountered in the Realm of Split Void.

Therefore, his identity went without saying.

“Yeah, that’s the first Phantasm that appeared in the Realm of Split Void.” Then, Nie Tian lowered his voice and added, “Two Worldly realm experts from the Wild Fire and Li Langfeng teamed up on him, yet they didn’t seem to be able to defeat it.”

Dong Li snorted disdainfully, saying, “Those from the Wild Fire are undoubtedly no match for Senior Shen. As for that Li Langfeng, as powerful as he was, he had just entered the Worldly realm back then. This Phantasm possesses fifth grade bloodline power. According to the ancient records I’ve seen, his strength should be at the same level as a Worldly realm human expert. He’s not that formidable. I believe that Senior Shen will be able to handle him.”

“I hope you’re right,” Nie Tian said.

At that moment, hearing Shen Zhong’s explosive shout, Gu Haofeng cast out dozens of thunderballs towards the army of Specters above the lake.

However, each and every thunderball exploded soon after leaving Gu Haofeng’s hand. None of them made it to the area above the lake.

In midair, the explosions gave rise to a sea of flashing lightning and rolling thunder, causing Heaven and Earth to shake violently.

Unfortunately, the raging lightning and thunder were still a significant distance from the Specters swarming above the lake.

“What’s going on?" Dong Mingxuan called out, surrounded by numerous Specters.

The others also shot their gazes towards Gu Haofeng.

Gu Haofeng’s expression grew grim. “My attack is being influenced by some kind of outside force.”

As soon as he infused his thunderballs with wisps of his psychic awareness and cast them into the air, he felt that the psychic connection between him and his thunderballs was instantly severed.

As that happened, his thunderballs escaped his control and exploded prematurely.

With a stern expression on her face, Qin Yan hastily reminded Gu Haofeng, “The Phantasms are one of the few outsider species that are extremely skilled at using psychic and soul magics. Let’s get closer to the lake. All eyes on him, everyone. We need to protect him!”

“Alright!” The crowd of juniors realized that this was a critical moment. Even though some of them weren’t fond of Gu Haofeng, they knew that his thunderballs were the Specters’ worst enemy, and that they had to make sure that his thunderballs hit where the Specters were most densely packed. Only in this way would they be able to clear a path for the Worldly realm experts and let them focus on the Phantasms.

The crowd of juniors, including Nie Tian, formed a circle around Gu Haofeng and prepared for engagement.

“Haofeng!” Cao Qiushui called out. “The number of the thunderballs you have is limited. Don’t cast too many out in one attempt. Take your time with them! Next time, you can try with one thunderball, and see if you can hit those Specters with it!”

“Sure!” Gu Haofeng nodded as he shot another thunderball towards the swarming Specters above the lake.

This time, he was obviously more cautious than before. He infused the thunderball with both his spiritual power and psychic power.

The thunderball sailed through the air like a bolt of lightning.

However, a mishap occurred again.

The moment his thunderball flew above the lake, Gu Haofeng lost connection with the wisp of psychic awareness he had vested the thunderball.

BOOOOOM!

The thunderball exploded prematurely again, giving rise to sputtering lightning and rolling thunder.

Not only that, but an ice-cold aura traced back to his soul like a blade made from ice.

With a muffled groan, Gu Haofeng dropped to the ground. Face ghastly, he said, “The Phantasms’ soul power reigns over the area above the lake! My thunderballs can’t pass through the field of the Phantasms’ soul power and fly to the center of the lake where the Specters are gathered.”

Upon hearing those words, everyone felt a sense of urgency as they wracked their heads for methods to cope with it.

With a calm expression, Nie Tian gazed off at the swarm of Specters gathered in midair at the center of the lake, as well as the Worldly realm experts who were currently engaged in fierce battles with the Phantasms.

Even though he didn’t unleash his Heaven Eyes, he was able to tell that there were a total of four Phantasms in the swarm of Specters.

Shen Zhong, Dong Mingxuan, and Zhou Ruyun, who were all at the middle Worldly realm, were dealing with one Phantasm each.

Considering Qiu Liang from the Pill Pavilion Sect and Gu Han from the Gu Clan were at the early Worldly realm, the two of them were barely able to handle one Phantasm together.

The four Phantasms all possessed fifth grade bloodline power. The one Shen Zhong was fighting was the only one who had showed his face; the other three were all hiding behind dense, cyan phantasm Qi, their faces indistinguishable.

However, Nie Tian could vaguely see that the other three also had a prismatic crystal that looked like a third eye between their eyebrows.

The four Phantasms seemed to be handling the five Worldly realm experts from the Realm of a Hundred Battles with ease.

Part of the reason was that the four Phantasms were able to command their army of Specters to attack the five Worldly realm experts whenever they wanted.

Not only were the Specters hovering above the lake in great numbers, but some of them were also very powerful. Even Qiu Liang, who was a master of fire incantations, couldn’t kill them quickly enough with his Blaze Pills.

The army of Specters was gradually weighing the Worldly realm experts down.

Meanwhile, the Phantasms didn’t seem to be in a hurry to make moves at all. Their plan seemed to be to wait for the Specters to wear the human experts out and then kill them with one critical strike when they were at their weakest.

The crowd of youngsters watched the Specters, Phantasms, and their seniors fight in midair above the lake.

Even though Dong Li and the other Greater Heaven stage young leaders knew that the buoyancy over the lake would allow them to float in the air, none of them had the ability to arrive at the central area above the lake with a single leap.