The cultivators of the three gentry clans seemed to have frozen in midair and complete silence ensued as none of them moved.

After the arrival of the black-robed swordsman, even the unbearable Taba Feng with his torrential ferocity earlier on quietened down; a hint of wariness could be seen from the depths of his eyes.

The scene that everyone expected did not happen.

On the contrary, the black-robed swordsman continued walking beneath the three gentry clans in an unhurried manner, step by step just like that under countless gazes.

That was not a distance that was considered far for cultivators.

Be it with movement techniques or riding on their swords, it would merely take slightly more than a hundred breaths.

However, that black-robed swordsman walked for a whole 15 minutes!

The stranger thing was that nobody stopped him or even spoke throughout the entire time.

It was as though everyone’s throats were choked!

Murong Wushuang frowned slightly and there was an odd look in the way she watched the black-robed swordsman. It seemed like pity, admiration and even worry – it was conflicted and complicated.

The black-robed swordsman seemed indifferent towards everyone’s fiery gazes.

His gaze was a little lost, seemingly unable to find a focal point. Walking forward step by step unhurriedly, he maintained his speed and slowly disappeared from everyone’s line of sight.

“Who was that man?”

The cultivators watching were no fools and gradually returned to their senses.

“There’s still one more gentry clan. There’s a high chance that he is the paragon of the Dugu clan!”

“Now that you mention it, I seem to recall that there’s a frightening Golden Core sword cultivator of the Dugu clan known as Dugu Jian. He lives for the blade.”

“I’ve also heard about him before. It’s said that he keeps to himself and has no kin or friends. For the past dozens of years, he is only accompanied by his black sword and has truly reached the realm of requiring nothing but his sword.”

When she heard the discussions nearby, Bai Yuhan whispered, “Dongqing, seems like the Dugu clan has given up on the fight for the Vermilion Fruit. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent him here alone.”

“Not necessarily,”

Mu Dongqing shook his head. “Apart from people like us that have given up on fighting for the Vermilion Fruit and are just here to take advantage of the chaos, there’s another possibility why some of them are here alone or in pairs.”

“Why?” Bai Yuhan asked.

“That man is so scary that he doesn’t even need the help of others!”

In midair, Taba Feng had already retracted his Golden Core phenomenon when the black-robed swordsman appeared.

After the black-robed swordsman was gone, he heaved a sigh of relief and laughed. “Here I was thinking why there was no one from the Dugu clan with our three clans here. So, they sent that man with the paralyzed face.”

The black-robed swordsman was expressionless the entire time and Taba Feng was naturally only mocking him with the ‘paralyzed face’ term.

Not far away, a cultivator could not help but chuckle. “Paralyzed face. Hehe, how befitting.”

“Hmm?”

Murong Wushuang’s expression darkened and she turned slightly.

Without a single word, she waved her sleeves and a streak of light appeared instantly, shooting into that cultivator’s glabella before vanishing.

There was a thud.

That person’s head exploded and he fell to the ground, dead with his blood and brain juices splattering everywhere!

The crowd fell into an uproar.

The cultivators nearby were frightfully pale and retreated instinctively, looking up into the skies with a sense of trepidation at that murderous peerless woman on the ancient chariot.

With a cold face, Murong Wushuang said slowly, “Do you think the likes of you can make fun of anyone from the four gentry clans?”

No one replied.

Taba Feng, Yuwen Wujia and Murong Wushuang stood on midair with a bedazzling aura, resembling gods that were looking down at puny mortals with judgmental gazes!

Who would dare reply under such pressure?

Turning around, Murong Wushuang glared at Taba Feng and remarked coldly, “Taba Feng, don’t say that I didn’t warn you, but you had better watch your mouth. Trouble stems from the mouth!”

“Ha!”

Taba Feng regained his arrogance after the departure of the black-robed swordsman and roared into laughter. “It’s none of your business! I can say whatever I like!”

“Alright!”

With a frosty stare, Murong Wushuang said, “Since you’re so daring, go chase after Dugu and repeat your words!”

Taba Feng’s expression darkened and he harrumphed without retorting.

Heaving a deep breath, Murong Wushuang composed herself and said indifferently, “Don’t blame me for not reminding you guys, but there’s news that the legacy disciples of the Ten Upper Sects of the North Region are coming.”

When they heard that, Taba Feng and Yuwen Wujia knitted their brows.

“It’s not going to be so simple to pluck the Vermilion Fruit and claim dominance over the Golden Core realm in the North Region! Even successors of the ancient aristocratic families of the North Region might appear!”

With that said, Murong Wushuang waved her hand and led the dozens of chariots behind her to speed into the Great Qian Ruins.

Taba Feng and Yuwen Wujia calmed down as well and left respectively, giving up on their fight with a tacit understanding.

In the blink of an eye, peace returned to the skies at the boundaries of the ruins.

“Heh! With so many talents aiming for the same goal, even the paragons of the four gentry clans may not be able to get the Vermilion Fruit.”

“That’s right. Haven’t you heard that the legacy disciples of the Ten Upper Sects are rushing over too? There’s definitely going to be a great war between the paragons at that time!”

“Seems like that Vermilion Fruit is not only a universal treasure, there’s an even deeper meaning to it. Whoever gains the Vermilion Fruit is the number one Perfected Being of the North Region!”

“The intermediate ancient battlefield will open up in another 20 years. A victor must be decided with this gathering of the paragons of major factions and sects of the North Region.”

Mu Dongqing and Bai Yuhan exchanged grim glances as they heard the discussions.

The situation at the Great Qian Ruins was even more chaotic and frightening than they had imagined!

“What are the Ten Upper Sects?” Bai Yuhan asked.

Mu Dongqing reminisced and replied, “I heard the Nascent Souls in the palace mention about it unintentionally in the past. It’s said that there are 108 Upper Clans that are ranked beneath the immortal, Buddhist and fiend sects. Most of them are congregated within the Middle Continent and some of them are scattered in the North, South, East and West Regions. There are ten of them in the North Region.”

“What sort of sects can be regarded as Upper Sects?”

“I’m not sure.”

Mu Dongqing shook his head. “It’s said that the strength of an Upper Sect requires the support of a Conjoint Body Mighty Figure!”

Conjoint Body Mighty Figure!

The mention of those words caused Bai Yuhan’s heart to skip a beat.

There were nine major realms of cultivation – Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Void Reversion, Dharma Characteristic, Conjoint Body, Mahayana and the legendary Tribulation Transcendence.

The reason why the Great Zhou Dynasty could be established and withstand close to 10,000 years was because there was a Dharma Characteristic Dao Lord backing the capital.

How terrifying would it be if Upper Sects had the backing of a Conjoint Body Mighty Figure?

How many Dharma Characteristic Dao Lords would they have under them?

What sort of strength would their paragons possess as well?

One would truly only understand that there’s always someone better than them upon leaving the Great Zhou Dynasty and experience the true terror of the cultivation world.

At the Middle Continent, the origin of cultivation where the culture of cultivation was the most glorious with the most super sects and factions gathered, how majestic would things be over there?