That Person Is Back

At this moment, let us turn our gaze back to the front of the immortal palace ruins.

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Say that again if you dare!"

Yan Shi, the guardian of Yan Lie from the Flame Clan, suddenly stepped forward, grabbed the messenger disciple by the collar, and with bloodshot eyes, spat out the words between clenched teeth: "Are you telling me that Yan Lie, who joined forces with the young masters of several major clans to explore the ruins... is dead?"

"Y-yes... it's true..."

The disciple whose collar was seized broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead, but he still mustered the courage to nod. "It's not just Young Master Yan Lie—the clansmen who entered... their soul lamps have all shattered."

"Do you have any idea what the hell you're saying?!"

Yan Shi's eyes bulged, veins of red streaking across them.

Everyone who participated in the expedition was among the finest prodigies of the clan—otherwise, how could they have entered the ruins alongside the clan leader's own son? Now all of them had fallen inside. It was as if the entire backbone of the Flame Clan's younger generation had been ripped out by the roots!

What a monumental disaster this was!

Even if he was only responsible for escorting the young master into the ruins, he could not escape the blame!

And such a tragedy was not confined to the Flame Clan alone.

"What do you mean all of our clan's prodigies have their soul lamps extinguished?"

"Are you out of your mind?"

"What do you mean the holy son and the core disciples—not a single one survived—all died inside the ruins?!"

Similar cries of incredulous rage rang out one after another.

The guardians and supreme elders of the hidden clans, after finishing their shouts, raised their heads and looked at one another, their expressions turning somewhat strange.

"Your clan's... also...?" someone tentatively asked.

The other elders fell silent for a moment, then slowly nodded, their faces so dark they could drip water.

"Our holy son's soul lamp is extinguished too."

"Not a single one of our core disciples came out."

"Our young master... same as above."

Everyone exchanged glances, momentarily at a loss for words. Because they truly could not fathom how so many people could all die at the same exact moment.

Even if it were a thousand pigs!

You'd need ten days to half a month just to butcher them all with a knife. How could they have been wiped out in such a short span of time?

Moreover, under normal circumstances, expeditions like this were every man for himself—the kind of joint effort by several clans was already considered an illegal party-up.

Yet everyone had been annihilated simultaneously.

They would be damned if they knew how this happened.

Of course, some people present had disciples whose soul lamps had not shattered, but they kept quiet about it. With the atmosphere so heavy, staying silent was the best choice.

"Could it be that some restriction was triggered inside the ruins?" someone proposed a possibility. "Maybe someone accidentally triggered a seal left by the Nine Nether Empress, and everyone else got caught in the blast?"

As soon as this guess was made, some people began nodding in agreement.

"That sounds fairly reasonable," someone said, trying to find humor in the tragedy. "It's not like all our prodigies somehow lined up in a group and marched off to their deaths, right?" Even as he said it, he shook his own head.

But soon, someone raised an objection.

"I don't think so," an elder said, frowning as he recalled. "Just now, when Young Master Mo Yu emerged from the ruins, although his face was full of terror, what he muttered was, 'That person has returned.'"

"That means what wiped out the prodigies inside was not the ruins."

"It was... a person!"

The moment these words fell, silence descended over the entire scene.

The smile on the elder who had been trying to find humor froze like solidifying lava.

No way.

Don't tell him his joke had actually hit the mark.

But when everyone thought about it carefully, well, damn, it seemed to be true. After ruling out all impossible explanations, whatever remained—no matter how absurd—had to be the truth.

Unfortunately, Mo Yu had run off too fast for anyone to stop him.

Otherwise, they wouldn't all be standing here staring at each other, forced to piece together the truth from scattered fragments.

"If it's a person..." someone frowned in deep thought, "to be able to slay nearly all of the current generation's prodigies and terrify Mo Yu to such a degree, this person's strength must already be no less than that of the older generation."

"But if such a figure existed, how could he be unknown? And how could he have entered the ruins without drawing attention?"

"No, you're all wrong."

Finally, the guardian of the Liu Clan spoke up.

"Mo Yu said 'he has returned,' which means this person's appearance was completely beyond his expectations. And the fact that he fled so quickly means there is an old grudge between them—one that could only end in death."

"And the only person who can satisfy all these conditions is that one."

"You mean... him?" Yan Shi's expression turned ugly. "But that man has been dead for nearly twenty years. How could it be possible?"

"Precisely because it seems impossible!" the Liu Clan guardian cut him off. "That's exactly why Mo Yu was so terrified."

"What is more horrifying than a man who rose from the dead?"

"..."

At that, Yan Lie fell silent for a moment.

Only the others around them stared back and forth, having no idea what the two riddle-speakers were talking about.

"Twenty years ago? That man?"

"Who is he? Will someone please tell me?"

"You don't even know that?"

A plainly dressed middle-aged man shook his head: "Fine, I'll enlighten you—sit tight!"

"What comes next is... I forgot the beginning, forgot the middle, forgot the end—but in short, unprecedented and unequaled, the greatest genius of all time—Ye Shu!"

"It's him?"

"So it's him?"

Only then did the crowd's eyes widen in realization: "Well, that explains it. That explains everything."

"Hah! Regardless of what kind of genius he is!" Yan Lie suddenly flicked his sleeve, his gaze icy cold. "Since he has to skulk and hide, that means his strength hasn't recovered. Then this old man will simply wait here at the exit of the ruins, and when he comes out, I'll cut him down with my sword to avenge our Flame Clan's young master!"

At these words, the others snapped awake as if from a dream.

Right!

If that legendary youngest half-immortal had already recovered his full strength, why would he need to skulk around in hiding?

Kill him now, or he'll become a disaster later!

This thought spread through the crowd like wildfire. The guardians who had been hesitating now had a glint of ruthlessness flashing in their eyes.

"Exactly! Since he's hiding, that means his current strength is nowhere near what it was back then. This is the perfect chance to eliminate him! It would also make up for our negligence!"

"Strike while the iron is hot! Finish him while he's weak!"

The crowd's fury surged, their killing intent burning.

The elders who had just been mourning their fallen prodigies now turned their grief into rage. They unleashed every means at their disposal, layering circle upon circle of restrictions around the exit of the ruins.

All they needed was for that figure to appear at the entrance.

Then—kill him!