In an instant, something like rolling thunder seemed to flash through the Falling God Peak grandmaster's eyes, and then thunder suddenly cracked and boomed across the sky above Falling God Peak.
Within the cloud layer behind him, dense electric serpents began streaking in every direction, as though the entire main peak's sky was about to become a pool of lightning.
"Has something happened to Martial Brother Scarlet Fire?"
The simply dressed elderly man in the clouds suddenly turned his head and looked toward a particular spot in the empty air below.
In the next instant, the jade-green woman from before appeared gradually in his line of sight as though materializing out of thin air.
She had a full head of cyan-black hair and skin like white jade, with threads of cold, detached stillness between her brows and eyes. She reached up to adjust a small bundle on her back, then said with a furrowed brow, "Martial Nephew Scarlet Fire should already be dead."
Hearing this, the Falling God Peak grandmaster's expression immediately went unpleasant. He looked at the jade-green woman, and then his gaze fell on the small bundle she was carrying. He suddenly asked in puzzlement, "What are you doing with that?"
The jade-green woman also glanced at the elderly man before her, her gaze cold, something like a layer of ice floating in her eyes. She said calmly, "Falling God Peak is nearly finished. I need to run first."
At those words, the elderly man froze for a moment, then his eyelid twitched and he said instinctively, "How can you do this?"
The Falling God Peak grandmaster stared at the jade-green woman for a moment, then shook his head and said firmly, "The Great Li court wanting to destroy Falling God Peak has nothing to do with whether our conduct has been good or evil. Even if Falling God Peak had been dispensing justice across the martial world, as long as we threatened the Great Li court's rule, that Emperor Yuanwu would have done everything to destroy us."
As he spoke, he rose from his cross-legged position in the clouds, stepped forward, and with the rumble of thunder around him appeared before the jade-green woman in an instant, folding his hands in a bow, saying, "The person in Hundred Refinements City was able to take Martial Brother Scarlet Fire's life in so short a time. Their martial cultivation cannot be taken lightly."
"Falling God Peak needs everyone right now. I ask that honored elder not harden her heart and abandon this younger martial relative and the disciples of Falling God Peak."
But the jade-green woman's graceful figure did not move. She looked at the elderly man before her with cold eyes, saying, "I am not being petty. Martial Nephew only calls me honored elder when he needs me, and dismisses me with commands when he does not. Is that right?"
"And furthermore, my work at Falling God Peak was only my master's dying wish. My master also said before passing that if Falling God Peak proved unreliable, I was free to leave at any time."
"So by any measure, Martial Nephew cannot stop me, and I owe you nothing."
At those words, the color on the Falling God Peak grandmaster's face cycled through unpleasant shades. Even so, he still wanted to keep the jade-green woman there, and said sincerely, "Being neglectful toward honored elder in the past was truly this younger relative's fault. It will be corrected after this, and honored elder will be treated exactly as this younger relative treats their own master."
"But at this moment, the situation at Falling God Peak is dire. Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. This younger relative plans to join with the remaining three honored elders and honored elder together to drive forward and destroy everyone including the Great Li martial artist."
"And so I ask honored elder, for the sake of our Falling God Peak lineage, to stay and act alongside this younger relative to eliminate the enemies of the Great Li court who have come against us."
The jade-green woman said nothing. She only fixed the Falling God Peak grandmaster with her clear, cold eyes and studied him for a moment, appearing to determine whether what he said was true.
The Falling God Peak grandmaster lowered his gaze and bowed his head, reducing his posture and showing humility.
Seeing this, the jade-green woman seemed quite satisfied and gave a slow nod, saying, "Martial Nephew is not going out one by one to meet his end, but plans to commit his full strength all at once. I agree with this approach."
Hearing this, the elderly man's expression shifted, thinking his words had actually swayed this honored elder of his.
But very quickly, he suddenly snapped his head up to find that the jade-green woman's figure had already half-silently faded into thin air.
"Honored elder, you..."
The Falling God Peak grandmaster immediately reached out, lightning surging in his hand, moving to grasp the jade-green woman's fading figure.
But he was clearly a step too late.
The jade-green woman looked at him with cold eyes, and in an instant her entire being slipped into the void and vanished, leaving only a voice behind, "No need to rush, Martial Nephew. If Falling God Peak is not destroyed, I may well come back."
The Falling God Peak grandmaster stood frozen in place, his expression darkening.
In the cloud sea above, countless blue-purple electric arcs streaked through the clouds, and rolling thunder echoed from deep within.
A crack of thunder, arm-thick in width, struck directly at the spot where the jade-green woman had disappeared. The space tore open in an indigo-purple crack.
The simply dressed elderly man let out a sigh, then withdrew his gaze and settled back into the cloud layer above.
He knew that once this honored elder had slipped into the void using her innate divine gift, he had no way of stopping her whatsoever.
Immediately after, the Falling God Peak grandmaster sat in the clouds and sent transmissions through condensed True Qi threads, dispatching them to two separate locations within the main peak in an instant.
Within moments, two white-haired figures rose from a concealed mountain woodland on the main peak's flank.
One was wrapped in a flowing mantle of blue-grey wind currents, and moved with the speed of wind itself, arriving at the space above Fallen God Hall in what seemed like the blink of an eye. The figure then hovered in the air like a breath of wind.
The other had also come at the first possible moment upon receiving the grandmaster's transmission, though the speed at which it channeled its True Qi was noticeably slower.
This person's eyes, however, were clearly unusual. They were entirely white-yellow, without a trace of a dark pupil. They appeared to be blind.
Yet those sightless-seeming eyes, when they fixed on a particular point in the air, caused that point to seem as though it had frozen, with everything in it going still.
At that point the Falling God Peak grandmaster, seated in the cloud layer, looked at the two elders who had arrived, and said, "A Great Li court martial artist has infiltrated our territory and killed Martial Brother Scarlet Fire. This person must be eliminated. I ask the two honored elders to come with this younger relative to rendezvous with Martial Brother Black Mountain, who is waiting along the way, and proceed to Hundred Refinements City."
"Once we have joined together to eliminate this person, we will then proceed to the four peaks and destroy all four columns of the Great Li Tianjin Guards."
"First, to avenge Martial Brother Scarlet Fire and the fallen disciples. Second, to make clear through this battle that anyone who dares act against our Falling God Peak will be utterly destroyed."
Hearing this, the two white-haired elders exchanged a glance, then spoke, "Grandmaster Martial Nephew may rest easy. We will spare no effort in destroying these court dogs. But we ask that Martial Nephew tell us, how formidable is the martial cultivation of the person who caused Martial Nephew Scarlet Fire's fall?"
Hearing this, the Falling God Peak grandmaster looked at the two of them. He knew well that though these two honored elders were powerful, the older a person grew the more they feared death, and so he spoke reassuringly, "The two honored elders need not worry. Even if this person's strength is not weak, the four of us acting together have no need to take them seriously at all."