Alistair Jewel set down his teacup. Looking at Wu Ling's handsome profile, he still had questions.
That morning, Wu Ling, the Saint of Spirit Hall, had arrived at the gates of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in an openly high-profile manner. Alistair had no choice but to personally receive the young man.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect possessed a rich and varied intelligence network. Naturally, they had heard about what happened at Polaris Royal Academy a few days earlier. And because the incident involved Wu Ling, the Saint, as well as Shrek Academy, where his daughter had once stayed for several days, Alistair had personally gone to the three education board members and asked them for information about Wu Ling.
The answer unsettled him.
All three gave him the same answer: Wu Ling's strength was already enough to contend with a Titled Sage, even though his current level was only in the seventies. His Spirit Ring configuration surpassed common sense as well.
Beyond that, Alistair had also investigated the details of what happened that day. The three board members had hidden some internal information about Polaris Royal Academy, but he still collected plenty from other sources. He had even personally visited the huge crater created by Wu Ling's attack. Even he, the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, had been deeply shaken by it.
At that time, Bone Sage Lucius Grimm, who protected him, had also appeared. In the lingering Spirit Power inside the crater, Lucius had sensed a trace of a familiar aura.
That aura was something he had once sensed inside the crater outside Soto City.
Because of that, the moment Alistair heard Wu Ling had arrived, he brought Sword Sage Vane Ash and Bone Sage Lucius Grimm to welcome him in person.
"Saint, may I ask what brings you to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"
In truth, Alistair already had a guess. Recently, he had also heard rumors about Ethan Drake from some lower-level Spirit Masters within the sect. With his sharp mind, he immediately noticed something wrong.
After only a little investigation, Alistair confirmed that Spirit Hall was the one spreading the information. If he followed that line of thought, he could draw one conclusion: Spirit Hall might use this as an excuse to move against the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan seemed to have sensed that possibility as well, because they had recently been recalling clan members from outside to avoid assassinations by Spirit Hall.
Only...
Alistair looked again at Wu Ling, who was still drinking tea. This time, he grew tense. Even while Wu Ling drank, his eyes seemed to be fixed in a certain direction.
"Could it be that he came here today to force us to choose a side?"
While Alistair's thoughts churned, Wu Ling raised a hand and stopped the servant who was about to refill his tea.
"Sect Master Alistair, the Soulcraft devices I recommended to your sect are quite useful, are they not?"
"Of course. Any Soulcraft device recommended by the Saint would naturally be useful. I even fought personally some time ago and defeated a Spirit Emperor. It was indeed a feeling I had never experienced before."
Alistair's voice carried a touch of emotion. The pleasure of winning through personal combat really had given him a liberating thrill. If he were not already older, he might have become addicted to that feeling.
But immediately after that, his thoughts returned to the present.
The young man before him could be called peerless in temperament, talent, and ability. But that alone was not enough to make Alistair bow his head to Spirit Hall or stake the entire Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect on them.
No matter how powerful one person was, there was still a limit. Could Wu Ling alone really destroy an entire sect? Even if he had the strength of a Titled Sage, it was not as if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had no Titled Sages of its own.
Thinking of that, Alistair glanced almost imperceptibly behind Wu Ling. Ghost and Yue Guan, two Titled Sages, stood there. Behind Alistair stood Bone Sage and Sword Sage, holding the line for him in return.
"Sect Master Alistair, sitting here and drinking tea forever is not much of a conversation. I have heard that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Peak in your sect is magnificent. I would like to see it today. How about it?"
Alistair set down his teacup and stood.
"Of course, Saint. This way, please."
Not long after, on the mountain peak behind the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, two level-seventy Spirit Kings walked ahead, chatting and laughing, while four level-ninety-six Titled Sages followed behind them like bodyguards.
Ghost and Sword Sage were naturally cold personalities, so it was normal for them not to speak. Yue Guan and Bone Sage, however, occasionally exchanged a few words. One wanted to probe for information, and the other wanted to show off.
After reaching the summit, Wu Ling once again looked in a certain direction. Alistair noticed the movement, or rather, Wu Ling had made no effort to hide it.
"Saint..."
Ring ring ring.
Alistair had been about to ask a question when a clear sound suddenly rang out.
Under Alistair's wary gaze, Wu Ling took a small black box from his pocket. It was a portable telephone. Although it looked like a mobile phone, it could only make voice calls, and only to a few fixed contacts. Even so, this miraculous object made Alistair's eyes narrow with surprise.
Wu Ling pressed a button, and Rose's voice came from the device.
"Wu Ling, this side is ready."
In truth, Wu Ling did not need such a thing to communicate with Rose. But he wanted to rattle Alistair a little, so he used it here.
As Rose's voice sounded, Sword Sage and Bone Sage followed Wu Ling's gaze and saw something as well.
Polaris Imperial City, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had always stood close enough to watch one another from afar. A firework shot from one side could be seen by the others, which proved how near they truly were. With a Titled Sage's eyesight, seeing the situation at another clan was possible.
And right now, Sword Sage and Bone Sage discovered, to their alarm, that the entire territory of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had apparently been covered by a pale golden barrier.
Then Bone Sage acted decisively. He did not attack Wu Ling. Instead, he swept Alistair, who stood beside Wu Ling, behind him.
Facing Bone Sage's sudden move, Ghost and Yue Guan stepped behind Wu Ling as well. The four Titled Sages locked into a silent standoff.
Wu Ling did not say anything. He simply kept his back to the others and revealed his Spirit Rings.
It had to be said that even though Alistair had prepared himself mentally, the moment he saw Wu Ling's Martial Soul, his worldview nearly collapsed. Bone Sage and Sword Sage were no different.
Then a red Spirit Ring lit up. Golden armor appeared around Wu Ling, and a golden spear settled into his hand.
Then, Wu Ling slowly rose into the air. Flames gradually surrounded his body. Behind him, a pattern made of fire appeared. Waves of tremendous heat spread outward from him. The earth below dried and cracked. Nearby plants suddenly burst into flame. All four Titled Sages had to use Spirit Power to resist the waves of heat.
Everyone raised their heads.
Inside the violently burning flames, Wu Ling slowly lifted the hand that held the spear.
"O Sun, Abide Death!"
Then a light bright enough to rival the sun erupted. At such close range, everyone personally witnessed that shot, a shot that shook the world.