The thick, pitch-black iron rod looked almost identical to the Divine Seaward Iron wielded by Scarlet Ape; the silverback was obviously mimicking its new leader. It swung the iron rod with a force of hundreds of thousands of kilograms, a blow that would very likely pulversize a regular cultivator.

Scowling, Qing Han reflexively grabbed the iron rod and crushed one end of it into dust with a loud crack.

The silverback’s expression shifted drastically and it whirled around, running off with half of its weapon remaining.

“Shameless humans are never up to any good! How dare you bully us monster spirits in public? Don’t you know fighting is forbidden in Destiny City?!” Its unusually booming voice rang through the area, prompting nearby monster spirits to spring into action and rush to the premises.

“Where’s the human scum insulting monster spirits?” A giant wolf roughly three meters tall with a silver moon between its brows rushed over.

“Perfect timing, Wolfking. It’s the two of them!” The silverback gorilla immediately stopped running and pointed at Qing Han and Lu Yun when it saw the wolf and the dozens of monster spirits in the newcomer’s entourage.

“That’s... a Silvermoon Wolfking!!” someone yelped. “The king of wolves that only emerges from its race once every ten thousand years!”

Although the wolf appeared to be only a nascent spirit cultivator, a strong, razor-sharp aura wreathed it, making the human cultivators around it back away as soon as it arrived on the scene.

“It’s said that six Silvermoon Wolfkings have arisen from the wolves, and all of them are arcane dao immortals. This one before us is the seventh, and it’s already touched upon the void realm.”

The cultivators in the area sucked in a breath upon hearing that. All of the previous Silvermoon Wolfkings were arcane dao immortals!

The wolf before them was already half a step into the void realm. If it then attained immortality, it could very well exceed its forefathers and reach origin dao realm!

“How dare impudent humans bully monster spirits?!” growled the wolf, fixing its silver eyes on Qing Han. “I will permit you to leave if you break one of your arms.”

Qing Han was still holding the remains of half an iron rod in his hand. The silverback gorilla stood behind the wolf and leered tauntingly.

“Since when can beasts like you run rampant in human territory?” Lu Yun took a step forward and responded leisurely, “Aren’t you afraid that the combined might of the human elites will come together, slice and dice all you dumb animals, and stick you in a stew?”

The wolf and other monster spirits in the area glared at him with fury in their eyes.

“Think carefully about your actions. This year’s Sovereign Meet is unlike the tournament three years ago. Back then, we exchanged knowledge and sparred with each other to validate our cultivation. But now, the higher one’s rank, the greater the rewards.

“Wouldn’t it be fine for the competition to be limited to humans? Why should we let dumb animals patake in the glory? Let’s just cut them all down right now, and we’ll have much less competition once the Sovereign Meet begins.

“Besides, humans and monster spirits have been at war for tens of thousands of years. If we were in their territory, we would’ve all died a long time ago.” Lu Yun’s suggestion seeped into hearts like poison, giving rise to waves of shock and want.

That was right, hadn’t things always been like this? Everything was on the table in their quest to take down future competition, which was why they didn’t even bat an eye when monster spirits went after fellow humans.

One person dead was one competitor less. However, Lu Yun’s words had sounded a bell of clarity. If they all worked together now and destroyed the monster spirits in attendance, they would all abruptly have a lot less competition.

Moreover, the monster spirits had been running roughshod over everyone in Destiny City these days. Many a human cultivator had had to take the abuse in silence.

A thick, heavy silence fell forebodingly over the scene.

The Silvermoon Wolfking glared at Lu Yun with light-silver eyes, itching to pounce on the human and tear him to pieces.

“Silverback gorilla!” a voice suddenly roared from the crowd. “Three days ago, you ambushed my junior brother for no reason when he entered the city for his Life Glyph. He’s now on the brink of death… pay with your life!”

Swoosh!

A crescent of sword energy arced toward the gorilla.

“Kill!!” As if that attack had set a chain reaction in motion, the human cultivators in the area all sprang to action at the same time and attacked the monster spirits.

“Wake up!” boomed an angry voice, sending the flying swords slashing at the monster spirits back to their owners.

A shudder ran down the collective spines of the humans in the crowd, their backs drenched with cold sweat. They’d been possessed just now and making moves against their will.

An old man in cyan robes walked down from the air, scanning the area with an eagle eye.

“Get out here!” he thundered, the words reverberating in every cultivator’s chest and making them go pale.

“Oof!” A girl in a black dress stumbled out of the crowd. She looked about seventeen years old and was a charming little thing with a petite figure. Blood dripped down from the corner of her mouth as despair crept into her expression.

“Witch from the Star Demon Sect, how dare you use the Demon Possession Tone in public! Are you attempting to start a war between humans and monster spirits in Destiny City? You shall not be suffered to pollute these lands!” He thrust out with a palm strike, intending to take the girl’s life.

“Stop!” demanded a faint voice. An emerald bamboo stick shot down from the air, firmly burying itself in the ground next to the girl in the black dress.

Sporting an emerald chiffon dress, a girl roughly about eighteen years old descended from the sky.

“Old knave, how dare you hurt my junior sister?! Do you have a death wish?” Though she was thin, the girl’s presence was as great as a towering mountain. The powerful might of heaven and earth radiated from her!

The void realm!

The girl in the emerald dress was a void realm cultivator!

The monster cultivators behind the old man exchanged startled looks before casting murderous gazes at the newcomer. Some of them kept looking at each other, communicating through their eyes on how they should kill this void realm cultivator.

“You… are his disciple?” The old man stilled when he saw the bamboo stick, the look in his eyes concerned.

The girl in green—Wanfeng—cracked a smile that was oddly familiar to Qing Han. It was a smile that frequently appeared on Lu Yun’s face.

“Monster spirits purposefully stirred up trouble to create excuses to kill the elites of the human race. As a human elder, not only do you let them walk free, but you take their side and go after my junior sister! Today, on behalf of my master, I will teach a lesson to this agent of the enemy!” As she spoke, she picked up the bamboo stick from the ground and swung it at the old man.