"! So you really don't mind a complete breakdown..."

Shi Yang's stiff expression sank heavily when Yin Long acted, now it was impossible to take a step back and end things peacefully, now he had challenged them in front of the entire city. This also meant that things had reached a stage where it was no longer in his hands, Yin Long's head tilting towards the strange building at the centre of the estate.

"Here they come."

Yin Yu's direction was also pointed in the same direction, she too could sense the people that were heading towards them. The gates of the building were flung open, nine people shooting towards Yin Long's group and stopping a short distance away from them. The people in this group were clearly different from the crowd that had gathered earlier, the pale silver robes they wore were far more decadent.

Everyone in this group had also reached the Earthen Door realm, the one whose robe was intertwined with a few golden threads having already reached the very peak of the Earthen Door realm. Shi Yang and the rest of the crowd respectfully stepped back when this group of people, who ranged from middle-aged to old, arrived. This matter had already left the hands of the inner disciples and core disciples, now it was time for the respected elders to take the stage.

"Young one, do you really understand what you've just done?"

The one who spoke was the man with the golden threads in his robe, his eyes were such a pale silver that they almost appeared white and his face had a few deep wrinkles, but his head was covered in deep black hair so he gave off a rather contrasting aura. His tone was deep and heavy as he glanced at the two images that hung in the air, visible for everyone to see. But compared to his tone, Yin Long's was as casual and light as air.

"I've just trampled on your pride in front of the entire city. And well, looking at how many spatial arrays there are in this place, it really wouldn't be surprising if the news quickly spread to every inch of land inside this fractured space."

Yin Long didn't know exactly how things went in this land, but he was confident that large clans were similar no matter where you went. The other clans would latch onto this opportunity, they would use it to ridicule the Swordsoul Guardians at every turn, they would never let them forget it, they would poke at the shame at every turn.

And if there was some sort of alliances present here, then the clans aiming for the Swordsoul Guardians' position would definitely use this as an excuse to undermine their position, it would be a good chance to increase their own standing after all. The silver-eyed man's expression sank slightly when he saw that Yin Long seemed to understand the full extent of his actions, but Yin Long cut him off just as he started to talk.

"So you really do know... Then wh..."

"Because it dragged you out, didn't it? It forced your hand, didn't it? Your pride has been trampled quite brutally, there's no way to hide that fact at this point. So you may as well just kill the one that trampled it, and since your pride was already trampled, it doesn't really matter how you do it. So come, maybe now you'll fight properly so that I can really see your skills."

His lips curved up softly as he spoke, revealing his sharp canine teeth as he raised his sword. If their pride prevented them from sending out an appropriately strong cultivator then he may as well just trample that pride until they had no other choice but to go at it with all their might. The man swallowed the words he had planned on saying, his sharp gaze piercing into Yin Long, who only shrugged his shoulders in response to the man's statement.

"You're quite mad, aren't you?"

"I guess that's one way of saying it."

Insane, courageous, confident, arrogant, Yin Long really didn't pay too much attention as to how others saw him. His sword was aimed at the peak of existence, it pointed directly at the day where even the entire universe would have to bend the knee and become his sword. If they weren't people who mattered to him or people who couldn't follow him on that path, then why should he care about how they saw him and his drive?

The black-haired man didn't bother trying to say anything else, wasting words on a mad dog would only lower himself to the same level. When it came to mad beasts like this, the best solution would simply be to deal with them quickly and cleanly, at least that way they could still salvage a bit of their face. But just as he and the other elders stepped forward, Yin Yu raised her sword, the surrounding wind picking up in a violent fashion.

"Sorry, but you'll be playing with me. Yin Long, you can play with the others, I'll hold back the older geezers so that they don't interfere. But don't forget to watch me, that one law of yours has some similarities with my law of wind so you may learn something from the way I use it."

She didn't specify which law, but he guessed that she was talking about his law of space. He didn't know what she was going to show that he may learn a bit about his law of space from it, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't interested. Xiao Yin Yu was a talented cultivator, barely 18 years older than him but much stronger than him, it would be a lie to not call her one of heavens favoured children. Adding in the fact that she didn't seem to shy away from hard work and training, it was like adding wings to a tiger.

Her gaze was focused on the nine elders, her pupils suddenly splitting up into four smaller versions that slid apart into a square formation. Their original blue colour was dyed a deep amber, a bestial ferocity welling up within them as a surge of power roared out from the depths of her body and blood.

Three barely visible lines appeared on each side of her neck, quivering slightly as if they were trying to open. The parts of her robe covering her elbows bulged slightly as something seemed to grow out from her elbows, but they were covered so Yin Long couldn't see what it was. She had obviously activated her bloodline, something that Yin Long didn't even know that she had.

She didn't explain anything since this wasn't a suitable time, she simply charged directly at the nine elders, each step of hers drawing in more of the surrounding wind until she was practically running through the air. Yin Long observed her as she clashed with the elders, a good portion of wind gathering a short distance away from her as she seemed to prepare something.

But a thought struck him as he observed them and thought back to her earlier words. He cast a sideways glance at the rest of the crowd, which was still hesitating when it came to making the first move. Shi Yang was clearly rallying up people's morale with a few hushed whispers, but exactly how many among them would be able to put up a decent fight was uncertain.

"Hmmm, may as well just test it."

Yin Long muttered softly to himself, it was uncertain how much he could learn from these disciples, it would be disheartening if everyone ended up like the earlier Tue Shuiye. So he decided to test something, swiping his interspatial ring and pulling out a transparent glass bead.

He carefully tapped into the Netherworld Energy hidden within his soulsea, quietly pulling out a single strand and guiding it into the glass bead. He kept a constant eye on his surroundings as he did so, but there was no reaction from the crowd or space. He waited a few more seconds, but seeing that there was still no reaction, he flicked his wrist and threw out the bead.

The bead flew out and landed on the ground close to one of the elders, the Netherworld Energy within it running rampant once it left Yin Long's control. The bead quickly became unable to contain it and exploded, the blackish-yellow energy roaring as it ran rampant and tore a fist-sized hole in the ground. The sudden roar of the explosion brought the battle to a temporary pause, Yin Yu directing her strange pupils towards Yin Long.

"That... you actually carry bombs like that? What sort of arrays have you engraved in them to make them hold such vicious energy?"

The energy unleashed by the blast felt incredibly vicious, it wasn't anywhere close to as sinister as the aura Yin Long radiated when he tapped into his yellow energy, but it carried a seemingly mindless ferocity. Yin Long didn't respond to Yin Yu, his gaze sweeping across the elders and the rest of the crowd, his senses paying attention to everything else around him.

But the elders looked just as confused as Yin Yu, and that was only to be expected honestly. The Netherworld was a sinister place, but the interactions it had with the mortal world were actually very limited, it would generally only be higher-ranked people who could recognize it easily. There also wasn't any response from the surrounding space, no revolting from anyone trying to investigate the Netherworld Energy, it was still as a windless lake. And that fact made Yin Long's curved lips tremble slightly, a peal of soft laughter sounding out.

"No response? Nothing? Hahaha, you really weren't kidding, Yin Yu, this place is neatly sealed up."

It had been quite a while since Yin Long had used his Netherworld Energy, it wasn't something he was comfortable bringing out during the Three-Fold Territory Clash. But Yin Yu mentioning that she could pull out everything since this place was completely cut off from the outside world had given him this idea, and it proved quite successful.

"Good, that's good!"

Yin Long's lips curved up so much that it almost looked like they would split his face open, something bordering on an insane grin surfacing on his face. He slid his gaze over to Yin Yu and then pointed his sword at the elder that had reached the 1st Earthen Door, the weakest of them.

"Hey, Yin Yu, you can take on the other geezers, but I want to play around with that one over there. Jin Wang, hold back everyone you can, those you can't hold back you just send to me."

Yin Long had fought against people at the Earthen Door before, but not in a battle like this, not in one where his life would truly be on the line. Xiao Yin Yu knew this, so although she was confident in Yin Long's sublime technique, she couldn't help but warn with a hint of hesitation.

"Are you sure about that? I know you can take on people at the 9th Immortal Door, but once someone enters the Earthen Door realm they become something else entirely. He may be at the lowest level, but taking on him along with other Immortal Door cultivators will be... difficult to say the least."

Each great realm was a whole new existence, the step between them a great watershed that separated cultivators. Even fighting someone a small realm over you was considered extremely dangerous, much less had to be said about fighting someone who was a great realm above you. But what met her hesitant worry was simply Yin Long's grin.

"You said you could use things you couldn't when there was an audience didn't you?"

Yin Long's energy started to surge violently as he spoke, the yellow-veined crimson wings sprouting from his back as he tapped into his bloodline. His forehead also cracked open as he tapped into the yellow energy, both were things that Yin Yu had seen before, she knew that this was Yin Long in his strongest state, a true beast. But little did she know that this wasn't the end of it.

The sinister aura radiating from the depths of Yin Long's body suddenly received an additional hint of vicious ferocity, a mark very few others had seen before slowly appearing on his body. Small black oval leaves covered in tiny scales appeared on the back of his right hand, quickly spreading up his arm and neck, swiftly covering the right half of his face and even appearing within his right eye, forming a strange and sinister tattoo.

Yin Yu had seen these leaves before, they appeared on the strange elemental swords that Yin Long seemingly formed out of thin air. They were also identical to the dancing leaves that appeared around him whenever he wielded one of his strange swords, but this was the first time she had seen them appear on his own body.

And that was only to be expected, it had been far too long since Yin Long had drawn upon the apocalyptic amount of Netherworld Energy hidden within his soulsea. But now he was cut off from the outer world, now he could use it with abandon, now he could use it to fight with cultivators of a higher realm so that he could get a proper look at their techniques.

Yin Long's right hand held his sword, a single one of the black marks spreading from his hand and onto the handle of the sword. Meanwhile, his left hand was rubbing his neck, a subdued cracking sound coming from it as he directed his grin at the elder he had picked out, not noticing that something deep within the land was stirring.

"Aahh~, I wonder when I could last let loose completely like this. Come then, don't disappoint me and show me all your skills!"