It was indeed the Pill Compression Art that Elder Sang had passed down to Xu Xiaoshou.
From the looks of things, it would seem that Elder Sang was cooking his two opponents in the Dragon Melting Realm like he would when preparing a concoction of his medicines.
There were gasps heard from around Xu Xiaoshou. It was apparent that the Sovereign Stage masters were shocked Elder Sang would employ such a method.
Xu Xiaoshou had a closer look at the compressed scorching white fireballs and noticed the temperatures had spiked several times.
Xu Xiaoshou wondered if the masked man and Cen Qiaofu could still survive within them.
One fireball shook violently as soon as the thought occurred to Xu Xiaoshou, and a strange icy cold aura immediately emanated from it.
Everyone seemed shocked that an icy cold aura could still emit under such a high temperature in the fireball.
The Epitaph of City Snow!
As expected, a beam of icy sword aura burst from the fireball, cracking and then splitting it in half.
However, since the fireball was not of a solid substance, it immediately recovered to its original sphere form despite being sliced open.
The other fireball was shaking as well. It was Cen Qiaofu, struggling to get out in a frenzy. Even though the pliability of the sphere lessened over time, things still looked dire for Cen Qiaofu.
“Gosh, how disgusting is this?”
Xu Xiaoshou felt he could relate to the despair experienced by those two at the moment. If he were to be the one trapped in there, he would not know how to break free from the fireball as well.
Other than Lesser Fireball, perhaps there were still many more techniques out there waiting to be developed, Xu Xiaoshou thought to himself.
He already had intentions of taking a good serious look at Cooking Expert before that night. After seeing what Elder Sang had done, his desire to do so only intensified.
So long as the technique could be put to good use, it would seem that in a battle, Cooking Expert could be just as formidable as Sword Technique Expertise.
The fireballs crackled, lighting up the night sky. Everyone around saw a chance for victory.
The extreme temperature remained high and the fireballs would do massive damage to the two trapped inside them, even if they could hold for longer.
Elder Sang focused his gaze on his Dragon Melting Realm. In truth, he had not been so confident in trapping those two so easily.
It did not take long for the two trapped inside the fireballs to stop struggling altogether. The pliant, morphing Dragon Melting Realm finally settled.
The onlookers were on edge and their hairs stood on ends. They were well aware it was but a brief period of tranquillity. It was the calm before the storm.
The two who were trapped were about to give it all they had and break out.
Elder Sang could sense it was going to happen.
He chuckled as soon as the fireballs stopped moving. He blasted his spiritual source and threw out two punches.
“Explode!” Elder Sang commanded.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two massive explosions shook the night sky immediately lighting it up with brilliant white light.
The extreme temperature went out of control and swept across the ground, causing a vast swath of flora to wither in an instant.
The collateral damage from the explosions not only affected the Inner Yard but the Outer Yard as well.
The trees withered while the lakes and rivers boiled and steamed. The geese on the Goose Lake immediately took to the air before falling back into the boiling lake.
Everyone looked up at the sky at the same time. It was a restless night and even those who had just joined the Spirit Palace, and was unaware of what was going on, realized something was amiss that night.
“Enforcer Wang, are our brothers fighting inside?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure you are telling the truth? Could you bring about an explosion of such magnitude?”
Enforcer Wang remained silent.
“Say something!”
“Shut up and get to bed.”
…
[The mountains at the back of the Inner Yard]
Cough! Cough!
The sound of coughing filled the air following the explosion, and the swirling dust made everyone squint their eyes to see clearly.
“Did they survive such an attack?”
Xu Xiaoshou asked, looking quite stunned. He wondered if the masked man was like a cockroach.
He looked closer and found the man still had the familiar aura of Sword Will around him.
It was a similar situation to attacked both Elder Sang and Xu Xiaoshou had launched in the past. Their attacks could cripple their enemies but they could not do much more after reaching a limit.
It seemed to be impossible to blow the masked man to pieces.
“How could it be?” Xu Xiaoshou asked, looking somewhat baffled.
After all, the masked man’s attacks could not even compare with those of Elder Sang.
“Just what kind of weird spiritual technique is the masked man trying to pull?”
Xu Xiaoshou noticed the lingering Sword Will aura of the masked man and wracked his brains, trying to think things through.
If Sword Will Possession could indeed bring about such effects, Xu Xiaoshou decided he had to try it out for himself someday.
Elder Sang seemed to have expected the masked man to survive the attack. He then looked at the side where Cen Qiaofu was.
A wobbling figure hovered in midair. Cen Qiaofu was stooping and his hair was all silver. He looked so aged and withered that he seemed to have used up all of his life force.
The hand with which he held the ax seemed to tremble. The flames continued to dance around his body, and there was no extinguishing them.
“Y-You are really something, kid.”
Xu Xiaoshou almost burst out laughing, wondering if the aged man had suffered such an agonizing beating that his temper had left him.
Xu Xiaoshou saw how furious Cen Qiaofu looked. And yet, Cen Qiaofu did not attempt any further moves, despite wanting to do so badly. It was indeed a sight to behold.
The others were looking just as vindicated. Cen Qiaofu had been a nightmare to them, and his ax had left deep gashes all over them.
They had not expected that the aged man would suffer such a terrible defeat when he fought with Elder Sang.
“Qiaofu, we need to leave.”
Flames continued to consume the masked man and he had no intention of lingering around. He then turned to Elder Sang and spoke.
“Are you done venting? Can we go now?”
“You may.”
Elder Sang then tipped his hat and nodded. “You may go, but the sword stays behind.”
“Times are such that I have to take the sword. Leaving it behind would only make your Spirit Palace suffer. Do you want to go through this every single night?” the masked man asked.
Elder Sang remained silent.
The masked man was speaking the truth, and it was exactly what concerned Elder Sang the most.
There was chatter all over the continent that the Spirit Palace’s current level of powers could not provide adequate protection for the famed sword. And that the blade may bring about their demise one day.
There was a brief silence as Elder Sang pondered upon those words. Xu Xiaoshou tilted his head and looked at Elder Qiao.
“Are they familiar with each other?” Xu Xiaoshou asked.
The way they spoke to each other was less like enemies and more like an exchange between people who knew each other well.
He recalled the battle that night. Despite making his appearance, Elder Sang did not make any attempt to fight the masked man.
What does this mean…?
“Is that way these two get along?”
Xu Xiaoshou got a knock on his head instantly. Qiao Qianzhi then casually glanced over at Jiang Bianyan, looking a little hesitant.
Jiang Bianyan finally took the threat seriously. The way he saw it, the Holy Vassal had indeed become an organization that they had to eliminate. But was Elder Sang acquainted with those people?
“They indeed know each other.”
Xiao Qixiu, who was at their side, chimed in.
Having a junior around when he explain matters meant that he and the others did not need to explain things again at the Holy Divine Palace.
“From what I can see, those two have known each other for a very long time, much like how you put it earlier…”
Xiao Qixiu turned to look at Xu Xiaoshou and continued, “They did not see eye to eye, so they went their separate ways.”
“So, we are going to let him go just like that?” Xu Xiaoshou asked.
Xiao Qixiu looked stunned, wondering if the kid had deliberately said it.
Could he not tell that there were outsiders there? Why did he keep asking such loaded questions?
“Do you think we could do it any other way?”
Suddenly, Ye Xiaotian chimed in and said, “Anyone could tell that Cen Qiaofu did not unleash his actual power. It was the masked man who was adamant about leaving, obviously not wanting to fight any further.”
“If they were to fight it out, I am afraid that they would attract a lot of attention.” Ye Xiaotian glanced at Jiang Bianyan with a wry look.
Jiang Bianyan felt his skin crawl. The fellow had to rub it in.
Sure, Jiang Bianyan did not bring enough people there to assist the Spirit Palace. But did Ye Xiaotian have to hold a grudge like that?
However, he knew what Ye Xiaotian meant at the same time.
The battle between those at Sovereign Stage had already caused quite a commotion. If Elder Sang were to continue fighting his two opponents, the ones in white robes from the Holy Divine Palace would probably show up before long.
By then, it would be difficult for those of the Holy Vassal to escape.
It was apparent that those two from the Holy Vassal were not idiots, and they chose not to wait for such a thing to happen.
Jiang Bianyan wore a bitter grin. If he had taken the letter from the Spirit Palace more seriously back then, things would have probably turned out very different this night.
“It is indeed a pity.”