Guardian Zhao's expression turned cold.
The moment the Thunder Eagle's charred remains scattered across the ground, his figure suddenly moved, his feet leaving the ground as lightning Astral Qi erupted from his body, wrapping around him like a storm of silver serpents. He did not bother waiting for the cultivators below to react, his body cutting through the air with such speed that only a streak of lightning could be seen as he rushed directly towards the incoming horde.
The beasts had already begun charging towards the market again, countless pairs of blood-red eyes flashing through the dust and mist, their roars merging into a deafening wave that shook the mountains, but Guardian Zhao merely raised one hand.
His Astral Qi suddenly spread outward.
The surrounding air trembled, and an invisible pressure descended upon the battlefield, his Gang Field expanding like an enormous domain centred around his body.
The moment the charging Yao beasts entered it, their movements slowed.
Then their bodies began to rupture.
Blood sprayed through the air as one beast after another was crushed beneath the overwhelming force of Guardian Zhao's Gang Field, their bones snapping, their organs collapsing, their bodies falling from the sky and rolling across the ground without even getting close enough to threaten him.
The horde that had appeared capable of overwhelming the entire market was annihilated within moments.
Guardian Zhao remained suspended in the air, lightning crackling around his body as he calmly surveyed the battlefield.
Then something strange happened.
The remaining Yao beasts stopped.
For a brief moment, the entire horde became unnaturally still.
Thousands of beasts stood motionless among the mountains, their heads raised towards Guardian Zhao, as though they had suddenly lost whatever command had been driving them forward.
Guardian Zhao's eyes narrowed.
There was a slight pause.
It was subtle, but with his cultivation, he could clearly sense it.
Whoever was controlling the beasts had been caught off guard.
The person behind the beast tide had clearly not expected Guardian Zhao to annihilate such a large number of Yao beasts so effortlessly.
Then the hesitation vanished.
Every beast moved at once.
The mountains erupted with roars.
The remaining horde charged towards Guardian Zhao from every direction, beasts leaping through the air, claws tearing through the mist, enormous bodies trampling trees and rocks as they surged forward with absolutely no concern for their own lives.
Guardian Zhao stared at them for a moment.
"Suicidal, huh?"
He sighed softly.
Rather than retreat, he bent his knees.
The next instant, the ground beneath his feet exploded.
His body shot into the sky like a bolt of lightning, rising higher and higher until he passed through the clouds, the surrounding mist splitting apart beneath the force of his ascent.
Only after reaching the heavens did Guardian Zhao stop.
He stood above the clouds, looking down at the battlefield below.
From this height, the horde appeared like countless black dots crawling across the mountains, their numbers so great that they seemed capable of covering the earth itself.
Guardian Zhao slowly raised his right hand.
Lightning gathered around his palm.
At first it was only a few thin strands, but in the next breath, countless arcs of lightning converged towards his hand, forming a terrifying mass of thunderous Astral Qi. The surrounding clouds began to churn, illuminated by flashes of silver-white light as the pressure of the technique spread across the sky.
Guardian Zhao's expression remained calm.
Then he pushed his palm downward.
A single palm descended from the heavens.
It grew larger as it fell.
Ten metres...
A hundred metres...
A thousand metres.
The enormous lightning palm continued expanding until it covered the light beneath it, casting a vast shadow across the mountains as thunder shook the heavens.
The Yao beasts looked upward.
Some attempted to flee.
Others continued charging.
It made no difference.
The palm descended.
BOOM!
The earth shook.
A terrifying wave of lightning swept across the mountains, the enormous palm crushing everything beneath it, trees snapping, rocks pulverising, mountainsides collapsing beneath the tremendous force. Countless Yao beasts were annihilated instantly, their bodies unable to withstand even a fraction of the power contained within the descending palm.
The impact continued spreading.
Smoke and dust surged into the sky, swallowing the battlefield as the deafening thunder gradually faded.
When everything finally became quiet, the once-raging horde had disappeared.
For several breaths, nobody spoke.
Then the smoke slowly began to clear.
What remained on the ground was an enormous palm print stretching across the devastated landscape, its edges still glowing faintly with residual lightning.
Guardian Zhao remained high above the battlefield, looking down at his handiwork.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Not bad."
The words had barely left his mouth when his expression suddenly changed.
A cold sensation appeared behind him.
Guardian Zhao's instincts screamed.
He twisted his body in mid-air, but he was too late.
A ghostly claw emerged from the void behind him, its fingers black and translucent, carrying a dense aura of Yin Qi as it tore towards his back.
Guardian Zhao hurriedly turned and raised his arm.
BOOM!
The claw collided with him.
His Astral Qi erupted violently as he tried to block the attack, but the ghostly force was far heavier than he had expected, the impact sending him flying through the sky.
Guardian Zhao's body shot downward like a meteor.
He crashed into the earth.
BOOM!
The ground shattered beneath him, rocks and soil exploding outward as his body carved through the earth before finally stopping at the bottom of a massive crater.
The cultivators watching from the market froze.
Just moments earlier, they had been cheering at the sight of Guardian Zhao destroying the entire beast horde with a single palm, their confidence in their protector reaching its peak.
Now they watched in stunned silence as that same Guardian Zhao had been struck from behind and sent crashing into the ground like a ragdoll.
"What happened?"
"Guardian Zhao!"
"Someone attacked him!"
The market immediately became restless.
Above the battlefield, however, another figure had appeared.
A man stood calmly in the air, his long dark hair fluttering in the wind, his black robes moving gently around his body.
His aura was unmistakably demonic.
It was not merely sinister, nor was it simply cold, there was something deeply unnatural about it, something that made the cultivators below instinctively feel their souls tremble.
Yet what drew their attention most was the object floating behind him.
A dark banner.
The surface of the banner seemed to absorb the surrounding light, while countless ghostly faces twisted across its surface, their mouths opening and closing as endless screams echoed from within.
Some cultivators paled immediately upon recognising it.
"That..."
"A Ghost Banner?"
The more knowledgeable cultivators stared in horror.
"No..."
"It's a Thousand Ghost Banner!"
A Thousand Ghost Banner was an infamous demonic treasure.
Unlike an ordinary Ghost Banner, which could contain only a limited number of wandering souls or low-ranked ghosts, a Thousand Ghost Banner was a weapon capable of nurturing and commanding an enormous number of ghosts, usually centred around a powerful Rank 3 Ghost Specter while countless Rank 2 Ghost Specters and weaker souls served as its foundation.
For a demonic cultivator, such a treasure was terrifying.
It allowed them to overwhelm opponents through numbers, sending waves of ghosts into battle while the Rank 3 Ghost Specter hidden within the banner launched the decisive attacks.
The screams coming from the banner grew louder.
Even from a distance, the cultivators could feel the Yin Qi spreading through the air.
Then the earth beneath them trembled.
Guardian Zhao slowly climbed out of the crater.
Dust slid from his robes as he straightened his body, his hair slightly dishevelled from the impact.
The moment the cultivators saw him standing, cheers erupted throughout the market.
"Guardian Zhao is fine!"
"Guardian Zhao!"
"He's unharmed!"
The fear that had gripped the market moments earlier immediately eased, the cultivators looking at their protector with renewed confidence.
Guardian Zhao did not respond.
He merely stood at the edge of the crater and looked towards the man floating in the distance.
His expression was calm.
But beneath the corner of his mouth, a thin line of blood slowly trickled down his cheek.