Just like that, Yi Tianyun’s figure appeared before their eyes.

At this critical, hair-raising moment, he had finally returned. Or rather, he hadn’t been rushing back specifically, but had spotted them on his way and immediately flown down.

"Y-You’re that Yi Tianyun!" The elder from the Celestial Phoenix Tower shuddered inwardly when he saw Yi Tianyun.

"Yi Tianyun? Who?" Ning Chuan and the others were bewildered. They had no idea who Yi Tianyun was and had never seen him before.

Suddenly, a torrent of fire swept down from the sky. Kang Haotian sensed a mortal danger from above and hastily looked up, but it was too late. He was instantly engulfed in the flames. With a blood-curdling scream, he was burned to a pile of ash!

"ROAR!"

The Black Dragon descended from the sky, its massive figure casting a shadow over the entire area. A tyrannical aura swept out in all directions, stunning everyone present. ’How can there be a Black Dragon here? That’s a Divine Beast!’

"The Cyan Profound Mansion... I never thought you’d react so quickly. I’m curious to see how many you sent this time... No matter how many come, I’ll kill them all!" Yi Tianyun sneered. "Wipe them out!"

The Black Dragon let out a furious roar and, following Yi Tianyun’s command, lunged to the side. With terrifying speed and devastating power, it crushed down upon them, effortlessly slaughtering a group of disciples.

"Ding! Successfully killed a Cyan Profound Mansion disciple. Gained 1,400 Experience, 150 Madness Value, and 1 Sin Value."

"Ding! Successfully killed a Cyan Profound Mansion disciple. Gained..."

They all turned into experience, flowing into Yi Tianyun’s body.

"You... How can you control a Black Dragon?" Ning Chuan was dumbfounded. The dragon’s power was terrifying. He could sense its cultivation had already reached the late Core Formation Stage, a level far beyond their own.

Their cultivation levels weren’t low, but they were only at the third or fourth level of the Core Formation Stage. This was a far cry from the Black Dragon’s power.

Everyone else stared at the Black Dragon in shock, words caught in their throats, utterly speechless.

"You don’t need to know that." Yi Tianyun’s eyes narrowed. He took a step forward and suddenly flashed in front of Ning Chuan, sending a backhand slap across his face. Before the other man could react, he was sent flying, several of his teeth knocked out!

He helped Zhu Yuwei up and smiled gently. "You’ve worked hard. Leave the rest to me... Oh, right. Your sister asked me to bring you a Jade Pendant."

As he spoke, he took out the Jade Pendant given to him by Zhu Yuxuan and placed it in Zhu Yuwei’s hand.

Zhu Yuwei’s body trembled when she saw the Jade Pendant, her eyes widening in shock. "You... you’ve met my sister?"

"Yes, but we can talk about that later." Yi Tianyun turned his head to look at the elder from the Celestial Phoenix Tower, then asked Zhu Yuwei in a low voice, "What do you say? Should we get rid of him?"

The Celestial Phoenix Tower elder’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground, his face ashen. Seeing Yi Tianyun’s return—along with a Black Dragon—he lost all courage to even think of fleeing.

"P-Purple Pavilion Master... I-I had my own difficulties..." the elder hurriedly tried to explain.

Zhu Yuwei’s gaze turned grim. Just moments ago, this very elder had intended to kill her himself. If Yi Tianyun hadn’t returned, he might very well have succeeded.

"No matter what difficulties you faced, planning to kill me yourself? That’s quite the ’sufficient reason.’ When I was useful, you all fawned over me. The moment I wasn’t, you cast me aside... I despise that more than anything! Young Master Yi, drag him over here for me!" Zhu Yuwei said in a cold voice.

"I’d be happy to oblige." Yi Tianyun gave a faint smile. In the next instant, his figure blurred into motion. He was so fast that no one could follow his movements. One moment he was there, the next he was in front of the elder. He spun and kicked. "BANG!" The elder was sent flying, vomiting blood and severely injured.

"He’s all yours. Deal with him however you want," Yi Tianyun said indifferently.

Zhu Yuwei drew her longsword and glared at the elder, her eyes like ice. "I have tolerated you people for a very long time. Finally, I can kill you with my own hands!"

"P-Purple Pavilion Master... No, don’t do this! D-Did you forget how well we treated you? When you were helpless, we were the ones who took you in..." the elder pleaded, but he couldn’t even stand up to run.

"Is that so? It’s true you took me in, but you constantly tried to squeeze every last drop of value out of me... You even wanted to marry me off to the Divine Forging Sect’s Sect Master! You scum only ever think of yourselves! You flock to anything profitable and immediately discard it when there’s no value left... Young Master Yi is the best example! When he was valuable, everyone said they’d protect him. The moment danger appeared, you abandoned him, only to regret it later. You’re all a bunch of trash!"

After speaking, she raised her longsword and stabbed down viciously. Since he couldn’t move, he was run through by the blade.

"You... you..." The elder’s eyes went wide before he slumped to the ground, all signs of life gone.

After killing him with her own hands, she gently closed her eyes. She felt a sense of release, as if she was finally, completely free from the Celestial Phoenix Tower.

"Anyone who moves dies first!" Yi Tianyun suddenly shouted, his eyes ice-cold.

The Black Dragon beside him let out a roar that echoed through the clouds!

Many of the disciples who had been thinking of fleeing trembled, their courage to escape completely gone.

As Yi Tianyun passed Zhu Yuwei, he reached out and gently patted her shoulder before continuing forward, stopping in front of Ning Chuan.

"What information did you receive that made you decide to come here?" Yi Tianyun asked calmly.

"Don’t even think about getting any information out of me... AHHHHH..."

The next moment, Yi Tianyun threw a ball of fire that enveloped Ning Chuan. In the blink of an eye, he was alight, and in moments, he was burned to a crisp.

"Ding! Successfully killed Ning Chuan. Gained 120,000 Experience, 2,300 Madness Value, high-grade Spiritual Artifact: Nether Hook, and 20 Sin Value!"

"Don’t worry, I never planned on getting any information out of you anyway. Besides, twenty Sin Value points... You must have been quite a monster when you were alive." Yi Tianyun’s gaze was cold. He immediately dragged another disciple over. "What about you? Are you willing to explain the situation?"

"I-I don’t know anything... Ahhh..."

Flames instantly covered him, and he was thrown aside by Yi Tianyun, who proceeded to grab another disciple.

"And you?" Yi Tianyun’s gaze was calm, but no one doubted he would act.

"I-I’ll talk! I’ll talk! When Elder Wei and the others didn’t return after so long, we knew something must have happened... Then, by coincidence, some disciples were operating here in the Earth Realm Continent. They came to investigate and found Merak Palace completely empty. The elders guessed they must have met with disaster and immediately sent people over." Terrified of dying, the disciple spilled everything.

"So how many people did they send this time?" Yi Tianyun said, narrowing his eyes.

"Basically all the elders came..." the disciple said hurriedly, afraid of being killed by Yi Tianyun.

"All the elders came, including the Mansion Master?" Yi Tianyun asked in a low voice.

"That... That should be right," the disciple said.

"Then where did they go?" Yi Tianyun asked.

"They went straight to those... uh... Celestial Sinking Ruins. Someone saw... saw disciples from Merak Palace heading that way," the Cyan Profound Mansion disciple hurriedly explained.

Yi Tianyun’s eyes flashed. ’The truth always comes out in the end,’ he thought. ’When we evacuated Merak Palace, some Cultivator must have seen us.’