Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

The Marquis of Chu released his grip, his smile slowly fading, replaced by extreme seriousness.

"Junior Brother Xia, please don't take offense at my bluntness," Chu Hou said, looking directly into Xia Jin's eyes. "But this concerns the outcome of the battle against the alien race, and some things cannot be taken lightly. You don't mind if I test your strength, do you?"

Xia Jin looked at him, a flicker of emotion passing through her pale golden eyes.

After a few breaths, Xia Jin nodded.

"Good! That's exactly what I was thinking."

As they spoke, a fighting spirit quietly rose within them.

After being immersed and tempered in the Yuanling Pool for more than half a month, Xia Jin could clearly feel the power within her body that was deeper and more solid than before she entered the Yuanling Pool.

He has now reached the limit of the Creation Realm, as if there is only a thin layer of paper separating him from that higher realm. It seems that he can break through this threshold with just a gentle touch.

He needs an opponent.

And this senior disciple with the character "Hun" in front of him is undoubtedly the best touchstone.

"Excellent!" A hint of admiration flashed in the Marquis of Chu's eyes. "Let's go up to the heavens and fight!"

"Wait, wait, wait!"

A clear voice suddenly interrupted from the side.

Zhou Chu, dressed as a Taoist priest, had a smile on his face.

"Brother Chu, Junior Brother Xia, if the two of you were to fight, it would likely cause quite a stir. If we're not careful, it might even affect the entire Third Heaven." Zhou Chu smoothed out his sleeves and carefully pulled out a palm-sized compass from his robes.

"Perfect timing. I have a magical artifact here that can provide you with a quiet battleground." Zhou Chu held the compass, looked up at Chu Hou, then at Xia Jin, and then reminded him, "But you two should hold back a bit, don't break my magical artifact. This is my most treasured possession, if you break it I won't be able to complain."

"Junior Brother Zhou, you've certainly hidden quite a few good things!! This compass, even I, your senior brother, have never seen you take it out before!!" Marquis Chu narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at Zhou Chu with some surprise. "But don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I won't damage your magic artifact."

Xia Jin nodded slightly.

Zhou Chu took a deep breath and said no more. He tossed the compass in his hand into the air.

"go!"

The compass shot into the sky, grew larger in mid-air, and soon shot out a beam of light, which transformed into a huge Bagua diagram that floated above everyone's heads.

The array slowly rotated, the yin-yang symbol radiating a soft golden light, and a mysterious spatial power poured down from it.

Under the golden light, the figures of Chu Hou and Xia Jin simultaneously became blurred.

"You two, remember to save your strength!!"

As the two disappeared completely, Zhou Chu shouted again.

Soon, the light faded.

Beside the Yuanling Pool, only Yang Qingxuan and his companions remained, looking at each other in bewilderment, along with the Bagua formation slowly rotating in the sky.

Wu Feng scratched his round head, then curiously approached Zhou Chu, looking him up and down. His usually squinty eyes were now filled with curiosity.

"Hey, Taoist priest, what's going on with your compass? Can you see inside?"

Zhou Chu felt uncomfortable under Wu Feng's gaze and subconsciously took a step back. However, when he saw that Yang Qingxuan and the others were also looking at him with the same gaze, his face darkened.

"Hey you guys, don't look at me like that," Zhou Chu said with a hint of helplessness. "This compass is like a little world inside itself. I can manipulate it, but what's inside..."

"To be honest, even I don't know. Once this thing is thrown out, you can only wait for the people inside to finish fighting and come out on their own. People outside can't see it or interfere."

"Tch!! You call this a magical artifact?! I thought it was something amazing."

After hearing Zhou Chu's words, Wu Feng immediately lost interest and curled his lip.

Li Zhan stretched, took a swig from his wine gourd, then strode over to a flat rock and plopped down on it.

He patted the stone beside him and gestured to the crowd with the gourd in his hand.

"Alright, stop standing there. Come on, everyone, come and have a drink. Once Boss Chu and the others come out, we'll know the result."

"That's true." Wu Feng grinned and walked over, snatched the wine gourd from Li Zhan's hand, and without any politeness, tilted his head back and took a big gulp.

As the wine entered his throat, Wu Feng's eyes lit up.

"Wow. You drunkard, this wine is pretty good. It's very mellow and has a strong aftertaste. Where did you get it? Give me some."

Li Zhan snatched back the wine gourd, hugged it to his chest like a treasure, chuckled twice, and looked quite smug.

"Hehehe, I got this from Junior Brother Xia. I finally managed to get it when he first arrived in the Third Heaven. You want it? Go ask Junior Brother Xia for it. I can't make that decision for him."

"Stingy!" Wu Feng rolled his eyes and didn't bother to say anything more.

As they chatted and laughed, the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

But at this moment,

"Hmm!"

Zhou Chu suddenly groaned, his body trembled involuntarily, and his face darkened.

Yang Qingxuan frowned, took a step forward, and reached out to support his shoulder.

"Junior Brother Zhou, what's wrong?"

Zhou Chu took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. He looked up at the slowly rotating Bagua diagram in the sky, shook his head with a wry smile.

"It must be because the battle between Boss Chu and Junior Brother Xia caused too much commotion. Some of the residual force went directly through the compass and reached me. Although it was only a tiny bit, the power... was truly frightening."

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingxuan's gaze sharpened, and he looked up at the Bagua formation in the sky.

The array diagram continued to rotate slowly, its surface shimmering with golden light, appearing calm and composed. However, upon closer inspection, one could detect that the golden light was flowing much faster than before, and there was even a faint, subtle vibration at the edges of the array diagram.

Just how intense was the battle within that formation?

Yang Qingxuan didn't speak, but silently released his hand from Zhou Chu's support, stood with his hands behind his back, and stared intently at the Bagua formation in the sky.

Li Zhan also dropped his playful expression, hung the wine gourd at his waist, and stood up from the rock. He squinted at the sky, and his usually hazy eyes were surprisingly clear at this moment.

Wu Feng stopped making a fuss. He crossed his arms, tilted his round head slightly back, and his expression became unusually serious.

Four people, four different attitudes, yet they all fell silent without prior agreement.

No one spoke; they simply waited quietly.

Waiting for those two people to come out.

Waiting for a result.