Han Feng's eyes sharpened, and he formed hand seals: "Nine Forms of Starfall - Heavenly Pivot!"
Seven illusory stars arranged in a dipper shape overhead, with the Tian Shu star emitting a blinding light. A beam of light, about ten feet in diameter, hurtled toward the core of the teleportation array, but was stopped halfway by a white-haired old man who suddenly appeared.
"How dare you, junior!" The old man's sleeves billowed, actually diverting and dissolving the starlight. "I, Bai Qingcang, am here; it's not your place to act wildly!"
"Ancestor!" The Bai family members knelt down in worship as if they had seen a savior.
Han Feng narrowed his eyes. This Bai Qingcang was the previous patriarch of the Bai family who had "passed away" a hundred years ago, but unexpectedly, he had secretly broken through to the late-stage Great Perfection of the Innate Realm. What's more troublesome is that the blue figure in the teleportation array is becoming clearer and clearer...
"Colluding with those from beyond the realm is an unforgivable crime." Han Feng slowly ascended into the air, his star armor spreading across his entire body. "Today, the Bai family shall be exterminated."
Bai Qingcang laughed wildly: "Just you alone?" He suddenly ripped open his shirt, revealing the blue crystal embedded in his chest. "My Bai family is a branch of the Youjing Clan, how can you claim to be colluding with them!"
The crystal burst forth with an eerie blue light, and the old man's cultivation level instantly surged to the mid-Nascent Soul stage! At the same time, the figure in the teleportation array extended half of an arm covered in crystal armor, and the space began to collapse under the strain.
Bai Qingcang's attack was already upon him, but Han Feng merely raised his hand slightly:
"Nine Forms of Starfall: Shaking Light"
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no dazzling light and shadow. Bai Qingcang's movements suddenly froze, and then, like a pencil drawing erased by an eraser, he vanished inch by inch from head to toe.
"No...it's impossible..." These were the old man's last words.
Han Feng didn't even glance at his opponent, who had turned to ashes; his gaze was fixed on the soon-to-be-formed teleportation portal. He made a grasping motion with both hands, and a longbow made entirely of starlight slowly took shape.
In an instant, an arrow was shot out. Bai Qingcang had no time to react and was affected by the aftershock of the arrow. The world changed instantly, and the entire Bai family was reduced to ruins.
"You're saying the Bai family is a branch of the Youjing Clan?" Han Feng walked through the air, each step causing ripples in the surrounding space. "Explain yourself clearly."
In the ruins, Bai Qingcang's blue crystal on his chest was shattered, and half of his body was charred, yet he still struggled to prop himself up. He grinned, revealing teeth stained with blood: "Telling you won't hurt... Ever since Miss Mu came, we've discovered... the Bai family's cultivation techniques are rooted in the power of the Youjing Clan..."
Han Feng's pupils contracted slightly. Dongfang Lin had once said that all the cultivation stones of ancient martial arts families were fragments fallen from the heavens—remnants from the great battle between the Star Soul Lord and extraterrestrial forces. If the Bai family's cultivation techniques directly originated from the Youjing Clan, then what about the other families?
"Cough cough..." Bai Qingcang spat out another mouthful of black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs. "Kill me... destroy the Bai family if you want..." He looked up at the increasingly unstable teleportation portal, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism. "The lord of the Youjing Clan is about to descend... You, a mere Star Soul Lord, haven't even grown up yet..."
The old man suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, his tattered body began to swell, and a spiderweb-like blue light emerged beneath his skin: "When the great one arrives... that will be your death day!"
"Our ancestor is about to self-destruct!" The Bai family disciples around him fled in terror, and a few who were slower were vaporized by the energy emanating from the old man's body.
Han Feng remained rooted to the spot, merely raising his right hand slightly: "Shut up."
With a clenched fist, the power of the stars enveloped Bai Qingcang like an invisible hand. The old man's swollen body seemed to be paused, then collapsed at an even faster speed—first his limbs twisted and deformed, then his torso was compressed into a sphere, and finally his ferocious head made a soft "pop" sound, like a bubble bursting.
The entire process was eerily quiet. There was no explosion, no release of energy, only a living Nascent Soul expert being forcibly squeezed into a fist-sized ball of flesh, and then turning into dust and scattering away.
"The Star Lord is mighty!" The guards of the Dongfang family, who were watching the battle from afar, couldn't help but cheer.
Han Feng did not relax in the slightest. The portal had expanded to three zhang high, and the outline of the blue figure inside became clearer and clearer—six crystalline arms, three pairs of wings as thin as cicada wings, and compound eyes that exuded a chilling killing intent even through the spatial barrier.
"The vanguard of the Nether Crystal Clan...?" Han Feng's hands clenched into a fist, and the Starlight Longbow materialized once more. "Perfect, let's try out this new move."
He drew the bowstring taut, and seven illusory stars lit up one after another on the bow. When the seventh star lit up, the ground of the entire Bai family ruins began to tremble, and countless pebbles defied gravity and floated into the air.
"Nine Forms of Starfall: Heavenly Authority"
The bowstring was released, but no arrow was fired. However, the space around the portal suddenly crumpled like tin foil being kneaded by an invisible hand. The powerful Nether Crystal Clan member about to cross the boundary let out a piercing shriek, his six arms desperately tearing at the spatial barrier, trying to retreat—
It's too late.
The folded space suddenly tightened, like a Venus flytrap closing its leaves. Accompanied by a teeth-grinding squeezing sound, the portal, along with the Spectral Clan inside, was shredded into countless blue crystal fragments, which refracted an eerie light in the sunlight.
"Is it resolved?" Dongfang Lin approached Han Feng, cautiously observing the gradually calming spatial fluctuations.
Han Feng shook his head: "This passage is only temporarily closed." He pointed to the sky, "Look."
Seven blue dots of light appeared in the once clear sky and are growing larger at a visible speed.
"The extraordinary phenomenon of the seven stars aligning..." Dongfang Lin's face turned deathly pale. "The Youjing Clan is locating the coordinates!"
Han Feng sheathed his longbow, and his star-studded armor faded away. "Notify all the noble families to prepare for battle." He gazed into the distance, his eyes seemingly piercing through the clouds to see the blue dots of light. "The real war... is about to begin."
A gust of wind blew by, swirling up blue crystal dust from the ground. Han Feng suddenly reached out and grabbed one piece, twirling it between his fingertips: "Interesting..."
There was a familiar fluctuation within the crystal powder—an aura identical to that of Mu Xiaoxiao.
The smoke of battle gradually dissipated from the Bai family manor. Han Feng stood beside the ruins of the fountain in the central square, listening to reports from each team. The fountain statue—originally a bronze statue of the Bai family's ancestor—now only had half its head remaining, leaning diagonally into the pool, the crack shimmering with lingering starlight.
"We have 27 lightly wounded, 3 seriously wounded, and no casualties." Dongfang Lin flipped through the tactical tablet. "The Bai family suffered 64 dead, 138 captured, and the rest escaped in the chaos."
Zhang Jingcheng added, "Forty-two spies from various aristocratic families have been rescued from the dungeon, and medical care has been arranged." The old man paused, then continued, "This was discovered in the Bai family's secret chamber."
He handed over a blue-glowing crystal fragment, no bigger than a fingernail, yet radiating an unsettling energy fluctuation. Han Feng took the fragment, and his fingertips immediately felt a stinging sensation, as if he were holding a piece of dry ice.
"A fragment of the Nether Crystal Clan's communicator." Han Feng narrowed his eyes. "It seems the Bai family is far more complex than we thought."
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