Chapter 158. A Golden Body Realm Expert Appears, Penglai's Grand Elder, Killing Intent!

Dozens of ships pervaded the sea in the distance. The foes' numbers were vast, and the auras emanating from within the ships were formidable. Elder Ji keenly felt the presence of experts far more powerful than himself.

Their original plan had been straightforward—rescue Chunyang, capture Zhao Yuan, and dispatch troops to patrol the Bohai Sea.

Even if the other side had powerful Awakened, they would still be able to blockade the Three Immortal Islands and prevent a landing. What they had not anticipated was how quickly reinforcements would arrive.

There was simply no time; elite troops from other regions had yet to arrive. If a full-scale battle were to happen now, the situation would be dire for them, and catastrophic losses would surely be guaranteed.

Elder Ji and Elder Yun revealed grim faces.

"

Hahaha!

Our fellow disciples and teachers are here!" Zhao Yuan laughed. "Once they're here, the tables will turn, and all of you will pay the price for this!"

Zhao Yuan had been on the verge of retreating, but his eyes gleamed with excitement upon seeing the fleet. He looked as if he had been injected with adrenaline. He no longer fled but redoubled his efforts, deflecting bullets with ease.

As an Unfettered Realm expert, he was a king among beasts. Weapons of this caliber were merely an annoyance to him. With reinforcements on the way, he had nothing to worry about.

"I will give you one chance!" Zhang Yun declared coldly. "Cease fire, admit your wrongdoings, and agree to my terms! Do that, and perhaps we can coexist peacefully. Otherwise, it'll be too late for any regrets."

Their teachers' presence gave them confidence, and they demanded that Elder Ji stand down. In their eyes, the mainland's weapons posed no real threat to those at the Unfettered Realm.

They believed the mainland had already shown them their trump card.

Their teachers could surely stand unscathed in the face of such weapons. At this rate, the officials would have no choice but to submit unless a powerful expert were to show up on their side.

However, there was no way the mainland had an expert beyond the Unfettered Realm. This was the very source of their confidence.

"Stop being delusional," Elder Yun replied, his voice solemn. "Even if it means war, we will never agree to your so-called terms."

The two sides had effectively declared war on each other. And even if things hadn't escalated this far, the demands for people and territory, combined with their insufferably arrogant attitude, were simply intolerable.

They had crossed the line.

From the very beginning, they had no intention of talking things out.

So what if they had even stronger people on their side?

"Pass down my orders," Elder Ji commanded without further discussion. "Increase the firepower and prevent those ships from making a landing."

The commanding officer in the rear heard the order and carried it out without question.

Soon, more attack helicopters took to the skies and rows of tanks moved into position as well. When it came to modern weapons, the officials were unparalleled. Their access to such weapons remained far deeper than what Longevity Genetics had ever privately gathered.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The bombardment began anew, targeting the distant ships.

On the shore, Elder Ji and Elder Yun fought Zhao Yuan and the others, while the troops provided suppressive fire.

They had indeed decided to fully commit to this fight. The incessant roaring of gunfire became even louder, and the bombardment became even more devastating than ever. Every single weapon deployed at the coast had one unified goal—to prevent the ships from making a landing.

Before long, people emerged on the decks of the ships. Their robes immediately told the officials that they were indeed from the Three Immortal Islands.

More than a dozen Unfettered Realm strode to the bow of their respective ship and intercepted the oncoming shells with their bare hands.

Some conjured towering waves and fierce gales that rendered the oncoming bullets ineffective. Others leaped from the ships, destroying the attack helicopters overhead.

Every single Awakened possessed extraordinary power, and an Unfettered Realm Awakened could render conventional weaponry useless.

The combined efforts of more than a thousand Awakened reduced the salvo of bullets and artillery shells to little more than decoration.

Meanwhile, the ships themselves picked up the pace, drawing even closer to the shore.

The sight told everyone one thing—the reinforcements from the Three Immortal Islands could not be stopped.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they made a landing.

"Elder Ji, Elder Yun!" the commanding officer in the rear urgently shouted, "I need your permission to deploy rockets!"

In the end, it seemed they had to deploy more powerful weapons. Facing the powerful forces of the Three Immortal Islands, they had to resort to extreme measures. They would deal with the consequences later.

"Approved," Elder Yun said after exchanging one final move with Zhang Yun. With that, he and Elder Ji both retreated to a safe place.

Moments later, tanks and launch vehicles arranged themselves in formation.

BOOM!

Hundreds of them roared to life at the same time, creating a cataclysmic explosion that generated a shockwave so strong it seemed to have rocked the Bohai Sea's entire coastline.

The surrounding temperature spiked dramatically as well.

Zhao Yuan, Zhang Yun, and the dozens of ships couldn't escape the bombardment.

Enormous craters riddled the beach, and billowing smoke choked the air. Out on the water, massive, tsunami-like waves swept across the ocean. This was the devastating might of modern weaponry, and leveling an entire city overnight posed no challenge whatsoever for such weapons.

Of course, Elder Ji and Elder Yun had still held back; otherwise, the bombardment would have been even more overwhelming.

Their objective wasn't total annihilation of their foes, so they decided to hold back. They only needed to prevent the landing. This would buy them more time to prepare. Eventually, they could perhaps even permanently ensure that those islanders could never make a landing.

Elder Ji, Elder Yun, Ice Fairy, and the members of the younger generation watched with bated breath. The bombardment would be terrifying even for an Unfettered Realm expert.

Everyone waited for the outcome as if they were ants on a hot pan. They desperately wanted to know whether they were strong enough to stop the ships from the Three Immortal Islands.

The devastating bombardment continued for ten minutes.

Once Elder Yun judged it was enough, he stopped the bombardment. When the smoke dissipated, a ravaged beach with scorched sand was revealed. Amidst the devastation, Zhao Yuan, Zhang Yun, and the white-robed man were revealed kneeling on the sand. They looked disheveled and were gasping for air.

The Unfettered Realm was powerful, but they couldn't withstand such bombardment forever. A little longer, and they would have been obliterated.

However, everyone's attention was elsewhere—on the distant horizon.

Shockingly, the ships remained intact, completely unharmed, but this was not because the ships were made of legendary materials. Instead, a colossal figure had appeared before the ships, blocking every single attack.

The colossal, humanoid figure stood above the seas while emanating a radiant purple light. It towered dozens of meters high, and waves of terrifying power rolled off it as it gazed down at everyone.

Before the massive figure hovered a man sporting a black beard, a bed of white hair, and clad in purple robes. Of course, he exuded a formidable aura as well.

"A Dharma Avatar exuding fluctuations beyond the Unfettered... A Golden Body Realm expert?"

"The Three Immortal Islands really have someone at the Golden Body Realm?"

"What do we do now?"

The officials on shore stared in shock at the scene before them. According to their research, if one wanted to reach the fourth stage of evolution, the Golden Body Realm, one had to shatter one's genetic shackles from within and unlock one's true potential.

Reaching the Golden Body Realm allowed one to manifest a Dharma Avatar. It was identical to what the Spirit Monkey had demonstrated on Jade Emperor Peak.

If one were to draw a comparison, it was similar to the legendary Cosmos Resonance, but of course, it wasn't quite as powerful as that.

More importantly, reaching the Golden Body Realm meant obtaining the ability to fly. In addition, one would become virtually immune to modern weapons at the Golden Body Realm. In fact, even nukes would struggle to kill such beings.

A Golden Body Realm expert from the Three Immortal Islands had just appeared. He blocked every single bullet, artillery shell, and rocket. He hovered above everyone, emanating overwhelming pressure that pressed on the hearts of those on the distant shore.

The ships continued forward, eventually landing on the shore. The purple-robed man then retracted his Dharma Avatar and strode forward.

He frowned deeply upon seeing the miserable state of the three disciples.

"Grand Elder is here!

Hahaha!

" Zhao Yuan burst into laughter. Disregarding his injuries, he rushed forward, saying, "This disciple greets the Grand Elder!"

The Three Immortal Islands still maintained the hierarchy of ancient sects, where the Grand Elder held a position second only to the Sect Master himself.

Zhang Yun and the white-robed man from Fangzhang spotted the elders from their respective sects and hurried over to them. The three of them then recounted everything that had happened.

"These mainlanders are truly despicable!" Zhang Yun was practically sobbing as she exclaimed, "They refused our terms and refused to cooperate with us. But instead of letting us leave, they ambushed us and killed so many of our fellow disciples! Elders, I beseech you to seek justice for us!"

She saw nothing wrong with their attitude, nor did she think their demands had been too harsh. She simply shifted all the blame onto the mainlanders.

Zhao Yuan embellished the story further for his Grand Elder. He insisted that they had been perfectly courteous and only wanted to talk with them. However, the mainlanders were just too treacherous.

After hearing all that, the Grand Elder of Penglai swept his icy gaze across those on the shore. His voice sounded utterly cold as he muttered, "Good, good, good. Very good."

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

In truth, he had a rough guess of what had actually happened. But what did that matter? Regardless of the circumstances, his sect's disciples were harmed. Whatever they had done earlier, all the fault lay with the mainlanders.

He moved closer toward the mainlanders alongside the elders from Fangzhang and Yingzhou. Gazing at Elder Ji, Elder Yun, and the others, he slowly asked, "Do you plead... guilty?"

Just like Zhao Yuan and the rest, he was insufferably arrogant. He asked no questions and decided to hear only one side of the story before demanding immediate admission of guilt.

As he spoke, uncompressed killing intent erupted from him.