At the same time, Celestial Sage and the elder from the opposing side were both thrown back several kilometers.
“Activate the formation!” Celestial Sage shouted as he steadied himself.
“Seal the courtyard. No one is allowed to enter or leave without my permission!”
“Understood!” responded the current Pavilion Master of Celestial Pavilion and several elders in unison.
As their voices fell, a powerful aura swept across the courtyard, and a massive barrier enveloped the entire mountaintop.
“How naive!” The intruder sneered. “Do you think a mere barrier can trap me?”
Ignoring Celestial Sage, he dashed towards the edge of the barrier.
“Break for me!”
Drawing a sharp sword from his storage ring, he unleashed a fierce sword energy towards the barrier.
A muffled sound followed, and the barrier trembled but showed no signs of breaking.
“Hmm?” The intruder was slightly taken aback.
Without hesitation, he unleashed another sword strike, even more powerful than the first.
However, the barrier only wobbled slightly before stabilizing again, as solid as a rock.
“Everyone, attack together and capture him!” an elder’s voice rang out from within the courtyard.
“Attack together!” many voices echoed.
With a whoosh, dozens of figures soared into the air from within the courtyard, all at the Condensed Kun Realm.
“A bunch of fools. If you wish to die, I’ll grant your wish!”
The intruder shouted back, then unleashed waves of overwhelming energy, causing a storm in the void.
After a series of loud explosions, over a dozen figures were sent flying. Several early-stage Condensed Kun Realm cultivators fell, their physical bodies destroyed, and their soul forms escaping.
“Die!” At the same time, Celestial Sage roared and hurled a seal at the intruder.
Unable to dodge in time, the seal struck the intruder’s back, causing him to spit blood and plummet towards the ground.
Coincidentally, he was falling towards where Billy and Greta were standing!
As he neared the ground, a dense black fog erupted from his body and quickly spread in all directions.
In just a few blinks of an eye, the black fog covered nearly a kilometer radius, engulfing two to three hundred people in darkness.
Billy and Greta were naturally among them.
Meanwhile, the intruder’s figure vanished into the fog.
“Don’t let him escape! Surround him!” shouted an elder from Celestial Pavilion.
As his voice fell, Celestial Sage, the Pavilion Master, and other powerful figures from Celestial Pavilion moved towards the foggy area.
Additionally, Condensed Kun Realm experts from other factions also joined in surrounding the area.
Soon, the fog began to dissipate.
Billy glanced around at the surrounding crowd-about sixty or seventy people-all at the Condensed Kun Realm. Around forty were from Celestial Pavilion; the rest were from other factions.
“Where is he?” a man asked after scanning the area.
Everyone was equally puzzled; the masked man had vanished!
Strictly speaking, he must have blended into the crowd without his mask and black robe, seemingly disappearing into thin air.
“I don’t believe you can hide forever!” an elder frowned.
He released his spiritual power to scan everyone present.
However, to his surprise, there were only three Condensed Kun Realm experts among them, all women.
“He even hid his cultivation?” The elder frowned again.
“Most likely!” another person replied.
“In my opinion, there’s no need for such trouble!” a bearded man spoke loudly. “Just have everyone hand over their storage rings for inspection!”
“Yes, that’s the best way!” someone agreed. “Whoever stole the Heaven Book will be revealed by their storage ring!”
“Everyone, I apologize for this inconvenience,” said the Pavilion Master with a slightly apologetic expression. “For everyone’s sake, please remove your ownership from your storage rings and allow us to inspect them.”
“Anyone whose storage ring does not contain the Heaven Book will receive an Essence Refining Elixir personally crafted by my father as an apology from Celestial Pavilion!”
“The Pavilion Master is too kind!” Many eyes lit up at the mention of ‘Essence Refining Elixir.’
While it couldn’t directly enhance their cultivation level, it had excellent properties for cleansing and refining their bodies.
Especially since it was crafted by Celestial Sage himself, its quality was undoubtedly high. For most ordinary people, consuming one could be equivalent to half a year’s worth of cultivation.
“Sir, Pavilion Master, here is my storage ring,” said a middle-aged man as he handed over his storage ring after removing its ownership.
One person set an example, and many others followed suit.
“Sir, do you think that person hid among us on purpose?” Greta whispered to Billy.
“Why do you say that?” Billy replied calmly.
“It’s just a suspicion,” Greta paused before adding. “They wouldn’t know that I have the real Heaven Book on me, right? It shouldn’t be possible!”
“Sir, if they take our storage rings, we’ll be in big trouble. Do you have any ideas?”
“That’s your problem, not mine,” Billy replied.
“Sir, you wouldn’t abandon me, would you?” Greta looked pitifully at him.
“You said you’re a disciple of Celestial Pavilion. They won’t check yours. Don’t worry,” Billy responded.
“I… I lied. I’m not a disciple of Celestial Pavilion. I just arrived in Celestial City a few days ago…” Greta grabbed Billy’s hand. “Sir, you have to help me…”
“Out of ten things you say, not one is true. How can I help you?” Billy interrupted her.
“I promise I’ll tell you everything about me once we get out of here. Is that okay?” Greta continued.
“If you’re scared, just throw away that storage ring,” Billy suggested again.
“No way!” Greta shook her head. “There are two precious treasures in there! I can’t just throw it away; that would be such a waste…”
“Excuse me, please hand over your storage rings,” interrupted an elder from Celestial Pavilion as he approached them.
“We don’t have storage rings,” Greta replied quickly.
“You must be joking,” said the elder after a brief pause. “Please cooperate…”
“What if we refuse?” Greta interrupted him again.
“That would put me in a difficult position,” the elder continued. “But given the importance of the Heaven Book, we must proceed regardless…”
“Enough!” Billy interrupted him. “Stop pretending. Your target is me, isn’t it?”
“You’ve gone to great lengths to deal with me, even using so many lives as pawns. Impressive!”
“Hmm?” Many people were taken aback by his words and turned to look at Billy.
“He… he’s Billy?!” exclaimed a man moments later.