Outside the valley, the four Emperor-level powerhouses, having barely dealt with the missiles flying from the sky, were anxious as they watched Li Xiaotian and his group escape into the depths of the valley. They disregarded their injuries and frantically pursued.
However, as they reached the area where Long Dai and his men had ambushed them earlier, all four were suddenly startled, sensing a strong sense of crisis.
"Boom!" With a world-shattering roar, a mushroom cloud appeared above the valley, immediately followed by the entire forest being illuminated by a blinding white light.
It was important to note that only a small portion of the ammunition used to attack the four Emperors earlier had been deployed. The remaining ammunition of the Dragon King Hall was all located here.
At this moment, they were all detonated. The terrifying power even caused the entire valley to tremble, and the four Emperors were right at the center of the explosion!
Concurrently, the Emperor-level powerhouses searching the sky above the entire forest were all drawn to the commotion and flew over rapidly.
Thousands of kilometers away, this was the deepest part of the forest.
The resurrected powerhouses called this place Myriad Beasts Mountain, because in ancient times, it was filled with all sorts of terrifying demonic beasts and was a forbidden zone for humans.
The moment the explosion occurred just now, several terrifying auras erupted from the depths of Myriad Beasts Mountain, causing many towering peaks to tremble slightly.
"Has the war begun? Have they woken us up, and has the result of the War of Immortality been decided?"
An ancient, time-worn whisper echoed out, spreading like ripples and quickly reaching all areas in the depths of Myriad Beasts Mountain.
In the valley, several Emperor-level powerhouses materialized, emitting blinding light and repelling the shockwaves generated by the explosion.
"Cough, cough, Li Xiaotian!!!" a low roar sounded. A figure burst out from a cliff beside the valley, his body scorched and tattered. Immediately after, three more figures, identical to him, rushed out from other directions.
They were the four Emperor-level powerhouses from before. At this moment, their auras were weak, and their appearances were extremely tragic.
"Qingshan Sect, Beicang Sect, did you encounter Li Xiaotian? Did you obtain the Heavenly Tablet?"
Someone shouted, their eyes flashing. The other newly arrived Emperor-level powerhouses all stared at the four.
"No! We found Li Xiaotian, but he ran into the valley!"
One of the four Emperors spoke. Their two sects were considered ordinary forces with not much power. Those who asked them questions belonged to powerful factions, so even if they were filled with anger, they had to answer truthfully.
"Ran into the valley? The four of you, chasing one Li Xiaotian, managed to get into this state! And you let him escape?"
Someone reprimanded, their expression filled with disdain. The four Emperors joining forces, and yet they couldn't even deal with a peak King-level Li Xiaotian, were truly useless.
"We were ambushed by him, and now with the world in turmoil, many of the Emperor-level techniques cannot be used, which is why he escaped!"
Someone explained, filled with hatred for Li Xiaotian. If it were in ancient times, even if Li Xiaotian was a monstrous genius, he would have been far from their opponent.
But now, they had just resurrected. Although they were Emperor-level powerhouses, they couldn't even exert one-fifth of their ancient strength, which was why Li Xiaotian had escaped.
"Hmph! Useless!" Someone said, then ignored the four and was the first to charge into the depths of the valley. The other Emperors followed suit.
Only the injured four Emperors remained in the sky. Their eyes flickered, and they finally followed. In fact, at this point, they wanted to leave, but they knew that even though those people were chasing Li Xiaotian, if they dared to leave, those who entered the valley would instantly rush out to intercept them.
In the blink of an eye, everyone arrived in the depths of the valley. At this moment, the area before their eyes was empty.
"The aura dissipated here."
Someone spoke, having discovered the traces of Li Xiaotian and his group's disappearance.
"How is this possible?!" Behind everyone, the four who had just arrived looked greatly shocked. They had personally seen Li Xiaotian escape into the depths of the valley, but now, it had come to an end, and there was no one inside.
Instantly, everyone present turned their gazes to the four. Li Xiaotian had disappeared, and the four of them were here!
"Don't tell me you obtained the Heavenly Tablet and then killed Li Xiaotian to silence him? And Li Xiaotian retaliated before dying, thus exposing this place?" Someone's tone was sinister, mixed with a hint of killing intent.
"Everyone! We are not lying. We were pursuing Li Xiaotian and personally saw him escape in here. We did not obtain the Heavenly Tablet at all!"
An elder from the Huangshan Sect among the four quickly spoke, his mind already reeling. Li Xiaotian had actually disappeared, and the last people to see Li Xiaotian were the four of them. Therefore, in everyone's eyes, the four of them were very likely to have obtained the Heavenly Tablet.
"Everyone, we can swear that if we had obtained the Heavenly Tablet, would we still be staying here? We would have fled long ago and would not have put ourselves in danger!"
Another person among the four spoke. Since the Heavenly Tablet was not in their hands, they had to explain clearly, otherwise, the four of them might be attacked by everyone present.
"They are not lying, the Heavenly Tablet is not in their hands!"
Someone spoke, an elder dressed like a Taoist priest, holding a whisk. Seeing everyone's gaze turn towards him, the old Taoist priest casually waved his whisk.
"Buzz~" A faint fluctuation emanated, and instantly, the expressions of everyone present changed.
Before their eyes, there seemed to be a transparent light screen that the eyes couldn't see but could truly feel.
"This is a barrier?!" Someone exclaimed, looking shocked.
"A barrier! It's a barrier! A Heavenly-level powerhouse has set up a barrier in the valley!"
Barriers involved space, and only Heavenly-level powerhouses could possess such means.
"How is this possible? If a Heavenly-level powerhouse was slumbering here, how could Li Xiaotian and the others have entered the barrier?"
Someone spoke, their tone filled with surprise. Even the weakest Heavenly-level powerhouse's barrier was not something ordinary people could easily breach.
When some Heavenly-level powerhouses in ancient times slumbered, they would set up barriers to protect themselves, so the barriers must have been terrifyingly powerful. Ordinary people might be instantly killed by the barrier's power if they merely approached.
"But they disappeared here, Li Xiaotian and his entire Dragon King Hall have vanished."
The old Taoist priest whispered, carefully sensing the barrier before him, trying to find an entrance. Unfortunately, no matter how he tried, he couldn't find one.
"Could it be that the adult inside has awakened, sensed the existence of the Heavenly Tablet, and thus taken Li Xiaotian and the others into the barrier?"
Someone guessed, their face slightly pale. If the Heavenly-level powerhouse inside had awakened, it meant they had discovered their arrival.
"No, apart from those few adults, the rest of the Heavenly-level powerhouses have not yet reached the time to awaken. Moreover, if the powerhouse inside had awakened, we wouldn't have gotten this far."
The old Taoist priest shook his head, his brow furrowed.