Chapter 180: The Ancestors Vs Mr X

Chapter 180: Chapter 180: The Ancestors Vs Mr X

Charles’s expression turned grave.

He knew the Nine Nether Abyss Formation possessed the ability to summon creatures from the Abyss. Even so, seeing one appear before his eyes was an entirely different experience.

A chill ran down his spine.

"Every Abyss Demon is trained for battle from birth. Judging by its armor, this should be a fully grown Demon Centurion."

Liam tightened his grip on his sword as he examined the creature.

"These things are usually around the middle or upper levels of the fourth tier. In terms of strength, that puts them on roughly the same level as a fourth-star Star Sea Realm martial artist."

He deliberately explained this to Xavier, who was standing nearby.

Liam had gradually noticed something peculiar about Mr. X and his martial uncle. Despite possessing incredible strength, they seemed strangely unfamiliar with many things that ordinary high-level martial artists should know.

Sometimes, they acted like beginners who had only recently entered the martial arts world.

Yet, how could people like that have reached the Star Sea Realm and even defeated opponents in the Divine Power Realm?

Liam couldn’t make sense of it.

Still, he decided not to ask. Everyone had secrets they preferred to keep, and he had no intention of forcing them to reveal theirs.

Meanwhile, the first Abyss Demon wasn’t alone.

As soon as the Demon Centurion appeared, more creatures began emerging from the crimson pillar.

They were all Demon Centurions.

One appeared after another, and before long, ten of them had stepped out of the light. Even then, the summoning showed no sign of stopping.

There were simply too many!

If the situation involved only these demons, Liam wouldn’t have been overly concerned. The real problem was the large number of Shelby Family members already gathering near the central square under the formation’s influence.

A Demon Centurion was no weak opponent.

When two martial artists of comparable strength fought one-on-one, the chances of victory were usually about equal. If a battle broke out among the controlled members of the family, the consequences would be disastrous.

"Mr. X!"

Liam turned toward Xavier.

He didn’t need to say anything else. Xavier immediately understood what he wanted.

"Don’t worry. I’ll handle them."

With those words, Xavier shot toward the group of Abyss Demons.

Liam finally breathed a little easier.

He had personally experienced the power of the Six Directions Heaven-Piercing Finger. It was an exceptional technique for controlling an entire battlefield.

With Mr. X handling the demons, Liam no longer had to worry about their attacks reaching the helpless members of his family.

"Let’s not waste time standing here!"

Charles turned to Liam.

"We need to move the people away from the square. Get everyone you can to help!"

The two immediately descended toward the ground.

Together with the other Star Sea Realm experts of the Shelby Family, they began moving the controlled clansmen away from the central square, trying to prevent them from reaching the altar.

By then, Xavier had already engaged the Abyss Demons.

The sounds of battle attracted the attention of two people who were approaching through a nearby passage. When they turned toward the central square and saw what was happening, they couldn’t help but stop.

A large number of Demon Centurions were suspended motionless above the ground.

They had been completely immobilized by Xavier’s Great Wilderness Imprisoning Heaven Finger.

"Even after seeing it so many times, I still find it unbelievable!"

One of them exclaimed.

"The Six Directions Heaven-Piercing Finger truly deserves its reputation as a ninth-grade martial skill!"

The other person shook his head in amazement.

"Forget the technique. Mr. X himself is the real mystery. Is he really only a Star Sea Realm martial artist?"

They watched as Xavier moved among the helpless demons, cutting them down one after another with the Phantom God-Slaying Sword Technique.

Charles couldn’t help turning toward Liam.

"Tell me honestly. Is his cultivation really at the Star Sea Realm?"

Liam nodded without hesitation.

"There’s no mistake about it. He’s definitely a Star Sea Realm martial artist."

Charles let out a long sigh.

"If only someone like him could become a son-in-law of the Shelby Family..."

His eyes suddenly brightened as another thought occurred to him.

"By the way, he’s still so young. Do you know if he’s married?"

Liam stared at him.

"I’ve never heard anything about him being married."

Charles’s expression became even more interested.

"Then ask him for me when you get the chance. If he isn’t married, that would be wonderful! There are plenty of unmarried women in our family. We can let him choose whoever he likes."

He paused briefly before adding:

"Even Maya would be a good match!"

Liam nearly choked.

"Patriarch, have you completely lost your mind? He’s my niece’s martial uncle!"

"So what?"

Charles looked unconcerned.

"He’s a man, and she’s an adult woman. There’s nothing strange about two people getting married. Besides, relationships between people with such connections aren’t exactly unheard of!"

"Forget it!"

Liam rolled his eyes.

"Mr. X isn’t that kind of person. Besides, do you really want to offend someone like him by bringing up something so ridiculous?"

He shook his head in irritation.

"Once this crisis is over, you’d be better off treating my sister and niece properly. That would be far more useful than trying to arrange a marriage!"

"All right, all right. I won’t mention it again."

Charles finally gave up.

Meanwhile, Xavier was completely unaware that Charles had already begun considering him as a potential son-in-law.

His attention was entirely focused on the Abyss Demons before him.

Several Demon Centurions were caught within the Great Wilderness Imprisoning Heaven Finger’s force field. While they remained frozen, Xavier repeatedly struck them with the Phantom God-Slaying Sword Technique, cutting them down before they could fight back.

After watching the process for a while, he gradually relaxed.

"Am I really this strong, or did I simply expect too much from these Abyss Demons?"

He looked at the creatures being slaughtered before him.

"They don’t seem particularly difficult to deal with."

The Abyss Demons were humanity’s greatest enemies. Every year, countless martial artists died fighting them to protect the Dragon Kingdom.

Those who fell in battle included experts from the Spirit Platform Realm, Star Sea Realm, and even Divine Power Realm.

There had also been several Venerable Realm experts who lost their lives fighting the demons over the past few decades.

This was Xavier’s first time encountering a living Abyss Demon. Naturally, he had been extremely cautious at first.

Yet the battle was going much more smoothly than he had anticipated.

Under the suppression of the Great Wilderness Imprisoning Heaven Finger, not one of the Demon Centurions could move. They were reduced to helpless targets, waiting for him to finish them off.

Even the crimson pillar of light behind them had been frozen in place.

If the Great Wilderness Imprisoning Heaven Finger didn’t consume such an enormous amount of energy, Xavier could have maintained it continuously and effectively shut down the summoning function of the Nine Nether Abyss Formation.

Unfortunately, the technique’s energy consumption was simply too high.

Still, he knew better than to become careless.

This was only the beginning.

Sure enough, when Xavier finally withdrew the Great Wilderness Imprisoning Heaven Finger, the frozen pillar of light began moving again.

Its surface rippled, and another wave of Abyss Demons started emerging.

By this point, the battle had attracted the attention of nearly every Star Sea Realm expert in the Shelby Family.

Another Demon Centurion had just fallen to Xavier’s sword.

"That’s the thirty-seventh one!"

One of the elders exclaimed.

"How can someone be that powerful? Patriarch, where did you find such an extraordinary young man?"

"What? He’s Liam’s friend? Wait, are you talking about Mr. X?"

Another elder looked astonished.

"He’s not only a terrifying martial artist but also an alchemy grandmaster!"

The others were equally shocked.

"Good heavens! Liam, when did you manage to make friends with someone like him?"

"At his age, he’s already an alchemy grandmaster and has mastered two ninth-grade martial skills: the Six Directions Heaven-Piercing Finger and the Phantom God-Slaying Sword Technique!"

One of the elders watched Xavier eliminate another demon and shook his head in amazement.

"I have a feeling that if he continues developing at this rate, he could eventually become the strongest expert in the entire Dragon Kingdom!"

At that moment, fifteen Star Sea Realm martial artists, including Charles and Liam, were working together to evacuate the controlled members of the Shelby Family.

Despite their urgent task, they occasionally glanced toward Xavier.

Every time they saw him bring down another Demon Centurion, their admiration grew.

Then, someone suddenly looked toward the distance.

His eyes widened, and his voice rang out with excitement.

"The Ancestor!"

"The Ancestor has finally emerged from seclusion!"

An elderly man with a head of white hair and a pale complexion approached from the sky. He wore an unremarkable gray robe and carried a slender sword in one hand. As he flew toward the central square, the Shelby Family members who were still conscious immediately erupted into cheers.

Even Charles Shelby, the family patriarch, could barely contain his excitement.

"That’s the Ancestor! Our Ancestor is here! We’re saved!"

"With the Ancestor around, this Nine Nether Abyss Formation won’t be able to do anything to us!"

"Desmond Hale’s crimes will finally be exposed. That bastard won’t escape!"

"Ancestor, please avenge the Seventh Elder and kill that traitor!"

The entire area was filled with excited shouts.

Only moments earlier, the Shelby Family members had been struggling with fear and uncertainty. Now, with their strongest protector finally appearing, they felt as though a powerful father had arrived to shield them from danger.

To the Shelby Family, their Ancestor was more than just the strongest member of the clan. He was the foundation of their confidence and the reason they had managed to survive and grow through generations.

He had lived through the Great Destruction Era and remained standing until the present day. Without his protection, the Shelby Family would never have reached its current position.

After waiting so long for him to emerge from seclusion, it was only natural that everyone would be overwhelmed with relief.

For the first time since the formation had been activated, the Shelby Family members felt that their chances of surviving were no longer hopeless.

However, amid the celebrations, a few people began to notice something strange.

If the Ancestor had already arrived, where was the Second Elder?

The Second Elder was a fifth-star Divine Power Realm expert. Unlike the Ancestor, he wasn’t in seclusion, so there should have been no reason for him to arrive later.

The Nine Nether Abyss Formation had been active for quite some time. How had the Ancestor managed to emerge from seclusion and reach the square before the Second Elder?

The answer would soon become clear.

"The Ancestor has finally come out!"

Xavier heard the cheers while continuing to fight the Abyss Demons. A hint of relief crossed his face.

Slaughtering the demons as they emerged from the crimson pillars was satisfying, but it would be far better to put an end to the source of the problem.

He still remembered Charles mentioning that the Shelby Family’s Ancestor had comprehended the Law of Perception. With that ability, locating Desmond Hale shouldn’t be difficult.

Once the Ancestor joined the fight, they could finally track down the real culprit and eliminate him.

"Ancestor, there’s no need for you to worry about the demons here. Hurry and—"

Xavier was about to direct the old man toward Desmond Hale when a sudden sense of danger washed over him.

Before he could finish speaking, a razor-sharp streak of sword energy appeared behind him.

The attack came without warning. Even with Xavier’s reaction speed, there was barely enough time to respond.

He twisted his body at the last possible moment, shifting the trajectory of the incoming sword energy away from his heart. Instead, it struck the center of his chest.

BOOM!

Xavier was sent crashing into the ground like a cannonball. The impact created a massive crater more than twenty meters wide, throwing dust and broken earth into the air.

But the attacker wasn’t finished.

Before the dust could settle, countless sword strikes descended into the crater. They came one after another, forming a terrifying storm of sharp energy that buried the entire area beneath continuous explosions.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The commotion attracted the attention of everyone nearby.

The Shelby Family members who had been celebrating moments earlier froze in disbelief.

"Did the Ancestor just attack Mr. X?"