"Damn, that arrogance is so damn cool!"
"Who's saying it isn't? If it weren't for him today, we'd really be done for."
"He gained fans with his strength, no doubt about it. Someone who can't even defeat Sect Leader Mo is like a child in front of him, too powerful."
Everyone's confidence was restored, and their eyes couldn't move away from Ren Yuanhao.
Zheng Jun's pupils constricted slightly and he gestured to the green-faced ghost, who then produced an object.
The object was entirely black, like a device Ren Yuanhao had never seen before, but he didn't sense any danger from it.
"Let's measure his ability index. I don't believe he can be stronger than a 'Taotie' level ability user."
The green-faced ghost pressed a knob, but in the next second, all three of them were stunned.
It wasn't that Ren Yuanhao's ability index was outrageously high, but rather—there was no reading.
"What the hell? What's going on? Is one device malfunctioning, and this one is malfunctioning too?"
"Could it be that he's not an ability user at all?"
"Bullshit! I clearly felt the frequency fluctuations from him!"
"Then please explain how two devices can fail simultaneously?"
The three of them babbled on, completely oblivious to the fact that Ren Yuanhao had rescued all their hostages in an instant.
"Sigh, fighting idiots is just so easy."
Ren Yuanhao snapped his fingers, and the three of them only just reacted.
"Well, with no hostages left, are you leaving immediately, or are you staying here to become nourishment?"
"Damn it, when did that happen!" The green-faced ghost looked at the empty space behind him and felt an immense headache.
Ren Yuanhao pouted, "While you three fools were chattering away. I told you, the hostages don't exist. If you're smart, leave. If not, stay and become nourishment. But Gray Wolf probably won't care about losing three insignificant trash like you."
"Nonsense, we are the Eight Kings!"
"King of what? This is the first time I've heard someone insult themselves so readily."
As soon as Ren Yuanhao said this, almost everyone was amused.
"Brat, it seems you don't know the methods of us Eight Kings until you've tasted some hardship!"
Zheng Jun's true qi surged, not only his left fist but also his Dragon Sword were entwined with lava-like substances, and his strength beyond the Enlightenment realm erupted forth!
The green-faced ghost was no less eager, his true qi surging, and a cloud spewing poisonous gas appeared above Ren Yuanhao's head.
Wei Dongfeng's pupils changed, and he simultaneously activated his teleportation ability, ready to annihilate this extremely arrogant man.
"Eye Technique! Chaos!"
"Ability: Poison Algae!"
"Ability: Magma Burst!"
The three major abilities were unleashed almost simultaneously, with poisonous liquid spraying everywhere, red light pouring in, and magma surging down like a volcanic eruption, as if it were the end of the world.
Such an attack was something even Mo Xinghe in his prime would find difficult to resist, but Ren Yuanhao not only made no move but actually closed his eyes.
"That's right, close your eyes sooner, lest you see your corpse devoured by my poison!"
"Die! My lava is fused with three abilities, corroding bones and soul. Even if you had nine lives, you would lose them all here!"
"No, no, no, it's better to have someone like this serve me. Turn against them, trash!"
As soon as the three spoke, Ren Yuanhao opened his eyes at the same moment. However, his pupils were not golden, nor crimson, but an extremely strange white!
A void white!
A white that froze everything!
"Holy shit, this guy is cheating!"
Zheng Jun, now sensing an extremely terrifying power erupting from the opponent, extended both hands and violently pushed the other two to Ren Yuanhao, using the momentum to retreat. As he flashed past the ability index testing instrument, he happened to glimpse the pointer on the index meter—it had maxed out!
In the next second, the abilities of the three were as if frozen by an extremely strong frost qi. Wei Dongfeng and the green-faced ghost were both turned into ice pops. Ren Yuanhao waved his hand, the ice shield shattered, and a faint smile curved his lips. With a flash, he used his wind element ability to grab Zheng Jun, who was attempting to flee, in mid-air.
"I told you to run earlier, but you insisted on trying to be heroic. Especially you, you bastard, betraying your teammates, and then thinking of leaving. Is that appropriate?"
Ren Yuanhao, enveloped in white frost qi, grabbed Zheng Jun and then, with a flash, picked up the ultrasonic instrument that suppressed abilities and returned to the four disheveled individuals.
"I think you've never experienced how exciting this thing is, have you?"
Ren Yuanhao sneered and turned on the ultrasonic instrument for the four of them. But just then, the instrument immediately emitted a puff of black smoke.
"Oh, I forgot, this thing seems to have a usage limit. Consider yourselves lucky."
Ren Yuanhao sealed the acupoints of the four with frost qi, and the incident finally came to a perfect conclusion.
...
Half an hour later.
Ren Yuanhao was still riding an elephant, traversing the boundless desert. In the desert was a place called 'Black Sand Prison,' a prison used by the four great sects to detain heinous criminals.
At this moment, a group of seven from the Dawn Sect, led by Yao Yuesheng, were rushing towards that place.
"Baoge, why do I feel like you've changed after coming out of the Dragon Pool?"
Han Ling Shuang pouted.
"Changed? Are you saying I was frozen silly?"
Ren Yuanhao lay slumped on the elephant's back, gazing at the vast expanse of stars.
"No, I mean, did you see what was under the Dragon Pool?"
Han Ling Shuang had spent the longest time with him in the Dragon Pool, and seeing Ren Yuanhao defeat the three of the Eight Kings with his overwhelmingly powerful frost qi, it wasn't strange for her to ask this question.
"Yes, not saw, but heard. You might not believe it if I told you," Ren Yuanhao liked the desert landscape, which made one feel the insignificance of being a 'drop in the ocean.' He took a sip of water and continued, "The place of the grand competition, beneath the Dragon Pool, is not what cultivators want, but ability cores."
Tang Feng suddenly laughed, "Brother Qin, this is a fortunate accident, driven by fate."
Yao Yuesheng also smiled faintly, "Who would have thought that a place regarded as a sacred ground by cultivators would hide an object belonging to an ability user? This is too incredible. If you hadn't told us yourself, we wouldn't have believed it."
However, Han Ling Shuang suddenly said, "Baoge, you say, can there still be such pure spiritual energy under that Dragon Pool?"
Ren Yuanhao smiled, "Yes, the ability core is independent of the millennia-old profound ice, yet it is attached to it. The mutual struggle between the two actually reduces the spiritual energy you can obtain. Now, the rate at which that place accumulates spiritual energy will be even faster."