Otherworldly Affairs Office

Pei Yan's mind was in complete disarray. Apart from gaining a clearer understanding of his inadequacies, he couldn't fathom what this group of people intended to do.

Ever since the earliest Daoist Realm cultivators who escaped from the dimensional rift huddled timidly by the edge of the pond, those strange figures had also gathered on the ice, standing still.

Trapped in this formation, they found themselves in a bizarre yet tense atmosphere. The investigation bureau, the out-of-plane cultivators, and the strange figures formed a delicate triangular balance, with no one daring to make the first move and break this equilibrium.

Shangxing's gaze constantly swept between the two groups. From the previous situation, it seemed they weren't allies. But if they recklessly attacked as the group with the smallest numbers, would they face an assault from both sides? It's hard to say.

Given the current situation, using Jiezhi Space wasn't ideal. Although he could forcibly expand Jiezhi Space to pull everyone in and resolve the fight there, what about afterward?

Jiezhi Space couldn't pull in the dimensional rift. If more intruders emerged from the rift later, what would they do? Who would organize them? Split their forces to hold the line? But their current strength was already stretched thin; further division might lead to their defeat one by one.

"Damn, the investigation bureau should have reacted by now. Why are reinforcements still not here? Is there a problem up top?" Shangxing furrowed his brows, pondering anxiously.

Time ticked by, and though the temperature around his body was cold enough to freeze water, Pei Yan's forehead inside his helmet was sweating due to extreme tension. This stalemate had persisted for seven or eight minutes, with everyone frozen in place, afraid their rash action might trigger another round of fierce battle.

Just as Pei Yan shifted his gaze from the strange figures to scrutinize the Daoist Realm cultivators, the scantily clad strange figures suddenly turned to face the brightly flashing dimensional rift and knelt down.

Seeing their movements, both the investigation bureau members and Daoist Realm cultivators were startled. Pei Yan swiftly moved his hand from the laptop, transforming it into a machine gun aimed at the strange figures to prevent a sudden attack. But their next action left everyone dumbfounded, with the bureau's members looking at Shangxing in confusion for guidance on what to do next.

Shangxing didn't immediately respond but noticed the chaos among the cultivators at the pond's other end upon seeing the strange figures kneeling. He swiftly muttered a low order: "Prepare for battle!" Then he turned and shouted into the laptop, "Something's wrong, send reinforcements immediately!"

Before he finished speaking, the suspended dimensional rift shone even brighter. Over ten silhouettes leaped out, and as the light dimmed slightly, Pei Yan's eyes widened to see fifteen more strange figures. But this time, they had a definite leader.

His appearance instantly drew everyone's attention. Pei Yan stared unblinkingly at the figure being surrounded by the strange figures like stars surrounding the moon. His whole body was cloaked in a black robe, hiding his face, and it wasn't clear if he was male or female, human or one of the strange figures.

Yet just from the strange figures' reverence towards him and the dark purple mist emanating from him like an energy being released from within, Pei Yan's sense of danger regarding him skyrocketed.

After landing, the black-robed figure's gaze swept past the strange figures kneeling before him, then turned to the Daoist Plane cultivators at the pond's edge. Pei Yan, observing him closely, followed his line of sight. Those cultivators started trembling the moment the black-robed figure appeared, and when they noticed him looking at them, some collapsed to the ground in tears, while others, driven to despair, intended to charge forward for a final fight but were restrained by their fellow cultivators.

What was the background of this black-robed man to drive people to such a state with just a look?

Just as Pei Yan was reeling with shock, the black-robed man's gaze didn't linger long on the cultivators and soon shifted towards the investigation bureau's members.

Staring at the face shrouded in the dark purple mist, unable to see the eyes but feeling an inexplicable sense of being watched by a beast, Pei Yan's heart, which had been transformed into a mechanical organ, seemed to revert, pounding rapidly. His breathing quickened, flushing his face, his cold sweat pouring, and his fingertips trembled uncontrollably.

Just as Pei Yan thought he was about to explode, a tall figure stepped in front of him, blocking his view.

"Huff, huff, huff!" Pei Yan panted heavily as he removed his helmet, drenched as if dragged from a sauna, with sweat dripping linearly down his hair. In that fleeting moment, he unconsciously compared the black-robed man's power to that abnormal uncle he encountered when his consciousness was detached, wearing a Japanese yukata. He felt that even if the black-robed man's strength was below that of the uncle, it wasn't by much.

With that thought, Pei Yan deactivated the mechanical transformation on his right hand, reverting to flesh, wiping the sweat off his face, and shaking his hair. He first cast a grateful glance at Shangxing's back, who stood in front of him, then awkwardly peeked at the others, wondering if anyone noticed his embarrassing state, feeling self-conscious for being overwhelmed just by a look.

But to his surprise, he found some colleagues in worse shape than himself, with pale faces and panting, and Liang Qian leaning unsteadily on Wang Wenze's shoulder, about to collapse.

This was indeed unexpected for Pei Yan. It wasn't until later, through Shangxing's analysis, that he learned the truth: the black-robed man wasn't intimidating by sheer presence but had used a secret technique targeting spiritual attack called spiritual pressure, imposing immense mental strain on those below his level.

Pei Yan, however, perhaps benefited from misfortune; after enduring spiritual torment from Mu Fanchen on that snowy night, he developed a certain resistance to such attacks. Yet even so, the black-robed man's extraordinary strength left him in a sorry state.

He re-summoned his helmet and instructed the system to automatically close off his senses if he fell into a similar mental state again, to shock him back to normalcy. Taking a deep breath, he mustered the courage to glance once more at the strange figures in the lake.

After casting spiritual pressure on Pei Yan and the others, the black-robed man nodded towards Shangxing, who had shielded everyone by releasing internal energy to block most of the attack.

He then raised his arm, drawing out a pitch-black right hand from his long sleeve, holding a dark sphere. Extending the observing distance on his visor, Pei Yan discovered that the sphere seemed to pulse gently like a human heart.

Before he could figure out what this guy intended to do, he saw the black-robed man squeeze the black sphere tightly!