Following this low roar, a melodious and winding sound came from the room, seemingly like the wind—or perhaps a sweet-voiced girl softly weeping.
As soon as Wang Nan heard this sound, a wave of sorrow surged in his heart. But immediately after, a golden light flickered slightly in his Sea of Spirit, and a golden figure, shaped like a young lion, appeared and disappeared above the Sea of Spirit, a warm sensation spreading from his glabella to his entire body.
Wang Nan sobered up and turned his head to look, finding that even Zhang Lexuan was affected. He thought to himself that this was not good; it must be the opponent's control system Spirit Master making a move.
Turning his head to look behind him again, sure enough, except for Han Ruoruo, who had higher spirit power, everyone else's movements were a bit slower.
Along with this sound, a tall man also rushed out of the room, surrounded by four spirit rings of white, yellow, yellow, and purple, with a green patch on his back and two long tentacles growing on his face, clearly in a state of Spirit possession.
"Who are you people, daring to trespass on my Qishui Sect's territory?"
The man shouted, but after seeing the spirit rings of Zhang Lexuan and Wang Nan, his expression began to change rapidly.
'These two are quite powerful, and their spirit rings are also optimally matched. They must come from a major Sect. However, the upper Sect sent people to collect goods today, and there was no mention of anyone else coming here. Could it be that someone leaked the news, and another Sect is deliberately causing trouble?'
'This matter will likely be difficult to resolve peacefully. We can only let the upper Sect take action and strive for a decisive blow.'
Thinking this, the man's steps slowed, and his tone softened.
"May I ask which Sect you two are from, and what brings you to my Qishui Sect?" The man said, raising his hand to gesture behind him. "If there's an important matter, why not come in and sit down? We can discuss it in detail."
Although Zhang Lexuan was affected by the opponent's Spirit Ability, she still had basic judgment. A control system Spirit Master made a move before they even met; this was clearly not an invitation for a detailed discussion. Naturally, Wang Nan would not be fooled by his low-level rhetoric either.
The man was still slowly approaching, as if genuinely wanting to invite Wang Nan and the others into the room for a detailed talk.
Just as the man was less than two meters away from Wang Nan, a yellow spirit ring suddenly lit up. The man placed his hands in front of him and quickly threw punches, like two small hammers, smashing towards Wang Nan.
His Spirit was precisely the Peacock Mantis Shrimp.
Although named a shrimp, its body was covered in green feathers like a peacock, and its hands resembled a mantis's forelegs, possessing extremely strong explosive power and close-range attack abilities.
With the activation of his second spirit ring, his hands, like the foreclaws of a peacock mantis shrimp, rapidly and continuously struck towards Wang Nan.
The control system Spirit Master on their side was still effective, and he wanted to take advantage of the moment before Wang Nan and the others had fully reacted to eliminate the less powerful Wang Nan first.
But he chose the wrong opponent.
Wang Nan not only broke free from the opponent's control but was also prepared for battle from the very beginning.
The man struck several times, but they all landed on a pitch-black rod, on which a golden Dragon was slowly swimming, its eyes fixed in his direction.
Before Wang Nan could launch a counterattack, Ma Xiaotao had already arrived at the battlefield. A clear Phoenix cry sounded from behind Wang Nan, followed by a burst of flames rushing towards the man.
However, the flames did not harm the man.
A disc-shaped object flew out from inside the room, and upon reaching the man's side, it emitted a black light that completely devoured Ma Xiaotao's flames.
Seeing this, the man also took the opportunity to run into the room.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Ma Xiaotao, already impetuous and hindered by the opponent's Spirit Ability, saw the man about to run. Her third spirit ring flashed, and a pair of fiery red wings unfolded behind her, ready to follow him into the room.
"Don't go, it's dangerous!"
Wang Nan reached out to pull Ma Xiaotao back, but even faster than Wang Nan's movement was a golden rope. The rope flew through the air and wrapped around Ma Xiaotao's waist, pulling her back forcefully.
"Xiaotao, where are you going?" Han Ruoruo had already caught up, her expression displeased.
"That man just now tried to trick Senior Sister Zhang and me into the room; there must be an ambush inside." Wang Nan said, then his third spirit ring also flashed.
As one end of the Coiling Dragon Staff smashed into the ground, a Dragon's roar seemed to echo from beneath the earth. The surrounding ground trembled like an earthquake, and huge cracks spread towards the houses. Those few houses also began to shake violently, dust continuously falling from the roof, and the supporting pillars of the houses made "creaking" sounds.
Wang Nan actually did not use his full strength. His goal was the missing children, and these children were very likely inside the houses. How could he let the houses collapse?
But the Spirit Masters inside the house didn't know this. They only thought Wang Nan wanted to shake down the houses to force them out, so they could only escape early to avoid being crushed by the collapsing roof.
As the doors opened, a total of eleven people rushed out from the three rooms.
One of them was also a Spirit Emperor, but only had one ten-thousand-year spirit ring. There were three Spirit Ancestors; besides the man from earlier, the remaining two stood beside the Spirit Emperor.
The rest were just some one- or two-ring Spirit Masters, with not even a single Spirit Elder among them.
All the changes just now were seen by Zhang Lexuan, who was on the side. She looked at Wang Nan's figure, and several thoughts flashed through her mind.
"Ye Xiaosheng, use the spirit tool!" At this moment, in the midst of battle, Zhang Lexuan suppressed her thoughts and shouted behind her.
Ye Xiaosheng responded, shouldering two Spirit cannons. As spirit power gathered at the muzzles, two white beams of light shot towards the opponents.
A huge roar accompanied by an intense flash exploded among the enemy ranks. Zhang Lexuan took the opportunity to call Xi Xi to her side.
"Take this chance to search for the children. Be very careful once you enter, and withdraw immediately once you've confirmed anything."
Xi Xi nodded, and in the dazzling white light, transformed into an inconspicuous bolt of lightning and entered the room.
By the time the white light dissipated, the lower-Training Spirit Masters were all weeping and snotting, covering their eyes and ears, painfully kneeling on the ground. Only the Spirit Emperor and the three Spirit Ancestors beside him were unaffected.
Although the Spirit Emperor was unaffected by the spirit tool, his expression also turned ugly.
They had originally thought it was just one Spirit Emperor and one Spirit Ancestor causing trouble here, and with their numbers, they still had a chance to fight. But Wang Nan's side had nine people, all above three rings, and they immediately used powerful spirit tools. They now had almost no chance of winning.
"Please, everyone, show mercy. I am Xu Zhao, an elder of the Xuanming Sect. I wonder if there's some misunderstanding here?"
'Xuanming Sect? Not an Evil Soul Master?'
Zhang Lexuan frowned.