Under the shadow of the oppressive giant ship of the Infinite Dao Sect, the population of the City of Exiles was already showing signs of surrender before the battle even began.
It wasn't just because the ship, larger than their city, was floating in the sky, nor because of how disorganized they were as a city of exiles.
No, the main reason was the thousands of people who emerged from the massive vessel, each emitting powerful auras.
Especially the leaders of the invaders, who were composed of hundreds of men and women exuding terrifying Soul Formation auras, nearly causing heart attacks among the crowd.
It should be noted that this was the peak realm of the continent, where across the entire land, those at such a cultivation numbered no more than a few dozen ancestors. Yet here they were—suddenly hundreds of them—leaving everyone staring in disbelief, wondering if they were dreaming.
However, under that oppressive aura, they knew it was real and that there was nowhere to run.
Thus, everyone hid in corners, seized by despair and fear, while staring at those powerful cultivators who had descended from the ship, landing on the ground just a few steps from the city's energy barrier, which had been hastily activated at full power in a wave of desperation.
They didn't know what those people wanted, but they, exiles from all parts of the continent, certainly wouldn't have a good end if they fell into the hands of those unknown figures.
Outside the city, the elders took the lead in the encirclement, while the sect's senior disciples followed behind, ready to receive orders.
So it was that, suddenly, the small city of just over twenty thousand inhabitants found itself surrounded by no fewer than ten thousand people.
And in the sky, the terrifying ship of the Infinite Dao Sect still hovered, filled with disciples along the railings, curiously looking down.
Finally, the elders' eyes turned serious, and they clasped their fists toward a figure who suddenly appeared before them like a ghost, just a step away from the city's golden energy barrier, which could barely display fluctuations of Nascent Tier.
Tian Zhu looked indifferently at the poor and dilapidated city in the middle of the desert, atop a small hill. His gaze then drifted to the golden barrier before him.
Lightly extending his hand, he calmly touched it.
At the point of contact with his palm, ripples appeared, slowly increasing in intensity until a blue coloration began to overtake the gold where he touched. The bluish ripples then accelerated, traveling from the sect leader's hand until they engulfed the entire barrier like an infection, in mere instants.
Thus, suddenly shifting from gold to blue, Tian Zhu, before the shocked eyes of everyone, gently lowered his hand and took a step forward, easily passing through what should have been a powerful shield.
"Heavens…"
Shocked gasps echoed throughout the hidden crowd.
They knew the barrier wouldn't last long against the apparent leader of those Soul Formation cultivators, but they had expected it to be violently destroyed after a few blows, not simply reprogrammed to allow passage in a matter of moments.
But indifferent to what they thought, the sect leader continued forward, and following him were the sect members with solemn faces.
"Go, gather everyone here, don't let anyone escape. Lie Zheng, you will be in charge of dealing with the people, you know what to do," Tian Zhu ordered softly, his voice echoing far and wide.
Then, he began to walk into the city with his hands resting behind his back, unimpeded and calm.
"Yes, Sect Leader!" Lie Zheng nodded firmly with his fierce face, narrowing his eyes seriously at the mission.
As the leader's voice fell, all the elders turned into blurs and scattered in all directions.
Their voices also rang in the disciples' minds, transmitting specific orders, and they moved immediately.
The elders would deal with the city's Nascent Soul cultivators, and the disciples would handle the rest.
In truth, the disciples could also deal with the Nascent Soul realm, but Aotian intended to avoid fierce battles within the city, preventing losses and injuries, choosing to resolve everything through oppressive force.
As Tian Zhu walked calmly, around him the sect's cultivators moved back and forth, spreading panic.
"Please, I'll go, don't hurt me!"
"No, wait! What are you going to do with us!"
"Here! This is everything we have, let my family go!"
These cries came from all directions, as disciples and elders surrounded the people and asked them to head toward the front of the city, explaining that they wouldn't harm them. But if anyone refused, they were forced to act.
Aotian sighed internally at the tyranny he was committing, but he knew he would compensate those people later, so he could only ask them to endure for now.
It was at that moment that he heard something discordant from the rest, causing Tian Zhu's calm steps to stop.
"Stop! She's sick, you can't move her!" A furious shout echoed, drawing his attention.
In a humble and simple straw house, a girl with much of her face disfigured into raw flesh held a poor-quality sword in her hand, her eyes blazing with fury as she blocked two disciples at the doorway.
Behind her, through the crack of the door, it was possible to see an old woman lying on a bed, breathing with difficulty and struggling to prop herself up, while she looked worriedly at the girl with clouded eyes.
"Mei Mei… no…" The old woman struggled to squeeze out trembling words as she clutched her chest that threatened to fail, but her concern was not for herself.
The disciples were surprised by the scene and immediately stopped.
"Wait. We don't want to harm you, we just want to escort you to the front of the city. Our sect hates evil, so there's no need to worry, we won't bring harm to good and innocent people, we promise," one of the disciples assured quickly, in a gentle tone, and the other nodded firmly, honesty in his eyes.
The girl called Mei Mei was taken by surprise by the sudden civility of the invaders, instead of mockery and a direct attack. Even so, she looked at them with distrust.
Then, her eyes unconsciously shifted to the oppressive ship in the sky, which seemed to scream 'evil sect,' making her mouth twitch in disbelief.
Helplessness appeared on the faces of the two disciples when they realized where she was looking.
"D-Don't judge by the ship's appearance. It's just that the elder who created it thought it would look cool, and, well… it actually does," the other disciple spoke awkwardly, rubbing his neck sheepishly.
Mei Mei looked at the two in surprise, especially because she saw no disgust or contempt in their eyes because of her face, only a faint trace of pity and sympathy, beginning to believe what they were saying.
Even more so considering the power she felt from them and their companions everywhere. They didn't need to speak politely to her, yet they still did.
But soon she shook her head firmly, without lowering her sword.
"No! Even so, I can't obey. My grandmother is very ill, she can't travel, even if it's not far. She can't get out of bed," she clenched her teeth and declared firmly, prepared for battle.
The two disciples looked at each other, helpless, not knowing what to do.
"Mei Mei… I—cough, cough! I… can." The grandmother inside the house, seeing that the strangers didn't seem to want to cause harm if they cooperated, forced herself, trying to get up for the sake of her granddaughter.
But it was at that moment that a hand landed on her shoulder, startling her and gently forcing her to sit back down.
She widened her eyes and quickly looked at the extremely handsome middle-aged man who had appeared at her side. The man, with black hair and eyes, wearing black robes patterned with golden dragons, bore a cold and indifferent face as he looked at her, which frightened the old woman, making her think he was about to kill her.
However, the words he spoke next contrasted completely with his distant gaze.
"Little girl, don't force yourself. There is a crack in your Golden Core and several injuries throughout your body. You are almost out of vitality in your dantian, which can no longer contain it."
The man spoke calmly, analyzing her condition without hesitation.
"Huh?! Grandma!" Mei Mei, hearing a man speak behind her, immediately turned around in shock and saw someone with his hand on her grandmother's shoulder, talking to her.
"You, get away from her, you bastard!" she shouted in anger and fear that something might happen to her grandmother, and without wasting time, she rushed inside and swung her sword at the man, who simply stood still, letting the blade fall upon him.
"Mei Mei!! Noo!!" the grandmother screamed in horror at what her granddaughter was about to do.
But it was already too late.
The sword struck the man directly on the shoulder… and then bounced several times, as if the girl had hit steel instead of a person, sending painful vibrations from the hilt of the sword up to her upper arms.
The man lowered his gaze slightly to the sword on his shoulder, which hadn't even scratched him, then to the girl with widened eyes and mouth agape in shock, and finally ignored her, turning his attention back to the equally shocked old woman.
"Little girl, take this. It will restore your condition." Turning his hand, making a pill appear in his palm, the man calmly extended it toward the old woman.
The disciples outside were also absolutely stunned by the scene and, when they finally came to their senses, immediately rushed inside, bowing respectfully before the man.
"Sect Leader!!" they shouted in unison, full of admiration.
Tian Zhu calmly raised his eyes to them and nodded.
"You did well. I'll take over from here. Go help in other areas," he ordered softly.
"Yes, Sect Leader!" The two blushed with excitement and bowed even more deeply.
Then, without hesitation, they immediately left, extremely excited not only for having spoken directly with the sect leader, but also for having been praised by him.
From now on, the two could brag about this to the other disciples for a long time.
As for Mei Mei and the old woman, both were shocked to realize that it was the leader of the powerful invading sect standing before them.
Mei Mei had seen him before, at the city entrance, but she hadn't thought about it when she attacked in the heat of the moment the stranger who seemed to be holding her grandmother 'hostage'.
As for the grandmother, she hadn't seen him before, only having heard her granddaughter briefly summarize the scene that had taken place a few minutes before the people arrived at her house.
"Little girl, I don't have all day. Take the pill," Tian Zhu suddenly spoke, snapping them out of their daze.
The old woman felt disturbed at being called a little girl by the man, but remembering that a powerful cultivator stood before her, she realized that she probably did look like that in his eyes.
Looking at the pill in the man's hand and then at Tian Zhu's unreadable eyes, the grandmother hesitated for only a second before taking the offered pill with a trembling hand.
"No, Grandma! It could be poison! Or some kind of enslaving pill!" Mei Mei shouted in fear, extending her hand to try to stop her grandmother.
Aotian twitched his mouth internally.
'Who would want to enslave you?' He rolled his eyes at the girl's reaction, but Tian Zhu remained indifferent.
The old woman seemed to share a similar thought to Aotian's, which made her look helplessly at her granddaughter before swallowing the pill.
"GRANDMA!!" Mei Mei screamed in panic, but it was already too late.
Then, before her eyes, she saw her grandmother's expression relax, her trembling hands steady, and vitality seem to return to her body, as if pulling the old woman straight back from the gates of death, causing the girl's eyes to widen in shock.
Mei Mei brought a hand to her mouth in disbelief, as tears began to stream from her reddened eyes and slid down the scabbed burns and raw flesh of her face, seeing the only person she loved in the world recover her health.
Her grandmother even looked a bit younger now. The old woman looked fondly at her crying granddaughter before standing up with an ease she hadn't felt in many years and sincerely bowing, full of gratitude, before Tian Zhu.
"Thank you, senior, for giving this poor woman a new life. No matter what senior needs, I am willing to be an ox and a horse to repay it," she spoke humbly, firmness in her gaze.
What she had gained that day was a new hope.
Her lifespan was nowhere near its end, but the injury she had suffered from exposing her Golden Core in battle, while fleeing and protecting her granddaughter in the past, had exacted an extremely heavy price from her body.
If the damage had been just a little greater, she would have died, since the Golden Core was extremely sensitive.
She didn't know what awaited her from then on now that she owed a favor, but living would allow her to take care of her granddaughter, which would greatly increase the safety of the little girl who was everything to her.
At that point, the granddaughter also let go of all hostility upon seeing her grandmother's recovery and bowed deeply.
"Me too! Please forgive me for attacking earlier, senior. From now on, no matter what you ask of me, I will do—" she spoke seriously, but was interrupted mid-sentence by her grandmother.
"Mei Mei!" she called firmly and simply shook her head, giving her a meaningful look.
The old woman didn't need her granddaughter to make promises. She herself would repay her own debt of gratitude.
But, to both of their surprise once again that day, Tian Zhu merely shook his head.
"There's no need. I didn't heal her so that two little girls would be indebted to me. Just follow my sect's orders and go to the front of the city. We will assign new and better places for you to live from now on."
He spoke calmly and then turned to face Mei Mei's disfigured face with narrowed eyes, which frightened her.
"A girl shouldn't live like this. No one should," he said softly and, once again, a pill appeared in his palm, which he pressed directly into the shocked girl's hand. "Take it if you wish to get rid of those wounds."
Having said that, he looked at them for a few more seconds, and before they could even react, he completely disappeared from their sight.
There, in that house, only the two women remained, staring at each other in perplexity, wondering if all of it had been nothing more than a dream.
But they believed that, not even in their wildest dreams, would they imagine meeting a benefactor who would help them without wanting anything in return.