At this time, it was already evening, the evening breeze was slightly cool, and the sunset light sprinkled on the lake, making the water shimmer. Suddenly, a series of large bubbles emerged from the bottom of the lake. The bubbles were dense and gradually began to surge. Beneath the bubbles, a huge black shadow slowly emerged, and in an instant, it broke through the water curtain, splashing up tremendously. Its towering figure, like a mountain, obscured the sky and sun, looking down.

And from the moment the blisters appeared before seeing this terrifying beast, the two judges of the Light Supremacy Sect were on high alert, and their powerful spiritual powers made them feel a sense of threat from the depths of their souls.

They had never felt anything like this before!

It should be noted that in the perception of most practitioners, divine power was like fire: weak sparks and flames, and strong fireballs, flames, or wildfires. The stronger the divine power, the more unconcealable it was. If a cultivator were to conceal it, it was either through the external environment or because they possessed a superhuman ability to conceal it. The former was fine, but if it was the latter, it meant they possessed a powerful ability to control divine power.

The giant beast in front of him was incredibly powerful!

When the two judges saw the giant beast in the water, Ji Jiayu also turned to look at it.

It had a large head, similar to a lizard's. Its skin was covered with fine scales, and a sharp, long horn protruded from the center of its forehead horn. Its long neck extended into the water, connecting its body, which was still lurking at the bottom of the lake.

In fact, there was no need to sense it at all. Just looking at its neck and head could tell that this was clearly a very powerful sacred beast, most likely a ninth-level sacred beast or even a divine beast.

If it didn't actively reveal its aura, no one would be able to see it.

Ji Jiayu stared at the giant beast for a while, then turned to look at Nie Lanxun. She was still calmly eating her grilled fish, seemingly unconcerned by all this. Apparently, she wasn't afraid of this behemoth.

She and it likely knew each other. What was its origin?

This point, in fact, had been bothering Ji Jiayu since he was in the Shengyao World.

His magical eyes, impenetrable power, his understanding of the Sacred Light Pearl, and the bond between them, his ability to navigate the numerous forests of Paradise Island, and the giant beast in this lake—all signs indicated that he was no ordinary person, and by no means a mere guard.

"Wah."

The giant beast in the lake swung its massive neck and lowered its head beside Ji Jiayu and Nie Lanxun. Its pair of vertical, bronze-bell-like pupils stared intently at the two eighth-rank judges, preventing them from acting rashly.

"Poof."

The giant beast spewed two clouds of water mist from its nose, obscuring Ji Jiayu's vision. In the mist, Ji Jiayu somehow felt a pair of eyes staring at him, but wasn't this giant beast in the lake staring at the two judges?

"It's Xiao Jiu." At this moment, Nie Lanxi's voice rang out.

This...isn't small, is it...

Ji Jiayu silently slandered. He greeted the lake giant named Xiao Jiu: "Hello."

"Hey." Xiao Jiu also let out a low roar in response to Ji Jiayu.

The exchange of one person and one beast caused the two judges' moods to plummet. They knew that their plan had failed, and even their own lives might not be saved.

"How did you know?" Ji Jiayu asked curiously. Now that he knew Xiao Jiu was by his and Nie Lanxun's side, he wasn't afraid of the two eighth-rank judges.

"I grew up here." Nie Lanxun's answer was beyond Ji Jiayu's expectations.

"Here?" Jiayu looked around. Towering trees were everywhere, like a primeval forest untouched by anyone. Did Nie Lanxun really grow up here?

At this moment, the mysterious scent on Nie Lanxun's body grew even stronger.

Here, Ji Jiayu and Nie Lanxi were chatting casually, but the two adjudicators, Jiu Hao and Shi No. Shi, were trembling, treading on thin ice.

Seeing the fear in their hearts growing stronger, Jiu Hao and Shi No. Shi both knew they couldn't continue like this. They looked at each other and decided to make their move.

As soon as the two eighth-level Ming Venerables made their move, they immediately used their strongest means.

"Buzz."

A faint buzzing sound rang out between heaven and earth, and Ji Jiayu and Nie Lanxi clearly felt a majestic divine power vibrating and gathering in all directions. It gathered around the two eighth-level Ming Venerables, condensing into mist, then turning into water droplets, and then condensing into a solid, finally forming a magical shape.

Behind the Nine Adjudicators was a huge nine-story golden tower, and behind the Pick Adjudicator was a circle of pentagonal sunflowers.

A fourth-level Ming Venerable cultivator was in the stage of primitive accumulation of divine power and transformation of skin and bones; A fifth-level Ming Zun powerhouse begins to possess some sacred attributes, sacred arts, and sacred patterns. With the help of divine attributes, a sixth-level Ming Zun begins to cast the cornerstone, then establish a sacred portal.

At the eighth level, a divine cultivator will resonate with the divine power between heaven and earth, then condense a sacred element, which is the stepping stone to entering the ninth level.

The sacred element can take any form, and the form it takes depends on the cultivator's ability and strength, and its function also varies.

As the two eighth-level judges summoned their respective sacred elements, Xiao Jiu, who had been quietly bowing his head next to Ji Jiayu and Nie Lanxi, suddenly opened his mouth and let out a deafening roar. Immediately, the surrounding water flow instantly stopped, and was bound by the majestic divine power, transforming into an ice pick, which flew towards the two judges like a volley of arrows.

The expressions of the two judges changed drastically.

The ice pick looked ordinary, but in fact, the divine power it contained was so immense that it terrified them. The unknown giant beast in the lake before them was very likely a peak ninth-order beast, and even more powerful, they wouldn't have a chance of winning.

"Puff!"

Two eighth-level Ming Sheng saints stood in front of them, and a vast amount of divine power spread out to form a sacred shield, blocking the icebreakers that covered the sky.

The seemingly ordinary attacks struck the sacred shield, riddled with holes, and many of the icebreakers were even pierced through.

Who was stronger and who was weaker could be determined at a glance. After all, Xiao Jiu hadn't even revealed his body.

Ji Jiayu glanced at Nie Lanxun, thinking that it was no wonder she had to withdraw to act alone. With so many people around, she wouldn't easily expose her relationship with Xiao Jiu.

"Impossible." Judge Nine Number looked at Judge Number Selection with a solemn expression.

They had come with a death mentality this time, but that was for the sake of completing the task, and now they couldn't accept this way of dying.

"Hmm." Judge Number Selection knew what Number Nine was talking about.

In the next moment, the divine elements behind them began to rapidly absorb divine power from all directions, expanding. As they expanded, they seemed to touch some unspeakable object. Then, the divine power was rapidly restrained, and numerous divine attributes were added out of thin air, greatly increasing their power.

However, the two who had greatly increased their strength did not expand their confidence, but instead pushed the two divine elements to approach Ji Jiayu and Nie Lanxi.

Although they would most likely die at Xiao Jiu's hands in the end, they would never forget their target until their deaths.

Ji Jiayu and Nie Lanxi.

The divine elements encapsulated the lifespans of two eighth-level judges and the divine power they had acquired through divine resonance. They were extremely stable under their control, but also extremely unstable when they wanted to lose control.

"This time, it was our misjudgment that you two ended up becoming the master and guardian."

"But don't be too happy. Our Light Supremacy Sect will not make such a foolish mistake. Even if we fail, there will be others who will continue to carry out the plan, and we won't necessarily fail!"

As the two judges' voices reached Ji Jiayu's ears, the golden tower fell towards him and Nie Lanxi, but when it was still twenty meters above their heads, it was blocked by a layer of water curtain.

"Rumble!"

The golden tower collapsed from the top of the tower, forming a shockwave. However, when the shockwave hit the water curtain, it only caused a few ripples.

Not far away, the Nine Sovereigns remained undeterred and continued to use divine resonance to guide their divine power. Increasing the tower's power had little effect.

The sunflowers behind the number judges spun and connected in a row, roaring and slashing towards Ji Jiayu and Nie Lanxi, but they couldn't penetrate the water curtain either.

Xiao Jiu had only used the most ordinary method, rendering the two eighth-level judges helpless. Ji Jiayu looked at the fierce confrontation nearby, and his heart pounded.

"I want to ask, what kind of power is Xiao Jiu?" Ji Jiayu couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know either." Nie Lanxi didn't look back into the tunnel.

Ji Jiayu was speechless when he heard this. Did he really not know? Or do you know but don't want to say it?

As time passed, the divine resonance's effect declined, and the combat effectiveness of the two eighth-level judges reached its limit. So they began to burn their own sacred light, sacred skin texture, and sacred bones, finally transforming into two rays of light and merging into the sacred element.

Their previous persistence had played a role, consuming the water curtain for a bit of power. Now they were burning themselves and soon broke through the water curtain.

Ji Jiayu was terrified, but at this moment, blisters floated up again in the large lake.

A head larger than Xiao Jiu's stretched out and quickly bit the two judges.

Nie Lanxi hurriedly said, "We can't just end it like this. We have to let them die a little peacefully."

As soon as those words fell, the huge head stopped abruptly.

Seeing the second head and sensing the exact same aura as the first, the two judges were in despair.

Just now, Ji Jiayu and Nie Lanxi had both called the monster Xiao Jiu. Did that mean it had nine heads? They quickly glanced at the lake, guessing that it was indeed possible.

How could such a terrifying existence survive under the noses of the Sacred Sect? It was incredible!

Then, their thoughts stopped there. Because under Nie Lanxun's instructions and Xiao Jiu's control, an explosion occurred.