The glaring white light slowly softened and spread, spilling over the Nanhong Seven like the rising sun.

The Dao-sons swept out in a daze and, without quite realizing it, landed on the Nanyang Sect's white-jade platform.

Maybe it had lain silent too long. This time the sect-guarding grand formation opened with such grandeur that the Dao-sons hardly recognized it.

After all, whether it was Sect Master Shen or the reborn Nanyang Sect, both had always come across as low-key and cautious.

To put it bluntly, every time he left the sect he opened only a sliver of the formation, then sealed the whole treasured site again the instant he was out. There had even been more than a few laughable episodes of outer-sect elders from other sects getting trapped inside.

But now they could truly feel this allied sect swiftly waking up.

“Looks like our Sect Master Shen made up his mind a long time ago.”

Under the great tree, the five remaining Sect Masters hadn't yet dispersed. They were still chatting in the night when they sensed the change coming from the sect.

The Spirit-Peak Sect Master thought for a moment and slowly rose.

“I really don't understand why all of you, out of nowhere… would put Nanyang in the lead again and accept that young man like this,” said the Cloud-Soaring Sect Master.

The Cloud-Soaring Sect was one of the allied sects that had dealt with Shen Yi earliest. The very first time, its Dao-son had ended up with his own younger sister sealed away.

Still, when this Sect Master looked at his fellow disciples, a trace of doubt showed on his face.

Never mind Shen Yi—last time had proved that even Senior Brother Qin could be rash. The direction Nanyang pointed wasn't always the right one.

And yet, without his noticing at all, Shen Yi had quietly taken the lead of the seven sects.

Not just this time, either. Last time, in the Immortal's Cave, he had dealt with the two Yue family juniors with the same iron hardness—he had even "ordered" Senior Brother Qi, a Heaven…