The instant Ning Sihua turned to look—
She saw Su Yi stand up in the air. As he moved, his originally weak, depleted aura rose, like a dried-up river after a downpour.
By the time he steadied himself, his cultivation had leaped to the third level of the Inner Furnace Realm. His lungs blazed like a furnace and lit up with the sharp, indomitable light of metal.
Metal Element Spiritual Dao Light!
Su Yi’s qi and essence boiled around him, his blue robes fluttering about as his aura expanded and intensified. It suddenly seemed unstoppable.
Ning Sihua felt suffocated.?The majestic power bearing down on them was intense; it was impossible to imagine that a mere third-level Grandmaster could wield such power!
Su Yi’s dark eyes were calm as he stood in the air. As the power of his recent breakthrough ran rampant, he seemed like an unparalleled sword: sharp, proud, and contemptuous.
“A breakthrough?” Liao Yunliu, Wang Tu, and Helian Hai each exclaimed, and their expressions shifted.
Earlier, they’d launched their assassination attempt so brazenly precisely because Su Yi was refining medicine, and that made him more vulnerable than ever.
He wasn’t vulnerable anymore. On the contrary, his cultivation had risen to an all-new level.
They were already well aware of Su Yi’s bloody battle record. They’d decided to target Su Yi anyway, but they’d never once seen him as an ordinary Grandmaster.
Now that Su Yi had broken through, the situation had undoubtedly changed.
Su Yi’s breakthrough undoubtedly meant that the situation had changed!
Whoosh!
Su Yi stretched out his hand and beckoned, and the towering Violet Imperial Cauldron shrank until it was the size of a fist, then landed in his palm. He fidgeted with it as his gaze swept across Liao Yunliu and the others.
“I dared refine medicine here,” he said, his tone mocking. “How could I fail to leave something in reserve?”
“You… Did you?long since anticipate?that we would show up?” Liao Yunliu asked in a quavering voice. All of them looked uncertain.
“No,” said Su Yi with a dry laugh. “There have always been four great taboos among cultivators, dating back to the primordial era.
“The first is refining pills without someone to watch over you. The second is falling prey to others’ machinations while refining treasures. The third is going into seclusion without a barrier formation, and the fourth is letting enemies come for you on the day you undergo tribulation. I?would never do anything so stupid.”
Liao Yunliu and the others furrowed their brows.?A cultivator’s four great taboos? I’ve never heard of such a thing….
“Don’t waste time talking to him! He’s obviously just stalling for time. He only just broke through, and his cultivation boundary isn’t stable yet! Hurry up and attack!” Lu Dongliu, who was locked in fierce combat with Mu Xi, bellowed. His voice boomed like thunder.
Liao Yunliu and the two palace masters looked at each other. Then, all of them attacked without hesitation.
Clang!
Wang Tu raised his three-foot, blue-edged sword. He was the first to attack. The hum of his sword was vast and distant, and sword qi swept in like a wave, the perfect manifestation of a current.
The Gentle Soaring Chant!
The palace master of Jixia Academy, one of the Ten Great Xiantian Martial Ancestors, held nothing back. He put his ultimate killing technique on full display.
At the same time, Helian Hai roared like a lion or tiger, and his gaunt frame suddenly expanded and filled with ferocity. His enlarged body and rock-hard muscles burst through his clothes as if he’d been forged out of refined iron. Even his aura exploded around him.
This was the power of the dragon or an elephant!
Boom!
Helian Hai waved his spear and charged into the fray like a barbarian god. Crimson light shot from the sharp tip of his weapon like a waterfall.
And Liao Yunliu shifted, then shot forth like lightning, nimbly leaping into the air. Her massive sword glinted like frost as she suddenly lifted it.
Whoosh!
A hundred-foot streak of dazzling silver sword qi rose, then slashed downward!
The Against-the-Light Slash!
All three Xiantian Martial Ancestors had now put their ultimate killing techniques on full display.
“Allow me.” When he saw that Ning Sihua still wanted to fight, Su Yi reached out and grabbed her shoulder, then repositioned her behind him.
Practically simultaneously—
He swept his left hand. ｎ𝚘𝚟ｌ.ｃｏ𝚖
Boom!
A burst of radiant golden power as sharp as the edge of a sword shot forth, the mysterious charm of the Dao circulating around it. It was as glorious as the light of dawn.
Bang!
How sharp and unrestrained was Wang Tu’s Gentle Soaring Chant? It was utterly destructive, yet in the face of a single gentle wave of Su Yi’s hand, it instantly burst apart.
Sparks scattered like rain. The impact sent Wang Tu flying backward, as if a rhinoceros had slammed into him. Even his three-foot-long blue sword went flying from his hands.
Splurt!
He was still flying through the air when he hacked up a mouthful of blood. He wound up rolling another hundred feet before stabilizing himself, and his injuries were severe.
“Die!” The crimson light of Helian Hai’s spear was still headed right toward Su Yi.
However, he merely stretched out his fair, jade-like palm.
His palm might have looked tender, but it flashed with dazzling golden light, as if it were carved out of beautiful jade. When he flipped his hand, a massive boom suddenly shook the air, like a deity had lifted a primordial mountain only to slam it back down to earth.
Rumble! Boom! Boom!
A thirty-foot-long golden palm descended from above.
It was like the palm of a deity. Even the now fierce and enormous?Helian Hai seemed weak and diminutive by comparison.
“Out of my way!”
Helian Hai roared, then waved and stabbed his blood-red spear.
His power was sufficient to pierce mountains, but he only managed to make the descending golden palm shake before it continued downward.
The spear bent and contorted beneath the pressure. In the end, it couldn’t take it; it burst in two with a resounding?crack!
Helian Hai’s pupils constricted, and he roared like mad. Both feet pressed against the ground, like a towering colossus as his muscles bulged and expanded, growing larger once more. His energy raged through him like a dragon, producing a ferocious, explosive power.
Then, beneath Ning Sihua’s stunned gaze—
Su Yi’s golden palm continued, pressing straight down. No matter how much Helian Hai roared, he couldn’t budge it. Even after activating a forbidden technique and burning his blood essence, he couldn’t so much as shake the descending golden palm by a hair.
Bang!
In the end, the palm slapped him straight into the ground. A series of crunching noises followed as his bones snapped and cracked. In the end, all that remained on the ground was an unidentifiable, meaty pulp; there was no trace of Helian Hai’s former appearance left.
One of the Great Zhou’s Ten Great Xiantian Martial Ancestors, the famed palace master of Watermoon Academy, had actually been slapped to death!
Ning Sihua couldn’t help but gasp, astonishment written all over her face.
A sweep of the hand left Wang Tu severely injured!
A single slap crushed Helian Hai to death!
It happened so fast, practically the blink of an eye, so fast it was unbelievable. The resulting shock was like a windstorm assailing Ning Sihua’s heart.
Only now did she realize that, although they perceived this breakthrough as an increase of just a single level, to Su Yi, it represented an unprecedented transformation!
It was then that Liao Yunliu’s “Against-the-Light Slash” drew near! That hundred-foot-long streak of sword qi was dazzlingly bright and sharp. As it descended, it tore open a perfectly-straight rift in the air.
Su Yi merely looked up, stretched out his finger, and tapped.
It was just one casual, understated motion.
However, that light, casual tap came crashing down like a divine hammer. The streak of sword qi burst in midair with a resounding bang, falling apart and scattering like rain.
Liao Yunliu’s expression changed dramatically.
She was still hovering in mid-air when she suddenly twisted and shot back explosively. No one would accuse her of reacting slowly.
Su Yi stretched out his hand, reached through the air, and grabbed. “Come here.”
Liao Yunliu was over a hundred feet away, but a giant, invisible hand instantly seized her. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t escape. She could only let the invisible hand carry her as if she were an insect, then deposit her in front of Su Yi.
“I’ll leave her to you.”
Su Yi then tossed Liao Yunliu over to Ning Sihua, who didn’t hold back in the least. She swung the Waning Blueflame Moon Halberd and cut Liao Yunliu’s head clean off.?Fresh blood spurted from the stump.
Just like that, the second elder of the Hidden Dragon Sword Sect died in battle. Even in death, her eyes were round and wide; it seemed she dared not believe it, even now.
“Many thanks for your assistance, Fellow Daoist.” Ning Sihua grinned at Su Yi, the smile on her youthful face like a flower blooming after the storm.
It had been Liao Yunliu who’d cleaved open her back, leaving a massive, bleeding gash so deep that even her bones were visible.
Su Yi had obviously let her deal the killing blow out of consideration for her feelings; he was giving her a chance to vent her anger personally.
“What are you being so polite for? Going forward, don’t act like such an outsider.” As Su Yi said this, he looked into the distance.
It was just one sentence, but Ning Sihua’s heart shook. She realized that, by fighting with no regard for her own wellbeing, she’d fully won Su Yi’s recognition and approval…
“Run!” Lu Dongliu bellowed. He was still locked in fierce combat with Mu Xi.
Wang Tu was injured, while Liao Yunliu and Helian Hai had perished without so much as the chance to fight back. Lu Dongliu had witnessed the entire bloody spectacle, and the sight made his hair stand on end. A chill coursed down his spine. How could he dare linger here?
Boom!
It seemed he was going all out; his sleeves billowed as he swung his fist, breaking through Mu Xi’s attempts to restrain him. At the same time, his left hand suddenly shattered a jade talisman.
Bang!
A burst of black smoke enveloped him, and he instantly disappeared.
Li Cang was currently locked in combat with Lan Suo, but he did the same. A jade talisman shattered, and with a burst of black gas, he disappeared.
“Invisibility Talismans? That won’t save you.” Su Yi gently shook his head.
His hands formed seals, and the power of the Burning Heaven Restricting Demon Formation circulated with a boom. A vast and imposing flood of golden Buddhist light surged from the statues, blanketing the entire underground world.
Bang!
Something exploded three thousand feet to the northeast, and golden light swept over Lu Dongliu, who staggered backward.
He cried out in shock and alarm, “Su Yi, killing me is tantamount to declaring war on the entire Hidden Dragon Sword Sect! Can you bear the consequences!?”
Boom!
His voice still echoed through the air as roiling golden flames enveloped him, instantly incinerating him.
A threat like that obviously wasn’t enough to concern Su Yi.
Before long, the light forced Li Cang back into view too. This white-haired, white-bearded, kindly-looking grand elder of the Hidden Dragon Sword Sect’s outer sect was now frantic with terror. He cried out, “I admit defeat! Young Lord Su, please, show mercy. Spare my…..”
Before he could even finish, the rain of Buddhist flames incinerated him too.
Wang Tu had originally planned to seize this opportunity to flee, but when he saw this, he instantly slumped, then collapsed to the ground in despair.
Wang Tu, the palace master of Jixia Academy, had been proud and elegant, laughing and talking with calm ease, not long ago. He’d once tried to ambush Su Yi with an Origin Dao talisman sword.
But now, he cut a bleak and pathetic figure, lower than a dog.
“And here I thought your father, Su Hongli, was most likely possessed by some old monster. Now, it seems his son is the real old monster…” Wang Tu slumped and sighed in dejection.
When they heard this, Su Yi’s companions were stunned.?He thinks it’s highly likely that Su Hongli has been possessed?
Even Su Yi arched his eyebrows, but he had no plans of asking any further questions. He controlled the grand formation and obliterated Wang Tu, leaving nothing but scattered ashes behind.
Had Su Hongli been possessed or not? None of that mattered.
When he got to the Jade Capital, he’d resolve their grudge either way!