"You! You killed God Shu!" One of the grand elders exclaimed in disbelief. They didn't actually see much. Outside of a metallic sound in the air, they only saw the line of red appear on his neck and his head fall.
It was sudden and outside of their expectations.
Wei Wuyin's physical body had been tempered by alchemical energies, elemental energies, and saber energy. With a slight empowerment of a trace of spiritually infused sublime qi, he could forcefully take a Mortal God's strikes with his fleshy body.
He took the first blow to determine his durability and toughness, but after realizing how weak it was in comparison to a single strand of his sublime qi, he produced the weakest elemental qi ward possible and it couldn't touch his body.
It couldn't even scratch his ward!
At this moment, he understood the vast difference between cultivators with different foundations. Shu Gui had a Heart of Water Qi, using Black Water Essence, a low-level essence, to transform his Heart of Qi, but his attacks couldn't even penetrate his weakest elemental ward made by a single strand of elemental qi.
When he struck with a single strand of newly produced saber qi, Shu Gui couldn't even react. In fact, he wasn't even sure if Su Lanyi knew what had happened.
As he looked towards her, he was sure she didn't even see his attack. "The difference between spiritually infused sublime qi and normal sublime qi is vast! Let alone my double Divine Spirits of Qi!" His thoughts were correct.
In truth, he was an absolute monster with an incredible cultivation base. He had two Divine Spirits of Qi formed from Elemental Qi and Saber Qi. His elemental qi had been formed with five high-level advanced elemental essences.
"You're all not my match. The only one who has a smidgen of a chance to detain me is Wu Xinghong." He calmly stated with a voice infected with arrogance. He had to act this way, even though he much rather be low-key.
His departure from the sect was already a done deal, and killing a Mortal God cemented this. The only goal for today was to establish himself as a figure that should not be offended so that when he declared his threat of retaliation if his allies were attacked, they'd be forced to remain idle.
His spiritual sense swept the surroundings and his eyes glanced towards the Scarlet Palace. In the Scarlet Palace, there was a room that had a variety of spiritual formation and qi arrays. It was made to protect and conceal the activities or persons within.
He decisively penetrated those numerous barriers with his spiritual sense and entered it, causing all sorts of alarms to flare within, trying to inform the resident who resided there.
What he witnessed caused his expression to slightly widen in shock, his mind stunned.
He saw a pale-faced man, thin and sickly, laying on a soft bed with silk sheets. The breathing of this man was heavy and his lifeforce was aggressively diminishing at a noticeable rate. When Wei Wuyin saw this, his eyes lit up. This man was Wu Xinghong!
"What happened to him?!" He recalled seeing him in the Scarlet Palace when he returned, healthy and powerful. Now that he thought about it clearly, the scarlet mist from the walls became him at that time. Could that be a spiritual spell that used qi to create an incarnation or avatar?
He saw the ugly expressions of the grand elders and the gloomy expression of Su Lanyi. The fear in her eyes could not be hidden. It seemed Wei Wuyin's earlier display made her realize their disparity in strength. His earlier saber strike was like lightning before her eyes.
He deeply frowned.
Even with his outstanding performance, why did she seem so terrified as if she had descended into a nightmare? Even if Wu Xinghong was out of commission, she still had the qi arrays and spiritual formations of the Scarlet Solaris Mountain. These were mechanisms set-up using hundreds of years of effort and resources. Wei Wuyin would not underestimate the reserve power of the Scarlet Solaris Sect.
When his thought reached this point, he sent his spiritual sense penetrating the mountain into its essence. It couldn't block him from inspecting its entirety. He saw fragmented qi stones and shattered poles that had runic markings etched on their surface.
When he dove deeper, he saw a throbbing orb of scarlet essence that emitted scarlet qi. This was the quintessence of the Scarlet Solaris Mountain! It was dim, flickering scarlet light, and seemed fragile as if it was on its last few breaths.
"The numerous formations had been damaged and the qi arrays have been destroyed?! The quintessence of the mountain's power has been drained? Holy fuck, what the hell happened?!" He hadn't noticed before due to all sorts of factors, but recalling the brimming scarlet qi ten years ago, the current scarlet qi was like comparing a pond to a lake.
As he came to this realization, he softly sighed. Was this heavenly fate? The Scarlet Solaris Sect was supposed to be destroyed ten years ago, a calamity averted by his actions, and now the sect had offended an enemy they could no longer fight against - him.
If he wanted, he could sweep the entire sect clean and rob it of its entire wealth with utter ease. He didn't feel that Godlord Mei had a strong connection to the sect. She was probably staying here to ensure the sect's survival according to an agreement. Otherwise, why publicly announce that she resided in the sect?
She lived in the Mystic Elven Forest and Mei Mei had been here for nearly five decades. If she wanted to help Mei Mei, she could've easily done so long ago.
"The damage to the mountain seemed to have been done about five to six years ago, about the time Mei Mei returned and Godlord Mei allied herself with the sect. Something big must've happened during that time!" He didn't know there was a mystery afoot before, so he didn't bother inspecting for clues, but now he was deeply curious and aware of their circumstances.
Thinking further on this, could this have been a calamity for him? With the sect weakened in such a fashion, he would have a slight chance of escape even if he was weaker. If it was a small calamity in which he had a slight chance to overcome it, this seemed to be a little too wrong, no?
"..."
He sighed once more, uncertainty drowned his heart.
He faced Su Lanyi and mockingly scoffed, "Your foundation is weakened, your Godlord is half-dead, and you try to kill me? Where's your priorities?"
"What? Half-dead?! Weakened?!" The grand elders exclaimed in shock. They all had looks of confusion and disbelief. What was Wei Wuyin talking about? The Ancestral Elder was fine nor were their foundation weakened.
However, many subconsciously looked at Su Lanyi and saw her distraught and fearful expression, the shock and disbelief in her eyes were far clearer than theirs. It was very telling.
"Impossible!" One of the grand elders cried.
Godlord Mei's heart trembled, "he found out?" Unlike the others, she knew the full story, and therefore was only shocked by Wei Wuyin's knowledge of it.
"Since you wanted to kill me, I guess I should teach you all a lesson." Wei Wuyin coldly smiled as he stepped forward. He explosively shot forward. His speed was like lightning, appearing in the midst of their group like the wind. In front of him was the middle-aged man who spoke earlier, listing his crimes and threatening his allies.
Pow!
He smashed his fist into the short, middle-aged man's abdomen. Like a missile, he shot backwards and smashed into the ground, producing a powerful explosion. Before the dust could even settle, he sent his leg sweeping in a kick toward another elder.
The sound of shattered bones, bruised flesh, and a cry of immense pain echoed as another figure violently shot away. The middle-aged woman with the beauty mark crashed into a nearby building, causing it to collapse on top of her.
Wei Wuyin stood within the former group of eleven, now a group of eight, with an upright stance and calm eyes.
"They spoke the loudest, no?" As he said that, the grand elders finally started reacting to what happened and nearly jumped out of their own skins in fright. They retreated away from Wei Wuyin with a variety of colorful movement arts.
Only Su Lanyi remained where she was.
Her expression was calm, no longer revealing a fear or an aura of gloomy. "You've grown strong," she remarked.
Wei Wuyin noticed her shift in attitude and softly sighed. She likely came to an understanding that Wei Wuyin was far beyond her in strength and abilities. In truth, with his current Eighth Stage Qi Condensation cultivation, he was. He was a Godlord, after all. They weren't termed Lord of Mortal Gods for nothing.
If it wasn't for his lack of condensed spiritually infused sublime qi, his strength would've been at least a dozen times stronger. At the moment, he could only rely on newly refined strands of qi and his powerful physical body, yet it was more than enough to sweep unchallenged.
That being said, Wei Wuyin knew that, while his strength was incredible, in front of a true Godlord with a full reserve of qi, winning was an unlikely possibility. At that point, quantity would definitely exceed quality.
If he threatened the sect, Godlord Mei might be forced, by obligation, to prevent his actions. He was confident in escaping, but there were just too many things he was ignorant of in relation to the abilities of a Godlord.
For example, Wu Xinghong's ability to create an incarnation from scarlet qi. He didn't know that was even possible. He had merely heard of their fabled abilities to scry the world, control minds, and shatter mountains.
"I won't kill you. Your actions are befitting a mother who cares for her child, I can't fault you for that. However, if anything happens to my subordinates and family because of you or the sect purposefully acting against them, I will raze the Scarlet Solaris Sect to the ground, hunt down and kill every last one of your subordinates, your family!" Wei Wuyin bitingly declared. This was his purpose.
He didn't go and round up all his subordinates. Many of them had families in the sect or the domain, some numbering thousands, they couldn't just uplift their entire lives and leave with him. He would never ask them to do that nor would he want such a vast responsibility.
All he could do was ensure they wouldn't be implicated by his existence. Anything else was unnecessary.
Su Lanyi looked at Wei Wuyin, gazing into his eyes with fearlessness and the readiness to accept death. It seemed her emotions had been deteriorated by all sorts of events. Deep within that fearless gaze was a nearly indiscernible light of exhaustion.
Fweet!
He ignored Su Lanyi, calling Bai Lin with a whistle. Bai Lin, with her huge form, flew through the roof of the dilapidated building, causing it to thoroughly collapse, and soared towards him.
He jumped up and landed perfectly on her back. Looking down, he saw Godlord Mei who had undone her concealment and revealed herself. She maintained that beautiful smile that could draw the world's attention. This woman was the cause of it all, and if it wasn't for the remaining respect he had for Mei Mei and her current cultivation base, he wouldn't have left so easily.
He would've killed her.
The thing he hated the most was being schemed against. If a situation like this happened again, he would make her understand what vicious meant.
"Let's go!" Wei Wuyin ordered. Having revealed the difference between them, he was satisfied.
However, his eyes became filled with complex emotions once more when he looked down at the Scarlet Solaris Mountain. His spiritual sense had encompassed a majority of the sect earlier and had gotten a good gauge of where his former subordinates and allies were.
Du Leng, that hungry fellow, now had a family, and was an Outer Elder of the sect. He was blissfully unaware as he slept with two beauties and had his own harem, his belly still round and his cheeks chubby.
He knew that if Du Leng saw him, he would abandon his family without hesitation and follow him. However, knowing that his life could be struck by calamity at any moment, it was best Du Leng continued living his current life in peace.
While this brought boundless sadness into his heart, he realized that the Calamity of Hell was a ticking time bomb. He had survived the first due to an absolutely miraculous accident, but the chances of that happening a second time was too low. He needed to reach the Realm of Sages to ensure a path of survival.
Otherwise...a few decades was all he'd have left.
He couldn't find Wei Si, this muscle-headed cousin of his, so he could be on a mission or even dead. He wasn't sure. However, knowing that big oaf of a man, he should be okay. At least, he hoped he was.
Xing Fu was pregnant, married to someone else. She already had a child who was three or four years old, waddling around yet still feeding on breast milk.
Ten years ago, she had a brief infatuation with him, but after those years, she had found another and settled down. He didn't expect her to be overwhelmed with grief and stay alone forever. In fact, he was happy for her and didn't wish to disturb that life selfishly.
He was but a mere blip in her life. If it wasn't for that Black Skeleton and him becoming an Inheritor of Sin, their paths would've never crossed. So many things wouldn't have happened.
Even Su Mei was a Captain of the Aerial Guardians.
He knew that with everything that had happened, his time in the Scarlet Solaris Sect was over. As long as he remained alive, Wu Chen would become a waste or dead. How could his mother and father allow the one responsible to walk freely? While he wouldn't directly perform the deed, the fault still laid with him in their eyes.
As he flew away, a sense of melancholy surfaced in his heart. However, as time passed, the world moved on with or without you. Isn't this why cultivators strived for immortality, even if it's just legacy.
"Goodbye," he whispered to himself. He had returned alone and as swiftly as he returned, he had to depart alone. Perhaps that would be his fate from here on out.
Screech!
The sound of an eagle echoed in the sky. Wei Wuyin turned his head to see a large variant eagle mount flying towards him. Atop this eagle was a young woman, her clear black eyes and long black hair gave her a sense of simple beauty.
She was dressed in a form-fitting martial robe, often worn by men, and had a very heavy expression on her face.
"Su Mei?" He was taken aback by her appearance. He told Bai Lin to slow down, allowing Su Mei to catch up. When she did, she stared at Wei Wuyin for quite some time before speaking.
"Mei Mei told me," was her words.
His heart trembled. These words had many different meanings, but his suspicions caused him to feel shocked.
Su Mei jumped off her mount and landed on Bai Lin's back. "She told me about Wu Chen and her Dao Companion ceremony. She said she would tell you so you could quietly leave before your past was known by others."
"..." Wei Wuyin was silent. Those words meant Mei Mei didn't want any harm to happen to him, but Godlord Mei had intervened and shattered her intentions abruptly.
Su Mei smiled mildly, moving a strand of her black, luscious hair away from her face. Her bright black eyes gazed towards the far lands away from the Scarlet Solaris Mountain. "Where shall we go?"
"We?" Wei Wuyin was startled. Did she mean…?
"We." Su Mei sat down and closed her eyes in meditation, obviously expressing her adamant stance: "Where you go, I go."
"We," he lightly laughed. It was filled with heart and warmth. Perhaps even with all the twists and turns, his life might not just be about surviving, but truly living. If there was a tiny chance, he'd have to grasp it completely!
With a pat, Bai Lin let loose a crane cry and sped away with both Su Mei and Wei Wuyin in tow. While his return was brief, his departure just as sudden, he now looked forward to his future.