"This…!"
What they saw next caused their eyes to widen in shock!
****
The group of elders and guardians was gone. Not even their ashes remained behind!
Long Di raised a brow in realisation of this. "Well oh me, oh my. It seemed to be stronger than I had initially thought. Looks like I have a decent-ish trump card in the futur… ugh…"
Before he could finish what he was about to say, he fell to a knee on the ground in exhaustion.
The expenditure of the move was showing. It was daunting, to say the least.
Even though he was being re-energised by the Peach Blossom Sage's Spiritual Intent during the process, the technique even started draining him of his spiritual force.
This was something the Spiritual Intent didn't replenish and so exhaustion of a different kind was what overtook him.
Nonetheless, though he was still pale at the moment, there could be seen, in his eyes, something that was absent for far too long… pride.
"Decent-ish trump card your butt! You are not allowed to use that move again until you reach at least the Star Creation True Sage realm!" The Peach Blossom Sage's Spiritual Intent was infuriated.
The amount of energy he himself had to burn just to create and maintain a barrier strong enough to block the energy from the explosion was terrifying. He nearly exhausted himself to extinction in his current state!
Long Di looked at him for a while and considering all that he experienced while executing the move, he spared only a few words in response. "Fair enough."
"You infuriating demon spawn! Why don't you ever liste… say what now? Did the heavens fall and the earth split, or did you just agree with me?"
The Spiritual Intent of the Peach Blossom Sage was ready to fly off the handle with a spiel of curses and reprimand when he realised that Long Di agreed with him.
"I'm not stupid salt of the earth," replied Long Di.
"My name is Peach Blo-"
"You're a Spiritual Intent. Don't reach higher than that. In any case, salt of the earth, I'm not stupid. I read up on the ranks of martial techniques. I know that if I overreach and try to perform certain moves that I'm not ready for, I'll only end up killing myself since it would end me by breaking my body apart since it couldn't handle the strain."
"Oh," the Spiritual Intent looked at Long Di with a surprised expression. "T-Then why did you act like you were confused when I told you that you were using a-"
"Hold that thought." Long Di advised when something caught his eye.
The Spiritual Intent followed Long Di's line of sight and the scene caused the will to suck in a breath of cold air.
There was a massive crater there. Its radius was massive, a true testament to the destructive nature and power of the move that Long Di unleashed. Another thing to consider was that this was its power in its embryonic state. One could only imagine how powerful it would be when it was completed.
However, though the size of the crater was impressive, this was not what caused the Peach Blossom Sage's Spiritual Intent to react the way he did. This was because of the figure inside the crater.
"He's alive?"
The Peach Blossom Sage's Spiritual Intent was rightfully surprised because deep within the crater was the disfeatured figure of Gang Heng, the elder of the outer sect of the Iron Body Forging Sect.
However, gone were his dignified bearing and impressive features. Actually, gone were any of his features. Even his clothes were absent at the moment.
But this didn't bring any shame, it only served to magnify the horror on everyone's faces. As of now, the body of the elder was extremely mutilated! Not one inch of his body was without injury.
Curiously, however, blood didn't flow from his body. The burns contracted from the divine lightning's energy had burned his body beyond recognition. This rendered the flow of blood an impossibility.
As a matter of fact, the only movements that took place were the occasional arcs of lightning that roared across his body, sending it into involuntary moments of spasm.
Yet, even with such alarming injuries, it surprised everyone, even more, when they sensed the very faint spiritual fluctuations coming from his body. This meant nothing more than that he was still alive.
"H-He survived a blast like that? T-Then how strong are the bodies of those within the Iron Body Forging Sect!? Incredible."
No one knew who made the comment, but it caused everyone present to ponder the very same thing. They didn't even pay heed to the fact that Long Di was a junior with a cultivation base lower than theirs right now.
If they did stop to think for a moment, they would realise that the term demonic genius could only be left to him. Unfortunately, their mind was still affected by the impact that the technique he executed left on them.
Shung!
Long Di unsheathed a large sabre that emitted a heavy aura. It was slightly curved and shone with a dim bronze light. Along its edge were obscure designs that couldn't be made out quite well, but they granted the blade an air of maliciousness.
Boom!
True to its image, the moment that Long Di took out the sabre, it crashed to the ground with a resounding crash.
The fluctuation coming from the secular weapon was obviously something of the high-grade black rank!
"What are you—"
"I said to hold your thought for a second," Long Di didn't give the remnant will a chance to go any further.
He took strained steps with the heavy bronze sabre in hand. It was so cumbersome that it drew a deep ditch wherever it was dragged across.
This was the personal weapon that belonged to the Bronze Seat that Long Di fought in the forest sometime before this.
This was one of the few weapons that Long Di was interested in using before. Of course, he couldn't easily use it simply due to its weight.
Using something like this wasn't practical in fights where high-speed movements could decide victory or defeat in the blink of an eye. As a result, he normally used the many weapons in the rings he liberated from the persons he fought in the forest who no longer agreed with breathing.
However, this didn't apply to the current situation. The initially non-moving figure of Gang Heng shuddered when he realised that Long Di took slow steps toward him.
Gang Heng wasn't in a position to oppose even a significantly weakened Long Di because the injuries he suffered went far beyond the physical realm.
Lightning tribulation energy, even one at the Heavenly Levyance level, was the bane of all cultivators. Not only could it significantly hinder a cultivator's healing abilities, but it also had a significant effect on the soul as well, able to damage it in most situations.
Long Di's tribulation energy was normally detrimental to those he fought against, but the reason why it didn't show as much as it could have was because he never had a proper technique that could utilise it to its fullest potential… until now.
Though he seemed to have been something of an overachiever, considering all that happened.
After all, even though he was using it on an outer sect elder of the Iron Body Forging Sect, the fact still remained that even an existence at this level was far above most of the top existences of the other body-cultivating sects prevalent in the Demon Region.
Yet, even with this being an undisputed fact, Gang Heng only barely managed to survive. His life was hanging by a thread, and now he seemed to sense that Long Di was etching ever closer.
"Ga-Gasp…"
A somewhat raspy exhale of air was all that managed to escape his damaged throat as he staggered backwards.
He fell to the ground in a stumble as he looked at Long Di with dread. The latter's expressionless demeanour terrified him!
However, Long Di wasn't having it easy either. The only reason why he took out something that probably felt like (in his head) the equivalent of Thor's hammer was because he was sure that something less in power and rank wouldn't be able to kill him… maybe.
After all, before, when he faced the Si Bi Demons, the sword he used was a lower-grade weapon. And even then, the Si Bi demons were more than confident that it wouldn't be able to do much of anything to their comrade who learned that testicles could pop.
So, to make sure that there were no mistakes, Long Di took out a weapon that he was sure could kill the outer sect elder.
The Peach Blossom Sage's Spiritual Intent opened its mouth to say something but stopped himself in the end.
He never knew that Long Di was so decisive. He killed Jiandan Tai by crushing his neck, exterminated several elders and protectors of numerous sects, and now he was about to kill an outer sect elder of the Iron Body Forge Sect.
He knew that Long Di would be calling upon himself many enemies, enemies that he couldn't hope to defeat with his current strength. Yet at the same time, by allowing the outer sect elder to live, he would be leaving a potential disaster in the future.
Long Di didn't allow such contradicting thoughts to affect his actions. He tightened his hold around the sabre's grip. The air surged around him as he drove his remaining spiritual qi to augment his strength.
"Hengh!"
Long Di grunted as he lifted the massive sabre and sought its use in a careless swing that relied only on its weight.
Gang Heng could no longer move. His body was a disaster and a calamity all in one and Long Di was en route to put it out of its misery.
The outer sect elder's eyes widened in despair. The realisation that Long Di's expressionless face and eyes of indifference would be the last thing he saw of this world filled him with unholy indignation.
Clank!
Out of nowhere, a clawed hand using its blade-like appendages deflected the trajectory of the blade, causing it to miss the sweet release of Gang Heng's head.
The sudden offset of the blade caused Long Di to become even more off-balanced, and this sent him and the weapon into a not-so-graceful rendezvous with the ground.
Bam!
"My apologies, young one. I'm going to need this one to not die at the moment." A lanky humanoid figure with elongated limbs appeared beside Gang Heng.
Long Di's impact with the ground wasn't soft, but he quickly got himself up, not wanting to reveal too much of an opening to this new arrival.
When he looked back to what it was that stopped him, one brow rose in astonishment while the other remained asleep. "Has anyone ever told you that you're ugly beyond all logic and reason?"