"Xu… Xiao… Shou..." Dongdong's lips parted, and out came a deep, male voice that didn't match her appearance. Everyone in the Ugly Pig hide shop froze in shock.
The slave token Zhu Yike had crushed was supposed to suppress Dongdong, but instead, a blinding starlight erupted beneath her feet.
Suddenly, a powerful Holy Force surged out of her body. The sheer intensity of the energy obliterated the Ugly Pig hide shop, turning it into dust. People inside were thrown about like ragdolls. The entire street around the shop was leveled, the shops flattened, and the mortals who had once been bustling about the marketplace had simply vanished.
This had been a peaceful mortal world until now. Even an earthquake would have been terrifying. But the Holy Power of a demi-saint had ripped the world of Spiritual Cultivation apart from the mundane.
"Dao Qiongcang?" Aunt Xiang, Ah Yao, Li Fugui, and even Zhu Yike stared up at the sky where Divine Path Principles and a massive Celestial Scroll hung like an omen.
Yet something was off. Dao Qiongcang didn't appear personally—his power manifested through Dongdong.
"No…" Dongdong's body was shaking uncontrollably, her face contorted between anguish, madness, and some twisted determination. She tried to speak, but her words came out as jumbled gasps. Her body remained facing forward, but her head had twisted unnervingly backward, as if she were staring at something long lost.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, but at the same time, ancient symbols danced across her eyes. "...God...descend…" her voice was weak and fragmented.
The Celestial Scroll above finished its formation with a resounding hum. As it did, a holy realm was established, cutting off the space and the Path Principles from the outside world.
Dongdong's body stopped trembling. Instead, an eerie smile crept across her face as Divine Path Principles and starlight began flowing out of her. It was as if her very essence was pouring out, coalescing into the shape of a figure stepping out from her.
When the figure took a solid form, it was none other than Dao Qiongcang himself, holding a Sinan—a traditional Chinese compass—in his hand. He wore a jade crown and a brocade robe, his appearance akin to a celestial being who had descended from the heavens. His aura was calm, but it carried the weight of a thousand mountains.
With a sudden gust of wind, Dongdong's body disintegrated into countless ancient characters before vanishing entirely.
Aunt Xiang stood frozen in place. Ah Yao's eyes filled with tears as she collapsed to the ground, unable to contain her emotions. Li Fugui's legs buckled beneath him, and he fell to the ground, trembling uncontrollably. For all his cleverness, even he couldn't comprehend what kind of twisted magic or cultivation technique had brought about this horror.
"Is this… a ghost beast? Possession? Or some other vile art?" Zhu Yike kept his expression calm, but his mind was in turmoil. Deep down, he was screaming for help. "Lord Shou, save me!!!"
His mind raced. He had only crushed a slave token! How could something as powerful as Dao Qiongcang manifest from within Dongdong? Even the most nefarious techniques of the Southern Region's Land of Sin couldn't compare to this!
Li Fugui, still disguised as the old shopkeeper, lost control of his bladder in fear. Ah Yao had already done so, and now Li Fugui followed suit without hesitation. Even his famed wits were no help to him now. He had wanted nothing more than to remain inconspicuous—just an ordinary person hiding in plain sight. Now, all he could do was pray that he wouldn't be noticed.
But then it struck him—if Dao Qiongcang had descended, eliminating the mortals on the streets and separating the battlefield from the rest of the world, why hadn't he been whisked away as well? The horrifying answer was clear: he had been left here deliberately. There would be no escape.
Li Fugui's terror mounted. Not only had Zhu Yike brought Dao Qiongcang into the mix, but he had also stripped away the last bit of protection Lord Shou could offer. Now, if Lord Shou were to possess him… well, at least he'd have a fighting chance…
"Don't panic! Stall him for as long as you can," Lord Shou's voice echoed inside Zhu Yike's mind, calm and composed despite the chaos around them. Still, even Lord Shou was unsettled, though he refused to show it.
Zhu Yike straightened his back, drawing from Lord Shou's calm. As the second-in-command of the First Pavilion in the Sky, he needed to exude confidence—even if inside, he was falling apart. After all, what was a mere Dao Qiongcang compared to him?
Dao Qiongcang's eyes flicked toward Zhu Yike. "So, you're Zhu Yike?" he asked, his tone calm but laced with amusement. He flipped his hand, and out of nowhere, produced a soft bra, three fingers thick. "Is this yours?"
Zhu Yike's eyebrow twitched. He managed to keep a straight face, but internally he was panicking. How did he know?
"Flawlessly done, huh?" Dao Qiongcang smiled, watching Zhu Yike squirm. "Curious how I found out?"
Zhu Yike swallowed hard, trying to keep up the façade. "Ah, quite curious indeed. How could my impeccable work be discovered overnight?" His voice wavered slightly, betraying the uncertainty he was trying so hard to hide.
Dao Qiongcang smirked, waving his Sinan casually. "It's always the little things. Stop being so curious."
Zhu Yike felt a chill down his spine. His mind raced, but no thoughts stuck. Lord Shou, for the love of all things holy, what do I say? Help me stall him!
Dao Qiongcang eyed him lazily, like a predator toying with its prey. "I thought you had a 50/50 chance of either possessing Xu Xiaoshou's will or adopting a special incarnation." He paused, his gaze shifting over to the trembling old shopkeeper—Li Fugui, who had already wet himself. "But since you've stalled this long…" Dao Qiongcang chuckled softly, then raised a brow. "Time's up."
Li Fugui's pupils shrank.
Just as Zhu Yike opened his mouth, Dao Qiongcang seemed to make his judgment. Since Zhu Yike spoke first, Lord Shou must not be within him, he mused with bizarre logic. So why hesitate?
Zhu Yike felt the blood drain from his face. He was barely human in this moment, just a humble mortal playing a grander role than he deserved. Why me? He barely had time to finish his thought before—
"Whoosh!"
Dao Qiongcang's divine Sinan shifted, and in an instant, a ray of celestial starlight streaked toward Li Fugui.
"Great Annihilation Technique!"
It was stunning, a radiant and glorious spectacle that blinded Li Fugui, who was left slack-jawed, legs trembling beneath him. His crotch now fully soaked, there was no time to even think about resisting. Why did I imitate Ah Yao? He lamented in his final moments, utterly humiliated by his lack of composure.
But at that very moment, Zhu Yike sprang into action.
"Sky Stealing!"
His voice came in a sharp burst. Before even reaching for the object hidden in his pocket, he had flicked his thumb with precision. Blood spattered everywhere as he severed his knuckles without hesitation, the price paid for one of the fastest casting speeds in the world.
"Bang!"
The ground beneath the starlight exploded, yet Li Fugui, despite his disgraceful state, was yanked from the explosion into Zhu Yike's grasp. Alive. Though his pants were thoroughly drenched and his body reeked, he had somehow survived.
"Da da da…" Urine dripped continuously from Li Fugui's trousers, staining the ground below him. Zhu Yike grimaced in disgust but couldn't help flaunting his perfect side profile. He asked, in a deep, magnetic voice, "Li Fugui, am I handsome?"
For a moment, Li Fugui stared in shock, not quite comprehending the absurdity of the situation. Then, summoning what little dignity remained, he kicked at Zhu Yike with all his might, spattering him with a foul mess.
Dao Qiongcang's eyes sparkled with a twisted amusement. "Ah, the Sky Stealing technique," he murmured. "You used this very move to trade for that perfumed—"
Suddenly, his voice cut off, his eyes widening. He wiped his mouth in disbelief and pulled back his hand to reveal a mixture of black and yellow filth clinging to his palm.
The world seemed to freeze in that instant.
Aunt Xiang stared at Zhu Yike as if she were seeing him for the first time. Jin Ren, residing within Old Zhu's body, nearly exploded from the surge of spiritual energy. Even he, a native of the lawless Southern Region, couldn't believe the sheer shamelessness of what he had just witnessed.
Dao Qiongcang was smeared with foul excrement while Zhu Yike, despite missing his target, stood triumphant with Dao Qiongcang's left eye in his hand. His laughter filled the stillness.
"The Golden Gate Stealing Technique! Let me restore its honor!" Zhu Yike declared, wiping his filthy face with pride. He transformed back into his true self: a shifty-eyed rogue, reveling in his victory. He pointed mockingly at Dao Qiongcang, a villain who had achieved success in the most undignified way possible.
"If I die today," Zhu Yike cackled, "my deeds will be inscribed within the golden gates of history! Dao Qiongcang, defeated by my technique!"
The silence was deafening, the sheer audacity of Zhu Yike leaving everyone speechless.
Yet, to everyone's surprise, Dao Qiongcang did not rage. Instead, he calmly pulled out water, washing his face clean of the foulness, his composure unwavering.
"No…" Dao Qiongcang said softly, almost conversationally. "From this day on, there will be no golden gates within the five regions. And there will be no such thing recorded in history." His voice carried an eerie finality.
Zhu Yike's blood ran cold. The Celestial Scroll beneath his feet unfurled, an unstoppable force. He panicked, attempting another move. "Heaven Stealing Exchange—"
Before he could finish, a deafening voice resounded from the heavens, speaking the ancient Saint Language:
"KNEEL!"
BOOM!
The entire holy realm trembled, and the ten-mile street collapsed into dust. Aunt Xiang, Ah Yao, and Li Fugui felt nothing, but Zhu Yike…
Before he could even register what was happening, the weight of Sacred Mountain Gui Zhe pressed upon him. He was flattened, crushed by the celestial might.
"Bang!" His knees buckled, then shattered as they struck the ground, the force sending his legs flying. His face was driven into the dirt by the immense pressure, and his entire body was crushed beyond recognition.
"Ahhhh!" Zhu Yike screamed, starlight gushing from his body. The faint aura of ancestral power swirled around him, momentarily lifting some of the pressure.
Dao Qiongcang remained calm, watching closely. His eyes narrowed slightly at the emergence of the ancestral technique's aura. It was as if this entire exchange was but a puzzle he was solving, every move unfolding before him with a quiet inevitability.
Zhu Yike, desperate and bloodied, saw a brief window of opportunity. He ripped off a sleeve, soaked it in blood, and hurled it skyward.
"Great Annihilation Technique!"
But Dao Qiongcang wouldn't allow this gamble to succeed. Zhu Yike's Golden Gate Stealing Technique was a menace, a trick too difficult to guard against. And Zhu Yike's casting speed was unmatched.
A streak of starlight shot forward, aimed at obliterating the bloody cloth and silencing the technique.
"Bah!"
Zhu Yike spat out a mouthful of blood and sneered, even as his face was beyond recognition. His sneer was vivid, defiant.
"Who dares to play tricks in front of me, Old Zhu?" he spat.
And in that instant, the entire holy realm vanished. The stars, the pressure, Dao Qiongcang—all disappeared in a flash.
When the terrifying aura that had filled the battlefield suddenly dissipated, Li Fugui, Aunt Xiang, and Ah Yao looked up, bewildered. Before them, Zhu Yike lay sprawled on the ground, clutching a piece of blood-stained cloth. Inside that eerie cloth, one-eyed Dao Qiongcang's glared out in shock, still trying to comprehend what had just occurred.
The Great Annihilation Technique, once so devastating, now seemed confined to a two-dimensional fragment of the bloody cloth. The powerful energy it contained stretched infinitely within the cloth but never interacted with the outside world.
Li Fugui, still trembling, was the first to speak. "Are you really that strong?" His voice cracked with disbelief. He quickly pulled out a Rejuvenation Pill and handed it to Zhu Yike, his eyes red—though whether from awe, envy, or something else, even he couldn't tell.
Back on Abyss Island, when Li Fugui had teamed up with Zhu Yike and Feng Xiaose, Zhu had seemed like just another rogue from the Southern Region—a slippery, conniving trickster with little to offer in real power. Even when they crossed paths again in Jade Capital City, Li Fugui only saw him as a cunning villain with some achievements, certainly not a peer.
But now…
Now, Zhu Yike had managed to trap Dao Qiongcang, even if it was only temporary. The realization stung Li Fugui deeply. He felt an unfamiliar bitterness rise within him. How could Zhu Yike be so strong when we're both just at the higher void level? Had he hidden his true strength all this time, pretending to be weak and foolish?
It was enough to drive him mad with jealousy.
Zhu Yike, though, wasn't paying attention to Li Fugui's internal struggle. His expression turned solemn as he downed the Rejuvenation Pill, struggling to mend his shattered body. He wiped the blood from his face with an air of urgency.
"There's no time," he said gravely, his voice hoarse from pain. "If I had the power of the full ancestor technique, I might still be able to fight. But all I have is its aura…"
He glanced down at the bloody cloth with a bitter smile. "Right now, we've only managed to catch Dao Qiongcang off guard. We can't hold him for long."
His voice grew more serious. "You guys should escape first. No, forget it. I'll send you off."
With that, he rummaged through his pocket and retrieved three blood-stained stones. But just as he was about to activate them, he froze, his eyes wide.
Dao Qiongcang had not yet broken free from the spell. Instead, he sat cross-legged within the cloth, his eyes closed, path energy swirling gently around him as he calmly began communing with the Holy Path of the Shengshen Continent.
Zhu Yike's jaw dropped. "F*ck! This lunatic!" he cursed under his breath.
He had grossly underestimated Dao Qiongcang's composure. An ordinary person, trapped in such a technique, would be frantically struggling to break free, trying every possible method of escape—brute force, indirect methods, whatever it took. Yet, Dao Qiongcang simply sat down to meditate as if nothing had happened!
"You're just asking to die!" Li Fugui exclaimed, his eyes still burning with jealousy and confusion. But he was no longer focused on Dao Qiongcang. He grabbed at the stones in Zhu Yike's hand, panic edging into his voice.
"But staying here is useless," Zhu Yike said quietly, pushing Li Fugui's hand away. His voice softened with a hint of resignation. He could see that Li Fugui's strength, even when compared to his, was similar to Dongdong's—nothing remarkable in the face of true danger.
"But…" Li Fugui stammered, his red eyes widening further.
Zhu Yike offered a wry smile. "Don't worry, I'm tougher than I look."
In an almost comical gesture, several spatial rings suddenly appeared in Zhu Yike's hand—rings that clearly belonged to Li Fugui. He had swiped them in a split second, leaving Li Fugui speechless.
Silence fell between them. Li Fugui's eyes lowered. He knew the truth: if they stayed, they'd only be burdens. Zhu Yike, however unscrupulous he appeared, was stronger than all of them.
Zhu Yike wasted no time. He hurled the three stones into the air. They shimmered, then shot off to anchor themselves eighty miles away, setting up the coordinates to teleport Li Fugui, Aunt Xiang, and Ah Yao to safety.
"Steal—" Zhu Yike began, his hand raised to trigger the Sky Stealing technique.
Thump!
Suddenly, his thoughts faltered. A strange, dissonant sound echoed within his mind. His vision blurred, and for a brief moment, he felt disconnected from the world. When he glanced down, he saw that he was frozen in place.
Li Fugui, Aunt Xiang, and Ah Yao, still waiting for the spell to take effect, didn't notice the sudden stillness that had overtaken him.
Zhu Yike's heart raced. This… He realized with mounting dread that his soul had left his body.
Before he could grasp the situation, a dozen white-clothed figures appeared from the distance, cutting paths toward them with blinding speed. Higher void cultivators and Cutting Paths surrounded them within moments, forming a tight circle around the area.
Leading them was a phantom figure—a young man dressed in simple gray robes, his eyes gleaming with a small, green sword. His aura was ghostly, cold, and foreboding, the kind of energy that demanded absolute attention.
The young man raised two fingers in front of his chest, his expression deadly serious, as if he were preparing to confront a peerless enemy.
"Sizzle!"
Suddenly, Zhu Yike's body convulsed, and dark green sword energy erupted from within him.
"Sizzle!"
The sword energy connected Zhu Yike's soul and body once more, forming a visible dark green beam that crackled between them, holding his soul in a precarious balance.
"Spirits Controlling… Separation of Yin and Yang!" the young man intoned solemnly, his voice dripping with an otherworldly power. The tension in the air grew thick with an ominous energy.