Chapter 944: Will You Accept It Again?

The battle erupted instantly!

Xue Fengchen gripped his axe in his left hand and seized the woman's arm beside him: "Sister Yan!"

Gao Yunyan, in her early thirties, stood tall with long limbs, sporting a sleek short haircut and an assertive brow.

On her earlobes hung large circular silver earrings.

They glittered.

Perfectly matched her bold and flamboyant demeanor.

Gao Yunyan turned her head and saw Xue Fengchen's steady gaze as he said firmly: "Don't go!"

She raised an eyebrow, about to speak, when another roar came from afar: "Little Gao! Little Xue! Don't stand there frozen—move now!"

Xue Fengchen clamped his large hand tighter on Gao Yunyan's arm and shook his head.

Gao Yunyan locked eyes with him: "Little Chen, do you know what you're doing?"

Xue Fengchen's tiger-like eyes burned bright: "This world shouldn't be like this."

"Huuu!!"

Sand surged, frost spread.

Though not at the center of battle, they were still caught in the backlash.

Energy surged beneath Xue Fengchen's feet, churning the yellow sand.

Western Wilderness Divine Art: Western Wilderness Sand Sea!

"Huu!"

Standing atop the sand sea, their figures rose and fell with the waves, retreating backward.

Throughout, Gao Yunyan offered no resistance.

She let him pull her back, then asked: "Do you know what the consequence of this will be?"

Consequence?

If they failed, or if word leaked, they would face endless pursuit from the Heavenly Wilderness Sect.

Within Heavenly Wilderness, experts abounded.

They boasted over a dozen Sea Realm cultivators!

Those of River Realm were but ants before the vast ocean.

"Wrong is wrong," Xue Fengchen's resolve hardened further. "I won't become someone I despise!"

"Hah." Gao Yunyan suddenly laughed.

Wind whipped through her short hair, brushing over her self-mocking smile.

"Before, to survive, we had no choice—we joined Heavenly Wilderness," Xue Fengchen gripped her arm tighter.

Gao Yunyan: "Is that Lu Tianjiao really worth risking everything for?"

Xue Fengchen said solemnly: "If you'd joined the mountain two months later, you'd know what Lu Ran truly is!"

"He's the foremost Tianjiao of Great Xia, and the earthly patriarch of the Xiangyang Sect!"

At this, Gao Yunyan's eyes flickered with unexpected light.

There was no time for more questions—now the entire sky was choked with sand!

Western Wilderness Divine Art: Drifting Sand!

Before reaching River Realm, this art could only hurl sand forward to obscure the enemy's vision.

But upon ascending to River Realm, it underwent a transformation!

Western Wilderness devotees could summon sandstorms—obscuring vision while perceiving every detail within the dust.

"Little Gao! Little Xue! Are you two fucking traitors?!"

Guo Yize roared, sand surging beneath his feet, propelling him rapidly backward.

He raged louder: "Xue Fengchen! Gao Yunyan! You two treacherous bastards!"

"Did you forget who gave you shelter?"

"Hah." Jiang Ruyi's icy voice cut through, thick with mockery: "What morality can monsters speak of?"

"Betraying Heavenly Wilderness?"

"It's you Heavenly Wilderness who betrayed all of humanity!"

"Sharp-tongued little brat!" Guo Yize bellowed from within the thick dust. "I'll grant you death!"

Another Western Wilderness male devotee, Cao Rongcheng, activated Western Wilderness Divine Art: Drifting Sand and shouted urgently:

"You two—get into battle! Don't be fools!"

Xue Fengchen clutched Gao Yunyan's arm tightly: "Lu Tianjiao is just the catalyst—the root is me! I refuse to sink further! I won't become a criminal!"

"Sister Yan, you're different from the others in Heavenly Wilderness—come with me!"

Gao Yunyan pressed her lips together, releasing Drifting Sand: "We can't run."

Xue Fengchen's heart tightened!

The sandstorm was too thick—he couldn't see her face.

Yet through the perception of Divine Art: Drifting Sand, he sensed she held a battle axe in her right hand!

Divine Art: Shattered Wilderness Axe!

"Sister Yan," Xue Fengchen's face darkened. "Since I joined Heavenly Wilderness, you've always guided me. I know you're not like them."

Gao Yunyan cut him off: "First, we kill these two old bastards. Only then can we leave."

"Only then can we go farther!"

Xue Fengchen fell silent.

Gao Yunyan suddenly leaned forward, pressing her lips firmly against his.

Xue Fengchen:??

Amid thick dust, he felt only a warm, soft touch on his lips.

This...?

"I'll go mad with you!" Gao Yunyan licked her sandy lips, then yanked her arm free from his grip.

Though her lips were covered in sand, it wasn't dirty.

These fine grains were born of Divine Art: Drifting Sand—crafted from divine power.

"Go!" Gao Yunyan perceived every movement within the storm and charged forward.

"Alright!" Xue Fengchen gripped his Kai Shan Axe and followed.

She was right—if they were to escape this hell, they had to eliminate these two Western Wilderness devotees.

They couldn't let them carry word back to Heavenly Wilderness!

"You two—" Cao Rongcheng's face turned pale!

The omnipresent sand told him: Gao and Xue were charging straight for him!

"You little *bastards*, I'll *fuck* you *all*!" Guo Yize exploded.

Originally, four River Realm Stage Five Western Wilderness disciples faced five lower-to-mid River Realm Yufu devotees.

The strongest among the Yufu squad was Jiang Ruyi, at River Realm Stage Four.

Now things were perfect!

Four versus five had become two versus seven!

How could they possibly win?

As for the Shanwei disciples...

The Western Wilderness devotees didn't even consider them a threat.

In truth, the Fourth-Rank Divine Sect: Shanwei's followers weren't weak.

But Western Wilderness utterly dominated Shanwei—one axe strike shattered everything, making resistance futile.

Still, Shanwei had strong support abilities: Divine Art: Mountain's Will, allowing perception of all lifeforms touching or hidden beneath the ground.

Xiong Xiong, Wang Xuyang, and others kept shouting out positions—driving the two Western Wilderness devotees to fury.

Guo Yize wanted to split them open with his great axe.

But the Yufu disciples wouldn't let him.

One after another, frost talismans were thrown, determined to freeze them into ice statues!

Guo Yize used Sand Sea to bury the Shanwei disciples, but they raised towering stone-and-earth walls.

"Retreat! Old Guo, get out!" Cao Rongcheng shouted, turning to flee.

"Old bastard, you're not going anywhere!" Gao Yunyan cried sharply.

Sand beneath her feet surged like crashing waves, hurling her forward.

In nearly two years since joining Heavenly Wilderness, she'd seen too many brutal scenes of prisoner abuse.

Western Wilderness devotees were mostly domineering, tyrannical types.

In some ways, they were merely smarter, more mentally stable, and more self-controlled than the Wild Woman Ba tribe.

But here in the lawless Sacred Spirit Mountain, their inner savagery had been fully unleashed.

Their cruelty toward prisoners and slaves was monstrous.

Gao Yunyan was powerless, voice too weak to change anything.

Even if you didn't act wild and reckless, you'd seem out of place, disloyal to Heavenly Wilderness.

But today...

Let's go mad!

Xue Fengchen is right—Lu Menzhu is merely a catalyst, a choice; the true root lies within oneself!

I don't want to live like this anymore.

"Gao Yunyan! I should have kicked you off the mountain back then!" Cao Rongcheng roared, gripping his Shuihuang Axe and hastily blocking.

"Bang!!"

Two identical Shuihuang Axes slammed together with full force.

They exploded in a thunderous crash!

Both sides wielded the Divine Art: Western Desert Power—their elemental strength maximized!

Both also possessed the Divine Art: Shatter the Eight Deserts—capable of breaking mountains, shattering rocks, and cracking the earth!

With this strike, whose weapon could remain unbroken?

"Tài!" Xue Fengchen roared, seamlessly joining Gao Yunyan as they charged straight at Cao Rongcheng.

Cao Rongcheng's heart jolted—he poured all his power into his technique, summoning a violent surge of desert sands toward Xue Fengchen.

Yet Xue Fengchen arrived riding the very same desert sands!

In the instant their desert sands collided, Xue Fengchen swung his axe to cleave a path forward, using his shoulder as a weapon to smash into Cao Rongcheng—and spun with the momentum.

That impact shattered Cao Rongcheng's balance.

It also made Xue Fengchen's movements flow like water.

A massive Kaishan Axe swung from behind to front, carving a perfect crescent moon through the air.

The motion was seamless, breathtaking to behold.

Not only was it swift—it was devastatingly powerful!

What the hell is this? Da Tianjiao!

Cao Rongcheng's face turned deathly pale, his heart lodged in his throat.

In a flash, he leapt backward—and instinctively activated the Divine Art: Western Desert Body.

In an instant, Cao Rongcheng's flesh transformed into a body of sand.

This technique resembled a Golden Body.

Its defense was astonishingly strong!

But the Western Desert sect's techniques specifically countered his own!

Xue Fengchen swung his axe, pouring Western Desert Power into it, infusing the blade with the Divine Art: Shatter the Eight Deserts!

"Crack!!"

The terrifying blade slashed through Cao Rongcheng's chest.

Though it didn't cleave the sand body in two, it tore open his torso.

"Aaaah!" Cao Rongcheng screamed in agony—the moment he reverted to flesh, his chest split open, blood gushing forth.

"Hm?" Jiang Ruyi, eyes closed, suddenly turned her head.

She had no perception technique—but she held the Divine Weapon: Liangye Sword.

Was Cao Rongcheng being blasted backward?

Was he no longer standing on the desert sands?

"Swoosh~"

Jiang Ruyi flung her hand sharply—the Liangye Sword shot forward, the hilt still clamped with an Electric Shackles Talisman.

"Ziziz~!"

The next instant, Jiang Ruyi activated the talisman with a thought.

A lightning sphere, fifty meters in radius, erupted—engulfing Cao Rongcheng entirely.

Cao Rongcheng:!!!

His body stiffened, every nerve tingling with numbness.

Before he could react further, the Liangye Sword pierced straight through his skull.

Xue Fengchen, sprinting across the desert sands, sensed the incoming blade—he instantly raised his Kaishan Axe before him.

"Aa! Aaaah!"

Guo Yi's eyes turned blood-red—he had sensed his teammate's death through the sandstorm.

And now, his entire body was coated in frost and snow.

Though the sandstorm obscured the battlefield from Yu Fu disciples, the frost talismans' chilling range was vast.

Moreover, Song Yu, An Xian, Zhu Yuan, and Zhang Zhenghu were all encircled by the Yu Fu Array—they could move freely within the frost zone without freezing.

"Hu!!"

Amid Guo Yi's roar, a colossal battle axe materialized high above.

The Western Desert sect's grand technique: Western Desert Divine Axe!

"Hmph." Gao Yunyan sneered, raising one hand high.

Xue Fengchen raised his hand in perfect unison—both palms churned with divine power.

In the sky, a second, then a third massive Western Desert Divine Axe appeared!

But these two were not for offense—they were for interception.

"Traitor! Despicable traitor—!" Guo Yi spat curses, mouth full of frost, "Puh!!"

His body frozen solid, Guo Yi could only summon the desert sands beneath his feet to shove him forward, propelling his Divine Weapon: Kaishan Axe.

But because he was frozen too rigidly, his hand remained stuck to the axe shaft.

Yet the Kaishan Axe trembled violently—and finally broke free.

"Boom!!"

High above, the two intercepting axes cleanly blocked the descending Western Desert Divine Axe.

Gao Yunyan's heart raced—she leapt to Xue Fengchen's side, gripping his waist on both sides: "We can't let the divine weapon escape!"

If this axe returned to Tianhuang Mountain, everything would be lost!

Gao Yunyan sensed the Kaishan Axe's position through the sandstorm, poured Western Desert Power into her hands, and shoved Xue Fengchen forward with all her might.

"Hu!!"

Xue Fengchen shot forward like a cannonball, racing through the sandstorm into the zone where sand and frost mingled.

"Bang!" A deafening crash!

Gao Yunyan's terrifying power granted Xue Fengchen absolute speed.

He cut through the chaos, snatched the fleeing Kaishan Axe, clutched the heavy divine weapon, and slammed it deep into the earth.

"Ugh! Ughhh!"

Guo Yi tried to speak—but his mouth was packed with frost.

Amid thick frost and snow, five Yu Fu disciples circled in flight, tracking the enemy's moans and hurling frost talismans with brutal precision.

Soon, Guo Yi fell completely silent.

Though frost talismans were only control techniques and couldn't instantly freeze a target, the Yu Fu squad's numbers were overwhelming—and their output rate was relentless.

"Snap!"

Jiang Ruyi gripped the Liangye Sword and stabbed sharply downward.

"Crack!!"

A body completely encased in frost shattered instantly.

Jiang Ruyi stood where the enemy had stood—her feet covered in frost, the ground littered with shattered ice shards.

The battlefield fell utterly silent—all was settled.

Though they had won, her face held little joy.

Shengling Mountain.

Dirty, ugly, cruel, filled with scheming.

And myself—

Jiang Ruyi slowly closed her beautiful eyes and exhaled softly.

Earlier, she had slain Gu Zhang—freezing him alive, burying him alive, her heart untouched.

Now, she had used every trick.

She had shouted accusations using the title of Tianjiao, leveraged Lu Ran's name and influence, lied about knowing where Lu Ran was, and turned Western Desert disciples mid-battle.

She had shattered the enemy into scattered fragments.

Cruel. Calculated.

Jiang Ruyi slowly lifted her gaze to the churning clouds above, a bitter glint flashing in her eyes.

How much longer must I walk this path to find you?

What will Shengling Mountain turn me into?

If one day—

If I survive, and you still live, and we truly meet again—

Will you still accept me? Will you still accept the person I've become?

"My lord! My lord, please spare our lives!"

"We were forced! Lady! We had no choice…" Two Shanwei believers, knowing escape was impossible, rushed forward and knelt, begging.

Jiang Ruyi glanced at the trembling pair pleading for mercy—she had no interest in dealing with them, and turned her gaze elsewhere.

She had intended to summon Xiong Xiong to handle them—but the Shanwei disciples misinterpreted her silence, and immediately knelt en masse.

Jiang Ruyi's face, hidden behind her veil, curled into a bitter smile.

I am not. I am not that kind of person. I do not wish to enslave my own people.

This mountain,

is too filthy.

"BOOM!!!"

A deafening sound suddenly erupted from high above.

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(End of Chapter)