Chapter 45

Silence.

A strange silence so eerie it made one breathless hung over the Wang family ruins that had just been noisy and earth-shaking.

That ten-thousand-zhang golden light came fast and left fast, like a fleeting blossom, yet it left the ground in disarray and a result that left everyone stunned.

Wan Hong, the overbearing helmsman of the Wan family who treated Luo Bay County as his own backyard, a terrifying existence at the peak of the ninth layer of Body Refining, now lay like a dead dog beneath the collapsed courtyard wall in the distance, alive or dead unknown, his breath weak as a candle in the wind.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

The four remaining experts of the Wan family, including the Body Refining eighth-layer Offering, had faces as if they had swallowed a hundred flies—shocked, bewildered, with a hint of incredulous fear.

Chen Tianfeng atop the distant treetops almost lost control of his posture, tumbling headfirst from the tree. He rubbed his eyes hard, doubting whether he was hallucinating from excessive nervousness. This… this damn, what the hell is going on? The script wasn't written like this! The Wang family's trump card is simply outrageous! It feels like the surprise of Jia Baoyu warming wine to slay Hua Xiong! No, it's terror!

The surviving Wang family disciples, including Wang Zhe who had fought bloody battles, all froze in place. Just a moment ago they faced a deadly dead end; the next moment, their greatest enemy was flattened by a golden beam? This reversal… too fast, too sudden, left their brains unable to process it for a moment.

Only Wang Shan, the old man leaning against the broken wall with his arms limp and blood continually trickling from the corner of his mouth, had no bewilderment in his eyes—only icy killing intent and a hint of relieved understanding.

Righteous Qi, specially counters evil! Xuan Qing, my good grandson… your sacrifice was not in vain! That Vice Dean of the Heavenly Confucian Academy… this favor, Wang family, I, Wang Shan, have noted it!

Wan Hong, that old dog, practicing evil arts, his demon qi soaring to the heavens, thinking himself invincible, never imagined he'd be utterly suppressed by a talisman! This information gap—playing it is all about the thrill!

The jar is ready, the turtle is in the jar; now it's time to finish off this old turtle once and for all!

He could feel that Wan Hong, though not dead, had been struck head-on by the 【Righteous Qi Talisman】, his evil arts shattered, and under the backlash he had surely suffered unprecedented heavy damage! His strength reduced to less than one-tenth! He might even have dropped a realm!

This is an opportunity!

A once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity!

It is the sole chance to avenge the deceased Zhitao and all the tragically slain members of the Wang family!

If we miss this, once that old dog catches his breath or the Wan family's reinforcements arrive, the Wang family will truly be struck from the records of Luo Bay County!

Thinking of this, a force beyond words surged from deep within Wang Shan's withered body—it was hatred, it was rage, the final madness bursting forth in desperation!

"Ugh—!"

Wang Shan let out a nonhuman low growl from his throat, his teeth grinding audibly, the bloody taste in his mouth stimulating his nerves. He ignored the excruciating pain as if his arms were about to snap completely, ignored the waves of gripping pain from his viscera, and with the last ounce of his strength forcibly activated the power just gained from breaking through to the eighth layer of Body Refining, still not fully stabilized!

He must rise!

He has to stand up!

His hunched body trembled violently, sweat mixed with blood sliding down his forehead, yet he relied on an inhuman willpower, bit by bit, struggling up from the ground to straighten his body again!

Although he swayed on the verge of collapse and his breath was chaotic, that straightened spine, at this moment, seemed able to uphold the heavens!

The icy, bone-piercing killing intent burst forth from him like a tangible thing, sweeping across the entire ruin!

His gaze, like two poisoned daggers, locked firmly on the distant figure shrouded in dust and smoke, writhing and struggling amid the ruins!

"Old dog…" Wang Shan's voice hoarse like a broken gong, yet carrying ironclad resolve, "It's my turn!"

"Kill——!!!"

A roar of anger, like thunder bursting from flat ground!

Wang Shan moved!

He forcibly squeezed every strand of spiritual power generated by the 【Duant Body Art】 circulating within his body, even burning a strand of his newly stabilized essence, turning himself into a blurred afterimage, dragging his heavily wounded body, he lunged again at the fallen Wan Hong with an unstoppable resolve!

Speed! He needs speed!

Absolutely! Absolutely cannot give Wan Hong any chance to breathe or recover! Strike while he's ill, take his life!

Midway, Wang Shan had already forcibly condensed the 【Pishan Palm】 again!

The intense pain in his arms almost made him faint; the spiritual power from his recent breakthrough was already scant, and with prior expenditure and injury, this time the earth-yellow palm print he formed was noticeably more illusory than before, its light dimmer, even its edges somewhat unstable, as if it might dissipate at any moment.

But the killing intent contained within this palm print was far more intense and pure than any before!

It was the killing intent of giving everything, refusing to die or rest!

At the same time, Wang Shan's thoughts raced!

Give it all! Even if I empty my reserves today, I must utterly keep this old dog here!

A faint light flashed from his storage bag!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The remaining four 【Sharp Gold Talismans】, he unleashed them all without hesitation!

Four inch-long golden streaks of qi, like four agile and deadly venomous snakes, flashed with unmatched sharp cold light, emitting piercing whistles as they shot from various angles, ruthlessly aiming for every vital point on Wan Hong's body from head to toe!

Head! Heart! Dantian! Throat!

Seal off all his possible escape routes!

He would weave this last trump card into a net of certain death!

In the distance, amid the ruins.

Wan Hong was indeed not dead, but he felt worse than death.

The power of the 【Righteous Qi Talisman】 was overbearing, practically the natural nemesis of his kind of evil cultivator! The instant that pure, righteous, radiant power surged into his body, he felt as if he'd been tossed into an alchemical furnace, his soul and flesh repeatedly scorched and purified!

The Black Fiend Art practiced for several decades was almost half-ruined; the sinister demon qi retained only two tenths, the meridians were severed inch by inch, the dantian was damaged, the five viscera and six bowels were displaced, and who knows how many bones were broken.

What's worse is that the righteous qi still lingers in his body, like a bone‑eating maggot, constantly assaulting his origin, causing his realm to loosen, faintly showing signs of falling from the Body Refining Ninth Layer Peak.

What the hell!

Wan Hong, who has roamed Luo Bay County for so many years, when has he ever suffered such a loss? Or did he fall into the hands of an ant he could originally crush with a flick of his finger?

Shame! A tremendous shame!

This is simply peeling off his old face alive, throwing it on the ground, trampling it a hundred times with a shoe that has stepped in dog shit, then spitting a mouthful of saliva and finally tossing it into a pigsty to smear the wall.

Intense pain and weakness surged like a tide, but his strong will to survive and his deep‑seated hatred for Wang Shan kept him from passing out immediately.

At that moment, he felt it!

That unhidden killing intent! That familiar yet terrifying palm power fluctuation! And… four streaks of sharp qi as fast as lightning!

"No!!"

Wan Hong's eyes were instantly filled with terror and madness!

He cannot die! He absolutely cannot die here! To die at the hands of a mere Body Refining Eighth Layer junior!

He forcibly suppressed the bloody sweetness surging in his throat, wanting to struggle to get up, wanting to dodge!

But, it's too late!

He is injured too severely! So severe that lifting a single finger is extremely difficult!

As he watched that illusory yet death-filled palm imprint and four golden lights draw nearer, Wan Hong's eyes flashed with a hint of desperate madness!

"Roar!"

He let out a beast-like roar, barely raising an arm that was still relatively intact—his other arm had already been twisted and deformed by the impact of the 【Righteous Qi Talisman】, bones protruding.

The remaining, pitifully thin Demon Qi was frantically squeezed out by him, attempting to coalesce into a protective barrier before him.

However, his current strength is less than half of what it was at its peak! The Demon Qi shield he condensed is as thin as a sheet of window paper, dull in color, even trembling slightly—compared to the earlier solid, sinister, terrifying bodily Demon Qi, it's nothing short of a joke!

This desperate last stand appears so feeble and powerless.

The next instant!

Wang Shan's attack has arrived!

"Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfft!" "Pfft!"

Four almost simultaneous sounds, like a sharp blade piercing leather, dull thuds!

Those four unmatched sharpness of the 【Sharp Metal Talisman】 sword qi, like cutting through rotten wood, without the slightest hesitation, directly pierced Wan Hong's feeble Demon Qi shield!

Immediately after, golden light flashed!

Blood spurted!

The four golden lights accurately struck Wan Hong's body! One pierced his scapula, one penetrated his thigh, one grazed his ribs, leaving a deep blood groove down to the bone, and another directly pierced his lower abdomen dantian!

"Ugh—!"

Wan Hong let out a horrific scream, his dantian shattered, his remaining strength draining away like a deflating balloon!

But this isn't over yet!

At the very moment the 【Sharp Metal Talisman】 took effect, Wang Shan's 【Pishan Palm】, condensed with boundless killing intent, followed closely, ruthlessly and without flourish, slamming onto Wan Hong's now unprotected chest!

"Crack—!!!"

A sound that made teeth ache, an exceptionally clear bone-shattering crack rang out!

In the astonished gaze of everyone, Wan Hong's chest caved in at a visible speed, forming a shocking depression!

"Pfft—wah!!"

Wan Hong's whole body seemed struck by an invisible giant hammer, his body arched violently, blood gushing from his mouth like an endless fountain! Even mixed with the blood were fragments of shattered organs!

He widened his eyes, staring fixedly at Wang Shan approaching step by step, his eyes filled with unwillingness, hatred, shock, and a bewildering absurdity he could not comprehend even in death.

Why……

Why is it like this?

He is a Body Refining Ninth Layer Peak expert! The Helmsman of the Wan family! The local tyrant of Luo Bay County!

How could he lose?

How could he lose to an old coot who just broke through to Body Refining Eighth Layer and is himself severely injured?!

This is unreasonable! This script is wrong!

He still has a bright future ahead, he still wants to assault higher realms, he still wants to……

Vitality, like a receding tide, swiftly faded from Wan Hong's eyes.

But just as his consciousness was about to plunge completely into darkness, that endless unwillingness and hatred suddenly transformed into an extreme madness!

Mutual destruction!

Even if he dies, he wants to drag that old thing that destroyed everything down to hell with him!

A strange black glint flashed in his eyes; the last trace of his residual primordial power within his body began to reverse and burn in an extremely dangerous way! A destructive aura faintly began to brew!

He intends to self-detonate! Or unleash some vicious death-secret art!

However, how could Wang Shan possibly give him this chance?

From the flicker of madness in Wan Hong's eyes, Wang Shan's hawk-like keen battle intuition instantly sensed the deadly danger!

Cut the grass but don't remove the roots, the spring wind will blow again!

Toward enemies, one must absolutely show no mercy! Especially Wan Hong, this vengeful venomous snake!

"Old dog! Die!!"

A fierce gleam flashed in Wang Shan's eyes; without hesitation, he endured the excruciating pain as if his whole body were falling apart, and violently lifted a foot!

Then, with all his strength, he ruthlessly stomped down onto Wan Hong's head, which had lost its luster but still retained madness and hatred!

No hesitation! No mercy!

"Bang—!!!"

A dull, nauseating sound!

Like a ripe watermelon being smashed open by a heavy object!

Red, white, instantly splattering everywhere!

Wan Hong's head, once filled with scheming plots and arrogant tyranny, was completely crushed by Wang Shan's foot into a muddy pulp!

His final mad intent, together with all his unwillingness and hatred, were completely ended by that foot!

The Wan family Luo Bay County branch Helmsman, Body Refining Ninth Layer Peak expert, Wan Hong……

Dead!

Dead beyond death!

Wang Shan gasped heavily, his chest rising and falling violently, blood continuously dripping from the corner of his mouth, yet he stubbornly remained standing, stepping on Wan Hong's headless corpse, his gaze slowly turning toward the four Wan family Offerings who had been utterly terrified.