Chapter 140: One Sleeve Sweeps the Jade Universe Clean

Northern Frontier, Skull Mountain Market.

Inside a tall tower at the market's center, Zhao Xuhe pushed open the quiet chamber and strode out; the pride and recklessness of his youth had completely vanished.

Time is truly the thing that tempers people the most.

Not to mention that before, at Skull Mountain, after Zhao Xuhe took Lu Yang's place, he was also fished out by the True Person of Yin Mountain, having thirty years of merit and fortune stripped away.

For this, he had no choice but to enter seclusion for thirty years, just like the former Lu Yang.

And after thirty years of bitter cultivation, Zhao Xuhe had long shed his former appearance, even cultivated a great divine power, and was now a cultivator possessing status.

Yet Zhao Xuhe's face showed not a shred of joy; indeed, it looked extremely grim. For when he too possessed status and used the great divine power to cleanse his dharma body, he immediately discovered something amiss from the past: his memories belonging to "True Person Panlong" were completely out of place compared to his other memories!

"Is it truly a past life?"

Zhao Xuhe's expression grew grave: "Or did a True Person do something to me back then? How much of my memory is real, and how much is false?"

Just thinking about it made Zhao Xuhe break out in a cold sweat all over.

And his first target of suspicion fell upon the Peak Master of Senior Butian, after all, in his view, that naturally evil old ghost had strong motives.

"Before, he was constantly trying to matchmake me with his daughter."

"Obviously, what he valued was the Nine Transformations Dragon Art, not me personally—I just don't know why he has visited me so rarely in recent decades."

Thinking of this, Zhao Xuhe felt confused again, unable to quite grasp the Peak Master of Senior Butian's change in attitude; it seemed another hand was pushing things behind the scenes, but his current level was too low to see clearly. However, he soon rallied his spirit, ambition blazing in his eyes.

"No matter what, as long as I achieve Foundation Establishment, everything will get better!"

"And to achieve Foundation Establishment, I must take the lead in this great battle against the Divine Martial Sect this time; only then can I earn the favor and support of the stationed True Person."

Just then, a beam of flight suddenly flew over.

Seeing this, Zhao Xuhe immediately showed excitement and hurried forward, saying: "Senior Brother Lu Yuanchun, is there news from the Divine Martial Sect in the Northern Frontier?"

The beam of flight parted, and a valiant young man stepped out; it was indeed Lu Yuanchun.

"It is not news from the Divine Martial Sect."

He saw his expression was grave and spoke in a low voice: "It is news from the Master transmitted from the Holy Sect: a True Person has arrived at the Holy Sect and intends to utterly annihilate the Divine Martial Sect!"

Hearing this, Zhao Xuhe was slightly startled in his heart: "Which True Person is it?"

"Unknown. It is said to be one newly promoted in recent years, with considerable divine power and a very large background. It was Junior Uncle Chongguang who overruled all opposition and personally recommended him to take the position."

"This campaign to annihilate the Divine Martial Sect is led by that True Person, overseeing the overall situation, with three other Holy Sect True Persons assisting. It is said they have already departed; at the speed of a True Person, arriving at Skull Mountain is likely a matter of days or even hours. We cannot let the disciples of the Divine Martial Sect continue to surround the market!"

Upon saying this, both of them wore worried expressions.

This was because life in the Skull Mountain Market had not been easy recently.

About three or five years ago, a core disciple of the Divine Martial Sect led his sect followers to surround the entire market, forcing them to rely on the formation for self-defense.

However, Zhao Xuhe soon showed an excited expression: "Senior Brother, rest assured. This time I have cultivated a great divine power and can easily fight that person again."

Before Zhao Xuhe finished speaking, a loud boom suddenly erupted from outside the market.

Boom!

In an instant, the entire market shook. Zhao Xuhe and Lu Yuanchun hurriedly manifested to investigate, only to see a valiant young man standing outside the market holding a spear.

The young man looked down upon the market, his gaze sharp, and laughed loudly: "So these are the disciples of the Initial Holy Sect? They don't seem all that impressive; they are just a few big and small turtles, relying on this turtle shell to block me. If you have the guts, come out! I'll let you use only one hand!"

"... Ouyang Haoze!"

Zhao Xuhe gritted his steel teeth. This core disciple of the Divine Martial Sect hadn't been very powerful a few years ago, but in recent years he seemed to have cultivated the Divine Martial Sect's great divine power.

As a result, he immediately created a gap between himself and them.

If not for this, the market would not have been surrounded by him for three or five years. If the Holy Sect's True Person saw this, how could they not blame them for incompetence?

People would think the Divine Martial Sect was driving the Holy Sect back step by step!

Thinking of this, Zhao Xuhe immediately stood up: "Please, Senior Brother, cover my rear. I will go meet Ouyang Haoze and must lift the siege on the market."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Xuhe froze. For some reason, the Lu Yuanchun before him suddenly wore a terrified expression as if seeing a ghost; his teeth chattered, and his eyes stared straight at Zhao Xuhe's back. Centered on the two of them, only three breathing sounds remained in the surroundings.

Hmm? Three?

"Ambitious."

Laughter came from behind. In an instant, Zhao Xuhe's hair stood on end. Only then did he belatedly stiffen his body and turn around, finally seeing the newcomer.

It was a handsome and elegant young man.

He wore a Taoist robe with a round light on his forehead. At first glance, he seemed utterly ordinary, yet when spiritual sense swept over him, there was nothing there at all, as if he did not exist!

"Disciple pays respects to the True Person!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhao Xuhe directly knelt on both knees and bowed heavily, while the Lu Yuanchun beside him had already prostrated himself long ago.

"Rise."

Lu Yang smiled slightly, then glanced again at Ouyang Haoze who was still shouting outside the market, and said: "This place is noisy. Wait while I first quiet things down outside."

With that, he raised his palm and pressed down as if erasing something.

At the same time, Ouyang Haoze outside the market felt triumphant, believing that the Initial Holy Sect's reputation was undeserved and that there was nothing impressive about it.

"The True Persons in the sect are too conservative, too timid, afraid of this and that all day long. I don't know why; how can the Divine Martial Sect be run well like this? When I achieve Foundation Establishment in the future, I will surely sweep away the rot of the sect, advance southward, and have a good fight with the True Persons of the Initial Holy Sect!"

Suddenly, a clear breeze blew past.

Until this moment, Ouyang Haoze still wore a smile on his face, letting the clear breeze blow through his body, his soul, until he turned into a wisp of scattered dust.

Besides him, all the disciples of the Divine Martial Sect behind him did the same.

Without any warning, without raising even a ripple, they all turned to powder in the wind and vanished in the blink of an eye, as if they had never existed.

Heaven and earth became clear.

However, the next second, a voice filled with extreme rage exploded loudly in the sky above: "Beast! A Foundation Establishment True Person dares to strike at juniors?"

The sound was like thunder, rolling and surging.

At the same time, Lu Yang inside the market laughed loudly: "Friend, you are mistaken."

"I am still young, not yet eighty years old. Strictly speaking, I am much younger than your disciples; how can this be considered striking at juniors?"

As his words fell, he unleashed his magic power, transforming into a streak of escape light that shot straight into the sky.

In an instant, a blazing sun rose from the clouds; surging blood qi burned half the sky crimson, revealing a burly, muscular man.

His beard and hair were wild and tangled, his face fierce and evil; rather than a cultivator or Daoist, he looked more like a mortal general, even holding a golden hammer in his hand as he glared angrily at Lu Yang: "Daoist friend has already reached Foundation Establishment and shuns the mortal world, yet now you strike at a Qi Refining cultivator—do you not feel it is beneath your station?"

Lu Yang sneered: "In the Holy Sect, we generally call this efficiency."

Seeing Lu Yang's attitude, the newcomer's heart immediately ignited with rage: "So this move by the First Holy Sect truly intends to fight to the death with our Divine Martial Gate?"

"Daoist friend misunderstands; how could there be a fight to the death?"

Lu Yang shook his head, his face still bearing a smile, yet his eyes held no warmth at all, only coldness and indifference: "It is the Divine Martial Gate that wishes to strike a stone with an egg."

(End of this chapter)