Chapter 551

"Old rules: if you can so much as scratch my skin, this Venerable One will..."

Shen Yue Fa shook the bell in his hand, but before he could finish, he saw the youth in black armor rise, turn, and unleash a fist that crashed toward him!

The knuckles carried no flourish, merely a pure release of force.

Under the perfection of the Divine Yue Art and the support of the Four Xiancheng, the fine scales on Shen Yue Fa's face shattered with a boom, sending him rolling violently outward.

Besides the force, the Heart Flame wrapped around that fist rapidly engulfed him.

"Clear Stream Purifies the Soul!"

Shen Yue Fa convulsed as he formed a hand seal; even while smashed to the ground, he needed no thought to deploy his countermeasure against the Heart Flame.

His expression quickly returned to normal.

However, Shen Yi paid no heed to what he was doing, merely walking over slowly, bending to pick up that bell, and then suspending it at his own waist.

"You truly came for this too! You must not flee! You must not flee!"

Shen Yue Fa flipped to his feet and formed a hand seal again; he had obviously exerted immense effort, managing to wield these cultivator techniques with demonic power in a remarkably convincing manner.

Judging by his aura, it was yet another Spirit Technique, at least at the major accomplishment realm.

Two jade dragons, solid as substance, roared as they surged from his arms, smashing fiercely at Shen Yi's shoulders, their surging momentum nearly enough to destroy everything within the Immortal Cave.

But the moment those jade dragons touched the pitch-black shoulder armor, they shattered with a crack-crack like fragile glass!

After receiving the enhancement from the Stabilizing Stone, this set of black armor was long past the point of comparison with its former self.

Shen Yue Fa looked at the scene before him with some bewilderment.

But in an instant, his gaze was once again dominated by the knuckles.

Crack—

Shen Yi's expression was indifferent; with calm and unhurried movements, he smashed Shen Yue Fa's eye sockets and nose bridge, as if he had forgotten techniques such as Xiang Tianyan's Four Nine, retaining only the simplest, most brutal straight punch.

Rustle!

Shen Yue Fa formed a hand seal once more, and his figure became elusive, ignoring Shen Yi's qi lock, vanishing from the spot in an instant.

He panted heavily, looking forward with a bloodied, blurred vision, only to see Shen Yi had vanished as well... The opponent had not used any teleportation technique; he had merely placed a mountain upon himself. It was not that Shen Yi was fast, but that his own reaction had slowed.

Shen Yue Fa instinctively twisted his head backward; his already cracked lips tore again, emitting a humming sound that shattered gold and cracked stone!

It was a technique targeting the divine soul.

He had indeed guessed Shen Yi's location, and upon discovering that ordinary techniques could not break through that black armor, he decisively adopted another method of attack.

But that gold-shattering, stone-cracking hum merely caused the Yin-Yang Pendant at Shen Yi's waist to flicker once; as for that Bai Xi face, there was not even the slightest ripple in expression.

Bai Yu Protects the Spirit.

The third fist crashed down, directly collapsing half of Shen Yue Fa's shoulder bone, sending him flying outward again like a broken sack!

"..."

Xiang Tianyan stared silently at the scene before him, even forgetting to breathe.

For the past hundred thousand years, Shen Yue Fa seemed to have devoted extraordinary bitter effort, becoming more and more like himself.

The opponent seemed to have forgotten that he was actually a demon.

Even if he only ate, drank, and slept, with the terrifying foundation of the Yue family plus his formidable bloodline, he should long ago have been comparable to the Dao Integration realm.

But what truly made Xiang Tianyan's emotions complex was Shen Yue Fa's performance against Shen Yi at this moment, which could almost be described in just four words.

Flashy and frivolous.

His many techniques still had not inflicted even a single scratch on Shen Yi.

This also meant that even in his own prime, facing the current Shen Zongzhu, the situation would have been no better.

How little time has passed...

Xiang Tianyan even felt he saw a future Taiyi Zhenxian, the kind capable of ascending to the Heavenly Court.

But now, because of his own doing, the young man had once again become entangled in trouble.

Thinking of this, he struggled to turn his head, looking toward Zilan, who was similarly stunned in place, and cast a glance seeking help.

"Hah—"

Baohua Xianzi breathed heavily; she naturally knew what Xiang Tianyan was worrying about. Beings like the legitimate eldest son of the Yue family, like herself, all possessed something similar to a fate token; no matter how cleanly the hands were wiped, the news could not be concealed.

"Stop! He is Shen Yue Fa!"

"Daoist Shen, please trust me once more. On behalf of the Eastern Long Gong, I swear I will give the Seven Disciples of Yu Nanhong a satisfactory settlement!"

Her response was Shen Yi's fist crashing out once more.

Between his two palms, it was as if each held a Divine Yue; every punch caused Shen Yue Fa's body to explode.

"Crazy! Crazy!"

Yue Tiance watched with growing alarm; he was now even somewhat relieved that it was not himself who had struck out at Xiang Tianyan.

How could he have imagined that a cultivator met by chance outside the Red Maple Valley could suppress his elder brother with such overwhelming might!

Yue Tiance even felt the surname Shen still had spare strength, merely playing with his elder brother.

You must know... the legitimate eldest son of the Yue family could spar with Xiang Tianyan ten thousand years ago; now, relying solely on his demonic body, he far surpasses the cultivators of the Four Sicheng, let alone that he has cultivated the Ten Thousand Arts.

He is the undisputed number one beneath the Dao Integration realm! A existence surpassing even the Record of Dao Soldiers.

What level of thing are these Dao Soldiers of the surname Shen, to be so terrifying?

"Roar! Roar!"

Shen Yue Fa lay prostrate on the ground, his demonic power dissipating all over, yet forcibly condensed by him.

An inexplicably trembling aura slowly began to spread.

Seeing this, Xiang Tianyan forced himself to sit up; a demon was attempting to wield an Immortal Technique using demonic power?!

Is this what the opponent has been doing for the past hundred thousand years?

"You... give me some time... let me show you... prove which of us is..."

Yue Tianji's skull caved in, and he let out a sharp laugh with that faint voice.

Shen Yi walked slowly to his front, raised the Xuanjia long boot wreathed in cold light, then unhurriedly ground his four limbs to pieces; amid Yue Tianji's unwilling wailing, he kicked him onto a pillar with one foot.

"I need to notify the South Dragon King!"

Yue Tiance quickly took out his messaging magic treasure; the more he looked at it, the more something felt wrong — this madman really seemed to dare kill a legitimate son of the Yue clan, not merely vent his anger!

"……"

Zilan looked at Yue Tiance, then at Shen Yi.

For a moment, she couldn't even speak.

Right now she didn't even know what she had come in here to do — who exactly she was supposed to persuade, and who it was she wanted to protect.

Just then, Yue Tiance was staring at the jade slip in his hand with a face full of shock and uncertainty, wishing he could flood it apart with demonic power.

The next moment, as if realizing something, he turned his head to look outside the cave.

At some unknown point, a total of five figures had already silently stood there; only they weren't looking at Yue Tiance — every gaze had converged on Shen Yi.

"Please trouble yourselves, seniors, stop him quickly. South Hong is already on the verge of chaos; if North Hong gets involved as well…"

Zilan finally breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly bowed to the several sect masters of South Hong's Seven Sons.

The five figures gave a slight nod of the chin in return, but showed no intention of making a move.

This time even Baohua Xianzi was dumbfounded, watching helplessly as Shen Yi walked to the pillar.

The current Yue Tianji was nearly identical to Li Xuanqing earlier — limbs lost, every bone in his body shattered, able only to stare wide-eyed at the raised palm.

Shen Yi looked down at the man before him, then withdrew his gaze; without the slightest hesitation, he reversed his hand and a single palm blast shattered the other's skull.

Blood plasma dripped down from his fingertips.

The utterly insignificant pattering sound, yet it made Yue Tiance unable to even hear his own heartbeat.

He turned his body in a daze, looking at the several sect masters: "You… you dare cut off my messages… and let him kill my brother…"

Baohua Xianzi also stared at the several people with eyes full of incomprehension.

The Tianjian Sect Master silently looked at Shen Yi in the distance — what did they mean by "letting him"? The other was a sect master, an existence equal to themselves.

Of course, beyond that, the strength this young Shen Zongzhu had just revealed was also one of the reasons they kept quiet.

Compared to his performance when Shen Yi slew Liu Xingshan during the Seven Sons Assembly, his return from West Hong this time could be called a leap forward without exaggeration.

"Vent your anger yet?"

The Lingyue Sect Master's face showed bitterness — a sect master they themselves had convened a grand assembly to acknowledge; even if his teeth were shattered, he could only swallow it down.

He glanced at Li Xuanqing beside him, and roughly understood the reason Shen Zongzhu had acted this way.

One had to know that Shen Yi's position as sect master was inseparably tied to Li Xuanqing going door-to-door to the other six sects back then.

Hearing this tone of addressing him as a peer, Yue Tiance finally caught on, and roared in fury: "You're all in this together after all!"

As the words fell, he dared not hesitate any longer; he turned and transformed into a black cloud, swiftly shooting toward the outside of the cave.

"……"

Shen Yi did not turn back to look at the several people, only slowly raised his fingertip: "I still want his life."

Facing several Hedao sect masters, his voice carried not the slightest tone of negotiation, and even gave Baohua Xianzi the illusion that he was giving an order.

The several sect masters exchanged helpless glances.

Enough — killing one is killing, killing two is killing; there didn't seem to be much difference.

In an instant, a cold glint swept across Lingyue Sect Master's upright face; with a slight beckoning, a black cloud came rolling back, as if gripped by an invisible hand, and slammed Yue Tiance down hard at Shen Yi's feet.

"Fellow Daoist Shen! I haven't offended you!"

While Yue Tiance struggled desperately, he also looked at Lingyue Sect Master with a pounding heart.

To be able to break through his Black Cloud divine ability so easily — this was not the strength an ordinary Hedao realm cultivator could possess!

"I didn't do anything! You can't kill me! I have a life plaque!"

Listening to this noisy clamor.

Shen Yi lowered his gaze to look down, raised his hand casually, and the Wusheng Palm instantly enveloped him.

Under Lingyue Sect Master's suppression, in just a single breath's time, the expression on Yue Tiance's face froze completely, and his entire body quietly split into countless pieces.

"……"

Shen Yi gently exhaled a breath.

He didn't want to know what these sect masters were planning, whether they would come save Li Xuanqing; he only needed them to show their stance.

Whether they truly wanted to fight, or would beg for peace halfway through.

If the Meng Sect had no intention of fighting the Long Gong to the death, then he might as well shut the mountain gates, stop asking for reinforcements, and wander outside alone — neither causing trouble for others nor making things inconvenient for himself.

At least for now, the result wasn't bad.

Shen Yi waved his palm slightly; the Xuanjia transformed into Jin Guang and returned to Xiancheng, replaced by a loose, flowing General Nanyang white robe.

Taking this scene in.

The several sect masters shook their heads and exchanged a smile.

This really was the first time South Hong's Seven Sons had eagerly invited someone else to be their sect master.

Compared to the expressions of the several sect masters, Baohua Xianzi was once again stunned — given the relationship between the East Long Gong and South Hong's Seven Sons, how could she fail to see what this white robe signified.

That was the identity marker of the General Nanyang Sect Master!

No wonder… no wonder those seniors hadn't stopped him — it was because the decision he made could itself represent South Hong's Seven Sons!

"I told you before." Baohua Xianzi suddenly felt a little dizzy; this also meant that South Hong's Seven Sons truly intended to step out again.

She stammered: "I said I would give you an explanation — why, why did you have to escalate things to such a point?"

Shen Yi bent down and helped Li Xuanqing up.

Hearing this, he cast a casual glance at the woman: "If it's the kind of explanation where you wait until someone is dead, then talk about revenge, do some compensation — that sort of explanation."

Shen Yi withdrew his gaze, stepped toward the cave entrance, and said lightly, "I do not need it."

(End of this chapter)