Chapter 80: Deterrence

"Student Ye Xi, you possess a very high talent in the way of music. If you have the support of our sect, you will certainly be able to become a Heaven Tier Martial Artist within ten years. By then, the world is vast, and no one will be able to stop you. Will you really not reconsider?" Song Jie still wanted to make a final effort.

"I have already thought about it very clearly; I do not wish to join your sect." Luo Yexi still shook her head.

"Are you really not going to reconsider?" the middle-aged man who had come along spoke up in a sinister manner.

"Thank you for your good intentions, but I really do not wish to join the Tianyin Sect." Luo Yexi shook her head.

By her side was Lingyun, this great god; although his strength was currently at zero, who could imagine his future? More importantly, Lingyun was her master and the person who had raised her for nearly sixteen years. If she were to bypass Lingyun and join the Tianyin Sect, how would that be any different from betraying her master? Moreover, having seen the World Consciousness, her perspective was no longer something the people of the Tianyin Sect could compare to. How could a mere Tianyin Sect compare to the flourishing thousands of worlds?

Hearing that Luo Yexi still refused, a cold glint flared in the middle-aged man's eyes, and his right hand suddenly grabbed toward Luo Yexi. A golden-red light flickered slightly at Luo Yexi's fingertips; if the middle-aged man's hand truly reached in front of her, she would not mind letting him lose a hand.

"Elder Zhong, what are you doing?" Song Jie was shocked and quickly blocked in front of Luo Yexi.

"Song Jie, do not concern yourself with this matter. It is not easy for our Tianyin Sect to find a good seedling; how could there be any reason not to take her into the sect? Being favored by our Tianyin Sect is already a blessing she has cultivated for eight lifetimes, yet she dares to make excuses. If this girl does not join the Tianyin Sect now and turns to other sects in the future, she will surely become a great enemy of our Tianyin Sect. If we do not eliminate her now while her wings are not yet fully grown, it will be too late to regret it later. Today we have only two choices: one is to bind her back to the Tianyin Sect, and the other is that she must die!" Elder Zhong said coldly.

"This..." Song Jie looked at Luo Yexi's gloomy expression and fell silent.

"Hmph, what a Tianyin Sect, truly overbearing!" a leisurely voice sounded in the room. "Daring to touch even my disciple, you really have eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard."

With a "Boom," a mysterious force appeared out of thin air and slammed heavily into Elder Zhong. Elder Zhong's face turned pale, he retreated several steps in succession, and traces of blood appeared on his body.

"Who is it?" Elder Zhong looked around vigilantly and said coldly.

Luo Yexi's gaze swept toward Lingyun's direction, only to see Lingyun raise his eyebrows at her. Song Jie and Elder Zhong were examining their surroundings and did not notice the small interaction between them.

"What kind of person are you, sir? Why not come out and meet me? Hiding your head and showing your tail, only knowing how to launch sneak attacks—what kind of hero does that make you?" Elder Zhong said coldly.

"What kind of person are you, that you are even worthy of my master coming out to see you?" a cold voice sounded beside him.

Elder Zhong was greatly alarmed. He looked up and saw that Luo Yexi had appeared in front of him at some unknown time, a palm striking straight toward his heart.

"So fast!" Elder Zhong did not dare to be negligent and raised his hand to meet Luo Yexi's palm.

As the two palms met, Elder Zhong only felt a massive, overwhelming force strike him. In the face of this power, his Inner Strength was no different from paper, and it was torn to Shatter directly.

The force of the two palms colliding stirred up a gale, forcing Song Jie to temporarily cover her eyes. When the gale dissipated, the scene that appeared left Song Jie greatly shocked. Luo Yexi stood where she was, motionless, looking as if nothing had happened. Conversely, Elder Zhong not only retreated several steps but his face was pale, and bloodstains spilled from the corners of his mouth from time to time; it was clear he had suffered internal injuries.

"You, you..." Looking at Luo Yexi in front of him, Elder Zhong felt a wave of dizziness. He had cultivated bitterly for decades, yet he could not even take a single palm strike from this fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl. How could he not be terrified!

"A mere piece of trash, yet you want to see my master's true face? Truly overestimating your own capabilities!" Luo Yexi said coldly.

Song Jie looked at Luo Yexi, her face full of astonishment. All along, she had believed her own talent was top-tier among her peers, but now, seeing Luo Yexi injure an Elder with a single palm, she could not help but begin to doubt whether this world was truly as she had seen it.

"Who exactly are you?" Clutching his chest, Elder Zhong was full of terror.

"Who I am is not something you are qualified to know. Now, do you still want to bind me back to the Tianyin Sect, or kill me?" Luo Yexi sneered.

"You. Don't think that just because you can injure me, the Tianyin Sect can do nothing to you. In our Tianyin Sect, there exist Innate Experts. Once an Innate Expert comes out, you are nothing but an ant." Elder Zhong said through gritted teeth.

"Heh, you think too highly of yourself? Innate Expert? Do you think an Innate Martial Artist would go against my master because of a mere Mysterious Tier Martial Artist like you?"

"Is that so? Don't think I'm truly afraid of you!" Elder Zhong suddenly gave a strange laugh and lunged toward Lingyun's direction. In his perception, both Lingyun and Busujima Saeko were ordinary people. As long as he captured them, this girl would inevitably be forced to hold back. By then, once he returned to the Tianyin Sect and brought many experts, he did not believe this girl could still resist.

"Elder Zhong, don't." Song Jie wanted to stop him, but it was already too late.

Luo Yexi sneered in her heart: "Overestimating your own strength!"

Elder Zhong saw his hand was about to grab Lingyun, but he suddenly turned his hand to grab Busujima Saeko. A flash of blood-red light crossed Busujima Saeko's eyes. Lingyun was certain that with Busujima Saeko's personality, she would absolutely take action to cripple this person.

However, now was not the time for her to act; Lingyun's telepathic message stopped Busujima Saeko from taking action. Watching Elder Zhong get closer and closer, a mysterious smile appeared on Busujima Saeko's face. Song Jie happened to see the smile on Busujima Saeko's face, and a foreboding premonition rose in her heart.

"Boom—," a loud noise rang out from thin air. An invisible giant fist slammed heavily into Elder Zhong, and the powerful impact sent him flying backward directly. The intense pain caused his entire face to twist. Halfway through his flight, another massive force appeared in mid-air, batting him back the way he came as if playing baseball.

In Song Jie's terrified gaze, it seemed as if two people in the room were having an intense badminton match, only that the shuttlecock was replaced by Elder Zhong. From those loud bangs, one could tell how much impact Elder Zhong was enduring. The most bizarre thing was that under these circumstances, not a single scratch appeared on Elder Zhong's body.

In Luo Yexi's perception, the two things using Elder Zhong as a racket were two invisible giant hands, clearly condensed from Lingyun's Divine Sense.

After ravaging Elder Zhong fiercely, as if having played enough, one of the Divine Sense hands gave a casual swat, and Elder Zhong smashed heavily onto the ground. At this moment, Elder Zhong had already passed out, lying on the ground like a dead dog, motionless.

"Student Song Jie, take him and go. Today my master is in a good mood; not taking his life is already merciful enough. If there is a next time, you know the consequences." Luo Yexi said coldly.

"Oh, oh." Song Jie tremblingly helped the unconscious Elder Zhong up, preparing to head out. At this moment, she discovered another discordant detail: they had made such a huge commotion here, yet no one else had discovered the anomaly, and furthermore, nothing in the room had been affected by this fight. It was truly bizarre to the extreme.

Supporting Elder Zhong, Song Jie left with the fastest speed of her life, full of terror. She knew that the thin thread of friendship she had with Luo Yexi had already come to an end.

"Master, why not just finish them off? After all, they were disrespectful to you earlier." Luo Yexi asked with some confusion.

"There is, of course, a reason for this." Lingyun withdrew his Divine Sense and rubbed his temples slightly. Being able to exert such powerful Divine Sense still relied on the support of the Cloud Realm, which made him feel some fatigue. "An Elder of the Tianyin Sect leaving unconscious after entering here, and being ravaged to the point of unconsciousness by a force appearing out of thin air—this matter is absolutely enough to deter most people, making them afraid to come here and act wantonly."

"Ling-kun, was there any deeper meaning to the method you just used?"

"Injuring someone from a distance is a method that can only be initially mastered at the Innate realm. You understand now, right?" A mysterious smile appeared on Lingyun's face.

"Master means to make others believe that there is an expert here with strength at least at the Innate realm?" Luo Yexi nodded.

"Mm, but this is only temporary. After all, after a period of time, even if a real Innate Expert comes, we will have nothing to fear." Lingyun said.

"Mm, under these circumstances, they will definitely not dare to easily provoke us. Moreover, given our situation, perhaps it won't be long before we possess the ability to rival the Innate realm." Lingyun nodded.