Chapter 1473: Mad Demon

The System has malfunctioned!

The System, which in Xu Que's eyes had always been nearly omnipotent and overwhelmingly powerful, had malfunctioned for the first time.

Has the System become weak?

No, it is not that; rather, the thing concocted by the Unification of Ten Thousand Methods has exceeded the System's control.

During the fusion, everything proceeded smoothly, ultimately merging into an "Unknown Dharma Spell," an existence even the System could not define, yet at least the process was smooth.

Even when transmitting it to Xu Que, it went smoothly.

It was only after the transmission of this Dharma Spell was complete and it was truly mastered by Xu Que that the System malfunctioned.

But to all of this, Xu Que gave no reaction whatsoever.

At this moment, Xu Que hung motionless in midair, while a strange aura from between Heaven and Earth swept in from all directions, surging crazily toward his brow.

"What's happening?"

"No, something feels very wrong."

"Kill him quickly."

"Take this opportunity, kill!"

After this brief exchange, the four statues attacked simultaneously.

Four fists, accompanied by that invisible killing move, struck Xu Que together.

Xu Que did not dodge; he simply floated there in the air.

The killing power of the four stone statues surged forth, but before it could even approach Xu Que, it was devoured by that strange aura several meters away.

Everything remained calm, as if nothing had happened.

"This..."

"How is this possible?"

"Our Dao Methods were devoured?"

The four statues were shocked, their stone bodies trembling.

On the ground, Qilin Ancestor exclaimed, "Holy crap!"

Duan Qide said, "Holy crap, holy crap."

Xuan Yuan Wanrong stammered, "Holy... what happened?"

She was terrified, completely unable to figure out what was happening, but she could feel that Xu Que's aura seemed to be disappearing, replaced by a strange aura born from between Heaven and Earth that was slowly taking over his presence.

The crucial point was that this strange aura began to make one's spine chill, and a sense of unease grew increasingly strong in her heart.

"What's wrong with this kid?" Qilin Ancestor asked in horror.

"He just said he was deducing a Technique; could he have actually deduced one?" Duan Qide said with a grave expression and a deep voice, "It's a bit frightening; This Seat cannot actually see through it."

"Let alone you, This Divine Venerable also feels a bit numb in the scalp, with an unstable Dao Heart," Qilin Ancestor nodded as well.

"Run, run quickly, if you don't want to die, get out of here now!" At this moment, Wang Chi shouted from afar, then turned and fled.

In that hurried moment, everyone saw his pale face, completely drained of color, his pupils filled with terror.

Wang Chi was shouting at those four stone statues, then he ran without looking back.

The four stone statues hesitated for a moment, actually feeling an urge to retreat, especially after seeing Wang Chi's panicked and terrified demeanor, which made the desire to withdraw even stronger.

"It seems it can affect our minds?"

"Impossible; we have existed for so many years; unless it is those Gods, no one can shake our minds."

"Correct; this is likely some profound illusion, merely attempting to shake us."

"Wang Chi, do not run."

The four stone statues called out to Wang Chi.

However, Wang Chi had no intention of stopping; he was terrified, feeling as though he had been targeted, as though death was imminent.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a faint bolt of lightning, interwoven with gold and red, sliced past him with extreme subtlety.

Wang Chi, who was sprinting in escape, instantly had his head separated from his body.

His head flew spinning through the air, while his body continued charging forward for several hundred meters, until the eyes on his severed head suddenly widened, he completely ceased breathing and died, and fell from the sky.

"Thud!"

It was only when Wang Chi's corpse crashed to the ground, emitting a dull sound, that...

... everyone present suddenly came to their senses.

Wang Chi... is dead?

Everyone widened their eyes, mouths agape, faces blank with stupor.

How is this possible?

Who did it?

The Dean of the Heavenly Palace Academy, just like that, died?

"Where is Xu Que?" At this moment, Xuan Yuan Wanrong suddenly asked.

From the instant Wang Chi died, she had subconsciously turned to look at Xu Que, only to find that Xu Que, who had been in midair, had disappeared at some unknown point.

Moreover, his aura also seemed to have vanished completely.

Is he dead?

No, it seems he has been replaced by that strange aura.

"Retreat!"

The four stone statues made the same choice at the same time.

Wang Chi was killed, yet they could not discover who did it or how the strike was delivered; they had only vaguely seen a faint flash of red and gold lightning pass by.

This was too bizarre; besides, Wang Chi was already dead, so there was no need for them to continue taking risks.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a tremendous explosion erupted from the Void before the four statues.

All four stone statues were simultaneously blasted away, shedding strands of stone dust from their bodies; on the chest of one statue, cracks actually appeared.

"Who is it?" that stone statue cried out in alarm.

It was beyond Disbelief; without even seeing who the opponent was, his own Flesh Body had been struck until it cracked.

"Heh heh heh..."

Suddenly, a sharp and bizarre laughter drifted over.

Within the Void, a figure appeared.

Long hair, interwoven with black and white, hung loose; his eyes were golden, yet his pupils were as scarlet as blood, filled with madness; a sinister grin stretched across his face, chilling anyone who saw it.

He walked forward slowly, two faint bolts of Lightning flowing from his eyes—one red, one gold—drawing long Lightning Chains through the air that lingered without fading.

"Xu Que!" Qilin Ancestor shouted.

"No, he... seems to no longer be Xu Que." Xuan Yuan Wanrong's face turned somewhat pale.

The person before them, though still bearing Xu Que's appearance, emitted an aura as if he were a completely different person—extremely unfamiliar and terrifyingly powerful.

"That's right; the Dharma Spell he deduced likely went wrong, seemingly causing him to lose his self-awareness, yet his strength has also become... suffocatingly strong." Duan Qide took a deep breath, feeling horrified.

"So bizarre?" Qilin Ancestor exclaimed in surprise, then looked toward Xu Que and shouted loudly, "Xu Que, wake up quickly!"

Yet Xu Que still wore a sinister grin, his scarlet pupils fixed intently on those four statues, as a sky-high killing qi suddenly surged outward.

"No!"

Those four statues immediately cried out in shock, simultaneously transforming into illusory forms and attempting to flee into the Void.

Xu Que, however, seemed to have anticipated this; the moment the four statues formed such an intention, he had already charged forward, where faint red and golden Lightning traced a long arc through the midair, while his figure became completely blurred.

Everyone felt dazzled, followed by the sound of a series of muffled thuds.

The four stone statues were forcibly beaten out from the Void.

"Ah! Stop!"

"Xu Que, if you are the Chosen One, then this Memory World should be your Love Tribulation; you ought not to kill us."

"We are the Imperial Physician Guardian Stones, commanding the Shadow Guard Team; we are the guardians of the Chosen One. If you ever go to the Divine Realm in the future, you will need us to clear the way."

"Everything before was a misunderstanding; Wang Chi controlled that young girl, which is why we cooperated with him. If you had revealed your identity as the Chosen One first, we would have obeyed you."

"True, although this is a Memory World and it matters not if you destroy everything or kill everyone since it is all fake, yet we four are the Imperial Physician Guardian Stones, intimately connected to the Imperial Physician Heavenly Stone; if you kill us, we in the real world will also be affected."

"Killing us is equivalent to weakening your future guards."

The four stone statues screamed frantically, constantly explaining.

But it was all useless.

Xu Que was like a Mad Demon; those scarlet pupils seemed intent on destroying everything, while his murderous resentment soared to the heavens.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With every move of his hands and feet, only blurred fist shadows remained; each muffled sound implicitly contained over a hundred vibrations, meaning that within the single thud of one punch, he had actually struck a hundred times.

Immediately after, patches of bizarre Black Flame surged forth from nowhere, engulfing and burning the four stone statues.

"Ah..." The stone statues instantly let out a series of piercing, agonized roars.

But what awaited them was yet another wave of knife light and Sword Shadows that filled the sky and covered the earth.

No one could see how many moves Xu Que had unleashed; they only knew that the four statues had been beaten miserably.

Xu Que's attacks came one after another in rapid succession, so dense they were suffocating, and so fast they made one's scalp tingle.

Boom!

Finally, in less than ten breaths, the four stone statues exploded midair accompanied by a tremendous roar.

Those four formidable stone statues, so powerful they inspired Disbelief, were thus destroyed by Xu Que, taking merely less than ten breaths.

"He is completely a Mad Demon, a world-destroying Mad Demon; if released, he would surely be a calamity that ends the world." Qilin Ancestor finally felt fear and could not help but tremble.

Rumble—!

At the same time, the Heaven and Earth in all four directions began to tremble.

All the Void started to become distorted.

"As expected, this is a Memory World; everything is fake." Duan Qide looked at the changes around him and couldn't help but sigh.

"So that's how it is..." Qilin Ancestor also nodded, but before he could finish lamenting, his face suddenly changed; he turned his head and prepared to run, "Damn it, this is just a Memory World, so This Divine Venerable is also fake; why the hell are you chasing and killing This Divine Venerable?"

"Hell, this kid has lost consciousness and is killing indiscriminately! Even though This Seat is also fake, I don't want to be killed like this!" Duan Qide also cried out in alarm, turning to flee as well.

But in less than a second, a faint bolt of golden-red Lightning pierced through the space before Qilin Ancestor and Duan Qide.

The next moment, Xuan Yuan Wanrong, who had remained in place, gradually regained clarity in her eyes, yet her face suddenly underwent a drastic change.

"Xu Que, do you intend to kill me as well?"

The Memory World was already shattering; the Love Tribulation had been broken without announcement, her memories were restored, and she instantly understood the entire situation.

Yet Xu Que, having entered the Mad Demon State, after killing the fake Qilin Ancestor and Duan Qide, directly set his sights on her.