Chapter 305: What kind of monster are you really?

Battles between powerful cultivators are entirely different from the chaos below the mountain, especially at the Wujiang Realm—where a single thought can span a thousand li.

Thus, the entire Yu Danzong had become a battlefield beneath the night.

Amid howling dark winds, the blackened Dan Mountain was illuminated by endless thunder and fire; several figures collided midair, their impacts shaking the mountains.

Chu Hong and Chen Ke landed on Beishan, one to the south, one to the north, both unconsciously heading toward the direction of Yao Guang Palace, targeting the mountain's alchemists.

Yet the elder ancestors of the clans who had taken the elixirs had not abandoned pursuit; now they chased relentlessly through the night, riding the void with howling speed.

BOOM!

Beneath the night, Chu Hong on the southern slope raised his right arm—his palm like a freshly removed iron from a furnace, crimson and searing—then slammed it down.

Instantly, the three pursuing clan elders were flung backward, their magical robes torn to shreds, blood oozing from nose and mouth.

But their overwhelming aura still burned unextinguished, hardening Chu Hong's gaze with a sharp edge.

He was here to capture the alchemists; these clan elders were never his target.

Yet they kept clinging on, forcing him to turn and fight back—this situation filled the great cultivator with irritation.

So he decided to kill them; that way, after tonight, he wouldn't have to worry about them spreading rumors.

With a THUD, Chu Hong leapt upward, descending the mountain against its slope; his blazing iron hand warped the light in the forest, then both palms slammed down again.

The three clan elders gave their all to block, yet still flew away coughing blood.

But as he gathered strength to kill one first, a soft rustling of footsteps echoed along the dark mountain path—clear and sharp in the thick darkness.

Chu Hong spun around, and in a flash of confusion, glimpsed a streak of light.

Before his spiritual sense could identify it, his body reacted first—his entire aura surged violently, a violet-red energy instantly swirling around him.

"BOOM!!!"

The brilliant sword light struck the roaring circular technique at the exact moment—the blinding white light exploded outward.

Chu Hong felt a titanic force crash into him, as if his internal organs had been displaced.

He was flung backward like a cannonball, smashing through three ancient pines before crashing hard into the cliff face of Beishan—rocks shattered, dust rose in clouds.

Amid the rubble, Chu Hong suppressed his churning blood, his brow tightly furrowed, eyes locked on the front.

There, between the dense forest, a white figure stepped slowly over fallen leaves, his face gradually emerging from shadow into moonlight.

Before Chu Hong could fully make out his form, a voice came from the other side.

"Again with the Huntian Technique?"

Chu Hong rose from the rubble, after a long pause, squinting slightly: "Tianshu Academy robe… so you're Ji You?"

Before he could answer, a scorching aura suddenly swept over the mountain peak—and amid this thunderous surge, a heavy iron sword came roaring toward him.

Amid the clash of metal, Chu Hong used the impact to flip and land on the southern cliff edge, the rock beneath his feet cracking open with a KRAK.

Though he received no reply, he now knew for certain the intruder was Ji You.

Because among all prodigies under heaven, their realms and combat power generally matched—except him, who was forever whispered to possess aberrant combat strength.

And among thousands of Tianshu Academy disciples, only he used the Sword Dao of Lingjian Mountain.

But Chu Hong didn't understand—how could "aberrant combat strength" reach this level?

Before he could ponder further, a furious sword hum suddenly roared skyward.

At this moment, the Dao Sword Xiao Chongshan came screaming toward him.

The heavy sword intent tore through the air with a piercing shriek; where the blade passed, gales erupted.

Having evaded earlier, Chu Hong was already primed—his Huntian Technique formed violet-red waves around him, while his blazing iron hands slashed downward, knuckles cracking like thunderclaps.

As the number-one family under heaven, the Chu family's ancestral techniques were no less than those of immortal sects.

Among them, the Huntian Technique, built upon the foundation of All-Methods-Clad, was the strongest defense—impossible for a Dao sword to pierce.

So in his view, this swordsman couldn't break his technique, meaning his sword was useless—and he himself could tear apart this strange young prodigy with his bare hands.

But in the next instant, he realized—as Ji You swung his sword—the iron blade did not shatter as expected.

BOOM!

The violent energy struck like a war drum; Chu Hong was flung backward.

Amid searing pain, he felt blood seeping from his abdomen—and a sharp, bony shard pierced through his skin.

Not sword qi.

It was technique.

His own technique.

Chu Hong's eyes locked rigidly—he finally realized his sudden injury wasn't because the sword had pierced his All-Methods-Clad.

On the contrary, the bone that shattered his ribs was a force within his own technique—a force that had rebounded and struck him.

Precisely put, the sword qi posed no real threat to a cultivator of his level—but the powerful repulsive force within his own technique, once severed, had pierced him from behind without warning.

The earlier sword strike in the forest that had flung him back—also unabsorbed by his technique—must have been the same.

But what puzzled Chu Hong was: how could every one of his sword strikes land with such perfect precision?

"I told you—again with the Huntian Technique? Still using it?"

Ji You leapt forward, his iron sword screaming in resonance.

He could see the flow of the technique; since the Autumn Duel at Tianshu Academy with Chu He, this method had been useless against him.

Chu Hong suddenly realized something—he instantly dissolved the swirling technique around him, his blazing iron hands pressing down, his palms shattering the hillside beneath him.

Technique for defense was merely his habit; his true killing art was these iron hands.

Amid crimson fire, Chu Hong leapt upward, descending from above—his scorching palms hissed through the air, striking straight for Ji You's crown.

But at that moment, Ji You suddenly swept his sleeve.

He did not draw his sword—he swept his sleeve.

In that instant, Chu Hong felt his scalp go numb, his alertness flaring.

The next instant, a grand arc of mysterious light roared upward from beneath his feet—like a reversed Milky Way stretching to the heavens, its overwhelming aura making the entire Beishan tremble, sealing him within.

Simultaneously with the rise of the mysterious light, a golden ripple began slowly spreading toward him.

Chu Hong had intended to leap and kill—but his entire aura instantly vanished, and upon seeing the golden wave, his pupils contracted violently; he erupted with energy, desperately dodging.

But the arc of light violently shuddered, cutting off his escape—panic-stricken, the golden ripple lightly brushed his left shoulder.

BOOM!

A burst of blood mist exploded.

Ji You glanced at Chu Hong, clutching his severed arm, eyes wide with shock, then turned and soared away, racing toward Chen Ke on the neighboring cliff.

After learning what had happened in Yu Danzong, he had prepared extensively.

At dawn, he donned the Tianshu Academy immortal robe, pretending to represent the academy, entering Kai Yang Palace, scanning every cultivator's realm.

He discovered that every sect had Wujiang Realm experts.

Under such circumstances, even if he joined the battle, the outcome might not improve—so he had to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

So he asked Yuan Caiwei for Yu Danzong's mountain-protection array diagram, studied the routes, and also obtained the array's core.

Yao Guang Palace was close to the mountain-protection array's core; heading south would lead out of the mountain.

But alchemists couldn't ride the void—high risk of pursuit—perhaps this was why Yu Danzong had never considered fleeing.

So he had been laying traps along the mountain, intending to use Yu Danzong's protective array to trap the pursuers, buying enough time for escape.

After all, when enemies were outside, the array was a shield; when enemies were inside, it became a cage.

When he finished setting up, the battle below had already begun—and to his surprise, Yu Danzong's depth had been underestimated.

He truly hadn't expected them to hold off five immortal sects for so long, relying solely on years of accumulation—until he finished everything, they hadn't even breached the Ninth Tier.

Especially those elder ancestors who took elixirs, charging together to hold back the Wujiang cultivators—this stunned him.

Fortunately, he had just returned.

Using the protective array to flee was the worst-case plan—but that didn't mean he couldn't have a better one. He thought he might try killing.

Even if he failed, his own strength could hold off several, giving Yu Danzong's disciples time to escape through the rear mountain's array gate.

Plans always fail to match change—but fortunately, this change favored him.

Ji You now walked calmly from the shattered cliff, crossed the mountain, and landed on the isolated peak, stepping across a winding stream.

The stream had turned pink, littered with three corpses—each severed at the waist—former clan elders who had pursued him.

Standing atop the cliff behind the stream, Chen Shixian's elder, his forehead gleaming bald, white hair framing his face like a curtain, turned toward him.

Before him, a heavy sword aura descended.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Ke reversed his iron blade, releasing his aura first—crashing directly into the incoming force.

As blade met sword, Chen Ke saw the young face of his opponent—his aged face flickered with sharp malice.

"Tongxuan Realm, yet fights like Wujiang—what dark art have you cultivated?"

"Want to learn?"

"Heretical trickery…"

Chen Ke suddenly thrust his arm—his left hand gripped a swirling vortex of wind and thunder, crushing Ji You's sword momentum.

Seizing the distance, he raised his broadsword again—violent aura made the blade vibrate violently; a fierce slash cut through ancient pines, snapping them all.

This was Chen Clan's secret technique: Ten-Stage Slash—each strike, amplified by accumulating force, became more terrifying than the last.

Ji You had faced Chen Clan disciples at the Tian Dao Assembly—he already knew this technique: it drew power from the opponent, and to break it, one must neither overpower it nor prolong the fight.

As he thought this, he felt a sense of fate.

All his struggles along the way seemed designed to teach him how to break techniques—first defeating the young, then the old.

Amid the continuous thunderclaps exploding through the forest, Ji You flew backward, vanishing into the trees.

But Wujiang is called Wujiang precisely because within a certain range, distance is ignored—so the next instant, Chen Ke, sword in hand, leapt into the air—his blade aimed directly at Ji You, racing along the mountain.