Lu Xuan suddenly reached out and grabbed. The black cane, which had been plummeting rapidly from midair, seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, and in an instant flew toward Lu Xuan’s palm.
Then, Lu Xuan steadily gripped the black cane, and a wisp of divine sense and soul power immediately surged from his palm.
This wisp of divine sense and soul power quickly merged into the black cane, quietly blending with it.
In just a moment, Lu Xuan’s expressionless face broke into a faint smile of satisfaction.
Very good!
Host: Lu Xuan
Realm: Divine Mansion True Man (Perfected)
Techniques: Heaven-Burning Blade Technique 7/9, Close at Hand Yet Worlds Apart 2/9, Undying and Indestructible 4/9.
Points: 27660
Heaven-and-earth origin power detected. Extract?
Bone-Eroding Cane! Seven-Rune Moon-Level sacrificial artifact!
What a fine thing.
The Wu family, after all, was one of the Eight Great Families, with incredibly deep foundations.
The number of sacrificial artifacts in their possession made even Lu Xuan’s heart begin to stir with restless desire.
Lu Xuan wished he could charge straight into the Wu family’s lair right now and wipe out their treasure vault in one sweep.
Of course, this mad notion only flashed through Lu Xuan’s mind for an instant.
After all, the Wu family, as one of the Eight Great Families, had strength that could not be underestimated. They also held a Ten-Rune Sun-Level sacrificial artifact.
Moreover, the Wu family’s true foundational power was something Lu Xuan still could not fathom.
Rather than calling it the Wu family’s foundational power, it would be more accurate to say that Lu Xuan knew nothing at all about the full strength of the Eight Great Families!
Ten li away at the horizon, Wu Jiu condensed powerful gang essence around his body, weaving it into a protective barrier that radiated a piercing dark purple light, looking extremely bizarre.
At this moment, Wu Jiu was surging forward through the vast heavens above a thousand meters, his whole body like a meteor streaking across the sky, carrying an unstoppable momentum.
Wu Jiu’s speed was at its absolute peak. Wherever he passed, the air was instantly torn apart, producing sharp whistling sounds.
It was not until Wu Jiu’s entire body crashed into layer upon layer of thick clouds.
Like an indestructible blade, he sliced through those clouds layer by layer, as if carving a shocking chasm across the heavens.
Just as a trace of relief began to rise in Wu Jiu’s heart, a sudden change occurred.
A giant hand burning with surging purple flames forcibly broke through the void space before Wu Jiu.
In the next instant, that giant purple-flame hand, with world-destroying momentum, seized Wu Jiu—who had no time to react—in a flash.
Then, the giant purple-flame hand swiftly dragged Wu Jiu into the endless void.
Within the prefectural city of Mingxin Prefecture, Mu Yun was focused and methodically directing a group of Dark Bird Guards.
A large number of Dark Bird Guards shuttled back and forth, busy without pause.
These Dark Bird Guards were divided into several squads. Each squad was carrying large quantities of items tightly sealed in wooden crates.
The things inside the wooden crates were all precious martial dao resources obtained from the Wen family’s treasure vault.
Any single item from these wooden crates would be enough to drive countless martial artists mad with desire.
Just as Mu Yun was directing the transport, the void before him suddenly rippled in layers, spreading out in circles.
In just a moment, a tall figure strolled out from the void.
It was Lu Xuan. In his hand, he was still carrying Wu Jiu, who had already lost all ability to resist.
At this moment, Wu Jiu was in a miserable state—a complete contrast to his earlier arrogant and domineering appearance.
“Bureau Chief Mu, this man dared to attack you. I’ll leave him to you to deal with.”
Lu Xuan was brief and concise, his expression extremely cold. With that, he unceremoniously threw Wu Jiu directly in front of Mu Yun.
With a “thud,” Wu Jiu landed face-first in the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust.
But Wu Jiu paid no heed to appearances at all. In an instant, he scrambled up with hands and feet, standing firm once more, his body taut as a bowstring, eyes wide open, staring warily at Mu Yun.
His eyes flickered with panic and unwillingness, like a cornered beast.
The next second, Wu Jiu’s face was covered in gloom, his eyes full of menace. He strained his voice toward Lu Xuan and Mu Yun, roaring at the top of his lungs.
“You two reckless fools!”
“I am the Wu family’s Supreme Elder! You Dark Bird Guards dare to touch me?”
“You’re simply overestimating yourselves!”
“If anything happens to me, the entire Wu family will never let this go.”
“And those Old Ancestors—they will never spare you either. When that time comes, you’ll all be buried with me!”
Members of the Eight Great Families could only be dealt with by the Eight Great Families themselves—unless it was by the decree of that one Emperor in the imperial palace.
Wu Jiu’s vicious threats rang out loud and clear, but Lu Xuan’s expression remained indifferent. He did not even raise an eyelid, directly ignoring all of Wu Jiu’s threats.
Mu Yun also wore a look of utter disdain, the corner of his mouth even carrying a faint, mocking smile.
“Hmph, old man!”
Mu Yun snorted coldly, a cold glint flashing through his eyes. “This time, those old undying things aren’t here to protect you.”
“This Bureau Chief would like to see for himself—just how much you’re really worth, you old fool!”
In this world, if one were to ask who hated Wu Jiu to the bone, it would be none other than Mu Yun.
Not long ago, Mu Yun had been viciously humiliated by Wu Jiu and nearly had his martial cultivation crippled. That matter was like a sharp thorn lodged in Mu Yun’s heart.
Now that hatred had taken root, sprouted, and grown wildly, pushing Mu Yun’s loathing for Wu Jiu to its absolute peak.
Destroying someone’s martial cultivation—how was that any different from taking their life?
“Wu!”
Mu Yun gritted his teeth, squeezing the word out from between them, his voice filled with towering hatred.
“Jiu!”
Immediately after, Mu Yun uttered the second word.
“Today, either you die or I die!”
Mu Yun’s eyes burned with raging fury, the aura around his body surging. It was a resolve that spoke of certain death, of fighting to the bitter end.
At this moment, Mu Yun had only one thought in mind—to hack Wu Jiu into ten thousand pieces to vent the hatred in his heart.
What Wu family member, what Wu family Supreme Elder, what Eight Great Families identity—Mu Yun had thrown it all completely out of his mind.
In an instant, Mu Yun’s overwhelming aura at the half-step Divine Mansion Realm erupted like a volcano, blazing and surging power sweeping out.
Wherever it passed, even space itself trembled.
That was power infinitely close to a Divine Mansion True Man!
Seeing this, Wu Jiu’s heart turned cold. How could he not understand Mu Yun’s resolve at this moment?
The killing intent rushing toward him was so thick it was almost tangible. Anyone who was not a fool could feel it clearly.
Wu Jiu cried out inwardly. If he kept standing there like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, then he would truly have no escape.
Without the Old Ancestor’s heaven-and-earth power to suppress and protect him.
Wu Jiu knew clearly in his heart that he was merely a martial artist at the Great Achievement of the Outer Gang Grandmaster level.
Before Mu Yun, a powerhouse at the half-step Divine Mansion Realm, he was like an ant before a giant dragon—their strength was worlds apart.
They were simply not on the same level at all. He had no power whatsoever to contend with Mu Yun.
Wu Jiu’s figure flickered, and like a startled bird, he fled in panic toward the front of the prefectural city, his speed astonishing.
At the same time, within Wu Jiu’s eyes, a thick cruelty flashed past, like two venomous snakes dripping with poison.
If he merely ran, with Mu Yun’s strength and his own martial realm, there would be absolutely no chance of escape.
Since that was the case, Wu Jiu’s twisted mind turned, and he actually conceived a vicious idea.
He would use the defenseless common people in the city as human shields to block Mu Yun’s pursuit.
Wu Jiu’s idea was decent enough, but reality would not accommodate his wishes.
How could Mu Yun give him such an opportunity?
In an instant, Mu Yun’s entire body erupted with gang essence.
Within that surging, billowing gang essence, a wisp of heaven-and-earth power quietly emerged like a ghost—formless yet unstoppable!
This faint, barely perceptible wisp of heaven-and-earth power, like a heavy hammer, suddenly slammed viciously toward Wu Jiu.
Wu Jiu felt an irresistible force crash into his body.
Wu Jiu’s whole body convulsed violently, as if a pair of invisible giant hands were crushing his bones inch by inch, like fragile porcelain ground into powder.
Wu Jiu, who had originally been flying through the air, fell straight down like a kite with its string cut.
With a “boom,” he crashed into the ground. The terrifying residual force dragged Wu Jiu’s body along, plowing out a shocking ravine.
Amid the intense pain, Wu Jiu clearly felt the severity of his injuries.
He nearly exhausted all his strength just to barely raise his head, slowly turning to look at Mu Yun, who was closing in step by step behind him.
“This… this is heaven-and-earth power!”
Wu Jiu’s eyes suddenly became hollow and vacant, his words full of disbelief and despair.
So this was a martial artist at the half-step Divine Mansion Realm?
He could actually touch the power of the Divine Mansion Realm!
Yet Mu Yun’s killing intent only grew stronger than before. He had not the slightest desire to stop.
Suddenly, deep within Mu Yun’s dark, profound eyes, a trace of piercing azure light emerged, like a ghostly glow suddenly appearing in an abyss.
Immediately after, Mu Yun’s gang essence surged like a raging flood, madly pouring into the Qingming Sword in his hand.
Mu Yun gripped the hilt tightly with his right hand, his knuckles turning white from the force, then suddenly exerted power, swinging fiercely toward the ground.
In an instant, a majestic azure sword light, nearly a hundred meters long, suddenly appeared.
This hundred-meter azure sword light, wrapped in world-destroying, magnificent might.
With the momentum of thunder, it hacked viciously toward the wretched, prone Wu Jiu.
“Mu Yun, you… you dare!”
Wu Jiu roared at the top of his lungs, his withered old hands clawing uselessly at the ground, as if trying to grasp the last thread of life.
“The Wu family is…”
Wu Jiu still wanted to invoke the Wu family’s name to intimidate Mu Yun and find a sliver of hope.
But it was all in vain.
In the blink of an eye, that azure sword light descended like thunder from the ninth heaven, heavily landing on Wu Jiu’s body.
With a loud “crack,” Wu Jiu’s body was instantly cleaved in two by the sharp sword light. Bright red blood sprayed out like a fountain.
The huge commotion was not yet over. The residual force of the azure sword light did not diminish in the slightest, continuing straight into the ground below.
Accompanied by a piercing grinding sound, a hundred-meter-long sword scar was carved into the ground.
The scar was deep and sunken, its edges smooth as a mirror, as if meticulously polished by someone, exuding a chilling killing aura.
After finishing everything, Mu Yun’s figure drifted lightly down from the sky like a swallow, landing steadily before Wu Jiu’s body, now severed in two.
He gazed at Wu Jiu’s motionless remains, the corner of his mouth slowly curving into an arc, a glint of complete understanding flashing through his eyes.
“Wu Jiu, who exactly did you think you could hide from?”
Mu Yun murmured softly. Though his voice was not loud, it carried immense confidence.
As soon as the words fell, Mu Yun’s arm suddenly exerted force. He raised the Qingming Sword in his hand and once again swung fiercely through the air toward Wu Jiu’s direction.
In an instant, countless fine azure sword lights poured out like a dense rainstorm.
Then, these azure sword lights mercilessly bombarded Wu Jiu’s two halves of a body.
For a moment, flesh and blood flew everywhere from Wu Jiu’s severed remains, the stench of blood filling the air.
A faint, miserable cry of pain came through, then all was quiet again.
Mu Yun was, of course, very clear about the power of the Eight Great Families.
These members of the Eight Great Families, once they cultivated to the Great Achievement of the Outer Gang Grandmaster level, could entrust a wisp of gang essence upon the legendary Ten-Rune Sun Artifact.
For those who entrusted their gang essence upon a Ten-Rune Sun Artifact.
As long as the flesh and blood of their body still retained vitality, like a spark still smoldering.
With this faint trace of vitality, they could, within an extremely short time.
Rebuild their physical limbs at an astonishing speed, returning to a flawless, intact state.
Mu Yun stared deeply at the patch of now ashen, lifeless flesh and blood on the ground, his gaze somewhat complex and unreadable.
Then, the Qingming Sword in Mu Yun’s hand flew out, the blade transforming into a ethereal azure shadow.
With a “swoosh,” the Qingming Sword returned with perfect precision into its scabbard, leaving only a faint sword hum.
Wu Jiu was already dead beyond any doubt!
…………
Southern Domain, Baidao Prefecture!
Yunze County, Jinlin Township!
Above the horizon outside Taiping Town, several thousand meters up in the sky, two figures in long robes flitted past like ghosts.
Their broad robes flapped loudly in the wild wind, producing “crackle” sounds!
After a few breaths, these two robed figures passed over Taiping Town below and headed straight for the Jinlin River without hesitation.
Then, these two figures slowly drifted down from the heavens, finally landing steadily on the bank of the Jinlin River.
“Hm?”
“A few little ants nearby?”
“Hmph!”
Among the two, one suddenly snorted coldly.
Immediately after, a chilling, suffocating spatial fluctuation rapidly rippled outward from him.
In an instant, everyone within a thousand meters was mercilessly submerged by the ripples of spatial fluctuation.
Then, all people—including some living creatures—instantly lost consciousness, their eyes closing as they slumped into deep sleep.
“Azure King, this is the place where the Dragon Lord is imprisoned!”
“The bottom of the Jinlin River!”
