Chapter 3081 - A Return to Simplicity
Ruo Su raised her jade-like hand and casually drew it through the air. A swath of Dao Light surged forth, blanketing the dome of heaven and obscuring the impending cataclysm!
Her methods were far more wondrous than the old man’s black talisman and even more unbelievable.
Only then did Ruo Su’s gaze land on the old man and his companions.
The old man was instantly solemn, and he felt an unprecedented sense of crisis. He took out a wooden ruler and tapped the air.
Whoosh!
Laws of the Grand Dao flowed through the air, manifesting a mystical Yin-Yang diagram. Revolving black and white hovered in place like a barrier.
Meanwhile, the old man led Guan Shui and Ling Jue away. He’d decisively decided to retreat, or rather, to run away!
Ruo Su’s eyes glinted with icy light. She raised her hand and pressed down.
Boom!
𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
Time and space collapsed on all sides.
The gray-robed old man and his companions were suddenly surrounded by nothing but collapsing rifts. Together, they were like a natural barrier sealing off all possible escape routes.
Even the Yin-Yang diagram shattered, offering no more resistance than paper.
These terrifying methods left the old man looking stricken.
“Activate!” He waved his sleeve through the air, and endless Dao Light appeared around him in a supreme Daoist divine ability. It actually managed to outline a portal amidst collapsing spacetime!
“Run!” The old man led Ling Jue and Guan Shuo through the portal.
At least, he tried to. Instead, something rather awkward happened.
The spacetime portal froze, unnaturally still. It had obviously been sealed!
The old man and his companions’ hearts sank.
Ruo Su was far too terrifying. Her power was beyond the limits of their imagination!
“You’re far from even touching the threshold of the Ancestor Realm, yet you think you can escape from me?” Ruo Su’s eyes shone with disdain.
Guan Shui said gravely, “Fellow Daoist, the three of us are from Three Purities Temple. Don’t tell me you really plan to make enemies out of us all? Admittedly, you’re stronger than the three of us, but our founders...”
Guan Shui was obviously frantic, to the point that he had no choice but to use his sect’s prestige to threaten Ruo Su.
This was in stark contrast with how he’d acted just moments prior. He’d acted like a ruler, slaying Mo Hanyi with a swing of his sleeve and effortlessly suppressing Su Yi.
Yet now, in the face of Ruo Su, he had no confidence left.
Heavenly Sovereign Qingyi and the River Ancestors were stunned and impressed.
But before Guan Shui could continue, Ruo Su drew her hand through the air.
Splurt!
Guan Shui’s head flew from his shoulders, and his body crumbled into ash before scattering to the wind.
“Master!!” Ling Yue cried out in alarm and pulled Guan Shui’s head into his embrace as if trying to save any last remaining threads of his life force.
But it was useless. Guan Shui’s severed head crumbled into dust in his arms. It, too, dissipated in an instant.
In the last moments before his death, Guan Shui opened his eyes as if to say something, but in the end, he couldn’t produce so much as a single word.
Chills coursed through Ling Jue’s body, and his hands and feet trembled uncontrollably.
His master, Guan Shui, was one of the twelve Dao Protectors of the Supreme Purity Sect. His position was second only to their leader.
He was a prominent authority figure even by the standards of Three Purities Temple as a whole! Yet now, he’d been annihilated in a flash! Not even a trace of his vitality remained.
Of course Ling Jue was astonished. Of course he was horrified, and of course he was overcome with grief.
“You...” The gray-robed old man’s face was ashen, and his eyes blazed with murderous intent. “You’re pushing us too far!”
“Mm,” said Ruo Su, inclining her head. “I’m pushing you too far, but what are you going to do about it?”
As she spoke, she shot a seemingly inadvertent glance at Ling Jue.
The old man’s expression shifted once more, and he took out an apricot-yellow pennant. When he swung it, apricot-yellow Dao Light enveloped and protected Ling Jue.
But a mere moment later, the pennant let out a mournful wail as its fabric tore like paper. The barrier shielding Ling Jue shattered a moment later, and he soon crumbled into ash!
Su Yi and the others couldn’t help but be astonished. They hadn’t even seen Ruo Su do anything. All she did was glance at him, but he’d died a horrible death!
The old man in gray seemed to have sensed something, and he tried to intervene, only to fail at the last step. Even the defensive treasure he’d taken out had been destroyed.
Who wouldn’t have been stunned by Ruo Su’s strength?
It was then that Ruo Su said softly, “Killing that old-timer will take a bit of time, that’s all. I suggest you sit down and relax while you wait, Fellow Daoist.”
Su Yi didn’t know what to say. Who could relax at a time like this?
Meanwhile, the old man glowered, then said slowly and clearly, “This old man is curious to see just how you plan to kill me!”
Boom!
He waved his sleeve, swung his wooden ruler, and manifested an illusory, ancient Daoist Temple. The ruler transformed into the character “formation” and hovered over the temple’s gate like a signboard.
The temple suddenly seemed to materialize. It now emanated intense, terrifying divine majesty.
Had this happened earlier, its majesty alone would have been enough to crush Su Yi on the spot before he could even try to defend himself.
But now, Ruo Su appeared out of nowhere, and the whole area seemed to transform into a pure land. It was no longer affected in any way!
Beneath the dome of heaven, the Daoist temple lit up, then descended from on high.
Ruo Su walked, her gaze light and airy, her dress flowing around her as a streak of clear, radiant light shot forth like the glow of the full moon.
It was but a wisp of light. It seemed utterly minuscule compared to the temple, yet it easily pierced the signboard hanging over its gates.
A moment later, the entire temple disintegrated and scattered into motes of light.
Ruo Su raised her jade-like hand and tapped the air. Her movements were as casual as if she were sweeping an ink-laden brush across the page.
The old man’s pupils constricted, and he took out numerous treasures at once: a copper lamp, a fly whisk, a talisman sword, and a bell, among others. All of them emanated endlessly terrifying auras, and they manifested all manner of grand, mysterious phenomena.
But that arc of light shot forth with unstoppable momentum. Nothing could stand in its way.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The copper lamp was the first to break, followed by the fly whisk. The talisman sword flew back, its wails shaking the heavens. The bell fell to the ground, run through...
But destroying all those treasures exhausted only half of the light’s power. It continued toward their wielder, the old man.
The old man roared and defended himself with all his might. In the end, he managed to neutralize the light, but he was sent flying several hundred feet on impact. His aged face alternated between white and green, and his hands bled!
All of this took some time to describe, but it happened instantaneously.
Ruo Su didn’t stop here, either. She pressed her fingers into a blade and slashed the air, as casually as if she were cutting flowers off a bush.
But when her strike landed, it tore open a perfectly straight rift. It cleaved through time and space and extended toward the old man in gray.
The old man’s hair stood on end; it seemed he finally understood just how powerful his opponent was. Without any further hesitation, he crushed a plain jade pendant.
Boom!
The surrounding area shook violently. Endless divine radiance swept forth.
A seemingly youthful Daoist with long, snow-white hair and a fishtail crown appeared out of nowhere. Endless treasure light shone around him, clear and resplendent. Clouds gathered beneath his feet, then slowly revolved. It was as if he were standing atop a miniature universe.
His eyes blazed like twin suns, and as they moved, countless mysterious talisman markings surged within them, rising and falling like the tides.
Indescribably terrifying pressure accompanied his arrival, enveloping the entire stretch of heaven and earth.
That radiance neutralized the full extent of Ruo Su’s power.
Who is this? Could he be one of their founders? Su Yi’s heart shook. Could this be an expert comparable to Zhi Wuzhong and Lonely Heights?
This thought had only just occurred to him when Ruo Su said, “Three Purities Temple has three founders: Supreme Purity, Greater Purity, and Jade Purity.
“Beneath them are five generations of grandmasters. This man’s Daoist title is Kong Che. He’s the fifth-generation grandmaster of Three Purities Temple, and he’s of the Supreme Purity lineage. But then, this is just his avatar of will.”
Only then did Su Yi understand.
Three Purities Temple was the greatest Daoist orthodoxy in the All-Profound Dominion, the progenitor of Daoism. They’d obviously earned their reputation, too.
Meanwhile, the gray-robed old man lowered his head in shame. “This disciple is inept. I had no choice but to request your assistance, Grandmaster!”
The white-haired youth in the fishtail crown, Kong Che, subtly inclined his head, then looked at Ruo Su. “Who might you be?”
He sounded confused; he obviously didn’t recognize her.
Ruo Su said with tranquility, “A nameless nobody, someone of little importance.”
Kong Che laughed. “The title ‘nobody’ is unbefitting of your Dao.”
“You sure talk a lot,” said Ruo Su.
A moment later, she shifted through the air, then assumed a stance and readied her fist. Her bearing was utterly tyrannical.
Boom!
A mysterious, terrifying aura rose around Ruo Su’s elegant frame. In the blink of an eye, it had enveloped the entire stretch of heaven and earth, thoroughly enveloping Fifth-Generation Grandmaster Kong Che!
Kong Che’s smile faded. He exclaimed, “You’ve achieved a return to simplicity, and your Dao has entered the realm of divine subtlety! I wouldn’t have guessed you were a Dao Ancestor! Please, calm your fury. Let’s talk this over. If we fight...”
But here, his voice came to an abrupt halt, because Ruo Su was already swinging her fist.
Her fist was elegant, fair, and smooth as jade, and her fist force was simple and direct.
But when she attacked, it was with unstoppable momentum, as if nothing between heaven and earth could stand in her way. Even if the heavens blocked her path, or destiny impeded her, she’d cleave right through them!
Su Yi and his companions weren’t affected directly, but when they saw this, their hearts and souls shook. They were overcome with astonishment. Just what kind of cultivation base do you need to throw such a punch?
Boom!
Kong Che formed a hand seal and tried to block, but his avatar was far from enough to block such an attack. The first force cleaved a hole right through him, then went out the other end!
Gashes extended from the hole, like cracks rapidly spreading across his skin.
The fifth-generation grandmaster glanced down at his wounds. He barely had time to sigh before his avatar shattered like cracked porcelain and dissipated in a puff of smoke.
Ruo Su raised a jade-like hand, then said, “Each generation of Three Purities Temple grandmasters is inferior to the one before.”
The old man in gray froze in place as if struck by lightning.