Chapter 163 - 192: A Wisp of Divine Thought Suppresses Luo Sheng!
After eating and drinking their fill, Su Bai and Zhang Wei packed up some of the leftover pastries and slowly walked back toward the prison.
The streets of the Xia Imperial City were still bustling with activity.
But if one looked closely, they would still notice that some shops and homes had their doors shut.
The cataclysmic flood stirred up by the Golden Flood Dragon King Ao Jin had been promptly obliterated by Su Bai and hadn’t caused much damage to the Imperial City. Nevertheless, it had left many people with deep psychological scars.
In the past few days, as Su Bai walked the streets, he saw horse-drawn carriages loaded with household belongings passing by almost every day, hurrying out of the city gates.
In the aftermath of the disaster, many chose to leave the Imperial City to get away from this land of turmoil.
Of course, many more people felt the complete opposite.
After all, if even a terrifying catastrophe like the great flood couldn’t harm the Imperial City, could there be any safer place in the world?
As they walked...
A squad of Martial Artists from the Prison Suppression Bureau appeared in Su Bai’s line of sight.
They were escorting a group of prisoners with bowed heads and messy hair.
Su Bai glanced over.
He noticed that although the prisoners looked haggard and disheveled, their clothes were of fine quality. They had few signs of punishment on their bodies, their skin smooth and delicate.
"It’s the people from the Celestial Craft Institute!"
"Tsk, tsk... I never thought they’d see a day like this!"
Zhang Wei, standing beside him, was the son of an official, after all. With his worldly knowledge, he could tell at a glance that these were all Celestial Artisans from the Celestial Craft Institute.
As the son of an official, he knew very well that this group of high-ranking and powerful individuals loved to engage in all sorts of ostentatious schemes.
Now that they were being arrested one by one, all he could say was that they deserved it!
"Zhang Wei, Su Bai! Quick!"
"Come lend a hand!"
Seeing the two of them, a colleague from the Prison Suppression Bureau in the squad called out, a look of delight in his eyes.
"Coming!"
...
’What in the world is this Jade Pendant?’
Back in the prison, after finishing his work, Su Bai returned to his quarters. He took out a Golden Jade Pendant and examined it closely.
He had obtained this Golden Jade Pendant from Ao Gu after killing him in the East Sea Basin.
The two words "Luo Sheng" were clearly carved into a corner of the Jade Pendant.
’Perhaps this item is related to the mysterious Rashomon?’
Su Bai speculated inwardly.
Just as he was thinking about it, a strange fluctuation suddenly emanated from the Golden Jade Pendant!
Immediately after, a blinding golden radiance blossomed from its center!
It was like a surging waterfall of light!
Su Bai’s expression hardened, and he narrowed his eyes slightly.
He saw a golden figure slowly appearing and solidifying on the Jade Pendant.
"Brother Ao Gu..."
The words, filled with mirth, came from the mouth of the blurry golden figure.
But in the next moment, for some unknown reason, the golden figure’s words came to an abrupt halt.
He stared at the unfathomable and mysterious Su Bai before him, falling into a long silence.
On the surface, his expression remained unchanged.
But deep inside, his mind was in turmoil!
’Who is this person?’
’Why does he have Ao Gu’s Divine Thought Jade Pendant?’
’Where is Ao Gu!?’
At that moment, a giant question mark appeared in the golden figure’s mind!
"Interesting..."
Having seen parts of Ao Gu’s memories, Su Bai had already seen through this illusion for what it was.
Then, he slowly extended his right hand. Before he even touched it, the Divine Thought Incarnation had already crumbled to pieces.
The mysterious golden figure in his quarters had vanished.
All that remained was a wisp of shattered Divine Thoughts, coiling around Su Bai’s fingertip.
"It’s rude not to return a favor!"
Su Bai focused his gaze and muttered the phrase.
Then, with a smile in his eyes, he followed the trail back to the source of the Divine Thoughts. He split off a wisp of his own Divine Thoughts, which shot into the sky like a golden streak, chasing after the origin!
...
「Somewhere in the Outer Realm of the Great Xia Domain, at Rashomon.」
A continuous stretch of magnificent buildings stood atop a series of towering peaks.
Clouds and mist wound through the mountains, shimmering with multicolored light. The chirping of birds often harmonized with the soaring dances of Exotic Beasts.
The beauty of this place was so captivating it would make one forget to leave, lost in a daze.
Rashomon had always been mysterious, a source of apprehension for many factions. Ordinary people never knew its true location, nor did they know Rashomon’s true purpose.
At this moment, atop the highest peak, an exquisite pavilion shrouded in thin wisps of mist stood peacefully.
A man in a Golden Robe was sitting on an azure Jade Chair, chatting idly with an imposing, eight-foot-tall man in a Black Robe.
PFFT!
He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, which splattered onto the Jade Cup before him, staining it a jarring crimson.
His head throbbed, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
His entire aura became weak and listless!
"Junior Brother! What’s wrong with you?"
The Sect Leader of Rashomon, Luo Jiu Tian, frowned deeply upon seeing this.
"This is bad! Ao Gu is dead!"
"And the Divine Thoughts I attached to the Golden Jade have been destroyed by someone!"
The man in the Golden Robe said, his face pale and his expression grim.
He had just raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth and hadn’t had a chance to say more.
"So, you’re here."
Suddenly, a soft exclamation was heard from the sky above.
Inside the pavilion, both men froze and couldn’t help but look up.
BOOM—
In the next instant.
A giant golden palm parted the layers of clouds on the horizon.
It descended from the heavens!
RUMBLE!
Under this incomparably domineering pressure!
In an instant.
Large swathes of buildings within Rashomon shattered in a moment!
Even the peaks beneath the buildings trembled nonstop, like little beasts shivering in fear.
Many Rashomon disciples, who still hadn’t grasped the situation, collapsed to the ground with blood streaming from their mouths and noses, their faces aghast as they found themselves unable to move.
The man in the Golden Robe was still in a daze.
But he saw the palm shoot toward him as if to snatch up a tiny insect!
He only felt a gale-force wind rush past his ears!
The pavilion where the man in the Golden Robe was located instantly disintegrated into dust!
"Senior Brother! Save me!!"
He only had time to let out a piercing shriek before the mysterious person who had suddenly appeared grabbed him firmly in their palm.
"Damn it!"
Luo Jiu Tian, clad in his Black Robe, roared in fury as his aura erupted with all its might!
He drew a Black Saber, his figure flickering as he stepped into the air, intending to intervene.
"Sever!"
In the next breath, he rapidly flipped the blade and unleashed a brilliant black saber glint straight ahead!
The saber glint transformed into a hundred-zhang-tall black tiger that galloped across the clouds, roaring ferociously!
This was his signature move, an Eighth-grade Ultimate Blade Technique!
Just as he thought victory was within his grasp...
he saw the person in the clouds look down and flick a finger.
A flawless golden gleam fell from the heavens!
BOOM—
Accompanied by a piercing shriek!
The roaring saber glint in the sky was shattered by Su Bai’s single finger!
After crushing the saber glint, the golden light’s power did not diminish as it continued to tear through the air toward Luo Jiu Tian!
In that instant,
a violent roar exploded in Luo Jiu Tian’s ears, like the bellowing of endless Divine Thunder across the sky!
Amidst the boundless golden light...
he felt his body fly backward uncontrollably, crushing countless buildings and massive peaks along the way.
Finally, with a broken body, he crashed to the ground with a RUMBLE!
Leaving only a long, narrow trail of crimson blood seared across the sky!
His fate—life or death—was unknown.
A few Rashomon disciples with decent Cultivation levels shakily pushed themselves up, straining to stare into the distance with terrified, bloodshot eyes.
They saw a clear Finger Seal, like a collapsed celestial pillar, stretching across the entire landscape!
On the shattered ground, at the end of the Finger Seal, a dazed Luo Jiu Tian lay with a feeble aura...
He struggled to open his blood-stained eyes.
Through his blurry vision, he saw that person holding the man in the Golden Robe with one hand.
Accompanied by the rosy clouds of the horizon, leaving only their back to be seen.
His body transformed into a wisp of golden light.
And departed with casual ease!