Chapter 178 - 172: Vice Sect Leader
The Colorful Star Deer had put its life on the line for this all-out attack. After unleashing it, its body shot forward with a whistling wind, ramming straight into Huang Suyu.
Countless layers of trees erupted from Huang Suyu’s arm, tightening around the hand that held the Jade Tube. The branches snatched the tube away and flung it toward Yu Changsheng!
"My Jade Tube!!"
Huang Suyu, however, reacted in a flash. Forcibly suppressing the tremor in his Divine Soul, he unleashed his Sword Intent. Wood splinters flew as he broke free, and a beam of Sword Light shot toward the Jade Tube atop the trees.
As long as the Jade Tube shattered, the teleportation would activate.
"Colorful Star Deer!"
Yu Changsheng cried out in desperation.
"KREEE!!!"
The Colorful Star Deer cried out, abandoning its attack on Huang Suyu. With an explosive push from its hooves, it leaped into the air, positioning itself between the beam of Sword Light and the Jade Tube.
SHLIIICK...
The Sword Light shattered, but a horrifying gash appeared on the Colorful Star Deer, nearly slicing through its entire abdomen and sending flesh and blood flying.
"AGH...!"
The Colorful Star Deer let out a pained cry and struggled for a moment before falling unconscious. It automatically transformed into a stream of light and returned to the Inner Realm.
Yu Changsheng’s eyes went bloodshot. Seeing the gravely wounded Colorful Star Deer, he exploded into motion, seizing the opportunity to dart toward Huang Suyu’s Teleportation Jade Tube!
’I’ve been holding the Colorful Star Deer back, saving its full power for this very moment!’
Yu Changsheng knew full well that his own Teleportation Jade Tube was unusable, but his opponent’s was surely fine. That was why, from the very beginning, he had been preparing for this exact situation.
The moment he snatched the Teleportation Jade Tube, Huang Suyu fully regained his senses. Seeing the tube in Yu Changsheng’s hand, he let out a wretched scream:
"Yu Changsheng!!!"
His voice was desolate and filled with boundless resentment, but Yu Changsheng could also detect another emotion: fear.
Yu Changsheng said nothing; he didn’t have the spare energy to even open his mouth. After snatching the Jade Tube, the fractured phantom of blood and qi reappeared on his shoulder and viciously slammed into Huang Suyu!
PTHOO...
Huang Suyu was sent flying backward, the killing intent in his eyes completely replaced by terror. Countless bones throughout his body had been shattered, and his Fire of Life was beginning to flicker out.
But Yu Changsheng had no intention of letting him go. He struggled to raise his hand, the stark white bones of his fingers exposed and coated in a bloody glow. He was about to thrust it toward the center of Huang Suyu’s brow, aiming for his Sea of Consciousness.
"I’m not like you! I don’t have your profound Cultivation or your endless Divine Techniques. But I... can beat ten experts with pure, brute force!"
A sharp glint flashed in Yu Changsheng’s eyes as he seized the chance to press his attack. His exposed bones became his ultimate weapon. He held nothing back, pouring every last ounce of his strength into this one strike, aiming for a single, fatal blow.
"This ends now!!"
Yu Changsheng growled. Huang Suyu was terrified. At that moment, the palpable crisis of life and death reached its peak.
"No!!! Spare me! I’ll be your slave, I’ll serve you for the rest of my life!"
At this moment, Huang Suyu was capable of nothing more than screaming and begging for mercy.
Yu Changsheng remained unmoved. But just as his fingers were about to descend, a world-shaking ripple of power suddenly swept through the area.
In a single instant, the raging tempest began to die down. The restless Sword Intent vanished without a trace. The last embers of the Void Fire and Hao Sun were snuffed out. The shattered mountain rocks reversed their destruction, becoming whole once more. The air stopped moving, and space itself began to solidify.
An astonishing will, like the might of the heavens itself, descended upon the area in a single thought. It transformed into rolling Celestial Thunder that boomed in the very depths of everyone’s souls.
"Enough!!!"
Carried with irrefutable authority, the voice made everyone across the Celestial Ladder look up. A colossal figure had appeared on the horizon.
The figure was majestic and immense, its expression holding an innate authority that required no anger. It wore a Purple Gold Coiling Dragon Daoist Robe, with a Jade Sword Ruyi Hairpin fastened in its hair. Upon its appearance, clouds and mist churned around it. Even as a mere projection, it roiled the very fabric of space.
A powerful pressure instantly filled the air, so unbearable that it forced people to their knees. His eyes were as deep as an abyss, yet they held a blade-like glint that seemed to pierce through all creation, making one feel utterly insignificant. And his gaze landed squarely on Yu Changsheng.
"A Gold... Golden Core!!"
The disciples were all prostrate on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, not daring to look upon the figure’s face.
Unlike the fake Half-step Golden Core expert Yu Changsheng had once impersonated, the might radiating from this projection—be it its aura, pressure, or sheer Cultivation—was that of a genuine Golden Core master, and one at the very peak of that realm.
"Greetings, Vice Sect Leader!"
Outside the Celestial Ladder, the expressions of the Elders changed drastically upon seeing the sudden appearance of the immense figure. They all cupped their fists and bowed as one.
This was none other than the Vice Sect Leader of the Wanxiang Sect, a man who spent most of his years in seclusion. He was also the Peak Master of Sword Control Peak—Lu Ruikai! A Great Power at the pinnacle of the Golden Core Peak realm.
Even though this was only a projection, it exerted an infinite pressure on everyone present. The disciples dared not lift their heads, while the Elders could only gaze upward in awe.
"The Celestial Ladder trial is not a place for you to run wild," Lu Ruikai said coolly. "Since victory and defeat have been decided, why the need to slaughter him and stain the Celestial Ladder with blood?"
Lu Ruikai spoke indifferently, his voice booming like a grand bell, as vast and imposing as the might of the heavens.
As his aura swept over the area, all traces of the battle between Yu Changsheng and Huang Suyu were wiped away, as if they had never been. Yu Changsheng’s own aura destabilized once more. An invisible force erupted, and his fingers, which had been about to descend upon Huang Suyu’s head, stopped dead just an inch from his face.
Huang Suyu froze. The despair in his eyes was instantly replaced by a brilliant light, his excitement impossible to put into words.
His face a mask of livid fury, Yu Changsheng turned to look at Lu Ruikai. Veins bulged on his hand as he once again tried to force his fingers down onto Huang Suyu, but it was as if he was pushing against a mountain, unable to advance another inch.
"Oh?"
Lu Ruikai’s brow twitched. Seeing that Yu Changsheng refused to give up, he let out a cold snort, and an immense wave of Divine Thought crashed down upon him.
PFFT—
The Divine Thought was as vast as heavenly might. Though it contained no obvious malice, it slammed Yu Changsheng to the ground in an instant. His already weak face grew even paler. He struggled, his body trembling as he tried to rise, only to spray a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
Yu Changsheng gritted his teeth, his face contorting as he stared daggers at Huang Suyu.
By now, Huang Suyu had no strength left to resist; Yu Changsheng’s attacks had left his Fire of Life flickering on the verge of collapse. But to make matters worse, just as Yu Changsheng was suppressed, a stream of power was sent into Huang Suyu’s body, stabilizing his vital flame. A hint of color returned to Huang Suyu’s cheeks.
"You are all disciples of the same sect. Why the need for a killing blow? Why are you in such a hurry to harm one of your own?"
Lu Ruikai watched Yu Changsheng’s struggles with cold indifference, his majestic figure unmoving as he spoke flatly.
’I... I won’t accept this! I fought so hard to get this far, and now you just show up and tell me to stop? What kind of justice is that?!’
Yu Changsheng roared in his heart. His eyes were completely bloodshot, his savage expression a mask of defiance and struggle. An astonishing will erupted from him, like the low growl of a cornered beast.
Even though his body felt as if it were being crushed by a mountain, he began to shake, and in that shaking, he once again stirred his nearly depleted lifeblood and Spiritual Power, squeezing out every last ounce of strength he possessed.