Chapter 114
Chapter 114: Forbidden Seal
Upon hearing these words, the Azure Dragon Elder kept his hand suspended in midair, his eyes fixed mockingly on Li Mu Sheng, his expression growing increasingly scornful.
“Don’t act rashly!” shouted Bu Cheng Yang urgently from afar, his face turning pale with alarm.
Li Mu Sheng, however, stood calmly, his gaze coldly regarding the aged man with white hair before him. Without speaking a single word, he merely opened his palm slowly.
In that instant, it felt as though an invisible hand grasped the entire underground. The air around them suddenly halted, frozen in place.
From afar, Bu Cheng Yang’s eyes widened in shock. To his astonishment, he found he could no longer sense even a trace of the surrounding Qi of heaven and earth. It was as if, in that single moment, all the energy within several hundred feet had been entirely drained away.
The underground chamber he stood in had transformed into a Martial Dao Forbidden Zone—an absolute Heaven Severing Domain. Even if he desperately tried, utilizing his strength at the Heavenly Union realm to mobilize any heavenly Qi, it was utterly futile.
“This…” Bu Cheng Yang stared incredulously at the young figure standing before him.
At the same moment, the mocking smile on the Azure Dragon Elder’s face, who had reached out for the Dragon Pearl, froze abruptly. His previously still eyes now spun frantically, filled with sudden terror.
“I don’t want the Dragon Pearl anymore… Just don’t… kill me!” he stammered hastily, his voice filled with fear, abandoning his earlier slow and confident speech.
Yet, Li Mu Sheng’s expression remained indifferent. He replied calmly, “You old man are really amusing. Even if you surrender now, it’s already far too late.”
At these words, the Elder’s aged face froze again, quickly turning into a twisted grimace. His voice became swift and ruthless as he shouted, “If you dare kill me… then everyone here will die with me!”
As soon as he finished speaking, scales glittering with greenish-blue light emerged rapidly from the elder’s pale, wrinkled skin, covering his entire body like overlapping layers of metal armor. Simultaneously, a horrifying aura erupted from within him, as fierce and uncontrollable as an ancient beast awakened from its slumber.
From his hoarse throat came a furious dragon’s roar, attempting to activate some hidden power deep within the underground.
Yet, this underground space was eerily silent.
The previous rumblings, the massive shadow beneath the water extending for miles, and even the countless mechanisms and gears that had been turning moments ago—everything had gone utterly still.
Seeing this, the Azure Dragon Elder, now transformed into a draconic humanoid with shimmering scales, froze in disbelief. His monstrous face twisted in shock. Desperately, he roared once more, yet nothing happened. Everything remained tranquil, as if nothing had ever stirred.
“No… Impossible! Why… isn’t the Azure Dragon Qi responding?”
Surrounded by blazing azure radiance, the Elder revealed rows of sharp, sword-like teeth. His breath surged violently, whipping the air into distortion. Yet, his deep bewilderment and fear remained.
He had clearly triggered the underground mechanisms moments before—why were they completely silent now?
At this very moment, Li Mu Sheng glanced upward at him briefly.
Instantly, the Azure Dragon Elder began screaming in agony. The robust scales covering his body turned searing hot like molten lava. Unknowingly, he was now wrapped entirely in flames of Pure Yang, and the blue scales melted quickly, dripping down his body as glowing molten liquid.
The unbearable pain of burning made him desperately want to fight back, but even though his martial Qi was still immense, and his Martial Dao aura powerful, he was pressed firmly by an overwhelming pressure, heavy as a mountain, rooted utterly motionless in place, unable even to twitch a finger.
“No…!” The elder howled in agony, struggling futilely.
Yet nothing could stop the inevitable. As the azure scales melted away, his flesh and bones followed swiftly like wax in a flame. Hair, eyes, nose, limbs, torso—piece by piece, the Elder helplessly sensed his entire body dissolving under unbearable burning, yet he could do nothing.
Finally, his form became nothing but boiling blood, dripping into the icy underground river. In a mere moment, it was diluted and vanished completely, leaving not even a trace behind.
Far away, Bu Cheng Yang hovered silently above the water, dazed and speechless. The mighty Azure Dragon Elder, with his fearsome martial prowess, had perished miserably in Li Mu Sheng’s hands without even managing to unleash his legendary Azure Dragon’s Art.
Bu Cheng Yang had never anticipated this outcome. Moreover, Li Mu Sheng’s terrifying mastery of the Heaven Severing Domain was something he had never witnessed or even imagined before.
Even the Elder’s connection to the Azure Dragon Qi sealed beneath the earth had been effortlessly severed by Li Mu Sheng. Still, Bu Cheng Yang was deeply grateful Li Mu Sheng had managed it. Had the Elder succeeded in activating those underground mechanisms, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
After the Azure Dragon Elder died, Li Mu Sheng didn’t spare him another glance, treating the elder’s death as though it were nothing of importance.
Gradually, the surroundings returned to normal, and Li Mu Sheng’s gaze settled calmly on the stone bead in his palm.
After pondering for a moment, Li Mu Sheng suddenly vanished from where he stood. In the blink of an eye, he appeared right beside Bu Cheng Yang.
Still stunned by Li Mu Sheng’s earlier display, Bu Cheng Yang raised his head sharply. Instinctively, he released a soaring, dominant sword intent, causing the sword wrapped in cloth behind his back to shake violently.
The previously silent underground chamber instantly echoed with the sharp, ringing cries of countless swords. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of hidden Sword Qi seemed poised to strike, all fiercely aimed at Li Mu Sheng.
Seeing this, Li Mu Sheng simply waved a hand lightly, unconcerned. He said casually, “Relax. If you accidentally slip up, you’ll end up like that old man earlier, and that wouldn’t be very nice.”
At these words, Bu Cheng Yang stared cautiously at Li Mu Sheng for a long moment. Seeing no killing intent nor even the slightest martial Qi emanating from him, Bu Cheng Yang slowly relaxed, though he didn’t entirely drop his guard.
Li Mu Sheng’s martial prowess was deep and unfathomable, his attacks mysterious and untraceable like a deer leaping soundlessly. Even as a master swordsman skilled in lethal combat at the Heavenly Union realm, Bu Cheng Yang knew that, unless he fled at the very first sign of Li Mu Sheng moving against him, there would be no other hope of survival.