Chapter 52
Chapter 52: Slaying an Immortal
Of course the array was long gone. It had been a seal meant to punish a giant beast. Once the beast died, the Formation disappeared with it.
And even if it still existed, they couldn’t reach Thunder Prefecture.
It was too far. At Nascent Soul Stage, they couldn’t tear open space.
The only reason they’d made it out of Zhaohua Sect’s territory at all was because Zhe Liu had deliberately let them.
Zhe Liu wanted to catch them, drag them back, and in full view of everyone inside and outside Zhaohua Sect—and in front of the immortals who’d come with him from the Immortal Realm—skin them, strip their bones, tear out their souls, and refine their spirits.
But doing it that way would turn Zhaohua Sect into his sworn enemy.
He didn’t fear Zhaohua Sect anymore, not truly, but there were things even he had to avoid.
First, he’d promised his immortal sect a certain amount of tribute—people or goods. If he returned empty-handed, his position would become miserable.
If things weren’t beyond repair, he still preferred a “peaceful” solution.
Second was the damned karma.
He’d been a disciple of Zhaohua Sect. The sect had trained and supported him all the way to Mahayana Stage and his ascension. The Heavenly Dao recognized that debt.
If he harmed Zhaohua Sect, that karma would rebound on him someday.
So no matter what, he couldn’t openly turn against the sect. He couldn’t slaughter people in front of their eyes and ignite rebellion.
Two little bugs were nothing. He’d crush them first, then return and explain it away with a few light words, tossing out a couple items he didn’t need.
Those ignorant country bumpkins would swallow it.
If not for karma, he could wipe out a lower-realm sect with a wave of his hand.
All because little li realm had reconnected to the higher world at the worst possible time. It was practically forcing him to “repay old debts.”
Zhe Liu’s face stayed dark as he flew. He couldn’t help envying the natives of the Immortal Realm.
Born in the Immortal Realm. Cultivate and enter an immortal sect. Once inside, you were bound to it for life, honor and disgrace shared, no messy past ties to cut.
As for becoming a god… that was so hard most people quit voluntarily.
Honestly, none of this was truly difficult. Cutting off old ties could be simple.
A heartless person could pay with spirit crystals and resources, clean and quick. A person with a conscience could spare some guidance for juniors.
But Zhe Liu wanted more than a clean break.
He wanted to use Zhaohua Sect to profit.
The spirit skiff suddenly slammed into something invisible and blew apart.
Hu Qing and Shui Xin leapt away at the last instant and fled in two streaks, desperate.
Zhe Liu looked at the raining fragments and sneered. Killing them would be like pinching ants.
Still, he was an elder. He could at least bring back intact corpses and pretend it was mercy.
His figure blurred.
One moment he was behind them, the next he appeared a hundred meters ahead.
Hu Qing and Shui Xin twisted away and sprinted in a new direction.
Zhe Liu blurred again, appearing in front of them.
They turned again.
He appeared again.
The circle shrank until they had nowhere left to run. The three of them faced each other in open sky, the air taut as a drawn bowstring.
“Junior, you—” Zhe Liu began.
The world snapped sideways.
The bright sky became a gray, fog-like void, killing intent flooding in from every direction.
A killing Formation.
Those two bugs had been laying a Formation while pretending to flee.
Zhe Liu’s sneer returned. Did they think Heavenly Dao suppression meant he was helpless?
He flipped out an immortal-grade talisman and threw it.
The talisman flashed gold—and detonated the moment it met the Formation’s killing aura. The blast shook the Formation, a thunderous roar that made the air tremble.
Zhe Liu’s brows knotted. Even an immortal talisman was being suppressed?
Hidden inside the Formation under Hu Qing’s invisibility aura, Hu Qing muttered under her breath, “Father, father, father… my dear father…”
Shui Xin glanced at her, baffled. Was that a spell?
He didn’t have time to ask.
He pulled out a string of Buddhist beads and scattered them. They swelled in the wind until each bead was as large as a head, whistling as they formed a netlike Formation that locked onto Zhe Liu.
Hu Qing’s mind flicked.
The Xue Sha Pearl slipped in behind the beads, silent and hungry. An immortal in front of it—how delicious.
But Zhe Liu’s protective immortal artifact flared, and a barrier wrapped him tight. The Buddhist beads couldn’t find an opening. The Xue Sha Pearl couldn’t find an opening.
Impatient, the Xue Sha Pearl accelerated and slammed into the barrier.
Ding.
It bounced off, spinning dizzy.
Zhe Liu’s back jolted with pain, sharp enough to feel like his blood vessels were tearing. His eyes widened.
In a lower realm?
Impossible.
He spun, pupils contracting. “Xue Sha Pearl—!”
The delight in his voice was naked.
Hu Qing cursed silently. Fine. No hiding, then.
Chains clattered in the gray mist as she flung out the Soul-Locking Chain.
At the same time, Shui Xin’s hands slapped forward again and again, launching golden Buddha Seals that stretched into long streaks of light and crashed into Zhe Liu’s barrier.
Zhe Liu’s eyes brightened even more. “Soul-Locking Chain…”
Xue Sha Pearl and Soul-Locking Chain weren’t unique items, but categories. Yet these were clearly beyond mortal grade.
This trip.
He’d come to the right place.
A Buddha Seal spun, swelling until the compassionate Buddha image towered above a person. It seemed to lift its gaze—then smashed down in a merciless killing strike.
Zhe Liu didn’t need it, but he could sell it.
Little li realm really did have good things.
And they were delivering themselves.
Even so, the three treasures together still couldn’t take him down outright. Their repeated strikes only made his barrier tremble and crack.
Not enough.
Still not enough.
Hu Qing bared her teeth. “Thunder Dragon!”
A massive purple dragon surged out with a roar, charging straight at Zhe Liu.
She hadn’t wanted to use it. The Thunder Dragon wasn’t immortal grade yet. But what else did she have left?
Shui Xin roared too. “Great Thunder Sundown!”
The sky above the Formation plunged into darkness, and lightning erupted out of nowhere. It poured into the Thunder Dragon, making its body swell larger, its purple-black eyes blazing.
This was everything.
Hu Qing emptied the spiritual power in her dantian into the Thunder Dragon. Shui Xin poured all of his into that lightning.
An all-out strike.
If it worked, they lived.
If it failed, they would drag Zhe Liu down with thems
For the first time, Zhe Liu’s expression changed. Fear flashed in his eyes—not fear of them, but fear of what Heavenly Dao suppression would do to him in this moment.
Ten parts of strength, reduced to one.
That cursed Heavenly Dao.
He layered shield after shield, threw protective talismans, activated every defensive immortal artifact he had.
If those were suppressed too, then—
Boom.
Lightning exploded through the Formation’s center.
Hu Qing and Shui Xin stuffed pills into their mouths by the handful, eyes locked on the storm.
Dead yet? Dead yet?
As if it would be that easy.
Crunch, crunch—over a hundred Buddhist beads shattered into dust. Shui Xin’s face drained white.
The Xue Sha Pearl retreated in a flash, diving back into Hu Qing’s sea of consciousness with a single, resentful thought: Too strong.
A Buddha Seal fell back, shrinking.
The Thunder Dragon and the Soul-Locking Chain crashed into Hu Qing together, knocking the breath out of her.
The thunder faded. The lightning scattered.
Zhe Liu stood in the center of the Formation, looking untouched.