Chapter 673: Who’s to Blame?
Chapter 673: Who’s to Blame?
End this here?
When they heard Chu Yunke say this, it wasn’t just the Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain disciples accompanying him who were stunned.
Even Yue Xingshan, Sun Shangliu, and the others were flabbergasted.
Does this mean that Chu Yunke, one of the peerless geniuses of the Ranking of Stars, is admitting defeat?
“You’re wimping out just like that?” Ye Xun was very displeased, and he shouted a rebuke. “How can a lofty inheritor of the Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain like you be such a wimp? Didn’t you just watch your sectmates die? Where’s your hotbloodedness? Where’s your sense of responsibility? Are you even a sword cultivator?”
As he pelted Chu Yunke with insults, he seemed overcome with bitterness and hatred.
“....” The crowd was silent, and Chu Yunke’s expression was unsightly.
It was then that Su Yi said, “You can admit defeat. According to the rules of competitions over good fortune, if you give up all your treasures, I’ll leave you a path to life.”
This declaration provoked a series of gasps.
Ye Xun’s eyes lit up, and he was just about to say something when Su Yi raised his hand and tapped the air.
His power instantly sealed Ye Xun’s mouth shut, leaving him unable to utter so much as a single word.
“You’re pushing this too far!” The white-haired elder’s face was ashen, and he said furiously, “See that, Martial Nephew Chu? The more concessions you make, the more your enemies will walk all over you!”
“Senior Apprentice Brother Chu, he killed Junior Apprentice Brother Han, and as if that weren’t enough, you gave him an inch only for him to demand a mile. How can we possibly tolerate this?” someone said indignantly.
Chu Yunke let out a long sigh.
He looked at Su Yi once more, his expression unnaturally calm. “I’ll fight you, then. This duel shall determine our life and death.”
His tone was indifferent, yet full of utter determination.
The entire area fell silent.
Clang!
At the same time, Chu Yunke’s weapon hummed like the roaring of a dragon.
This was the genius disciple of the Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain ranked seventy-sixth on the Ranking of Stars. As he readied himself for battle, his aura changed dramatically.
His momentum soared like the rising sun, as forceful as a charging bull!
Wisps of faint purple sword intent permeated the air around him, spreading out like a tide. Heaven and earth changed color, and the wind and clouds surged.
Throughout the surrounding ten thousand feet, the air wailed as it was thrown into disarray.
The onlookers’ expressions shifted.
“So strong!!” 𝓫ℯ𝓭𝓃𝓸𝓋ℯ𝓁．𝓬𝓸𝓂
His strength was far beyond what Han Feigong had displayed earlier. His momentum alone left quite a few nearby Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivators feeling suffocated.
“Chu Yunke of Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain requests your guidance, Fellow Daoist,” Chu Yunke said calmly.
As he spoke, a flying sword streaked over his head, as radiant as sunlight reflected on autumn waters. It was shrouded in misty purple light.
The flying sword Purple Autumn!
Chu Yunke’s natal spirit treasure!
When Su Yi saw this, he suddenly asked, “Are you on the Ranking of Stars?”
“I’m seventy-sixth, for now,” said Chu Yunke.
“Oh,” said Su Yi. “In that case, all of you had best attacked together.”
Deep within his heart, Su Yi was already a bit disappointed with Bluecloud Tower’s Ranking of Stars.
This was all its seventy-sixth-ranked expert had to offer?
Perhaps only the top ten were worthy of his notice?
The crowd was stunned following Su Yi’s declaration.
Did he just tell them to attack together?
He’s not taking Chu Yunke at all seriously!
“Fine. We’ll attack together, then!” bellowed the white-haired elder.
He had never supported letting Chu Yunke fight a life-and-death duel with Su Yi.
After all, this was someone who could destroy Han Feigong in the blink of an eye. He was surely an extremely dangerous foe.
At a time like this, the smartest thing they could do was combine their power and obliterate him with unstoppable force.
“Okay!” The others, two men and two women, all agreed.
Chu Yunke’s brow furrowed slightly, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.
When they saw this, the onlookers instinctively moved further away for fear that the aftershock of the battle would affect them.
Boom!
Daoist invocations rang out, and swords hummed like the tide.
Both the white-haired elder and the four other disciples accompanying him drew their weapons, and the characteristic aura of the Spiritual Manifestation Realm spread out around them.
Their auras converged with Chu Yunke’s, throwing the surrounding area into turmoil.
Unmatched bloodlust and sword intent blotted out the sun!
“Kill him!” The white-haired elder was the first to attack.
He had peak Spiritual Manifestation cultivation, and he was an elder of Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain, so his combat experience was extremely ample.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The elder’s sleeves billowed around him, and four black Dao Swords shot forth.
The names carved on their hilts read “Spring Feelings,” “Summer Heat”, “Autumn Waters,” and “Winter Clouds.” As their attacks overlapped, they instantly reflected the cycle of the seasons
The others drew their swords as well.
Rumble! Boom!
Numerous unbelievable sword forces and starkly different sword?intents?gathered into a boundless sword rain, as well as sword lightning, sword wind, sword mist…
Their attacks blanketed heaven and earth. They were enough to strike terror into the hearts of even gods and ghosts!
Especially Chu Yunke. He activated a fiery red Dao Sword, and although he only attacked once, he struck like divine fires breaking through a dam, pouring down onto ten thousand feet of sky as if intent on incinerating both heaven and earth.
The Dao of the Sword was for killing.
When a group of Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain Spiritual Manifestation cultivators attacked in unison, their combined force was naturally extraordinary.
The onlookers had already moved further away. When they saw this, they were so stunned that their souls practically left their bodies, and they hurriedly moved further away.
That went for Ye Xun, too. He was afraid of the shockwaves, so he hurriedly distanced himself from the fray.
However, when Su Yi saw this, his expression remained just as calm as before, like the stagnant waters of an ancient well.
He stepped forward, making no attempt to dodge.
Boom!
The cycle of seasons manifested by four weapons, a cycle of withering and rebirth, was the first to descend upon him.
Su Yi stretched out his right hand, and his fingers shifted as if he were strumming a zither.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A series of impacts rang out, scattering sparks. It was as if a divine hammer had slammed into the swords, and all of them were sent flying.
The white-haired elder suddenly coughed up blood, and his expression shifted dramatically.
Boom!
At the same time, Chu Yunke and the others’ attacks arrived like a boundless flood, enveloping Su Yi.
Su Yi straightened his back, pressed his fingers into a sword, and slashed.
Boom!
The sword rain filling the skies transformed into a dazzling streak of clear sword qi. It ripped through the skies like an axe through bamboo, cleaving through the descending flood of attacks.
The resulting impact shook heaven and earth.
One attack, and he broke through all manner of peak-level sword arts and blocked several extraordinary spiritual swords.
It was as if a sword had ripped open the heavens themselves.
A flood of destructive power swept through the surrounding area. It was as if a furious tidal wave had slammed into Chu Yunke and his allies, sending them staggering back.
“How is this possible!?” someone shrieked.
One attack, and he’d neutralized their combined power. Who would dare believe such a thing?
“Don’t tell me he’s one of the heaven-defying monsters in the top ten of the Ranking of Stars?” someone exclaimed.
Rumor had it that the list’s top ten were all practically invincible amongst others of the same cultivation. All had heaven-defying combat prowess.
Even long-established, older-generation cultivators of the same level were nowhere near a match for them!
Now, when they saw Su Yi’s heaven-defying display of power, Chu Yunke and the others realized that they were in trouble, and their expressions changed dramatically.
“How could he be so strong…?” Chu Yunke felt a chill course through his heart. He’d long since realized that Su Yi’s abilities were terrifying. That was why he’d initially chosen to take a step back.
Nonetheless, now that they were actually fighting, Su Yi’s strength far exceeded his earlier estimate!
“As sword cultivators, you ought to enter battle without fear of death or defeat. You people… Are too flighty and impetuous.”
As Su Yi sighed, he stepped into the air, raised his hand, and tapped.
Splurt!
One hundred feet away, a man in dark robes exploded.
He was a Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivator, and his cultivation was comparable to Han Feigong’s. However, he couldn’t block even a single one of Su Yi’s attacks before exploding.
As they took in this bloody spectacle, his companions’ scalps went numb with terror.
“Hurry up and run! I’ll hold him back!” The white-haired elder suddenly shouted in fury and charged at Su Yi as if intent on mutual destruction.
“You’re no more than a mantis trying to block a chariot. How can you even think about sacrificing your life to save others?” Su Yi waved his sleeves.
A streak of sword qi shot forth.
Splurt!
The white-haired elder was still mid-charge when he was cut in two at the waist.
He looked down in disbelief. “What kind of technique was that?”
“A casual strike,” said Su Yi. “It has no name.”
“Is that so….?” the elder said in bewilderment. Then, everything went black, and all awareness left him.
The two halves of his body thudded to the ground.
The entire area fell silent.
Everyone was astonished.
Even Ye Xun couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat from his brow.?Brother-in-Law’s cultivation is nowhere near his former peak, but his combat skills are as pervertedly strong as ever…
“Is it too late to admit defeat and offer up our treasures?” Chu Yunke said gravely.
Earlier, they’d planned to seize the opportunity to flee. They wouldn’t have guessed the elder would die so quickly, leaving them no time to escape.
“There’s no longer any meaning in admitting defeat,” Su Yi said casually.
“You’re really planning to become enemies with all of Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain? You ought to know how severe the consequences of that will be!” shouted the woman in the ink-dark dress.
“So you won’t come looking for revenge if I spare you? Childish.”
As his calm voice echoed through the air, Su Yi pressed down from afar.
Boom!
The ground beneath the woman’s feet suddenly caved in, and a wave of sword qi surged forth, enveloping her in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, she was torn to ribbons. Nothing remained of her!
Han Feigong was the first to die, followed by the white-haired elder, a man in dark robes, and now, the woman in the ink-black dress.
Their bloody deaths left the two remaining disciples, Chu Yunke and a woman in colorful clothing, feeling as if they’d plunged into an icy abyss. A chill spread throughout their bodies.
“We came here today for the fortune hidden in Demondark Mountain. Who’d have thought we’d lose our lives over a mere fragment of a divine artifact…?” the colorfully-dressed woman said bitterly, her expression bleak.
“And who is to blame for that?” said Su Yi without the slightest ripple of emotion.
As he spoke, sword qi appeared seemingly out of nowhere, killing the woman where she stood.
It was a bloody spectacle, but it didn’t seem as if he’d killed an advanced cultivator of the Spiritual Manifestation Realm. No, it seemed as if he’d done little more than squish an ant.
Chu Yunke shivered from head to toe. He looked at Su Yi and said, “Before you kill me, might you tell me your name?”
“Su Yi.”
“Su Yi?” Chu Yuke froze, but a moment later, he seemed to understand. “So it’s you!”
Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, an explosive waterfall of sword rain descended upon him from all sides.
The genius of Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain ranked seventy-sixth on the Ranking of Stars was instantly reduced to bloody mist, destroyed in both body and soul.
Six experts of Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain had now fallen beneath Su Yi’s blade!
The onlookers were all too stunned to even speak.