“…“
The white dragon demon king’s coils slowly relaxed, a flicker of something unusual crossing its eyes.
Another upper-tier Mixed Origin Grandmaster.
The worthless fox really was as cautious as ever.
Pity — what did upper-tier Mixed Origin matter?
Before it, that amounted to nothing either.
Whatever schemes these people were running, in the face of truly overwhelming strength, none of it meant anything.
The white dragon’s eyes took on a more savage edge as they fixed on the young man.
Subdue this one first. Deal with the fox afterward.
In an instant, the three of them formed a surrounding formation, locking Shen Yi tightly in the center.
“Don’t say this seat didn’t warn you — if you’ve got any cards to play, you’d better show them now.”
Daring to follow along this brazenly, and valued so highly by the War Temple — surely he couldn’t be all show and no substance.
Perfected Master Hu gave Perfected Master Changqing a meaningful look. Neither moved to strike first, instead settling into a flanking posture.
As for who they actually intended to deal with…
Both pairs of eyes drifted briefly toward the white dragon.
What struck them as slightly odd was that Shen Yi had turned a furrowed brow toward Perfected Master Changqing, and upon hearing he was from Xuanguang Cave, looked faintly disappointed.
But he said nothing more about it.
Shen Yi gave a small nod, then asked calmly, “Are there any others?”
At those words, the white dragon’s eager claw paused mid-reach, and then its body shook with silent laughter.
It had spent too many years away from the Silver Moon Cold Pool — were the human cultivators of today all this arrogant?
“…”
Perfected Master Changqing looked over at the fox demon in puzzlement. Were they certain they’d brought the right person — this was the Shen Yi that Great Qian had been hiding away?
Surely there hadn’t been some mix-up.
“Are you right in the head?!”
A muscle twitched at the corner of Perfected Master Hu’s eye. Surrounded on all sides, and instead of throwing himself at the white dragon with everything he had, he was casually asking questions.
“Move now,” it said coldly, “or you won’t get the chance.”
Before it had even finished the sentence—
A dull crack rang out.
Perfected Master Hu’s skull shattered in an instant. No blood, no bone fragments.
Beneath that gleaming golden fist, every trace of flesh and filth was reduced to fine powder, then evaporated to nothing.
Shen Yi walked over and tucked the corpse into his storage pouch.
Qingqiu’s methods were unpredictable — he’d experienced that firsthand. Killing the fox demon first seemed the right call.
“Hh… hh…”
Perfected Master Changqing stood frozen where he was, staring numbly at the seven-foot golden form that had appeared out of nowhere.
Then the golden form turned slowly, and its indifferent gaze settled on him.
He shuddered all over, head to foot!
Spirit-Transformation! Great Qian hadn’t just quietly produced a Mixed Origin Grandmaster — it had also quietly produced a Spirit-Transformation cultivator!
And this towering figure was here as personal protection for Shen Yi?!
“Kill that one first. Don’t let it run.”
Shen Yi gave his wide sleeves a casual flick — he still hadn’t quite gotten used to wearing clothes like this.
Compared to a useless human cultivator, the demon was clearly the higher priority.
Under the white dragon’s terrified gaze, the Spirit-Transformation powerhouse gave the young man a respectful, deferential bow.
In the next instant, the golden radiance vanished from sight.
When it reappeared, the white dragon felt its overwhelmingly powerful demon body slammed down out of midair by sheer force, and the two magnificent horns it had always taken such pride in were snapped clean off, as casually as someone breaking a pair of chopsticks.
“ARRGH!”
Driven wild with pain, it rolled its body violently, desperate to flee.
The golden-hook dragon claws were seized by the golden dharma form’s grip, and then — a single wrench and a tearing sound — dragon claws that couldn’t be scratched by blade or axe were ripped free in an instant, a great slab of flesh and hide torn away with them.
The piercing dragon’s roar shook the entire valley.
If not now, when?!
Perfected Master Changqing’s face had gone pale, and he fled in a blind panic in the opposite direction.
Right then.
Shen Yi was quietly hovering in the air ahead of him, standing on red cloud, his dark blue-green robes snapping in the wind.
“Move aside!”
Perfected Master Changqing feared that Spirit-Transformation elder — but he hadn’t actually put this young man in his eyes at all.
He was an upper-tier Mixed Origin Grandmaster.
A minor Demon Suppression Division Inspector dared block him?
“I won’t mention the matter of Great Qian having a Mixed Origin Grandmaster again. We’ll call today finished right here!”
Perfected Master Changqing let out a shout, and moved to force his way through.
The young man smiled.
The smooth, fine long robe shifted slightly, and a red glow rose beneath pale skin, adding a ferocious edge to that handsome face.
“Gulp.”
Perfected Master Changqing swallowed, stepped back half a pace on reflex, his expression flickering between colors.
So there wasn’t just one.
The War Temple — a force whose primary cultivation was the divine spirit — and the person they valued most… was a Mixed Origin Grandmaster!
Having reached this point, he swallowed his shock and steadied himself. He was no longer in a panic.
Shen Yi had revealed his Mixed Origin cultivation — which meant he hadn’t considered letting him leave here alive.
If that was how it was, the only path was to fight to the death.
Once he’d calmed down, he actually took the measure of Shen Yi’s presence more precisely… overwhelming as it was, it seemed to be carried mainly by the depth of whatever Condensate method he’d cultivated. In terms of actual realm, he was only at entry-level Mixed Origin.
Two full tiers below himself.
End this quickly!
Perfected Master Changqing looked back at the collapsing mountain range in the distance, where the broken, battered white dragon had barely leaped upward before the golden dharma form swatted it back down with a single palm.
An ancient demon king matching an extreme-tier Mixed Origin Grandmaster.
And yet beneath that seven-foot golden form, it was barely more than a plaything.
This was the terrifying abyss that opened up between realms.
Which meant he himself overwhelmed Shen Yi by the same—
Perfected Master Changqing’s confidence surged back, and he turned his head forward again — only to find, without warning, a knee occupying the space where air should have been.
“Your mother—!”
The man had been standing there a moment ago, hands at his sides, the picture of fair combat readiness, and he’d turned his head for all of one second—
Crunch!
Under that devastating knee strike, Perfected Master Changqing didn’t even have time to call out his path infant before his nose bridge caved inward, both cheekbones shattering with it.
Was this what entry-level Mixed Origin strength was supposed to feel like?!
He flew backward through the air, frantically calling out his path infant as he went, and beneath the shattered, bloodsoaked wreckage of his skull, a face composed of concentrated thunder-plasma suddenly appeared.
Perfected Master Changqing landed on one foot, carving a deep trench through the earth.
Before he’d even fully steadied himself.
Shen Yi was already bearing down, blade in hand, and the ink-black edge sliced through his throat without effort, sending his head flying.
The blade passed through the thunder-plasma.
Shen Yi felt both hands go numb with the shock, and looked back to find Perfected Master Changqing still standing, hunched forward, but atop his shoulders, where his head should have been, sat a small skull crackling with arcs of lightning, the wound site scorched black all around.
That, evidently, was the man’s path infant.
His own path infant, when it expanded to human size, carried a somewhat insubstantial quality.
But Perfected Master Changqing’s — even at this scale — had condensed to something very nearly solid.
“My turn now, is it?”
The fury in Perfected Master Changqing’s chest blazed white-hot. He straightened up and fixed his gaze on Shen Yi’s hands with a savage grin — the slender pale hands that still glowed faintly red now had arcs of lightning dancing across them, and clearly weren’t going to settle down any time soon.
“Come on then!”
He let out a shout, and in his palms a long, straight spear materialized — its shaft condensed from thunder-plasma, casting the entire mountainous forest into a stark, bleached white silence.
And then he put all his strength behind it, and hurled the thunder-spear directly at Shen Yi with savage, ferocious force!
(End of Chapter 243)