Locking Down the Sect Master from Afar, First Hearing the Name Heaven Slayer

Next, an invisible and intangible yet vast and immeasurable force of confinement suddenly gripped the back of the sect leader's collar.

With a whoosh.

The Tianyan Sect master of the Tianyan Sect, who Stellar Fifth Metamorphosis, was lifted into the air, his feet off the ground, suspended in mid-air, unable to move.

He was startled and instinctively channeled all his cultivation to struggle desperately. His Dao power surged and roared around him, but the binding force was as stable as an ancient mountain, unmoving. No matter how much he tried to activate his cultivation, it was all in vain.

Faced with this force, his struggles were laughably insignificant.

Chen Du slowly walked up to him, lowered his eyes and looked down at him, his tone calm and even, yet carrying an icy, oppressive force:

"What, trying to pull another trick?"

Those five simple words instantly shattered any remaining strength in Zhao Heng's mind.

His whole body stiffened abruptly, his blood almost freezing, his limbs stiffening and hanging in mid-air. He dared not even breathe too heavily, and dared not make the slightest movement.

The next instant, that invisible force gently dissipated.

Zhao Heng landed heavily on the ground, his back instinctively pressed tightly against the hospital wall. His spine was icy cold, all his muscles were tense to the extreme, and cold sweat seeped from his forehead, sliding down his chin.

Chen Du stood quietly in front of him and spoke calmly:

"May I have your name?"

Zhao Heng was trembling with fear, daring not to conceal anything, his voice trembling:

"Junior... Junior Zhao Heng, the current sect master of the Tianyan Sect."

Chen Du nodded slightly, noted the name, and looked at him calmly:

Zhao Heng.

"Previously, you sent four elders of the Twelfth Realm to provoke us, which I could take as a test by the sect and not investigate further."

"But as the leader of a sect, with the cultivation of Stellar Fifth Metamorphosis cultivator, your personal infiltration of Qingfeng Mountain in the dead of night is no less than a test."

He paused, his gaze darkening slightly, and went straight to the root of the problem:

"Tell me, who ordered you to do this?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Heng's lips trembled violently, his face turned ashen, and cold sweat poured down his forehead, soaking his clothes.

His eyes darted back and forth, weighing the pros and cons in his mind. After a long silence, he finally dared not hide anything any longer. Suppressing his extreme apprehension, he whispered the secret.

"This junior... this junior also does not know that person's true identity."

"This man is elusive and disappears without a trace; he calls himself the Heaven Slayer."

When he came to me, he left only one harsh word: if I refused to obey his orders, he could wipe out the entire Tianyan Sect without leaving a trace.

"At first, I was unconvinced and didn't believe him. But with just one palm strike, he shattered my Tianyan Sect's thousand-year-old protective array!"

When Zhao Heng recounted the scene from that day, extreme fear still lingered in his eyes.

"That protective mountain formation is a natal formation personally forged by our sect's founder. It is heavily fortified and profoundly powerful. Even a Middle Stage- Twelfth Realm expert could not budge it in the slightest during a full-scale attack."

"But that Heaven Slayer, with just a light palm strike, completely shattered the entire formation, destroying its foundation and leaving nothing behind."

Chen Du frowned slightly and asked in a deep voice:

"Heaven Slayer, what is his cultivation level?"

"This junior... this junior cannot see through it at all."

Zhao Heng shook his head vigorously, his tone filled with bewilderment and awe:

He was perpetually shrouded in a thick black mist, concealing his form, appearance, and all aura, making it impossible to discern his true nature.

"But he is definitely more than just Stellar Fifth Metamorphosis cultivator; his cultivation level is unfathomable."

"He only instructed the younger generation to find a way to go up the mountain and cause trouble, as long as they lured the master from Qingfeng Temple out of the mountain gate; I didn't need to concern myself with anything else."

"This junior is but a mortal with limited vision. I mistakenly believed that the experts in the temple were at most at the Early Stage of the Twelfth Realm. Relying on my own cultivation at the Stellar Fifth Metamorphosis, I thought I had victory in the bag and rashly came here in person... I was short-sighted and ignorant of my own limitations!"

"So, you personally came to your death." Chen Du calmly picked up on his words, cutting to the chase.

Zhao Heng lowered his head, his face filled with shame and fear, and dared not utter a single word in rebuttal.

A gentle evening breeze caressed the bamboo courtyard, which was completely silent.

A moment later, Chen Du suddenly looked up at him and asked softly, "Who do you think is stronger, Heaven Slayer or me?"

This sudden question made Zhao Heng look up abruptly and freeze in place.

The next instant, almost without thinking, he blurted out from the bottom of his heart, his tone utterly certain:

"Of course, the senior is stronger! They are worlds apart, incomparable!"

He swallowed hard, speaking rapidly, revealing his most genuine feelings:

"When Heaven Slayer shattered the formation with a single palm strike, his power was terrifying, but it was still tangible force. I can see the moves clearly, sense the flow of power, and predict the general trend. Even if it is powerful, there are still clues to follow."

"But that finger strike you just made, senior, was completely different!"

"Invisible, powerless, silent, without warning. I couldn't see the power, nor sense the killing intent, but at that moment, I felt as if the sky were falling and the earth was collapsing, and all things were annihilated."

"My Dao heart, cultivation level, soul, and foundation have been completely seen through and locked down from the inside out. I can no longer even control my own life and death!"

"The power of Heaven Slayer is a domineering force that shatters everything in its path."

"And the power of our predecessors is the supreme law that suppresses the soul and annihilates the Great Dao!"

Zhao Heng raised his eyes, his gaze filled with awe, and spoke with utmost sincerity:

"Heaven Slayer can break the formation, Senior can break the heart. These two are not even in the same league!"

Completely exhausted, Zhao Heng slumped against the wall, his chest heaving violently. He gasped for breath before suppressing the fear surging within him and continuing to confess in a low voice.

"Heaven Slayer, he promised me an enormous benefit back then."

He said that if I could successfully lure the master from Qingfeng Temple out of the mountain, he would give me a supreme divine pill.

Zhao Heng's tone was bitter, full of regret and resentment.

"This junior is stuck at the Stellar Fifth Metamorphosis, trapped for nearly a thousand years. During this thousand years, I have searched far and wide for rare and precious materials and exhausted all the ancient techniques of my sect, but I still cannot touch the threshold of the sixth stage. That insurmountable barrier of realms has firmly blocked my way, preventing me from advancing even half a step."

"That Heaven Slayer man personally promised that the divine pill would be enough to help me break through my limitations and reach the Stellar Sixth Transformation, and even have a chance to reach the seventh stage!"

Such temptation was an almost irresistible opportunity for him, who had been trapped in a predicament for two hundred years.

He swallowed hard, his saliva dry, and continued:

"Not only the divine pills. Afterwards, he will also gift my Tianyan Sect three complete spiritual veins, ten high-grade mines, and even grant my sect exclusive rights to operate the most prosperous ancient trade route within the Ling Dynasty."

"These resources, when stacked up, are equivalent to the accumulated foundation of my Tianyan Sect over three thousand years."

"In a moment of greed and blinded by greed, I thought it was nothing more than going up the mountain to provoke a fight and test a Daoist temple in the wilderness, nothing too heinous, so I rashly agreed to his orders."

Chen Du stood quietly in place, his expression calm, listening silently as he recounted the whole story without interrupting.

After he finished speaking, Chen Du slowly opened his mouth, his voice clear, cold, and steady:

"A person of unknown origin and identity, making empty promises—why would you risk your life for him? What makes you believe him?"

Zhao Heng's face turned pale suddenly. He struggled and hesitated several times, but finally dared not hide it and gritted his teeth to tell the most shocking secret.

"This junior... this junior has witnessed his terror firsthand, which is why I dare not disbelieve!"

"Heaven Slayer once secretly led a junior to infiltrate the Ling Dynasty Imperial Palace. The palace was heavily fortified with numerous restrictions and arrays, making it difficult for ordinary cultivators of the Twelfth Realm to move an inch. Yet he moved through it as if it were empty, with all restrictions and arrays automatically going silent without any hindrance."