Sending myself to death?

Hearing Orona say this, Hoshino Taki's heart sank, his brow furrowed with worry.

He knew well that the competition within the Royal Clan was brutal; despite their vast resources, the population was immense, and only the top-tier members were granted cultivation.

Having failed his mission and carrying the weight of his sins, returning to the clan would not only leave him defenseless but also bring shame upon his family, leaving his future fraught with uncertainty.

These thoughts coiled in his mind like venomous snakes, leaving him restless and unsettled.

He clenched his fists so tightly his nails dug into his palms, his voice urgent and uneasy: "So... what do you intend to do?"

It worked!

Orona's taut nerves finally relaxed, his heartbeat gradually steadying. He forced a smile, his tone as firm as if he were stating an obvious fact: "The best outcome is to let Wang Xuan kill us out of this plot world. Whether the mission succeeded or not, we'll have room to argue our case once we return to the clan. It's better than sitting here waiting for death."

"But... the God-Splitting Spike!" Hoshino Taki hesitated, his eyes full of dread, his voice dropping low. "If he really uses the God-Splitting Spike, we won't be able to resist at all! You know how terrifying that thing is. If we're hit, even if we exit the world, we'll suffer the agony of Soul-Splitting back home. It's a fate worse than death!"

Orona's gaze sharpened. He reached out to press down on Hoshino Taki's shoulder, speaking in a deep voice: "Wang Xuan might only use the God-Splitting Spike, but if we don't stop him, we'll face severe punishment and certain death upon returning. Both paths are a gamble, so we might as well choose the one that gives us a fighting chance to survive!"

"But!" Hoshino Taki still hesitated, his lips trembling slightly as he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.

"There are no 'buts'!" Orona's voice rose, his tone resolute, like an iron hammer striking a table. "This is our only path! Whoever gets killed out of the world by Wang Xuan first, gets to escape first. If you keep dawdling, once the cannon fodder is wiped out and Wang Xuan's hatred for the Royal Clan reaches its peak, he'll definitely show no mercy—he might actually use the God-Splitting Spike!"

Having said this, Orona gave Hoshino Taki no more time to hesitate.

He let out a low shout, and a golden light began to shimmer beneath his skin. His blood surged like boiling water, and waves of heat radiated from his body, scorching the wooden planks of the high platform beneath his feet until they turned charred black.

As a member of the Royal Clan, he lacked no resources. He primarily cultivated the Great Vajra Divine Power, paired with his S-rank talent [Bodhi Zen Heart]. He had already perfected the first sixteen of the thirty-two phases, mastering the forms of the Buddha, God, Human, Beast, Heavenly Dragon, Yaksha, Wisdom King, Vajra, Bodhisattva, Arhat, Elephant King, Lion King, Monkey King, Bear King, Tiger King, and Deer King.

The first sixteen phases focused on the exterior, on rigidity, offense, defense, speed, and power. When trained to perfection, the physical body became as steel, impenetrable to blades and spears, immune to fists and kicks. One phase, one form; one form, one strength. With form and strength united, he could truly be called a Vajra.

He moved, and the high platform shook with a boom. Covering several yards in a single stride, he leaped into the air, soaring upward with unstoppable momentum, like a Heavenly Dragon taking flight, charging straight toward the firmament.

High in the sky, Wang Xuan was brandishing his sword light, methodically picking off the fleeing Grandmaster Players one by one.

He hovered in mid-air using peerless light-body techniques, needing no footing to catch his breath or circulate his energy, appearing like a god or a demon.

Below, the commoners prostrated themselves on the ground, kowtowing like they were pounding garlic, muttering prayers and believing a deity had descended to earth.

Sword light rained down, and with every flicker, another Grandmaster servant fell. Blood flowed down through the gaps in the roof tiles, staining the streets below.

Just then, an incredibly powerful aura erupted from within the city.

The blood-energy was as thick as wolf-smoke, and the heat waves were so intense they distorted the air. From afar, that patch of sky looked as if it had been scorched by fire.

The newcomer was extremely fast; from the moment his aura was detected, it took only a few breaths for him to appear nearby.

A cold sneer curled Wang Xuan's lips. He hadn't expected another member of the Royal Clan to throw their life away.

He swept his hands across his waist. In his left hand, the Snow-Drinking Mad Blade emitted a biting chill, its blade glowing with a faint blue light; in his right, the Frost-Ling Sword shimmered with clear light, the red and blue patterns on its spine flickering slightly.

With blade and sword pointed toward the heavens, he unleashed the Sword Separating the World and the Six Styles of Proud Cold simultaneously.

His internal energy surged violently, rushing through his meridians like a bursting river. Under the amplification of the True Martial Seven-Section Formation, the sword light and blade aura swelled, taking on the force of a mountain-toppling strike as they slashed fiercely toward the golden figure below.

With the strength of a peak Grandmaster realm and the support of the True Martial Seven-Section Formation, he was virtually invincible in this world.

The blade aura was like a river flowing backward, and the sword qi was like a line dividing heaven and earth. The two forces intertwined, emitting a deafening roar that tore the very air into visible ripples.

Orona's pupils contracted sharply.

A cold chill shot from his tailbone straight to his crown, as if a basin of ice water had been dumped over his head.

He had considered that his target would be strong, but he hadn't expected this level of power. The sheer momentum of the opening strike was so overwhelming that he couldn't even bring himself to think of dodging.

(Searching for the book title yields no results; try searching for the author instead—perhaps the title was changed!)

A second thought crossed his mind, and infinite hope surged in his heart: under such a powerful strike, being killed in one hit and exiting the plot world immediately—wasn't that exactly what he wanted?

Orona pressed his palms together in the gesture of a Buddha, screaming in his heart: "It's coming, it's coming! Send me straight out of the plot world!"

To ensure he would be killed in one hit, he even actively reined in his Great Vajra Divine Power. The golden light on his skin dimmed significantly, and he pulled his internal energy back into his dantian, terrified that he wouldn't die fast enough.

Wang Xuan frowned. Using the Emperor's Qi-Gazing Technique combined with his Mystic Pupil ability, he saw the changes in Orona's aura clearly. The opponent's internal energy was rapidly retracting, and his blood-energy was no longer radiating outward—it was clearly a deliberate act of suicide, not a desperate struggle.

Such tricks were as transparent as glass in his eyes.

"Want to die? Then I won't give you the satisfaction!" Wang Xuan sneered, his hands trembling slightly.

The strike that had seemed capable of shattering the earth was forcibly reined in, with most of its power retracted.

The blade aura and sword light descended with a terrifying sound, but their true lethality was now less than ten percent.

Forcing the move back caused his internal energy to churn like boiling water, his blood-energy surged, and a sweet taste rose in his throat.

Fortunately, his physical body was formidable; this minor internal injury was easily suppressed within a few breaths by the healing properties of his various divine arts, and his complexion returned to normal.

The blade aura and sword light crashed down.

Orona felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if he had been rammed by a charging wild bull; it felt as though several of his ribs had snapped.

The immense, surging force slammed him downward. The wind whistled in his ears, houses and streets magnified rapidly in his vision, and the ground drew ever closer.

"Excellent, I'm about to die!" A surge of wild joy even welled up in his heart, and his lips curled upward involuntarily.

On the high platform, Hoshino Taki watched it all. He saw Orona actively meet the attack, saw the terrifying strike descend, and saw Orona plummeting like a stone.

"Orona, I'm coming!" Hoshino Taki felt a surge of wild joy, no longer hesitating in the slightest.

He moved, and in an instant, a cold wind howled, a chilling whirlwind whipping up out of thin air where he stood, sending roof tiles flying in all directions.

He moved like a phantom, darting forward in a flash as he lunged straight toward Wang Xuan, with only one thought in his mind: Kill me! Hurry up and kill me! Such a simple task, how wonderful! This mission must be executed! It's just a single life, after all!

High above, Wang Xuan had long since withdrawn his attention from the fleeing Grandmaster servant; the moment Hoshino Taki moved, he caught that cold, death-filled aura.

Yet he ignored the sinister presence closing in, instead shifting his body and pushing his speed to the limit, instantly overtaking the falling Orona.

Looking down at the strong man with blonde hair and blue eyes, who still wore an expectant smile on his face, he curled his lips into a cold sneer.

He swung the blade and sword in his hands, several flashes of cold light streaking out so fast that even afterimages were invisible; the Snow-Drinking Mad Blade and Frost-Ling Sword slashed alternately, their blade and sword energies weaving into a net that precisely sliced toward Orona's limbs and dantian.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Orona's smile froze on his face.

He felt a chilling, sharp pain erupt simultaneously in his limbs and dantian, and he opened his mouth to let out a hoarse scream, but the sound was swallowed by the howling wind.

Orona crashed to the ground, smashing through the roof of a civilian house as tiles and wood splinters flew everywhere, kicking up a cloud of dust.

He lay in the ruins, covered in blood, the cuts on his limbs terrifyingly clean as blood gushed out, staining the broken tiles beneath him red.

The gash at his dantian was even more shocking, his true qi leaking out relentlessly like air from a punctured balloon.

He could feel the peerless, fierce Great Vajra Divine Power within him dissipating rapidly like a receding tide, impossible to muster no matter how hard he tried.

With his sea of qi destroyed, nine-tenths of his cultivation was gone.

He had become a cripple, yet he remained alive, lying in this damned plot world, consciously feeling every inch of the agony.

"How... could this happen!"

A single lapse in judgment had led him to this state of being neither dead nor alive.