Who Was the Prey

"Senior Brother, why waste words on this devil? Let's attack together and take him down!"

The young man standing at the front could no longer hold himself back and drew his sword. The other disciples beside him were likewise eager to try, unleashing their spells.

Killing a demonic cultivator not only earned rewards from the sect, it was also something worth boasting about. They had finally encountered such an opportunity after coming all this way—how could they let it slip away so easily?

Facing the Divine Firmament Sect disciples charging toward him, Ye Xiu merely snorted coldly, showing no sign of panic.

With the Soul-Burning Art driven to its limit, his body seemed to become a bottomless abyss, drawing in the vast spiritual energy around him in a mad rush.

The young man only saw a blur before his eyes, then felt an immense force strike him. His body flew backward beyond his control.

Spells rained down in a dense, chaotic storm, yet Ye Xiu walked among them as though strolling through a garden, not a single leaf touching him.

Even after the Divine Firmament Sect disciples squeezed out the last thread of spiritual energy in their bodies, they could not inflict even the slightest injury upon Ye Xiu.

On the contrary, when Ye Xiu reached them, not one of them could withstand even his most casual strike.

There were no flashy techniques. With nothing more than a Soul-Extinguishing Dagger, Ye Xiu effortlessly tore a huge opening through their encirclement.

Seeing their fellow disciples sprawled across the ground, dead or alive unknown, the surrounding Divine Firmament Sect disciples finally realized that something was wrong.

"This isn't right! He's at the great perfection of the ninth level of Qi Condensation! Everyone, retreat!"

At last, a more perceptive disciple cried out, and only then did the others try to flee in terror.

But over a distance of mere dozens of meters, how could they possibly escape Ye Xiu?

One strike per person. In less than a few breaths, every one of those Divine Firmament Sect disciples had been knocked to the ground, wailing in pain.

Although he had dealt with them using only half his strength, Ye Xiu did not feel the slightest bit relaxed.

He could sense that the pair of eyes above had been watching him all along.

Looking at Yun Tingxiao in the sky, Ye Xiu said calmly, "The formation has been destroyed, and I haven't killed anyone. Shall we part ways here?"

He had only just broken through, and Yun Tingxiao's background was unknown. Ye Xiu truly had no desire to fight to the death.

That was why he had deliberately held back and spared every Divine Firmament Sect disciple. He believed the other man could see that.

"Are you negotiating terms with me?"

"Merely making a suggestion."

Their gazes met, and the scene fell silent at once.

After a long while, Yun Tingxiao suddenly smiled.

"Your cultivation art is not bad. You are only at the ninth level of Qi Condensation, yet your body rivals that of the Foundation Establishment Realm."

Ye Xiu said nothing. This was a change brought about after his ability awakened, and while dealing with those disciples just now, he had already fully grasped it.

"What a pity. I, Yun Tingxiao, have never negotiated with ants."

The moment his words fell, his sword left its sheath.

A streak of lightning burst from the blade.

The true inheritance of the Divine Firmament Sect, the foremost righteous sect in the Clear River Domain, revealed its sharp edge.

"Kneel and accept death, and I'll leave your corpse whole!"

Without even needing to use his divine sense, Ye Xiu knew that even a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Condensation would have their soul scattered and spirit dispersed if they took this attack head-on.

With a tap of his foot, he flashed away and directly evaded the strike.

Rather than being displeased at seeing Ye Xiu dodge, Yun Tingxiao's face revealed a hint of amused interest.

"Then let me see how many times you can dodge."

Sword light flowed, and lightning poured down like a torrential rain.

Spells that a ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivator would have to exhaust themselves to cast came as easily to Yun Tingxiao as eating and drinking.

"Senior Brother is mighty! This devil is as good as dead!"

"Just as expected—once Senior Brother Yun acts, no one can stand against him!"

Seeing Ye Xiu nearly unable to find even a place to set foot beneath that lightning, forced into nothing but evasion, the disciples who had retreated to the rear were immediately invigorated.

In their eyes, Yun Tingxiao was simply playing cat and mouse. This devil had dared to lay hands on his fellow disciples—he was courting death!

Later, they would make him endure the agony of a thousand cuts, until even his soul was annihilated, before he could repay this sin.

Under the ever-increasing lightning, Ye Xiu's movements grew more and more difficult.

Yet no one noticed that the distance between Ye Xiu and Yun Tingxiao was steadily shrinking.

At last, Yun Tingxiao seemed to have grown tired of this game of cat and mouse.

His grip around the sword tightened, and the number of lightning bolts in the sky abruptly doubled.

"It's over!"

At Yun Tingxiao's command, lightning completely sealed off Ye Xiu's surroundings.

With less than three feet remaining between them, the lightning prison bound Ye Xiu.

"Over?"

"No. It's only beginning!"

Looking at Yun Tingxiao so close before him, Ye Xiu suddenly wore a wild smile.

This physique, different from that of cultivators of the same realm, was merely an incidental benefit.

The ability that had evolved in the Wasteland World was only now about to bare its fangs in this world of cultivation.

"Annihilation of Ten Thousand Arts!"

Golden light exploded from his body, and Ye Xiu easily passed through the lightning prison that had once been fatal.

"What?"

Panic flashed across Yun Tingxiao's face as he stared at Ye Xiu.

He wanted to flee, but Ye Xiu erupted with a terrifying speed that even he could not react to.

"Get down!"

An irresistible, tremendous force smashed Yun Tingxiao directly from the sky.

The lofty heaven-blessed genius fell from the heavens and crashed to the ground in utter humiliation, face-first in the dirt.

"Bastard! You deserve death!"

The immense humiliation made Yun Tingxiao's eyes fly wide open, but his answer was Ye Xiu's rapidly enlarging fist.

Bang, bang, bang...

Ye Xiu pinned Yun Tingxiao to the ground and beat him so thoroughly that he had no chance to fight back. Whenever he tried to retaliate, Ye Xiu's fists only came down heavier than before.

The Divine Firmament Sect disciples watched in dumbfounded disbelief as their arrogant Senior Brother was beaten as freely as an ordinary mortal before their very eyes.

Bang!

Ye Xiu smashed the bruised and swollen Yun Tingxiao deep into a pit.

He slowly raised his head and swept his cold gaze over the crowd. Every Divine Firmament Sect disciple he looked at felt ice run through their entire body.

Ye Xiu revealed a chilling smile.

Down in the pit, Yun Tingxiao was disheveled and wretched, bearing none of his earlier immortal grace.

"You... how dare you humiliate me like this..."

"Do you know who you have provoked? You will die horribly. I will extract your soul and cast it into the Bright Furnace, refining it for hundreds of thousands of years..."

With a clear ring, Ye Xiu pulled Yun Tingxiao's sword from the ground.

Even without spiritual energy driving it, the cold gleam flashing from its blade proved that it was no ordinary sword.

"Do you think you still have that chance?"

Holding the sword, Ye Xiu walked toward Yun Tingxiao.

"Y-you, what are you doing?"

Seeing the sword in Ye Xiu's hand, Yun Tingxiao showed fear for the first time.

This sword had been personally bestowed by a True Lord. The lightning arts attached to it could directly wear away a cultivator's soul. It had originally been meant to make it easier for him to slay demons and eliminate evil, but now it had become the bell tolling his death!

"I am the direct disciple of Lei Xiao, the Supreme Elder of the Divine Firmament Sect! If you kill me, my sect will never let you off—Aah!"

Before Yun Tingxiao could finish speaking, the sword in Ye Xiu's hand pierced through his skull.

Seeing that their Senior Brother had truly been killed, the surrounding Divine Firmament Sect disciples were frozen where they stood in terror.

After a moment, someone suddenly jolted awake and tried to flee, but after taking only one step, his chest was pierced through by the Soul-Extinguishing Dagger.

"When cutting grass, one must pull out the roots."

Ye Xiu looked at the panicked Divine Firmament Sect disciples before him, his eyes turning cold.