The demonic saber shattered, and the bloody light dispersed.
Xue Yutang's figure stumbled out from the powdery debris filling the sky.
His entire body was shriveled like an ancient corpse that had been air-dried for years. All light had faded from his eyes, leaving behind only endless terror and despair.
He had lost—lost utterly, lost beyond all reason.
Everything he had once taken pride in had been as fragile as a joke before his opponent.
Lu Shaoyou stood with cudgel in hand, the golden radiance withdrawn. The power of the Twelve Dragon-Elephants flowed slowly through his body, giving him an unprecedented sense of control.
He looked at Xue Yutang, who had truly reached the end of the road, his gaze cold and utterly devoid of pity.
Those who killed would eventually be killed.
Since he had set such a venomous trap, he should have been prepared to be killed in return.
Lu Shaoyou slowly raised the Qi Mei Cudgel in his hand, preparing to send his opponent on his way and settle the karma between them once and for all.
Yet just as he was about to strike, an unexpected change occurred!
"Lu Shaoyou! Just you wait! This isn't over! My father will never let you off! I'll be waiting for you at Blood Saber Peak!!"
A shrill, hate-filled roar seemed to rise from the Nine Nether Hells.
Xue Yutang's shriveled body suddenly exploded with a bang, turning into an incomparably dense cloud of blood mist.
Immediately afterward, that cloud of blood mist condensed into a slender streak of blood at a speed utterly beyond reason, disregarding the distance of space itself.
With one flash, it was already a hundred zhang away. With another, it vanished beyond the horizon.
A Demonic Sect secret art—the Blood Escape Great Law!
This life-saving secret art, which burned one's essential blood as its price, was so swift it was nearly teleportation. Even Lu Shaoyou had been unable to react in time.
"He ran?"
Lu Shaoyou raised an eyebrow slightly. Looking in the direction where Xue Yutang had disappeared, he was not particularly surprised.
For a demonic path tyrant like that, it would have been abnormal if he had not possessed a few life-saving tricks kept hidden at the bottom of his chest.
"Blood Saber Peak..."
He withdrew his gaze, weighed the iron cudgel in his hand, and a cold curve touched his lips.
The monk might run, but the temple could not.
He had intended to pay the Blood Saber Sect a visit anyway. Now, he was merely letting them live a few more days.
He turned around and surveyed the devastated summit of Soul Severing Cliff.
No corpses remained. Bloodstains covered the ground, enormous fissures crisscrossed the area, and the entire mountaintop platform had nearly been beaten several feet lower by sheer force.
The air still held the nauseating stench of blood and that evil aura of resentment.
A so-called martial gathering had ultimately turned into such a tragic conclusion.
Lu Shaoyou felt no ripple in his heart over it.
He merely found it a pity. If that final strike had landed solidly, he would have gained at least ten thousand Slaughter Value.
He casually slung the Qi Mei Cudgel over his shoulder and was about to turn and leave when his movements suddenly halted.
He slowly raised his head, his gaze flashing like lightning toward a lone peak not far away.
"You've watched the show for so long. Isn't it time to show yourselves?"
His voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly over.
As his words fell, two figures seemed to appear out of thin air, silently landing at the edge of Soul Severing Cliff.
The newcomers were the Golden-Masked Man and the Grey-robed Elder, who had been watching the fire from across the river all along.
Neither deliberately released an aura, yet simply standing there, they gave off a transcendent air utterly incompatible with this world.
It was as though they did not belong here, but had come from a world of a higher level.
Lu Shaoyou's pupils contracted slightly.
So strong!
From these two, he sensed pressure far beyond the innate realm, pressure even more terrifying than when Xue Yutang had wielded the demonic saber.
It was an absolute suppression on the level of life itself.
Especially the man wearing the golden mask. The power within him was deep as the sea and vast as an abyss. Before it, even Lu Shaoyou's current power of the Twelve Dragon-Elephants faintly felt as though it had been seen through.
These two had absolutely surpassed the innate realm!
The Golden-Masked Man did not respond to Lu Shaoyou's vigilance. His gaze swept over Soul Severing Cliff, which resembled an Asura battlefield.
At last, it settled upon Lu Shaoyou. Within his deep eyes was undisguised appreciation and... lingering fear.
"Young man, fine methods, fine strength, and even finer character."
He spoke slowly, his voice low and magnetic.
"Fortunately, you did not force a breakthrough just now. Otherwise, both you and I would likely be in great trouble today."
With a single sentence, he exposed the hair-raising moment from before.
Lu Shaoyou's heart tightened as he instantly linked the man's words to the system's prompt.
It seemed this so-called formation was no empty claim.
"Trouble? What trouble?" Lu Shaoyou knowingly asked, though his grip on the Qi Mei Cudgel tightened.
He could sense that these two bore him no ill will.
But as the saying went, one must never lack the heart to guard against others.
"Do you know why Martial Dao in Azure Province has declined over the past two hundred years, and why no one has been able to break through into the realm of a Transcendence Grandmaster?" Rather than answer directly, the Golden-Masked Man posed a question.
"I would like to hear the details."
The Golden-Masked Man gazed toward the horizon. His eyes seemed to pierce endless empty space, and a trace of heaviness entered his voice.
"Because the sky above Azure Province has been locked by a grand formation."
"This formation is called the Sky Locking Array."
"Two hundred years ago, when the national power of the Great Gan Dynasty was declining, the Outer Domain Demonic Sect joined forces with certain scum native to Azure Province. They expended countless resources to lay down this peerlessly vicious formation."
"Once the formation was completed, it cut Azure Province off from the world beyond."
"Anyone outside who reached the Transcendence realm could no longer enter Azure Province. Likewise, innate martial artists within Azure Province could not leave."
"The path upward was severed as well. They would forever be unable to sense the opportunity for breakthrough, trapped in the innate realm for their entire lives."
The Grey-robed Elder added from the side, "Not only that, the Blood River Spirit Sacrificing Array laid by Xue Yutang was merely a sub-formation of this Sky Locking Array."
"For the past two hundred years, the Demonic Sect has laid who knew how many similar blood sacrifice evil formations throughout Azure Province. Every activation produces a vast amount of blood calamity power."
"This power has been polluting the Qingzhou Dragon Vein buried deep beneath Azure Province, day and night without cease!"
The Golden-Masked Man took over, his voice growing colder still.
"Once the Qingzhou Dragon Vein is completely polluted, its connection to the dynasty's providence will be utterly severed. At that time, all of Azure Province will become a true land of demons! Living beings will be plunged into misery, and nothing will grow."
"Then the Demonic Sect will be able to use this place as a forward outpost for invading Great Gan. Faced with such consequences, even the Imperial Court will be powerless to turn the tide."
His words were like peals of thunder exploding within Lu Shaoyou's heart.
He finally understood why the system had warned that forcing a breakthrough would draw the attention of the strongest figures of the age.
So such a world-shaking conspiracy had been hidden behind it all.
Yet doubts still remained in his heart.
Lu Shaoyou looked at the two men before him, his gaze sharp as a blade.
"Since you say Transcendence Grandmasters cannot enter Azure Province, how did you two get in?"
He could be absolutely certain that these two—especially the Golden-Masked Man—had strength that had definitely surpassed the innate realm.
His question was sharp and direct.
At those words, the Grey-robed Elder's expression changed slightly.
The Golden-Masked Man, however, seemed to have expected it.
"Great Gan, Demon Suppressing Division, Commander-in-Chief, Qin Wuya."
He announced his identity, every word seeming to bear the weight of a thousand jun.
"As for how we entered..." A complicated, unreadable emotion flashed through Qin Wuya's eyes. "Naturally, we paid an enormous price. As for what that price was, you need not know for now."
"The Demon Suppressing Division?" Lu Shaoyou savored the name.
This was the most mysterious and most powerful violent institution of the Great Gan Dynasty. It specialized in suppressing demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters throughout the realm, wielding immense authority.
Its Commander-in-Chief was even more a legendary figure who held power over court and country, a divine dragon whose head was seen but whose tail was not.
He had not expected such a man to appear in this little Azure Province.
Qin Wuya stared at him with blazing eyes and finally revealed the purpose of his visit.
"Lu Shaoyou, with your talent and strength, it would be far too regrettable for you to remain confined to this corner of Azure Province."
"Are you interested in joining the Demon Suppressing Division?"
"As long as you nod, you will receive the dynasty's support."
"Cultivation methods, pills, divine weapons, every kind of resource—so long as your ability is sufficient, you may take whatever you need! Even the position of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Demon Suppressing Division is not impossible."
Those words carried no small weight.
Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Demon Suppressing Division—this was a position and honor enough to drive ninety-nine percent of the martial artists in the world mad.
Yet after hearing it, Lu Shaoyou merely curled his lip, shifted the Qi Mei Cudgel on his shoulder to the other side, and looked utterly uninterested.
"Not interested."
Before you continue