Liu Tianjue's smile froze on his face.
He had never imagined that this puppet, powerful enough to rival a Spirit Realm First Level expert, would fail to last even ten exchanges against Su Yu.
"This... this is impossible!"
He sprang to his feet, moving so quickly that the teacup in his hand fell and shattered.
"You're only at the mortal realm ninth layer... how could you possibly break my divine sense control!"
Su Yu did not answer.
He walked toward Liu Tianjue, one step at a time.
With every step, his blood and Qi grew stronger.
Dark golden light flowed around him, scattering every wisp of corpse Qi that drew near.
"You're next."
Su Yu's voice was soft, yet it carried clearly throughout the courtyard.
Liu Tianjue's expression shifted from astonishment to savagery.
He looked at the black-robed man beside him.
"Lord Envoy, please kill him!"
"As long as you kill him, every business owned by the Liu Family is yours!"
The black-robed man let out a cold, sinister laugh.
He slowly turned around and slammed his white bone staff against the ground.
A ring of green ripples spread outward, knocking over all the dozens of Demon Suppression Guards and zombies fighting nearby.
"Interesting."
"A youngster whose spirit refinement has only just broken through to the Spirit Realm, yet you've mastered the power of divine sense so easily."
"With talent like that, if I took you back and refined you into a 'Heavenly Corpse,' the Lord Protector would surely be delighted."
The black-robed man removed his thick disguise.
What he revealed was a face covered in centipede-like scars.
He looked at Su Yu as though admiring a perfect work of art.
"Junior, remember my name."
"Yin Jiuyou, serving under the Ninth Protector of the Demon God Cult."
He raised his hand. A bloody fissure split open in his palm, and a blood-red centipede crawled out.
The centipede gave a piercing hiss, and a pair of transparent cicada wings actually sprouted from its back.
"Go. Eat him."
The blood-red centipede turned into a streak of red light and lunged straight at Su Yu's face.
Su Yu did not move.
His divine sense had already locked onto the demonic insect.
His black-and-gold saber traced a semicircle through the air.
Clang!
When the blade struck the centipede, it actually rang out like clashing metal.
The centipede was sent flying and tumbled several times through the air, but it steadied itself again without a scratch.
Su Yu frowned slightly.
This creature's shell was actually harder than the puppet from before.
"Su Yu, watch out! That's a Blood Spirit Gu! It feeds on people's blood essence!"
Lin Xiao called out a warning from the side.
While Yin Jiuyou's attention was focused on Su Yu, Lin Xiao began clearing out the green-haired zombies nearby.
Watching the blood-red centipede dive at him again, Su Yu abruptly spread his left hand.
The power of divine sense gathered in his palm.
Since physical attacks have limited effect, I'll try an attack on its soul.
Buzzz-!
A powerful mental fluctuation swept outward in a fan with Su Yu at its center.
The blood-red centipede abruptly stalled in midair.
Unmistakable fear appeared in its tiny compound eyes.
"Now."
Su Yu closed in instantly.
Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist erupted at full power.
Rather than striking the centipede, he drove this punch straight at Yin Jiuyou a short distance away.
To capture the bandits, first capture their king.
Yin Jiuyou clearly had not expected Su Yu to act so decisively.
He snorted coldly and held his white bone staff across his chest.
"You overestimate yourself."
Fist met staff.
Violent force burst forth.
Yin Jiuyou did not budge, but the recoil forced Su Yu back three steps.
"Spirit Realm Second Level?"
Sensing the abyss-like presence within his opponent, Su Yu inwardly grew wary.
"Brat, you're not the only spirit-refining martial artist."
Yin Jiuyou grinned viciously. He, too, was a spirit-refining martial artist, and he was at the Spirit Realm Second Level.
There was an enormous gap between each level of the Spirit Realm, so he was completely confident he could suppress Su Yu.
Yet at that moment, the corners of Su Yu's mouth curved into a cold smile.
Suddenly, alarm bells rang in Yin Jiuyou's heart.
He whipped his head around.
The blood-red centipede, which had been cowed by divine sense, had somehow circled around behind his head.
Su Yu's punch had only been meant to draw his attention. In secret, he had already used the power of divine sense to forcibly alter the centipede's flight path.
"You..."
Before Yin Jiuyou could finish speaking,
the blood-red centipede plunged viciously into the back of his neck.
"Aaaah-!"
A shrill, agonized scream tore from Yin Jiuyou's mouth.
His scar-covered face instantly twisted.
He had never imagined that the life-bound Gu he had raised for over a decade would turn on him at a moment like this.
"My Gu... what did you do!"
Yin Jiuyou clawed madly at the back of his neck, but all he could tear off were chunks of bloody, mangled flesh.
Su Yu stood a short distance away, keeping the centipede firmly suppressed with his divine sense.
The Spirit-Seizing Art could not only attack, but also briefly interfere with the perceptions of demonic insects with low intelligence.
In that instant, he had made the centipede perceive Yin Jiuyou as the enemy posing the greatest threat.
There was something else, too: although Su Yu had only just broken through to the Spirit Realm First Level in spirit refinement, he felt that his divine sense was incredibly condensed, even surpassing Yin Jiuyou's, who was also a spirit refiner and at the Spirit Realm Second Level.
He felt this might have something to do with having lived two lives, his soul being far stronger than an ordinary person's.
"Die."
Without giving his opponent any chance to catch his breath, Su Yu moved like lightning.
His black-and-gold saber swept out in an arc of resolute light.
Wind Falls Silent, Leaving No Trace.
Su Yu poured all his remaining spiritual power into this strike.
Yin Jiuyou's eyes widened in terror, and he tried to swing his staff to block.
But the Blood Spirit Gu was devouring the blood essence within his body in a frenzy, slowing his movements by far more than a little.
Squelch.
The blade sliced across his throat.
A head, its expression still astonished, shot into the sky.
Blood gushed out, staining Liu Tianjue's grand armchair a glaring scarlet.
[Killed a Spirit Realm Second Level Ghost Shadow Sect deacon. Slaughter Points gained: 200] [Current Slaughter Points: 420]
Su Yu leaned on his saber, his chest heaving.
Killing two Spirit Realm experts in succession across a major realm gap had pushed his body to the brink of its limits, even with the replenishment from his perfected Suppressing Prisons and Subduing Demons.
He turned his head, his gaze settling on Liu Tianjue.
He looked at the corpses strewn across the ground, at Yin Jiuyou's head that had rolled to his feet.
Shock, regret, unwillingness to accept it-one strange emotion after another appeared on his face.
"You little bastard of the Su Family! Had I known this day would come, I should have cut the weeds out by the roots and sent you and your father straight to the Yellow Springs together!"
Liu Tianjue's expression was dark, his face filled with killing intent.
"Liu Tianjue, surrender! The Liu Family is finished!"
Lin Xiao flickered over and stood shoulder to shoulder with Su Yu.
With his Spirit Realm Second Level strength, it had not taken him long to clear out most of the green-haired zombies. The situation had now stabilized and swung in the Demon Suppression Guard's favor.
"Heh!"
"Surrender? In your next life! All of you must die!"
Liu Tianjue spoke in an icy tone.
And the instant his voice fell, deep within the Liu Family compound, from the well that had originally run dry,
a plume of black Qi, dense to the extreme, shot into the sky.
A massive clawed hand covered in red hair abruptly clamped onto the rim of the well.