73: Chapter 73 King Level
Wu Peng's body slowly recovered; he glanced at the falling Yang Zheng and breathed a sigh of relief. This madman was finally dead.
If he himself had not reached the Heavenly-Rank Peak, he likely would have perished here as well.
As for Lu Gao... it was better that he died; one less competitor meant more resources.
Yang Zheng's corpse gently came to a stop the moment it touched the ground, without stirring up a speck of dust.
High in the sky, Xiao Shun looked at Yang Zheng's corpse with a complex expression, his eyes filled with an unreadable mix of sorrow and confusion.
On the ground, Chi Anlin watched Yang Zheng's corpse, a stifled feeling rising in his heart that eventually transformed into a mournful, low moan.
The mentor who had been joking with him yesterday, scratching his head in that honest, simple way, had fought for his sake and died because of him.
For a moment, Chi Anlin felt dazed. Why?
Why would he risk his life for him, and why would he burn his life force without a moment's hesitation?
Chi Anlin looked at Xiao Shun, his eyes bloodshot and filled with resentment. Perhaps Xiao Shun truly had his own hidden difficulties, but to go astray because of such difficulties and watch his own junior martial brother die in battle—
He would never understand.
Sensing Chi Anlin's gaze, Xiao Shun looked over.
"Sect Master, I regret it." Xiao Shun sighed softly, his eyes full of pain.
A soul screamed as it was pulled, mixed with blood energy, and merged into the blood curtain behind him. This was Lu Gao's soul and essence blood; even if he was no match for Yang Zheng, he was still a dignified Heaven Rank Expert.
The next moment, Xiao Shun made his move. A massive amount of mental energy transformed into a skull and charged toward Wu Peng.
"Xiao Shun! How dare you!" A terrifying shout rang out, nearly shattering Chi Anlin's eardrums, but Xiao Shun did not stop his actions and struck directly at Wu Peng.
How could the severely injured Wu Peng be a match for Xiao Shun? He turned pale with fright and cried out, "Xiao Shun! Kill me, and the Sect Master will not let you off!"
He had originally thought that Xiao Shun was merely tempted by profit, causing him to turn against Yang Zheng, but he had never expected that Xiao Shun was actually a member of the evil cult.
The next moment, the skull swallowed him in one gulp, and the floating vengeful spirits began to gnaw on his body and soul.
High in the sky, the aura on Xiao Shun's body changed abruptly and began to coalesce. Unlike Yang Zheng's burning of his life force, he was absorbing the souls and essence blood of two Heaven Rank Experts, preparing to force a breakthrough.
"This simpleton has been stupid his whole life, and this is the only time he's ever been smart." Blood-colored patterns appeared on Xiao Shun's body, and his eyes became even more scarlet.
Under Chi Anlin's dazed gaze, a massive hand covering the sky appeared in the air, reaching out to grab the demonic Xiao Shun.
"Xiao Shun, do you really think that by relying on demonic arts to force a breakthrough to the King Realm, you can rival me?"
Under that massive hand covering the sky, Xiao Shun was as insignificant as a blade of grass trembling in the wind and rain. This was also the first time Chi Anlin had witnessed a King Realm expert make a move; if not for the protection of Xiao Shun's mental energy, he might have already been crushed into a bloody pulp by the pressure of the giant hand.
"The King Realm is strong, but so what?" Xiao Shun said with a smile, though his eyes were filled with indifference.
"If it weren't for my damaged foundation, what ability would you, this old dog, have to treat me as a chess piece? And what ability would you have to make me watch my junior martial brother die in vain!"
The blood curtain unfurled, and countless vengeful spirits wailed, like a procession of a hundred ghosts, momentarily blocking the descent of the giant hand.
A trickle of blood spilled from the corner of Xiao Shun's mouth. After all, he had forced his promotion to the King Realm using external forces; to defeat this person, he was still lacking.
Many vengeful spirits dissipated. Xiao Shun saw his former students, saw those innocent people, and even... saw his own daughter.
For the sake of power, he took one step after another, each one a mistake, and by the time he finally came to his senses, his hands were already stained with blood.
A bitter smile appeared at the corner of Xiao Shun's mouth as he looked at Chi Anlin on the ground: "Kid, a person cannot make the right choice at every step. In my pursuit of power, I even forgot that I was a human, a real, genuine human."
"I caused the deaths of my students, my daughter, and finally, my junior martial brother."
He gently closed his eyes, and a tear mixed with blood slid down. The surrounding vengeful spirits roared as they merged into Xiao Shun's body; suddenly, face after face appeared on Xiao Shun's body.
Their mouths constantly emitted wails and curses, but they grew weaker and weaker, eventually turning into Xiao Shun's voice.
Countless faces opened their mouths, some crying, some laughing, and said in unison: "I can no longer turn back."
All sorts of past events appeared before Xiao Shun's eyes.
When he made his first mistake and wanted to make amends, to pay it back, he realized he had no power to fill the void.
We can never repay the sins we have committed.
After the vengeful spirits entered his body, Xiao Shun's aura became even more powerful and appeared even more eerie.
"You trapped me for ten years, Thousand Mountain King; today shall be the moment of your fall!" The faces on Xiao Shun's body protruded and began to tear at each other. At this moment, his mental energy surged out like a flood breaching a dam, transforming into malicious ghosts from the Nine Netherworlds claiming lives, and it actually swallowed the giant hand whole!
"A mere fake King." A few more giant hands reached out, suddenly changing direction as they approached Xiao Shun, and grabbed toward Chi Anlin.
The next second, the giant hand shattered, and a sky-piercing blood-colored scythe appeared. A harsh, shrill scream came from Xiao Shun's mouth: "Trying to run? Old dog, you've lived in vain!"
The scythe swung, as if splitting the sky. An aged figure appeared in the sky, their physical body like a giant sun, radiating the power of life and blood.
The Thousand Mountain King's expression was somewhat ugly. If Xiao Shun had not rebelled, he could have taken Chi Anlin away without making a move, but now it was troublesome. Having exposed his identity, there was no place for him in the human world.
"Since that's the case, then you shall die here." The Thousand Mountain King said indifferently, and after grabbing Chi Anlin, he left quickly to avoid further trouble.
However... even if he did not take action, Xiao Shun would eventually be hunted down and killed by the human world. Demonic cultivators are intolerable to heaven and earth; no matter what hidden difficulties they have, they cannot escape death.
The phantom behind Xiao Shun lunged violently toward the Thousand Mountain King. At this moment, a bewitching light flickered in Xiao Shun's eyes, and the Thousand Mountain King's expression changed as he hurriedly protected his own sea of consciousness.
This person had also been a genius more than ten years ago, but he was fickle by nature and was eventually ambushed by him, remaining under his control for a long time.
He had thought this genius would fall because of this, but he hadn't expected that his mental energy had secretly advanced even further.
His sea of consciousness had a faint tendency to be torn open. The Thousand Mountain King roared, white light rising on his fist, and smashed it toward Xiao Shun.
《Imperial-Breaking Fist》!!
The surrounding space seemed to be on the verge of tearing apart, and the sound of explosions echoed across the sky. Xiao Shun frowned, the aura on his body fluctuating, and in an instant, he transformed into more than a dozen figures.
Above the figures, a ghost holding a scythe appeared and simultaneously slashed toward this fist.