71: Liyue's Struggle

Only Lady Hua Yu remained suspended in the Void Realm, her True Immortal pressure slowly receding. Her robes fluttered without wind, making her appear like a deity.

Her gaze swept over the mess below and the incredulous faces of the various experts before finally landing back on Chu Ye, to whom she gave a slight nod.

Chu Ye also withdrew the Chaos light and the world Origin suppression from his palm, clapping his hands as if he had only performed a trivial task. He looked at the despondent enemies and flashed a cold smile.

"Now, we can talk again. About who gets a seat at the table, and... who sets the rules of that table."

In the absolute silence, only heavy breathing remained, alongside the daze of having one's reality completely overturned.

The roles of hunter and prey had, at this moment, undergone an indisputable reversal.

As Chu Ye's voice fell, a deathly silence filled the area.

He didn't give these former "hunters" much time to react. Turning his gaze to Lady Hua Yu, he spoke in a flat but unquestionable tone, "Lady Hua Yu, please temporarily Seal their cultivation. Since they are guests, they should have the stability expected of guests."

"As you command."

Lady Hua Yu nodded. True Immortal power circulated, transforming into chains of immortal light containing the Law of Imprisonment, which shot accurately toward the Immortal Realm experts of the Myriad Dao Alliance, Divine Craft Workshop, Dragon Clan, and other factions.

As the Immortal Light Chains entered their bodies, everyone felt their Dantian and Sea of Consciousness instantly isolated by an immovable barrier. Their surging immortal power receded like a tide, making it impossible to mobilize even a shred of it.

Though their Realm remained, they were no different from a Mortal. Humiliation and shock-filled rage appeared on the face of every expert.

"Chu Ye! How dare you?!"

From the direction of the Shadow Pavilion, a hoarse voice barked. A pale, black-robed Elder, though imprisoned, still had a fierce look in his eyes. "Behind us stands the entire Central Region!"

"If you truly dare to imprison us today, you will be in a fight to the death with every transcendent power in the Central Region! When that time comes, there will be no place for you in the heavens or on the earth! Let us leave now, and perhaps there is still..."

His words came to an abrupt halt.

Chu Ye didn't even look at him, simply raising his hand casually.

A more condensed world power from the hundred phoenix diagram, closer to the Law of Origin, quietly descended, completely enveloping the black-robed Elder.

There was no world-shaking sound, nor were there any flashy Moves.

Under the horrified gazes of everyone, the body of that Shadow Pavilion Immortal Realm expert began to decompose from his fingertips, like weathered sand, dissipating bit by bit into primordial particles of light.

His struggles, his roars, and even his Divine Soul fluctuations were silently erased and annihilated during the same process.

Within a few breaths, an Immortal Realm powerhouse capable of founding a sect in an ordinary region had completely vanished from this world, leaving not a single trace behind.

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

The lingering resonance of that annihilation seemed to remain in the air, coldly brushing against everyone's Divine Soul.

The faces that had originally held a bit of hope or anger instantly turned deathly pale.

They finally realized with absolute clarity: this smiling young man before them was not bluffing. He truly dared to kill, and he truly had the means to make an Immortal... die so easily and so thoroughly.

"Who else wants to talk about 'consequences'?"

Chu Ye's gaze calmly swept across the field, his tone still gentle.

No one dared to respond; they even intentionally lightened their breathing. Absolute force and merciless deterrence had completely shattered the last shred of pride in the hearts of these former giants.

However, amidst this oppressive submission, a figure as cold as the moon but carrying a resolute refusal to yield slowly straightened her back.

It was Li Yue.

The blood on the corners of her mouth was not yet dry, and her face was slightly pale due to her sealed cultivation, but her eyes burned with a near-obsessive icy flame.

As the de facto core instigator of this joint siege, she could not accept such a miserable defeat, nor could she endure the fate of herself and her disciples becoming prisoners.

"By the moon as my oath, burn my Dao Foundation..."

She murmured an ancient and obscure incantation, and an unnaturally bright, pure light suddenly lit up around her.

That light did not come from the moonlight outside, but erupted from the deepest part of her body, carrying a sense of destructive burning.

Her originally sealed aura actually began to climb and surge frantically, forcibly breaking through part of the Seal set by Lady Hua Yu!

A pressure of power that far exceeded before and vaguely touched a new level began to spread from her!

Though unstable and full of self-destructive madness, it was indeed... a power fluctuation belonging to the True Immortal level!

"Palace Mistress!" The Elders of the Guanghan Immortal Palace cried out in shock and grief.

They recognized this as the forbidden secret technique [Moonfall], passed down through generations in the Guanghan Immortal Palace but strictly forbidden. It exchanged permanent damage to one's Dao Foundation and the burning of future potential for a temporary forced increase in Realm!

"True Immortal?!"

A final glimmer of hope suddenly erupted in the eyes of the people from the Myriad Dao Alliance, the Dragon Clan, and others.

If Li Yue could truly Breakthrough to True Immortal at this moment, even if only temporarily, they might be able to fight for a slim chance of survival!

Facing Li Yue's forced True Immortal pressure, Lady Hua Yu simply shook her head slightly, a hint of near-pitying mockery flashing in her eyes.

"The light of a firefly dares to compete with the brilliance of the moon?"

She didn't even Move her feet, simply extending a slender jade finger and pressing down toward Li Yue's direction.

There was no grand display, just the purest True Immortal Domain suppression, combined with a deeper understanding and control of the Laws of heaven and earth.

*Puff—!*

The wildly burning pure light around Li Yue was instantly dimmed and shattered, like a candle flame snuffed out by an invisible giant hand!

She violently spat out a large mouthful of blood, which was actually mixed with bits of ice crystals and broken Dao patterns.

The forcibly elevated power receded like a tide, and the backlash caused her aura to instantly wither to the extreme. She was in an even worse state than when she was first sealed, collapsing directly to the ground.

The hearts of the crowd, which had just risen with a sliver of hope, sank to the bottom once more.

Borrowed, superficial True Immortal power was so fragile before a genuine True Immortal like Lady Hua Yu.

Lady Hua Yu raised her hand, and a more solid chain of immortal light with even stronger sealing power fell, completely locking Li Yue down and stripping away her last possibility of struggle.

And at the very moment Li Yue's cultivation was completely sealed and she herself was extremely weakened by the backlash of the forbidden secret technique, another change occurred.

The medicinal power of the [heavenly soul disturbance fragrance], which she had been forcibly suppressing deep within her body with her thick cultivation, lost its crucial suppression and finally erupted like a bursting dam!

"Mm..." An extremely faint groan, completely different from her usual cold image, escaped from Li Yue's lips.

Her cheeks, originally as pale as snow, flushed with a startling crimson visible to the naked eye. Her eyes, which were always clear and indifferent, were instantly shrouded in a watery, blurred mist.

Her body began to tremble involuntarily, as if she were desperately fighting against that sudden, strange, and surging heat within her.

Although she gritted her teeth in an attempt to maintain her final bit of dignity and sobriety, her hurried breathing and slightly reddened ears gave her away.

The confusion and longing in her eyes that she couldn't completely hide were clearly seen by Chu Ye and everyone else present who was paying attention.

Chu Ye looked at this Palace Mistress of Guanghan, who had a score as high as 99 but was now caught in unprecedented embarrassment and inner conflict, and the corners of his mouth curled up in a meaningful smile.

"It seems," he spoke unhurriedly, "that we can start our discussion about the 'rules' with Palace Mistress Li Yue and take our time chatting."