109: Chapter 109 You are now surrounded by me alone.

Mo Zixing let go of Liu Qingyan's hand and gently set Sect Master Bai Ruotong down on the ground.

He brushed the dust off his hands, shoved them into his pockets, and took a leisurely step forward.

"It's too late to surrender now!"

Zhou Heng gave a cold laugh and raised the scimitar in his hand.

"If you know what's good for you, tell me your background, and I might just leave your corpses intact."

"No, no, no."

Mo Zixing raised a hand to interrupt him, a smile actually appearing on his face.

"The one who should surrender is actually you."

He pointed at the surrounding Qingyun Sect Disciples, his tone flat yet filled with sheer arrogance.

"Every single one of you here has been surrounded by me alone."

"Surrender now, and I might just leave your corpses intact."

Zhou Heng froze for a moment.

Then, he burst into a fit of laughter.

He looked at the dozen or so Disciples surrounding them, all holding Magical Artifacts.

Then he looked at Mo Zixing and the two women trapped in the middle.

One person surrounding all of them?

It was as if he had heard the world's greatest joke.

"You haven't been scared witless, have you? We outnumber you more than nine to one. Even if you have a cultivation at the Early Stage of Crystallization, it's useless."

"Go! Kill them for me!"

Before Zhou Heng could finish his sentence...

A sharp whistling sound pierced the air.

A Flying Sword, woven with the spiritual power of the three attributes—Thunder, Fire, and Wood—appeared out of thin air.

Accompanied by the howling wind...

...it pierced through Zhou Heng's chest from behind.

The lightning arcs and flames on the Flying Sword rapidly spread along the wound.

In almost an instant, his internal organs were destroyed.

With a single strike...

...the Flying Sword's momentum did not decrease.

It circled in the air...

...and landed steadily by Mo Zixing's hand.

The smile on Zhou Heng's face froze.

He looked down at the bloody hole in his chest, then looked up at Mo Zixing.

His eyes were filled with disbelief.

He was at Crystal Stage Level 5.

Even though he had seemed careless, he hadn't truly relaxed and had been protecting himself with Spiritual Qi the whole time.

To be able to break his defense so easily, could this guy be...

Before he could finish his thought...

...he collapsed straight back.

His breath was gone.

The other surrounding Qingyun Sect Disciples also fell silent instantly.

They looked at each other in shock.

No one expected...

...that a young-looking man could actually insta-kill Elder Zhou, who was at Crystal Stage Level 5, in a single move.

"What are you waiting for? Attack together!"

"He definitely won't let us go. We have the numbers, fight him!"

Someone shouted.

The remaining dozen or so Disciples finally reacted, gritting their teeth as they charged toward Mo Zixing.

Liu Qingyan instinctively wanted to step forward to help.

But she suddenly felt an extremely terrifying aura emanate from Mo Zixing's body.

Mo Zixing stood in front of her and gave a light wave of his right hand.

"I told you, you've been surrounded by me."

A dozen identical three-colored Flying Swords of Thunder, Fire, and Wood condensed behind the Qingyun Sect Disciples.

They truly formed a circle, their tips all pointed at the Disciples' backs, surrounding them completely.

"Myriad Spirit Sword Art."

He softly uttered those four words.

A dozen Flying Swords shot out simultaneously, turning into streaks of light that shuttled through the crowd.

Screams rose one after another.

In just three short seconds...

...all the Disciples who had charged forward collapsed to the ground.

Only one who was slow to run still stood there.

"I surrender!"

Seeing his fellow Disciples fall one by one, that Disciple had no Battle Intent left.

He quickly threw his weapon aside, raised his hands, and knelt down.

"Please, Great One, spare my life!"

Mo Zixing waved his hand without saying a word.

The Disciple thought he had been spared.

But before he could even say thank you, one of the many Flying Swords swept across.

It sealed his words in his throat.

"You just killed them all like that?"

Sect Master Bai Ruotong walked over and asked with some surprise as she looked at the corpses littering the ground.

"Why? Do you think I'm too ruthless?"

Mo Zixing glanced at her and simply shrugged.

"They just said they were going to kill me, so they had to be prepared to be taken out by me instead."

As he spoke, he counted the number of corpses.

"One, two..."

"Hmm, not a single one missed."

After confirming that no one had escaped, he rummaged through the pile of corpses again.

He found an Elder's Token engraved with the Qingyun Sect's emblem, as well as a significant number of Spirit Stones.

Mo Zixing casually swept them into his Storage Pouch.

With a wave of his hand, a blast of spiritual power swept up all the corpses and gathered them together.

Mo Zixing summoned the Nine Heavens Swift Thunder Fire and tossed it onto the pile of corpses.

A raging fire instantly ignited.

It burned every trace to ashes.

Once the fire died out, only a pile of grayish-white ash remained.

He dug a simple hole in the ground.

He buried the ashes inside.

Then he stomped it flat with his foot.

Not a single trace was left.

"It's best not to leave any evidence."

Mo Zixing brushed the dust off his hands and said,

"I still remember everything Revered Master told me."

Liu Qingyan walked over, her eyes full of relief and pride as she watched his clean and efficient actions.

"You did the right thing."

She said softly,

"If you're going to do it, do it thoroughly. There's no need to be soft-hearted toward enemies."

Sect Master Bai Ruotong also just nodded.

This approach seemed perfectly normal to her.

In fact, she would have been disappointed if Mo Zixing had shown mercy and chosen to let them go.

On the interface...

...her affection bar rose a bit more.

"Let's go and open the Secret Realm entrance."

Sect Master Bai Ruotong was the first to turn around, taking small steps toward the depths of the valley.

Mo Zixing and Liu Qingyan followed behind her, and they soon arrived at an open, flat area.

In the center of the clearing stood a boulder as tall as two people, its surface covered in obscure runes.

"This is the place."

Sect Master Bai Ruotong stepped forward and made a few quick strokes on the runes.

"If I remember correctly, injecting spiritual power into the groove in the center of the runes will open the Secret Realm passage."

Mo Zixing nodded and stepped forward.

He pressed his palm into the groove in the center of the boulder.

Pure spiritual power was continuously injected into it.

The runes on the boulder gradually lit up with a golden glow, emitting a rumbling sound.

A small vortex-like entrance slowly formed in front of the boulder.

"Yes, this is it."

Sect Master Bai Ruotong looked at the entrance, a hint of nostalgia actually flashing in her eyes.

Then, she took the first step inside.

"Let's go."

Mo Zixing held Liu Qingyan's hand and followed closely behind.

In the blink of an eye...

...the three of them appeared in a different area.

They were surrounded by a primeval forest that blotted out the sun.

The trees were exceptionally tall.

The foliage was so thick that not even sunlight could penetrate through.

In the air, besides the dense Spiritual Qi, there seemed to be a faint scent of blood.

Sect Master Bai Ruotong looked at the surroundings, her small brow furrowing.

"Something's wrong."

She shook her head, her tone carrying a hint of solemnity.

"This place seems a bit different from when I first came here."

"Back then, there was no forest here at all, only a stone forest."

"And... I can't sense the location of the Secret Realm's core anymore."