123: Fourth Generation: Overlord (19)

The coldness and resolution on the face of the copper-medal assassin who had lunged in for a swift strike froze instantly, replaced by boundless shock and disbelief!

He felt that his "Nirvana Soul-Shattering Stab" seemed to have collided with an invisible, intangible, yet indestructible barrier just an inch from Xu Yuan's body!

No, it was not a barrier; it was... the rejection of the Law!

"How is this possible?!" the assassin roared inwardly in frustration, "Even if he has achieved a Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, so what? Why is he capable of this?!"

He had assassinated many Foundation Establishment Cultivators and even had the experience of escaping from under the nose of a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection; otherwise, he would never have dared to accept this mission.

Yet, the feeling Xu Yuan gave him at this moment was vaguely similar to that of the Tower Master of the Shadow Tower, who was supreme and whom he revered like a god!

But... how could that be?!

His own Tower Master was a Golden Core True Person!

Only by condensing Qi into a core, completely transforming one's life level, could one possess such power to mobilize the energy of heaven and earth!

And Xu Yuan before him had only just achieved a Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, his aura not even fully stabilized yet; how could he, and how was he worthy to possess such power comparable to a Golden Core?!

Just in the ten-thousandth of an instant when the assassin's mind faltered and his momentum stalled—

Xu Yuan turned indifferently, pointed his fingers like a blade, and with a purple-gold Imperial Dao blade aura lingering around them, slashed through the air!

"Puff—"

Amidst a faint sound, the copper-medal assassin's figure trembled, the light in his eyes instantly extinguished, and along with his Dao Foundation and Divine Soul, he was directly reduced to nothingness under the overbearing Imperial Dao blade aura, his body and Soul destroyed!

A Foundation Establishment assassin, easily erased by Xu Yuan, who had just entered the Foundation Establishment stage, with a single word and a single finger!

The entire area around the altar was deathly silent.

Only the purple clouds in the sky churned, the pillar of Heavenly Dao light roared, and the omnipresent, Soul-shuddering Imperial Might and the aftermath of the Law remained.

Wang Qingshan and the other two froze in mid-air, looking at Xu Yuan on top of the altar, bathed in the light of the Heavenly Dao like an Innate God descended to the world. The shock in their hearts was like raging waves, far beyond the scope of what words could describe.

Yet, Xu Yuan acted as if he had only done a trivial thing.

After all, although he had just achieved a Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment in this life, in his previous life, he had already Cultivated to the Late Foundation Establishment Stage and had even broken into the top ten in the Southern Region Elite Battle; his combat experience was naturally rich.

Furthermore, unlike his previous life, the Dao Foundation Xu Yuan condensed in this life was a Perfect Dao Foundation. It not only reached the extreme of the Foundation Establishment realm in "quantity" but also underwent a transformation in "quality," possessing a trace of a pseudo-Golden Core status that surpassed ordinary Foundation Establishment!

Coupled with the fact that this Shadow Tower assassin focused only on assassination and concealment, with mediocre direct defensive methods, and his mind had faltered, he was able to succeed in one blow.

Xu Yuan stood in the center of the light pillar, his whole body exuding the majestic aura of a newly promoted Foundation Establishment, with an even more brilliant Imperial Might, like the rising sun, covering the wilderness.

The pale golden ripples of the Law slowly subsided, as if the scene just now, where his words became Law and he set the world in order, was merely an illusion.

However, the assassin's corpse at the edge of the altar, which was rapidly turning into fly ash, body and Soul destroyed, silently spoke of the reality and terror of that moment.

In the deathly silence, Wang Jue, who was standing among the crowd watching the ceremony, was struck by lightning, his blood feeling as if it had frozen instantly!

The muscles on his face were stiff, his pupils contracted into the most dangerous needle-like shapes, staring fixedly at the familiar yet strange figure on top of the altar.

"No... impossible... absolutely impossible!"

Wang Jue's heart was roaring wildly, and his Soul was trembling.

That was a copper-medal assassin from the Shadow Tower!

An Early Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator!

Proficient in assassination, with tricky methods, he had once successfully assassinated a Middle Foundation Establishment Stage expert!

In his estimation, even if the assassination failed, it should have been after a fierce battle, with the assassin escaping, or at least being able to severely injure Xu Yuan and interrupt this damned sacrificial ceremony.

He had never imagined it would end like this!

Fixing an assassin with a single word with power comparable to a Golden Core?

Erasing a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, along with his Dao Foundation and Divine Soul, into fly ash with a light flick of a finger?

This had completely exceeded Wang Jue's cognitive scope!

Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining were worlds apart, but the gap between an Early Foundation Establishment Stage and someone who had just achieved a Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment should absolutely not be this outrageous!

"What... exactly what kind of monster is he?!"

"That Cultivation Technique... Imperial Dao Cultivation Technique... could it really be this powerful?!!"

Boundless fear, like a cold tide, instantly drowned Wang Jue's heart, making him almost suffocate.

Following closely behind was an even more surging jealousy and resentment, scorching his internal organs like poisonous flames.

Why?!

Why wasn't such a Heaven-Defying Opportunity his?!

Why could this younger brother, whom he had never taken seriously, break common sense time and again, and now stand at a height he could not reach?!

Under the extreme emotional impact, although Wang Jue tried his best to restrain himself, his facial muscles still twitched uncontrollably. The undisguised shock, fear, and bone-deep resentment in his eyes were like flames lit in the darkness, though faint, they were exceptionally clear.

All his attention was fixedly attracted by Xu Yuan on the altar, and he completely failed to notice that a painful gaze had long since fallen upon him like an invisible shackle.

Below the altar, Wang Qingshan appeared to be vigilant, exchanging shocked and gratified glances with the Grand Elder and the Third Elder beside him, but his peripheral vision had never left his eldest son in the crowd, in whom he had placed high hopes.

From the moment the sacrificial ceremony began, Wang Qingshan had set aside a sliver of his mind to secretly watch Wang Jue.

When the assassin suddenly attacked, his heart was in his throat; when Xu Yuan displayed near-miraculous means to counter-kill the assassin, the heavy stone in his heart finally landed.

And it was in this gap of intense emotional transition that he keenly captured the extremely distorted expression on Wang Jue's face that absolutely should not have been there.

It was not worry, not lingering fear, nor was it the ecstasy of sharing in the glory.

It was shock, disbelief, the loss of composure after a plan was completely shattered, and... the intense malice directed at his own blood brother that was almost overflowing!

In an instant, the last shred of luck in Wang Qingshan's heart was completely shattered.

The terrible guess that had flashed through his mind when he received the message from the Third Elder about the Shadow Tower assassination now overlapped with the undeniable expression on Wang Jue's face.

It really was him...

It really was him!

An unspeakable pain and disappointment, like ten-thousand-year cold ice, instantly froze Wang Qingshan's heart.

He understood his eldest son's dissatisfaction due to the skewed allocation of resources, and could even tolerate the slight resentment born of jealousy.

But he never expected that Wang Jue would be so paranoid and so crazy!

Colluding with the Shadow Tower, assassinating his own younger brother, disregarding the Family's millennium plan, and treating blood kinship as nothing!

This was no longer a simple case of brothers fighting; this was destroying one's own Great Wall, placing personal desire above the survival of the Family!

It was an unforgivable betrayal!