Chapter 272: Crushing Sima Ru!

Disciples from the House of Grue Hunters would absorb special blood that allowed them to control grues. The result was that they either became gloomy and grim, or they became wild and erratic. Either way, they were always extremely hostile. Sometimes they looked normal on the outside, but on the inside, they were twisted. There were no exceptions. They didn’t get bothered by brutal injuries. The reason was that their coexistence with grues involved endless torment. They had no choice but to transcend physical pain, as they always had to deal with unimaginable suffering and backlash from the grues.

For years, the House of Grue Hunters had struggled with ways to deal with this. And they had experimented with many methods, though none of them were particularly effective. Grues were inherently cruel and vicious, and it was made worse by the influence of the broken face of the god. The only way to lessen the effects was to suppress the grues with a higher cultivation base.

However, the higher your cultivation base, the more terrifying the grues you could control. And few people could resist the temptation to rapidly get stronger by doing that. It was an endless cycle. The more progress one made, the more grues they would take into themselves, until they became grim and sinister from top to bottom and from inside to outside.

Disciples from the House of Grue Hunters endured constant torment, and it didn’t just give them twisted and vicious personalities. It also made them brutal in combat. What was more, their insane ways made them a big headache for the other sects to deal with.

When Sima Ru received Xu Qing’s reply, she almost couldn’t control the perverse ferocity within her. Apparently ignoring the advice from her superiors, and also the fact that the sect leader had explained she would probably lose this fight, she charged out of the House of Grue Hunters, becoming a bright beam of light that shot toward Seven Blood Eyes’ temporary headquarters in the Heavenmirror Treasure Sect.

Of course, plenty of cultivators noticed what was happening, as Sima Ru was not making any attempt to keep a low profile.

As she hovered in the air above the compound, her long white robe rippled in the wind, and her black hair drifted around her. Shockingly, the faint image of a majestic heavenly palace could be seen above her head. She emanated terrifying fluctuations, and within the image of the heavenly palace, it was possible to see a withered, decaying dwarf, suppressed into the form of a grue core. Countless suppressed grues surrounded the heavenly palace, all of them howling in grief and anguish.

Behind her was a huge ball of flesh that resembled the dancing balls that had been with her clone in Seven Blood Eyes. The difference was that this one was dramatically larger. It was also singing in a high-pitched voice.

“One, two, three, up to ten little friends;

“Paddy-cake paddy-cake with a sweetheart… rip out the lungs and dig out the heart;

“Leave only the head, it’s not horrible… dance in a circle, it’s so adorable!”

As the piercing voice echoed out everywhere, Sima Ru hovered above the Seven Blood Eyes compound, her face as pale as death, but her features incredibly stunning.

Smiling faintly, she said, “I’m here, Xu Qing.”

Though her voice was soft, her eyes were bloodshot, and she radiated terrifying pressure that caused vicious clouds to gather above her in the shape of a head. As winds screamed around her, the ball of flesh behind her shrieked and dropped down toward the compound.

But then a massive force hit the ball of flesh and sent it spinning in the opposite direction, shrieking loudly, a big chunk missing from it.

Xu Qing appeared, and with a single step, he rose from the compound up into the sky. Two umbrellas could be seen over his head. One was seven-colored and radiant, and surrounded by chanting wind. The other was black and covered with deadly fire.

The golden crow materialized behind him, letting loose a piercing cry into the sky, its flames covering Xu Qing like an imperial robe, and its wings showering sparks everywhere.

Xu Qing looked coldly at Sima Ru. Back in Seven Blood Eyes, he had killed her clone, therefore, he didn’t see any need for words. Unleashing his six-flame battle prowess, he launched a fist strike at her.

Master Seventh had requested that he fight for prestige, and therefore, he decided to go all out.

That fist contained the power of all of his 101 dharma apertures, the golden crow techniques, his three life flames, and his two life lamps. That was the very peak of the six-flame level.

The dome of heaven seemed to cave in slightly as the head of clouds above Sima Ru exploded. Sima Ru then waved her hand, causing the heavenly palace overhead to crush toward Xu Qing. One heavenly palace was equivalent to six-flame battle prowess, and in the blink of an eye, it met Xu Qing’s fist strike. A deafening boom echoed out in all directions.

Sima Ru’s heavenly palace trembled, and then tumbled back because of the full extent of Xu Qing’s battle prowess. A tremor passed through Sima Ru as she was flung backward by about 300 meters.

Xu Qing remained in place, unharmed. The seven-colored umbrella protected his fleshly body, and the black umbrella protected his soul. Nothing under the level of six flames could pierce such defenses.

Back when Master Shengyun had the seven-colored wind-chanting lamp, it had been a big headache for Xu Qing to deal with. It had taken a whole series of clever traps to break it open. And now, the amazing defenses of that lamp were benefiting Xu Qing.

However, this life lamp didn’t just have defensive powers. It also had a backlash attack. After Xu Qing’s study and experimentation, he had found that using the two lamps together came with added benefits.

And now, the seven-colored wind-chanting lamp’s backlash attack actually surpassed what Master Shengyun had been able to unleash. That was why Xu Qing had led with a fist attack, and why he had forced Sima Ru into retreat. It was also why he was fairly certain that he could kill her. With a six-flame backlash attack, Xu Qing was no weaker than the seven-flame level.

Sima Ru obviously didn’t know that, which made sense considering she didn’t even have a single life lamp. Not even Master Shengyun had any idea what was possible with two life lamps. It wasn’t just a simple matter of one plus one equals two.

Blood sprayed out of Sima Ru’s mouth, and her eyes shone with absolute incredulity.

All of the observers from the Eight Sect Coalition were also shaken to the core. After all, since Xu Qing was now the top chosen in the coalition, many people wanted to see what he was like.

“That’s seven-flame battle prowess!”

“Sima Ru was careless! One heavenly palace isn’t going to be enough to defeat Xu Qing!”

Everyone in the compound was also stunned, including all of the highnesses from the various mountain peaks.

The Captain was eating an apple as he watched. Looking very moved, he thought, Thankfully I ate half of that nose, otherwise, I really wouldn’t be able to beat him. That said, I have the feeling that little Ah Qing... is still being deceptive. He has more secret weapons that he hasn’t revealed.

While everyone looked on in astonishment, Xu Qing blurred into motion toward the stunned Sima Ru, launching another fist strike.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as Sima Ru tried to fight back. She unleashed all sorts of magical devices, and released a host of grues. In fact, it seemed like all of the projected grues around her shot toward Xu Qing. However, none of them could get through the defenses of his two life lamps to harm either his body or his soul.

Simu Ru was shoved back again, her heavenly palace shaking. Then Xu Qing closed in for another fist strike.

No matter how Sima Ru fought back, and no matter how her grues snapped and slashed, it didn’t do any good. Her battle prowess wasn’t high enough. The only way she could be effective was if she had two heavenly palaces, and could thus seal grues that would be a threat to Xu Qing.

As Xu Qing attacked explosively, her heavenly palace trembled violently. He struck with fist after fist, shoving Simu Ru higher and higher into the air. Madness filled her eyes as she performed an incantation gesture and took out a blood-colored sealing crystal. It was obviously an extraordinary item, but she didn’t hesitate to crush it.

Instantly, the withered dwarf in her heavenly palace opened its eyes, and they radiated bloodthirsty brutality.

Xu Qing stopped in place. Instead of launching another fist strike, he lifted his hand over his head. Instantly, winds kicked up, and wild colors flashed in the sky. It was as if some unspeakable will had begun to gather, which transformed into a violet heavenly saber. This saber wasn’t illusory, but rather, corporeal. What was more to the shock of all onlookers, it wasn’t just a single saber that appeared. There were... seven! Seven heavenly sabers appeared, causing everything to shake. Then Xu Qing dropped his hand, and the sabers slashed forth like heavenly punishment. They came from seven directions, making it impossible to evade them. With horrifying might, they slashed into the terrified Sima Ru and her heavenly palace.

Sima Ru shrieked as the sabers landed, shaking her heavenly palace and causing cracking sounds to ring out from within it as seven huge rifts were cut into its surface.

The dwarf inside was shaken, but seemed about to fight back. However, Xu Qing’s golden crow materialized and greedily locked eyes onto it. The dwarf shrank back into a sitting position.

Sima Ru was seriously injured and was coughing up blood. Her energy was unstable. But Xu Qing pressed the attack, and moved with even greater speed than before to arrive right in front of Sima Ru. Lifting his right hand, he stabbed it deep into her chest.

Sima Ru had two hearts, and he grabbed the one on the right-hand side. As she screamed, he ripped it out of her chest.

Blood sprayed everywhere as a heart-shaped black stone emerged. Sima Ru’s energy crumbled, and her heavenly palace seemed like it was about to shatter. That was when a sinister wind suddenly sprang up. The power of the wind wrapped up Sima Ru and whisked her away. She disappeared in an instant, and then a harsh voice rang out.

“I’m stopping this battle to the death. To make up for it, I’m giving you that Gruegloom heart as a gift.”

Xu Qing backed up by about 300 meters and looked up with a frown. It seemed to him that this fight had gone too smoothly for him. Something about it seemed off.

Master Seventh suddenly appeared next to him. “Don’t overthink it, Fourth Sib. All grievances are wiped out at this point. If that Sima Ru girl has any sense, she’ll thank you in the future. Now hurry up and thank Sect Leader Grue Hunter for the gift.”

Xu Qing clasped hands in the direction of the House of Grue Hunters and bowed. “Many thanks, Sect Leader Grue Hunter!”

Meanwhile, in the senate of the Eight Sect Coalition, eight figures retracted their divine will.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Sir Bloodsmelter smiled.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I believe this means I won the bet. Although it was ultimately a deal struck between my son-in-law and the Sima Clan from the House of Grue Hunters, I think all of you saw how outstanding my apprentice’s apprentice is. Now, I hope you can think long and hard about my suggestion for coalition fund allocation. After all, he clearly has the potential to become an Ancient Emperor. We don’t need the ‘dao child’ title, but the compensation should surpass that of an ordinary dao child. That’s not excessive, is it?”

None of the other seven individuals present said anything. All of them sent a stream of light to Sir Bloodsmelter. Then Patriarch Soaring Cloud snorted coldly and walked off.