Chapter 899 - Apocalyptic Scene

Over five hundred people had joined the fight, but less than four hundred remained. Consumed by fear, they began to retreat instinctively.

There were over a hundred corpses scattered across the ground, and they had been full of life just moments ago. They were killed before their primordial spirit could escape.

More importantly, the energy and laws within the fallen cultivators had all been absorbed. The influx surged into Liu Wuxie, causing his presence to loom ominously over the battlefield. When he swept his gaze across the crowd, no one dared to meet his eyes.

"Are you all afraid?" Liu Wuxie asked with a cold smirk, his words cutting through the silence like a blade. Shame spread across the faces of many, forcing them to avert their eyes.

Even those at the True Profound Realm had fear etched into their expressions.

Finally, the five sect masters couldn't remain seated and rose to their feet. Their expressions were dark.

"Elder Chai, we'll need your help to suppress him," Bai Jin said. He had spent an immense fortune to invite Elder Chai to this battle as a final resort.

Everything had been going according to his plan until Liu Wuxie's arrival. He had ruined his plans and changed the tide of the battlefield.

Bai Jin realized that even the elders at the True Profound Realm couldn't kill Liu Wuxie.

They were scared out of their wits and lost the courage to fight Liu Wuxie.

Chai Zhengbin frowned as he witnessed Liu Wuxie's extraordinary combat strength. The latter couldn't be treated as an ordinary cultivator in the True Profound Realm.

Silently, Chai Zhengbin stepped forward from the crowd. Though his aura appeared restrained, it carried a crushing pressure that spread across the battlefield, suffocating those who sensed it.

Liu Wuxie narrowed his eyes at the sight, a faint smile tugging at his lips. So this was their trump card. The five sects had invited a powerhouse at the third level of the Spirit Profound Realm.

A cultivator of that level might be a respected elder in the Central Plains—but here in the Southern Province, they were untouchable.

As Chai Zhengbin moved, the crowd instinctively parted, clearing the path for him.

"Boy, I'll give you a chance to kneel before me, swear your allegiance, and hand over the cultivation method for the spatial art. If you do, I might consider sparing your life," Chai Zhengbin declared coldly as he stepped out from the crowd.

Not only did he demand Liu Wuxie's submission, but he also aimed to seize the secret behind his spatial art for himself.

"Who are you, and why are you meddling in the Southern Province's affairs?" Liu Wuxie couldn't be bothered with meaningless exchanges, and what concerned him truly was Chai Zhengbin's origin.

He wanted to know if Chai Zhengbin had other companions. It wasn't an issue for him to kill Chai Zhengbin, but it would be troublesome if he had companions.

He was bound to leave the Southern Province and had merely returned to attend the Ten Grand Assembly. Once it concluded, he would set out for the Central Plains again.

"Did you not hear me? Kneel!" Chai Zhengbin was enraged that Liu Wuxie dared to disregard him, and he struck out with his palm. The moment he attacked, the surrounding space collapsed under his might, and a colossal swirling black hole appeared.

"What terrifying strength!" gasped the retreating True Profound Realm elders, stunned. They had known Chai Zhengbin was strong—but only now did they realize just how overwhelming his strength truly was.

Now that they looked at it again, they realized they had gravely underestimated Chai Zhengbin. Then again, it wasn't Chai Zhengbin who was strong, but the laws in the Southern Province were too fragile to withstand the sheer might of a cultivator at the Spirit Profound Realm.

Space twisted into a terrifying vortex, collapsing inward. At the heart of the chaos stood Liu Wuxie, the black hole looming above him, ready to swallow everything in its path.

"Get lost!" Liu Wuxie waved his hand, unleashing a devastating force that caused the surrounding space to crumble. From the shattered void, a gust of black wind howled out, carrying with it a dense swarm of squirming white worms that descended like a curtain of death.

"ARGH!" Screams erupted as the white worms lunged at the onlookers, burrowing into their bodies through their orifices. In mere moments, over a dozen cultivators had collapsed to the ground, reduced to empty husks of skin.

"It's the Flesh-Eating Worms!"

"Quick! Use fire!" someone shouted. These worms thrived within the crystalline walls of space. Normally undetectable, they were even deadlier than Spirit-Devouring Worms. Only by shattering the spatial walls could they be released.

Death spread like wildfire as more cultivators fell victim to the worms, their bodies consumed from within. Thankfully, Liu Wuxie had gotten the Heavenly Origin Sect to retreat far away, and the five major sects were the first to suffer as they stood the closest.

By the time someone had ignited the flame, over thirty lives had already been lost.

With a loud rumble, Chai Zhengbin's palm strike was stopped by Liu Wuxie. The collision produced a powerful shockwave that swept out. Those who managed to escape the Flesh-Eating Worms' assault were now sent tumbling through the air.

"Is he really at the True Profound Realm? How is he so powerful?!" Many people didn't know Chai Zhengbin's cultivation, but they were certain that he had surpassed the True Profound Realm.

And yet, Liu Wuxie—still at the third level of the True Profound Realm—had matched him blow for blow.

Chai Zhengbin's expression became grave after the exchange. He hadn't expected Liu Wuxie to have concealed his true strength until now.

"Who are you? How can someone in the Southern Province possibly wield such formidable laws?" Chai Zhengbin finally took Liu Wuxie seriously. The laws behind Liu Wuxie's palm strike were even more potent than his, and the Southern Province couldn't produce someone of this caliber.

"You talk a lot!" Liu Wuxie said as he swung the Heretic Blade, executing the Golden Flame Strike.

The moment the Dao technique was unleashed, it overturned everyone's comprehension.

"What is this blade technique? Why can't I keep up with the trajectory?" exclaimed several elders from the second-tier sects, their voices tinged with awe and disbelief as they watched Liu Wuxie's attack unfold.

Mu Tianli also had a flicker of surprise in his eyes, as Dao techniques weren't easily comprehended.

"It's a Dao technique! You mastered a Dao technique! You're from the Central Plains!" Chai Zhengbin exclaimed in a panic. Only prodigies from the Central Plains could grasp Dao techniques while at the True Profound Realm.

Liu Wuxie's ability to comprehend such a powerful Dao technique at his age suggested that he likely hailed from a powerful sect in the Central Plains.

He didn't dare to be careless and summoned a sword that radiated with the laws of the Spirit Profound Realm.

The Heretic Blade remained at the rank of a heavenly artifact, and Liu Wuxie could only wait to find suitable materials before reforging it.

Chai Zhengbin also unleashed a Dao technique with a swing of his sword, unleashing a piercing sword aura that covered the sky.

Everyone in the surroundings watched in awe, and some even tried to replicate their movements in hopes of grasping their Dao techniques. However, they could only grasp the form and not the essence.

Dao techniques could only be mastered through personal enlightenment, and they transcended the scope of martial techniques.

While martial techniques could be mastered with time, Dao techniques required one to comprehend the laws of heaven and earth.

"Golden Flame Strike!"

The Heretic Blade released a brilliant silver arc that cleaved through the sky. The sheer force of the attack made the entire island quake violently, teetering on the edge of collapse. Trees were uprooted, and boulders crumbled under the overwhelming pressure.

A wave of metal-attribute energy surged through the void, cracking the surrounding space. Nearby cultivators gasped in horror as their weapons shattered, all the metal energy forcibly drawn away by the strike.

This was a strike that could shock the heavens.

After consuming over twenty Divine Fruits, Liu Wuxie's divine force had risen to a terrifying level. Though he had yet to unlock the second divine gate, the divine force within him surged like an unstoppable torrent.

"How powerful!" Yi Xuan exclaimed by the side.

He remembered the day Liu Wuxie had sought him out, when he was still just an inner disciple.

Looking back at it now, he was relieved he had made the right choice.

Meanwhile, Tian Xing had used all one hundred and eight tortures on Zhang Bei, who was barely clinging to his life. The latter's eyes were hollow, and he only sought death to end his suffering.

Zhang Bei was fully aware of what was unfolding on the battlefield, and with it, his will to live slipped away. Slowly, his consciousness sank into darkness.

Chai Zhengbin's sword erupted with dazzling brilliance and transformed into a cauldron, descending upon Liu Wuxie.

This was the first time Liu Wuxie had seen such a Dao technique, which was rather intriguing. Such manifestations also involved a variety of Dao techniques.

The Golden Flame Strike was more direct, with nothing fancy about it.

When the cauldron descended, the sky fractured, and the sun and moon dimmed. The island also continued to sink.

The two weapons collided in mid-air, unleashing a powerful shockwave that swept out. Even those ten thousand meters away could sense the stinging pain on their faces as though an invisible force had struck them.

A gaping black hole appeared in the sky, and boundless black wind gushed out of it, generating a powerful suction force that devoured the nearby trees.

This was an apocalyptic scene with endless black wind gushing out, devouring some weaker disciples.

"Master, save me!" The second-tier sects had brought their disciples to the assembly to learn and grow—but who could have anticipated such a catastrophe?

As they were pulled into the black hole, their bodies were torn apart, reduced to pieces. Many desperately clasped their hands together, trying to resist the overwhelming suction force. Some even latched onto nearby trees in vain.

The ground fractured as seawater began to seep through, leaving the island on the verge of collapse.

Fortunately, the black hole lasted only seconds before disappearing; the spatial rift sealed itself.

However, the residual energy showed no signs of fading and continued to ripple outward.

Liu Wuxie and Chai Zhengbin didn't pause for a moment as they clashed again. Their weapons met with thunderous force, each strike carrying their full might.

Liu Wuxie began to notice that Chai Zhengbin's martial techniques felt oddly familiar, though he couldn't immediately recall where he had seen them before.

He refrained from using the Heavenly Dragon Seal—its destructive power would obliterate the entire island. Instead, he wanted to defeat a third-level Spirit Profound Realm cultivator using only his own strength.

As he tapped his finger, he performed the Frost Dao Art, which manifested into ice arrows that shot toward Chai Zhengbin. Though it wasn't lethal, it disrupted his rhythm, forcing him into a frantic defense.

"Sect Master, will Elder Chai be able to hold his ground?"

The surviving elders of the Heavenly Origin Sect hesitated, uncertainty flickering in their eyes. So much time had passed, yet Chai Zhengbin had failed to gain the upper hand. And if he lost... they knew they would all be doomed.