Chapter 1172: Please Die, Householder

“You showed up with ulterior, impure motives, householder. Of course I should greet you with a saber.”

Devi Ruyi replied indifferently, but her wariness toward Ye Qing climbed several levels in an instant.

“I see. You knew I was here from the beginning then,” Ye Qing remarked lazily while massaging his slightly aching forehead.

Despite the ease at which he had taken Devi Ruyi’s surprise attack, it was anything but weak. If nothing else, its ability to pierce right through the Profound Yellow Mother Qi and influence his consciousness was deserving of his highest attention. If not for the fact he had grasped the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull” a while ago and gained a massive boost in spiritual power, if his yang god wasn’t protected by the Yin Yang Qi, then the strike could have severely injured his mind.

Thanks to all of his recent fortunes, he only suffered a minor injury.

“Indeed.” Devi Ruyi nodded. “I noticed from the moment you set foot in this place.”

“Really? You’re quite the patient woman,” Ye Qing remarked while rubbing his nose. He thought he concealed himself very well, but as it turned out, he was found out from the very start. How embarrassing!

“Not as patient as you, householder. Even now, you still haven’t shown your hand,” Devi Ruyi said meaningfully.

“Haha. What can I do? You got ahead of me,” Ye Qing admitted. Originally, he was planning to play the fisherman and attack Devi Ruyi and Mara Buddha Sovereign while they were making that whatchamacallit oath. He did not realize that Devi Ruyi had discovered him from the start and even figured out what he was planning. As a result, she was able to seize the initiative from him.

“So, what other plans are you planning to unveil, householder?” Devi Ruyi asked.

“Other plans? I don’t have another plan. My plan A was also my plan Z.”

Ye Qing shook his head. “It’s fine though. I may have failed to become a fisherman, but I still have a shot as a clam or sandpiper.”

“Must you rob the Buddha Emperor Mountain from us, householder?” Devi Ruyi’s voice grew colder. The terrifying, oppressive fist intent belonging to the Buddha Emperor also locked onto him.

“Rob?”

Ye Qing shook his head. “I’m not robbing anyone. In this world, treasures naturally end up with their destined ones one way or another, no?”

“Very well. Please die, householder.”

Devi Ruyi did not try to tempt Ye Qing with promises of riches or intimidate him with threats of violence. At their level, they were strong-willed enough that once they had set their minds on something, they would not change it unless there was no other choice. Therefore, the only way to settle this was to fight it out.

As soon as Devi Ruyi finished, the pair of hands in the sky locked onto Ye Qing and descended.

The tyrannical, terrifying, absolute fist intent filled the sky once more.

The space surrounding Ye Qing was already collapsing even before the fist descended. Even the likes of wind and clouds were broken as easily as glass.

“Haha... I’ve been waiting.”

Ye Qing was unmoved, however. Like a rock or a mountain, he slowly lifted his arm and threw out a punch.

If the Buddha Emperor Fist’s fist intent was lofty beyond the nine heavens and untouchable; imperialistic and tyrannical, then Ye Qing’s fist intent was a sword that cut open the nine heavens, or a saber that could wipe out humanity.

There was only sharpness and destruction.

“Three Origin Hammers: Break Hammer”

Thump!

Fist intents clashed and produced a thump that sounded like a celestial slamming their body against the gong that was heaven and earth. The next moment, as if the impact was too much to bear, the sky crumpled, the earth collapsed, the wind shattered, and the clouds disintegrated into nothing.

The impact was such that the sky faded away to reveal the starry canvas that was the universe.

Directly underneath the starry canvas was the Myriad Buddha Plains.

Clearly, the clash had ripped apart the space created by the Mara Buddha Emperor and displaced them back to the Myriad Buddha Plains.

The next moment, the hands moved a single inch forward. The Buddha Emperor Fist immediately swelled in fist intent and crushed Ye Qing’s Break Hammer.

Bang!

There was a soft bang, and Ye Qing’s chest was caved in by a fist imprint.

In response, Ye Qing moved backward. Every time he took a step, a taichi symbol would appear underneath his feet. Yin and yang cycled to convert death into life, and flip heaven and earth around. As a result, not only was the tyrannical fist intent trying to crush Ye Qing completely neutralized, he even ripped it from its owner’s hands and claimed it for himself.

Three steps later, Ye Qing exhaled like thunder and struck diagonally upward with his right arm. The fist intent that filled the sky and threatened to crush him was interrupted just like that.

To stop a flood, one must interrupt its flow. It was the same for the heavens.

Ye Qing’s fist continued forward with an edge that would not be denied, and a will that cleaved the endless sky in half. The next moment, a fist intent even bigger and stronger than the Buddha Emperor Fist washed out.

The two hands immediately froze as if they were caught in a swamp, unable to find purchase.

This was just the beginning, however. One side of Ye Qing’s fist intent began to rotate left, and the other right like a millstone.

When the millstone turns, even yin and yang were ground into dust. The Buddha Emperor Fist’s fist intent was no exception, and even the clenched hands in the sky were breaking under the strain.

“Break!”

Ye Qing’s fist pushed another inch forward, and both his force and his fist intent climbed to a new level. The millstone abruptly started spinning faster.

The hands broke before their owners could react. The bits and pieces were then ground into nothing by the millstone.

“Argh!”

A pair of bloodcurdling screams erupted from the mouth of the giant face in the sky.

“How dare you. You deserve death!”

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

An indifferent voice declared while the screams were still echoing in the air. It was a gender-indistinct—or more accurately, gender-transcendent—voice that was as indifferent as it was solemn.

“Hah! Kill me, they say. Can you even cross over to this plane?” Ye Qing sneered disdainfully.

He knew from the beginning that the strange face and mouth were a passage of sorts. It allowed the masters of the hands to pass a portion of their strength across an unthinkable distance, but they themselves couldn’t come over as a matter of course.

Buzz! Buzz!

Or could they? As soon as Ye Qing finished, the face in the sky began shaking violently. It felt like something scary was trying to push out of the mouth.

“Cool your tits, bud. It’s just a joke!”

As Ye Qing spoke, he threw a punch not at the face in the sky, but Devi Ruyi.

To catch a band of thieves, you must first target their leader. Devi Ruyi was the link sustaining the existence of the human face and the passage. Naturally, killing her would also remove the human face from existence.

Ye Qing’s punch should have come as a surprise, but once again, Devi Ruyi was able to anticipate it. As soon as his hand traveled in her direction, she immediately split into two, four, eight, countless copies.

The sky was filled with Devi Ruyis in just the blink of an eye.

That wasn’t all. The Devi Ruyis flicked her finger and, as if the gesture had shaken the foundations of the sky itself, caused countless stars to fall like fruits.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

However, not even a million stars were a match for one absolute fist intent. It shattered not just the stars, but also the countless Devi Ruyis in the sky.

“Pwack!”

When all was said and done, the true Devi Ruyi was the only one left. She threw up a mouthful of blood and staggered backward.

When her blood left her lips, they transformed into white lotuses that bloomed, withered, and disintegrated again and again. It looked like she was trying to dispel Ye Qing’s Break Hammer to no avail. Because of this, Devi Ruyi’s complexion grew paler, and her aura grew weaker by the second.

Devi Ruyi was smiling, however. It was a warm, gentle smile like usual.

“You’re too late!”

Devi Ruyi’s chuckle echoed through the air as a beam of light flew out of the human face’s mouth and slipped into her forehead.

Ye Qing tried to intercept it, but as Devi Ruyi said, he was too late.

The next moment, Devi Ruyi’s power shot up like crazy. She was a Great Trueman to begin with, but the infusion of power caused her to cross the threshold of Half Sage in just the blink of an eye. As if that wasn’t enough, her power was still rising.

In the end, Devi Ruyi’s cultivation level actually stabilized at the Sage stage.