'I've been tricked...
Xu Chunyang froze on the spot, his body stiff.
A light chuckle came from behind him.
Xu Chunyang slowly turned around, watching Qin Yexuan leisurely walk from the other side of the street.
This young man, who looked handsome and youthful, had deep eyes that carried the maturity of having experienced vicissitudes.
The combination of these two contrasting temperaments made him seem rather wicked.
Xu Chunyang lifted his left foot, and the wind rose!
Qin Yexuan chuckled, "Liezi's Wind Riding Technique. No one in the Daoist sect has been able to cultivate this skill for two hundred years. You are indeed a genius."
Before Xu Chunyang could fully unleash Liezi's Wind Riding Technique, he felt himself locked onto.
It was a strange sensation, as if a chain had bound his limbs, or a large stone was pressing down on his chest.
His face turned crimson, and his body bent over.
Invisible spiritual energy began to condense rapidly around him. When a certain amount of spiritual energy was compressed to its limit, the pressure was simply terrifying.
Qin Yexuan continued to walk closer.
Xu Chunyang gritted his teeth and shouted, his black umbrella shooting out. He formed a two-finger gesture with his left hand, commanding the black umbrella from a distance.
"Heh, I'm quite disappointed that you've turned Tianyi Dao's Seven-Star Flying Sword into this. It's a disgrace."
Qin Yexuan raised his hand gently and simply caught the black umbrella.
The black umbrella vibrated, struggling desperately. Its ribs shot out rapidly, leaving traces of cold white bone.
Qin Yexuan's slender fingers squeezed gently.
*Snap!* The umbrella ribs broke.
With a flick of his wrist, the umbrella body cracked, leaving only a tattered frame.
Qin Yexuan had so effortlessly dismantled a magical artifact that Xu Chunyang had refined for twenty years.
Xu Chunyang's heart bled, followed by an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.
Even though he knew he wasn't his match in a direct confrontation, why did he not even have a chance to resist?
Was the gap... really that large?
With a whoosh, a ball of fire ignited in Qin Yexuan's hand. He held a ball of fire.
Within the flames, a sharp umbrella rib appeared.
"Xu Chunyang, that's not how the Seven-Star Flying Sword Art is meant to be used. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll show you the true Beidou Seven Flying Swords!"
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!*
One ball of fire transformed into three, and then four more blazing flames appeared out of nowhere.
The seven fiery lights formed a profound formation, hovering in front of Qin Yexuan.
Xu Chunyang's scalp tingled, and his eyes bulged.
At this moment, he suddenly recalled the flying sword techniques his ancestor, Dao Master Lu, had demonstrated to the entire Daoist world when he first began his cultivation.
That year, with the spring breeze blooming, Dao Master Lu had gathered all his lifelong spiritual power to form three flying swords, which descended from the sky and severed the peach blossoms covering the mountain. The Daoist world had been mesmerized and full of praise, and Xu Chunyang would never forget the sight of the flying swords in the sky that day.
But today, right here in front of this dilapidated alley, Qin Yexuan had conjured seven flying swords with such ease.
And these were flying swords imbued with flame, far more superior than those of his ancestor, Dao Master Lu.
"Why?"
Xu Chunyang clutched his head, his face contorted. "Why is he so strong? He's just a person, only a person!"
He refused to accept it, roaring through gritted teeth, "This is the demonic path! Qin Yexuan, you have stepped onto the demonic path! Flames have never appeared with the Seven-Star Flying Sword. You're not practicing righteous methods!"
"Apologies, I just like using demonic techniques to break through righteous ones. The righteousness and the so-called path of saving the world in the Daoist sect are truly inferior to the power of demonic techniques," Qin Yexuan said with a faint smile. "I've always been a pragmatic person."
Xu Chunyang despaired. "I never thought I would lose to a great demon."
"If the Great Heavenly Master of the Daoist sect can commit world-destroying demonic acts, then I, a great demon, can also save the world. The technique used is irrelevant; what matters is the action taken."
Qin Yexuan raised his hand, and this time, eighteen flying swords appeared in the air.
What is this...
What kind of technique is this!
Xu Chunyang was completely despairing and could only close his eyes to await death.
But the scorching fiery swords did not strike. The burning aura around them dissipated.
Huh?
Xu Chunyang opened his eyes and saw Qin Yexuan standing with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on a van parked to the west of the alley.
What was he doing?
What was in that van?
Why was he no longer paying attention to him?
Xu Chunyang trembled and crawled on the ground, slowly inching his way out.
If the people of the Orthodox Dao saw this scene, they would go mad.
Their most revered Great Heavenly Master was now crawling away like a dog.
Xu Chunyang had not crawled more than a few steps.
Qin Yexuan stared at the van and flicked his fingers repeatedly from a distance.
Blood shot out from Xu Chunyang's body, and with a scream, thirty-six holes were opened in him.
His cultivation dissipated along with these bloody wounds.
How cruel!
How utterly cruel!
He not only shattered my丹海 (Dānhǎi - Core Palace), but he also broke my thirty-six meridians. I will never be able to cultivate again.
From within the van, a faint sigh was heard, "Xu Chunyang is finished. He's useless now."
What did that mean?
Xu Chunyang struggled to lift his head and saw a window of the van open, revealing a hand.
The hand was as white as jade, with a wrist as fair as snow. It was a woman's hand.
Then, a scroll flew out.
The scroll seemed to be endless, flying out from inside the van and traversing the entire street.
Eighteen scrolls, each depicting a gruesome scene from hell.
Xu Chunyang's eyes widened, and he let out a desperate cry, "It's you, it's you! You've come to save me?"
But the scroll hovered above his head.
The other scrolls retracted, and only the first painting unfurled.
It was a depiction of the "Hell of Tongue Extraction"!
Xu Chunyang was uncontrollably lifted into the air, then shrank smaller and smaller, eventually flattening like a piece of paper onto the painting.
His mouth was still moving, seemingly saying something, and his hands clawed frantically at the flat surface of the paper.
Ultimately, Xu Chunyang was bizarrely "integrated" into the painting, transforming from a living person into a small figure within the artwork.
At this moment, it was clear that in the Hell of Tongue Extraction painting, Xu Chunyang had become a tiny figure kneeling beside an iron pot, his expression filled with extreme terror.
He had become one of the people in the hellish painting!
This scene unfolded too quickly, and at this moment, a seemingly majestic Buddhist chant resounded.
"All beings in the mortal world, upon hearing my method of hell, shall know that all destinies lead to sin..."
Qin Yexuan sneered, "Putting on a divine act!"
His form seemed to enlarge, then suddenly shrink. This fluctuation between large and small was a speed that surpassed visual perception.
Faster than instantaneous, Qin Yexuan had already rushed to the front of the van. He formed four hand seals and slammed them down.
The van was almost pulverized on the spot.
But there was no one inside.
The eighteen scrolls, along with the so-called Buddhist chant, flew up, rapidly stacked together, and finally transformed into a complete scroll, which then vanished with a "poof."
Qin Yexuan did not stop them.
He knew he wouldn't be able to stop them even if he tried.
A mysterious consciousness began to mock him, "That's it? You couldn't even stop this minor character?"
Qin Yexuan was speechless. "A supreme being of Buddhism, wielding the 'Manifestation of Hell'! And you call him a minor character? He's a super boss!"