Yulan stared at Die Yuan's terrifying power in disbelief.
"How did you suddenly become this strong?!" he shouted. "You were hiding your power all this time, weren't you? You bastard! Even so, you will still die by my hands!"
Die Yuan looked at him calmly.
"Will I die by your hands? What a great joke."
His expression suddenly became cold.
"But I don't like it."
He raised his right hand and held it upright at a perpendicular angle.
"Divine Palm."
The moment Die Yuan spoke those words, an enormous palm appeared in the sky.
Even with only 5% of his power, the gigantic palm covered the entire sky. Its overwhelming pressure spread across the surroundings.
Yulan and Gong Si Wang stared at the enormous palm in shock and fear.
Before either of them could react, Die Yuan suddenly reduced the size of the palm.
Originally, Die Yuan had considered creating two separate attacks for Yulan and Gong Si Wang. But he changed his mind.
I may need these two for something in the future. I can't kill both of them.
I'll only injure this woman.
The enormous palm rapidly shrank.
Yulan couldn't understand what had happened.
Why did the attack suddenly become smaller?
Before he could think any further, Die Yuan sent the attack directly toward him.
Yulan reacted extremely quickly and immediately attacked with his sword.
However, his sword had no effect on the attack.
The Divine Palm struck him directly and sent him flying far away.
Yulan crashed heavily to the ground.
He immediately tried to stand using his hands, but despite putting all his strength into it, he couldn't get up.
He managed to raise his body slightly before falling down again.
Gong Si Wang watched the scene in shock and fear.
Die Yuan slowly walked toward Yulan.
Yulan desperately tried to stand, but his body simply wouldn't cooperate.
Die Yuan grabbed him by the collar and dragged him toward Gong Si Wang.
He brought Yulan directly in front of him.
"Here is your protector."
Die Yuan looked at Gong Si Wang coldly.
"He couldn't even handle a small amount of my power."
Gong Si Wang's body began trembling violently.
Tears of fear appeared in his eyes.
Die Yuan slowly crouched down and placed his hand against Gong Si Wang's cheek.
In a cold voice, he asked,
"Am I weak?"
"Am I going to die?"
"Am I so weak that I was supposed to die today?"
Suddenly, a painful voice came from behind.
"Stop! Please! Don't do anything to Young Master!"
Die Yuan turned his head slightly.
"You're making too much noise."
He casually moved one finger.
A powerful force instantly struck Yulan and sent him flying into the distance.
Yulan crashed into a mountain, blood escaping from his mouth.
Gong Si Wang became even more terrified.
Die Yuan returned his attention to him and placed his hand against his cheek again.
"No."
"No."
"No."
"You got everything wrong."
"There is only one thing you said correctly."
Gong Si Wang nervously asked,
"W-Which one?"
Die Yuan's expression suddenly became terrifying.
"I really am a demon."
His eyes turned completely black.
His mouth opened into an unnaturally wide grin as he began laughing.
Gong Si Wang became extremely frightened.
Die Yuan stared at him.
"Now tell me…"
"Should I keep you alive, or should I kill you?"
Gong Si Wang suddenly began laughing.
"What did you think?"
"Did you really think there was nobody left who could save me?"
"You thought I had no trump card left?"
"I still have one!"
Gong Si Wang suddenly shouted toward the sky.
"Lady Wing Xianer! Help me!"
BOOM!
A tremendous pressure suddenly descended upon the area.
Die Yuan felt the pressure but showed absolutely no reaction.
Gong Si Wang, however, immediately sensed the terrifying aura and began laughing.
"Hahaha! Now what are you going to do?"
"She is the strongest woman here!"
"Her cultivation is even higher than the Great Elder's!"
A beautiful figure slowly descended from the sky.
It was Wing Xianer.
She looked down at Die Yuan.
Then she raised her hand and held it upright at a perpendicular angle.
An extremely powerful spiritual pressure descended upon Die Yuan.
But Die Yuan didn't even move.
The pressure had absolutely no effect on him.
Die Yuan simply looked at her.
"Shut up."
The instant he said those words, Wing Xianer's spiritual pressure was completely suppressed.
Her body was forced toward the ground.
Die Yuan slowly walked toward her.
He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her into the air.
Wing Xianer struggled and tried to resist, but she couldn't break free.
Die Yuan then carried her toward Gong Si Wang.
He brought her beside him and spoke coldly.
"Here is your next protector."
"She couldn't even handle my casual attack."
"And you thought she could save you from me?"
Gong Si Wang was now completely terrified.
His body trembled uncontrollably.
"Please forgive me, Master! If my father—"
Before he could finish speaking, Die Yuan killed him.
Gong Si Wang's body was completely destroyed, disappearing from existence.
Nine Heavens Sect
Meanwhile, inside the Nine Heavens Sect, the Sect Leader and several Great Elders were gathered in the main hall.
The Sect Leader was named Zihan, and his cultivation had reached the Fourth Stage of the Saint Realm.
Zihan looked around the hall.
"I called everyone here today because I want to discuss the mysterious man who killed Great Elder Yulan and Gong Si."
One of the Great Elders immediately stood up.
He was Gong Si's grandfather.
"He killed my grandson!"
"I will kill him myself!"
Another Great Elder immediately spoke.
"However, he also killed Yulan."
"Therefore, we cannot determine his true strength yet."
"We need to wait and find out exactly how powerful he is. Once the right opportunity appears, we should attack."
Another Great Elder nodded.
"He is right. We should wait for the proper moment."
The elder whose grandson had died became furious.
"What difference does it make to you?!"
"He was MY grandson!"
"Of course I care!"
"That bastard killed my grandson!"
"I don't care whether I have to chase him across the earth or the heavens!"
"I will kill him!"
The Sect Leader immediately shouted,
"Enough!"
"Everyone, calm down!"
"That man killed one of our elders and one of our disciples."
"Our entire sect will eventually take revenge."
The enraged elder clenched his fists.
"One day?!"
"I don't even have that much time!"
"I'll go and kill that bastard right now!"
The two Great Elders were about to leave.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
A terrifying wave of high-level spiritual energy erupted throughout the hall.
The two Great Elders froze.
Even the Sect Leader became completely still.
Then a deep voice echoed throughout the hall.
Everyone looked toward the entrance.
A young man wearing white clothes slowly appeared.
His hair was also completely white.
Despite his terrifying aura, he looked extremely young.
All the elders immediately greeted him.
"Greetings, Senior Mengyao!"
The man's identity was revealed.
Name: Mengyao
Cultivation: Seventh Stage of the Saint Realm
Mengyao calmly spoke.
"We cannot simply let the person who killed our disciple and elder walk away."
"But remember one thing."
"He killed a Saint Stage One elder."
"Therefore, his strength cannot be underestimated."
"We will wait for the right opportunity and take revenge in the future."
"A person as arrogant as him will eventually offend other sects."
"When that happens, we can join forces and attack him together."
The two Great Elders were still unwilling to accept this.
"But our strength isn't weak either!"
"Why don't we attack him now?"
Mengyao released his spiritual pressure.
BOOM!
The terrifying pressure instantly overwhelmed the two Great Elders.
They became completely unable to move.
The entire hall fell silent.
Outside Die Yuan's Cave
Meanwhile, outside Die Yuan's cave, numerous Demonic Cultivators had surrounded the area.
They were waiting for Die Yuan to come out.
One particularly fat elder was sitting comfortably on a chair while one of his disciples massaged his legs.
Another elder walked toward him angrily.
"Don't you have any shame?"
"How can you make your disciples do something like this?"
The fat elder looked completely unconcerned.
"What's there to be ashamed of?"
"They are my disciples."
"I can give them whatever task I want."
"It is their duty to do it."
The other elder became furious.
"You're doing nothing except wasting these disciples' time!"
The fat elder shrugged.
"So what?"
"Even though their time is being wasted, they still receive spiritual stones afterward."
"They're being rewarded for massaging my legs."
"So what's your problem?"
The other elder became furious and was about to attack.
The fat elder immediately stood up and prepared to fight as well.
The two were just about to clash when several disciples suddenly shouted,
"Look!"
"That man is coming out!"
"Quick!"
Both elders immediately stopped fighting.
They remembered the Sect Leader's order:
Whatever treasures that man obtains must be taken.
If possible, he should also be recruited into the sect.
Anyone who brings him into the sect will receive a reward.
Remembering this, both elders immediately moved toward Die Yuan.
Die Yuan looked ahead.
A fat elder and an old elder were approaching him.
Die Yuan simply raised one finger.
That was all.
The existence of both elders was instantly erased.
The surrounding disciples froze in terror.
The remaining elders became furious.
"Attack!"
Several elders jumped toward Die Yuan simultaneously.
Die Yuan calmly raised one finger.
A terrifying pressure descended upon the area.
In an instant, the attacking elders were reduced to ashes.
With a single finger, Die Yuan had destroyed seven cultivators at the Martial Supreme level.
The remaining disciples stared at the scene in absolute terror.
Nobody dared to move.
The entire area became completely silent.
Then—
Drip.
A single drop of water fell.
The disciples immediately began running at full speed, fleeing as fast as they could.
But their escape was meaningless.
Die Yuan simply raised his hand.
He slowly closed his fist.
A tremendous force swept across the area.
The 5,000 disciples were instantly killed.
A mysterious red aura began emerging from their bodies.
The red aura continuously flowed into Die Yuan's body.
His aura began rising rapidly.
His cultivation broke through.
Great Saint — Fourth Stage → Great Saint — Fifth Stage.
Die Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
His breakthrough was complete.