"Yan’Er, do you think highly of this Ye Xuan?" Taishu Shen suddenly asked.
He had caught the gleam in Liu Yan’s eyes, and it made him incredibly displeased. In all the time he had known her, he had never seen her wear such an expression. To him, Liu Yan had always been like a clear spring—calm, gentle, and utterly unruffled. Yet now, ripples had actually formed across her tranquil surface.
"No, I’m just a little surprised," Liu Yan replied, her demeanor returning to its usual calmness.
"Is that so?" Taishu Shen said no more. He turned his gaze back to Ye Xuan, his eyes harboring an intense intent to kill.
"Impossible. How could fifty City Lords be defeated by Ye Xuan?" Liu Ruoxi’s voice carried over. She still could not believe the reality unfolding before her eyes.
Taishu Shen explained, "That is because, when facing a Dragon Soul, the City Lords cannot even unleash a tenth of their true strength."
"So that’s why! Taishu Shen, are you confident you can defeat Ye Xuan if you face him?" Liu Ruoxi suddenly stared at his face, her large eyes blinking incessantly.
Taishu Shen broke into a grin and said with unwavering confidence, "Against me, he will undoubtedly lose, even if what he awakened is a Dragon Soul."
"Then why don’t you make a move, Taishu Shen? Capture him alive for me!" Liu Ruoxi’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
Taishu Shen merely shook his head. "It is not my turn yet."
As soon as his words fell, the fifty City Lords stood up one after another. Although they were injured, they possessed Earth-Rank mid-grade Healing Spirit Medicine within their Storage Rings. Swallowing a single stalk of the Spirit Medicine was enough to rapidly heal their wounds.
"Do not underestimate him! Deploy the Chaotic Heaven Domain immediately!"
"Understood!"
The fifty City Lords suddenly began forming Sealing Techniques. Following their actions, a colorful barrier materialized around them, its myriad of hues stemming from the varying colors of each City Lord’s Spiritual Qi. At this moment, the different streams of Spiritual Qi linked together to form a massive barrier.
This was the Chaotic Heaven Domain. It was a Secret Technique that only City Lords were permitted to learn! Each City Lord only mastered a specific portion of this Secret Technique, meaning it required at least ten City Lords to successfully execute. Yet right before their eyes, there were fifty City Lords joining forces.
"Hmm? What kind of Secret Technique is this? It feels like the Spiritual Qi around me has been completely cut off. Even the power within my body has been significantly suppressed." Ye Xuan raised an eyebrow. The City Lords were indeed a force to be reckoned with.
"Die, Ye Xuan!"
"Transform!"
The fifty City Lords launched their assault once more. Some of them even unleashed their partial Beast Soul transformations. Their originally average frames swelled into towering, imposing figures that resembled humanoid Beasts. Instead of utilizing Martial Techniques, they focused entirely on releasing their Spiritual Qi with all their might. It seemed they were pouring every last drop of their power into the Chaotic Heaven Understanding.
Ye Xuan saw it clearly. Above the barrier, a Giant Sword suddenly manifested. The moment it appeared, razor-sharp Sword Qi swept through the surroundings.
"This is the most powerful killing move of the Chaotic Heaven Domain—the Chaotic Heaven Sword!"
"Is this move really that strong?"
"Of course! This sword is condensed from the combined might of fifty City Lords. At this very moment, all fifty of them have merged into a single entity! Fifty City Lords deploying the Chaotic Heaven Domain simultaneously... such a spectacle has never been seen before!"
"I wonder just how heaven-defying the power behind this strike will be. You can clearly feel this terrifying Sword Intent even from the outside."
The surrounding spectators watched with astonishment in their eyes. If any of them had to face this sword, it would spell certain death.
"Chaotic Heaven Sword! A blade that severs all! Turn to ash, boy!" the fifty City Lords roared in unison.
The sword in the sky radiated a brilliant light, shining as fiercely as the midday sun. The blade cleaved straight down toward Ye Xuan, focusing thousands of dazzling rays of light squarely above his head. This strike possessed the momentum to split heaven and earth. The combined power of fifty Earth Spirit Realm experts was by no means as simple as one plus one equaling two.
"This sword can slay an expert at the 8th Layer of the Earth Spirit Realm! The boy has no way to survive," Taishu Shen said, shaking his head slightly. The might of this strike was simply too overwhelming.
Liu Ruoxi’s pupils contracted as she instinctively asked, "Will he really turn to ash?"
"Yes."
"But... the City Lords promised me they would leave him alive so I could kill him."
"That is because they did not expect Ye Xuan to possess such formidable combat strength, forcing them to resort to their ultimate killing move right from the start."
As they spoke, myriad bursts of brilliant light erupted from the Chaotic Heaven Domain. The sword had finally descended. However, there was no immediate massive explosion; it was as if sound itself could not keep up with the sheer velocity of the bursting Sword Qi.
A long moment passed before an earth-shattering boom echoed through the air.
RUMBLE!
The Big Mountain shook violently. Splintered chunks of ice shot out in all directions, sweeping across the area like deadly concealed weapons.
"Careful." Taishu Shen’s body bloomed with Spiritual Light, shielding Liu Yan and Liu Ruoxi. As the flying ice slammed into his Spiritual Energy Barrier, it was instantly pulverized into fine powder. Taishu Shen’s strength was undeniably profound; his cultivation base was at least at the 9th Layer of the Earth Spirit Realm.
The remaining members of the City Lord’s Mansion, however, were not quite as fortunate.
"Seniors, save..." Sun Hu cried out for help. But before he could finish his sentence, an ice spike rapidly enlarged in his vision.
SQUELCH.
Blood sprayed through the air, freezing into crimson ice crystals before it even hit the ground.
THUD.
Sun Hu’s body collapsed heavily onto the earth. A bloody hole had been punched straight through his head.
"Dead? How weak." The Old Witch with Foot-Scratching Habits merely cast a single glance at Sun Hu before looking away. In her eyes, a Sub-City Lord held no real prestige. If he died, he died.
The foot-scratching elder shook the bell in his hand, casting another veil of light over his body. Clad in two protective layers of light, he was now absolutely safe.
The Old Witch turned her head to look at the distant crowd. A few members of the Celestial Secret Pavilion stood there, completely enveloped by an Array Barrier. The violent shockwaves were completely unable to shatter their formation.
"So powerful! Just the shockwaves were enough to throw us off our feet. Some people even got injured."
"Is that Ye Xuan dead?"
Once the shockwaves dissipated, everyone directed their gazes toward Ye Xuan’s previous location. The area was engulfed in a swirling storm of wind and frost, completely obscuring their vision. When the flurry finally cleared up a little, everyone’s pupils contracted sharply.
"What is that?!"
Within the frost and wind stood a massive Shadow. The imposing Shadow stood a full twenty meters tall, radiating a brilliant golden light. Suddenly, the Shadow moved, sweeping out a colossal palm.
BANG BANG BANG.
Several muffled thuds echoed from within the Chaotic Heaven Domain. One City Lord after another was swatted away into the sky, violently spewing mouthfuls of blood while still in midair.
"He’s too strong! Fall back!"
Aside from the City Lords who had been swatted away, the remaining ones took the initiative to retreat. The City Lord of Hurricane City turned tail and fled outright; his right hand had been severed with a perfectly clean cut, as if sliced off by a sword. In a single breath’s time, forty-five out of the fifty City Lords had scrambled out of the barrier in a panic.
"This... what is going on?!"
"The Chaotic Heaven Understanding has collapsed, and the City Lords are fleeing!"
This bewildering scene left everyone present in absolute shock.
"Impossible! Could it be..." The Old Witch with Foot-Scratching Habits suddenly thought of something and immediately began divining a hexagram.
Several members of the Celestial Secret Pavilion also pulled out tortoise shells to perform the Six Divination Technique. However, they were entirely unable to deduce the result!
At the scene, the only person capable of divining the outcome was Man Tian, who stood at the furthest edge, as ethereal as an immortal. He stood silently in the blizzard, seemingly there, yet simultaneously not there. Not a single person present had even noticed his existence.
"The hexagram for this event is auspicious."
As his voice faded, Man Tian’s Shadow vanished without a trace.