540: Chapter 540 You can all cripple yourselves!

As the dust and smoke dissipated.

Andre's eyes were wide open, staring at the sky, filled with bewilderment and fear.

The power of that punch hadn't just shattered his face; it had shattered all his pride and confidence.

He had swallowed the Life-Eroding Insect King, and his strength had skyrocketed.

Yet before Ye Chen, he remained completely vulnerable.

The elders stood in the distance, their faces pale as they looked at Andre lying on the ground.

Good heavens!

What kind of monster was this young man?

Even Andre, who had swallowed the Life-Eroding Insect King, had his face smashed by a single punch?

Ye Chen withdrew his fist and shook his head.

"That's it?"

"I thought you'd be more impressive."

He stepped forward, walking toward Andre. "Will you force the insect out yourself, or should I kill you and take it?"

Andre spoke tremulously.

"Ye... Chen..."

"You are very strong. We all... underestimated you!"

"But... someone will come to deal with you..."

Ye Chen stopped in front of him without saying a word.

Andre grinned, revealing a shattered row of teeth stained red with blood. His smile was as hideous as a demon crawling out of hell.

"The stronger you are, the more those people in the Kunlun Ruins won't stay idle..."

"You think you've won?"

"No..."

"You're finished."

"Ye Chen, you're fin—"

Before he could finish his sentence.

Ye Chen raised his right foot and stomped down.

*Crack.*

Andre's head sank into the pile of rubble.

The Cult Leader of the Sacred Cult, a powerhouse at the peak of the Mid Golden Core Stage, perished then and there.

The surroundings were deathly silent.

The elders stood at a distance, their legs shaking like sieves. Some couldn't even stay standing and slumped onto the ground.

Ye Chen said helplessly, "I didn't want to get my hands and feet dirty, but why did you have to force me?"

The people around him couldn't take it anymore.

Wait...

Force you?

Who exactly was forcing whom?

However.

Before they could wake from their shock, Andre's corpse began to tremble violently.

It wasn't a post-mortem spasm; something was struggling frantically inside his body, trying to break out.

The next second.

The clothes on Andre's chest were torn from the inside, and an insect about the thickness of a thumb crawled out from his thoracic cavity.

Then.

It prepared to leave...

"Trying to run?"

"Did you ask me?"

Ye Chen smiled and waved his right hand. Three Silver Needles shot through the air, pinning the head, neck, and tail of the Seven-Colored Insect King to the ground.

The Insect King's body suddenly stiffened.

The three Silver Needles pinned it firmly to the ground. The true qi attached to the needles acted like three invisible locks, completely sealing its power.

The Insect King's body twisted violently, but it couldn't break free from those three thin Silver Needles no matter what.

Finally...

Like an ordinary caterpillar, it lay limp on the ground, motionless.

Ye Chen licked his lips.

"Such a great tonic, I can't let you get away."

This single insect was likely worth several ordinary ones.

Once absorbed...

He estimated it wouldn't just replenish his depleted spiritual energy, but provide even more!

But Ye Chen was in no hurry to collect it. Instead, he turned around, his gaze scanning the distant elders of the Sacred Cult, and spoke indifferently.

"What about you?"

"Will you hand them over yourselves, or should I take action?"

The elders looked at each other, their hearts filled with despair.

Igor stood at the front, his face as white as paper.

Hand them over?

The Life-Eroding Insects were the result of decades of the Sacred Cult's effort, treasures into which countless resources had been poured.

Not hand them over?

The corpses of the Cult Leader and Chejier were lying right there; their blood wasn't even cold yet.

The man could easily kill them first and then take the insects himself!

How utterly hopeless...

Ye Chen waited for two seconds. Seeing no one move, he sighed. "Alright then, it seems you want me to take action? I must oblige!"

He stepped forward, walking toward the nearest elder.

That elder was in his fifties with a head full of silver hair. At this moment, every wrinkle on his face was trembling.

He instinctively took a step back, his heel tripping on a shattered stone slab, and he fell onto his backside.

"I... I'll hand it over!"

He hurriedly pulled a jade bottle from his robes, holding it with both hands and raising it high above his head.

"Mr. Ye, this is my Life-Eroding Insect!"

"It's water-attributed. Please... please take it!"

Ye Chen took the jade bottle and pulled out the stopper to take a look.

In the transparent liquid, a pale blue insect swam slowly. Its whole body was translucent, like a piece of blue jade.

He nodded and tucked the jade bottle into his robes.

"Next."

Once the first one gave in, the second followed.

The remaining elders could no longer hold out.

One by one, they pulled jade bottles from their robes and presented them to Ye Chen with both hands.

"Mr. Ye, this is mine, earth-attributed."

"Mr. Ye, metal-attributed."

"Mr. Ye, wood-attributed."

"Mr. Ye, lightning-attributed."

...

Ye Chen accepted them all, taking the jade bottles and checking each one.

The results were soon clear...

Five ordinary Life-Eroding Insects and one Insect King.

The corners of Ye Chen's mouth curled up slightly.

It was worth it.

This haul was a massive profit.

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the elders before him.

Igor was still standing where he was, his face grim and motionless.

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow. "You're a Vice Cult Leader; don't tell me you don't have one?"

Igor gritted his teeth, then pulled a jade bottle from his robes and handed it over.

Ye Chen took it, pulled the stopper, and frowned slightly.

"Empty?"

Igor took a deep breath, his voice tinged with bitterness.

"My Life-Eroding Insect... died three years ago."

"The cultivation failed, the insect's body withered, and it didn't survive."

"Of the Life-Eroding Insects in the Sacred Cult, those that actually survived and can be used are only those few."

Ye Chen was a bit disappointed upon hearing this.

Originally.

He thought he could get quite a few more insects.

At least one for each elder, right?

As it turned out...

It was a bit underwhelming.

But one shouldn't be too greedy; contentment brings happiness.

Ye Chen comforted himself and stowed the bottle away.

The next second.

He spoke indifferently to the group of elders.

"Alright, the insects have been handed over."

"Now, cripple your own martial arts."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was stunned.

Igor asked in horror, "Wh... what did you say?"

"Cripple your martial arts."

Ye Chen repeated, "Once crippled, you may live."

"You!!!"

Igor's face turned the color of pig liver, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

"We have already given you the Life-Eroding Insects. Why must you be so aggressive and force us to cripple ourselves?"

Another elder also stood forward, his voice full of anger.

"That's right! Ye Chen, don't push people too far!"

"The Life-Eroding Insects are the result of decades of the Sacred Cult's effort. Handing them over was already our greatest concession!"

A third elder gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot.

"Ye Chen, you are also a cultivator. You should know what crippling one's martial arts means."

"It is a fate worse than death!"

"If you force us to cripple ourselves today, the entire Sacred Cult will fight you to the death!"

Ye Chen couldn't help but laugh after hearing this.

"Fight to the death?"

"I've already killed your Cult Leader, and you're still talking to me about fighting to the death?"

His smile gradually faded, and his voice turned cold.

"You came here to kill me."

"You wanted to kill me, yet I've only taken your insects and asked you to cripple your martial arts. I've already been merciful enough!"

"What?"

He tilted his head, his gaze sweeping across the elders' faces one by one.

"Do you think being crippled is worse than death, and you need me to personally send you to join Andre?"

The elders' faces flushed and paled in turn.

Igor gritted his teeth, his voice squeezed out from between them.

"Ye Chen!"

"Although our Cult Leader is dead, our Sacred Cult still has foundations in the Kunlun Ruins."

"If you push us too far, the remaining members of the Sacred Cult will surely come out in full force to fight you to the death!"

"When that time comes..."

"Even if you had three heads and six arms, you wouldn't be able to withstand the Sacred Cult's frantic retaliation!"

Ye Chen looked at him, his expression unchanged. "Are you finished?"

Igor faltered.

"I'm finished."

"If you're finished, then stay down."

Ye Chen raised his right foot and kicked Igor in the abdomen.

*Thud!!!*

Igor's body was sent flying as if hit by a truck. His feet left the ground, and he flew back over a dozen meters, snapping a ginkgo tree as thick as a bowl in the residential area's garden. He rolled on the ground several times before coming to a stop.

He lay on the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his face as pale as paper.

What made him most desperate was...

His energy center had been shattered by that kick!

Ye Chen hadn't taken his life, but he had completely destroyed his energy center.

From now on, Igor would be a cripple who couldn't even unscrew a bottle cap...

The other elders looked at Igor's miserable state, their faces turning white and their legs going weak.

Ye Chen withdrew his foot and scanned the remaining people.

"Does anyone else think I'm being excessive?"

No one spoke.

No one dared to speak.

Seeing that no one spoke, Ye Chen spoke again.

"Then why haven't you started?"

"Do I have to help you one by one?"

The elders all shuddered.

A white-haired old man was the first to step forward.

His eyes were red as he raised his right hand and struck his own energy center.

"Puff!"

A mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth, and the old man's aura instantly withered.

The next moment.

He felt as if he had been hollowed out. His legs gave way, and he knelt on the ground.

His face was white as paper, and tears flowed down his wrinkles.

Decades of bitter cultivation had vanished in an instant.

Pain!

It was too painful!

Once the first one did it, the second followed.

The third.

The fourth.

The fifth.

"Puff!"

*Splat!*

*Splat, splat!*

...

One by one, the elders raised their hands and struck their own energy centers.

One by one, they spat blood; one by one, their auras dissipated; one by one, they collapsed to the ground.

Some covered their faces and wept silently, some lay on the ground staring blankly at the sky, and some trembled all over.

Finished!

They were completely finished!

The Sacred Cult was destined to be wiped from the Kunlun Ruins from this day forward...