159: Fighting Wang Bo'an Alone

Deathly silence.

That suffocating, deathly silence that completely drained all sound from the world.

The sound of the wind, the sound of breathing, and even the heartbeats thundering like drums were all completely erased by that blood-soaked figure in mid-air.

On the Martial Arts Plaza, the gazes of tens of thousands of Cultivators froze, their pupils reflecting the same scene that made their Divine Souls tremble.

Their minds were not blank; rather, they were overwhelmed and nearly collapsed by scene after scene that completely subverted their understanding of Cultivation, plunging them into mental stagnation.

What... exactly happened just now?

In that fleeting moment, within the span of just over a dozen breaths.

Two Nascent Soul True Lords!

They were Nascent Soul True Lords who had lived for nearly a thousand years, overseeing a Prefecture, setting the rules, and viewing all living beings as dust beneath their feet!

Yet, they were slaughtered one after another by Shen Yuanmo, a mere Golden Core Stage Cultivator, as easily as slicing melons and vegetables, right in front of all the powers in Qing Prefecture!

One was lightly touched on the brow by that pitch-black sword tip, destroying both his Nascent Soul and Physical Body.

He was crushed from the inside by an irresistible destructive Sword Intent into the most primal particles of nothingness, leaving not even a wisp of blood mist behind.

The other burned his Nascent Soul Origin, deploying a mutual destruction Forbidden Technique, but he was countered by that person's single sword strike that broke all Spells, annihilating both him and the Nascent Soul he had Cultivated for hundreds of years, scattering them between heaven and earth!

On the high platform, the Family Head of a Fifth-rank noble family vomited a mouthful of fresh blood, his aura instantly wilting, due to the severe shock to his mind and the loss of control over his Dao Heart.

More people were instinctively trembling, staring at that figure, unable to even feel envy or fear, left only with the blankness of looking up at a deity.

"Devil..."

"You are not human... you are definitely not human!"

The last surviving Nascent Soul Early Stage Ancestor of the Wang Family had his mental defenses completely collapse.

He stared blankly at the spot where his two clansmen, Nascent Soul Cultivators, had been slain by Shen Yuanmo; there was nothing there, as if they had never existed.

That Dao Heart, which he had Cultivated for a thousand years, believing it to be firm as a rock and having weathered countless storms, was now shattered by a force called despair!

Family, glory, mission... everything turned into a colossal joke.

Only one word remained in his mind, a word he had never contemplated in his life.

Flee!

"Ah—!"

A shrill, distorted shriek, utterly unlike a human sound, was squeezed from his throat. Without the slightest hesitation, he chose to burn his Nascent Soul Origin and execute the Blood Escape Technique!

His Nascent Soul body burned wildly within his Dantian, transforming into vast and incomparable crimson energy.

It transformed his Physical Body into a bloody arc that tore through space, fleeing toward the area outside the Prefecture City at any cost!

He had to escape this place!

He swore that for all eternity, in his next life, and the life after that, he would never again see Shen Yuanmo's chillingly young face.

However, he wanted to leave.

But how could Shen Yuanmo allow this Nascent Soul Ancestor of the Wang Family to escape!

As the saying goes, if you don't cut the grass by the roots, future troubles will be endless!

"Did I allow you to leave?"

Shen Yuanmo's voice was soft, yet it was like a life-claiming Talismanic Incantation, ignoring the spatial distance and exploding deep within the Divine Soul of that Wang Family Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator.

The Wang Family Old Ancestor, who was desperately fleeing, felt an icy, bone-chilling cold surge straight from his tailbone to the crown of his head, and all the blood in his body froze instantly!

Using his last bit of strength, he turned his head with difficulty and stiffness.

A slender, pitch-black Sword Light, which seemed to swallow all light, had silently caught up behind him without him knowing when.

That Sword Light seemed not to exist in this dimension.

It ignored the Protective Blood Light gained from burning his Nascent Soul, and it ignored the space he had torn apart at the cost of his life.

That Sword Light was just there, as if it had been waiting for him to turn his head from the very beginning.

"No—!"

A desperate roar was the last sound he left for this world.

Pfft.

The pitch-black Sword Light flashed and vanished.

His body was cleanly severed into two halves at the waist.

The cut was smooth as a mirror, without even a drop of blood flowing out, because all vitality and blood were completely annihilated the moment the sword edge passed through.

An utterly overbearing destructive Sword Intent, like maggots clinging to bone, surged into his upper and lower body.

It firmly pinned his burning, attempting-to-escape Nascent Soul within the Dantian Qi Sea, fiercely strangling and grinding it away.

He couldn't even utter a complete sentence.

He could only watch helplessly as his vitality was completely erased, little by little, by that power at the Origin level.

Finally, he turned into two sections of charred charcoal, falling from the sky and smashing onto the plaza paved with White Marble, making two dull thuds that startled countless dazed onlookers awake.

In the blink of an eye, three Nascent Souls had all perished!

Heaven and earth returned to deathly silence.

At this moment, only two people remained between heaven and earth.

Shen Yuanmo.

And Wang Boan, high in the distance, whose face was as pale as gold paper, his body shaking violently and uncontrollably, looking as if he might fall from the sky at any moment.

"Who... who exactly are you?"

Due to extreme fear and shock, Wang Boan's voice became dry and sharp, devoid of any dignity or composure befitting a Nascent Soul Mid-stage Cultivator.

He stared intently at Shen Yuanmo, his cloudy old eyes bloodshot, as if trying to etch his appearance, every inch of his bones, into his own marrow.

"It is absolutely impossible for the entire Qing Prefecture, or even the Southern Border, to give birth to a monster like you!"

He had lived for a thousand years and prided himself on having met countless people.

He had seen the so-called Myriad Year Qilin Child, seen peerless Prodigies with innate Dao Bodies, and had even been fortunate enough to behold Prodigies from top-tier noble families in Central Prefecture.

Yet, no one could compare to the person before him, who, while only in the Golden Core Stage, possessed such Heaven-Defying combat strength that ignored Realm barriers and slaughtered Nascent Souls like dogs!

This kind of peerless Prodigy was an existence that completely overturned the common sense of the entire Cultivation World!

"Who I am, you don't need to know."

Shen Yuanmo stepped through the Void Realm, walking toward Wang Boan one step at a time.

His pace was not fast, but it was like stepping on the pulse of heaven and earth; every step caused Wang Boan's heart to pound wildly.

The pitch-black great evolution immortal slaying sword in his hand was angled downward, and a drop of crimson blood.

Finally reached its limit, slowly slid down the blade, tracing a dazzling and tragically beautiful path in the air.

He raised his eyes, and those pupils, stained with blood, calmly locked onto Wang Boan.

"What's important is."

"Now, only you remain."

Only you remain.

These five words, devoid of any emotion, made Wang Boan feel chilled to the bone and his Divine Soul feel like tearing apart, more so than the most vicious curse in the world.

He knew he was finished.

The Wang Family was finished too.

Beg Shen Yuanmo for mercy?

Seeing those eyes, colder than Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice, he completely extinguished that ridiculous thought.

Flee?

Even a clansman who burned his Nascent Soul and executed the Blood Escape Technique couldn't escape, so where could he possibly flee?

Wang Boan's last sliver of desire to survive slowly died out in the face of the absolute disparity in strength.

What replaced it was the complete distortion, madness, and malice of seeking shared destruction rather than survival, after being forced into a desperate corner!

"Little Beast!"

He let out a beast-like roar, his voice filled with endless unwillingness and hysteria.

"Even if I die, this Old Ancestor will make sure to keep you, this Prodigy, here today! To be buried with my Wang Family!"

Before his voice faded, he made a crazy move that made all the spectators' scalps tingle and their hearts nearly burst!

Wang Boan summoned his damaged Nascent Soul and abruptly opened his mouth.

He actually swallowed his own Nascent Soul—the one that spun ceaselessly, radiated dazzling light, and embodied a thousand years of arduous Cultivation—alive into his belly!

Wang Boan executed the Forbidden Technique among Forbidden Techniques—[Divine Soul and Nascent Soul Fusion, Blood Burning the Firmament]!

This was the Wang Family's most core and terrifying Forbidden Secret Technique, passed down through generations, yet almost never dared to be used by any Wang Family Nascent Soul Cultivator!

Once executed, there was no turning back. After the technique concluded, the Nascent Soul would be extinguished, and the user would instantly suffer Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

They wouldn't even have the chance to enter the illusory Reincarnation!

Boom—!

Wang Boan's body rapidly inflated at a visible speed, like a bellows being frantically pumped with air!

The bones throughout his body emitted loud cracks from the strain, and his skin tore inch by inch.

Countless hideous and twisted Crimson Demonic Patterns crawled out of his flesh, as if billions of evil ghosts were shrieking and roaring inside him!

His aura soared wildly, step by step, in a manner that completely defied the common sense of Cultivation!

Peak Nascent Soul Mid-stage!

Half-step Late Nascent Soul Stage!

Ultimately, Wang Boan's aura forcibly touched the invisible barrier of the Late Nascent Soul Stage, and the entire sky twisted because of him!

"To force this Old Ancestor to this extent, you... have reason to be proud!"

Transformed into a Gigantic Fiend tens of meters tall, covered in burning, viscous blood flames, Wang Boan looked down, his voice like thunder rolling down from the Nine Heavens.

He abandoned all intricate Spells and Divine Abilities, his eyes containing only the most primal desire for destruction, wanting to tear everything before him into shreds!

"Die! Now!"

Wang Boan roared, swinging his giant fist, which was capable of shattering a mountain range with a single blow.

Where the punch passed, the air was compressed into substantial white Qi Waves, charging toward Shen Yuanmo in a savage and violent assault!

Facing this world-destroying punch, Shen Yuanmo's face held only a hint of disdain.

"False strength gained by burning one's life is ultimately just an illusion."

Under the horrified gaze of tens of thousands of people in the audience, he slowly raised the great evolution immortal slaying sword in his hand.

Then, right in front of the colossal Gigantic Fiend, he performed an action that brought everyone's thoughts to a halt.

"Clang."

A soft sound.

He returned the sword to its Scabbard.

Shen Yuanmo, likewise, clenched his right fist!

The seventh level of the Vajra Glazed Body was activated to its limit!

The power of the Five Elements from the Great Five Elements Glazed Art transformed into an endless river flowing within him!

Dark Golden Divine Patterns suddenly lit up on his skin, and a layer of five-colored glazed treasure light burst forth from within his body.

A terrifying sense of boundless, eternal power, as if from a Primordial God and Demon, completely erupted from his not-so-burly body!

He did not dodge.

He chose the most direct, most overbearing response, the one most capable of crushing all the enemy's will!

Fist against fist!

Facing that colossal, blood-colored Gigantic Fiend, facing that world-destroying strike.

Shen Yuanmo fiercely threw out a punch!