112: Cut the grass at its roots

The Fifth Ancestor quietly reined in his aura, the spiritual power of his Saint Realm Middle Stage slowly circulating within his body, attempting to resist the faint pressure lingering from Little Black.

But that power was like an undercurrent in the deep sea; though seemingly calm, it made even a Saint Realm Middle Stage expert like him feel his Soul tremble.

His heart sank: 'This aura is at least at the Saint King Realm! This kid Changge, he's raised such a fierce creature!'

His fingertips subconsciously curled, and even his breathing became extremely light.

He had originally thought that he would need to protect Xiao Ruobai during this Secret Realm trip, but now it seemed he had underestimated Changge's arrangements.

Little Black's battle prowess, he feared, was such that even a Saint King would be no match. It was just that Changge had hidden it so deeply; he hadn't detected the true nature of this fierce creature for so many years... He recalled how he used to secretly observe Zizhu Peak, occasionally glimpsing Little Black perched on Gu Changge's shoulder. Who could have imagined that such a seemingly docile little bird harbored world-destroying battle prowess?

Seeing that no one dared to move again, Little Black's scarlet vertical pupils gradually returned to calm. With a gentle flap of its wings, it shrank back to the size of a furball, fluttering down to perch on Xiao Ruobai's shoulder and rubbing its sharp beak against his fingertips, as if the scene of it intimidating the entire valley had just been an illusion.

Only then did the Cultivators on the outskirts of the valley dare to slowly let out a sigh of relief, yet they still didn't dare to move freely, only secretly glancing at Xiao Ruobai and Fang Hanyu with their peripheral vision, their eyes full of awe and trepidation.

No one dared to guess the origins of the two, and no one dared to mention the idea of "seizing the Secret Realm Legacy."

To have such a terrifying existence accompanying them, the backgrounds of these two were definitely not something they could provoke.

Shi Wanshan, however, was filled with another emotion at this moment.

His eyes, fixed on Little Black, shone astonishingly bright, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned upward, his internal calculations clattering loudly.

"My goodness! This Little Black is too formidable! Slashing King Realm Cultivators is like squashing ants! In the future, I must interact more with that kid Xiao Ruobai. Perhaps I can get Little Black's protection, and then who in Xuan Province would dare to provoke my Qingyue Peak?"

He even began to ponder what spiritual fruits and spiritual wine he should bring when he next saw Xiao Ruobai to subtly "curry favor" with this powerful little bird, his eager thoughts almost overflowing from his eyes.

Li Xuanfeng's hand, gripping the hilt of his sword, repeatedly tightened and loosened, the thin sweat seeping from his palm dampening the scabbard.

He looked at Little Black's seemingly harmless furball appearance, but in his mind, the scene of it crushing a King Realm Old Ancestor with one claw kept replaying. His heart pounded, and even his breathing became hot.

"Is this the spiritual beast Martial Uncle Gu raised? When I saw it on Zizhu Peak before, I thought it was just an ordinary little bird, but I never imagined... I never imagined it would be so terrifying!"

A thought flashed, and he suddenly trembled all over, his eyes filled with an unbelievable light.

"To be able to make such a fierce creature obediently listen, just how high must Martial Uncle Gu's cultivation be? Little Black can easily kill even King Realm Cultivators, so Martial Uncle Gu must have already entered the Saint Realm, right? Otherwise, how could he subdue such a great fiend?

It must be! Before, Martial Uncle Gu never displayed his cultivation in the Sect; it turns out he was hiding it so deeply!"

The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. His fingertips trembled slightly, and the grip on his sword hilt tightened a few more points. Only one thought remained in his heart: "Our Sect actually has a Saint Realm expert; I must hold onto this powerful backer tightly!"

Meanwhile, in the bamboo pavilion on Zizhu Peak, Xuan Yangzi, seeing the battle turn around instantly in the water mirror, stood up abruptly in shock, his teacup clattering to the ground. The scalding tea spilled all over the table, but he didn't notice.

He pointed at Little Black in the water mirror, his voice trembling: "Chang... Junior Brother Changge! What exactly is the origin of this Little Black? That aura just now was even more terrifying than the Saint's might of a Holy Land Old Ancestor!"

Gu Changge held another unsplit teacup, taking a shallow sip, his tone still as calm as an unruffled pond.

"It's just a little bird I picked up some time ago and raised for a while."

Xuan Yangzi opened his mouth, speechless for a long time. A little bird he picked up?

A "little bird" that could shatter a Saint Weapon with a cry and destroy a King Realm Cultivator with a claw?

He looked at Gu Changge's calm and composed demeanor and suddenly felt that his Junior Brother's "backup plans" were never just "sufficient," but rather "excessive," capable of crushing opponents into the ground.

In the valley, Xiao Ruobai finally recovered his senses, raising a hand to gently stroke Little Black's feathers, his tone full of admiration: "Little Black, I never imagined you were so powerful."

Little Black rubbed against his fingertips, letting out a crisp "chirp," as if asking for praise or saying, "This is nothing."

Xiao Ruobai stroked Little Black's feathers and looked up, scanning the crowd: "The matter of the Secret Realm is concluded. Everyone, please leave as soon as possible."

As his voice fell, the crowd, as if granted a pardon, cautiously retreated backward, their footsteps extremely light, afraid of disturbing Little Black on his shoulder.

Gu Changge lightly twirled the teacup with his fingertips, the warm tea mist gently rising, his calm tone conveying decisiveness: "To cut the grass, one must remove the roots."

Just as Xuan Yangzi was about to ask, the scene in the water mirror suddenly changed.

Above the Sects of the Demon Heaven Sect and the Blood Soul Sect, the originally clear sky was suddenly engulfed by clouds as thick as ink. As the clouds churned, a pressure far exceeding the King Realm Peak swept down like a tide.

It was so heavy that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi solidified, and low-level Disciples were directly pressed to their knees, unable even to lift their heads, groaning in pain.

Inside the Demon Heaven Sect's mountain gate, the remaining Disciples were cultivating methodically, while several Elders gathered in the hall, holding spiritual wine and fantasizing.

"When the Old Ancestors bring back the Tongtian Pagoda, our Demon Heaven Sect will dominate the surrounding several provinces!"

Suddenly, a loud "boom" resounded, and the foundation of the mountain-protecting formation, the "Myriad Demon Formation," shattered. Black runes peeled off the formation wall like broken glass.

Everyone rushed out of the hall, instantly stunned by the sight before them.

A gigantic azure hand, covering half the sky, slowly descended from the clouds. Its palm lines were as clear as mountain ranges, and its knuckles glowed with a faint spiritual light. Before it even touched the mountain gate, the demonic runes on the formation wall melted away at a visible speed, like snow meeting a raging fire.

"Enemy attack! Activate the great formation!"

The Grand Elder on duty roared and lunged towards the formation eye, but the azure hand merely pressed down lightly. The Myriad Demon Formation shattered like paper, and the violent spiritual power backlash shattered the Meridians of dozens of demonic Cultivators, screams rising one after another.

Some Disciples tried to escape through the secret passage in the back mountain, but found that the azure hand had already covered the entire Sect from above. Wherever the palm wind swept, palaces and towers collapsed like building blocks.

The hard bluestone ground was pressed into palm prints several zhang deep, and even the demon core mineral veins buried for a thousand years beneath the ground were completely collapsed by the palm's power, leaving only a scorched earth emitting black smoke, without a trace of the Sect remaining.

At the same moment, the Blood Soul Sect's stronghold was still a scene of "liveliness."

Disciples were cultivating the "Blood Soul Great Art" beside the blood pool, blood-colored mist swirling. The sky suddenly darkened, and a pressure originating from the same source as above the Demon Heaven Sect enveloped the land. Even the blood in the blood pool stopped boiling, forming fine ripples.

Everyone looked up to see a gigantic azure palm slowly descending from the clouds. Its palm surface glowed with a faint spiritual light, and terrifying power flowed through its lines, making Souls tremble.

The Blood Soul Sect's "Blood Soul Great Formation" instantly activated on its own. The myriad vengeful spirits condensed within the formation roared and lunged at the giant palm, but as soon as they touched the palm wind, they disintegrated like melting ice and snow, without even a scream remaining.

The blood-colored crystal at the formation eye cracked with a "crunch," and the entire great formation instantly lost its luster, turning into a sky full of shattered light.

The Elder on duty's face turned pale. He turned to detonate the Blood Soul Pearls in the treasury, but the azure giant palm merely pressed down from the air. The palm's power was like Mount Tai crushing down; the entire Blood Soul Sect stronghold instantly collapsed. Palaces, blood pools, treasuries, along with all the demonic Cultivators, were pressed into the scorched earth several zhang deep underground.

When the palm's power dissipated, only a gigantic palm print remained, with green smoke rising from the charred earth. Not a single wisp of blood-colored mist remained, and the once infamous Blood Soul Sect had completely vanished from the map of Xuan Province.

Xuan Yangzi, in front of the water mirror, watched dumbfounded, the teacup in his hand long since cold.

This was clearly Gu Changge's doing!

He looked at Gu Changge, who was still sipping his tea, as if the act of annihilating two major Sects had merely been him casually brushing dust off a teacup.

Xuan Yangzi swallowed, suddenly realizing: Gu Changge had never left any way out for the Demon Heaven Sect and the Blood Soul Sect from the very beginning.