173: Chapter 173 Terrified

Ignoring the shocked gazes all around, that flamboyant man pulled the watermelon knife out from Daoist Xinghai's chest with a calm expression.

The moment the blade left his body, it even brought out a string of blood droplets that splattered onto the watermelon stand, instantly staining several large, green watermelons red.

The man, however, casually shook the blood off the knife and wiped it on his floral shirt.

Immediately after, he put his sunglasses back on, concealing those eyes filled with mockery.

Then, he turned around, mounted that strange vehicle, and pushed off with his foot—

"Beep beep—!" Another crisp honk of the horn sounded.

He rode the vehicle leisurely along the street, which was filled with the aura of mundane life, and disappeared from everyone's sight in a flash.

That back view. That posture. That lackadaisical way of riding—it could be described as stylish to the extreme.

From beginning to end, he never looked back at them once.

He didn't even give them a single extra glance.

It was as if the person he had just stabbed was not the strongest in the Xinghai Realm, the Peak Domain Realm Daoist Xinghai, but merely... a very ordinary, unscrupulous melon farmer!

This kind of disregard, this kind of contempt, was even more chilling to the remaining Elders than that single strike.

They wanted to chase. They wanted to roar. They wanted to use every means possible to tear that arrogant scoundrel into pieces—but they could not move.

Their bodies still did not belong to them.

They could only watch helplessly as the man left, watch him disappear around the street corner, and watch the pedestrians and vendors on the street gradually become blurry... Then—that eerie, irresistible sense of trance struck again.

It felt like only an instant, yet also like a long time had passed.

When the Elders finally regained their senses, everything before their eyes had finally returned to what they were familiar with—the main hall of the Star Remains Hall.

The magnificent hall, the towering stone pillars, the dim lights, and those walls engraved with Law patterns... everything was the same as before.

"I... we... we're back..." an Elder murmured, his voice filled with excitement.

He could not help but lower his head and look at his own hands—these hands that had once lost all power.

At this moment, the power of Law was slowly circulating on those hands.

The power belonging to the Domain Realm had returned.

"Great! We're back! We... finally returned!" Another Elder was also trembling with excitement, his eyes slightly reddened.

One had to know, that feeling from just a moment ago—the powerlessness of clearly having consciousness yet being unable to control one's own body, the fear of being completely manipulated like a marionette—was simply more terrifying than death!

"Haha... Great! It feels good to have power again!" Someone could not help but laugh out loud.

The laughter was filled with the relief of surviving a disaster and lingering fear.

They all hurriedly stimulated the power of Law within their bodies, feeling that familiar, world-destroying power surging through their Meridians.

This feeling. It was so good. It was fucking great!

However—just as everyone was immersed in the joy of escaping the illusion, a stifled, painful groan suddenly rang out in the main hall.

"Urgh... ah..." The voice was low and hoarse, as if it had been squeezed out from the depths of the throat. It carried unconcealable pain.

Everyone froze in unison.

Then, as if they had realized something, they turned their heads abruptly and looked in the direction the sound came from—they saw their Star Remains Hall's Hall Master, Daoist Xinghai.

He was standing there, his figure slightly hunched, one hand tightly clutching his chest.

His face was terrifyingly pale. Veins were bulging on his forehead, and large beads of sweat were sliding down his cheeks.

And between his fingers—bright red blood was gushing out.

That blood was warm and real, dripping one drop at a time onto the cold floor of the main hall.

"Plop." "Plop." Each drop felt like it was smashing onto everyone's hearts.

"Hall... Hall Master?" A Vice Hall Master looked at Daoist Xinghai with a terrified expression; even his voice had changed pitch.

He rushed over almost subconsciously and caught Daoist Xinghai.

However, his eyes were fixed tightly on the wound on Daoist Xinghai's chest.

Because he had seen it. He had seen the bleeding wound on Daoist Xinghai's chest.

That location—was exactly the place where that watermelon knife had stabbed in the illusion.

"This... how is this possible?!" Another Elder staggered back a step, his face full of disbelief.

"The illusion... that was clearly an illusion! How could he actually be injured?!"

Yes. That was clearly an illusion. An ordinary street, a group of ordinary Mortals, an ordinary man riding a strange vehicle... Everything about it was as absurd as a dream.

But if that was an illusion, and if that watermelon knife was just an apparition, then what was the wound on the Hall Master's chest, and what was the blood currently flowing out?!

"No... that's not right..." Another Vice Hall Master, who was also the longest-living person in the Star Remains Hall, spoke with a voice that was trembling uncontrollably.

"That... that was not an illusion... that was not an ordinary illusion..." He stared fixedly at the wound on Daoist Xinghai's chest, his eyes filled with fear.

"That was... that was the superposition of reality and illusion... it was directly projecting the damage from the illusion into reality..."

"This... how is this possible? How terrifying must the control over Law be to achieve this?"

No one could answer him. Because everyone was completely stunned at this moment.

They stood there blankly, watching their supreme Hall Master, watching that strongest person in the Xinghai Realm—currently looking just like an ordinary person, clutching his chest, with a pained expression.

Blood was still flowing. It followed his fingers, followed his lapels, and dripped onto the ground, drop by drop.

And that man who had stabbed him. That man wearing a floral shirt, sporting large sunglasses, and riding a strange vehicle—it seemed that from beginning to end, he had never taken them seriously.

Stab someone. Wipe the knife. Mount the vehicle. Leave immediately.

It was just that simple. It was just that casual. It was just that... arrogant!

"Thump—" Suddenly, a muffled sound rang out.

Everyone was startled again and looked toward the sound.

They saw an Elder had actually collapsed to the ground.

His face was deathly pale, his eyes unfocused, and he kept muttering to himself.

"If... if he wanted to kill not the Hall Master just now... but us..."

He did not finish his sentence, but everyone understood his meaning.

If that man had wanted to kill them, if that strike had stabbed their chests—would they be the ones lying on the ground right now? And would it be their chests that were bleeding?

No one dared to continue thinking.

The main hall fell into a deathly silence once again.

Only the suppressed, painful gasps of Daoist Xinghai and the "plop, plop" sound of blood droplets echoed in the vast hall.

At this moment, these high and mighty Domain Realm powerhouses, these existences standing at the Peak of the Xinghai Realm—finally truly and genuinely felt it.

What fear was. What it meant to be... completely crushed by someone.

That man riding the vehicle. That man who had stabbed their Hall Master and then left stylishly.

At this moment, he had become the most terrifying nightmare weighing on their hearts.