73: You think you can take advantage of me?

The airwaves exploded.

Lu Qingchan's tightly closed eyes snapped open.

The expected agonizing pain of her body being crushed to pieces did not come.

In her field of vision, there was only a back—not particularly broad, yet as towering and majestic as a divine mountain.

That Great Sage skeletal claw, powerful enough to crush a Saint King, was now hovering just an inch before Su Xuanchen's fingertip, unable to advance even a fraction.

It was as if it had been pinned into the Void Realm by some invisible set of rules.

"Are you stupid?"

Su Xuanchen didn't even turn his head, his voice tinged with a hint of exasperated disdain.

"You're a Sword Cultivator. Is that sword in your hand meant for stoking fires?"

"If you can't win, don't you know how to run? You just had to stand your ground?"

"Is your head filled with paste, or just the water from Shenxiao Holy Land?"

Lu Qingchan was stunned.

She had originally been moved to tears, which were still welling up in her eyes, but as soon as this bastard spoke, he completely ruined the atmosphere.

"I..."

Lu Qingchan bit her pale lip, her chest heaving with anger.

"Who did I do that for?!"

"Wasn't it all to save Face for you, you bastard!"

"Face?"

Su Xuanchen sneered and flicked his finger lightly.

"Bang!"

A crisp crack echoed.

That massive white bone claw felt as if it had been struck by a billion tons of force.

"Crack, crack—!"

The dense sound of bones fracturing was enough to make one's teeth ache.

Under everyone's horrified gazes, the sky-blotting skeletal claw began to crumble inch by inch starting from the fingertips, turning into a cloud of bone dust.

Su Xuanchen turned around and looked down at Lu Qingchan, who was slumped on the ground, with a playful glint in his eyes.

"My Face is earned with my fists."

"It's not for a foolish woman like you to throw your life away for."

"Remember that."

He reached out and, with extreme dominance, wiped a hand across her blood-stained Face.

"You are my woman."

"If I don't give the nod, even King Yama himself can't take you away."

Vulgar.

Overbearing.

Completely unreasonable.

But listening to these words and looking at the man standing against the light, Lu Qingchan's heart raced uncontrollably.

Her cheeks flushed hot, the heat spreading all the way to her ears.

This bastard... though he had a poisonous tongue, he... really made her feel safe.

"Ah—!"

A shrill roar shattered the brief moment of tenderness.

The white bone dao body clutched its severed arm, its figure retreating thousands of feet.

Within those hollow eye sockets, the ghostly fire flickered violently, revealing terror and disbelief.

"How is this possible?!"

"Who on earth are you?!"

"With just a single finger, you shattered the arm of my Great Sage dao body?!"

He was the Great Sage White Bone!

Even if it was just a dao body, it was still an existence that stood at the pinnacle of all living beings!

How could his hand be swatted like a fly by some unknown brat?

"Who am I?"

Su Xuanchen turned around, the tenderness on his Face vanishing instantly, replaced only by a suffocating indifference.

He brushed the bone dust off his hands as if he were disgusted by some filth.

"I'm your father."

As his voice fell...

...his figure vanished.

Teleportation!

Without any spatial fluctuations, Su Xuanchen appeared directly above the white bone dao body's head.

"Did I give you Face?"

Su Xuanchen raised his foot and stomped down hard on that massive skull.

Simple.

Brutal.

No fancy Divine Abilities, just pure Physical Body strength.

"You brat, how dare you!"

The white bone dao body was enraged.

As a Great Sage, when had he ever suffered the humiliation of having his head stepped on?

"White Bone Senra — Myriad Ghosts Heart-Devouring!"

Endless Death Qi erupted from his body, transforming into billions of hideous ghosts that lunged at Su Xuanchen with claws and fangs bared.

However...

"Noisy."

Starlight flashed beneath Su Xuanchen's feet.

"Bang!"

That kick ignored the sky full of ghosts and the protective Death Qi.

It landed squarely on the forehead of the white bone dao body.

Like a meteor, the white bone dao body was stomped down from the Nine Heavens, crashing heavily into the depths of the earth.

Dust billowed everywhere.

The ground split open, forming a bottomless canyon.

Instant kill!

A complete and utter crushing!

The entire field fell silent.

Whether it was the members of the Wang Family or the spies from various factions watching from afar, all of them had their mouths agape, unaware that their jaws had practically unhinged.

"Is... is this a dream?"

"That's a Great Sage dao body! It was... stomped down just like that?"

"Old Ancestor Su... just what is his Realm?!"

Amidst the ruins...

"Cough, cough..."

Lady White Bone crawled out with her hair in disarray.

She looked at the deep pit, then at the man in the sky who looked like a god or a demon; the arrogance in her eyes had long since turned into endless fear.

It's over.

She had kicked a steel plate.

This was a titanium alloy plate that could shatter one's foot!

"Old Ancestor! Take me away!"

Lady White Bone shrieked, discarding all dignity as she grabbed the broken skeleton crawling out of the pit, intending to burn her essence blood to escape.

"Leave?"

Su Xuanchen stood among the clouds with his arms crossed, a cruel smile playing on his lips.

"Since you've come to Wanbao City, it would be poor hospitality if I didn't have you leave something behind."

"Since you're here, none of you are leaving."

"Space, Lock."

Hum!

The Void Realm for ten thousand miles around instantly solidified.

Lady White Bone discovered to her horror that she was like an insect trapped in amber, unable to move even a single finger.

"No! I am Great Sage White Bone's woman! You can't kill me!"

Lady White Bone screamed hysterically.

"If you kill me, when the Old Ancestor's true body descends, he will certainly tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

"His woman?"

Su Xuanchen laughed.

His laugh was incredibly ironic.

With a flash of his figure, he landed in front of Lady White Bone.

He didn't look at her; his gaze was fixed on the white bone dao body that was struggling to reassemble itself.

"Old bones."

"At this point, are you still not planning to tell your 'beloved' the truth?"

The ghostly fire in the white bone dao body's eye sockets flickered. He didn't speak, but stared intently at Su Xuanchen, Evil Qi surging around him as he prepared a final counterattack.

"What truth?"

Lady White Bone was taken aback, an ominous premonition rising in her heart.

Su Xuanchen gave her a look of pity.

"Do you really think these old bones treat you as a Dao Companion?"

"Yin Evil Divine Physique—a natural Cauldron."

"He raised you, gave you resources, and helped you become a Saint."

"He was just raising a pig for slaughter."

Su Xuanchen pointed at the flickering ghostly fire core of the white bone dao body.

"He's waiting for the moment you break through to the Saint King Realm."

"That's when your 'meat' will be at its most delicious."

"By devouring your Yin Evil Origin, he can use it to charge into the Pseudo-Emperor Realm."

"This is your 'love'."

These words were like a bolt of lightning, striking Lady White Bone right on the crown of her head.

"No... impossible!"

Lady White Bone's Face went pale as she shook her head frantically.

"The Old Ancestor loves me! He said he would lead me to eternal life! You're lying! You're trying to drive a wedge between us!"

She turned her head toward the white bone dao body, a final glimmer of hope still in her eyes.

"Old Ancestor... say something!"

"Tell him! Tell him he's talking nonsense!"

The white bone dao body remained silent.

After a moment...

...that hollow voice, tinged with the shame and anger of being exposed, slowly spoke.

"Talkative brat."

"I originally wanted to wait for this fruit to ripen a bit more."

"But since you've seen through it..."

The white bone dao body reached out with its remaining skeletal claw and grabbed Lady White Bone.

"Then I'll just eat it now!"

"Though it's a bit unripe, it's better than nothing!"

"Ah—!"

Lady White Bone let out a scream of despair.

She felt her Origin rapidly draining away, forcibly extracted by that skeletal claw.

"Why... why..."

She looked at that skeletal Face she once revered and adored, now finding it only utterly repulsive and terrifying.

It turned out...

...the affection she had always been proud of was merely a butcher feeding his livestock.

"It's just making use of waste."

The white bone dao body said coldly.

"If you can help me recover some strength to slay this scoundrel, you will have died for a worthy cause."

"Crack!"

Lady White Bone's shoulder bone was crushed, and bloody tears streamed from her eyes.

Despair.

Breakdown.

There is no grief greater than the death of the heart.

Just as she was about to be completely drained...

"That's enough."

Su Xuanchen's voice rang out calmly.

"Eating someone right in front of me—did you get my permission?"

"This is the punching bag I prepared for Qingchan."

Shua!

A flash of starlight passed by.

Su Xuanchen's hand clamped onto the white bone dao body's wrist.

"Let. Go."

"Crack!"

The skeletal claw that was devouring the Origin snapped instantly.

Lady White Bone slumped to the ground, gasping for air, her eyes filled with the grey of death.

"Ten Billion Bone Evil Blade — Immortal Slaying!"

The white bone dao body had completely lost its mind.

Since it had been pushed into a corner, it would take everyone down with it!

It burned all the power of this dao body, even sacrificing that half-fragment of its soul.

The world transformed into a white bone purgatory.

A demonic blade ten thousand feet long, condensed from countless vengeful spirits and white bones, spanned across the sky.

This strike, carrying the final desperate struggle of a Great Sage, was enough to sever a galaxy!

The entire Sacred Ruins Continent was trembling.

Countless living beings knelt on the ground, shivering in fear.

"Die! Let's all die together!"

The white bone dao body roared as the demonic blade slashed down.

Su Xuanchen looked up at the world-destroying strike.

He didn't dodge.

Nor did he use a sword.

He simply extended a single finger and tapped lightly against the descending blade.

"Fancy but useless."

"Break."

Ding.

Fingertip met blade edge.

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

Only a single, crisp sound.

Immediately after...

...that demonic blade, capable of slaying immortals and gods, developed a crack starting from the point of contact.

Then a second, a third... "Clatter—!"

The ten-thousand-foot demonic blade shattered into a shower of light.

Along with the white bone dao body behind it, it was completely annihilated.

A single finger.

The dao body was destroyed, and the Primordial Spirit dissipated.

"Is... is this a Great Sage..."

Lady White Bone lay on the ground, murmuring to herself as she watched the rain of light falling from the sky.

She had lost.

Lost completely and utterly.

She hadn't just lost her life; she had lost her entire existence.

Su Xuanchen walked up to her, his expression indifferent.

"Since you're such a pathetic creature..."

...I'll give you a quick end.

He raised his hand, starlight pulsating in his palm.

"Thank... you..."

Lady White Bone closed her eyes, two lines of bloody tears trickling down.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud.

This Lady White Bone, once famously beautiful and ruthless, turned into a mist of blood and dissipated into the world.

The dust settled.

Su Xuanchen brushed off his hands, turned around, and walked toward Lu Qingchan.

Lu Qingchan had managed to struggle to her feet by now.

She looked at Su Xuanchen, her expression complicated to the extreme.

Shock, gratitude, shyness, and a few other emotions she hadn't even noticed herself were all present.

"Staring blankly?"

Su Xuanchen walked up to her and waved a hand in front of her eyes.

"Are you thinking your young master is incredibly handsome?"

Lu Qingchan came back to her senses, her Face flushing red. She instinctively wanted to retort but found herself at a loss for words.

He really was... incredibly handsome.

The sight of that single finger shattering the demonic blade would likely be etched into her mind for the rest of her life.

"Hmph."

She turned her head away and gave a prideful huff.

"It was... just so-so."

"Just so-so?"

Su Xuanchen raised an eyebrow and suddenly leaned in close, his nose almost touching hers.

"Who was it that was crying and shouting about saving Face for me earlier?"

"Who was it that was beaten like a dead dog but still insisted on holding on?"

Lu Qingchan's breath hitched. Looking at that handsome Face so close to hers, her heart pounded like thunder.

"I... I was just..."

"Enough."

Su Xuanchen interrupted her, reaching out to wrap an arm around her slender waist and pulling her into his embrace.

"I've vented this frustration for you."

"And I've killed that pair of scoundrels for you as well."

...In the distance.

On the walls of the Wang Family city.

Wang Tianba and the others had long since fallen to their knees, bowing toward Su Xuanchen's direction in worship.

A miracle!

This was a true miracle!

And even further away, high within the clouds.

A white jade flying ship was floating quietly.

The White-Bearded Old Man from the Taishi Sect was gripping the railing so hard his knuckles were white.

"One finger... to destroy a Great Sage dao body..."

The old man murmured to himself, his voice trembling.

"He can slay the Great Sage White Bone at the same Realm as if he were slaughtering a pig or a dog..."

"What kind of Great Sage is this?"

"This is clearly the talent of a Young Great Emperor!"

He turned his head to look at Taixu, who was equally dazed, and took a breath.

"Pass down the order."

"From this day forth, whenever the Taishi Sect sees anyone from the Su Family, they are to retreat three hundred miles!"

On the other side.

At the entrance of the Purple Heaven Palace.

Gu Lingshuang held the child, watching that dissipating Sword Qi in the distance. Her lips curled upward, yet there was a hint of jealousy in her expression.

"That guy..."

"He managed to show off again."

"It looks like there will be another mouth to feed at home soon."

She looked down and teased Su Qingyue in her arms.

"Yue'er, your father's luck with women is simply inescapable."

"The two of us will have to keep a close eye on our home from now on."

...Yin Evil Demonic Province.

This was a land of death where the sun never shone.

Deep within a massive palace constructed entirely of white bones.

"Roar—!"

An earth-shaking roar echoed from deep underground.

The entire white bone palace shook violently, and countless low-level undead instantly exploded.

"Su! Xuan! Chen!"

It was the true body of the Great Sage White Bone.

He sat cross-legged within a pool of blood, his skeletal frame as translucent as jade, radiating the terrifying fluctuations of a Pseudo-Emperor.

At this moment.

Within his ghostly fire eyes burned a tangible rage.

His dao body was destroyed!

His 'Dao Fruit' was killed!

Several thousand years of planning had vanished in an instant!

This hatred could not be washed away even by the waters of all the five lakes and four seas!

"I will kill you!"

"I will extract your soul and refine your spirit, lighting you as a sky lantern for ten thousand years!"

He was about to charge out of the blood pool and strike toward the Sacred Ruins Continent.

Just then.

"Amitabha."

A compassionate, ethereal, yet supremely majestic female voice abruptly rang out within the palace.

"Benefactor, your resentment is too heavy; it is easy to fall into the Demonic Path."

"Lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha where you stand."