133: joke

A cold arc curled at the corner of Li Pingan's mouth. He gave his wrist a sudden twist, and a surging force erupted from his palm.

A crisp 'crack' sounded!

The longsword was actually snapped into pieces by his raw strength!

Immediately after, his left hand shot out like lightning, grabbing the Puppet's arm. Exerting force, he yanked the Puppet toward him while his right fist smashed out like a sledgehammer, heavily striking the Puppet's chest!

This dark-skinned youth showed absolutely no mercy to the fair sex.

"Boom!"

A dull, heavy sound rang out. The chest of the Puppet, dressed in a cyan gown, instantly caved in, appearing unnaturally sunken, as if the flesh no longer had bones to support it.

The soul fire in its hollow eye sockets flickered violently; clearly, its core had sustained heavy damage.

Li Pingan pressed his advantage, grabbing the female Cultivator Puppet's head with his left hand and swinging his right fist again, landing punch after punch on the Puppet's body. Finally, he slammed it fiercely against a giant boulder.

The Puppet's limbs struggled symbolically a few times before it could no longer rise. The last sliver of Divine Soul remaining in the female Cultivator's body was completely extinguished from this world.

Under the ancient tree, Chu Ming narrowed his eyes at the sight. He hadn't expected the dark-skinned youth's strength to be even higher than he had anticipated.

As expected, anything connected to the Profound Realm is never simple!

He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Mo Yanya, who was dazed in place, and closed his eyes again. Good words cannot persuade a ghost destined to die.

With his life-saving Puppet smashed to pieces, Mo Yanya now clearly understood the gap between them.

Watching the dark-skinned youth walk toward him step by step, he subconsciously took a step back, swallowed hard, and said, "Fellow Daoist, it's a misunderstanding. I was momentarily confused and just playing a joke. You are a great person with a big heart, please don't take it to heart!"

As he spoke, he hurriedly waved his hand, and over ten spirit fate crystals appeared in the air.

"Fellow Daoist, please accept this small gift as an apology and spare me this once."

As long as he could survive, he could always seize more spirit fate crystals later. What truly made Mo Yanya's heart ache was that Puppet.

Losing this Puppet meant his combat strength had been slashed by more than half.

In his view, relationships within a Sect were nothing more than an exchange of interests. This was the key reason he dared to test that woman; the worst-case scenario would just be an apology and a gift.

The other watching Blood Shadow Cult Disciples were speechless. The image of their Saint at this moment was exactly the same as the group of people who had knelt and begged for mercy when they first entered the Myriad Spirit Affinity Realm.

This Saint of the Blood Shadow Holy Land was currently portraying the act of bullying the weak while fearing the strong to the absolute limit.

Li Pingan's expression didn't change at all as he slowly said, "Those who attack my Sect must be killed!"

Before his voice finished fading, Li Pingan's figure had already blurred into a shadow, moving so fast that his trajectory couldn't be seen clearly.

Mo Yanya felt a chill on the back of his neck as the aura of death clung to him like a shadow. He didn't even have time to think; spiritual energy surged from his fingertips, and another female Cultivator Puppet dressed in plain clothes suddenly appeared.

This was only a Foundation Establishment Seventh Layer Puppet, far inferior to the previous cyan-gowned swordswoman!

But in the next second, "Boom!"

The loud crash of the fist colliding with the Puppet made the surrounding air tremble. Immediately, the Puppet was sent flying back like a pellet from a slingshot. Mo Yanya was violently struck by the force of the Puppet being knocked back.

He flew backward like a broken kite, hitting the giant boulder not far behind him with a heavy thud.

The boulder cracked apart, with spiderweb-like fractures spreading out.

Mo Yanya spat out a large mouthful of blood, staining his robes red. He didn't even care about the bone-shattering pain as he scrambled out of the rubble and fell to his knees with a 'plop'.

"Sen... Senior! Spare me!" His voice trembled; this was the first time since he started cultivating that he felt on the brink of life and death. "I... I can pay more! You can pick anything from the Blood Shadow Holy Land's treasury! If you want Medicinal Pills, Magic Treasures, or Cultivation Techniques, as long as I can get them, I'll give them all to you! Please... please leave me a way to live!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Chu Ming under the ancient tree and roared, "Brother Chu, quick, please plead for me!"

But Chu Ming just sat quietly under the tree, his form as still as a statue, as if he hadn't heard a thing.

Seeing that the other person had no intention of intervening, Li Pingan cleanly ended the immortal path of this Saint of the Blood Shadow Holy Land with a single kick.

As for those dozen or so spirit fate crystals, he naturally accepted them without hesitation.

Returning to the cave to keep watch, Xie Xingchen opened his eyes, glanced at Li Pingan, and said modestly, "Senior Brother, thank you for your hard work."

In front of his fellow Disciples, Li Pingan returned to his simple and honest appearance. "Junior Brother, you're being too polite."

Li Pingan hesitated for a moment but couldn't resist asking out of curiosity, "Junior Brother, were you a scholar before?"

Xie Xingchen was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "I suppose I come from a scholarly family, but my family met with misfortune when I was young, leaving only my younger sister and me to depend on each other."

...Outside the Arena Stage!

The Blood Shadow Holy Land Sect and its high-level Elders were currently experiencing a mix of grief and joy.

The joy was that, fortunately, Chu Ming was a steady child and hadn't provoked this group of unreasonable martial artists.

"How fortunate! It's fortunate that Chu Ming kept his cool!"

"If he were as ignorant and arrogant as that fool Mo Yanya, our Blood Shadow Holy Land would have lost both face and Foundation right now!"

Of course, 'unreasonable' referred to their Realm and strength being too overbearing. That dark-skinned youth's strikes were likely something even a Second Layer of Golden Core Stage Cultivator might not be able to withstand.

The grief was naturally over losing a Saint, but what gave the Blood Shadow Sect Master an even bigger headache was that fool Mo Yanya's final act of kneeling and begging for mercy. The face of a dignified Holy Land had been completely thrown away by that scene.

"That wretched Mo Yanya, even at death's door he knelt and begged for mercy, even shouting things like 'paying more' and 'offering treasures'!"

"Our Blood Shadow Holy Land has dominated the Central Region for centuries. When have we ever suffered such humiliation? Now, a Saint of the Sect has ground the Holy Land's face into the dirt, inferior even to that person from the Taixu Holy Land."

"Though that person died, they died with dignity, unlike this one who lost all character!"

Even if one lost, it was just a matter of being outmatched in Realm, but at least their dignity would remain.

"Mo Yanya's actions have not only lost him the Heavenly Selection Grand Ceremony but have also caused our Blood Shadow Holy Land to lose face in the Central Region! He should be severely punished."

The Blood Shadow Cult Sect Master looked up, his gaze sweeping over the members of the Sect, and then he said in a heavy voice, "The Mo Family failed in their upbringing, bringing shame to the Holy Land."

"Send half of them to the back mountain mines. As for Black Rock City, which they oversee, hand it over to the Chu Family after the Heavenly Selection Grand Ceremony ends."

Meanwhile, on the Taixu Holy Land's side, laughter broke out everywhere.

They were originally the most miserable ones, with only one Prodigy nurtured this year, who became someone else's stepping stone before even reaching the third stage.

If it weren't for the presence of the Mysterious Realm Emissary, the Sect Master would have wanted to lead the Sect away in a huff.

But unexpectedly, things took a turn. This Saint of the Blood Shadow Holy Land actually knelt and begged for mercy.

By comparison, it made their own Taixu Holy Land look full of backbone!

The Sect Master ordered, "The disposal of the Ling Family is postponed. We will discuss it after the Heavenly Selection Grand Ceremony ends."

The Fourth Elder looked up at the scene within the green smoke, silently praying in his heart for these five to quickly encounter those from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion. He could not wait to watch the show.