161: Just today

Ying Shiya's cheek was deformed; the terrifying force caused even her Divine Soul's Dao Fruit to crack. She wanted to resist, but no matter what, she could not shake that foot even a fraction.

In her several decades of life, this was the first time she had felt such an intense sense of powerlessness.

"Shiya!"

Iron Woman Ying's expression changed drastically.

Instinctively, she summoned her Dharma Sword and wanted to rush forward.

But Cui Jue cast a faint glance in this direction, her expression playful, and crooked her finger: "Oh? In a hurry? If you're in a hurry, then come over here!"

The flippant tone was like a basin of cold water, extinguishing Iron Woman Ying's rage on the spot. Her face turned ashen, and she stood frozen in place.

Her intuition told her that if she rushed over, she would definitely die!

She was not afraid of death; what she feared was this kind of meaningless sacrifice.

"Mother, you all need to leave quickly!"

Ying Shiya's cheek was pressed deeply into the ground, tears streaming down her face, and her breath growing weaker and weaker.

She was truly unwilling to accept this!

She was on the verge of passing through the Immortal Gate to pursue supreme Immortal fate, with a bright future ahead of her, yet in the blink of an eye, she was being trampled underfoot like a dead dog, destined to perish.

This... was the cruelty of the cultivation world.

"The token for the Ascension Assembly is not something an ant like you deserves to possess!"

Cui Jue grabbed the young girl's right arm and forcibly bent it into a gruesome angle. She admired the golden flame emblem, her eyes filled with intoxication.

This was the result that Ying Shiya had spent ten years accumulating.

Possessing it meant having the qualification to pass through the Immortal Gate.

"Now, it belongs to me!"

Cui Jue exerted sudden force.

Ying Shiya's right arm tore at the root, fresh blood gushed out, and her shrill scream was heart-wrenching.

"Shiya!"

Iron Woman Ying's eyes turned bloodshot, her hand gripping the sword trembling violently, yet she never found the courage to swing that sword.

At this moment, a petite figure suddenly darted out.

"Beast, let go of my sister!"

Ying Shiying gritted her teeth, forcefully suppressing her fear as she lunged in front of Cui Jue, exerting strength in her legs to kick at the woman's chest.

Cui Jue did not dodge or evade, her playful gaze looking as if she were watching an ant. The young girl's full-force kick could not make her body tremble in the slightest, and the terrifying rebound force instead shattered her own legs.

"Interesting, interesting. Someone who hasn't even reached Foundation Establishment is still an ant, yet you actually dare to make a move against me. I really don't know whether to praise your commendable courage or call you a fool!"

Ying Shiying was not frightened by her murderous intent. Her broken legs rendered her unable to move, but she still struggled to lift her head, her pretty face fierce: "Beast, let go of my sister. If you have any tricks, just use them on me."

"Sister, Sister!"

Ying Shiya's expression was dazed; for a moment, she even forgot the pain.

In her memories, her sister had been Trash since childhood, her cultivation strength far inferior to her own, timid, cowardly, and always hesitant.

Yet, it was this very sister who dared to rush up to save her today.

This idiot!

Did she not know... that she would die?

"Why?"

She tasted the bitter flavor of fresh blood at the corner of her mouth.

She could not understand it. For all these years, she had never looked at this sister in name properly, had often bullied her, and the two of them had not even had a proper sisterly conversation a few times.

"What do you mean 'why'?"

Ying Shiying asked first, then realized, and a heartfelt smile appeared at the corners of her eyes.

"Because... because I am your sister! Protecting my younger sister, isn't that what a sister should do?"

"It's just..."

She felt a bit discouraged, looking at her broken legs, tears welling up in her beautiful eyes: "It's just that I, as a sister, am useless. It's all my fault, all my fault for being Trash!"

"Sister..."

Ying Shiya's mouth opened slightly, and large bubbles of blood were spat out.

Cui Jue's smile became increasingly evil: "Tsk tsk tsk, what a deep sisterly bond. Today is the perfect day to send you both on your way."

She tore off Ying Shiya's right arm, snatched the flame emblem, turned her palm into a claw, and thrust it toward Ying Shiying's head: "An ant who hasn't even reached Foundation Establishment—being able to die by my hands is enough to be proud of!"

"Sister!"

Ying Shiya's eyes were wide with rage.

Feeling the fierce wind of death, Ying Shiying instead closed her beautiful eyes calmly.

Carrying the name of Trash for so many years, suffering through countless ridicule and humiliation, perhaps death was a release for her.

After a full three breaths.

The pain she expected did not come. She opened her eyes in confusion, only to see a thin, aged figure blocking in front of her.

He hunched his waist, his right arm was missing, looking as if he were on the verge of death at any moment, yet with just two fingers of his left hand, he stopped that heaven-toppling claw.

"You!"

Cui Jue's expression changed slightly.

A terrifying blood-red aura swept across the sky.

The woman's powerful aura was like surging ocean waves, wanting to drown and crush Su Quan's figure, but that aged, decrepit body was like a reef, standing motionless.

"You, who are you?"

Cui Jue's heart trembled wildly.

From the white-haired, wrinkled, one-armed old man before her, she felt an unprecedented pressure and fear.

She wanted to resist, but was horrified to discover that her Divine Soul's Dao Fruit had been forcibly suppressed.

"Old Man Su..."

Ying Shiying's beautiful eyes were dazed; she still hadn't reacted.

Meanwhile, the Cultivators watching from the sky were in an uproar.

"Who is this old man?"

"Suppressed the Blood Slaughter Demoness with two fingers? Could he be some reclusive Immortal?"

"He is wearing the Dharma robe of the Sun Moon Sword Manor. I've never heard of such a fierce person in the Sword Manor!"

"This is too fake. Is the Blood Slaughter Demoness just a fraud?"

"..."

Thousands of gazes converged on the two of them.

Cui Jue's face was deathly pale, completely devoid of her previous unbridled arrogance.

She dared not even imagine in her dreams that someone could easily suppress her in the same Realm.

One must know that she was a peerless Heavenly Prodigy of a plane, a Heaven-Defying existence capable of fighting above her Realm.

Just then, Su Quan grinned, his cloudy eyes revealing a sense of ease and freedom.

"Young Miss!"

"Huh?"

"Didn't you ask me that day when I would be able to become the number one in the world?"

As his voice fell, Su Quan suddenly retracted his smile. His eyes were cold, deep as a pool of ice, and an earth-shattering aura suppressed the past and present. The entire floating Immortal island, and even the entire Futuo Ancient Realm, were trembling.

Cui Jue's eyes revealed despair, her mouth wide open, and like dissipating wind and sand, she was annihilated bit by bit. Even her Divine Soul could not escape.

Her body died and her Dao vanished; her soul was completely destroyed.

It took only a single breath!

Amidst the shocked gazes of everyone, Su Quan rose into the air and stepped toward the Immortal Gate. Under the illumination of the seven-colored divine radiance, his body, which had always been hunched, gradually straightened.

An aged voice echoed in Ying Shiying's ears.

"Just today!"