191: Chapter 191 You can leave.

Tieshan did not speak.

He stood there, his iron-gray pupils fixed on Lady Hua, his lips moving slightly before closing again.

Lady Hua did not look at them.

Her gaze remained fixed on the figure in the Void Realm, her pale green pupils reflecting the person standing in the air.

Her voice remained very soft, yet every word was enunciated clearly.

"The Yao Race of Taiyue Mountain has been oppressed for long enough."

"Zhu Feng's only wish before his death was to forge a path of survival for the Yao Race of Taiyue Mountain."

"I will carry on his final wish."

"But the path forward... you will have to walk it yourselves."

While speaking.

"Whoosh~"

After a few flashes of the figure in front, that silhouette was already standing in the Void Realm above Taiyue Mountain.

It was just one person, hands clasped behind his back, standing in the air.

His gray-white robe fluttered slightly in the wind, with no ornaments hanging from his waist, and he wore a pair of black cloth shoes on his feet.

He looked to be in his forties, with a square face, thick eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and slightly thick lips; his appearance could not be called handsome, but there was something indescribable about him.

It was not majesty, nor oppression, but a sense of natural condescension, as if the sky itself should be three parts lower just because he stood there.

This person... was the number one figure who suppressed all the Sects and the Yao Race in the Dachuan Dynasty: Shangguan Hong.

No one knew if this was his real name; everyone simply called him Shangguan.

Court ministers called him Shangguan, Sect Masters called him Shangguan, and the great monsters of the Yao Race also called him Shangguan.

He was not an official of the Dachuan Dynasty and was not bound by the laws of the Dynasty.

He was not a member of any Sect and was not restricted by Sect rules.

He was the person who had been there since the founding of the Dachuan Dynasty, the only existence on this land who had lived longer than all the Sects.

The change of Dynasties had nothing to do with him, the rise and fall of Sects had nothing to do with him, and the life and death of the Yao Race had even less to do with him.

He only did one thing: suppression.

Suppressing the Sects, not allowing any single one to grow too powerful.

Suppressing the Yao Race, not allowing any single monster to become a threat.

For thousands of years, within the Dachuan Dynasty, no Sect dared to dominate, and no member of the Yao Race dared to claim kingship.

Because he was there.

Shangguan Hong's gaze swept across Taiyue Mountain, landed on Lady Hua, then on Wu Li, and finally on the old yellow dog shivering on the ground.

The corners of his mouth moved slightly; it was not a smile, but it could not be called any other expression either.

"Ah Huang, it has been so many years; you have done quite well."

The old yellow dog's body trembled violently upon hearing this.

It used its last bit of strength to raise its head, a fawning expression on its face, its cloudy old eyes reflecting the figure in the Void Realm; its mouth opened, and a very faint, thin whimper was squeezed from its throat.

A few breaths later.

The old yellow dog breathed its last.

Shangguan Hong did not look at it again.

Who could have imagined that the one who had served as Mountain Lord of Taiyue Mountain for thousands of years was merely a stray dog that Shangguan Hong had casually raised back then.

At this moment.

Shangguan Hong stood in the Void Realm, looking down at Lady Hua as if looking at an ant.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing a smile that was not quite a smile.

"Considering your cultivation has not been easy, I will give you two choices."

"First, let me place a Restriction on you. From now on, you will be the Mountain Lord Taiyue. Everything will continue as before: the trials will proceed, the Human Race will enter the mountain, and the Yao Race will be sacrificed. In this way, you can live."

"As for the second, that would naturally be..."

"Let me give you a choice instead."

Lady Hua's voice interrupted him.

Her pale green pupils stared fixedly at the figure in the Void Realm, the murderous intent in her eyes so thick it had almost solidified.

"From now on, I will make you and everything you cherish disappear. I will make you taste the same pain and suffering as I do."

Shangguan Hong's eyes narrowed.

A cold light flashed through his deep black pupils.

"How arrogant."

"I have lived for a thousand years; in this world, there is truly nothing that can move my heart."

Lady Hua sneered.

The laughter was not loud, but it was cold, cold to the bone.

"Is that so?"

"I recall rumors from the outside world that you, Shangguan Hong, abandoned your Sect for your lover and flew into a rage for her sake, but alas, your lover had a tragic fate; when she was entering the Nascent Soul stage, she was injured by the Lightning Tribulation and lost her sanity."

"Enough!"

His voice exploded over Taiyue Mountain like a thunderclap, and his aura as a Late Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator was released without reservation, spreading in all directions like a tide.

It made the entire Taiyue Mountain tremble.

"If it weren't for you vile Yao Race causing trouble, how could Lian'er have failed to pass that Lightning Tribulation!"

"You beasts, born of heaven and earth, are born with long Lifespans and strong Physical Bodies."

"Do you know what price we Human Race Cultivators must pay to live a few more years? How many lives we must risk? How many Lightning Tribulations we must endure?"

He pointed his finger at Lady Hua, his fingertip trembling.

"Lian'er was gifted; she reached Foundation Establishment at twenty, Golden Core at fifty, and touched the threshold of the Nascent Soul at two hundred."

"She could have become the youngest female Nascent Soul Cultivator in the Dachuan Dynasty in a thousand years."

"It was because of you Yao Race! You were causing chaos in the mountains, and to guard the region, she had to undergo the Lightning Tribulation while injured! That Lightning Tribulation could have been passed! It could have been passed!"

His voice suddenly rose, like a knife slicing through the silence above Taiyue Mountain.

"The day she failed her Undergoing Tribulation, I swore that this debt would be settled upon the entire Yao Race of the Dachuan Dynasty. I will make you all pay for it for eternity!"

Before the words had even faded, Shangguan Hong raised his hand and pressed down with a palm strike.

"Boom!!"

Gray-white spiritual light condensed in his palm, transforming into a massive handprint that blotted out the sky, pressing down from the Void Realm.

Wherever the handprint passed, the air was compressed, emitting sharp sonic booms; gravel on the ground was crushed into powder, and petals were ground into dust.

Before the handprint even landed, the entire Taiyue Mountain was already trembling, the mountain body emitting unbearable creaking sounds, as if it would collapse at any moment.

Lady Hua's figure swayed, and she thrust her hands open violently.

Pale green spiritual light burst from her palms, transforming into countless streams of light that shot out in all directions.

Wherever the streams of light passed, flowers on the ground grew wildly, drilling out from the soil, squeezing out from stone crevices, and blooming in the air.

Colorful flowers bloomed at the same instant, covering the mountains and plains, filling the sky and earth.

"Hum!!"

"Boom!"

Thousands of streams of light intertwined and wove together, forming a massive flower net that stretched from the foot of the mountain to the peak, from east to west, wrapping the entire Taiyue Mountain tightly.

The flower net shimmered with pale green spiritual light, blocking Shangguan Hong's handprint on the outside.

The handprint struck the flower net, emitting a muffled, thunderous sound; the flower net trembled violently, but it did not shatter.

But after just one strike.

Lady Hua's face turned even paler, and a trace of fresh blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

She gritted her teeth, holding her hands out in front of her, her body trembling, but the flower net did not disperse.

At this moment, Lady Hua's voice spread in all directions.

"I have left a teleportation array behind the mountain."

"You should leave."

Wu Li's expression darkened.