164: Chapter 164 Deceiving the Heavens and Snatching the Goods in Secret

Empty.

Ye Wuhun's right hand, covered in dark gold battle armor, froze in mid-air.

His fingertips only caught a lingering wisp of purple mist.

That primordial dao seed, which contained the aura of the Universe's beginning, had vanished into thin air right under the Divine Sense lock of a Half-step Immortal King.

There were no spatial ripples, no fluctuations of Law.

Dead silence.

The thousands of Cultivators in the core area held their breath, staring wide-eyed at that empty purple Dao Lotus.

"Who did this?"

Ye Wuhun slowly turned his head. In his dark gold eyes, his original arrogance was replaced by an irrational violence.

Boom!

The aura of a Half-step Immortal King exploded instantly like a physical tsunami.

The Void Realm for ten thousand miles around was forcibly locked down amidst a tooth-aching sound of compression.

The nine Golden Crows pulling the carriage let out uneasy shrieks.

"Who dares touch this Young Lord's things!"

Ye Wuhun roared, his voice turning into physical sound waves that shattered hundreds of nearby boulders, each dozens of feet large, into fine powder.

A crack opened between his brows, and the Origin Divine Sense of his Innate Dao Body swept out without reservation.

Once. Twice. Thrice.

His Divine Sense was like a fine scraper, forcibly scanning every Cultivator present—their bodies, storage rings, and even their Seas of Consciousness.

The weaker Profound Immortals bled from their seven orifices and fainted on the spot, yet no one dared to let out a single scream.

No one.

No trace of spatial shifting could be found.

Beside the Xiao Family's nine dragon agarwood carriage.

Zi Yun stood in place, the hem of her ice-blue flowing immortal dress fluttering slightly in the wind.

Her face was pale, her beautiful eyes showing just the right amount of alarm and confusion; her body even trembled slightly under Ye Wuhun's pressure.

She perfectly fit the image of a great family's Divine Goddess who had just emerged from secluded cultivation and had yet to experience such life-and-death oppression.

However.

Inside her wide right sleeve, that purple primordial dao seed was quietly suspended half an inch above her palm.

Wisps of the Lower Realm's Heavenly Dao Origin completely sealed off its aura, leaving no leaks.

Zi Yun sneered in her heart.

Fool.

It would be a miracle if you could find it.

Her ability to intercept the prize under Ye Wuhun's nose didn't rely on ordinary spatial shifting at all.

Rather, it was the top-tier Immortal Artifact "Flowing Cloud Disillusionment Formation" Plate given by her father, Family Head.

Combined with the ancient spatial devouring talent of the Abyssal Demon race, and further aided by the Lower Realm's Heavenly Dao Origin bestowed by her husband to forcibly sever Karma.

A three-pronged approach.

While Ye Wuhun's attention was entirely on the Heaven-Slaying Sword, the Formation Plate had already silently spread out an illusion field.

The moment Ye Wuhun reached out to grab it, the Lower Realm's Heavenly Dao Origin directly rewrote the rules around the dao seed for half a breath's time.

The Abyssal Demon talent swallowed the dao seed into a personal space in one gulp, then transferred it through her skirt to her sleeve.

The entire process was incredibly smooth.

"With this dao seed, the Dharma Idol my husband condenses will surely transcend the Law restrictions of this world."

Zi Yun's heart was filled only with her obsession for Su Yun.

As for Ye Wuhun's fury, she didn't care at all.

But she had to play the part fully.

She noticed that Ye Wuhun's Divine Sense was becoming increasingly violent, even starting to probe the Immortal Lord leaders of the major factions.

She couldn't let him investigate too deeply, lest complications arise.

Zi Yun's gaze swept dozens of feet away to Lin Aotian, who was still gasping for breath at the bottom of the giant crater.

Trash always has its uses.

Her lips moved slightly as she sent a secret transmission: "Qing Yuan."

Qing Yuan, who had been kneeling in the shadow of the jade carriage, immediately understood.

Qing Yuan's fingers quickly formed seals.

She sent an extremely faint yet exceptionally mottled fluctuation of Devilish Qi...

...along the rock fissures in the ground, precisely into the pool of blood beneath Lin Aotian.

The moment this fluctuation formed, it immediately shattered.

In the chaotic Void Realm, this was like lighting a match in the dark of night.

It extinguished instantly, but it was enough to be fatal.

Swish!

Ye Wuhun snapped his head around, his gaze locking onto that deep pit.

"Got you."

He took a step, shrinking the distance to inches, and appeared directly at the bottom of the pit.

Lin Aotian's bones were shattered, and his internal organs were mostly burned; he lay at the bottom of the pit, vomiting large amounts of blood.

Ye Wuhun didn't waste any words; he raised his right foot, covered in dark gold battle armor, and stepped heavily on Lin Aotian's collapsed chest.

Crack!

His few remaining ribs shattered completely.

"Argh—!" Lin Aotian's eyes bulged as he let out a pig-slaughtering scream.

"Was it you?"

Ye Wuhun looked down at him from above, his voice bone-chillingly cold.

"What low-life demonic cultivation method did you use to steal the dao seed? Hand it over, and I'll grant you an intact corpse."

Lin Aotian was in so much pain he almost fainted, his head buzzing.

Stealing the dao seed?

What the hell dao seed did I steal?

I didn't even see what the dao seed looked like before you slapped me down!

"No... it wasn't me..." Lin Aotian's mouth was full of blood, his voice intermittent. "I didn't... you're framing me..."

"Still being stubborn."

Ye Wuhun slowly applied more pressure with his foot.

Lin Aotian's chest began to deform, his heart squeezed to the limit; the feeling of suffocation and intense pain made him struggle frantically like a dying fish.

Humiliation.

Extreme humiliation.

He, Lin Aotian, was once the peerless Prodigy of the Lower Realm, unique through the ages, and Nickname's cherished fiancé.

Now, he was being stepped on like a stray dog, without even the strength to resist.

Thousands of eyes around were watching him.

Those mocking, pitying, and gloating looks were sharper than knives, carving away his self-esteem inch by inch.

"Young Lord Night, please show some mercy."

A cold voice broke the oppressive silence.

Zi Yun took half a step forward from beside the nine dragon agarwood carriage, her brow slightly furrowed, her beautiful face full of pity and anxiety.

When Lin Aotian heard this voice, his dilated pupils suddenly focused.

Nickname!

She came to save me!

In the end, she still can't let go of me!

Ye Wuhun turned to look at Zi Yun, the force under his foot loosening slightly.

"Nickname, you want to plead for him? This ant has fluctuations of Devilish Qi on him; that spatial shift just now must have been an illusion he performed."

"Young Lord Night misunderstood."

Zi Yun shook her head slightly, her voice crisp, yet every word was like a dull knife cutting flesh.

"Brother Aotian... his cultivation is low, merely at the Profound Immortal realm. Having taken one of your moves just now, he is already at his limit, his Meridians completely destroyed."

"How could he have such heaven-defying means to snatch a treasure right under the nose of a Half-step Immortal King like you?"

She paused for a moment, a flash of mockery in her eyes, though her tone became even more sincere.

"This matter must be the work of a high-level demonic Cultivator hiding in the shadows, deliberately leaving an aura to frame him."

"With your status, Young Lord Night, if you were to trample to death a useless person who has no power to fight back, it might damage your reputation. I hope you will investigate clearly and not harm the innocent."

At the bottom of the pit.

Hearing these words, Lin Aotian's eyes bulged, and a gurgling sound came from his throat.

Low cultivation?

Useless person?

Hearing these words from the woman he loved most hurt more than Ye Wuhun crushing his heart.

Nickname was clearly saving him, so why did every word feel like it was tearing at his face?

Is she deliberately belittling me to protect me?

Yes, it must be so!

She's saying these things against her heart just to save me!

Lin Aotian desperately comforted himself, but the stifling frustration in his heart, which felt like it was about to explode, could not be suppressed.

A mouthful of black blood sprayed three feet high.

Ye Wuhun stared at Zi Yun for a few seconds.

Then, he let out a cold laugh.

"True."

He moved his right foot away and disgustedly rubbed the blood from his sole onto a boulder.

"Killing such a waste who can't even walk straight would indeed dirty this Young Lord's shoes."

Ye Wuhun turned around and paid no more attention to Lin Aotian in the pit.

As Xiao Ninger said, a Profound Immortal who couldn't even withstand his own pressure...

...even if given ten top-tier Immortal Artifacts, could not silently cut off a spatial connection.

The real thief was still in the crowd.

Or had already run away.

Ye Wuhun's face was as dark as a raincloud.

He, the Young Lord of Tianshu Palace, had actually been played for a fool.

This grudge must be avenged.

Buzz—!

Just then, the entire Star River Ancient Ruins let out a violent roar.

The Void Realm in all directions began to collapse on a large scale.

The three Origin Dao Lotuses, having lost their treasures, quickly withered and dissipated into starlight.

"The ruins are closing! The rejection force has appeared!"

Someone shouted.

Following that, pillars of white teleportation light descended from the sky, enveloping every living Cultivator.

A spatial pulling force came.

Vision became briefly blurred.

When the light dissipated, the thousands of Cultivators had returned to the dead starry sky at the edge of the Ziwei Star Domain.

The immortal ships and warships of the major factions were still anchored in their original positions.

In front of the Xiao Family's nine dragon agarwood carriage.

Zi Yun stabilized herself, while Lin Aotian was thrown onto the nearby deck like a pile of mud by the rejection force, his life or death unknown.

Zi Yun was about to turn and walk back into the jade carriage.

Suddenly.

A dark gold figure blocked her path like a teleportation.

Ye Wuhun.

The violent aura on his body had been completely withdrawn.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of Cultivators, the leading Immortal Lords, and even the Divine Senses of various great experts...

...this insufferably arrogant Young Lord of Tianshu Palace ignored everyone and walked straight to within three feet of Zi Yun.

He raised his hand and made a move that instantly plunged the entire scene into dead silence and drove Lin Aotian into a desperate frenzy on the deck.

"You..." Zi Yun's pupils constricted, her whole body tensing up.

Ye Wuhun... actually...