9: Akasagarbha

Inside the Law Enforcement Hall, Sword Qi and palm energy intersected, blooming into the most intense collision.

Shen Lian, who was only at the Soul Transformation 8th layer, faced two Void Refining Realm experts alone, yet even after a hundred moves, he did not fall behind in the slightest.

Bang—

After the shockwave from a clash dissipated, the three of them separated by several paces, entering a standoff.

"Hmm, Shen Lian clearly only has Soul Transformation 8th layer cultivation, why can he go head-to-head with my Void Refining Realm for a hundred moves without being defeated?"

"What method did this brat use to have such Aura Pressure that we can't easily take him down?"

Yuwen Tianzhao and Dongfang Lie felt very confused about the changes in Shen Lian.

"Why aren't you attacking? Do you recognize your own incompetence, or have you run out of tricks?"

Shen Lian's mocking voice rang out again as he lightly shook his Folding Fan, looking calm and composed.

Dongfang Lie and Yuwen Tianzhao exchanged a glance and quickly formulated their next strategy.

"He must still have secrets we don't know about."

"Take him down directly, force the reason out of him, and then execute him."

"Agreed."

With their minds made up, Dongfang Lie stepped forward first, forming a hand seal.

Suddenly, flames surged to the sky, and a three-zhang phantom of a Fire God King slowly appeared behind him.

Yuwen Tianzhao kept his long sword on his back and quietly retreated several steps.

"Hmm? Blazing God King Force?"

Shen Lian recognized the Cultivation Technique Dongfang Lie was using at a glance and immediately gathered his Qi and strength, preparing to meet the coming challenge.

"Shen Lian, a Sect traitor like you should have died long ago. If you had listened to your seven Senior Sisters and obediently surrendered and died to pave the way for Faner, perhaps you wouldn't have ended up like this today. Now, I will use this raging fire to completely turn you into ashes."

"Just you? Where does a piece of trash like you get such confidence? It's a joke!"

Shen Lian made a prompt decision and converted his entire cultivation into extreme cold energy.

"A mere firefly dares to compete with a giant wave? Let me show you what true Peak is."

In an instant, the cold air condensed, and a phantom of surging waves appeared around Shen Lian.

"What Cultivation Technique is this? Why have I never seen it?"

Seeing this, Dongfang Lie was greatly shocked.

"Watch how I extinguish your ridiculous firefly!"

With a roar, Shen Lian leapt into the void, and a vast palm force was unleashed in an instant.

"Thousand Autumns Chasing Waves · God-Swinging Strike!"

The force of the palm strike was like a torrential river, rushing straight toward Dongfang Lie.

Dongfang Lie, who had only managed to circulate his power to 80%, was shocked and, without time to think, slammed his palm out to meet it.

Boom—

The moment water and fire merged, the Law Enforcement Hall instantly turned into ruins.

"Ugh—"

After the ultimate move, Dongfang Lie groaned, a trail of bright red blood appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he was sent flying dozens of zhang away.

Looking at Shen Lian, he only retreated a few steps and steadily stabilized his stance.

"You..."

"Is this the raging fire you're so proud of? It's truly pathetic and weak, hahahaha—"

Shen Lian's laughter shook the heavens, causing Dongfang Lie's face to twist and twitch uncontrollably.

"Eight Gates Golden Lock Sword · Trap."

Just then, chains formed by Sword Qi behind Shen Lian swarmed toward him.

"Hmm?"

Without time to think, Shen Lian flipped and dodged the incoming Sword Qi.

The moment he landed, the sword locks sprouting from the ground had already trapped his ankles.

The next moment, his arms were also entangled by the chains.

"Good opportunity!"

Dongfang Lie seized the moment, ignoring his own injuries, and decisively struck a palm toward Shen Lian's chest.

Bang—

"Ugh—"

A solid palm strike hit Shen Lian's chest.

Accompanied by a low groan, Shen Lian's body was sent flying backward.

"Don't give him any time to react, take him down immediately."

"Right!"

After landing one hit, the two did not relax their vigilance and continued to flank and attack from left and right, intending not to give Shen Lian any chance to breathe.

Shen Lian, having taken the hit, landed on his feet, quickly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and flipped his hands to unleash two blasts of palm energy.

Due to his injuries, the power of the palm force was greatly reduced, and Dongfang Lie and Yuwen Tianzhao easily caught them before lunging at Shen Lian again.

Seeing that he was in a fatal crisis, Shen Lian's Battle Intent rose again as the danger increased.

"With just this, you want to kill me, Shen Lian? It's not enough!"

Bang, bang— Boom!

As Shen Lian's voice rang out, three figures finally collided.

But the next moment.

"What? How is this possible!"

They saw Shen Lian attacking from both sides, forcefully taking their full-power palm strikes.

What was even more surprising was that they felt Shen Lian's Aura suddenly surge; this was a sign of another Breakthrough in his cultivation.

"The game should end now! Hmph~"

With a low shout, he forced the two back.

At this moment, Shen Lian's cultivation reached the Soul Transformation 9th layer Realm.

"You can actually break through your own limits in battle?"

Yuwen Tianzhao asked in disbelief.

"Regretful? If you couldn't kill me with one strike, then take that regret with you and die in the Yellow Springs!"

Amidst the roar, Shen Lian urged his true essence, and a vast wave of air swept across, leaving the already ruined Law Enforcement Hall in even worse shape.

"Don't hold back anymore. If this brat isn't eliminated today, our Heavenly Feather Sect will have endless trouble in the future."

"Then let's destroy him!"

Dongfang Lie and Yuwen Tianzhao knew that they absolutely could not hold back any longer; regardless of whether Shen Lian had secrets, they could not let him leave the gates of the Heavenly Feather Sect alive.

The two used all their spiritual power, quickly condensing it into one point, wanting to kill Shen Lian in one strike.

However, Shen Lian showed no fear, knowing that the next move would be the moment of life and death, so he decisively withdrew his Qi and gathered his strength to welcome this final move.

"Eight Gates Golden Lock · Break!"

"Silver Python Swallowing Flame Palm!"

One sword, one palm—the strongest sword and palm techniques of the Heavenly Feather Sect were unleashed simultaneously, immediately forming a world-destroying wave of air that struck toward Shen Lian at lightning speed.

"Well done!"

Unexpectedly, this was exactly what Shen Lian wanted.

As his hands flipped, three thousand water flowers appeared around him.

The water flowers turned into spiritual power, converging in front of Shen Lian to form an endless, rotating Taiji Totem.

Just as the two ultimate moves approached him.

"Void Concealment · Absorption Stance!"

The next moment, the two waves of air that could destroy half the Sect were completely absorbed by the rotating Taiji Totem the instant they got close.

"What!"

Dongfang Lie and Yuwen Tianzhao did not expect this turn of events. As they exclaimed in unison, the counter-attack move was unleashed.

"Raging Sea Returning Flow!"

Boom, boom—

Void Concealment absorbed the external force and amplified it during circulation, then condensed it into Yin and Yang Chaos energy, rebounding it at three times the power back onto the attackers.

Dongfang Lie and Yuwen Tianzhao never expected Shen Lian to have such a backup plan and were directly pierced and exploded to death by this Yin and Yang energy on the spot.

To their deaths, they didn't even have time to groan.

"Ugh, pfft—"

Killing two Void Refining experts in one go exceeded the limits of Shen Lian's own Foundation, and he immediately spat out a mouthful of bright red blood.

"Hmph, is this the strength of the Tianyu Peak Masters? They are truly the weakest Void Refining experts I have ever experienced!"

After ending this battle, Shen Lian quickly adjusted his breathing, reopened his Folding Fan, and walked past the unconscious Ye Fan, intending to deal a lethal blow.

But just as he was about to act, a scene of his predecessor being framed by Ye Fan flashed through his mind.

The next moment, Shen Lian changed his mind, a cruel arc appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Letting you die just like that seems too cheap for you. I thought of a very fun game I want to test on you!"

After speaking, Shen Lian pointed his finger directly, piercing through his dantian sea...

"Ah..."

With his cultivation completely destroyed and his dantian sea shattered, the extreme pain forcibly woke the unconscious Ye Fan.

Realizing that the Foundation he had cultivated for decades was destroyed in an instant, he looked at Shen Lian with extreme resentment: "Shen Lian, I will definitely not let you off..."

"I hope you, as an ant, remember this emotion, because from now on, your destiny will be completely changed by me. I love watching your incompetent, furious clown-like posture, because toying with ants like you is one of the indispensable pleasures of life, hahahaha..."

After speaking, Shen Lian pressed his large hand directly onto his forehead and pulled sharply.

"Ah~ What are you doing!"

"Letting you experience what it's like to be a dog."

Amidst Ye Fan's painful wails, seven-tenths of his Divine Soul were forcibly stripped away by Shen Lian.

The next second, Ye Fan felt his vision go dark, and he knew nothing more.

Looking at Ye Fan's Divine Soul in his palm, Shen Lian couldn't help but hang a cruel smile on the corner of his mouth.

"My cultivation is too low; the Ultimate Soul Extraction Hand cannot extract all of his Divine Soul, but this one part is enough."

He walked outside the Law Enforcement Hall, casually threw the soul in his palm, and immediately slapped it into the body of an ordinary black dog.

"Woo~"

The black dog's soul was forced to fuse with the other part, and it immediately whimpered in pain.

"From now on, you are a broken dog, hahahahaha."

"Woof woof woof—"

Listening to the black dog's miserable cries, Shen Lian shook his Folding Fan lightly, laughed loudly, and walked away from the Heavenly Feather Sect; no one he met along the way dared to stop him.

"Quick, quickly report to the Old Ancestor, something big has happened!"

Several Disciples saw the ruins of the Law Enforcement Hall filled with blood mist and immediately ran toward the Forbidden Ground in the back mountain, the practice grounds where the Old Ancestor was in seclusion.