432: Chapter 442 One finger, one breath.

The night wind sobbed.

Firelight flickered.

The wide-open East Straight Gate seemed to have become a dividing line between two worlds. Inside the gate was a cage of death struggles; outside was a bottomless, mysterious abyss.

And that figure in green robes was the guardian of this abyss.

The pupils beneath the bronze mask of Shadow One, the leader, suddenly contracted into dangerous pinpricks!

He could see nothing clearly and sense nothing at all.

There was no Aura belonging to a Cultivator on the other person's body; he seemed like a perfectly ordinary Mortal.

However, it was precisely this 'ordinariness' that was most extraordinary!

From this seemingly frail youth in green robes, Shadow One felt a tremor of fear! It was a suppression from a higher level!

"Master, be careful!" Shadow One took a step across almost subconsciously, shielding Marquis Yongchang firmly behind him. His voice was hoarse and dry, filled with unprecedented gravity.

Marquis Yongchang was also stunned by this sudden turn of events.

He couldn't see the face under the bamboo hat, only a blurred and aloof silhouette. Suppressing the inexplicable panic in his heart, he barked with false bravado, "Who are you, Your Excellency? Why do you block my path? If you step aside immediately, I can promise you a lifetime of wealth! There will surely be a great reward in the future!"

However, the only response he received was silence.

The green-robed figure didn't even lift his head. It was as if this group of fierce killers, who had just caused a bloodbath in the capital, were no different from dust on the roadside in his eyes.

This extreme indifference was more humiliating and infuriating than any mockery or threat!

"You're looking for death!"

Shadow One gritted his teeth. He knew he had encountered a tough opponent today, but things had come to this, and there was no turning back! There was only the fight to the death!

He made an extremely subtle hand gesture to the three Shadow Guards behind him.

In the next moment, the four black figures moved!

Shadow One was in the center, launching a frontal assault! He pushed the spiritual energy of his Late Qi Refining Stage to the limit. Blood-colored Qi swirled around his palms, transforming into two hideous ghost claws as he lunged straight for Su Ming's chest!

Meanwhile, the other three Shadow Guards were like three arrows released from a bow, attacking simultaneously from the left, right, and above!

The one on the left produced a short blade coated in potent poison, which darted out like a venomous snake's tongue toward Su Ming's ribs!

The one on the right pressed his index and middle fingers together like a sword, condensing sharp Gold-element Spiritual Energy at his fingertips to strike Su Ming's temple!

The one above performed a backflip in mid-air, his legs like a pair of scissors falling from the sky to crush Su Ming's neck!

Four figures, four distinct deadly attacks, instantly sealed off all space for Su Ming to evade! Their coordination was seamless, ruthless and heartless!

If even a true Early Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator were careless, they would die with regret on the spot against this combined strike!

The light of hope burst forth in Marquis Yongchang's eyes once again! He didn't believe anyone in this world could take a combined hit from his four strongest Shadow Guards head-on!

However, facing this thunderous, certain-kill strike...

Su Ming only slowly raised his right hand.

Then, he extended a single finger.

The index finger.

It was a slender, clean finger with distinct knuckles. Under the flickering firelight, one could even see the rounded, neatly trimmed nail at the tip.

Just like that, using this finger that seemed to have no lethality at all, he lightly pointed forward at Shadow One, who was lunging from the front with the strongest Aura.

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no gorgeous or dazzling light effects.

There was only a single drop.

A single drop of deep blue, crystal-clear water quietly drifted out from his fingertip.

That water droplet was like a blue meteor streaking across a quiet night sky, beautiful enough to be intoxicating, yet so fast that one couldn't react. It silently pierced through Shadow One's protective blood-shroud that was strong enough to shatter stone, and silently bypassed the fierce Astral Winds stirred up by his ghost claws.

Finally, amidst Shadow One's pupils which had suddenly dilated from extreme shock, it lightly and softly imprinted itself on the center of his brow.

Puff.

An extremely faint sound, like a bubble bursting.

Shadow One's forward-charging figure suddenly froze in place.

On his bronze mask, a crack as thin as a strand of hair split open right at the center of his brow.

One breath later.

The mask shattered with a bang.

Shadow One's body, like soft mud with all its bones removed, fell straight backward.

With a 'thud', he slammed heavily onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

His life force was severed.

One finger, one breath, a top-tier death warrior of the Late Qi Refining Stage was dead.

The remaining three Shadow Guards watched this scene with their own eyes. Their attacks were already close at hand, but they were terrified out of their wits by this incomprehensible, horrific sight that exceeded their understanding!

However, there was no turning back once the arrow was on the string.

"Kill!!!"

Their remaining sanity was replaced by madness. They let out beast-like roars, pouring their entire lives' cultivation into this final, desperate strike!

Facing all this, Su Ming didn't even bother to move a second finger.

He just lightly waved his hand.

As if shooing away a few annoying flies.

In an instant, seventeen drops of deep blue water, identical to the one before, shot out from his sleeve like a torrential rain!

Seventeen meteors pierced the night sky.

Seventeen faint, muffled sounds of bubbles bursting.

Seventeen figures that were just madly lunging forward all froze at the same moment.

Then, like wheat being harvested, they all collapsed to the ground in a neat row.

In the center of everyone's brow, a tiny, bottomless bloody hole had appeared.

The entire process, from Shadow One's move to all seventeen Shadow Guards falling, added up to no more than three breaths.

Outside East Straight Gate, a deathly silence returned once more.

All that remained was the flickering firelight and the corpses covering the ground.

Su Ming slowly retracted his hand.

From beginning to end, he didn't say a single word.

From beginning to end, he didn't even spare a glance at the already dumbstruck Marquis Yongchang.

It was as if he had only come here tonight to crush a few eyesore insects.

After finishing all this, he didn't even turn back to look at the Imperial Guards inside the city gate who were already scared witless. Instead, he simply turned around and walked step by step into the boundless darkness.

His figure soon merged with the night and disappeared completely.

It was as if he had never appeared.