103: Chapter 103 Xu Ruyu, is he truly invincible in his realm?

When Fairy Caidie's pink soft sword transformed into thirteen phantoms, indistinguishable from the real thing, and lunged towards his throat with bone-chilling killing intent—

Xu Ruyu moved.

Not backward, not dodging.

But forward!

His moon-white figure turned sideways like a ghost, passing through the gaps in the sword shadows with extreme danger.

At the same time, his left hand joined fingers like a blade, with a strand of eerie dark-red energy wrapped around his fingertips, slashing through the air towards the four female Disciples attacking from the left!

"Screech—!"

The air seemed to be torn apart as four blood-colored threads as thin as hair appeared out of thin air, instantly piercing through the pink toxic mist and accurately striking the wrists of the four female Disciples holding needles!

"Ah!"

Four short cries of pain rang out almost simultaneously.

The four female Disciples were like they were struck by lightning; their wrists throbbed with pain, the fine needles flew out of their hands, and the toxic mist dissipated as well.

"Blood Shadow Silk?!" An experienced Elder below the platform exclaimed in shock, "This... this is a Move from the 'Forbidden Records of Residual Blood'! It should have been lost long ago!"

Before he finished speaking, the poison darts from the four male Disciples on the right had arrived!

Without looking back, Xu Ruyu drew a perfect arc with his right hand behind him.

That arc was initially just a phantom, but in an instant, it solidified, turning into a translucent light shield shimmering with seven-colored hues.

The moment the poison darts hit the light shield, they didn't make any sound but instead slowed down drastically as if they had fallen into a swamp, finally stopping just three inches away from Xu Ruyu's back!

"Seven Emotions Barrier!" This time, even the Grand Elder stood up, his eyes full of disbelief, "The defensive technique from the remnants of the 'Secret Tome of Seven Emotions'!"

"This technique has extremely high requirements for one's state of mind; a slight distraction will lead to backlash. How could he..."

The situation on the field changed in an instant.

Just as the light shield blocked the poison darts, the five Disciples at the periphery had already finished casting their spell.

Five black chains tore through the air from five directions, with hideous ghost heads at their tips spewing Yin-evil energy that corrodes the Divine Soul—this was the Meiying Sect's combined technique, 'Five Ghosts Soul-Snaring'!

Xu Ruyu finally took half a step back for the first time.

But there wasn't a trace of panic on his face; instead, he showed an almost playful expression.

He quickly formed hand seals in front of his chest, his ten fingers fluttering like butterflies, the afterimages almost merging into one.

As his hand seals changed, an eerie aura suddenly rose around him—at times scorching like fire, at times freezing like mystic ice, at times lingering like spring water, and at times violent like thunder...

"This is..." On the high platform, Liu Rurao put away her lazy posture for the first time, her pupils shrinking, "The Hehuan Sect's 'Four Images Emotion-Disturbing Formula' that has been lost for many years? No, this is a remnant of a remnant; theoretically, it's impossible to master!"

Just as she finished speaking, Xu Ruyu completed the final hand seal.

"Break."

A light, airy word.

Boom—!

With him as the center, waves of red, white, green, and black Qi blossomed like a lotus!

The moment the five black chains hit the Qi waves, the ghost heads let out shrill screams, and the chains shattered inch by inch!

The five Disciples in the Formation spat out blood and flew backward together, crashing heavily against the deep red light barrier, their faces turning as pale as gold paper as they slid to the ground, clearly having suffered significant internal injuries.

From Fairy Caidie's sword strike to the five Disciples being defeated, the entire process took less than three breaths!

The entire place was deathly silent.

Everyone widened their eyes and opened their mouths, but they couldn't make a sound.

What did they just see?

A Disciple in the Qi Refinement Stage, when facing a siege of thirteen opponents of the same rank (at least on the surface), not only didn't collapse instantly but instead broke three waves of attacks in the blink of an eye, severely injuring nine people!

And he used... all remnants of forbidden techniques that the Hehuan Sect had long lost or were considered impossible to master!

"This is impossible..." Below the platform, an Inner Sect Disciple murmured, "Blood Shadow Silk requires precise control of blood Qi, the Seven Emotions Barrier requires a heart as still as water, and the Four Images Emotion-Disturbing Formula even requires mastering four completely different emotional powers at the same time... Even many Seniors and Juniors of the Golden Core Stage can't master these techniques!"

"But he... he is clearly only in the Qi Refinement Stage..."

"Wait," another Disciple suddenly thought of something, his voice trembling, "Did you notice... although they are all in the Qi Refinement Stage, Junior Brother Xu's aura seems to be... much more solid than Fairy Caidie and the others?"

This reminded everyone.

Under careful perception, although they were all judged to be in the 'Qi Refinement Stage' by the Formation, the spiritual power flowing through Xu Ruyu was clearly purer and more robust than Fairy Caidie and the others.

If Fairy Caidie and the others' spiritual power was like a stream, then Xu Ruyu's spiritual power was like a deep pool—calm on the surface, but containing immeasurable power within.

"Could it be..." Ning Caihe stared at the figure on the platform, a flash of realization in his eyes, "Junior Brother Xu isn't in the Qi Refinement Stage at all?"

"What?"

"Look," Liu Rufeng said with difficulty, clutching his chest, "After Fairy Caidie suppressed her cultivation, her aura stabilized at the Perfection of the Qi Refinement Stage.

But Junior Brother Xu's aura... I can't sense its upper limit."

As soon as these words came out, everyone was horrified.

Not being able to sense the upper limit only had two possibilities—either the opponent's cultivation was far higher than one's own, or... the opponent's Cultivation Technique was special and could perfectly hide their aura.

But no matter which one it was, they both pointed to a terrifying fact:

Xu Ruyu's true cultivation might not be as simple as it appeared on the surface!

On the Law Execution Platform.

Fairy Caidie's face was ashen.

She stared fixedly at Xu Ruyu, her knuckles turning white from the force of her grip on the sword.

That brief exchange just now had made her feel unprecedented pressure.

Although she hadn't seen those forbidden techniques before, the exquisite changes and terrifying power contained within them were definitely not something a regular Qi Refinement Stage Disciple could use!

"You... who exactly are you?" Fairy Caidie gritted her teeth, "Even Hehuan Sect Elders might not know these forbidden techniques; how could you..."

Xu Ruyu lightly brushed his sleeves and said calmly, "I am Xu Ruyu. A Personal Disciple under the Sect Master of Hehuan Sect, Xiao Nianyin."

After a pause, he added:

"As for these techniques... District C of the Hall of Power Transmission, the third row of bookshelves, the seventh shelf from the bottom, the thirteenth to the twenty-first Jade Slips on the left, they are all recorded there."

"Your Meiying Sect's intelligence work isn't very good."

A simple sentence, but it struck Fairy Caidie like a bolt from the blue.

District C? That was the area for storing obscure, unpopular, and remnant books!

Unless Hehuan Sect Disciples truly had nothing to do, they would never waste time there!

And this Xu Ruyu... not only did he go there, but he actually comprehended these lost forbidden techniques from those remnants?

"Impossible!" Fairy Caidie shrieked, "Those remnants aren't systematic at all; how could you possibly master them?!"

Xu Ruyu smiled.

That smile carried a sort of condescending pity.

"Because you are too stupid."

He slowly raised his right hand and clenched his fingers.

In his palm, four-colored currents of red, white, green, and black spiraled like spirit snakes, conflicting with each other yet coexisting harmoniously.

"The 'Four Images Emotion-Disturbing Formula' remnants record that this technique requires mastering four extreme emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, and fear—at the same time; a slight mistake will lead to Qi Deviation.

Therefore, previous generations of Hehuan Sect Seniors believed that one must first Cultivate their state of mind to 'Supreme Emotionlessness', before attempting to Cultivate it."

"But they forgot—"

Xu Ruyu's voice echoed clearly in the silent square:

"Why do emotions need to be 'mastered'?"

"Joy, anger, sorrow, and fear are inherently part of human nature. Forcing them down will only be counterproductive."

"The true solution is acceptance."

The four-colored currents in his palm suddenly surged, transforming into four lifelike phantoms—a laughing face, a weeping face, a furious demon god, and a fearful spirit.

The four phantoms bit and collided with each other, yet reached an eerie harmony at a peculiar point of balance.

"Let them balance each other, and naturally, there will be no backlash."

"Such a simple principle, yet you couldn't figure it out for hundreds of years."

The moment his words fell, the four phantoms merged into one, turning into a gray current that sank into Xu Ruyu's palm.

He looked up at Fairy Caidie and the four companions behind her who were barely standing:

"Who else wants to come up?"

There was a dead silence in the venue.

At this moment, everyone understood.

Xu Ruyu's previous claim of being 'invincible in the same Realm' was not boasting at all.

He was truly... invincible.

At least within the scope of the Qi Refinement Stage, the young man in moon-white clothes before them had already displayed crushing strength.

On the high platform, Liu Rurao's face was so gloomy it could almost drip water.

She stared fixedly at Xu Ruyu, waves of shock surging in her heart.

Lost forbidden techniques... alternative interpretations... and that unfathomable true cultivation...

This Xu Ruyu is definitely not as simple as he appears on the surface!

Inside Ningyin Hall, Xiao Nianyin stared blankly at the image in the water mirror, her red lips slightly parted, unable to speak for a long time.

She suddenly remembered Madame Qingli's previous words:

"This Disciple of yours is no pushover."

He's more than just no pushover...

This is clearly a sky-high fire that will burn through all obstacles!

On the Law Execution Platform, Fairy Caidie took a deep breath, a flash of determination in her eyes.

She knew that if she couldn't defeat Xu Ruyu here today, the Meiying Sect would completely lose face.

"Form the array!" she shouted sharply, "Use the 'Thousand Illusions Immortal-Slaying Formation'!"

Hearing this, the remaining eight Disciples who could still fight looked sharp and moved their positions quickly. The eight people stood in eight directions, surrounding Xu Ruyu in the center, while Fairy Caidie stood at the Formation Eye.

Eight streaks of pink spiritual power rose from their bodies, intertwining in the air to form a huge, slowly rotating Formation diagram.

In the Formation diagram, countless phantoms of seductive women appeared, laughing or weeping, singing or dancing, as decadent music filled the entire light barrier.

This was one of the Meiying Sect's sect-protecting killing Formations, specializing in the Divine Soul, and had caused many opponents with cultivation a whole major Realm higher than the casters to die with regret.

Facing this imposing Formation, Xu Ruyu finally... frowned.

Not out of fear.

But...

"It's a bit noisy."

He said softly.

Then, under everyone's stunned gaze, he slowly closed his eyes.