262: Chapter 262 A Qi Refining Stage cultivator killed a Nascent Soul stage cultivator? Is this even human?

The protective shield vibrated and twisted violently, emitting a groan of being overwhelmed, and fine cracks even appeared on its surface!

Xu Ruyu let out a muffled groan, his face turned pale, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. His body was pushed backward by the immense impact force, sliding more than ten zhang as his feet plowed two deep trenches into the hard ground!

He blocked it?!

There was an uproar outside the tower! A Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator blocked a Law attack from a Nascent Soul Cultivator?!

Although it looked extremely strained and he was injured, this was already a miracle among miracles!

For the first time, a trace of surprise appeared in the eyes of the Moon Trace phantom, but it immediately turned into an even deeper indifference: "A bit interesting. But, that is all."

He raised his hands, and the moonlight around his body flared brilliantly!

Countless more solid and sharp crescent moon blades appeared behind him like a peacock spreading its tail, dense and covering the sky!

Every single one of them locked onto Xu Ruyu!

"Moonlight · Thousand Blade Burial!"

Following his cold shout, countless crescent moon blades poured down like a rainstorm!

They covered the entire plaza, with nowhere to hide!

This was an area-of-effect saturation attack containing the Laws of the Nascent Soul Stage!

Let alone a Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator, even a Golden Core Peak Cultivator here would be instantly shredded into pieces!

Xu Ruyu's pupils contracted sharply!

A life-and-death crisis!

He no longer held anything back, nor did he care if he would expose more of his trump cards!

"Hah—!"

With a low roar, he circulated all the "Haotian True Qi" in his body using the violent method theoretically deduced to the extreme in the "True Explanation of Taixu Source Energy," but which he had never actually practiced before!

It was not a single form of kinetic energy, but an attempt to simultaneously catalyze these different forms of "perceptions of energy essence" in a rough and direct manner, and then... explode outward!

"Void... source energy... Burst!!!"

No rules, no techniques, purely a venting of the energy Origin!

With Xu Ruyu as the center, an "energy storm" containing terrifying destructive power that could not be described in words erupted with a boom!

It was not a storm of spiritual power, but a complex turbulent energy flow produced by air being extremely compressed, heated, ionized, and some molecules being forcibly cracked...

Mixed within it were violent kinetic impacts, instantaneous high temperatures, chaotic electromagnetic pulses, and trace amounts of elemental cracking energy!

The Chaos energy field formed by this "source energy Burst" instantly collided with the crescent moon blades pouring down from the sky!

"Boom boom boom boom—!!!"

The scalp-numbing sounds of energy annihilation and explosions rang out crazily in the eighth-floor space! The crescent moon blades and the Chaos energy flow collided, annihilated, and canceled each other out!

The light and air waves from the explosion submerged the entire plaza!

On the yingxi stone screen, there was only blinding white light and chaotic energy turbulence; the scene inside could hardly be seen!

Outside the tower, everyone held their breath, staring fixedly at the light screen!

It took a full dozen breaths before the aftermath of the explosion gradually subsided and the light dissipated.

Only then was the eighth-floor plaza seen in a mess, the ground covered with pits and scorch marks.

Xu Ruyu knelt on one knee, gasping for air, his face pale as paper, his clothes tattered, with many wounds deep enough to see bone. His aura was withered to the extreme; it was clear that the previous strike had consumed a huge amount of energy and he had also been severely injured.

And opposite him, that Moon Trace phantom was still standing, but its figure had become much dimmer and blurrier, as if it would dissipate at any moment.

He looked down at his chest, where there was a bowl-sized hole, the edges bearing subtle traces of being eroded and annihilated by the most chaotic energy.

The Moon Trace phantom raised his head, and the gaze he directed at Xu Ruyu no longer held indifference, but instead carried a hint of indescribable complexity—there was shock, confusion, and also a glimmer... as if he had seen some unknown possibility.

"With a body at the Qi Refinement Stage, you injured a Nascent Soul imprint... unprecedented in history." The Moon Trace phantom's voice became ethereal. "Your 'Dao'... is very interesting."

After speaking, his figure completely turned into specks of moonlight and dissipated into the air.

"Eighth-floor challenge, passed. Evaluation: ... Unable to evaluate." The Tower Spirit's voice rarely showed hesitation and pause. "The challenger is too severely injured; it is recommended to terminate the challenge immediately. Continue to the ninth floor? The ninth-floor opponent is a Mid-Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator imprint."

Xu Ruyu struggled to stand up, but the movement affected his injuries, and he coughed up another mouthful of blood.

He shook his head with a bitter smile and said in a hoarse voice: "Give up... continuing."

He knew he had reached his limit.

Being able to take out an Early Stage Nascent Soul imprint was already a miracle among miracles, entirely relying on the fact that the opponent was an imprint rather than the main body, and that his desperate "Void Source Energy Burst" had caught it off guard.

Going to the ninth floor now would be purely courting death.

As his voice fell, a gentle force enveloped him, teleporting him out of the War Soul Tower and back to the entrance of the Heart Testing Cliff.

Outside the tower, there was dead silence.

Everyone stood there like clay statues, staring blankly at Xu Ruyu, who stumbled out of the Secret Realm entrance, covered in blood, on the verge of death, yet still standing with his spine straight.

Qi Refinement Stage... took down an Early Stage Nascent Soul?

Although it was only an imprint, although Xu Ruyu paid a heavy price, and although he used a desperate trick... but, he did it!

This was completely beyond everyone's scope of understanding!

After a long time, a young Taihu Clan Disciple muttered in a dreamlike tone:

"Qi Refinement Stage... taking down a Nascent Soul Cultivator?"

"Is this damn thing... even human?"

This sentence voiced the inner thoughts of all the Taihu Clan members present.

The Clan Chief and the Supreme Mage looked at each other, and both could see the shock and... an unprecedented gravity and expectation in the other's eyes.

This child... is destined for greatness!

His "Dao," the potential and combat power he displayed, could no longer be measured by common logic!

Perhaps, Qingli this time... really brought back an incredible existence.

As for Elder Mo Feng, he was already pale and completely speechless. He knew that all his schemes and difficulties, in the face of Xu Ruyu's Heaven-Defying performance, had become a joke.

Xu Ruyu stood before the Heart Testing Cliff, facing countless extremely complex gazes. Although he was severely injured and exhausted to the point of death, his heart was clear.

He knew that in this Taihu Clan, he had initially... gained a foothold.

At the very least, with his strength, he had won the bare minimum... of being taken seriously.