452: Chapter 452 Situ E and Zhao Qian both make their move; is Xu Ruyu doomed?

Zhao Qian did not speak, only staring coldly at Xu Ruyu.

His sword was already unsheathed, and fierce Sword Intent flowed along the blade.

His footsteps were equally slow, and together with Situ E, they approached Xu Ruyu from the left and right, forming a pincer formation.

"Xu Ruyu," Zhao Qian finally spoke, his voice as cold as frost, "Xiao Nianyin has run away, but you are still here.

Rest assured, this seat will not let you die too quickly.

This seat wants you to taste what it means to wish for death."

His sword tip tilted slightly upward, and the Sword Intent pierced toward Xu Ruyu's face like a physical entity.

That was the killing intent of a Sword Cultivator—formless and intangible, yet capable of shattering a person's mind.

If it were an ordinary Cultivator at the Qi Refinement Stage, this single burst of killing intent would be enough to scare them out of their wits.

But Xu Ruyu did not.

He stood in place, his hands empty; the psionic rocket launcher had already been discarded on the ground.

His hands hung naturally at his sides, without any defensive posture or preparation for attack.

But he raised his head, looking at Situ E and Zhao Qian, and a smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

In that smile, there was no fear, no despair, only an indescribable... mockery.

"Do you think I only have these Spiritual Artifacts?"

Situ E's footsteps faltered slightly, a flash of wariness crossing his eyes.

Zhao Qian also stopped, his sword tip drooping slightly as he vigilantly stared at Xu Ruyu's hands.

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing a trace of hesitation in the other's eyes.

This person, Xu Ruyu, was too bizarre.

As someone at the Qi Refinement Stage, how could he stand here, facing two top-tier powerhouses without changing his expression? How could he still laugh while locked under their killing intent?

Unless he truly had a trump card.

Xu Ruyu's hand slowly reached toward his waist.

Hanging there was a small Storage Pouch.

His movements were slow and composed, as if he were not facing life and death, but rather performing a show.

The gazes of Situ E and Zhao Qian were fixed tightly on his hand.

They did not know what other trump cards Xu Ruyu had, but they knew that this person never fought an unprepared battle.

He completed the saint tablet in the Taihu Clan, broke the Forbidden Array, and gained the recognition of the taihu tripod—which of these was not unexpected? He had just used a Spiritual Artifact to blast open the defensive line, allowing everyone from the Hehuan Sect to escape—which of these was not inconceivable?

Who knew what other contingency plans he had?

Situ E's blade rose slightly, ready to block at any moment.

Zhao Qian's sword tip also tilted slightly upward, his Sword Intent condensed to the extreme.

Their auras firmly locked onto every tiny movement of Xu Ruyu; if he made any suspicious move, they would strike within a hundredth of a breath.

Xu Ruyu's hand stopped on the Storage Pouch.

He raised his head, looked at the two, and smiled.

In that smile, there was mockery, disdain, and also a kind of heroic spirit of facing death unflinchingly.

"Want to know what other trump cards I have?"

The two did not answer, only staring dead-eyed at his hand.

In the distance, the remaining Disciples of the Jile Sect and the Tianshu Sword Sect were also holding their breath, watching this scene with unblinking eyes.

Xu Ruyu's hand slowly pulled open the drawstring of the Storage Pouch.

Situ E subconsciously took half a step back.

Zhao Qian's sword tip tilted slightly upward, his Sword Intent almost condensing into a physical form.

Xu Ruyu's hand reached into the Storage Pouch.

Then—

He pulled out a stone.

An ordinary stone.

There was no fluctuation of Qi, no Array Pattern, and nothing special about it at all.

It was just a plain, ordinary stone, likely picked up casually from a riverbank, still stained with a bit of moss, and even possessing a crack.

The moonlight shone on the stone, but the stone remained just a stone; it did not glow, it did not change color, and nothing happened.

Situ E was stunned.

Zhao Qian was stunned.

In the distance, everyone was stunned.

Xu Ruyu looked at them and smiled. That smile was full of mockery, like a mischievous child who had pulled off a harmless prank.

"Just messing with you."

His voice was very light, as light as a breeze, yet it carried extremely far across the silent cliff.

Situ E's complexion turned iron-blue in an instant.

His temples throbbed, the veins on his forehead bulged, and his eyes seemed ready to spew fire. He felt that he had been played, played by a kid at the Qi Refinement Stage!

He, Situ E, the Sect Leader of the Jile Sect, a titan of the Demonic Path at the Half-step Saint Realm, had actually been scared by a kid at the Qi Refinement Stage using a stone!

"Xu Ruyu! You are courting death!"

Situ E roared, and the long blade in his hand was raised violently!

Pitch-black Spiritual light surged on the blade, as if it were about to swallow the moonlight entirely!

Zhao Qian's complexion was also equally ugly.

A trace of shame and annoyance flashed in his eyes, but more of it was the anger of having been toyed with.

He was a dignified Elder of the Tianshu Sword Sect, a Sword Cultivator at the Peak of the Nascent Soul, yet he had been scared into unleashing his full Sword Intent by a mere stone? If this were to spread, where would he, Zhao Qian, put his face?

He did not speak, but his sword tip pointed violently at Xu Ruyu, and killing intent, fierce to the extreme, flowed along the blade!

The two attacked simultaneously, one from the left and one from the right!

Situ E's long blade, carrying an eerie black light, slashed straight down at the top of Xu Ruyu's head!

Wherever the blade passed, the air was torn apart, emitting a piercing shriek!

With this strike, he used seventy percent of his power, enough to split a small mountain in two!

Zhao Qian's long sword was like a venomous snake, stabbing straight at Xu Ruyu's heart.

The sword light was like a streak of silk, so fast that its trajectory was almost impossible to see.

With this strike, he used eighty percent of his power, his Sword Intent condensed but unreleased, waiting to explode the moment it pierced the heart, making Xu Ruyu die in extreme agony!

The attacks from the two came simultaneously from the left and right sides, sealing off every possible escape route for Xu Ruyu. Never mind the Qi Refinement Stage, even a Cultivator at the Soul Transformation Stage would have only one outcome when facing such a pincer attack—death.

Xu Ruyu did not dodge.

He stood in place, watching the long blade and the long sword come closer and closer.

A smile still hung at the corner of his mouth.

In that smile, there was no fear, no despair, only an indescribable... relief.

Situ E's long blade was only three feet away from the top of Xu Ruyu's head.

Zhao Qian's long sword was only three feet away from Xu Ruyu's heart.

Two feet.

One foot.