471: Chapter 471 Is Xu Ruyu just being stubborn? Heh, he's not that simple.

Zhao Qian's face turned livid in an instant.

His eyes were practically spitting fire, and he raised his hand, intending to strike him with a slap.

"Hmph, facing death, yet you still dare to be stubborn!" he said angrily. "Today, I want to see if your bones are as hard as your mouth!"

He grabbed Xu Ruyu by the collar, hauled him up from the rock, and slammed him heavily onto the ground.

Xu Ruyu's body hit the gravel, emitting a muffled thud.

A trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his complexion turned even paler, but he did not cry out, nor did he even knit his brows.

He didn't even struggle; he just stared at Zhao Qian quietly, his gaze as calm as water.

Zhao Qian crouched down and drew a short sword from his waist, its tip glinting with a cold light under the moonlight.

He used the sword tip to lift Xu Ruyu's chin, forcing him to look up.

"Xu Ruyu, weren't you quite talkative back in the formation? Why aren't you saying anything now?"

Zhao Qian's voice was full of glee.

"Didn't you just point out the fatal weaknesses of those Grand Elders of the Taihu Clan? Come, point out my fatal weakness too, and let me see if you, Xu Ruyu, actually have the real skill!"

Xu Ruyu looked at Zhao Qian and laughed.

"Your fatal weakness?"

Xu Ruyu shrugged and laughed, "Your fatal weakness is yourself."

"You are a dignified Elder of the Righteous Path, yet you are narrow-minded and vindictive."

"You have held a grudge for twenty years over a woman you call a member of an evil sect, and now you do not hesitate to join forces with the Jile Sect, which you consider to be a Demonic Path, disregarding hundreds of lives for your own selfish desires."

"Zhao Qian, do you think you represent the Righteous Path? With such a mindset, you are not even as good as the low-level thugs of the Demonic Path."

Zhao Qian's face looked even worse.

His eyes were filled with rage, and he swung the short sword in his hand violently, slicing a shallow cut on Xu Ruyu's arm.

Fresh blood surged out, staining his sleeve red.

"You really only have that stubborn mouth left."

Zhao Qian said angrily, "I want to see how long you can keep being stubborn!"

He stood up, walked behind Xu Ruyu, and pressed the sword tip against Xu Ruyu's ankle.

Tian Jianzi stood to the side, arms crossed, watching coldly.

His eyes were full of scrutiny toward Xu Ruyu; he also wanted to see what secrets this youth, who could take over as the Sect Master of Hehuan Sect while still in the Qi Refinement Stage, was hiding that allowed him to remain so composed at a time like this.

"Qian'er, don't kill him."

Tian Jianzi spoke slowly.

"This seat wants him alive. He has many secrets on him, and this seat wants to dig them out one by one."

Zhao Qian acknowledged, turned the short sword in his hand, and pressed the tip gently against Xu Ruyu's ankle, slicing through the flesh.

Fresh blood flowed down his ankle and dripped onto the gravel.

"Xu Ruyu, rest assured, I won't let you die so easily."

"I am going to torture you slowly and let you taste what it means to wish you were dead."

"Weren't you very imposing back in the formation? Can't you be imposing now?"

The sword in his hand slowly lifted, aiming at Xu Ruyu's heel tendon.

Tian Jianzi stood to the side, a cold sneer hanging on his lips.

His eyes were full of anticipation.

Xu Ruyu leaned against the rock, his face as pale as paper, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

His hands were trembling slightly, his legs were shaking too, and he looked so weak that he seemed like he could collapse at any moment.

But his eyes remained bright.

In those eyes, there was no fear, no panic, only a kind of indescribable... calmness.

Zhao Qian raised the sword, aiming at Xu Ruyu's ankle, a ferocious smile on his lips.

"Xu Ruyu, this sword strike is to get revenge for myself."

"You made me lose all face in front of everyone, and today, I will get it back with interest!"

His sword slowly descended.

Under the moonlight, the sword tip glinted with cold light, less than an inch away from Xu Ruyu's ankle.

A triumphant smile curled the corners of Tian Jianzi's mouth.

The corners of Xu Ruyu's mouth also curled into a smile.

Zhao Qian's sword stopped in mid-air.

His pupils contracted violently, and the smile on his face froze.

Because he saw a flash of sharp light in Xu Ruyu's eyes.

That light, like a sharp sword, stabbed directly into his heart.

His hand trembled slightly.

The sword tip stopped one inch above Xu Ruyu's ankle, unable to fall any further.

"You..." Zhao Qian's voice was trembling, "You..."

Xu Ruyu looked at him, the smile on his lips becoming even more brilliant.

"Zhao Qian," his voice was very soft, so soft that only Zhao Qian could hear it, "do you think I am truly finished?"

Zhao Qian's pupils contracted violently.

His hand exerted force suddenly, wanting to stab the sword down.

But at that very moment—

A terrifying aura suddenly erupted from Xu Ruyu's body.

That aura was like a volcanic eruption, like the collapse of heaven and earth, like a giant beast that had been sleeping for ten thousand years suddenly waking up.

That aura was not very powerful, but it was exceptionally dangerous.

The level of danger was so terrifying that it made even Tian Jianzi, a top-tier expert at the Half-step True Immortal stage, feel palpitations.

Zhao Qian's hand froze.

His sword stopped in mid-air, unable to fall any further.

His eyes were filled with fear.

He wanted to retreat, wanted to run away, but his legs were weak, and he couldn't move at all.

Xu Ruyu looked at him, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted, revealing a cold smile.

Under the moonlight, those eyes were frighteningly bright.