602: Chapter 602 Xu Ruyu, You've Gone Too Far!

The fragmented light of the Taixu Sect's so-called Mountain Protection Array still drifted in the air, like flakes of pale green remnant snow.

The Taixu Sect's mountain gate no longer existed—the stone archway of six generations of Legacy had been blasted into rubble across the ground, two pillars as thick as a hug were snapped in half, and a half-broken stone plaque was slanted into the debris, where the two words "Taixu" were still vaguely discernible, while the word "Sect" had been shattered into seven or eight pieces.

The smoke and dust had not yet dissipated, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder and stone powder, choking one's throat.

The Disciples of the Taixu Sect stood behind the ruins, their faces ashen.

Sun Quan lay prone in the grass halfway up the mountain, his mouth full of dirt, his whole body shaking like a sieve.

Ma Ping hid behind a large rock, revealing only half an eye, the sound of his teeth chattering clearly audible even to himself.

Some other Disciples crouched on the ground clutching their swords, some supported each other while retreating, and some sat on the ground unable to stand up.

No one spoke, no one dared to move, and they didn't even dare to breathe heavily—as if a louder breath would disturb those banes holding iron lumps on the opposite side.

Elder Liu sat paralyzed on the edge of the ruins, his two legs still shaking.

His face was covered in lime and stone chips, his hair crown was tilted to the side, and a few strands of gray hair hung down against his face, looking extremely wretched.

His lips trembled, repeating the same sentence over and over: "The Ancestral Master's array... impossible... an array passed down for six generations..."

No one paid him any mind.

Several Disciples near him silently moved further away, for fear of standing too close to him and being blasted together when the cannon fire came later.

Sect Leader Qing Fengzi stood in the middle of the ruins, his Daoist robe covered in dust, the wound on his temple still seeping blood, which flowed down his cheek and condensed into a drop on his chin, though he was completely unaware.

His eyes stared fixedly at the City-Breaker Cannon behind Xu Ruyu—that thick and long cannon barrel glinted with cold silver light in the sunset, the energy circuits of the Array Soul were still slowly flowing, and the muzzle was pointed directly at the Main Hall of the Taixu Sect.

His throat bobbed, his Adam's apple sliding up and down as if swallowing something, but his mouth was so dry there wasn't even any saliva.

It wasn't that he hadn't heard that the Hehuan Sect had terrifying weapons.

People from the Tianxuan Sect came back and said it, people from the Tianji Sect came back and said it, and people from the Tianquan Sect, North Pole Ice Soul Palace, and Frost Hall all came back and said it—the Hehuan Sect had a type of Magical Artifact called a "gun" that could fire beams of spiritual power at a speed too fast to dodge; and another great killing weapon called a "cannon," whose power was so great a single shot could shatter a mountain.

Tian Jianzi was worn to death by such weapons, and Ancestor Xuan Yin's Half-step True Immortal Cultivation was used as target practice inside the Grand Array, and after coming out, he didn't dare say another word.

These matters were buzzing throughout the Cultivation World; he, Sect Leader Qing Fengzi, was not deaf, he had heard them.

But he didn't believe it.

He felt those Sects were exaggerating the Hehuan Sect's strength to cover up their own incompetence.

He felt the images on the yingxi stone had been tampered with; how could any iron lump penetrate the Protective Spiritual Light of the Saint Realm? How could any cannon shatter a mountain gate? It was all boasting, all fabricated, all to get more sympathy when they had to ransom their people.

He even felt that there was another hidden story behind Tian Jianzi's death—how could a Half-step True Immortal possibly die at the hands of Xu Ruyu? What kind of thing was Xu Ruyu? A junior who hadn't even reached the Saint Realm, an obscure nobody idling in a small Sect like the Hehuan Sect, on what basis could he?

Until just now.

Until he saw with his own eyes that golden beam of light erupt from the muzzle of the City-Breaker Cannon, hitting the Mountain Protection Array with an Aura that could destroy heaven and earth, blasting cracks into the Grand Array that could withstand the full blow of a Saint Realm Peak.

Until he saw with his own eyes the second shell blast the cracks into a spider web, and the third directly shatter the entire light screen into pieces.

Until he saw with his own eyes the stone pillars of the mountain gate snap in half in the cannon fire, the stone plaque shatter into pieces, and his own Disciples scatter and flee in the smoke and dust, crying for their parents.

Until he saw with his own eyes Xu Ruyu stretch out a finger, his posture as casual as if he were ordering food—"All units, fire."

Only then did he understand.

It turned out those rumors hadn't exaggerated a single word.

It turned out the Tianxuan Sect's claim that "one shot can shatter a city wall" was true.

It turned out the Tianji Sect's claim of "a hail of bullets, nowhere to hide" was true.

It turned out that after Frost Hall's Ancestor Xuan Yin returned, his silence wasn't because he didn't want to speak, but because he didn't dare—fearing that as soon as he opened his mouth, Xu Ruyu would say he was cursing again and demand more money.

Sect Leader Qing Fengzi was afraid.

His heart was beating very fast, so fast he could feel the blood vessels in his temples throbbing.

His back was already soaked with cold sweat, his Daoist robe sticking to his skin, wet and cold.

But on his face, an abnormal flush slowly surfaced.

That wasn't a flush of shame, but of indignation—the kind of stifled red that appears after being slapped in the face, knowing clearly one cannot win, yet refusing to back down.

Did he want to admit defeat? Yes.

He wished he could kneel down right now and beg Xu Ruyu to stop firing, release Lu Yao, pay some Spirit Stones, and send this bane away.

But he couldn't. He was the acting Sect Leader of the Taixu Sect, a member of the Righteous Path Alliance, the one who had driven Lu Yao out in front of the whole Sect, the one who had cursed the Hehuan Sect as an evil path in front of the entire Cultivation World.

If he backed down, where would the Taixu Sect's face go? Where would Sect Leader Qing Fengzi's face go? How would he continue to survive in the Righteous Path Alliance? How would those small Sects look at the Taixu Sect? He couldn't back down; even if he had to brace himself, he had to keep going.

He was the Sect Head of a Righteous Path Sect, and Righteous Path Sects never bow their heads—even if they are wrong, they must stiffen their necks and claim the wrong is right; this was their glorious tradition for thousands of years.

So he walked out from the ruins.

His steps were a bit stumbling; his left boot was caught on a piece of rubble, and he almost tripped.

He steadied himself, wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand, and wiped away that drop of blood that had been condensed on his chin for a long time.

He walked to the front of the ruins, stood still, raised his head, and looked at Xu Ruyu.

His eyes were a bit red, whether from anger or fear, or perhaps both.

"Xu Ruyu!" His voice was hoarse but loud, loud enough for the entire valley to hear, "You... you don't go too far!"

Xu Ruyu was already prepared to have people go into the mountain to search for someone; hearing this, his footsteps paused, and he turned around.

He looked at Sect Leader Qing Fengzi, the corners of his mouth curling slightly into an arc, his expression as if he had seen a cat with its fur standing up on the roadside—a bit funny, yet a bit pitiful.

"I'm going too far?" Xu Ruyu repeated those four words, his tone carrying a very faint hint of a smile, "Tell me about it, how am I going too far?"

Sect Leader Qing Fengzi was provoked by his half-smiling expression, and blood rushed to his head.

He stretched out a finger and pointed it at Xu Ruyu's nose, his knuckles trembling and his voice shaking violently: "Lu Yao is a member of my Taixu Sect, a traitor of my Taixu Sect!

My Taixu Sect is cleaning its own house; what does that have to do with your Hehuan Sect? On what basis do you lead people to attack the mountain gate of my Taixu Sect?

On what basis do you shatter my Taixu Sect's Mountain Protection Array? On what basis!"