9: Chapter 9: He signed a death waiver; even the King of Hell couldn't save him!

Zhao Chenfan lay slumped on the ground.

A massive star was slowly pressing down.

The mere scattered aftershocks crushed his protective True Qi into pieces.

His bones were creaking.

It was the wail of a spine unable to bear the heavy burden.

The Aura of death surged like a tide, drowning Zhao Chenfan's reason.

He was afraid.

The dignity of a True Disciple, the instructions of Elder Qi—in this instant, all of it became absolute bullshit.

He only wanted to live.

Zhao Chenfan opened his mouth wide.

He wanted to cry out that he conceded.

As long as he shouted it, Gu Changsheng could not kill him.

This was the rule of the Sect.

"I..."

Zhao Chenfan exhausted all his strength to squeeze a single word through his teeth.

Gu Changsheng looked down at him.

"You want to speak?"

The corners of Gu Changsheng's mouth curled up.

His raised palm suddenly pressed downward.

"Boom!"

An even more terrifying gravity field instantly enveloped Zhao Chenfan.

Zhao Chenfan's mouth, which had just opened, was forced shut by this immense power.

His teeth collided violently.

"Crack!"

Several bloody teeth flew out.

Zhao Chenfan's eyeballs looked as if they were about to burst from their sockets.

He wanted to scream, but he couldn't make a single sound.

He could only let out a strange, rasping squawk, like a duck being strangled by the neck.

"See."

Gu Changsheng spread his hands, looking innocent.

"You can't even speak clearly."

"Since you don't want to speak, then don't say anything at all."

Right then.

Elder Qi, atop the high platform, suddenly stood up.

"Gu Changsheng, stop!"

Elder Qi's voice, laced with spiritual power, exploded like thunder over the Sword Discussion Platform.

"Zhao Chenfan has already lost his combat capability; he wants to concede!"

"Fellow Disciples sparring should stop at the point of contact!"

The gazes of all the Disciples in the audience turned toward Gu Changsheng.

Conventionally, once an Elder spoke, the fight was essentially over.

Gu Changsheng tilted his head.

He picked at his ear.

"Concede?"

He pointed at Zhao Chenfan, whose mouth was full of blood on the ground.

"Elder Qi, from which ear did you hear him say he wanted to concede?"

"How come I didn't hear it?"

Elder Qi's face turned ashen.

"He has been suppressed by you to the point where he cannot speak! Withdraw your Dharma Image immediately!"

Gu Changsheng laughed.

It was a cold laugh.

"Suppressed?"

"That's because he is too weak."

"In a life-and-death struggle, am I supposed to stop, brew him a cup of tea, and listen to him speak slowly?"

A flash of tyranny flickered in the depths of Gu Changsheng's eyes.

"Once on the platform, his life belongs to me."

"Unless I nod, no one leaves."

Before his words even faded.

The purple light in Gu Changsheng's eyes flared brilliantly.

The massive star hanging overhead no longer pressed down slowly.

Instead, like a meteor, it crashed down with an Aura that could destroy heaven and earth!

Since he wanted to establish his authority.

Then there must be blood.

"You brat, how dare you!"

Elder Qi was furious.

He hadn't expected Gu Changsheng to dare defy his command in public.

Or even to strike to kill right in front of him.

Elder Qi took a step forward.

His figure vanished from the high platform.

When he reappeared, he was already shielding Zhao Chenfan.

"Break for me!"

Elder Qi's hair and beard flared out.

He formed hand seals and pushed upward.

A green screen of light instantly unfolded.

Countless ancient runes flowed across the screen; it was his Life Divine Ability cultivated for a hundred years, the "Azure Wood Heaven-Shrouding Wall."

His strength at the Late Stage of the Wufa Realm erupted without reservation.

He wanted to block this strike.

And he also wanted to teach this Young Lord of the Gu Family, who didn't know the heights of the heavens, a lesson.

The Disciples below the Sword Discussion Platform cried out in alarm.

"The Elder has taken action!"

"This Gu Changsheng is too arrogant, actually forcing Elder Qi to personally intervene!"

"That's a veteran Wufa Realm powerhouse; Gu Changsheng is going to suffer this time!"

Gu Changsheng looked at Elder Qi, who was blocking below.

There was not a hint of panic on his face.

Instead, he wore a mocking smile.

"Old thing."

"You think you can block this?"

Gu Changsheng's five fingers suddenly clenched.

"Ziwei, Prison Suppression!"

The falling star's volume suddenly doubled.

Purple flames ignited on the star's surface.

That was the Fire of Chaos.

"Rumble—!!!"

The star slammed violently into the green light screen.

Only a crisp sound like breaking glass could be heard.

"Crack!"

That "Azure Wood Heaven-Shrouding Wall," which countless Disciples saw as insurmountable, was as fragile as paper before the purple star.

It shattered instantly.

Turning into a sky full of green specks of light.

Elder Qi's eyes widened.

He felt an irresistible, immense force surge through his arms and into his body.

"Pfft!"

Elder Qi opened his mouth and spat out a bolt of blood.

His whole body was smashed into the ground like a tattered sack.

But his cultivation was deep after all; at the moment of impact, he used the momentum to roll away, narrowly escaping the center of the attack.

But Zhao Chenfan was not so lucky.

Without Elder Qi's protection, he faced that terrifying star directly.

"No!!"

Zhao Chenfan let out a final, desperate roar.

Immediately following.

The massive star completely swallowed Zhao Chenfan's figure.

"Boom—!!!"

An earth-shattering explosion rang out.

The protective Formation around the Sword Discussion Platform flickered violently, then with a "pop," it shattered completely.

A violent blast of air mixed with gravel swept out in all directions.

Disciples standing nearby were blown away.

Dust flew everywhere.

Blotting out the sun.

The scene was deathly silent.

Everyone stood with their mouths agape, staring at the center of the Sword Discussion Platform.

After a long time.

The dust and smoke dissipated.

The originally level and wide Sword Discussion Platform had disappeared.

In its place was a massive crater several zhang deep.

At the bottom of the crater.

Lay a heap of mangled flesh.

That was Zhao Chenfan.

He wasn't dead yet.

The vitality of the Wufa Realm was indeed tenacious.

But every bone in his body was shattered, and his Meridians were snapped.

Especially the area of his Dantian—it was empty, as if a piece had been forcibly gouged out.

He was crippled.

Completely crippled.

Gu Changsheng hovered in mid-air.

His clothes were neat, and not a single strand of hair was out of place.

He slowly descended and stood at the edge of the massive crater.

He glanced down at Zhao Chenfan at the bottom of the pit.

"Tsk."

"Your life is quite tough."

Gu Changsheng shook his head.

"A pity. From now on, you'll be worse than a cripple."

"Zhao Chenfan, is this the hierarchy you wanted to teach me?"

The sound of people swallowing could be heard from the crowd.

So ruthless.

This was a True Disciple.

Crippled just like that.

And right in front of an Elder, too.

"Gu! Chang! Sheng!"

An extremely venomous voice came from the side.

Elder Qi's hair was disheveled, and blood hung from the corner of his mouth.

His Daoist robe was in tatters; he no longer had the slightest air of an Elder.

He stared fixedly at Gu Changsheng.

If looks could kill, Gu Changsheng would have already been torn into ten thousand pieces.

"You actually dared to cripple him!"

"He is a True Disciple of the Immortal Sect!"

"Do you still have any respect for the Sect's rules? Do you have any respect for your Elders?!"

Gu Changsheng turned around.

He brushed off non-existent dust from his sleeves.

"Elder Qi, what you say is truly interesting."

"On the Sword Discussion Platform, fists and feet have no eyes."

"Besides."

Gu Changsheng flipped his wrist.

A black scroll appeared in his hand.

Two names were written on it in blood.

Gu Changsheng.

Zhao Chenfan.

"Challenge Scroll."

Gu Changsheng shook the scroll in his hand.

"It's written clearly in black and white."

"To determine superiority, and to decide life or death."

"Zhao Chenfan's skills were inferior; he would have deserved it even if he died."

"Leaving him his dog of a life is already an act of great mercy."