426: Chapter 426 Rock Paper Scissors

Ling Hao stepped forward slowly.

Yue Xinlan couldn't help but speak out: "Don't go!"

It was unclear whether this "Don't go" meant not to join the Niding Alliance or not to go to his death.

Ling Hao glanced back at her and smiled slightly.

He walked to the center, blocking Yue Xinlan, Shi Yunyu, Yue Xinxi, the three ancestor demons, and the three little ones behind him.

Staring directly at Qu Pingwei, Ling Hao shook his head.

"What a pity. Regardless of whether one can truly achieve Immortal Ascension, I really don't like your Niding Alliance."

Qu Pingwei frowned: "Why?"

Ling Hao said calmly:

"I might not be a purely good person, but your Niding Alliance, in pursuit of whatever erosion qi and Immortal Ascension, allows the Fallen Immortal Ancient Banyan to poison all living beings in the three continents. I really can't bring myself to do that."

"Besides, our stances are different."

"Stances are different?" Qu Pingwei narrowed his eyes.

Ling Hao did not explain; the existence of the world-suppressing monument was meant to suppress erosion qi, which destined him to never stand on the side of erosion qi—or rather, turbid qi.

"Enough talk, let's fight."

As the words fell, Ling Hao's aura exploded!

The pressure of the fifth level of the Mahayana Realm surged out like a tidal wave, sweeping toward Qu Pingwei!

Qu Pingwei was stunned.

It wasn't until the pressure was about to reach him that he suddenly flicked his sleeve, dispelling the incoming force. He stared at Ling Hao with a strange expression:

"You... are you really only at the fifth level of the Mahayana Realm?"

The ant just now had been right.

Ling Hao nodded calmly, the corner of his mouth curling into a tease:

"Just the fifth level of the Mahayana Realm. What? Do you think I'm easy to bully?"

Qu Pingwei's expression turned ugly, and cold light flashed in his eyes.

"Your aura... has the aura of the Shuofang Cauldron! Hmph, you junior, you actually deceived me!"

As the owner of the Shuofang Cauldron, he was extremely familiar with its aura.

To think he had been suspicious for so long! A dignified eighth-level Mahayana Realm Cultivator, actually scared by a fifth-level Mahayana Realm brat!

Ling Hao was confused:

"When did I deceive you?"

Qu Pingwei, wearing an expression that said he had seen through everything, sneered:

"I see that you're just bluffing! Saying 'wait for me to come out' was a lie, right? And having the Shuofang Cauldron on you to conceal your aura and resist my pressure wasn't much of a challenge either. You exploded with all your strength to create the illusion that you could resist my eighth-level Mahayana Realm with your fifth level?"

"This kind of cross-Realm challenge might be useful at lower Realms."

He took a step forward, and his eighth-level Mahayana Realm aura exploded again, heavy as Mount Tai.

"Unfortunately, you don't understand! The gap between the fifth level and the eighth level of the Mahayana Realm. The gap in the comprehension of the Dao, the difference in quality between Spiritual Qi and turbid qi—this is something you cannot cross! Even in the Central Continent, no one can challenge someone six levels above them!"

Qu Pingwei's eyes were like ice, filled with murderous intent:

"You helped me find the Shuofang Cauldron, which is good. I have decided—to leave your corpse intact."

Ling Hao clapped his hands,

"I didn't expect you to be such a nice person; it makes me a bit embarrassed. I still choose—not to leave your corpse intact!"

Liu Ruyan shook her head and sighed, her eyes full of pity:

"What a pity... such a handsome man."

Ji Xuanming struggled to get up from the ground, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and sneered:

"Courting death! The Right Venerable is at the eighth level of the Mahayana Realm; how dare you, a mere fifth-level, be so arrogant!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a pain in his chest and spat out another mouthful of blood with a "pfft" sound.

Qu Pingwei raised his hand, and turbid qi gathered from all directions like an ink tide, condensing into a giant hand covering the sky in his palm.

The giant hand was as black as ink, its five fingers like mountains, with crimson arcs flickering between the fingers. It carried the world-destroying pressure of the eighth level of the Mahayana Realm as it pressed fiercely toward Ling Hao!

Wherever the giant hand passed, the Void Realm collapsed, revealing pitch-black cracks, and erosion qi poured down like a waterfall from the cracks.

The entire Forbidden Abyss was trembling, and the rock cauldron emitted a low hum, as if shuddering at this blow.

Yue Xinxi's face turned pale, and she subconsciously took a step forward, then stopped abruptly.

She understood Ling Hao and knew he never did anything without certainty. But the fifth level against the eighth level of the Mahayana Realm—the gap was too great. She clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms, with only one thought in her mind.

If he lost, she would rush up; even if she died, they would die together.

Shi Yunyu was also solemn. She bit her lower lip, calculating rapidly in her mind.

Ling Hao had defeated Ji Xuanming earlier, showing combat power at about the sixth level of the Mahayana Realm. Even if he had hidden his strength, it would be at most the seventh level. Facing the Shuofang Supreme at the eighth level of the Mahayana Realm, he was still no match.

I have to go up and help.

She glanced at Yue Xinlan, and Yue Xinlan happened to look at her too. Their eyes met, both reading the determination in the other's eyes.

They simultaneously channeled their Spiritual Qi, about to rise.

A gentle force descended from the sky, firmly pressing them down.

"I alone am enough."

Ling Hao's voice transmission rang in their minds, his tone flat but firm.

Shi Yunyu and Yue Xinlan looked at each other and ultimately did not move again.

Ling Hao looked up at the black giant hand covering the sky and smiled.

"Do you want to play Rock, Paper, Scissors?"

He raised his sword finger, and Chaotic Spiritual Qi surged at his fingertip.

With a slash of his sword finger—

The Chaotic Spiritual Qi transformed into a pair of giant scissors, gray and white throughout, with blades as sharp as frost, cutting towards the black giant hand.

"Snap—"

The scissors closed, and the black giant hand, capable of tearing the Void Realm, was cut cleanly in half from the middle, the cross-section as smooth as a mirror.

The turbid qi dissipated, turning into black mist in the sky, only to be dispersed by the blue light of the rock cauldron.

Ling Hao withdrew his sword finger, stood with his hands behind his back, and smiled:

"First round, you lost."

Qu Pingwei's pupils contracted violently.

He didn't understand what "Rock, Paper, Scissors" was, but he could see what had happened.

The brat in front of him, with the cultivation of the fifth level of the Mahayana Realm, had broken his blow of the eighth level of the Mahayana Realm!

How is that possible?!

The fifth level against the eighth level of the Mahayana Realm—shouldn't it be a crushing defeat? Shouldn't it be a total wipeout?

"You..." Qu Pingwei stared at Ling Hao, suddenly noticing something, his expression changing drastically,

"Your Spiritual Qi is wrong! It's not Immortal Qi, yet it's better than Immortal Qi!"

That gray-white Chaotic Spiritual Qi could actually contend with his turbid qi! One had to know that his turbid qi was at the same level as Immortal Qi!

Moreover, how could the spiritual power of the fifth level of the Mahayana Realm contend with the eighth level? This was too bizarre!

A trace of regret flashed in Qu Pingwei's heart. If he had known this, he shouldn't have sent just one Incarnation. He still wasn't cautious enough; he needed to reflect!

But it was only for a moment.

Since they were going to fight, then fight. Fortunately, he was cautious and only sent one Incarnation; even if the Incarnation really fell here, it wouldn't endanger his life.

It was just that this Incarnation had cost him a lot of effort; if it were gone, his heart would ache.

But he wasn't without a backup plan.

Qu Pingwei also didn't believe that the brat opposite him was really that powerful.

Yue Xinlan turned to look at Shi Yunyu and asked in a low voice:

"Xiaoyu, what is his actual strength?"

Shi Yunyu was also stunned and shook her head:

"He is indeed only at the fifth level of the Mahayana Realm... but his comprehension of the Dao must be at Perfection. I felt the harmonious and flawless Dao aura on him before, just like you, Young Miss, used to have."

"Dao at Perfection? Fifth level of the Mahayana Realm?"

Yue Xinlan's heart was shaken.

Shi Yunyu might not have come into contact with many Cultivators above the sixth level of the Mahayana Realm and didn't understand the difficulty.

But Yue Xinlan knew. Perfection in Dao—even she had only begun to touch upon it after transforming into Immortal Qi.

This Moon Shadow Sect Master...

Ripples spread through Yue Xinlan's heart.