After Zhang Tianhe silenced the clamor of the crowd, he announced in a clear, loud voice, “Fellow cultivators, listen to me for a moment! The gathering of our great sects today is truly a rare event in a century! As the saying goes, when facing a great enemy, we should unite with sincerity. Let us not become a laughingstock for others!”
Before he could finish speaking, Ye Yu burst into booming laughter, “You so-called orthodox sects are nothing more than dogs biting dogs! I truly don’t know what your masters were thinking, sending you children here—did you come to die?”
Zhang Tianhe’s face darkened, and he spoke coldly, “Ye Yu, don't get arrogant. Today, I want to see just how powerful your Seven-Tailed Divine Fox’s Cold Splendor Adamantine Wheel truly is!”
Saying this, he crossed his hands, his right index finger and thumb continuously turning the jade thumb ring on his left thumb, his gaze fixed on Ye Yu like twin bolts of lightning.
Ye Yu saw his extraordinary bearing; even before he moved, a powerful aura washed over her. She inwardly gasped, thinking: The Zhengyi Sect truly lives up to its reputation as the leader of all cultivation sects in the world. This Zhang Tianhe is so young, yet his cultivation is incredibly strong—it feels as if he has already reached the Nascent Soul stage! Truly formidable!
Though startled, Ye Yu showed no fear, letting out a cold chuckle, “Very well, I was just hoping to learn a thing or two about the Zhengyi Sect’s skills!”
Their gazes locked, sparking like flint in mid-air, their battle intent surging. Just as they were about to clash, a short, stout man suddenly leaped out from the crowd, shouting, “Venerable Zhang, please yield this round to the Jinshan Sect! Our Jinshan Sect has suffered many casualties along the way, and this demoness just killed three of our men. If I don't avenge this blood debt, I won't be able to face our Sect Leader when I return!”
Zhang Tianhe sized up the man and hesitated inwardly: This person’s cultivation is clearly inferior to Ye Yu’s. If he steps forward, wouldn't it just be sending himself to his death?
As he hesitated, the short man from the Jinshan Sect let out a great roar and charged forward.
Ye Yu sneered, flicked her finger, and the Cold Splendor Adamantine Wheel beside her swooshed out, hurtling towards the man like a rapidly spinning, jagged saw blade.
But as the man saw the toothed wheel rapidly approaching his face, aimed directly at his neck, he instinctively retracted his head, causing it to sink completely into his chest, narrowly dodging the attack. The whirling wheel quickly returned, buzzing menacingly as it swung toward the bends of his legs.
The stout man suddenly jumped, and surprisingly, he pulled both his legs into his torso as well, leaving only his two hands on the ground, yet he was still moving surprisingly fast!
The Adamantine Wheel missed twice and paused in mid-air with a slight sense of surprise. Immediately following this, it turned furiously and lunged at the two hands, the only exposed parts of the man.
But unexpectedly, as this stout man, who now resembled a mere ball of flesh, pushed off the ground with his hands to evade the wheel, he landed in a posture where he even retracted his two arms into his body, completely transforming into a perfect, round sphere!
This spectacle caused the cultivators on the field to burst into uproarious laughter, and even Li Yundong, watching secretly from the shadows, was dumbfounded!
“What in the world is that technique? Is that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?” Li Yundong stared blankly at the rolling ball of flesh on the ground, unable to process it for a moment.
The cultivators from the other sects around them jeered mockingly, “Hahaha, what kind of movement is that? Is it the ‘Shrinking Head Turtle Technique’?”
“Well done, the Jinshan Sect is impressive. Such a profound skill truly opens our eyes!”
“Great move, excellent technique! Not just anyone can learn this!”
While they jeered and mocked, Ye Yu also gave a cold laugh. She commanded, “Let’s see what else you can turn into!”
As she spoke, the Adamantine Wheel suddenly left an afterimage, slicing toward the flesh-ball with lightning speed, even faster than before!
But what left everyone speechless was that the ball bounced once on the spot, and upon landing, it suddenly sank into the ground. The Cold Splendor Adamantine Wheel missed once again!
This time, everyone was stunned, completely at a loss as to where the short man from the Jinshan Sect had vanished.
Ye Yu also paused momentarily, but in that instant, a dark shadow shot out from the ground behind her. This shadow was spherical, but suddenly, four limbs and a head sprang out, tightly enveloping Ye Yu and pinning her so she couldn't move an inch.
The short man roared with fierce laughter, “If you have the guts, kill me along with her!” With that, he shouted, and the muscles across his entire body rapidly swelled, like a meat vine endlessly growing, coiling tighter and tighter around Ye Yu, clearly intending to crush her to death!
At this moment, seeing the short man suddenly reverse the situation, the people on the field cheered loudly, “Good! What a powerful Earth Evasion Technique!”
Ye Yu was both shocked and enraged. She roared fiercely, shaking her body violently. In the blink of an eye, her fur grew rapidly, and in moments, she transformed into a massive fox with seven tails and blazing crimson fur all over her body!
This fox was like a giant beast. The short man, who had been holding her tightly, suddenly found himself reduced to something as insignificant as a flea clinging to a bull’s hide.
Ye Yu lashed out a tail, slamming him heavily onto the ground, then viciously brought a claw down upon him!
When the cultivators from the major sects suddenly saw Ye Yu reveal her true form, they were instantly shocked and angered, crying out in unison, “Stop her!”
But Ye Yu’s claw landed exactly where she intended, crushing the short man’s body into a smear of bloody pulp. Immediately following this, the short man’s faint Yin spirit flew out from under her claw, screaming in terror and rage.
Ye Yu gave a cold laugh, opened her massive maw, and swallowed the short man’s Yin spirit whole. The sound of her teeth grinding—ka-cha, ka-cha—was bone-chillingly horrifying.
Destroying a cultivator’s physical body is not terrifying, but to annihilate both body and spirit—that is an irreconcilable, eternal feud!
The members of the Jinshan Sect erupted in an uproar, shouting angrily, “What rules of the Jianghu are we observing against such a fiend? Attack! Kill this demoness!” Having shouted, they rushed forward en masse.
Some cultivators from the other sects, feeling a shared sense of outrage, also roared and charged forward.
Ye Yu violently whipped her seven massive tails, stirring up a ferocious gale that swept everyone back violently.
Li Yundong watched as Ye Yu’s tails swung, a streak of red light momentarily shrouding her form. When she turned back, she had returned to her human shape, clad in Daoist robes.
Seeing Ye Yu’s divine prowess, Li Yundong couldn't help but draw a sharp breath, murmuring to himself: The might of this Seven-Tailed Divine Fox is nearly comparable to Ao Wushuang. Perhaps a dozen cultivators swarming her wouldn't even be a match for this Seven-Tailed Divine Fox! But wait, do the Sect Leaders of the Six Great Sects not know that the Fox Charm Gate has such a master? Why would they send young successors to their doom?
While he was pondering this mystery, Ye Yu laughed triumphantly after sweeping the charging cultivators away with her tails. She turned to Liu Ye, the Sect Leader who had been watching the entire confrontation coldly and silently, and shouted loudly, “Sect Leader Martial Uncle, you can rest easy now! The Six Great Sects have no one left to use, sending only useless young whippersnappers! I can handle them all by myself. Hmph, there’s no need for that wench Ao Wushuang to lift a finger!”
Liu Ye narrowed his eyes, his hands tucked deep within his sleeves, and said gravely, “That is for the best! Hmph, at this crucial juncture, I don't know where that girl has run off to!”
Ye Yu scoffed, “Where else could she run? She fled because the situation looked unfavorable! It was the same ten years ago, and it’s the same ten years later!”
She frowned angrily, pointing at the cultivators from various sects now fallen to the ground, and roared, “You so-called righteous people, trespassing on my sect’s mountain gate and killing my disciples! Today, this place will be your graveyard!”
Ye Yu pointed at them, her finger sharp as a sword, and commanded fiercely, “Kill them all!”
The Cold Splendor Toothed Adamantine Wheel beside her hummed and flashed a streak of white light, darting toward the assembled cultivators like lightning.
The first cultivator in its path had not managed to get up from the ground. He watched in terror as the Cold Splendor Toothed Adamantine Wheel rushed toward him, preparing to close his eyes for death, when suddenly a yellow light flashed. A three-foot-long longsword, emitting a stream of golden-yellow divine light, forcefully blocked the Cold Splendor Adamantine Wheel!
Seeing her magic artifact blocked, Ye Yu was startled. She focused her gaze on the longsword and saw the engraving of the Big Dipper’s seven stars etched upon its blade. As it locked with the Cold Splendor Adamantine Wheel, the seven stars faintly shimmered. She gasped again, crying out involuntarily, “Seven Star Sword!”
Many of the young cultivators from the surrounding sects who had suffered losses under Ye Yu’s Cold Splendor Toothed Adamantine Wheel saw their powerful weapon intercepted and immediately roared in cheers, “Venerable Zhang is mighty!”
“Demoness, look clearly! This is the supreme treasure of our Daoist lineage, the Seven Star Sword! Far superior to your broken iron wheel!”
Zhang Tianhe caught his artifact back from Ye Yu’s grasp and said solemnly, “Venerable Ye, please instruct me!”
But just as he was about to make his move, the surrounding cultivators saw Zhang Tianhe’s artifact locked in a struggle with Ye Yu’s. They feared Ye Yu’s fierce and tyrannical artifact the most. Now that it was entangled, they saw an opportunity for gain and benefit, and immediately shouted, “Venerable Zhang, why waste words with demons and heretics? Let’s attack together!”
As they spoke, these individuals unleashed their own magic artifacts, pelting Ye Yu like a sudden, violent storm.
No matter how powerful Ye Yu was, she could not defend against so many artifacts. Her expression changed, and she cursed angrily, “A group of despicable cowards! We agreed to one-on-one duels, and now you renege on your word! How shameless!”
Liu Ye, who had been watching from the sidelines, also snorted coldly and roared, “Shi'er, attack together! Do you think our Fox Charm Gate has no one left?”
With that, he himself moved, rushing forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ye Yu.
Mo Ashi, the Eldest Senior Sister of the Fox Charm Gate, allowed a strange, subtle smile to curl the corner of her lips. She slowly pulled the golden hairpin stuck in her dark hair, then moved swiftly, arriving beside Ye Yu and Liu Ye.
Li Yundong, watching in hiding, saw the hairpin clearly and his heart shuddered violently: Isn't that the Soul-Separating Pin of the Matriarch Luo that attacked me that night?
Just as this thought flashed through his mind, he saw Mo Ashi suddenly shift her stance. The Soul-Separating Pin of the Matriarch Luo struck heavily onto the Gaohuang acupoint on Ye Yu’s back, while simultaneously, she struck Liu Ye’s Gaohuang acupoint with her palm, sending him flying backward!
This sudden reversal shocked everyone present so much that they couldn't react. Even the various artifacts launched by the major sects toward Ye Yu couldn't stop, all of them hurtling towards Mo Ashi.
Mo Ashi swept her sleeve, and a gust of powerful astral wind rushed out, its might even more ferocious than the gale Ye Yu had summoned with her seven-tail whip. It instantly repelled all the incoming artifacts.
Zhang Tianhe’s eyes widened upon seeing this scene. He thought to himself: This astral wind is overwhelmingly powerful, yet it carries a softness within its hardness. The purity of the True Essence within it is even dozens of times stronger than that of many inner disciples who have cultivated since they were in the womb. This is clearly something only attainable through orthodox Xuan Gate practice; the people of the Fox Charm Gate could never cultivate it! Who exactly is this person!
The members of the major sects stared, mouths agape in disbelief, at Mo Ashi, the Eldest Senior Sister of their allied Fox Charm Gate, who had just attacked and wounded their own comrades. They were all dumbfounded, speechless.
And the other disciples of the Fox Charm Gate were equally shocked, crying out in disbelief, “Eldest Senior Sister, what—what are you doing!”
Mo Ashi suddenly turned her head, her figure rapidly transforming into a streak of green light that swept past them. With precise taps and pokes, these disciples, already injured and weaker than her in power, naturally couldn't resist and were all struck down.
In an instant, the entire Fox Charm Gate force was neutralized. Only Mo Ashi remained standing tall in the center, roaring with triumphant laughter.