Staring at the string of status effects hovering above his own head, Gu Chengming stood rooted in place, sinking into a long silence.
He was now half-convinced that if the person standing across from him happened to be a "female cultivator who was not of Great Qian registry, held a lower official post, was of poor conduct, and did not enjoy eating scallion-wrapped pancakes," a single punch from him would leave her unable to even reincarnate.
It seemed the Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method was remarkably compatible with the rules of this Secret Realm.
Just as he was calculating exactly how absurd a number all these stacked damage-boost entries might produce should he run into some unlucky wretch trying to rob him along the way, Xu Huayi's throat-clearing sounded from beside him.
The girl's gaze pried itself with great difficulty away from that line reading "30% increased damage against those who dislike scallion-wrapped pancakes." Only then did her crashed brain finally reboot, and she couldn't help but ask:
"Fellow Daoist Gu... that thing you visualized just now—what exactly is its origin?"
The way these traits were being judged seemed a touch too detailed.
And such a long list of special-attack bonuses—even the players from the immortal sects of her past life would have said, "Where'd you get the cracked version? Send me one too, will you?"
Hearing this, Gu Chengming sighed inwardly.
The rules of Tianque plainly stated that one needed "an object of deep connection." He could hardly tell her the truth—that what he had visualized was a cultivation method inside his Sea of Consciousness that had actively volunteered itself.
The matter of the cultivation method absorbing techniques was something he had no intention of letting anyone else know for now. He needed a sufficiently weighty and legitimate "object" to take the fall.
After a moment's thought, Gu Chengming gave his answer without changing expression: "It's Director Zhou's saber."
That answer caught Xu Huayi rather off guard.
The Dharma-Station rules of Tianque stated clearly that the visualized object of reliance must have an extremely deep connection to the one visualizing, and the obsession attached to it must run deep enough.
Ordinarily, such an object was either a natal spirit artifact the cultivator had nurtured for decades, or a lifelong Dao-companion's exchanged token of love, or at the very least a supreme treasure that had saved one's life at a moment between life and death.
But what deep connection could there possibly be between Gu Chengming and Director Zhou's saber?
Gu Chengming had been in the Night-Watch Bureau for only so long, and though he'd earned no small amount of merit day to day, he was still a fair distance from that rumored Chief Director-level figure of the Night-Watch Bureau.
However you did the math, the two of them could only be superior and subordinate. Surely Fellow Daoist Gu didn't sleep every night clutching Director Zhou's saber? That would be a bit absurd—even if he said so, she wouldn't... wait, no!
Associating Gu Chengming's looks with the rocket-like speed of his promotions over the past half year, a dangerous thought surfaced in Xu Huayi's mind.
——Could it be that Director Zhou had already made Chengming submit through unspoken favors?
The scene began to play itself out uncontrollably in Xu Huayi's head.
In the dim study of the Night-Watch Bureau's Chief Directorate, Zhou Qingmu backed Gu Chengming into a corner. With nowhere to retreat, he pressed against the wall, and Zhou Qingmu planted one hand against it, completing an intensely oppressive wall-slam, the other hand tilting up Gu Chengming's chin:
"Gu Chengming, from this day forward, your sword belongs to the Night-Watch Bureau—and you belong to me. This saber shall be the token."
As the scene in her head reached this point, Xu Huayi couldn't help but swallow, her heart brimming with envy, jealousy, and resentment.
Power really is a wonderful thing. I want it too...
"No, no, no!"
Xu Huayi abruptly snapped back to her senses, forcibly cutting off the delusion in her head that was rapidly approaching an unsuitable-for-minors stage.
She was a distinguished disciple of the Tianding Sect, an elite of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau—how could her mind be occupied by those tired, tawdry tropes from the vulgar storybooks of the mortal world!
What's more, she herself harbored no small measure of fondness for Gu Chengming in her heart—how could she watch him be subjected to "workplace bullying" by his superior and secretly feel excited about it?
Xu Huayi composed her expression, cleared her throat, and forcibly dragged her thoughts—which were about to soar off to the ninth heaven—back to reality.
"So it was Director Zhou's saber."
She adopted a most understanding air and nodded:
"Director Zhou long presides over the central court, slaying the disloyal; his saber is steeped in the fortune and law of Great Qian. No wonder it could give rise to an entry of such distinctly legal character as 'increased damage against the disloyal and unrighteous.' For Fellow Daoist Gu to resonate with such a treasure shows the sincerity of his heart. Huayi is truly full of admiration."
"Fellow Daoist Xu overpraises me. I am moved to tears by the Night-Watch Bureau's cultivation of me, so when I visualized, my heart held nothing else—and thus this result."
Each holding their own understanding while feigning ignorance, the two of them with perfect tacit understanding fudged their way past the topic.
"Ahem. Now that the rules of Tianque's third stage are completely clear, we obviously can't proceed according to our earlier plan."
Xu Huayi coughed, somewhat stiffly changing the subject, her gaze drifting: "The spatial distortion within the Secret Realm is extremely severe; ordinary compasses and route-books are entirely useless here. To rejoin the main forces of the Celestial Survey Bureau and the Court of State Ceremonial, relying on wandering about and hoping for luck simply isn't realistic."
Gu Chengming nodded in agreement. Just now they had walked for over an hour, and aside from running into a scheming Yú Bǎo, they hadn't seen even a shadow of a Great Qian party.
"Still, fortunately, we have an anchor point."
Xu Huayi raised her hand and pointed at the layer of clouds overhead—seemingly empty, yet in truth concealing the entire Sword Burial Tomb:
"Although the positions of the Dharma-Station wonders within Tianque drift erratically, between one wonder and another there exists an extremely powerful mutual attraction and causal linkage. As long as we pin down the location of one wonder, we can, based on formation deduction, roughly locate the coordinates of the other wonders nearby."
"Before the Great Qian party entered the Secret Realm, we set several core survey targets. If everyone got scattered, they would surely prioritize converging toward these targets."
Xu Huayi drew a length of silk from her sleeve and spread it out over the dark-stone ground:
"According to the route-book's records, in all likelihood another Dharma-Station wonder is born alongside the vicinity of the Sword Burial Tomb. This wonder is called the 'Zhou Shrine.'"
"Zhou Shrine?" Gu Chengming repeated the name.
"That's right."
Xu Huayi tapped her fingertip on a blank spot of the silk, tracing several lines of deduction with spiritual power:
"The Zhou Shrine enshrines a great power of antiquity known as 'True Lord Zhou Gui Tianli.' Legend says this True Lord entered the Dao through ritual; in life he deduced the laws of heaven and man and laid down extremely strict rules. After his fall, the obsession and Dharma-Station insight he left behind intertwined and became this wonder within Tianque."
Listening to Xu Huayi's explanation, Gu Chengming felt a curious sensation in his heart.
He recalled how, earlier while preparing to visualize an object of reliance, the Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method had—for the first time ever—actively spoken up and said, "Try me."
The Zhouli suddenly becoming so proactive, even perfectly accepting Tianque's vast Dharma-Station rules and directly rolling out an entire wall of damage-boost entries—now it seemed this might not be a case of "high underlying-logic compatibility" at all, but rather that it had returned to its old home.
Gu Chengming drew a deep breath, rapidly linking these clues together in his mind.
If True Lord Zhou Gui Tianli truly shared the same origin as the Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method—and was even bound by countless threads to Zhou Qingmu—then Director Zhou, who had infiltrated the party under the alias of Shen Jinghong, was here on this trip not to scout intelligence at all, but was headed straight for the core inheritance within this "Zhou Shrine."
"So that's how it is." Gu Chengming murmured softly.
"What did Fellow Daoist Gu say?" Xu Huayi was in the midst of deducing the direction and hadn't caught it.
"Nothing."
Gu Chengming reined in his thoughts and looked toward Xu Huayi, asking: "How is Fellow Daoist Xu's deduction coming along? Roughly where is this Zhou Shrine located?"
"To the southeast."
Xu Huayi put away the Judge's Brush and stood up, pointing at the far edge of the dark-stone plain:
"With the Sword Burial Tomb above Fellow Daoist Gu's head as the Formation Eye anchor, the deduction went very smoothly. The Zhou Shrine's aura is extremely vast; as long as we head this direction, we'll reach its outer edge in half a day at most. I imagine our various Great Qian colleagues are, at this moment, most likely also converging there."
Gu Chengming nodded, casting his gaze toward the dim horizon to the southeast.
The various powers of Great Qian each harbored their own schemes; the rogue cultivators and outer-circle cultivators eyed them like tigers; and there was a Fifth Realm great cultivator disguised as a Chief Banner Officer within the party, playing the pig to eat the tiger.
And now the place they were about to head toward was very likely the confluence point of all these hidden currents.
"Since the direction is set, let's move out."
Gu Chengming straightened his sleeves and set off.
The heavens shifted, and the rule of the Dharma-Station's manifestation descended upon the Great Qian group as well, no different in the slightest.
Chu Heng of the Great Qian Celestial Survey Bureau was the first to complete his visualization.
In his hands he held the dragon-seeking compass that had accompanied him for decades, and above his head two lines of golden characters soon surfaced:
[When at an earth-vein node, spiritual power recovery speed doubled], [Formation construction speed increased by 30%].
Thoroughly by-the-book, and rather fitting for his identity.
After that, the Great Qian group one after another received their own entries, most of them closely tied to their natal Dharma treasures or cultivation methods. Though there was the occasional peculiarity, they all remained within the bounds of common sense.
Until it was Jiang Yun's turn.
Jiang Yun stood at the edge of the crowd, his expression normal. The rules required that the visualized object of reliance carry an extremely deep connection and obsession. If he let his mind visualize freely, his deepest obsession would surely point toward his true sect and master.
If he really visualized those shady, unmentionable dark spirit artifacts, an entry like [30% increased damage against orthodox cultivators] might well pop up above his head on the spot—a traitor's entry.
So he could only desperately recall the little details of his years as a "Taihao Sect disciple," concentrating all his focus on the standard-issue Clear-Heart jade pendant of the Taihao Sect at his waist, ceaselessly brainwashing himself: I am a righteous, upstanding cultivator of Great Qian, I slay demons and vanquish evil, I am incorruptibly clean.
After a good long while, the rules of Tianque finally, with great difficulty, caught the disguise he'd forcibly thrown out, condensing above his head a rather dim line of characters: [Damage increased by 10% against those of weak spirit].
Seeing this line, Jiang Yun let out a long breath of turbid air.
Though it was a lone entry, and looked mediocre in power—even a bit suspect of bullying the weak and fearing the strong—at least it looked righteous enough, perfectly matching the everyday "sweeping away petty villains" conduct of a disciple of a renowned orthodox sect.
Jiang Yun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and was about to put on a regretful expression to exchange a few pleasantries with the colleagues around him, when the corner of his eye caught "Shen Jinghong" not far off.
This Third Realm Chief Banner Officer of the Night-Watch Bureau had been lazily leaning against a withered stone pillar ever since the Tianque rules descended.
She even had the leisure to fish a handful of melon seeds from her pocket, cracking them with relish, without the slightest urgency of facing a trial of heaven and earth's rules.
Seeing that everyone had more or less finished visualizing, Shen Jinghong finally patted the bits of melon-seed shells off her hands, casually tucked the saber's hilt into her arms, and—without even fully closing her eyes—offhandedly completed her visualization.
Immediately, three entries were branded in midair.
[Ignores all Fourth Realm and below body-protecting techniques]
[30% increased damage against those bearing karmic sin and of crooked heart]
[50% chance to guaranteed-behead those who flee]
When these three entries displayed themselves in full before everyone's eyes, the crowd's expressions all turned a little strange.
Ma Xiao, the Fourth Realm veteran Deputy Commander who had long licked blood off the blade's edge, pretended not to see. The compass in Chu Heng's hand went "clatter" and dropped to the ground, his mouth slightly agape. The folding fan in Lu Mingzhang's hand froze in midair, his face changing color again and again.
And within the crowd, Jiang Yun—who had just been secretly congratulating himself on having slipped through the cracks—now felt as though he'd plunged into an ice cellar.
He stared fixedly at the second and third entries above Shen Jinghong's head.
[30% increased damage against those bearing karmic sin and of crooked heart]
[50% chance to guaranteed-behead those who flee]
As an undercover agent, he was naturally of crooked heart; as a follower of the Eternal Life Sect, he most certainly did not lack for karmic sin.
The most fatal part was that he had already rehearsed countless times in his mind: the instant he got a chance, he would immediately turn and unleash escape techniques to flee.
Now that was wonderful—the rules of Tianque plainly told him: the moment you dare to turn and run, your head will automatically relocate.
Jiang Yun felt his knees go weak, and the last sliver of luck in his heart scattered into ashes.
Should he just defect to the enemy?
Was there still time to defect now?
The wind to the southeast was far gentler than on the snowfield. The once-hard, smooth dark-stone ground beneath their feet gradually took on some changes as the two of them pressed onward.
Traces of human carving began to appear in the seams of the dark stone; ancient, plain gray bricks replaced the raw ore, laying out a broad but dilapidated passageway.
Gazing far down the passage, a towering structure crouched quietly beneath the ashen heavens.
That structure was not oddly shaped or bristling with hostility like the other wonders within Tianque; instead it exuded an extremely dignified, even stiff and rigid, solemnity.
Flying eaves and bracket sets, gray tiles and white walls; before the main gate stood two tomb-guarding stone beasts weathered more than halfway to ruin, and along both sides of the stone steps rose several thick coiling-dragon pillars.
Were one to ignore the desolate, eerie Secret Realm environment all around, this place looked exactly like the ancestral shrine built by some deeply rooted century-old prominent clan of the mortal, secular world.
This was the Zhou Shrine.
The Dharma-Station wonder left behind by True Lord Zhou Gui Tianli.
At the end of the passage, roughly a hundred zhang from the main gate of the Zhou Shrine, stood several broken stone steles.
In the pitted, uneven ruins behind the steles, several human figures were at this moment lying in wait.
This band all wore uniform moon-white Daoist robes, cloud patterns embroidered at cuffs and collars, and at their waists hung Dharma Swords of excellent quality.
From this getup alone, one could tell they were by no means the sort of rogue cultivators who licked blood off the blade, but rather members of some orthodox sect of no mean heritage.
The one leading them was a fair-faced middle-aged cultivator with three wisps of long beard, named Zhao Qingshi—an inner-sect elder of the "Qingyuan Sect," a renowned orthodox sect of considerable fame in the south. At this moment, he was fanning a jade-boned folding fan and, with a leisurely air, lecturing several young sect disciples at his side.
"You all remember this clearly: if anyone comes tracing the Dharma-Station's guidance over here, do not, under any circumstances, immediately strike a killing blow."
Zhao Qingshi snapped his fan shut and tapped it lightly against his palm: "Our Qingyuan Sect is a renowned orthodox sect; our conduct must naturally be distinguished from those demonic heretics. Though the rules within Tianque are cruel—slay another and you seize all their fortune—if you kill everyone you meet, you not only violate heavenly harmony but also easily invite a desperate counterattack."
A young disciple asked humbly for guidance: "Elder Zhao, if we're not killing, then why did we lay down this 'Heaven-Net Sealing Formation' at the Zhou Shrine's gate?"
"This is precisely the way of survival I mean to teach you."
Zhao Qingshi stroked his beard, a look of profound mystery on his face: "A cornered rabbit still bites. If we mean to take all of a person's possessions, they'll surely fight to the death, and even if we win we may lose men. But if we only trap them, without harming their lives, and merely ask them to leave behind a single Dharma treasure or a newly obtained bit of fortune as a toll—guess what happens?"
The young disciple thought for a moment, and his eyes lit up at once:
"They'll weigh the pros and cons, and to preserve their lives and the greater part of their possessions, most will choose to spend money to avoid disaster and obediently hand the goods over!"
"A child worth teaching."
Zhao Qingshi nodded with satisfaction and reopened his fan, giving it a couple of waves: "This is the mercy of our orthodox sect. We leave them a way out—this is called Heaven's virtue of cherishing life. We set up a checkpoint here to block the dangers that may appear behind them, and collect a little hardship fee—this counts as a fair transaction. Once they hand over the goods and leave safely, not only will they bear us no grudge, they may even feel fortunate that our Qingyuan Sect leaves room in its dealings. This way, without bloodying our blades, we can accumulate little by little at this Zhou Shrine gate and reap a full harvest."
Hearing this grand oration, the several disciples around all showed looks of admiration, cupping their hands in praise, saying Elder Zhao's foresight was truly a model of the orthodox path.
Just as this band of Qingyuan Sect cultivators was busy flattering one another and moving themselves to emotion, steady footsteps came from the gray-brick passage ahead.
Zhao Qingshi's gaze sharpened, and he raised a hand in a signal. The surrounding disciples immediately ceased their chatter, each melting into the shadows of the ruins, fingers clasped tight on the pivots of their formation plates.
The newcomers were, of course, Gu Chengming and Xu Huayi.
The two had followed the sensation all the way here. The moment they stepped onto the broad plaza before the Zhou Shrine's gate, the once-calm gray-brick ground suddenly lit up with crisscrossing veins of spiritual power.
A hemispherical golden light-curtain rose from the ground like an overturned bowl, sealing the two of them firmly within.
The instant the light-curtain formed, several figures emerged from behind the ruins.
Zhao Qingshi, fanning his folding fan, stepped out from behind the steles with an unhurried gait.
A genial smile hung on his face, as though he were an elder receiving guests in his own home, and he cupped his hands from afar toward the two within the formation.
"Two Fellow Daoists, please halt."
Zhao Qingshi's voice was warm and resonant, brimming with righteousness:
"The Zhou Shrine ahead is the resting place of an ancient True Lord—perilous and unfathomable within, layered with wards. We Qingyuan Sect cultivators, sympathizing with how hard fellow cultivators' path is, have specially set up this barrier here—firstly to vet things on your behalf, and secondly to prevent any ill-intentioned party from disturbing the True Lord's peace."
Xu Huayi stood within the formation, her gaze sweeping over the golden light-curtain, then glancing at the several sanctimonious cultivators outside.
With her attainments in formations, this paltry "Heaven-Net Sealing Formation" was riddled with flaws, but she was in no hurry to act. She merely spun the Judge's Brush half a turn between her fingers, coldly watching the other side perform.
"Qingyuan Sect?" Xu Huayi's tone carried a hint of mockery. "That great sect in the south that calls itself pure-flowing and upholding of righteousness? What's this—has your Qingyuan Sect switched trades to become greenwood heroes, taking up the business of setting up checkpoints to collect road tolls?"
Exposed to his face, Zhao Qingshi showed not the slightest anger.
He had cultivated for many years; this hide of his had long since been trained impervious to blade and spear.
"Fellow Daoist overspeaks. What road toll is there to speak of?"
Zhao Qingshi snapped his fan shut and retorted with righteous conviction: "Within Tianque, danger lurks on all sides. We Qingyuan Sect have laid a formation to stand guard here, expending vast manpower, resources, and spirit stones. We do not covet all the fortune upon you two—we ask only that you leave behind a single Dharma treasure, or a portion of fortune, as compensation for our formation's expenditure. Leave the object, and we absolutely will not make things difficult—we'll release you at once."
He paused, his tone growing earnest and heartfelt: "You two are both young talents with bright futures before you. Do not, for the sake of trifling external possessions, harm the peace and risk your lives. This is called sacrificing the small to preserve the great—it is also a trial of temperament on the path of cultivation. Our Qingyuan Sect is willing to play the villain and complete this 'letting-go' cultivation on your behalf. Truly, it is all painstaking good will."
Listening to this preposterous speech that reversed black and white, dressing robbery up as charity, Xu Huayi was so furious she laughed.
She had truly witnessed it now—when it came to shameless barefacedness, these hypocrites cloaked in orthodox hides were even more disgusting than the demonic cultivators who wrote the word "rob" right across their foreheads.
She turned her head, looking toward Gu Chengming beside her: "Fellow Daoist Gu, can you stand to keep listening to such twisted heresy?"
"There's no help for it."
Gu Chengming sighed, his gaze passing over the golden light-curtain to land on Zhao Qingshi outside, still wearing that hypocritical smile.
"You're Elder Zhao, yes?" Gu Chengming's voice was steady, betraying neither joy nor anger. "So what you mean is, if we don't leave a road toll, then today we won't be crossing this threshold?"
Zhao Qingshi looked at this handsome young cultivator within the formation. With his early Fourth Realm cultivation, he could naturally see through the flow of spiritual power upon Gu Chengming—merely a junior who had stepped into the Third Realm not long ago.
With such a vast disparity in strength, plus the formation's reinforcement, Zhao Qingshi reckoned himself assured of victory.
"Fellow Daoist is a sensible man."
Zhao Qingshi opened his fan again, smiling all the more kindly: "Spend money to avoid disaster, harmony breeds wealth. As long as Fellow Daoist is willing to cooperate, our Qingyuan Sect is still willing to make a friend of you."
Gu Chengming looked at Zhao Qingshi outside the formation, framing bandit logic as high moral principle, and thought to himself that there really was no other way.
He sighed, tidied the sleeves that the wind had blown into disarray, and slowly spoke: "To lay checkpoints and block the road, to extort by cunning and force, to treat a fellow cultivator's life like weeds—this is inhumanity."
Gu Chengming's voice was steady, without the least trace of the panic one might expect from a man trapped in a cage.
Outside the formation, Zhao Qingshi's brow furrowed at these words, and he was just about to open his mouth to rebut when he heard the other's speech abruptly quicken, each word and phrase landing with weight:
"To do shameful deeds under the banner of the orthodox path, to ruin your sect's good name—this is unrighteousness! To argue by force and know no shame, to attempt to cloak greed with clever words—this is impropriety! To misjudge the situation, to court trouble, to be arrogantly self-important without knowing it—this is unwisdom!"
This string of accusations came down like flowing water, and not only was Zhao Qingshi stunned—even the Qingyuan Sect disciples hidden behind the ruins, ready at any moment to activate the formation, were left listening in a daze.
Only Xu Huayi, standing to the side, seemed to think of something, the corner of her eye twitching slightly, her gaze toward Gu Chengming rather peculiar.
——There's a pre-battle accusation-hurling-for-extra-damage segment now too?
Having conclusively pronounced the crimes of "inhumanity, unrighteousness, impropriety, and unwisdom," Gu Chengming paused for a moment, lifted his eyes, and gazed calmly at Zhao Qingshi, throwing out one final—and most fatal—question:
"I'll give you one last chance to turn over a new leaf, Fellow Daoist: do you like eating scallion-wrapped pancakes?"
The whole scene fell dead silent.
The hypocritical smile on Zhao Qingshi's face froze completely; he even wondered whether his ears had been ruined by the gale winds of Tianque.
Those grand principles just now had at least sounded like the death-throe struggles of an orthodox sword cultivator, but what on earth was that last line about? Scallion-wrapped pancakes? At the gate of a Dharma-Station wonder in this desolate wilderness, you're asking me whether I like eating the food of common mortals?
"Absurd!"
Zhao Qingshi was finally provoked into laughter, the jade-boned folding fan in his hand snapping shut and pointing at Gu Chengming within the formation.
He thought to himself that today he'd truly had rotten luck—to have robbed a fool whose brain had flooded with water.
He'd thought this was a fat sheep from whom he could squeeze some oil, only to find it was a mad half-wit who'd lost his mind.
"Stubborn and dense, spouting nothing but nonsense!" Zhao Qingshi snorted coldly: "Since you refuse the face I offer, since you won't drink the toast and prefer the forfeit—then this Elder shall today, on behalf of your elders, teach you well how to learn to bow your head within this Tianque!"
Before the words had finished, the early Fourth Realm spiritual power throughout his body erupted with a roar, and he was about to raise his hand and form a Dharma seal.
However, Gu Chengming within the formation gave him no such chance.
Gu Chengming's gaze swept over his opponent, rapidly confirming once more the feedback of the Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method within his Sea of Consciousness.
Very good—not a Great Qian cultivator, lower official post than himself, inhumane, unrighteous, improper, unwise, and does not like eating scallion-wrapped pancakes.
"In that case."
Gu Chengming looked at Zhao Qingshi, who was about to make his move, his tone carrying a few notes of genuine regret:
"Then you'll just have to cultivate that habit properly in your next life."
The instant the words fell, Gu Chengming did not draw his sword. He merely casually raised his right hand, fingers joined like a blade, and—through that layer of shimmering golden light-curtain—lightly, effortlessly pointed toward where Zhao Qingshi stood.
There was no grand display of momentum, no dazzling sword-radiance.
There was only a strand of Righteous Noble Breath, pure to the utmost extreme, wildly amplified by countless "laws of ritual and propriety," bursting forth from his fingertip.
"Crack—"
That so-called "Heaven-Net Sealing Formation," said to be able to trap cultivators of the same rank, was as fragile as a paper window pasted with a layer of water vapor before this single point.
The golden light-curtain didn't hold out even half a breath before it exploded, amid a crisp shattering sound, into spiritual-power light-motes dancing across the sky.
The cold sneer on Zhao Qingshi's face hadn't even had time to fade before the aftershock of that finger-point slammed solidly into his chest.
There came only a muffled "bang."
Zhao Qingshi's whole body was struck head-on as if by an invisible ten-thousand-jun sledgehammer. The moon-white Daoist robe over his chest instantly burst apart, and his body-protecting Dharma treasure shattered into powder without its light so much as flaring.
He couldn't even let out a scream before his body flew backward like a kite with a severed string, tracing an extremely long arc through the air, then crashing heavily into the tall, wordless stone stele behind him.
The stele broke with a roar, spiderweb-like cracks spreading out.
Zhao Qingshi slid to the ground along the shattered stone, blood spraying wildly from his mouth. After twitching twice, he went entirely still—every bone in his body shattered, his aura faint to the extreme, gravely wounded and on the verge of death.
It all happened too fast. From Gu Chengming's finger-point, to the formation's shattering, to the Fourth Realm Qingyuan Sect elder being killed in a single strike—the whole thing spanned no more than the blink of an eye.
The several Qingyuan Sect disciples hidden in the ruins hadn't reacted at all.
They stared blankly at Zhao Qingshi, fallen among the rubble, dead or alive unknown, their minds gone utterly blank.
It wasn't until Gu Chengming withdrew his finger that—because he had circulated such vast spiritual power—the Dharma-Station rules of Tianque were triggered once again.
Above the dark-stone plaza, the air distorted faintly.
Then, under the terror-stricken gazes of the Qingyuan Sect disciples, golden, glittering Dharma-Station entries began to surface one after another above Gu Chengming's head.
[30% increased damage against non-Great Qian cultivators]
[30% increased damage against those of lower official post than oneself]
[30% increased damage against the inhumane and unfilial]
[30% increased damage against the disloyal and unrighteous]
[30% increased damage against the improper and unwise]
[30% increased damage against those who dislike eating scallion-wrapped pancakes]
[...]
"Clang." No one knew whose formation plate was the first to drop onto the gray-brick ground.
Immediately after, as though it had triggered some kind of chain reaction, the remaining few disciples' legs gave out, and with several "thuds" they knelt to the ground in perfect unison, their whole bodies trembling like sifted chaff, crying out, "Senior, spare us! Senior, spare us!"
Xu Huayi, standing at Gu Chengming's side, looked at the wall of entries overhead that was nearly about to block her line of sight, then looked at the orthodox disciples kneeling all across the ground ahead, scared out of their wits, and silently withdrew the Judge's Brush into her sleeve.
Looking at the Qingyuan Sect disciples kneeling in a row and trembling, Gu Chengming unhurriedly withdrew his finger.
A thought turned in his mind: that finger-point just now had relied purely on Righteous Noble Breath and bodily strength—he hadn't even drawn his sword. If he didn't say a couple of lines Old Hundred liked to hear, it would be a downright waste of this superb pretentious atmosphere.
And so, Gu Chengming brushed off nonexistent dust from his sleeves, clasped his hands behind his back, and slightly tilted up his chin.
Looking at this group of cultivators frightened out of their courage, in a tone of looking down upon all living things—three parts cold detachment, seven parts aloof pride—he unhurriedly added:
"Mere ants. A single finger is more than enough."
[Hundred Bones Resonance cheers: Heavenly Emperor Gu sweeps flat all worlds through all eternity with a single finger!]
[Hundred Bones Resonance favorability +10]
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