Chapter 262: Crushing
Above the Three Gates Wasteland Realm.
Surging waves of spiritual energy raged, the aftershocks of the crowd’s battle shaking heaven and earth.
Elder Ziyang and the Great Power Jiang Ruhai stood back-to-back, protecting the remaining seven true disciples behind them.
Opposite them, four Late Stage Void Dao Realm Great Powers were scattered and suspended, surrounding the crowd.
Elder Ziyang swept his sword, and a purple sword qi containing rule fluctuations erupted, sweeping across the four directions, even the space seemed to collapse.
However, two Great Powers on the opposite side simultaneously extended a single hand, mana and Dao principles surging from their palms, completely stabilizing the space.
The incoming purple sword qi was completely useless against them.
On the other side, Jiang Ruhai held an ice-frost ancient sword and thrust it forcefully.
The sword tip immediately bloomed, and a dark blue ice spike appeared. In an instant, the ice spike grew on its own, forming a tree-like net, stabbing towards the person opposite him.
And that person raised their hand and conjured a fire seal. Towering Dao fire burned half the sky, instantly melting all the incoming ice trees.
Elder Ziyang’s expression sank upon seeing this.
The opponent did not continue their attack, intending to kill them all. Not only that, but judging by the four’s state, they seemed to be forming some kind of magic array, determined to trap them.
Elder Ziyang grew increasingly uneasy. The location and timing of the opponent’s appearance were incredibly precise, making it seem anything but a spontaneous decision.
Moreover, their journey was based on a random time selection; it was impossible for anyone to have predicted it.
Thus, the reason why these people suddenly appeared was self-evident: there must be a traitor among them!
Furthermore, the situation they encountered today must have been planned long ago, with everything secretly arranged.
And the traitor on the ship acted as an inside man, continuously transmitting their location, which is why these people appeared so precisely and attacked at the opportune moment.
Coupled with Ye Qingtian using the power of rules to whisk away Ye Chen, Ning Qi, and Qin Minghao, their objective became crystal clear!
These people’s objective was definitely to eliminate Ning Qi, and there was no need to even guess who the traitor was.
…
The figure of Grand Elder Ye Qingtian streaked through the sky like purple lightning, creating sonic booms with astonishing speed.
Behind him, two Great Powers pursued relentlessly.
“Everyone, rest assured, I will definitely ensure your safety!”
Ye Qingtian reminded the three he had taken, his tone as firm as iron, ready to face death.
Qin Minghao struggled, but he was merely in the Nascent Soul Realm, while the elder opposite him was in the Void Dao Realm. The power of rules enveloped them, making it impossible to break free, just like bound mortals.
Ning Qi, however, remained calm and unfazed, seemingly indifferent to everything that was happening.
But he wasn’t idle; with true Void Dao Realm experts making their move, Ning Qi would not miss such a good opportunity to comprehend.
He immediately used his nascent soul to perceive Ye Qingtian’s power of rules, and quickly extracted a lightning order rule from it.
Void Dao Realm experts merge their nascent souls with heaven and earth, comprehending a rule of heaven and earth through supernatural powers, and have a lifespan of one hundred thousand years.
They comprehend rules from heaven and earth, using the power of their nascent souls to edit and construct the power of rules that best suits themselves, thus achieving the Void Dao.
In a short while, Ning Qi had comprehended about eighty percent of Ye Qingtian’s power of rules.
It couldn’t be helped; who told Ye Qingtian to actively use his power of rules to envelop them?
It wasn’t an attack spell; actively presenting the power of rules before Ning Qi, whose comprehension was heaven-defying, was no different than revealing everything about oneself.
Suddenly, Ye Qingtian accelerated, as if burning his nascent soul power, quickly widening the distance between himself and the two pursuing Great Powers.
After a while, he managed to shake them off, and then Ye Qingtian descended sharply, landing in a place with strange, rugged rocks.
The four stepped onto the ground, and Ye Qingtian finally withdrew the power of rules that had enveloped Ning Qi and the other two.
Qin Minghao immediately stood by Ning Qi’s side, facing Ye Chen.
Ye Qingtian turned and glanced around.
Ye Chen walked to his side, their gazes meeting, appearing quite relaxed.
“Why aren’t you running anymore?” Ning Qi asked with a light smile.
Hearing his words, Ye Qingtian and Ye Chen exchanged another glance and suddenly burst into laughter.
Qin Minghao clearly saw undisguised malice in their eyes.
“I’ve finally waited for this day!” Ye Chen said in a low voice, his face showing ferocity.
Ye Qingtian’s eyes swept over Ning Qi and Qin Minghao, finally settling on Ning Qi.
“Immortal Seed, this place is remote and hidden. What do you think will happen next?”
Ning Qi replied calmly:
“It will definitely be something interesting.”
“Hmph, even now, you can still remain so calm. I must say, your demeanor is indeed more stable than Chen’er’s.”
Ye Qingtian paced slowly, a slight smile on his lips.
Now that he had left the territory of the Boundless Sword Sect and the Boundless Sword Sect’s group, he, as an Elder of the Sword Sect in the Void Dao Realm, was the one who could decide everyone’s life and death here!
Looking at his current demeanor, with his head held high, even though he looked at Ning Qi and Qin Minghao at eye level, he gave the impression of looking down on ants.
Ye Chen stood beside him, looking at the two, as if they were prey that had fallen into a trap.
He could no longer restrain himself and spoke:
“Ning Qi, Ning Qi, do you know how I’ve spent the past ten years? Every day I wished I could tear you to shreds.”
“But now, I suddenly feel that killing you all at once would be letting you off too easily.”
“How about you kneel first, hand over the Purple Green Twin Swords you snatched from me, and then offer your own Spiritual Treasures with both hands? I can ask Elder Qingtian to not be so violent.”
Although Ye Chen said a lot, Ning Qi on the opposite side didn’t even glance at him, only replying:
“Minghao, why is there a fly buzzing in my ear?”
Ye Chen was furious, “You!”
But facing Ning Qi, his previous repeated failures and humiliation made him afraid to act. He could only say indignantly, “I’ll make you pay later!”
As soon as he finished speaking, two streaks of light descended upon this place in an instant, kicking up a cloud of dust on the ground.
It was the two Great Powers who had been pursuing them earlier.
As the dust settled, the two Great Powers scanned the crowd but, unlike before, did not attack again.
Instead, they surrounded them, forming a pincer with Ye Qingtian, and laughed simultaneously.
“Ye Qingtian, the location you chose is a bit too remote.”
“My lords, as long as we can achieve our goal, any place will do.”
Seeing this scene, Qin Minghao’s face instantly changed.
The answer was obvious: these attackers were familiar with Ye Qingtian, and they were all after Ning Qi!
“Who exactly are you people?”
Qin Minghao coldly shouted.
His mind raced, and he had a plan. The most important things now were to protect Ning Qi and find out the identities of these people.
Facing Qin Minghao’s questioning, the two continued to sneer.
“What, two Great Powers are afraid to even report their names when facing Nascent Soul Realm cultivators like us?”
One of them finally spoke, “Kid, you’re about to die, why so much nonsense?”
Seeing how cautious they were, Qin Minghao could only look at Ye Qingtian and the other two and say:
“If your Ye Family treats Senior Brother Ning like this, you will surely be held accountable by the Sword Sect!”
“Accountable?” Ye Chen let out a cold laugh. “People are realistic. Who would provoke my Ye Family for the sake of the dead? When my Ye Family regains power, it will be even less likely!”
“You…”
“Qin Minghao, if you stand with us now and attack Ning Qi together later, I might spare your life.”
Qin Minghao was almost amused to death. Even if he died today, he would never betray Ning Qi.
“Ye Chen, have you been defeated by Senior Brother Ning too many times that your brain has become dull? Do you think I would believe your words?”
Ye Chen heard this and said coldly, “Fine, don’t blame me for not giving you a chance.”
He turned to Ye Qingtian and said, “Elder, you must not kill Ning Qi directly. Keep him alive, I want to have a good ‘talk’ with him!”
“Don’t worry.”
Ye Qingtian replied. He prepared to make a move, while the other two Great Powers of unknown origin remained watching from the sidelines.
Seeing this, Qin Minghao quickly telepathically communicated with Ning Qi:
“Senior Brother Ning, you go first. I’ll hold them off for a few breaths with my life.”
His words conveyed a resolute will to face death.
Ning Qi patted his shoulder and said calmly, “Junior Brother Qin, step aside.”
“Senior Brother Ning?”
Qin Minghao’s pupils contracted.
He knew Ning Qi was strong, and even more so, he knew Ning Qi was a sect master who had easily annihilated a million cultivators from the Twelve Sects that had attacked.
But now it was different; this was not Ning Senior Brother’s True Martial Realm, but the Northern Xuan Region, and they were facing three Late Stage Void Dao Realm Great Powers…
Ning Qi stepped forward, finally casting his gaze upon Ye Chen.
Ye Chen felt a moment of emotion at finally being noticed, but that gaze remained high above, viewing him as a fly or an ant.
Ye Chen felt indignant and couldn’t understand where Ning Qi’s confidence came from.
Three Late Stage Void Dao Realm Great Powers, let alone a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator like himself, even one Late Stage Void Dao Realm expert would surely perish.
“I should thank you for giving me this opportunity.”
“Opportunity? What do you mean?”
For a moment, everyone was confused by Ning Qi’s words.
Only then did Ning Qi continue, “The rule imprints of three Great Powers should at least be worth three low-grade spirit treasures, right?”
Everyone was still bewildered.
“Has this kid gone mad?”
“Was he always a madman, which is why he achieved what he has?”
However, in the next second, everyone was stunned.
Ning Qi’s consciousness called out to his Main Body in the True Martial Realm.
A response immediately came from the direction of the True Martial Realm; an invisible, great power descended upon him from the void.
There were no spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from him, nor was his nascent soul power released. He was as plain as a mortal.
But as he took a light step forward, everyone felt a tremor beneath their feet.
The ground seemed to awaken, possessing its own will.
Grains of gravel suddenly floated from the ground, followed by strange rocks rising from the earth.
The entire space in the area where the six of them were located seemed to be peeled away, becoming its own realm.
In an instant, everyone except Ning Qi and Qin Minghao felt a sense of stagnation upon themselves.
It was as if a giant boulder was pressing down on their bodies and hearts, or as if they had fallen into a water prison; they felt extremely uncomfortable in every way.
And at this moment, they finally sensed the source of their discomfort, which was emanating from Ning Qi.
Everyone’s heartbeats accelerated; even a trace of aura emanating from Ning Qi brought them immense pressure, as profound as an abyss and as deep as a prison.
“How is this possible?”
The three Great Powers gasped. This was beyond their comprehension, yet Ning Qi’s cultivation level indeed only showed him as a cultivator at the limit of the Nascent Soul Realm.
Qin Minghao’s heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled. His eyes were filled with deep, lingering adoration, and he quietly retreated to the side.
It was like the bright sun rising after being plunged into darkness; their despairing hearts were instantly filled with hope.
Ye Qingtian struck first. He extended a claw, his bones bulging on his entire hand.
From the tips of his five fingers, crystalline divine chains of order suddenly emerged, piercing and binding, lashing out at Ning Qi in the center.
However, to his surprise, the power of rules used by him, a Late Stage Void Dao Realm expert, slowed down as it approached Ning Qi. In the end, it stopped three Zhang away from Ning Qi, unable to get close at all.
Swish, swish!
Even more deadly, those chains of rules then rebounded, each one piercing the void and piercing towards him!
Ye Qingtian was about to dodge and evade, but the mana in his body seemed to be suppressed by something, and his body stiffened.
Stones and mud rose from the ground with a rumbling sound, forming a giant hand exuding the stench of earth mist, which grabbed him.
*Puchi!*
The giant hand of earth and stone squeezed hard. Before Ye Qingtian could even let out a scream, his entire physical body instantly shattered into dust, bright red blood splattering, dyeing the giant hand of earth and stone.
In just a flash, a nascent soul identical to Ye Qingtian’s escaped, carrying a spiritual treasure.
Ye Qingtian’s nascent soul attached itself to a dark spiritual sword and hovered high in the air, staring down at Ning Qi below, looking as if he had seen a ghost.
Although he had lost his physical body, his entire nascent soul was still lively and didn’t look much different from his previous demeanor.
“Damn it!”
Ye Qingtian’s nascent soul roared. Although he didn’t know why Ning Qi was so powerful, he knew one thing: he had no way out today.
Only by fighting with all his might could he gain a sliver of life!
With this thought, his entire nascent soul began to glow, emitting wisps of dark blue flames, which were then infused into the dark spiritual sword.
Instantly, the space in the entire area seemed to roar!
Blazing, shining electric light illuminated the entire space, accompanied by thunderous rumbles, as if the space were a drum surface, and lightning struck it, creating a drumming sound.
Centered around the black sword and Ye Qingtian’s nascent soul, thunder gathered from the void.
They intertwined and condensed, gradually forming an incomparably brilliant sword of lightning.
This sword seemed to be naturally formed, as if heaven and earth rules had generated it themselves.
With one strike!
The sword of lightning pierced through space, entering from this side and appearing on the other, striking Ning Qi.
*Crack!*
To his surprise, Ning Qi was unharmed. Instead, the sword light shattered, the lightning sword broke, and the lightning stripped away from it, transforming into its most fundamental essence and dissipating into the air.
Seeing this, Ye Qingtian’s nascent soul was almost twisted.
It was one thing that the previous chains of rules couldn’t approach Ning Qi, but now the lightning magic sword had struck Ning Qi’s body, and Ning Qi was unharmed while his lightning magic sword shattered and broke, and the lightning detached from it. Was there any justice?
Ye Qingtian’s mind raced, and he held back no longer. His entire nascent soul burned madly as he unleashed his final supernatural power.
Myriad Thunder!
With his nascent soul as the catalyst, in the void, the power of lightning rules devoured his nascent soul, and began to transform into celestial beasts of the Immortal Realm.
All sorts of exotic beasts emerged, and the place where Ye Qingtian was located was like the beginning of heaven and earth, where all things were born.
And all that is born, follows one will, and is bound to destroy the man in the center of this region.
Ning Qi’s toes touched the ground, and he rose into the air. Facing the endless onslaught of the myriad phenomena of the Lightning Rule, he merely extended a fair and slender large hand.
Compared to the myriad phenomena, this hand was not large at all, but it possessed a surging, immense power, capable of blocking all phenomena with a single palm strike!
If Ye Qingtian’s Nascent Soul was using Dao Rules to create heaven and earth and generate myriad phenomena, then Ning Qi’s hand was returning to its Origin, annihilating all phenomena and returning them to zero.
In the end, Myriad Phenomena could not follow up, and Ning Qi’s palm strike approached and crushed, seizing Ye Qingtian’s black sword and putting it into space.
Below, Ye Chen trembled like a sieve. He never expected Ning Qi to be this strong!
Even the Grand Elder was no match for him, defeated in a single palm strike!
His gaze couldn’t help but fall on the other two Great Powers; this was his last hope.
Those two Great Powers, seeing Ye Qingtian extinguished, immediately felt that things were not good.
But now, the entire area where they were located had been Blockade, and even if they wanted to escape, there was nowhere to escape.
Therefore, the two looked at each other, a fierce look flashing in their eyes.
One person clenched his fist, and a pair of gauntlets automatically appeared on his fist, with beast souls faintly visible floating and sinking upon them.
Another person held a lantern. The lantern was ancient in style and extraordinary in its charm. Just a spark of firelight dyed the entire space with the same color.
The Great Power that clenched its fist made the first move.
As he took a step, he approached Ning Qi.
Both fists attacked instantly, unleashing a hundred strikes.
At that moment, a million beast roars sounded in unison, with phantom images of dragons, phoenixes, tigers, and lions appearing. Each strike seemed capable of shattering the void and shaking the heavens and the earth.
However, Ning Qi merely slapped back the palm he had previously extended!
Bang!
A crisp sound, overpowering a million beast roars.
The dragon, phoenix, tiger, and lion soul shadows instantly dispersed, and the Great Power had his hands broken. The entire person was like a fly, smashed to pieces in mid-air as he flew back.
The remaining Great Power spat out a wisp of Origin Spiritual Energy from the lantern. Within the lantern, a flame divided into a sliver and floated out, shooting directly towards Ning Qi.
While still on the way, that wisp of flame was like a great sun hanging in the sky, its scorching heat even causing the surrounding void to distort and collapse.
But Ning Qi merely opened his mouth slightly, and a stream of water was spat out. It was as plain as a brook, yet it extinguished the great sun.
White Mist is generated in the air, everything is hazy.
Two Great Powers were defeated as soon as they attacked, and they exchanged glances.
The two looked bitter, they were probably done for this time!
There was no time to regret or hesitate. Their entire Nascent Souls seemed to condense into one, and like Ye Qingtian, they launched a life-risking attack.
Succeed and live, fail and die!
They knew that Ning Qi, dressed in white as snow, would absolutely not let them go, nor would he give them any extra time to prepare.
That Great Power wearing the gauntlets actually sacrificed his own physical body and the power of his nascent soul, pouring all his strength into the gauntlets.
In the void, a pair of gauntlets traversed space, smashing towards Ning Qi like a meteorite.
On the other side, the divine lamp shone, and the body of the Great Power holding the lamp instantly aged, transforming from a middle-aged man into something resembling a mortal of a hundred years, with a withered face and sparse, falling hair.
He sacrificed his own life force, integrating it into the divine lamp.
This time, no divine lamp light flew out; instead, the entire divine lamp flew towards Ning Qi.
One lamp illuminates the void, a sky full of green flames, not only emitting the sound of crackling oil, but also using the spiritual energy and flame rules in the void as its fuel, engulfing Ning Qi.
Facing the combined attack of the two, Ning Qi’s body once again manifested the Five-Colored Divine Light.
Within the Five-Colored Divine Light, an illusionary image appeared, like a mountain, eternal and everlasting.
It seemed to be the entire Heaven and Earth, seeming to exist alongside the world, sharing the same lifespan as Heaven and Earth, and shining with the sun and moon.
Just then, an illusionary image formed a magic seal. Although the approaching gauntlets were like meteorites, they immediately became like soft, limp rice cakes upon nearing, falling weightlessly.
And that sky-filling blue flame immediately stopped burning. The divine lamp’s flame retracted and fell into Ning Qi’s hand.
The two Great Powers never expected Ning Qi to shatter their attacks like this.
They previously believed that Ning Qi had merely used some exotic treasure that damaged his potential life force, or had taken a fearsome pill, to destroy Ye Qingtian.
They believed that as long as they held on a little longer, endured a little more, Ning Qi would naturally be unable to hold on.
But now, their attacks were easily taken down, yet Ning Qi stood proudly in the void as if nothing had happened.
The gloves were also casually taken by Ning Qi, and the great expert’s nascent soul within instantly perished, leaving only the enemy great expert on the ground, who was at the end of his strength.
He smiled bitterly again, emitting a mournful sound, and his entire being shattered into dust, dissipating in this realm.
The few people in front and back battled, only a few breaths.
After breathing, only Ning Qi stood proudly in the air, with Qin Minghao below looking up in adoration, and Ye Chen as if stunned.
Ning Qi didn’t give him a chance to speak, he struck out with one hand, his physical body perished, and the Five-Colored Divine Light swept up his Nascent Soul and retracted it.
Using his self-created soul-searching supernatural power—the Great Rebellious Soul Technique, Ning Qi learned all about the ambush without regard for Ye Chen’s nascent soul’s pained screams.
With a casual flip and a pat on the non-existent remnants of the Nascent Soul, Ning Qi understood everything.
It turns out that the Ye Family, seeing Ning Qi as too much of a prodigy, deduced that their Ye Family would likely face increasing restrictions within the Boundless Sword Sect in the future, so they immediately contacted the Northern Profound Upper Sect, wishing to eliminate him as soon as possible.
That Northern Profound Upper Sect also learned through intelligence that the Boundless Sword Sect had produced an Immortal Seed like Ning Qi.
They worried that if Ning Qi continued to grow, the Boundless Sword Sect would inevitably be led by him, threatening their dominant position in the Northern Xuan Region.
And so, the two parties hit it off and jointly planned this extermination operation targeting Ning Qi.
Everything around returned to peace, the World Lord’s power was lifted.
Qin Minghao walked over and inquired about Ning Qi’s situation. Ning Qi did not conceal anything and told him everything, considering his loyalty.
“The Ye Family is truly despicable, colluding with outside sects to target Senior Brother Ning. Fortunately, Senior Brother Ning’s mana is boundless, and they were instead defeated here.”
Ning Qi silently noted this revenge, as now was not the time to enact it. After returning from the Profound True Secret Realm, he would settle the scores one by one.
After collecting the Rule Imprints left by the three Great Powers who perished, the two of them leisurely flew back.
……
Over at the Boundless Sword Sect’s main force.
Elder Ziyang and Jiang Ruhai continuously attacked the four unfamiliar Great Powers, but they were outnumbered. Even if individually they might have had one or two advantages, they were still unable to break out of the magic array they formed.
And just as Ning Qi annihilated two Great Powers consecutively, those four Great Powers were terrified and sensed something.
They immediately knew that a terrible change had occurred. The four of them looked at each other, didn’t say a word, and directly fled in a certain direction.
Elder Ziyang and Jiang Ruhai were unable to pursue due to the situation, as finding Ning Qi and the others first was the most important.
All of them immediately followed the aura left by Ning Qi and the others, and rushed over.
Not long after, the two parties encountered each other.
Elder Ziyang and the others were immediately astonished. How could it be that only Ning Qi and Qin Minghao were left? Where were Ye Qingtian and Ye Chen?
It’s not that they cared about Ye Qingtian and Ye Chen, but they truly didn’t expect the scene before them.
