Yefutidaolu

Chapter 325 Win

The absurdity of having his cognition completely overturned, the rage of being deceived and fooled, and the astonishment at that unfathomable power were all intertwined and churning wildly in Jin Dafu's heart!
He felt that the world he knew and the rules he believed in were crumbling inch by inch in the face of Gao Jian’s calm and indifferent gaze and the lingering light of the blade!
Qilin Shen's lava-like eyes were also fixed on Gao Jian, his fierce gaze filled with extreme vigilance and a hint of...unbelievable solemnity. Clearly, this scene, which completely defied common sense, was beyond the comprehension of this barbaric tribal chief.

The entire battlefield fell into an eerie silence. All the fighting, all the roars, seemed to have been paused. Only the rampaging Huang Chengshi, the torn body of the Ghost King, and the figure standing quietly, yet exuding an aura as deep and unfathomable as hell, silently proclaimed a terrifying fact—a Grandmaster of Two Gates, cloaked in the robes of the Six Realms, walking among the people!

And this being, capable of overturning the understanding of the Divine Dynasty, has just declared his stance in the coldest and most deadly way!
The mastermind behind it all—that's brilliant!

The mastermind behind all this has brilliant insight!
However, there are still some things that don't care about this.

An indescribable, chaotic, violent energy, filled with endless resentment and death, erupted from Huang Chengshi's body without warning! His blood and qi instantly lost control, transforming into countless wildly thrashing gray-black serpents! His previously frozen face twisted and deformed, his eyes snapping open, revealing no whites or pupils, only two wildly spinning, light-devouring vortexes! His tattered body swelled and contorted violently like an inflating balloon, his skin cracking inch by inch, revealing a churning, lifelike, gray-black, viscous substance beneath!

"Ughh ...
The Demon King has gone berserk! The backlash is coming!
Huang Chengshi's secret technique for controlling ghosts was inherently extremely dangerous, as it involved associating with countless vengeful spirits and malevolent souls. Now, with his heart pierced and his soul core annihilated by Gao Jian's divine will, the thousands of fierce spirits and malevolent souls within his body, which he had forcibly suppressed and enslaved, lost their final restraints and immediately turned against their master! This body, at the peak of the ninth realm, and its remaining power became an excellent breeding ground for countless vengeful spirits, instantly transforming into a terrifying, out-of-control ghost filled with destructive desires!
Among them, the most terrifying was the Ninth Realm Swordsman Ghost King, who immediately went berserk after losing control!
This sudden and dramatic change caught both Jin Dafu and Qilin Shen off guard!

However, just as Jin Dafu was filled with shock and anger, and instinctively prepared to suppress the out-of-control ghost to prevent it from harming his side—

Qilin Shen has moved!
In his lava-like eyes, the unbelievable solemnity was instantly replaced by a more primal, more resolute madness! The shock of Gao Jian's identity being exposed was far less important than the fleeting opportunity before him!

"Roar--!!!"

A roar more ferocious and tragic than any before exploded from Qilin Shen's chest! He completely ignored the out-of-control, expanding, and terrifyingly deathly yellow stone ghost corpse, and utterly abandoned any defense against Jin Dafu's possible attack! He transformed into a crimson meteor burning to its limit, his target not Jin Dafu, nor Gao Jian, but—that out-of-control ghost corpse! And, not far behind the ghost corpse, the other two Jin family members and the Ninth Realm expert of the Netherworld who were being held back!
Fast! Faster than the limit! The totem patterns all over Qilin Shen's body seemed to come alive at this moment, and dark red light flowed and burned like molten lava! Fine cracks even began to appear on the surface of his body, and hot blood, as hot as magma, seeped out from it, instantly evaporating at high temperature, forming blood-red steam that swirled around him! He was burning his life essence and physical foundation to exchange for this strike that surpassed the limit!
"Not good! Stop him!" Jin Dafu instantly understood Qilin Shen's intention and was horrified! His powerful battle body, forged from burning his blood and qi, unleashed terrifying speed. His dark gold blood and qi erupted like a volcano, and his enormous fist, carrying the power to crush space, struck first despite being behind, slamming into Qilin Shen's back! If this punch landed, it would be enough to severely injure or even kill any peak ninth realm cultivator!

But Qilin Shen didn't dodge or flinch at all!
His eyes were only on his goal!
"boom!!!"

Jin Dafu's fist, powerful enough to shatter mountains, slammed solidly into Qilin Shen's back! The terrifying force erupted instantly, and the muscles and bones of Qilin Shen's back cracked with a teeth-grinding sound! A large patch of molten flesh mixed with shattered bone fragments exploded like fireworks! His forward-moving figure was knocked back by this immense force, and blood gushed from his mouth, turning into burning fireballs as it left his body!

However, thanks to the terrifying impact of Jin Dafu's punch, Qilin Shen was not only not knocked back, but instead, with even greater speed and more resolute posture, he crashed into the out-of-control, expanding, and about to explode Huang Chengshi ghost corpse like a burning boulder launched by a catapult!
There was no blinding light, only a destructive chaos that spread in an instant!

Dark red lava blood, gray-black deathly resentment, out-of-control gray sword energy, the dark gold fist energy left over from Jin Dafu's punch... all the extremely violent energy was forcibly squeezed, mixed, and ignited in the desperate collision where Qilin Shen used himself as a catalyst and ghost corpses as fuel!
A chaotic energy sphere, over a hundred feet in diameter, instantly formed, twisting and expanding! Inside the sphere, turbulent energy currents annihilated everything, and everything around it shattered like fragile glass, forming countless tiny cracks! At the edge of the sphere, a destructive energy storm that instantly vaporized everything spread wildly and swept outwards in a ring shape in all directions!
The first to be affected were the two ninth-realm experts from the Jin family and Youming Land, who were closest to them!
The effeminate old man who was being entangled with Qin Long only had time to let out a short scream before his protective bone shield and spell barrier shattered like paper. His body was instantly engulfed in the chaotic energy ball and was completely annihilated without even a ripple!
Another ninth-realm expert, who had just broken free from the remaining array's restraints, only had time to raise his protective qi before being slammed by the destructive circular shockwave! It was as if he had been struck by a billion heavy hammers at the same time; his protective qi shattered instantly, and his body was torn and twisted like a broken sack, spraying blood and bone fragments everywhere, before being thrown far away, his fate unknown!
The terrifying shockwave continued its relentless advance, sweeping across the entire battlefield like a world-ending tsunami! The city walls collapsed in large sections amidst mournful cries, and countless soldiers and experts, friend or foe, were instantly reduced to ashes upon being caught in its wake! Jin Dafu, suspended in the sky, was the first to be hit, violently thrown back by the destructive storm he himself had instigated. His dark golden aura fluctuated violently and dimmed, and he coughed up blood! Even Qin Long was forced to retreat rapidly, unleashing his sword energy to resist this indiscriminate destructive impact!

Gao Jian's figure had vanished like a ghost the instant before the explosion, reappearing in a safe area far away. He quietly watched the all-consuming chaotic energy sphere and the raging shockwave, his face remaining calm and expressionless, as if everything was within his calculations.

As the devastating energy storm subsided and the smoke and dust dissipated...

Where it once stood, only a bottomless, enormous crater remained, its edges flowing with dark red lava and a viscous, grayish-black substance. The space surrounding the crater was riddled with tiny, unhealed cracks, like a spiderweb.

The ghost corpses of Qilin Shen and Huang Chengshi, as well as the two Jin family members and the ninth-realm experts of the Netherworld... completely vanished, leaving no trace of their remains! Not even a trace of their remnant souls remained!
Qilin Shen, the chieftain of this barbaric clan, fulfilled his promise in the most resolute and tragic way. He sacrificed himself, combining with the out-of-control Ghost King, to forcibly take away three top-tier warriors of the Ninth Realm from the Jin family and the Netherworld!

The balance of power on the battlefield was shattered by this ultimate, all-or-nothing strike! Jin Dafu's side suffered a massive loss of its elite forces in an instant!
The remaining members of the Jin family are all at the eighth level! Only Jin Dafu is at the ninth level!
So, the battle is over.

Jin Dafu was violently thrown back by the terrifying shockwave, crashing through most of the remaining city wall before barely managing to stop himself. He knelt on one knee amidst the ruins, his dark golden blood flames flickering violently like a candle in the wind, his body covered in deep, bone-revealing cracks, from which molten blood seeped continuously. He stared intently at the enormous crater, his eyes filled with boundless rage, unbelievable grief, and… a trace of fear that even he himself was unwilling to acknowledge.

Three Ninth Realm experts! The core and top combat force of the Jin family, along with the arrogant Huang Chengshi, were wiped out by Qilin Shen in such a tragic manner! The power he gained by burning his Qi and Blood Furnace seemed so pale and powerless in the face of such huge losses and injuries!

Qin Long appeared near Gao Jian, his breathing slightly disordered and his clothes torn, clearly also affected by the shockwave, but his eyes remained as sharp as an eagle's.

Qin Long, a sword cultivator at the peak of the ninth realm, still retains his fighting strength despite his minor injuries!
Gao Jian, that monster who wears the guise of the Six Realms but is actually a Grandmaster of Two Realms!

The remaining garrison commanders, sorcerers, and the Qilin warriors, like wounded lone wolves with bloodshot eyes filled with the flames of vengeance!
The balance of power is no longer just tilted, but has completely collapsed!

Jin Dafu's heart sank into an abyss. A chilling despair gripped him more clearly than ever before. He knew he had lost! Utterly defeated! Not only had the border remained unconquered, but his core strength had been completely wiped out! The Jin family was severely weakened by this battle, and the alliance with Youming Land was bound to crumble!

"Jin Dafu!" Qin Long's voice was like the scraping of cold iron, carrying a chilling killing intent. "Do you still want to resist?" The remaining eighth-realm experts of the Jin family lost all color in their faces and involuntarily retreated, their eyes shifting between Jin Dafu, Qin Long, and Gao Jian, filled with fear. They had lost their will to fight.

Jin Dafu no longer looks like he used to be overweight. His lean and muscular body makes him almost unrecognizable. He has transformed from a fat man into a handsome and dignified middle-aged strongman.

Unfortunately, he was now trembling slightly, not from fear, but from extreme anger and resentment. He stared intently at Gao Jian and hissed, "Gao Jian... good! What a Gao Jian! Such deep scheming! Such ruthless methods! So you were the mastermind behind all this! You've been hiding it so well!"

Gao Jian did not answer. His indifference was like an ancient, unyielding ice. He simply took a few steps forward, walked to the edge of the huge pit, and looked down at the churning lava and filth, as if mourning, or perhaps confirming.

Then, under everyone's gaze, he slowly raised his right hand.

It wasn't that the fingers were joined together, but rather that they were extended towards the waist.

There, an inconspicuous knife hung. The scabbard was old, covered with mottled dark red rust, as if it had been stored in a damp corner for a hundred years without anyone paying attention to it. It didn't even exude a trace of spiritual energy or killing intent, as ordinary as a woodcutter's tool for chopping wood.

Gao Jian's hand gently rested on the rusty hilt of the knife; the blade was two feet three inches long!
Gao Jian brandished his rusty knife and swung it down!

--------

A few hours later.

The setting sun, like blood, stained the shattered border with a poignant crimson. The smoke of battle had not yet completely dissipated, mingling with the heavy stench of blood and acrid smells, swirling above the ruins.

The battlefield was being cleared, but the clearing was unusually heavy and slow. The surviving defenders and Qilin warriors showed no joy of victory, only endless exhaustion and profound grief. They silently gathered the remains of their comrades, identifying the broken limbs, and carefully carried away each mutilated body. Cries broke the oppressive silence intermittently, quickly suppressed again.

The enormous crater, like a scar on the earth, was a horrifying sight. At the edge of the crater, Qin Long stood with his hands behind his back, his brow furrowed, staring at the still-warm dark red lava and grayish-black matter in the crater, lost in thought.

And at the highest point, on the ruins of the beacon tower, only half of which remains.

Gao Jian stood quietly, the last rays of the setting sun outlining his thin yet upright figure. He was still wearing the robe stained with a few specks of dust and blood, his aura now calm and ordinary, like a scholar who couldn't even kill a chicken.

But at this moment, no one dared to underestimate him in the slightest.

His right hand was still casually resting on the hilt of the knife at his waist, which was covered in dark red rust.

A tattered border flag was planted diagonally not far from his feet, fluttering in the blood-stained evening wind.

Just then, Yang Ling appeared in front of Gao Jian.

"So... everything has happened as you expected, Lord Gao. Now... you'll have a share of the political power in Liangzhou. Qilin Shen is dead, and the remaining forces of the Qilin tribe have nowhere to go but to listen to you at the border. And me... is the same."

"Also, what's going on with your cultivation level?" Yang Ling looked at Gao Jian with suspicion.

"Haha, it was just a scare tactic. It was another Grandmaster of the Two Gates who used me to make a move. But I can't tell you the specifics." Gao Jian laughed and patted the other man on the shoulder.

But no one else could laugh.

(End of this chapter)