Covering the Sky: Fairy, I really need to control you properly.

At this moment, Yang Mo's expression froze on the platform.

He didn't even have time to be terrified before his consciousness faded away.

The intention behind bringing out the rotten wooden hammer was to take a shortcut, finish the battle quickly, preserve strength, and win the game at the lowest possible cost.

A sudden, close-range attack, catching the opponent off guard, should have been a sure-fire kill.

But he never expected that before this blow could achieve its purpose, it would first awaken the slumbering deity within the Immortal-Slaying Gourd.

The imperial weapon possessed a spirit, spontaneously revived, and protected its master by slaying him, turning all his schemes to ashes.

At this moment, sword energy soared into the sky, and a black pillar of light shot up from the Dao Discussion Platform, piercing through the heavens and penetrating the atmosphere for countless miles.

A huge rift was torn open in the sky, its edges as black as ink, slowly rolling out to both sides.

The depths of the rift are endless darkness, with fragments of starlight flickering within, like an eye opening from the heavens, coldly gazing down upon the earth.

On the Dao Discussion Platform, Yang Mo's body began to disintegrate. His robes, flesh, bones, and everything else dissolved in the lingering afterglow of that black sword energy.

The ashes were scattered by the wind, falling in a flurry onto the bluestone of the debating platform.

Fortunately, the sword energy was ultimately aimed at the sky, and there was only one wisp of it. It pierced through the sea of ​​clouds and shattered a corner of the stars in the sky.

If it were to slash horizontally, with the might of the Immortal-Slaying Gourd Imperial Weapon, the surrounding mountains and rivers would probably be wiped out into a dead land.

There was a deathly silence between heaven and earth.

The Ji family, the Jiang family, the Nine Heavens Holy Land... everyone seemed to be frozen in place, completely immobile.

It's simply because all of this happened so fast!

The disciples of the Purple Mansion Holy Land were struck dumb, their minds going completely blank.

No, Yang Mo is dead?

The true disciple of Zizhu Peak, the second level of perfection of the Four Extremes, the holy son candidate on whom great hopes were placed, died just like that.

Xu Jinhuan's fight with him has only just begun, hasn't it?

On the high platform, a teacup fell and rolled twice on the ground.

"Mo'er!"

At this moment, Yang Yang, the peak master of Zizhu Peak, suddenly jumped up from his seat, knocking over the table. He was like a ferocious beast that had lost its mind, and pounced on the Dao Discussion Platform.

His eyes were almost bursting open, and they were bloodshot.

Yang Mo, the successor he personally chose, turned to ashes before his very eyes.

Not even a wisp of a soul remained; nothing was left.

Why is this happening?

Even though a restriction and life-protecting Dao patterns were placed on Yang Mo, the restriction could still block even a powerful figure's attack, enough for him to intervene and rescue.

Even if Yang Mo loses, he still has a backup plan: the five Supreme Elders of Purple Bamboo Peak, representing half of the sect's power, can simply use their influence to forcefully push Yang Mo to the position of Holy Son.

Lin Suwen's time is running out, and the Purple Mansion Holy Land will inevitably change sooner or later. He has plenty of patience and plenty of bargaining chips.

But Yang Mo died.

And that rotten wooden hammer, which should have been a trump card, not only failed to achieve its purpose, but instead became a death warrant.

That black sword energy awoke from its slumber precisely because it sensed a threat.

It was he who personally handed Yang Mo his trump card, which led to Yang Mo's death.

"puff!"

Another mouthful of blood spurted out.

Everyone looked in astonishment toward the sound, only to find that it was not Master Xuanzhu who was spitting blood, but someone else.

The peak master of Yundao Peak is Liu Ruyan.

She sat upright on the high platform, her face deathly pale. After spitting out a mouthful of blood, bits of flesh began to peel off her body.

Those were the ashes after the talisman had burned out, falling piece by piece, strand by strand, from her clothes and cuffs, a mottled gray-black, shocking sight.

"What happened?"

"What...what were those falling ashes?"

"A talisman? Could it be that her protective talisman backfired? But the Peak Master didn't participate in the competition, so how could her talisman have backfired?"

The disciples below the stage whispered among themselves, puzzled.

But on the high platform, the expressions of several high-ranking officials who truly held core power changed simultaneously.

The backlash from the talisman means that Liu Ruyan had given Yang Mo some kind of protective or blessing talisman.

Yang Mo died, and the talisman was destroyed by the black sword energy. The backlash then traced back to the person who made the talisman.

The blood that Liu Ruyan spat out at this moment was caused by the backlash.

"You brat, die!"

Yang Yang slammed his palm down onto the Dao Discussion Platform. The powerful figure on the platform struck in anger, causing the heavens and earth to change color.

A colossal hand, capable of blotting out the sky, materialized in the void. Its palm lines resembled the veins of mountains and rivers, and when its five fingers were spread out, they covered half of the Dao discussion platform.

He wanted to smash Xu Jinhuan into a pulp and tear this little beast who killed Yang Mo to pieces.

"Just now, Yang Mo unleashed a forbidden weapon to take my life, and everyone saw it," Xu Jinhuan said. "You didn't intervene then, but now that he's dead, you're jumping out to shout for revenge..."

"Peak Master Yang, ask yourself honestly, do you still want to save face?"

Xu Jinhuan stood there, calm and composed.

Before him stood a powerful being at the second level of the Sendai realm, who came in fury, yet he neither took out the Immortal-Slaying Gourd nor retreated even half a step.

"Is this how you act as a senior?" Xu Jinhuan's voice rang out again, each word like a knife.

"What happened today was witnessed by everyone in the Purple Mansion, as well as by all the sects and families of the Eastern Wilderness. Yang Mo used the forbidden weapon first, intending to take my life, but I killed him instead. The cause and effect are clear, and the right and wrong are obvious."

"Justice is in the eyes of the people!"

"You little beast, no one can save you today. I am the embodiment of justice!"

The purple hand pressed down, but before it could even touch the platform, it vanished.

An equally powerful aura rose from the center of the platform.

Lin Suwen had appeared before Xu Jinhuan without anyone noticing. As her robes fluttered, her divine power surged, neutralizing the angry attack.

Lin Su asked, "Peak Master Yang, what are you going to do?"

"I want him to pay with his life!" Yang Yang roared, his hair and beard bristling, looking like a madman. "He killed the true disciple of my Purple Bamboo Peak, are you going to protect this bastard?"

"Life and death are determined by fate!"

"On the Dao Debate Platform, Yang Mo used a forbidden weapon first, clearly intending to take someone's life. Being outmatched in skill, he was killed instead; who can he blame?"

Yang Yang's face turned green then white, then white then green again.

How could he not know this rule?

But today's events are no longer just about Yang Mo's life or death.

This is the undercurrent of internal struggle within the Purple Mansion, which has finally come to the surface.

The battle for the Holy Son is never a contest of one person's victory or defeat.

The five Supreme Elders of Zizhu Peak, representing half of the forces in the Holy Land, would not allow themselves to benefit a mere outsider cultivator.

Yang Mo is dead, so we can push for another one.

However, if the position of Holy Son falls into Xu Jinhuan's hands, Zizhu Peak's plans will be in vain.

Therefore, even if it means breaking ties with the various sects in the Eastern Wilderness, or even instigating internal strife within the Holy Land during the Dao Discussion Conference, they are willing to do so.

Xu Jinhuan must die!

Yang Yang stood below the stage, his eyes bloodshot: "My grandson Yang Mo is dead. I no longer care about right or wrong!"

He turned his head and glanced at the several Supreme Elders from Zizhu Peak on the high platform.

"Today, it's simply a matter of blood for blood. What are you all waiting for?"