Chapter 156 - 155: Divine Weapon

Chapter 156: Chapter 155: Divine Weapon

Before Elder Wu’s voice had even faded, the dozen or so Spirit Realm powerhouses surrounding them launched a sudden attack.

The glint of blades and swords flashed in an instant, and a fierce gale swept through the entire hall. The tables, chairs, cups, and plates were shattered by the violent Qi Strength!

"Father, be careful!"

Chen Shouheng let out a low shout, unleashing his Tiger Subduing Fist Intent as he met a Spirit Realm expert lunging toward him.

Meanwhile, ten Spirit Realm experts lunged at Chen Li from all directions.

Fists, palms, fingers, and claws, along with an arsenal of blades and spears, carried a lethal killing intent, instantly sealing off all his routes of escape.

It seemed as if Chen Li was about to be overwhelmed by the storm of attacks.

Just in the nick of time, a cold glint flashed in Chen Li’s eyes. Without any perceptible movement, a jet-black, unadorned, ancient-looking staff materialized in his hand.

The moment the long staff appeared, the surrounding air seemed to twist slightly as a heavy, vast, and terrifying aura suddenly filled the space.

The Qiankun Ruyi Staff!

HUMMM!

The staff let out a low hum.

With a flick of his wrist, Chen Li swept the long staff horizontally.

It was the simplest, most direct of sweeps.

However, before this one sweep, the sky-filling assault of flashing blades, fist winds, and Palm Strength shattered and dispersed as if it were made of paper.

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

A series of dull thuds and the cracking of bones rang out almost simultaneously.

The four Spirit Realm experts at the very front sprayed blood from their mouths as their bodies were sent flying backward even faster than they had charged in. They slammed heavily into the walls and pillars before sliding down limply, clearly dead.

The others saw this and tried to retreat, but it was too late.

Chen Li’s figure flashed, and the remaining six were instantly struck. With tendons snapped and bones broken, they collapsed to the ground, their fate uncertain.

The entire hall fell silent in an instant.

Only the jarring clang of Chen Shouheng’s weapon clashing with his Spirit Realm opponent’s broke the silence.

Everyone still on their feet, including the Spirit Realm expert fighting Chen Shouheng, stared dumbfounded at the horrifying scene, their eyes wide with incredulous shock.

Elder Wu’s pupils shrank to pinpricks as he stared intently at the staff in Chen Li’s hand. "A Divine Weapon?!"

His shock was quickly replaced by an irrepressible, almost fanatical greed.

A treasure of this caliber... Forget the Jiang Family; not even the top-ranked Noble Family in Jiangzhou possessed such a thing.

Only the Gated Communities were worthy of possessing one!

And yet, it had so abruptly appeared in the hands of an obscure, minorly wealthy family from the countryside.

"Excellent! Absolutely excellent! I never expected such a windfall from this trip!"

An expression of immense greed filled Elder Wu’s eyes.

Unable to restrain himself any longer, his figure flickered, closing in on Chen Li like a phantom. His withered palm whipped up a sinister, vicious wind as it struck directly for Chen Li’s Celestial Spirit.

This palm strike contained the Palm Force he had painstakingly cultivated for decades, possessing the power to shatter mountains and sunder peaks.

However, even in the face of this earth-shattering palm strike, Chen Li’s gaze remained placid.

Before coming to the banquet, he had specifically sought out Gossip to inquire about the Jiang Family’s strength.

The Jiang Family was part of the Jiangzhou Five Surnames and Seven Hopes, making them one of the most prominent Noble Families in Jiangzhou.

Their strongest member, however, was the Second Master, a disciple of the Hidden Sword Sect. He had already reached the Grandmaster Realm fifteen years ago, though his current level of strength was unknown.

The Patriarch had not fought in many years, so his strength was also unknown, but it was speculated that he had not yet reached the Divine Hall of the Spirit Realm.

Among their other Honored Guests and Tributors, one had previously been a Divine Hall Realm powerhouse, but he had been injured in his youth during a conflict with other Noble Families, and his strength was a shadow of its former self.

The moment this Elder Wu attacked, Chen Li had already identified the problem.

’His Inner Qi is tainted with Fire Poison. His Divine Soul must have been injured, and in his haste to heal without a proper Healing Elixir, he was unable to fully purge the poison, leaving a latent injury.’

Elder Wu’s Palm Wind tore through the air with a piercing shriek.

Instead of retreating, Chen Li advanced. The Qiankun Ruyi Staff in his right hand let out a low hum that sounded like a dragon’s roar.

He swung the staff in a wide arc, channeling immense force into a horizontal sweep to meet the heavy Palm Force head-on.

Staff met palm!

BOOM!

A deafening, thunderous crash exploded within the hall.

A violent shockwave erupted from the point of impact, instantly clearing the surrounding wreckage of tables and chairs and blasting it into dust.

Elder Wu’s face instantly paled, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes wide with incredulous horror.

His entire body was thrown backward uncontrollably, as if struck by some primordial behemoth.

CRACK!

CRASH...

He slammed into a support pillar of the staircase, snapping the thick wood and sending splinters flying everywhere.

"GACK!"

He violently coughed up a large mouthful of black blood and collapsed limply to the ground. He struggled to get up, only to discover with horror that his meridians were wracked with excruciating pain and his Inner Strength was dissipating.

"You’re... a Grandmaster?"

Elder Wu looked up, his eyes filled with disbelief, his voice hoarse and trembling.

’I thought he had only defeated the others so effortlessly because he was relying on the power of a Divine Weapon. But after clashing with him, I see the truth. He’s definitely a Grandmaster, and not a newly ascended one either. Otherwise, there’s no way he could have defeated me so easily!’

’No! I can’t accept this! After a lifetime of arduous cultivation, is this where I’m going to fall?’

As he watched Chen Li approach slowly, staff in hand, Elder Wu’s eyes flashed with a potent mix of venomous hatred and a desperate will to live.

He bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of essence blood as his hands formed a bizarre Hand Seal. A thin, bloody gash suddenly split open on his glabella.

"Nail-Head Arrow! Die!"

He shrieked.

An incredibly dense, ink-black Divine Soul Arrow radiating an aura of deathly stillness shot forth from his glabella, silently piercing toward the Sea of Consciousness in Chen Li’s mind.

This was his trump card, a life-saving Secret Skill that burned his lifeblood and Divine Soul in exchange for immense power, designed specifically to injure the Divine Soul.

Even a true Grandmaster would suffer grievously if caught unprepared.

However, faced with this bizarre Divine Soul Attack, a faint, mocking smile touched the corners of Chen Li’s lips.

"An amateur’s trick."

With a mere thought, deep within his sea of consciousness, the phantasmal figure seated in his Divine Hall Acupoint suddenly opened its eyes.

Divine Ape Soul Suppressing!

The void rippled. The Qiankun Ruyi Staff vanished from his physical hand, reappearing in the grasp of the majestic, phantasmal divine ape.

The ape stepped out from the sea of consciousness and, facing the incoming black soul arrow, brought the staff down in a simple, direct strike.

POP!

A sound on the spiritual plane, inaudible to ordinary people, rang out.

The seemingly ferocious black soul arrow was instantly shattered by the staff, turning into wisps of black smoke that dissipated into nothingness.

"No!"

Despair filled Elder Wu’s eyes as his Divine Soul rapidly dimmed.

Before he could react, the divine ape phantom pressed forward without pause, striding forward to appear instantly before the staggered Elder Wu, whose Divine Soul was already grievously wounded from the backlash. The Divine Sense Awareness Staff in its hand split his glabella open.

Elder Wu’s body went rigid. The last glimmer of light in his eyes died out, and his head slumped forward, his life force extinguished.

Only then did the Spirit Realm expert fighting Chen Shouheng react. Scared out of his wits, he executed a feint and turned to flee.

Chen Shouheng wasn’t about to let him escape. Seizing the opportunity while his opponent’s mind was in turmoil, he felled him with a single punch.

"Run!"

It was unclear who shouted it first.

The few remaining Jiang Family Guards who hadn’t joined the fight completely lost their nerve. Faces ashen and utterly terrified, they abandoned all else and sprinted for their lives toward the main gate.