Chapter 546: Wei Tu’s Ruthlessness, Crippling Situ Yang, Shengya Mountain Bows

The “Tianyuan Sword Talisman” was the strongest divine ability within Shengya Mountain’s top-tier cultivation method, the Tianyuan Sacred Art, that Situ Yang had learned.

Yet with his current realm, he had only just stepped into its doorway, not even reaching minor accomplishment.

Even so, in Lian Shourang’s eyes, using this ability against Wei Tu shouldn’t have been difficult.

The reason was simple—no matter how weak the Tianyuan Sword Talisman’s power might seem, its force still reached the mid Nascent Soul level.

It was precisely because of this divine ability that neither Lian Shourang nor the higher-ups of Shengya Mountain had ever worried Situ Yang might lose to Wei Tu.

“Even among spirit bodies, there are distinctions of high and low.”

The corner of Lian Shourang’s lips lifted slightly.

His disciple’s “Flowing Light Sword Body” was undoubtedly one of the top-ranked spirit bodies in the Great Cang cultivation world, not something an inferior spirit body could compare to.

In terms of combat strength, it might not match Wei Tu’s, but the gap shouldn’t be too wide.

Yet soon, as Wei Tu struck back—

The casual ease on Lian Shourang’s face instantly shifted into solemnity, then into deep shock.

…

Only to see—

The golden longsword hovering behind Situ Yang, once activated, transformed into a golden arc of light that split the heavens apart. With crushing force, it hacked straight down toward Wei Tu’s head.

Crack! Crack!

The golden light pierced through layers of void, tearing apart Wei Tu’s protective shields of mana and talisman power as if they were paper. In less than a breath, the sword light was already visibly pressing against his skin.

If it had been anyone else, every spectator would have known exactly what the next scene would be.

A head rolling to the ground.

This strike was powerful enough to instantly slay a peer of the same realm!

But—

An accident happened.

The seemingly unavoidable blow missed.

Just as the sword light closed in, Wei Tu’s figure suddenly dissolved into countless green afterimages, vanishing from sight.

In other words, the killing strike Situ Yang had nurtured so long had unexpectedly landed on nothing!

“Thunder Escape Technique!”

The crowd of cultivators stirred in confusion. They had faintly heard the roar of thunder crackle past their ears.

They hadn’t expected that today, not only would they witness Situ Yang’s “Light Escape Technique,” but also the famed “Thunder Escape Technique,” long known throughout the cultivation world.

“What a pity!” Many shook their heads and sighed.

Situ Yang’s Tianyuan Sword Talisman was indeed powerful, its might extraordinary. But no matter how fearsome an over-tier divine ability was, if it didn’t land, it was completely useless.

A technique was only valuable if it struck its target.

At this moment, the Tianyuan Sword Talisman’s speed wasn’t weak, but compared to Thunder Escape, it was still clearly slower.

“It missed?”

Situ Yang finally realized the outcome. He raised his head, staring at Wei Tu now standing several dozen miles away, his face filled with disbelief.

“Thunder Escape Technique? How could you possibly know Thunder Escape?”

His voice trembled as he muttered to himself.

From what he knew, Wei Tu’s teachers were Che Gongwei and Bao Siyan, and the cultivation method he practiced was the Divine Wood Origin Technique, purely of the wood attribute, with no connection to thunder.

Yes, a wood-attribute Nascent Soul cultivator could indeed cultivate Thunder Escape, but in just over 100 years?

How could Wei Tu possibly have had the time to reach that level?

As his words fell, the watching cultivators also turned their curious gazes toward Wei Tu.

They too wanted to know how Wei Tu had managed his time so well, mastering techniques to the point of rivaling seasoned Nascent Soul veterans.

But unfortunately for them, Wei Tu was no fool. As an old hand, he would never expose his foundations so carelessly.

Wei Tu smiled faintly. Forming a hand seal, he once again vanished into flickering afterimages amid the crackling thunder and shot straight toward Situ Yang.

—In truth, as early as his Golden Core stage, he had already mastered Thunder Escape while forging his life-bound treasure, the Thunder Ruler.

It was only because after stepping into Nascent Soul he had been constantly fighting above his realm that Thunder Escape had seemed less practical than the “Curse Ghost Blood Escape.”

But in a battle of equals, Thunder Escape was unquestionably the fastest of all conventional escape techniques.

Now, with the full force of his peak early-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, his Thunder Escape was far faster than Situ Yang’s casting speed.

And even if Thunder Escape somehow failed…

He still carried the Lifesaving Star Lamp, another escape secret that allowed him to shed his form like a cicada’s shell and slip away unharmed.

In short—

Even suppressing his realm to early Nascent Soul, his strength completely crushed Situ Yang in every respect.

Then Wei Tu stopped holding back. In an instant, he appeared beside Situ Yang and launched into close combat.

One strike! Two strikes!

In less than two moves, Situ Yang’s body was battered by Wei Tu’s overwhelming physical force, his blood surging violently as blood poured from all seven orifices.

Situ Yang’s dharma body was like fragile porcelain, now cracking with lines visible to the naked eye.

It looked as if, in the very next instant, it would shatter completely.

“You still won’t admit defeat?” Wei Tu was a little surprised at how much punishment Situ Yang’s body could endure.

Still, unless forced, he wasn’t about to strike to kill.

After all, Situ Yang had promised earlier that if Wei Tu surrendered, he would not deal another blow.

But soon, Wei Tu realized something.

His brows furrowed as he whispered, “Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes.” A flash of golden light shot from his pupils as he swept his gaze around.

With those eyes, he quickly saw through Situ Yang’s hidden plan.

So that was it. Situ Yang was counting on him not daring to kill, and had secretly summoned back the Tianyuan Sword Talisman, hoping to catch him off guard and turn defeat into victory.

“So, I’ve overestimated Shengya Mountain. Its so-called standards of conduct are no better than any other sect’s.”

Wei Tu sneered. He instantly cast aside all mercy. His lips moved and he murmured, “Fractured Life Hand.”

In the next moment—

Both his hands expanded into countless giant white-jade palms, filling the sky.

Under their crushing force, the golden longsword radiating brilliant light was blasted out of the void. As the palms hammered down again and again, its radiance dimmed rapidly, on the verge of shattering.

A moment later, a tiny azure figure tumbled out of the golden sword, panicked and desperate, fleeing back into Situ Yang’s dantian.

“Stop! I admit defeat!”

Situ Yang’s face was anxious as he shouted.

The Tianyuan Sword Talisman was condensed from his Heavenly Law Wheel and his Nascent Soul. The Heavenly Law Wheel itself was a portion of his spirit body’s origin.

If it were destroyed, his spirit body would be gravely damaged, and his future potential would be crippled.

Faced with choosing between pride and his future, even Situ Yang knew what to choose.

But—

The instant he spoke, a muffled boom rang out. His Heavenly Law Wheel shattered beneath the countless giant palms born from Wei Tu’s body, scattering into light and vanishing.

“Pu!” With his origin damaged, half of Situ Yang’s body exploded. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he dropped like a broken kite toward the ground.

“Yang’er!”

Seeing this, Lian Shourang, who had been hiding in the air and observing, could no longer remain still. He rushed out and caught his disciple’s mangled body.

“Good! Good! Very good!”

“Wei Tu, how ruthless you are!”

Cradling Situ Yang, one hand channeling energy into him, the other clenched into a trembling fist, Lian Shourang glared at Wei Tu and ground out his words through gritted teeth.

Moments ago, he had expected Situ Yang might lose to Wei Tu.

But he had never imagined Wei Tu would be so ruthless, crippling more than half of Situ Yang’s spirit body.

From today onward, Situ Yang might still advance in realm, but if he wanted to keep up his past pace of cultivation, it would be harder than ascending to the heavens.

As Lian Shourang’s words, heavy with hatred, fell, silence blanketed the field.

The watching cultivators all sucked in a sharp breath and instinctively backed several hundred steps away from the battlefield, afraid that Lian Shourang might lash out in fury and drag them into it.

Even though they knew Shengya Mountain and Wei Tu had signed a spirit contract with soul oath, binding the result of this battle strictly between Wei Tu and Situ Yang, preventing others from interfering or seeking revenge—

An oath was an oath…

It didn’t mean Lian Shourang wouldn’t act.

As long as he dared accept the consequences of breaking it.

But to their surprise, even faced with such danger, Wei Tu showed no panic at all. His face remained calm, as if neither Lian Shourang nor his disciple posed any real difference in his eyes.

“Sect Master Lian, you are the master of Shengya Mountain. Don’t let your personal emotions tarnish its reputation.”

“Just now, had I not been ruthless enough to end it quickly, your disciple would never have admitted defeat.”

“Could it be, Sect Master Lian… it wasn’t poor teaching, but that you deliberately encouraged him? If that’s the case, then I can only mourn for Brother Situ.”

Wei Tu’s expression was steady as he glanced at the barely restrained anger on Lian Shourang’s face and spoke lightly.

With the Heaven’s Nether True Page binding their soul oath, he had no fear of Shengya Mountain seeking revenge after the fact.

First, because retaliation had a price.

The contract stated clearly: if Shengya Mountain broke the oath, not only would the sect’s destiny collapse, but every Nascent Soul elder within would suffer backlash from their inner demons.

The first consequence—sect fate—Wei Tu couldn’t say for sure. Destiny was a vague concept never fully proven in the cultivation world.

But the second…

That would definitely take effect.

On the Heaven’s Nether True Page, besides Lian Shourang’s handprint, there were also the marks of four other Nascent Soul elders of Shengya Mountain, each with high standing.

Just that alone meant that if this incident dragged others into backlash, the sect’s elders themselves would be harmed. Wei Tu knew Shengya Mountain wasn’t foolish enough to risk such a blunder.

Secondly, he didn’t fear Shengya Mountain’s revenge.

At his current realm, unless a late-stage Nascent Soul elder personally left the mountain to hunt him down, there was no chance of him dying.

He was already a towering tree that drew the wind—he had provoked many of Shengya Mountain’s disciples before, one more meant nothing. He didn’t believe Shengya Mountain would spend its full might on him alone.

He wasn’t the one who had wronged them most deeply.

Several demonic cultivators had slaughtered Shengya Mountain’s Nascent Souls, and they were still roaming free without concern.

As for his family? Wei Tu wasn’t worried. No matter how many relatives he had, they were far fewer than the clans tied to Shengya Mountain itself.

If Shengya Mountain had any sense at all, they wouldn’t copy the demonic way by targeting his family.

With such restraints in place, even if Lian Shourang hated him bitterly, he had no choice but to accept this outcome.

…

“Very good, Wei Tu!”

Lian Shourang’s fury only grew at Wei Tu’s calm words. His face turned iron-blue, and he spat the word “good” three times in succession.

But after that, he didn’t unleash further threats.

Clearly, he understood too that if he didn’t handle this matter properly, Shengya Mountain’s reputation would take a serious blow.

“Shengya Mountain is not a sect that cannot bear defeat.”

“From this day on, my Shengya Mountain promises not to trouble Wei Tu, nor his family.”

He locked eyes with Wei Tu, each word pressed out with heavy force.

Then, with a sweep of his sleeve, he turned into a streak of light and vanished into the southern sky.

After Lian Shourang left, the surrounding Nascent Soul elders exchanged looks, some uneasy, some awkward.

It was too unrealistic for them to suddenly change sides and fawn over Wei Tu.

Yet if they withdrew now and refused to form ties with this rising “immortal prodigy,” they felt it would be a loss.

Before, Wei Tu was only an early-stage Nascent Soul. He could not compare to the behemoth that was Shengya Mountain.

But after this battle, anyone could see clearly—Wei Tu had the potential to advance to mid, even late-stage Nascent Soul.

In the future, he would surely become a dominant power of the Kang Kingdom.

If they didn’t make ties now, they might pay dearly later.

Most worrying of all, each of them feared that if they left now, someone else might secretly form bonds with Wei Tu.

Still, among all the spectators, the most awkward weren’t those who had praised Situ Yang earlier.

The ones in the worst position were Earth Sword Mountain’s two Nascent Souls—Old Ghost Mo and Yu Tongzi.

Before the fight, they had understood Shengya Mountain’s true intention: once Wei Tu lost, they were to surround and kill him.

“Our strength is beneath Situ Yang’s. If we try to kill Wei Tu now… it’ll only be our miserable deaths.”

Old Ghost Mo shivered at the memory of Situ Yang’s fate. He glanced at Yu Tongzi and sent a voice transmission.

“Did Sect Master Lian leave any instructions with you… to strike at Wei Tu?”

Yu Tongzi hesitated, then asked softly.

“No.”

Old Ghost Mo shook his head.

Had there been such a secret order, he might have risked it. But without it, taking the initiative would be sheer stupidity.

“Brother Mo, wise men adapt to the times…”

“How about we go and apologize again?”

After a pause, Yu Tongzi forced a smile and whispered the words.

…

So it was.

Just as Wei Tu finished the battle and was preparing to leave Earth Sword Mountain, the two blocked his path to deliver apologies.

Once again, he felt their “arrogant before, humble after” attitude.

“It was the two of us who failed to recognize the mountain before us. We beg Fellow Daoist Wei for forgiveness.”

“Some days ago, I brewed a new batch of spirit tea. Would Fellow Daoist Wei be willing to honor me by tasting it?”

Old Ghost Mo’s face was all humility, words dripping with flattery.

“Spirit tea?” Wei Tu raised a brow. He clearly remembered that half a day earlier, Old Ghost Mo had said the exact same thing to Situ Yang.

“I’m not fond of tea.”

“Fellow Daoist Mo’s kindness is appreciated.”

He spoke with a faint smile.

But after those words, he didn’t move to leave. He stayed right where he was.

Seeing this, Old Ghost Mo understood immediately. With a pained expression, he pulled a jade box from his robes, bent slightly, and offered it up with both hands.