Chapter 379 - 378: A Vow Broken, a Mortal Unbowed

His voice cracked with hysterical rage, and the starlight surrounding his body erupted into a chaotic storm. The defensive patterns of his armor flickered as he attempted to force his damaged body back into a combat-ready state. Golden blood continued flowing from his shoulder, but the guard ignored the wound, allowing his anger to consume whatever remained of his judgment.

He had promised to remove one hundred walls.

He had offered the wager himself.

Yet the moment he lost, he discarded the terms without a second thought.

"I will grind your soul into dust and scatter it across the abyss!" he screamed, gripping his Void Refinement spear with murderous intent. "You filthy creature from the lower world! I will make you regret the day you dared to raise your hand against an Imperial Guard!"

Ku Ming’s expression changed immediately.

"Benefactor Lin, he has broken his vow!" the monk shouted, his golden Indestructible Karmic Wheel flaring into existence. The enormous wheel rotated behind him, releasing layers of Buddhist light that spread around Bai Qingyue and the Golden Immortal Beast. "He intends to kill you!"

Bai Qingyue’s eyes narrowed coldly, but she did not immediately intervene. She understood that Lin Yuan had accepted the wager alone, and she trusted him to deal with the consequences of his decision. Nevertheless, the Fortune Banner in her grasp began to glow, and her Yunqi Realm fortune spread through the surrounding space in preparation for an unexpected attack.

"He is throwing a tantrum because his illusion of superiority has been shattered," she said, her voice carrying unmistakable contempt. "A cultivator who cannot honor his own promise has no right to lecture others about the difference between heaven and earth."

Lin Yuan watched the enraged guard charge toward him.

The starlight spear thrust forward, carrying the full, unrestrained wrath of a Void Refinement expert. The air ignited under the friction of the celestial weapon, and spatial distortions spread outward from its tip, creating a destructive path that threatened to tear through the entire platform.

Lin Yuan did not retreat.

"A broken vow from the Imperial Domain," he remarked, his deep purple eyes turning frigid. "I suppose honor does not ascend with you."

He stepped directly into the path of the spear.

The Dao Fruit of Three Rebirths spun at maximum velocity, revealing every flaw in the guard’s furious assault. Rage had made the Void Refinement expert predictable, and his anger caused spiritual Qi to leak from the optimal pathways within his body. The spear remained powerful, but its trajectory had become increasingly straightforward, leaving fewer opportunities for the guard to correct his movements.

As the spear tip approached within inches of Lin Yuan’s chest, he raised his left hand.

Silver-blue rain coated his fingers, forming a frictionless spatial conduit that allowed him to interact with the spear’s trajectory without directly resisting its destructive force. Lin Yuan tapped the side of the spearhead, applying precisely enough pressure to redirect the thrust away from his body.

The celestial weapon tore past his shoulder.

Its remaining force continued into the distance, carving a massive canyon through the clouds behind Lin Yuan before disappearing into the turbulent sky. The guard’s eyes widened as he realized that his most direct attack had failed, but the momentum of his charge left him with little opportunity to recover.

Lin Yuan was already moving. His right hand, empowered by the absolute weight of the Qilin Secret Realm, drove an uppercut directly into the guard’s sternum. Golden-purple lightning erupted at the point of impact, penetrating the starlight armor and disrupting the defensive principles embedded within its structure.

CRACK!

The central breastplate shattered.

The force of the strike collapsed the guard’s ribcage and sent him flying upward, a mouthful of golden blood spraying from his lips. His spear slipped from his hand as he struggled to regain control of his body, but Lin Yuan had already followed him into the air.

Immortal Cloud Step unfolded beneath Lin Yuan’s feet.

He appeared above the ascending guard before the man could stabilize his position, his body surrounded by the intertwined principles of thunder and rain. The Dao Fruit of Three Rebirths continued rotating, allowing him to adjust the trajectory of his movements with extraordinary precision.

He then brought both hands down in a synchronized, hammer-like blow. The principle of Three Rebirths amplified the transfer of force, concentrating the entire impact into the back of the guard’s neck.

The strike landed.

BOOOOOOM!

The Imperial Guard was driven out of the sky like a fallen meteorite. His body smashed into the jade platform, creating a massive crater that spread cracks across the celestial threshold. The remaining fragments of his starlight armor scattered around him, and the Void Refinement expert lay broken at the center of the impact, gasping for breath as golden blood flowed from his mouth.

His remaining arm twitched uselessly.

Lin Yuan’s Dao had penetrated his defenses and begun dismantling the internal circulation of his spiritual Qi. Every attempt to gather energy produced another painful disruption, leaving him unable to recover the strength required to stand.

Lin Yuan descended gently beside the crater.

He looked down at the defeated guard without pity. The man had been given an opportunity to honor his own promise, yet he had chosen to attack the moment he realized that his arrogance had led him into a humiliating position. Lin Yuan had no reason to respect the authority of someone who relied upon his position to insult others but abandoned his own rules whenever they became inconvenient.

"You offered a hundred walls," Lin Yuan said coldly.

He raised his hand, and the three-colored radiance of the Dao Fruit gathered around his palm. The energy condensed into a concentrated point of destruction, carrying enough power to end the guard’s life with a single strike.

"But since your word is as worthless as your combat technique, I will simply take your life."

The Imperial Guard’s eyes widened.

For the first time since his appearance, genuine fear replaced his arrogance. He attempted to move, but the damage to his body and the disruption of his spiritual Qi left him unable to escape. The realization that he might actually die at the hands of a cultivator from the lower world struck him with greater force than the injuries themselves.

"Wait!" he rasped.

Lin Yuan did not lower his hand.

The guard’s expression twisted as he desperately searched for a way to preserve his life. He had expected the mortal to fear the Imperial Domain’s authority, and he had believed that the threat of punishment from the Grand Ascendants would prevent Lin Yuan from taking any action against him.

However, the young cultivator had already demonstrated that he was willing to challenge the Three Thousand Great Dao Barrier itself. The guard finally understood that his status offered no immediate protection.

Before Lin Yuan could deliver the final blow, a profound, terrifying hum resonated from the colossal Golden Gate behind the barrier.