Backstab

[Dear host, it is my honor to serve you.]

As the cold electronic voice rang in his ears, a surging force instantly filled Mo Yu’s entire body. His aura began rising by leaps and bounds, and before long, it had reached the Void Refinement Realm.

“Mm, this should be enough.”

Mo Yu lightly clenched his fist, a satisfied glint flashing in his eyes.

There was no need to waste too much luck value dealing with Medusa and her daughter. All he needed to do was keep them here and prevent the Heaven’s Chosen from escaping.

Every bit of luck was hard-earned and exceedingly precious.

Naturally, he couldn’t spend it recklessly.

“What kind of demonic technique did this guy use?”

Medusa furrowed her brows slightly as she stared at Mo Yu blocking her path, confusion flashing through her heart. Just moments ago, he had still been a good-for-nothing, yet in the blink of an eye, his strength had skyrocketed. What was even more astonishing was that he showed no sign of suffering any backlash.

It was simply impossible.

“Is it really that incredible?”

Seeing the astonishment in her eyes, Mo Yu proudly raised both hands, a smug, triumphant smile spreading across his face.

“There are always many things in this world that cannot be explained. Oh, foolish Medusa, you will never understand what kind of existence is standing before you.”

With that, he took a pill from his robes and casually tossed it to Mo Shisan, who was standing behind him.

“Swallow this pill. You’ll temporarily gain the strength of the peak Void Refinement Realm, but once its effects wear off, your meridians will be shattered. You won’t be able to use spiritual power again for at least a year.”

Mo Yu held the pill out in front of Mo Shisan.

“Come on. The moment to prove your loyalty has arrived.”

“I’d gladly give my life for you, Young Master!”

Mo Shisan stared at the pill. Without the slightest hesitation, he reached out, snatched it from Mo Yu’s hand, and swallowed it in one gulp.

“Good, good, good!”

Seeing this, Mo Yu beamed with delight and patted him on the shoulder.

“As expected of my most loyal lackey. With the two of us joining forces, who could possibly stand against us?”

“Young Master, you flatter me.”

“If Young Master hadn’t promoted me, how could I, Mo Shisan, have reached where I am today and glimpsed the vastness of this world?” Mo Shisan hurriedly replied with modesty.

Just as the two of them were busy showering each other with flattery, Ye Xiaoxi suddenly tugged at Medusa’s arm and whispered, “Mother, why are we standing here listening to them spout nonsense? Why don’t we just run?”

Medusa turned her head and stared at her in shock.

Oh, right! Why hadn’t she thought of that?

“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Medusa scooped up Ye Xiaoxi and shot back along the path Ye Shu had taken when he came, without even turning her head. Her speed was so great that it kicked up a vast cloud of yellow sand.

“Hmph? You think you can escape?”

Seeing the two of them fly several miles away in the blink of an eye, Mo Yu abruptly stepped forward, his bearing arrogantly imposing.

“I!”

“I am Heaven’s Chosen!”

Pfft!

Almost the instant his words left his mouth, a large hand suddenly pierced through Mo Yu’s chest. The bloody hand appeared starkly before his eyes, his hot blood and fragments of his shattered heart still dripping from it.

“Guh—”

Mo Yu’s eyes flew wide open, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.

He stared in disbelief at the palm that had pierced through his chest, an incomprehensible gargle rising from his throat.

“Wh-who are you?”

“I’m sorry, Young Master.”

Mo Shisan pressed himself tightly against Mo Yu’s back and sneered. “It was me, Mo Shisan, who betrayed you again.”

“Mo Shisan, I’ve treated you well. Why?”

A look of disbelief flashed through Mo Yu’s eyes.

Even if he were beaten to death, he never would have imagined that the one who stabbed him in the back would be Mo Shisan—the man who had followed him for so long, and even risked his life to protect him at the Nine Nether Ruins!

“That’s naturally because…”

Mo Shisan watched Medusa and the others disappear into the distance. A hint of relief flashed through his eyes as he smiled and said, “I have to protect my wife and children. I can’t just watch them wait for death, can I?”

“You!”

Upon hearing those familiar words, Mo Yu’s pupils constricted.

“It’s you? Ye Shu!”

“That’s right. It’s me.”

Mo Shisan’s body abruptly transformed. In his place stood a handsome young man dressed in white, his robes fluttering in the wind. He hovered in midair, his refined features carrying a carefree smile.

“Well? Did you ever expect this?”

“Pfft!”

“This world truly is filled with countless outstanding figures.”

Mo Yu suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. It trickled slowly from the corner of his lips. His voice was weak, but the hatred had vanished from his eyes, replaced by a trace of acceptance.

“Mo Shisan… What a Mo Shisan.”

“I underestimated you and ended up falling into your hands. You used a false identity to infiltrate an insignificant branch of my Mo family—one that no one paid any attention to. Then you quietly displayed your talent and took advantage of the opening of the Nine Nether Ruins to enter my field of vision.”

“You endured humiliation all the way, even going so far as to belittle your true self. Your loyalty was so flawless that I couldn’t find a single fault in it.”

“Such methods truly befit the Heaven’s Chosen.”

“Heh, you flatter me.”

Ye Shu raised his head and looked at his true self, who was engaged in a fierce battle high in the sky. He smiled and said, “If you hadn’t fancied yourself the villain and wanted to find a suitable lackey, I never would have caught your eye.”

“In the end, it was all nothing more than a fortunate coincidence.”

“A fortunate coincidence… What a fine ‘fortunate coincidence’…”

Mo Yu’s pupils gradually began to lose focus. “This is the will of Heaven upon you. In the end, even the Heavenly Dao is biased…”

“But do you really think it’s that simple?”

The pupils that had been growing dim suddenly focused again. Mo Yu let out a cold laugh.

“Since the patriarch of the Yan family was able to come rushing here after receiving the news, then guess where the people from the other great families are?”

“You killed quite a few of their descendants back then.”

“And how could I possibly be foolish enough to send this news only to the Yan family?” Mo Yu’s voice gradually grew clearer, carrying a mocking edge.

Just then, another wave of fluctuations swept through the void.

“Not good!”

Mo Shisan’s expression changed dramatically.

He could feel a presence no weaker than Yan Kuang’s descending upon them. Space shattered, and a blue-gray rift stretched from the horizon all the way to the battlefield, cleaving the entire sky in two.

“My, my. Patriarch Yan’s battle prowess isn’t what it used to be.”

A teasing voice emerged from within the rift. Then, a middle-aged man dressed in blue slowly stepped out, holding a folding fan in his hand. He shook his head and clicked his tongue as he passed judgment on the battle.

The man had refined features and a genial smile.

He looked just like an ordinary schoolteacher. The newcomer was none other than—

Liu Shuyan, head of the Liu family!

“Fuck off! If you’re so capable, then go fight him yourself!”

Yan Kuang cursed disdainfully. “I’ve always looked down on that pretentious act of yours. You put on airs like you’re some great scholar, but back when you went to the Azure Profound Sect, you were so scared you nearly pissed yourself.”

“Why don’t you hurry up and nip this brat in the bud?”

“Are you waiting for him to perform that Immortal-Stepping Stairway act again before you make a move?!”

Liu Shuyan’s smile remained unchanged as he replied lightly.

“Brother Yan, don’t be so hasty. I’m merely observing the situation.”

As he spoke, he casually swept his gaze aside. Seeing Medusa and Ye Xiaoxi fleeing into the distance, his brows lifted slightly.

“If you’re going to watch the show, how can you just run off like that?”

With a flick of his sleeve through the air, a streak of light shot forth. It carved a pale silver trail across the sky as it sped straight toward Medusa’s back.

That streak was impossibly fast—faster than even the wind could catch.

Ye Shu’s pupils contracted. He instinctively tried to intercept it, but Yan Kuang held him firmly in check.

“Kid, you still have the spare attention to worry about others while fighting me?”

Yan Kuang let out a savage grin. “It’s time you tasted what it feels like to lose someone you love!”

The silver light tore through the air, swift as lightning.

By the time Medusa reacted, it was already too late to evade. Her pupils shrank, and she instinctively pulled Ye Xiaoxi into her arms, shielding her with her body.

At that critical moment—

A figure clad in crimson suddenly tore through the void and appeared before Medusa. Both hands formed a blur of seals. As the figure’s ten fingers danced, a translucent blood-colored barrier condensed out of thin air, standing before the incoming silver light.

Bang!

The barrier shattered instantly.

Droplets of blood sprayed through the air!