The wind never ceases, yet the mist and clouds disperse on their own.

Beneath the face concealed by the illusion, a trace of panic flashed through Su Jiu's clear eyes.

She sensed an unbridled divine sense attempting to tear through her disguise.

Fortunately, thanks to her racial talent, she barely managed to block this divine sense.

The middle-aged man in gray clothes, who was Old Ghost Li, let out a soft huh, his face revealing a touch of surprise.

Not bad strength.

A mere first level of the Golden Core realm, yet you can resist the prying of my spiritual sense.

But it doesn't matter. Based on your aura, I can guess the gist of it.

Old Ghost Li's gaze swept back and forth over Su Jiu. That look was not like looking at a person, but more like evaluating the quality of a piece of merchandise.

Naturally born with charming bones, perhaps a shapeshifted spirit beast?

I wonder if her primal yin is still intact.

However, since they came traveling together, I assume it's gone.

Sending this kind of merchandise up there, I'm afraid the contribution points will be more than what I've earned guarding this place bitterly for a hundred years.

As he spoke, a greedy smile appeared on his face. Then he waved his hand, as if swatting away a fly.

Send the man to mine ores, and send the woman to that lord for his amusement.

The Ten Women Banquet is exactly short of one.

After saying that, he cast a contemptuous glance at Su Ji.

Borrowing your Dao companion to play with, do you have a problem with that?

He chuckled, his smile full of teasing malice.

If you do, I'll slap you to death right now. Want to give it a try?

In the distance, another voice drifted over lazily.

Don't do that. Send the man over too and let him watch from the side. That lord loves this kind of thing.

These words, every sentence, every single word, were like the most vicious knives, stabbing ruthlessly into Su Ji's heart.

Su Ji slowly raised his head. On that ordinary face concealed by an illusion, a pair of eyes shone frighteningly bright.

Which lord is so incredible?

He grinned.

I'll find some time to get ten burly men to bust his ass, and gift him a Photinia Banquet.

Bold!

Insolent!

Old Ghost Li and the other person in the distance shouted furiously at the same time.

However, Su Ji's movements were faster than their voices.

He kicked out fiercely, smashing the simple wooden table in front of him, along with the jade scrolls on it, into pieces.

Boom!

Violent spiritual energy erupted with a bang. Su Ji's figure shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, lunging straight at the middle-aged man in gray, Old Ghost Li.

A trace of disdain flashed in Old Ghost Li's eyes as he casually raised his hand and struck out with a palm.

He didn't even use his full strength. In his eyes, a first level Golden Core cultivator who had just ascended from the lower realm could be crushed to death with a wave of his hand.

The palm wind howled, but Su Ji neither dodged nor evaded, meeting it head-on with a punch.

Bang!

A muffled sound rang out.

Su Ji only felt an irresistible, immense force transmitting from the opponent's palm, and his entire body flew backward out of control.

With just one move, he suffered severe injuries.

You overestimate your capabilities.

In contrast, Old Ghost Li only took a step back. He snorted coldly, closed the distance once again, and delivered another palm strike.

This palm was faster and more ruthless than the previous one.

Su Ji forcibly twisted his body and crossed his arms to block.

Crack!

The sound of bones shattering was clearly audible.

His left arm twisted at a bizarre angle, and his whole body was like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily onto the edge of the white jade platform.

The third palm followed closely on its heels.

That palm print rapidly magnified in Su Ji's pupils, and the aura of death rushed toward his face.

[Wind of Death, triggered.]

[Destiny has been replaced by: The wind stops, but the will remains unsettled!]

A profound and mysterious aura permeated from within Su Ji's body, and the injuries he suffered instantly recovered as if they had never happened.

Endless violent winds blew around him.

He leaped up fiercely from the ground, dodging this fatal palm strike.

Huh? Surprise once again appeared in Old Ghost Li's eyes.

Interesting. To think you actually have such a life-saving technique.

Su Ji ignored him. The Glazed Dao Foundation within his body circulated madly, and a majestic aura of the Golden Core realm erupted with a bang.

Su Ji shouted furiously and charged forward again.

This time, relying on his skyrocketing cultivation, he engaged in a fierce melee with Old Ghost Li and the other person.

For a time, spiritual light shot in all directions above the high platform, and air waves rolled.

Su Ji executed his movement technique to the extreme, narrowly avoiding the attacks of the two men, while the Wind-Chanting Sword in his hand danced up and down.

However, even so, he was merely struggling to hold on.

The two opponents seemed to not be in the Golden Core realm at all, or even the Nascent Soul realm...

The might in their every movement felt more like... the Soul Formation realm!?

A gap of two major realms was no longer something that could be made up for by external forces.

Even though the Wind-Chanting Sword had slain many Soul Formation cultivators in the past, Su Ji's spiritual energy capacity was as small as a thin pipe, completely insufficient to sustain it.

With every move Su Ji blocked, the vitality and blood within his body surged, and another crack appeared on his Dao Foundation.

Pfft!

After another hard clash, Su Ji could no longer suppress his injuries. He opened his mouth and sprayed out a large mist of blood, stumbling backward.

He could feel that the borrowed power was rapidly fading.

He had lost.

Lost completely and utterly.

Su Jiu watched this scene, her clear eyes revealing endless despair.

She knew everything was over.

The moment Su Ji fell would be the moment she suffered humiliation.

Rather than that...

A trace of absolute resolve flashed in her eyes, and the Heavenly Palace Golden Core within her body began to reverse madly.

She was going to self-destruct!

However, her actions were noticed by Old Ghost Li.

Want to die? It's not that easy.

Old Ghost Li sneered and flicked his finger. A streak of spiritual light shot into Su Jiu's body, instantly sealing away all her spiritual energy.

Su Jiu's body went limp, and she fell powerlessly to her knees.

Old Ghost Li stopped looking at her and turned his attention back to Su Ji, preparing to deliver the final blow to this stubbornly resisting ant.

And then, there was no then...

Su Ji detonated the Wind-Chanting Sword, and everyone was turned to ash and annihilated together.

The scene abruptly came to a halt right there.

Boom!

The grayish-white world shattered with a loud bang.

...

Watching all this, Su Ji suddenly found it somewhat amusing in his heart.

Just a moment ago, he had been listening to the story of Old Six and his Dao companion for a laugh.

He didn't expect that, in the blink of an eye, a replica of it would play out on himself.

So, this was true immortal cultivation.

The strong prey on the weak; it is the natural order of things.

There is no reasoning to be had, and no luck to speak of.

Recalling Old Ghost Li pressing closer step by step, and Su Jiu kneeling in the distance with a face full of despair.

And his own heart burning with fury.

Unexpectedly, looking at it from the perspective of a bystander...

Su Ji's heart settled into a bizarre calmness.

He let the freezing night wind blow across his face.

Weakness is the source of all sin.

His journey up to this point had been too comfortable.

Where to?

To see the kites fly and the warblers dance.

The wind does not stop, and the clouds and smoke disperse on their own.