Did I give you the illusion that you could defeat me

In the plaza, only one thought remained in the minds of all the surviving cultivators.

The Lord of the Holy Land!

To think that the Holy Lord of the Puppet Heaven Holy Land had arrived in person!

The strength of such an old monster, who had lived for an unknown number of years and already stood at the absolute pinnacle of the Great Xia cultivation world, was completely unfathomable.

The red-haired middle-aged man from the Blood Fiend Sect, the enchantress from the Joyous Union Sect, and the representatives of the various sects who had just been clamoring moments ago, now wished they could bury their heads in the ground.

The schadenfreude on their faces had long vanished, replaced by a fear that seeped deep into their bones.

Su Jiu's expression was also unprecedentedly solemn. The Heavenly Palace Golden Core within her body was sending out frantic warnings.

She subconsciously took a step forward, wanting to shield Su Ji behind her.

But a hand gently pressed down on her shoulder.

The laziness and playfulness on Su Ji's face had disappeared at some point.

On his face was a calmness that Su Jiu had never seen before—a calmness that said everything was perfectly under control.

Not only did he not show the slightest hint of fear, but he also let out a long sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Phew..."

"Finally, someone who actually matters has shown up."

Su Ji's voice was not loud, but it reached everyone's ears with absolute clarity.

Everyone was stunned.

Including that lofty, supreme Lord of the Puppet Heaven Holy Land.

For the first time, a ripple appeared in his ancient, placid eyes.

He had imagined countless possibilities.

This young man who had stirred up such a storm might panic, might put on a brave front to hide his cowardice, or might even just kneel on the ground and beg for mercy.

But the one thing he hadn't expected was that the other party would actually wear such an expression of... relief?

"I was actually thinking that if your Puppet Heaven Holy Land only sent some random cats and dogs, this show would be impossible to put on."

Su Ji stretched lazily and loosened up his joints, looking exactly as if he had just finished enduring a boring wait.

He looked at the Holy Lord of the Puppet Heaven Holy Land and grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

"Fortunately, you carry at least a bit of weight."

"You barely qualify to be the grand finale of this ceremony."

Crazy!

This Su Ji was absolutely crazy!

The crowd below the stage looked at Su Ji with expressions as if they were looking at an absolute madman.

Facing the Lord of a Holy Land, not only was he unafraid, but he even dared to spout such arrogant nonsense, calling the other party a "grand finale"?

These words finally caused a more obvious emotional fluctuation to appear on the ordinary face of the Puppet Heaven Holy Land's Holy Lord.

He had lived for hundreds of years; what kind of scenes hadn't he witnessed?

What kind of arrogant fools hadn't he encountered?

But this was his first time seeing someone like the youth before him—someone who, even when death was imminent, could still spout nonsense without changing his expression, and even mock him in return.

Interesting.

A flash of interest passed through the depths of his eyes.

He really wanted to see exactly what kind of tricks this young man had up his sleeve.

"Oh?"

The Holy Lord's voice remained flat.

"Then, in Sect Master Su's opinion, now that I am here, what should happen next?"

"Simple."

Su Ji's leisurely demeanor made it seem as if he were the sole ruler of this place.

"Since you are the grand finale, naturally you must receive the treatment of a grand finale."

"How about this."

Su Ji took out the jade slip recording the IOU for one million spiritual stones and tossed it lightly in his fingertips.

"This IOU will serve as your 'admission ticket' to participate in my ceremony."

He casually tossed the jade slip toward the Holy Lord.

The jade slip traced an arc through the air, hovering perfectly right in front of the Holy Lord.

The Holy Lord did not reach out to catch it; he merely cast a faint glance at it.

With a crisp crack, the jade slip shattered into fine dust.

"I have never needed any admission ticket to go anywhere."

"Tsk." Su Ji smacked his lips, a look of pity on his face. "Shattered just like that."

"It seems your Puppet Heaven Holy Land doesn't plan on acknowledging this debt?"

The Holy Lord did not answer this question. He simply looked at Su Ji and spoke slowly.

"What do you rely on?"

He didn't make a move, but instead asked a question that left everyone baffled.

Those placid, ancient eyes lingered on Su Ji for a long time, as if trying to see through him completely, from the inside out.

He couldn't sense any power from Su Ji that could threaten him.

The sword intent that had slain Lin Qingliu with a single strike seemed to have vanished without a trace as well.

He couldn't see through it. On what basis did a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator dare to act so brazenly in front of him?

Rely on?

Hearing this, Su Ji smiled.

He looked around, gazing at the various "geniuses" and "elders" kneeling on the ground below the stage, not even daring to lift their heads.

He then looked beside him at the little fox, whose pretty face was tense and whose eyes were filled with worry, yet who still chose to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

Finally, he brought his gaze back to the Holy Lord, the smile on his face incomparably bright.

"What do I rely on?"

"My reliance is..."

Su Ji paused, then spoke word by word.

"Myself."

The instant his voice faded.

Su Ji's figure moved.

He didn't draw his sword, nor did he activate any cultivation technique.

He simply, plainly, took a single step forward.

And then, threw a punch!

This punch was entirely ordinary, not even stirring up the slightest breeze.

It was just like the most basic straight punch thrown by a mortal martial artist.

The crowd below watched in utter bewilderment.

What was this?

Had he given up on himself?

Even the Holy Lord had a flash of astonishment in his eyes.

However, just as everyone thought this was merely a joke.

A sudden change occurred!

The Holy Lord's expression finally changed.

For the first time, a solemn look appeared on his face.

He could feel that the power contained within that punch was enough to threaten him!

Using the fist as a spear!

Using the body as a spear!

Using heaven and earth as a spear!

He hesitated no longer. Forming his right hand into a sword gesture, he lightly tapped toward Su Ji's punch.

Immediately after.

Crack—

A crisp shattering sound echoed throughout the entire plaza.

The ground for hundreds of meters around, under that single finger strike from the Holy Lord, shattered inch by inch like a mirror.

The Holy Lord withdrew his finger and fell into a brief silence.

"Giving you one million superior-grade spiritual stones is impossible."

"But I can pretend this matter never happened."

This scene made all the cultivators below the stage, who had already been forced to their knees by the oppressive aura, feel as though their worldviews had collapsed.

What the fuck... was going on?

As soon as the Holy Lord said this, the implication of concession made the minds of all the kneeling cultivators in the plaza buzz loudly.

The Holy Lord had arrived in person, and not only did he not suppress this arrogant lunatic on the spot, but he actually... sounded like he was compromising?

Was he preparing to take a step back and compromise with this Acacia Sect?

Could it be...

Was the Acacia Sect going to become a new Holy Land?

This matter... was just going to be dropped like this?

That was the Puppet Heaven Holy Land!

The colossal behemoth that loomed over the heads of all sects in the Great Xia cultivation world like an impassable chasm!

Everyone felt their understanding of reality being pressed into the dirt and rubbed raw. Especially the representatives from the Blood Fiend Sect and Joyous Union Sect, who had been jumping around the most joyfully just moments before; right now, they wished they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

What the hell... was actually going on?

The eyes of the few disciples from the Azure Sword Sect were filled with bewilderment.

Weren't they supposed to be watching a good show?

Why did this show... turn out completely different from what they expected?

Their elder ignored them, merely wiping the cold sweat from his forehead as his mind churned like a stormy sea.

One thousand superior-grade spiritual stones... it seemed like they had taken a loss on this deal!

If he had known Su Ji was so fierce that even the Holy Lord had to back down, he should have kowtowed a few hundred more times just now and jacked the price up to the heavens!

Su Ji merely clicked his tongue. Instead of showing the slightest intention of reconciling, an extremely displeased expression appeared on his face.

"Pretend this never happened?"

As if he had just heard the biggest joke in the world, he took two steps forward, closing the distance to within ten zhang of the Holy Lord.

"Who do you think you are?"

"You think you can just drop it because you want to?"

"Do you think I, Su Ji, don't care about my reputation?"

His words made the Second Elder, who was just about to climb up from the ground, stumble and almost fall back to his knees.

It also caused the newly calmed heartbeats of all the cultivators below the stage to accelerate madly once again.

Crazy!

This kid was absolutely insane!

The Holy Lord had already given him a way out, yet he actually dared to push his luck?

A crack finally appeared on the ordinary face of the Holy Lord of the Puppet Heaven Holy Land.

His eyes, usually as placid as an ancient well, slowly narrowed.

Having lived for hundreds of years, this was the first time he had seen someone dare to be so brazen and step all over his face.

"Then, what exactly do you want?"

The Holy Lord's voice already carried an imperceptible trace of icy chill.

The temperature of the entire plaza seemed to drop a few degrees because of it.

"What do I want?" Su Ji grinned, and his smile could not have been any more arrogant.

He reached out his hand and beckoned with his finger toward the Holy Lord.

"Simple."

"One million top-grade spirit stones."

"Paying debts is the natural law of heaven and earth."

"Hand over the spirit stones to me right now, immediately!"

"Otherwise..."

"This matter isn't over today!"

The Holy Lord was actually angered to the point of laughing by Su Ji's actions.

"I merely saw that you had some skill and did not want to blow things out of proportion."

"Did that give you the illusion that you could actually defeat me?"