Chapter 643: Heroes on All Sides, but None Dare Speak
The vortex hovered overhead, slowly revolving.
It was like a bottomless abyss. The descending, explosive lightning power was relentlessly devoured, scattering radiant, flowing light that illuminated the entire sky.
Weng!
It was as if invisible hands were tugging on Song Changhe’s?pine-marked?sword. It buzzed and shook in midair.
As if it were wailing.
The crowd had long since moved further away. When they saw this, disbelief was written all over their faces; it was as if they’d just witnessed a miracle.
“He blocked it… just like that!?” Gu Shandu’s eyes widened.
“That wasn’t ‘blocking.’ That was absolute suppression!” muttered Cao Ying.
Song Changhe’s attack could have threatened just about any Spiritual Incarnation Realm cultivator.
Yet Su Yi completely countered it. Before it could unleash its true power, that mysterious and inscrutable whirlpool suppressed it!
It was as if it had encountered its natural enemy; everything had its weakness!
Thus, it seemed to the onlookers that Su Yi had neutralized that terrifying attack with no effort at all.
“Such miraculous methods exist?” Meng Jinghai’s heart shook.
He considered his own abilities, and came to the conclusion that he could have blocked Song Changhe’s attack, but he would have had to go all out.
Yet Su Yi had done so with apparent ease, neutralizing a terrifying attack completely!
When he looked around, he saw that everyone else was shaken. All of them had lost their composure, no exceptions.
Song Changhe looked as if he’d been struck by lightning. His expression changed dramatically, and with no regard for anything else, he let out a long shout. “Return!”
His sleeves, hair, and beard danced around him as he called upon his full power.
Clang!
The pine-marked ancient sword burst with divine radiance and finally broke free of its suppression. It flew backwards, and its hilt landed in Song Changhe’s hand.
However, the leader of the Five-Lightning Spirit Sect staggered on impact, his face suddenly pallid. He cut a sorry figure, and his expression was already as grave and alarmed as could be.
Not far away, Su Yi raised the jug in his left hand, took a sip, and shook his head. “That’s not how you cultivate the Dao of the Five Lightnings. Allow me to open your eyes.”
As he spoke, he pressed his fingers into a sword, then raised them into the air.
It was as if he were unsheathing a sword. His movements were simple and straightforward.
Boom!
A terrifying blast suddenly emanated from the hundred-foot vortex that had devoured the power of Song Changhe’s attack. In the blink of an eye, the vortex transformed into an incomparably dazzling streak of sword qi and took to the skies.
It was only three feet long, dazzlingly bright, and multi-colored. It contained five types of electric radiance corresponding to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
Each type of radiant elemental lightning outlined a mysterious and inscrutable Edict, which shone with the Dao Light of its element.
Upon closer inspection, the faint image of a deity was visible within each Edict. Although they were extremely indistinct, the aura emanating from them was enough to make the onlookers’ hearts shake.
Rumble! Boom!
Wind and cloud raged overhead.
A slash rose into the air accompanied by Five-Lightning Qi, forming Five-Lightning Edicts and seizing the power of heaven and earth.
This was a secret legacy of the Way of Celestial Masters——
The Five-Lightning Exorcism Edict!
For a moment, the crowd’s eyes stung, and their hearts shook. The aura emanating from that streak of sword qi astonished and intimidated them.
Not far away, Song Changhe’s pupils dilated, and his expression changed dramatically.
As the sword qi drew near, his entire cultivation base was thoroughly suppressed. His hair stood on end, and his heart welled with irrepressible terror.
In the face of a potentially lethal threat, Song Changhe went all out. He shouted, “Rise! Rise! Rise!”
One layer of explosive lightning power rose from Song Changhe’s gaunt frame after another. All of them fused into his ancient, pinewood-grain sword.
The blade burst with radiance and furious lightning, and it revolved in the air, producing ripple-like circle after circle of lightning-element sword curtain.
The Five-Lightning Moat of Heaven!
The sword curtain was like a moat protecting the user on all sides. It kept enemies—and their attacks—outside.
Everyone could see that Song Changhe, the leader of the Five-Lightning Spirit Sect, was going all out. He was practically putting his life on the line, and he was calling upon far more power than before.
Practically simultaneously——
“Go!” Su Yi’s fingertip tapped the air.
The three-foot streak of sword qi descended under the protection of the Five-Lightning Exorcism Edicts.
Bang!
The first layer of interwoven lightning sword curtain shattered like glass.
Immediately afterward, the second layer, third layer, fourth layer… all nine layers shattered. The three-foot streak of sword qi cleaved through them like an axe through bamboo. Deafening explosions reverberated throughout heaven and earth.
Radiant light scattered like rain, poured down like a waterfall, and swept outward.
The Five-Lightning Moat of Heaven couldn’t take even a single hit!
Song Changhe’s mind went blank with shock. There was no time for him to dodge; all he could do was raise his sword and meet the attack head-on.
Clang!!!
The resulting impact shook heaven and earth.
Everyone’s hearts and minds trembled. The sound of the impact stung their ears and churned their blood and qi.
They could see the ancient pine-marked sword wailing and trembling beneath the suppression of the three feet of sword qi.
Song Changhe, the man wielding it, just barely managed to block the incoming attack, but the veins?bulged?on his forehead, and he was increasingly pallid. Blood flowed from the corners of his mouth, staining his lapels.
Boom!
The ground collapsed beneath Song Changhe’s feet, and he staggered and shook uncontrollably. In the end, he could no longer bear the sword’s pressure.
Both knees thudded to the ground!
The impact sent his sword flying from his grip.
The three feet of sword qi continued toward his head, its power undiminished.
“I admit defeat!” The kneeling Song Changhe cried out in terror.
The three-foot streak of sword qi stopped just three inches from his skull.
Were it to continue its descent, he’d die beyond a shadow of a doubt!
Although it stopped, its sharp aura nonetheless pierced Song Changhe’s skin.
Fresh blood fell from his forehead, between his eyes, and down the bridge of his nose.
An eye-catchingly bright red.
The entire plateau was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop.
“Defeated in a single attack?”
Gu Shandu, Cao Ying, and the other illustrious guests felt their scalps go numb. All of them gasped.
It had all happened far too quickly. So much had happened that it seemed like it took a long time, but in truth, almost no time passed between Su Yi’s attack and Song Changhe kneeling and begging for mercy.
Victory and defeat were decided before many of the onlookers even understood what had happened!
“So strong…” Meng Jinghai gulped with great difficulty. Waves of shock coursed through his heart.
The others present watched in a dazed, rooted to the spot.
Who could possibly fail to realize that if Su Yi hadn’t stopped his attack right in the nick of time, Song Changhe of the Five-Lightning Sword Sect would already be a chopped-up corpse?
“He’s so strong that it’s a bit unreasonable, right…?” Lan Suo muttered in a daze.
“Is it unreasonable?” Yuan Heng couldn’t help but laugh.
He’d witnessed how Su Yi suppressed the Spiritual Incarnation Realm sword cultivator, Qing Shuang, with his own two eyes.
Song Changhe’s defeat seemed far less extraordinary by comparison; it naturally didn’t seem “unreasonable” to Yuan Heng.
Meanwhile——
The three-foot streak of sword qi silently disappeared without a trace.
Song Changhe felt as if he’d had a close brush with death. His clothes were drenched in sweat, the blood drained from his elderly face, and he slumped as if he’d lost his soul.
In just one attack, Su Yi had forced him to his knees!
For someone so powerful and important, this was unquestionably far too great a blow.
“Does the Five-Lightning Spirit Sect still need an apology from me?” asked Su Yi. He walked forward, still carrying his jug of wine.
The crowd’s expressions were suddenly complicated.
Earlier, many of them thought that all Su Yi needed was to take a single step back and apologize. Doing so would end this conflict painlessly and easily.
Some, like Gu Shandu and Cao Ying, planned to seize this opportunity to take Su Yi down a peg.
Who’d dare attempt such a thing now?
Gu Shandu, Cao Ying, and those like them broke out in cold sweats. They inwardly rejoiced that they hadn’t been in a rush to jump out and oppose Su Yi.
If they had, they might not have suffered as grievous a loss as Song Changhe, but it couldn’t have possibly ended well for them!
One look at Dan Yunqi and Madam Hua Ting made that perfectly clear.
Song Changhe’s expression shifted erratically.
After a while, he lowered his head and said bitterly, “Earlier, our Five-Lightning Spirit Sect didn’t know the height of the heavens or the depths of the earth, and we foolishly offended you. I know I’ve made an enormous mistake, and I shall naturally step down. I am no longer fit to lead my sect.”
Everyone was startled!
None of them could have anticipated that Song Changhe would make this choice. He was undoubtedly giving up far too much.
But then, an even more unbelievable scene played out before the onlookers’ disbelieving eyes.
Song Changhe suddenly bent at the waist and kowtowed. “Thank you for sparing my life; I am deeply grateful for your benevolence. If possible, I humbly request that you do not view my Five-Lightning Spirit Sect with enmity. I swear on my life that no member of the Five-Lightning Spirit Sect, regardless of rank, will dare oppose you ever again!”
The plateau was deathly silent, except for Song Changhe’s determined voice. His words echoed endlessly throughout the area.
Some of the higher-ups were starting to understand, and their expressions were even more conflicted than before.
There was no doubt about it. Song Changhe was now fully aware that if he offended Su Yi here, the Five-Lightning Sword Sect was highly likely to follow in the Celestial Prison Demon Court’s footsteps!
Thus, he knelt and kowtowed in hope that Su Yi would be lenient with them!
Zhu Kunyang and Yuan Shuo weren’t far away, and when they saw this, their expressions were bleak, and their hearts filled with grief.
When they left to attend today’s meeting, they would never have guessed that their attempts to take Su Yi down a peg and make him apologize would bring such an enormous calamity upon them!
But no matter what they said, it was too late.
“I’ve never trusted vows,” Su Yi said calmly. “But you can relax. I wouldn’t sink to crushing the Five-Lightning Spirit Sect over what happened today.”
Song Changhe sighed in relief, then lowered his head in gratitude. “Fellow Daoist Su, many thanks for your magnanimity!
“Look, Miss Lan Suo. That’s what it means to kill a chicken to warn the monkeys. After this, who else present will dare act up?” transmitted Yuan Heng.
Lan Suo was stunned. She looked at Su Yi, who stood there with his hands behind his back, then at the kneeling leader of the Five-Lightning Spirit Sect. When she replayed their earlier battle in her mind, she felt as if she were dreaming. A long time passed before she recovered from her daze.
Su Yi paid Song Changhe no further heed.
Instead, he swept his gaze across the plateau and said casually, “The Wrath of Heaven Sect called for this meeting to avoid in-fighting between the various cultivation factions. This will benefit the populace enormously as well.”
Everyone Su Yi looked at instinctively lowered their head, not daring to meet his gaze.
“I won’t waste any more words,” Su Yi said coolly. “I’ll just ask you this: does anyone object?”
His voice boomed like morning bells or the evening drum, reverberating throughout Pinewave Plateau.
The prominent guests’ hearts shook.
Who could fail to realize the consequences of objecting?
These valiant experts lowered their heads and averted their gazes. A long time passed, but none dared speak up.
The young man’s blue robes swayed around him as he raised his jug and took a deep swig.
He gazed into the distant sea of churning clouds, tinged gold beneath the sunlight, and he listened to the natural music of the rustling pines.
On the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, Su Yi suppressed Song Changhe of the Five-Lightning Sword Sect?atop?Pinewave Plateau, intimidating the messes!
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