Void Cultivation

Chapter 352: Chapter 351- Realization

"What the..."

Grey’s mind was in complete disarray as he watched the scene unfolding before him. He had already been shocked by the fact that the seemingly middle-aged woman could effortlessly restrain both the shadow tree and the purple phantom. However, what truly disturbed him was how casually she had done it.

The shadow tree and the purple phantom were manifestations of powers that even Grey himself could not fully comprehend. Yet, in her hands, they looked no more threatening than ordinary toys.

Moreover, she had managed to suppress them without suffering the slightest injury.

Grey also noticed that the woman’s appearance had changed. The wrinkles that had covered her face were gone, and her body seemed far younger than before. However, despite finding the transformation strange, he did not devote much attention to it.

At the moment, he had far more pressing concerns.

His mind raced as he searched for some way to injure his opponent or at least stall for enough time until Sky Mist City intervened.

Unfortunately, Grey wasn’t even certain that the city would interfere.

After all, their battle was taking place high above the ground. There was a chance that the authorities would ignore the situation entirely so long as the city itself remained undamaged.

Still, Grey could only hope that someone would notice the disturbance and take action before it was too late.

The terrifying capabilities displayed by the woman had already made him realize one thing.

He could not hope to kill her on his own.

In fact, he could barely comprehend the level of power she possessed.

Because of this, it never even crossed his mind that the person before him might not be the middle-aged man who had chased him across the Dead Sea for more than seven days.

Crack!

A loud snapping sound echoed through the air.

Grey’s eyes widened as he watched the young woman tighten her grip around the black branches of the shadow tree.

The moment her fingers closed, the shadow tree released a blood-curdling scream that only Grey could hear.

The countless eyes embedded within the leaves trembled violently as though experiencing unimaginable pain.

At the same time, the purple phantom attempted to retaliate.

While one of its hands remained trapped within the woman’s grasp, its body twisted unnaturally. With a powerful turn of its waist, it unleashed a kick aimed directly at her head.

However, the small coin that had been silently rotating in the air finally stopped spinning.

The instant it came to a halt, Grey saw the engraving of the woman’s face appear on one side of the coin.

On the opposite side was the image of a sharp dagger.

Barely a heartbeat later, a miniature dagger materialized above the woman’s head.

Its tip pointed directly toward her crown.

Yet before the phantom’s kick could reach her, the dagger suddenly vanished.

A streak of silver flashed through the air.

The dagger reappeared beside the phantom’s leg and pierced straight through it.

Boom!

The entire leg exploded into countless fragments of purple light.

A powerful sense of exhaustion immediately washed over Grey.

It was as though a part of his strength had been forcibly torn away.

Before he could understand what was happening, the dagger slowly rotated in midair.

Its sharp tip turned toward him.

At that moment, an overwhelming sensation of life and death erupted within Grey’s mind.

His entire body stiffened.

For the first time in a very long while, he felt as though death itself was staring directly into his eyes.

Cold sweat covered his back.

Every instinct in his body screamed danger.

Before he could react, the dagger disappeared from its previous location.

A fraction of a second later, it appeared directly in front of his forehead.

Grey’s pupils contracted violently.

The tip of the blade had already pierced his skin.

A thin trickle of blood flowed down his forehead and slid along the edge of the dagger before dripping toward the ground below.

The attack had been far too fast.

Grey hadn’t seen the movement.

He hadn’t sensed it.

He hadn’t even been able to anticipate it.

It was simply there.

A single thought surfaced within his mind.

If the dagger had moved another inch forward, he would already be dead.

"It’s only because you’re a disciple of this sect that I’m refraining from killing you."

The woman’s cold voice echoed through the sky.

Each word struck Grey like a hammer.

"The little stunt you pulled nearly got my disciple killed."

Grey’s heart trembled.

Almost immediately, he understood who she was referring to.

Naturally, it was the young girl he had used as bait while escaping from the middle-aged cultivator.

At the time, he hadn’t known whether she would survive or die.

Nor had he been willing to stay behind and find out.

His only concern had been escaping.

As a result, he had forced himself to forget about the matter entirely.

Only now did he realize that the talisman she had crushed must have alerted her master.

And that master had apparently been within the sect all along.

Although Grey had considered the possibility that the girl possessed a powerful background, he had never seriously believed it.

The odds had simply seemed too small.

Unfortunately, reality had a way of turning unlikely possibilities into unavoidable disasters.

"Disciple..."

Grey deliberately allowed confusion to appear on his face.

He pretended not to understand who the woman was talking about.

However, the moment he saw her casually twist her wrist and tear apart several branches of the shadow tree while simultaneously ripping another portion of the purple phantom to pieces, his act immediately collapsed.

His scalp tingled.

His heart pounded.

Any lingering thoughts of resistance vanished.

Without hesitation, Grey lowered his head and bowed deeply.

"Disciple asks for Elder’s forgiveness."

His voice was low and respectful.

The dagger remained suspended mere inches from his skull.

Yet Grey no longer dared to maintain his facade.

Begging for forgiveness was clearly the wiser choice.

At last, everything made sense.

Now he understood why the sect’s laws had done nothing when the woman had abducted him from the city.

She wasn’t an enemy cultivator.

She wasn’t some mysterious pursuer.

She was an elder of the sect.

And not just any elder.

She was an elder of the Second Sequence.

Someone with enough authority and status to do almost whatever she pleased to ordinary disciples, provided she didn’t kill them outright.

The realization caused Grey’s rapidly beating heart to gradually calm.

For a while, he had believed that the terrifying cultivator chasing him across the Dead Sea had finally caught up to him.

’That explains why the sect didn’t take action when I was abducted.’ Grey said with a hint of realization in his voice.

Yet the truth was entirely different.

The person standing before him wasn’t the middle-aged man at all.

Instead, she was an elder whom he had unknowingly offended through his own actions.

Compared to being hunted by a deadly enemy, this outcome was infinitely better.

At the very least, there was still room for forgiveness.