Chapter 542 - 477: Confrontation

Chapter 542: Chapter 477: Confrontation

Then, Qinghua hurried toward the source of the sound and rounded a corner.

BUZZ.

A suit of animated armor appeared before her.

The armor was jet-black with a bloody sheen. It wore a horned helmet, stood nearly twenty feet tall, and clutched a monstrous great axe.

A single glance revealed it was no ordinary foe; a vast gulf of power separated it from common animated armors.

’A monster?’

Qinghua relaxed slightly. Even though this suit of armor was far stronger than the average animated armor, for her, monsters of this type were all essentially the same and relatively easy to deal with.

"Edict..."

Qinghua raised her arm, preparing to cast her edict.

But at that exact moment, her pupils contracted violently. She had just witnessed a truly terrifying sight!

BANG!

The horned armor, standing twenty feet tall, its incredibly heavy frame, was suddenly crushed from top to bottom by some impossibly immense force—just like a soda can!

CRUNCH.

The heart-stopping sound of twisting metal rang out.

The color drained from Qinghua’s face, replaced by an expression of utter disbelief.

On the ground, what was once the horned armor had been completely flattened, crushed into a metal disc!

’How is this possible?’

Admittedly, by leveraging her Cultivation Technique’s suppressive qualities, she was confident she could have taken down the horned armor with little difficulty.

But there was a world of difference between cleverly exorcising it with an edict and obliterating it with such terrifying brute force!

A soft footstep sounded.

A figure in a dark robe, his expression calm, stepped out from behind the crushed armor and looked at Qinghua.

It was Su Ye.

"Yehai!"

’How can he be this strong?’

Qinghua suppressed the pounding of her heart. Her expression shifted, and she said with profound gratitude, "Thank you, fellow Daoist, for saving my life!"

"In these ruins, even common monsters can match a Golden Core cultivator. A puppet leader like that is even stronger... If you hadn’t appeared, I’m afraid I would have..."

As she spoke, a look of relief mixed with lingering fear surfaced on her face.

Her performance was utterly convincing, with no hint of falsehood.

In his past life, acting skills like that would have easily earned her an Oscar.

"Oh?"

Su Ye smiled, a hint of amusement in his tone. "In that case, how do you plan to repay me?"

"Well..."

"To be honest, Yehai, I have mastered a Secret Technique for Dual Cultivation that can greatly advance one’s cultivation..."

Qinghua’s eyes turned sultry, and her voice became as sweet as a songbird’s.

As she spoke, a strange ripple of energy emanated from her, making her appear all the more alluring and delectable.

As a remnant of the Blood Moon Demon Palace and a peerless beauty, her Charm Technique was naturally superb. Her very words could stir feelings of affection in a listener, drawing them in unconsciously.

"A Secret Technique for Dual Cultivation... you say?"

A small smile played on Su Ye’s lips, but he shook his head. "A Secret Technique for Dual Cultivation is all well and good, but it requires time and effort. Too much trouble..."

"If you really want to repay me, your Golden Core will do just fine as a gift."

Before the words had even left his mouth.

WHOOSH!

Su Ye’s figure flickered, turning into a blur invisible to the naked eye as he vanished from the spot.

"Huh?!"

Qinghua’s eyelids twitched.

She gritted her teeth. ’Damn it! He wasn’t affected by my Charm Technique at all!’

She instinctively moved to cast her edict.

But in the next instant!

A sharp, needle-like threat pierced the space between her eyebrows.

A hostile Divine Sense, roaring like a tsunami, flooded her sea of consciousness, seeking to overwhelm her mind.

"A fifth-tier Divine Sense?!"

Qinghua cried out in shock, but a battle between cultivators leaves no room for distraction.

Despite her shock, her soul stirred, blooming like a flower shedding its chrysalis.

HUM.

A cyan-gold radiance flared, warding off the mental assault.

The soul inhabiting Qinghua’s mortal vessel was, in fact, a sliver of a Nascent Soul True Monarch’s soul, its essence exceedingly profound.

Therefore, Su Ye’s attempt to stun her with his Divine Sense failed.

HUM.

Remaining clear-headed, Qinghua unleashed the edict she had prepared: "Edict: Escape!"

The silver edict landed on the corridor floor. The carpet and Obsidian tiles writhed before swallowing Qinghua’s figure, allowing her to make her escape!

At almost the same instant.

BOOM!

Su Ye’s fist landed, its immense power shaking the very foundations and blasting that section of the corridor to smithereens.

If the mental assault had succeeded, even a moment’s hesitation would have seen Mrs. Qinghua reduced to a bloody pulp.

"Hm?"

Su Ye was rather surprised himself.

’A sure-fire blow... actually missed?’

’Mrs. Qinghua... a mere rogue cultivator, able to withstand a fifth-tier Divine Sense? And her Escape Technique works inside these ruins?’

’It must be a profound technique. In terms of rank, it’s likely not far off from the core Secret Techniques of the Nine Sects of the Inner Sea!’

’Does the Candle Python Cave... have such a deep heritage?’

Su Ye murmured to himself.

’Or is there something more to her identity?’

’An inside agent from one of the other sects of the Inner Sea?’

’Or...’

’Forget it!’

’I’ll just capture her and perform a Soul Search. Then the truth will come out!’

A cold, murderous glint flashed in Su Ye’s eyes.

No matter what, Mrs. Qinghua had seen his true strength and witnessed him kill for a Golden Core. He absolutely could not allow her to leave these ruins alive.

HUM.

The map materialized in Su Ye’s mind.

A quick assessment was all it took to pinpoint Mrs. Qinghua’s location.

"Huh?"

’She got pretty far... That Escape Technique is really something.’

’A pity... before my power of clairvoyance, what good is a powerful Escape Technique?’

’With my map fully revealed, how can you possibly hide?’

"Heh..."

Su Ye let out a cold laugh, melted into the shadows, and began the hunt.

...

「Two hours later.」

"Die!"

Su Ye’s expression was icy. With no fancy moves, he simply raised his fist and smashed it down.

Faint, fragmented runes lit up on his jade-like skin—the divine mark of a fifth-tier physique!

BANG!

The ground trembled violently!

Without a sound, Qinghua’s figure turned into a wisp of cyan smoke and vanished.

CLINK.

A small wooden doll bearing her likeness fell to the ground and shattered.

"A Substitute Doll..." Su Ye murmured, his brow furrowed. He crushed the remnants under his foot.

’That’s the third one, isn’t it? A top-tier treasure like that... and she’s just burning through them. What is the deal with this Mrs. Qinghua?’

Su Ye frowned, clicking his tongue in grudging admiration.

He hadn’t been holding back for the past two hours; he had been hunting her with his full strength.

At the same time, the Dreamwatchers were providing him with her precise location on the map.

With such an advantage, Su Ye had thought killing her would be simple. He never expected it to drag on for two hours... and he still wasn’t finished.

The reason was simple: Qinghua’s supply of treasures seemed endless.

Substitute Dolls, Heart Confusion Talismans, Body-Stabilizing Pearls... and a host of other treasures Su Ye couldn’t even name.

On top of that, her own abilities were formidable. The power she unleashed with her Late-stage Golden Core cultivation was even stronger than some cultivators at the peak of the realm.

’If it were a peak Golden Core cultivator like Lu Chen or Jiang Wenyuan, they might have been killed by her instead.’

Su Ye mused.

Of course, turning the tables on Su Ye was impossible.

With a fifth-tier body and soul, and mastery over a complete law, he was, in a sense, already a weak Nascent Soul cultivator.

Mrs. Qinghua had tried to fight back at first, but Su Ye’s response was simple: overwhelming force trumps all tricks.

They clashed twice.

She laid an ambush.

The result was simple.

Qinghua was down two Substitute Dolls.

After that, she finally learned her lesson. She stopped trying to fight back and focused solely on escaping.

This strategy was effective, at least for buying time.

But against Su Ye’s clairvoyance, buying time was all she could do.

Now.

Qinghua was down three Substitute Dolls.

"I’m guessing... you don’t have a fourth one of those."

Su Ye sneered. ’How could anyone have an endless supply of a treasure like that?!’

...

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Qinghua was a wreck, her hair a mess.

Her eyes were bloodshot, a picture of utter desperation.

’How can a monster like that exist in the Golden Core Realm?’

’His body and soul have both reached the fifth tier? And his comprehension of a law... it seems complete?!’

’Is my incarnation... going to fall here?’

Qinghua’s heart was filled with bitter resentment.

’Wait a second... How can he keep locking onto my position?’

She suddenly realized something.

"The Dreamwatchers!"

"Show yourselves!"