Chapter 457: The Shattering of Everything

“Ah.”

But just then, a blood-curdling scream suddenly rang out.

To everyone’s surprise, the voice belonged to Bodhisattva Guan Yun.

She was injured.

And the one who had injured her was, astonishingly, the Saint Master.

The Saint Master had driven a Flying Sword forward, plunging it into Bodhisattva Guan Yun’s chest.

However, Bodhisattva Guan Yun’s reaction was swift. With Magical Power flowing through her hand, she grabbed the blade at her chest, preventing it from piercing all the way through her body.

She stared at the Saint Master in disbelief.

The Saint Master’s expression, in turn, was one of some surprise; he clearly hadn’t expected Bodhisattva Guan Yun to be able to block his sneak attack.

Next, the Saint Master struck out with another Palm Seal, which swirled with ancient Runes.

BOOM! It blasted toward Bodhisattva Guan Yun.

At the same time, the sword tried to push deeper.

But Bodhisattva Guan Yun desperately resisted.

BOOM!

The Saint Master’s Palm Seal was shattered by Bodhisattva Guan Yun’s counterattack.

But Bodhisattva Guan Yun herself was sent flying, crashing into the Celestial Palace’s Barrier and spitting up a mouthful of blood.

Blood streamed from the wound on her chest, and her entire appearance was truly wretched.

She was clearly severely injured.

Xu Lei was also startled by this.

Of course, he quickly understood what was happening.

‘This Saint Master must have seen that there were no dangerous Spirit Beasts guarding the so-called Daoist Scripture Hall, so he decided to make his move.’

‘He never intended to share the treasures inside with anyone else. All these years, the only reason he guided Ascenders to the Celestial Palace and nurtured them was to turn them into his pawns, to help him open this Daoist Scripture Hall.’

‘Now that the gate was open, he wanted to hoard all the treasures for himself!’

Although Xu Lei didn’t know the exact nature of the relationship between Bodhisattva Guan Yun and the Saint Master, could they be Dao Companions? It didn’t seem like it; they weren’t that intimate.

But the two of them had definitely seemed to share a mutual trust. Now, however, Bodhisattva Guan Yun had clearly been betrayed.

Everything happened so fast that no one had time to react or defend themselves.

“All of you can die.”

The Saint Master struck again. It was unclear what Dharma Gate he activated, but he extended both palms, and his Magical Power condensed into enormous hands. The technique was somewhat similar to Yuan Kong’s, but far more ferocious.

The two giant hands formed from his Magical Power swirled with Runes.

They thundered directly toward Bai Ling, the young Child, Zhao Xin, Qing Lian, Hui Ming, the Six Buddhas, and the others who had passed the trial of the Ninth Heaven, all of whom had been standing behind Bodhisattva Guan Yun.

Under the crushing impact of the two terrifying giant palms,

everyone’s faces paled.

Bai Ling, Zhao Xin, and Qing Lian’s expressions changed drastically. They all tried to channel their Magical Power to resist, but they had just transferred most of it to Bodhisattva Guan Yun.

None of them had recalled their Magical Power yet, and when they tried, they suddenly discovered they couldn’t get it back.

As a result, they were completely unable to defend themselves and were crushed by the Saint Master’s two massive hands.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

As the explosive sounds echoed, one body after another was obliterated, smashed directly into meat paste!

“No! Uncle Hui Chi!”

“Senior!”

“Master!”

Before the three women died, their eyes, full of reluctance to part, were fixed on Xu Lei, but they still couldn’t escape the crushing blow.

“No!”

A flash of pain crossed Xu Lei’s eyes, and his heart twisted.

Because in that one sudden instant, Qing Lian, Bai Ling, Zhao Xin, and even Hui Ming—all of them were dead!

Right before Xu Lei’s eyes, they had been smashed into shredded flesh by the Saint Master!

Xu Lei had never imagined something like this would happen!

He had been thinking that after the Secret Treasure Hall opened and he obtained some true Longevity Techniques, he would have a good, long chat with the women and grow closer to them.

After all, they had been waiting for Xu Lei ever since his reincarnation.

In this life alone, after they had returned through reincarnation, Zhao Xin and Qing Lian had waited sixty or seventy years for Xu Lei.

After all, after Xu Lei had died in his previous life, he had slumbered for thirty years during his reincarnation, lived for several decades in the mortal world, and after his Ascension, spent several more decades in the Ninefold Celestial Treasure Tower.

And as for Bai Ling, she and Xu Lei had barely interacted for several lifetimes.

Their only real interaction was a brief moment of intimacy when he ascended in this lifetime.

‘I had thought we were all still young, that we wouldn’t die of old age anytime soon.’

‘Now that we’ve all cultivated to the Bodhisattva Realm, or a comparable level for Dao cultivators, our natural lifespans should be several hundred years long.’

‘And living here in the Sun Palace would extend them even further!’

‘So I just assumed we had plenty of time!’

‘That there would be plenty of chances for us to be together in the future!’

But he had never expected that the Saint Master would suddenly attack, killing them before they even had a chance to escape.

At this moment, Xu Lei truly understood the meaning of those four words: human life is unpredictable.

Instantly, tears welled up in his eyes!

‘You really can’t put things off, thinking you have a long life ahead of you and can just do it later when you have the chance!’

‘Thinking like that… most of the time, you suddenly miss your chance, and it’s gone forever!’

Meanwhile, Xu Lei was of course also trying to recall his own Magical Power. However, he discovered that the Magical Power he had just sent out was now incredibly difficult to retrieve.

The Celestial Palace had suddenly changed. Unlike before, when Magical Power could be recalled after being used, it was now almost impossible. ‘This must be the Saint Master’s doing.’

Xu Lei only had a third of his Magical Power left.

Although his Realm hadn’t fallen, the amount of usable Magical Power within his body was now quite low.

Magical Power was like gasoline in a car from Earth. His tank had been full, but he had just given most of his “gas” to Bodhisattva Guan Yun. He thought he could get the gas back and refill his tank after Bodhisattva Guan Yun opened the gate, but it turned out he couldn’t.