With a puff, Li Chengdi’s body shattered, not even a scream escaping as he was obliterated, body and soul. A generation’s genius, destined not for emperorhood but for ashes.
Ye Qiu and the Long Eyebrow Immortal watched, horrified. A peak King Realm expert, dead just like that? It felt unreal, like a dream.
The Long Eyebrow Immortal swallowed hard, trembling. “Little rascal, am I seeing things? That… that senior killed Li Chengdi with just a glance?”
“You saw right,” Ye Qiu replied, equally shocked. He couldn’t believe a peak King Realm expert was felled by a single look from the ragged old man. It was earth-shattering.
“What realm is this senior in?” Ye Qiu asked.
The Long Eyebrow Immortal speculated, “I read in Dragon Tiger Mountain’s ancient texts that a Saint’s drop of blood can slay armies, a strand of hair can split mountains. Could he be a Saint?” He shook his head, dismissing it. “Impossible. The secular world’s laws suppress those above King Realm. They’d be annihilated by the Heavenly Dao. That’s why cultivators nearing a breakthrough must go to the cultivation world.”
Ye Qiu said, “His glance killed Li Chengdi, proving his realm far surpasses him.”
The Long Eyebrow Immortal frowned. “If he’s a Saint, how is he here in the secular world?”
“Has Shu Mountain ever produced a Saint?” Ye Qiu asked.
“I don’t know,” the Long Eyebrow Immortal admitted.
“Who is this senior?” Ye Qiu wondered.
At that moment, the Cyan-Purple Twin Swords flew over, circling Ye Qiu briefly before hovering before the old man. He reached out with a withered hand but hesitated and pulled back. The swords glowed, edging closer. After a pause, he grasped them, then roared, “Who am I? Who am I?” His voice shook the skies, the sonic wave pulverizing a dozen distant peaks into dust.
Ye Qiu and the Long Eyebrow Immortal gasped, chills running through them. Had the wave hit them, they’d be dust too.
“Too strong!” the Long Eyebrow Immortal exclaimed. “This senior is an unparalleled master!”
No kidding, Ye Qiu thought. The old man, dropping the swords, clutched his head and fled behind Ye Qiu, trembling. “Don’t follow me, don’t follow me…”
The swords hovered, unmoving. Ye Qiu, pitying the old man, crouched to support him. “Senior…”
“Little rascal, his mind’s broken. Your medical skills are top-notch—can you treat him?” the Long Eyebrow Immortal suggested.
“Senior, I’m a doctor. Let me check your pulse,” Ye Qiu said, grabbing the old man’s wrist. His face changed. The wrist was ice-cold, pulseless—like a corpse. Using his Heavenly Eye, Ye Qiu studied him, then frowned, deep in thought.
“What’s wrong?” the Long Eyebrow Immortal asked.
“It’s strange. No pulse, and his three souls and seven spirits seem gone,” Ye Qiu said.
“Nonsense!” the Long Eyebrow Immortal scoffed. “All living beings have three souls and seven spirits. Losing even one causes illness or death. Without them, he’d be dead. Does he look dead to you?”
Ye Qiu was baffled. No pulse meant death, yet the old man, aside from his clouded mind, seemed normal. “What’s going on?”
Suddenly, the Cyan-Purple Twin Swords screeched, darting like lightning toward the old man’s forehead. “Watch out!” Ye Qiu shouted, but the old man raised a finger, stopping them. The swords wailed urgently, as if pressing him.
Agitated, the old man paced, pounding his head. “Who am I? Who am I?” Moonlight illuminated the peak, highlighting “Shu Mountain Forbidden Land” on the cliff. The old man stared, calming abruptly.
“Where is this? Why does it feel so familiar? Like I lived here for ages… but I can’t remember… Dead, all dead…” His emotions swung wildly, mad and demonic.
The Long Eyebrow Immortal grew nervous. “Little rascal, the Swastika Symbol can calm minds. Use it!”
Ye Qiu raised his palm, a fist-sized golden “卍” glowing, enveloping the old man, who quieted. “Who knows what trauma made him like this?” the Long Eyebrow Immortal sighed.
Ye Qiu sighed too. The swords circled the old man again, their cries relentless. “Little rascal, these swords are trouble. If this continues…” Before he finished, the swords struck the stone sword in the old man’s head.
His vacant eyes blazed with divine light, piercing the void. “I remember! I’m the Shu Mountain Sect Leader… I am Dugu Wudi!”
