Chapter 902: Extinguishing the God

Upon seeing Lu Ye completely unharmed, King Gengwu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He truly was someone chosen by the Lord! In the situation just now, he actually dared to come here alone. Setting everything else aside, his sheer courage surpassed that of his other team members.

"Senior Brother Geng," Lu Ye called softly. King Gengwu nodded, then looked around at the situation, his brows furrowed. A question similar to Lu Ye's arose in his mind: Why wasn't Ning Hu escaping?

Before he could figure it out, he heard Ning Hu sternly shout, "Senior Brother, even now, don't you see the truth?"

An Mofeng, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, clutched his chest and said, "No matter what, release Ziyan first. You watched him grow up!"

The young cultivator named Ziyan, held in Ning Hu's hand, also spoke with difficulty, "Great Elder, have mercy!"

Ning Hu slowly shook his head, looking at An Mofeng with deep regret. "Senior Brother, you've disappointed me deeply! Back then, our aptitudes were similar, yet now I've reached the Divine Sea realm, while you're still stuck at the True Lake realm. You used more of the sect's cultivation resources, yet my cultivation is higher now. Do you know why?"

An Mofeng sighed. "The old sect master once said that in terms of aptitude, you were a cut above me."

"Nonsense!" Ning Hu retorted angrily. "That old geezer was so blind he couldn't even tell I was a covert agent of the Myriad Devil Ridge. What could he possibly discern? Today, I'll tell you why I could advance to the Divine Sea realm and you couldn't."

As he spoke, he suddenly took a step forward. "Because you always place your hopes on others, never thinking of fighting for yourself! Generation after generation, you always wanted to lead Xianxia Mountain to ascend to the ranks of the highest grade, but you forgot that relying on others is not as good as relying on yourself. Don't forget, you are the Sect Master of Xianxia Mountain!"

The thundering roar made An Mofeng momentarily lose himself in thought. Reflecting on his past several decades, it seemed exactly as Ning Hu had said. After realizing he couldn't reach the Divine Sea realm for a long time, he had placed his hopes on his disciples, losing his own drive to strive and improve.

Ning Hu continued, "In the previous generation, you pinned your hopes on that boy named Zhong. What was the result? He died prematurely soon after advancing to the Cloud River realm. In this generation, you're pinning your hopes on Ziyan. His luck is better than that boy named Zhong's; he's already at the third layer of the Cloud River realm. But how can you guarantee that he won't die prematurely? Even if he truly cultivates smoothly all the way to the ninth layer of the True Lake realm, what then? Can you guarantee he will definitely advance to the Divine Sea realm?"

"I can, Great Elder!" the young man named Ziyan shouted loudly. "I definitely can!"

"No one can predict the future," Ning Hu said indifferently. With a squeeze of his hand, Ziyan immediately became unable to speak. He looked up at An Mofeng. "Senior Brother, you do have the potential to advance to the Divine Sea realm. It's just that your resolve and drive have been worn away."

An Mofeng sighed, "What's the point of saying all this now?"

"Of course there's a point!" Ning Hu suddenly laughed. An Mofeng abruptly sensed something was wrong and asked in alarm, "What are you going to do?"

"By severing the hopes and desires in your heart, you'll be forced to rely only on yourself!"

As he spoke, Ning Hu squeezed his hand. With a crisp crack, Ziyan's neck bone was crushed, and the light in his eyes quickly faded. Although Ning Hu had gone on a killing spree earlier, slaying dozens of people, no one had expected him to actually strike down Ziyan so ruthlessly. In the past, the relationship between these two, who were like grandfather and grandson, was extremely good. It could almost be said that Ning Hu had watched Ziyan grow up and personally tutored him; Ning Hu was considered half his master! Yet, Ning Hu killed him without hesitation, with shocking ruthlessness and decisiveness.

Tossing Ziyan's corpse aside like a discarded rag, Ning Hu shouted, "Senior Brother, whether Xianxia Mountain can be saved depends on you alone. You'd better hurry!" The moment he finished speaking, he lunged into the densest part of the crowd. With a Divine Sea realm grand cultivator acting so unrestrainedly, how could the Xianxia Mountain disciples resist? A wave of casualties instantly followed.

"Stop!" Several injured elders by An Mofeng's side erupted in rage. Disregarding the disparity in their strengths, they all charged towards Ning Hu, attempting to stop him. An Mofeng himself, however, stood rooted to the spot as if stunned, his gaze clouded and confused.

"Stop him!"

On the other side, almost the instant Ning Hu made his move, King Gengwu gave an order and charged forward first. The team members followed closely, immediately joining the battle. For a time, battles erupted, and spiritual power surged. Counting the True Lake realm elders of Xianxia Mountain and the members of Team A-3, there were a total of eight True Lake realm cultivators present. Among them, King Gengwu was at the ninth layer of the True Lake realm. Such a lineup could barely contend with Ning Hu.

But they were still somewhat outmatched. The gap of a major realm was terrifying, so even though Lu Ye's side had a numerical advantage, they were at a disadvantage in the fight. Fortunately, the members of Team A-3 cooperated seamlessly, preventing any casualties. Especially King Gengwu, the strongest among them, unleashed his full power, almost single-handedly tying up thirty percent of Ning Hu's energy.

Lu Ye didn't have the same rapport as the members of Team A-3, so he tried his best not to disrupt their coordination. Moreover, since his cultivation was the lowest, he had been circling the periphery since the battle began. It wasn't out of fear for his life, but rather waiting for an opportunity: the opportunity to use the exotic treasure in his hand!

Ning Hu had not used his divine sense the entire time. It wasn't that he couldn't, but even for a Divine Sea realm cultivator, activating divine sense consumes an immense amount of energy. Especially since he was only at the second layer of the Divine Sea realm, he naturally wouldn't recklessly use his trump card. This gave everyone a chance to entangle him.

But the battle couldn't continue like this indefinitely. In less than a few minutes of fierce combat, two True Lake realm elders from Xianxia Mountain had already fallen, their fates unknown. On Team A-3's side, King Gengwu was bleeding from all seven orifices. Kang, moreover, suffered from a backlash of his arcane techniques, his spiritual power in turmoil, making him temporarily ineffective. Mu Zheng, the female cultivator, was even worse off; she had the lowest cultivation among the team members apart from Lu Ye. A moment ago, caught off guard, she was struck in the abdomen by Ning Hu's punch and sent flying twenty *zhang* away. She was now leaning against a wall, coughing up blood continuously, clearly without any strength left to fight.

Conversely, Lu Ye, with the lowest cultivation, was in the best condition. Firstly, he had been circling the periphery, never directly confronting Ning Hu, thus not giving him a chance to heavily wound him. Secondly, relying on the Moon Return and Guardian spiritual patterns, he could at least protect himself from the aftermath of such a fierce battle.

The long-awaited opportunity had not arrived, yet their own lineup was about to collapse first. Once King Gengwu and the others were severely wounded to the point of being unable to retaliate, everyone would likely have to just await their deaths.

"Captain, if the reinforcements from the Law Enforcement Division don't arrive soon, I'm afraid I'll have to go first," Xiao Ruoyun roared while strenuously fending off Ning Hu's frenzied attacks. A crisp sound suddenly came from his arm; his arm bone had been broken. Although he had previously advocated for an immediate retreat, even attempting to stop Lu Ye when he moved out and not hesitating to use the guard's command, he showed no hesitation once the battle truly began. Several times, he even blocked the aftermath of attacks for Lu Ye.

"Hold on a little longer, reinforcements are on their way," King Gengwu replied.

It seemed this statement made Ning Hu sense danger. His brow furrowed, losing the desire to continue the entanglement. The next instant, his divine sense surged, transforming into an invisible force that shot directly towards King Gengwu. And at the exact moment he unleashed his divine sense attack, Lu Ye, who had been waiting patiently for a long time, eyes lit up. He also activated his divine sense simultaneously, and an almost transparent, hiltless small sword shot out from his hand.

The Divine Slayer Sword! This exotic treasure, which cost Lu Ye a full 26,000 military merits to exchange for, was the true source of his confidence in confronting Ning Hu. Divine Slayer, Divine Slayer – what it slays is divine sense! He wasn't sure how powerful this exotic treasure truly was, and coupled with the immense cultivation gap between himself and Ning Hu, he had always been hesitant to use it lightly and had been waiting: waiting for the precise moment Ning Hu would activate his divine sense!

The Divine Slayer Sword transformed into a sharp beam of light, instantly flashing before Ning Hu and shattering his divine sense attack. Ning Hu couldn't help but let out a muffled groan. This was the danger of divine sense confrontation in the Divine Sea realm. Although Divine Sea realm cultivators possess divine sense, they generally wouldn't easily activate divine sense attacks when fighting, as it's easy to give the enemy an opening. Ning Hu hadn't expected that the young man with the lowest cultivation present would have a countermeasure against him. Caught off guard, his divine sense was shattered, and a sudden pain erupted in his mind.

Originally, his divine sense attack was aimed at King Gengwu. If fully unleashed, even though King Gengwu's cultivation was not low, he would surely have been momentarily stunned, his life and death uncertain. However, after his divine sense was severed, King Gengwu only felt a slight dizziness in his mind and was otherwise unharmed. On the other hand, Ning Hu, suppressing the pain of his divine sense being shattered, raised his hand and clamped down on the Divine Slayer Sword.

Seeing this, Lu Ye's heart sank. This was his reliance for dealing with Divine Sea realm cultivators, an exotic treasure he had exchanged for 26,000 military merits from the Military Merit Pavilion. He had placed immense hopes on it, yet who knew it would turn out like this?

Just as he thought the Divine Slayer Sword didn't live up to its name, a tiny sword light suddenly shot out from the body of the clamped exotic treasure. The sword light sliced into Ning Hu's forehead but caused him no apparent physical harm. Instead, it was like an invisible entity, vanishing the moment it made contact with him. Yet, Ning Hu seemed as if he had been struck head-on with a hammer. His head snapped back violently, his body stumbled backward, and he involuntarily released the Divine Slayer Sword's main body. At the same time, a horrific scream tore from his throat.

The sudden turn of events bewildered everyone, yet they knew it must be due to the treasure Lu Ye had unleashed. King Gengwu's grasp of combat timing was masterful. Almost the instant Ning Hu stumbled backward, he surged forward, unleashing his fists, and spiritual power exploded. With a boom, Ning Hu's gaunt body flew backward, spitting blood in mid-air.

Beams of sword light chased after him like shooting stars; these were Kang Yuanqiao's flying swords. Lu Ye also raised his blade and executed a "Myriad Stars Stab."