Chapter 614: The Consequences of Not Showing Face

"I'll give you a big pineapple!"

Yu Lingdi suddenly went berserk. With a swift pull of his hand, he conjured a torrential downpour, and before anyone could react, he instantly blew the masked man's head apart.

"Bang!"

Amidst the heavy rain, an explosive sound erupted.

Everyone present was instantly dumbfounded. The Storyteller, who had been smiling brightly at Begonia, now had his face frozen in shock. Cen Qiaofu tightened his grip on the small axe in his hand, his limbs stiff and his eyes grim, stunned by the strike. Even the belated Begonia couldn't rush to intervene in time, watching helplessly as her own Chief's head was blown apart out of thin air in front of outsiders.

"What?"

Xu Xiaoshou's gaze swept across the scene. He had long known the immense charisma of the Eighth Sword Immortal. Yet, seeing the masked man's head inexplicably explode, and the instant change in expression on the faces of the many Holy Slaves' leaders, still made his heart pound uncontrollably.

This, this, this...

How incredibly daring!

Yu Lingdi?

How could you!

Xu Xiaoshou recalled the masked man's words from the White Cave. As expected, Yu Lingdi's ancestors likely belonged to the same era as Bazun'an and were completely crushed by him. Yet, despite this, to strike so suddenly and blow up someone's head directly... Even if there was an irreconcilable feud between them, they had previously managed to restrain themselves and communicate cordially. Why the sudden outburst?

"Young man, you've taken a dangerous path!"

Xu Xiaoshou instinctively retreated a few steps, ceding the battlefield. He knew the masked man possessed an indestructible body. He also knew the immense reverence the Holy Slaves' leaders held for this so-called Post-Heaven Chief.

Sure enough.

The next second, the first to erupt was the Storyteller, whose heart and eyes were filled with his brother.

"You're being presumptuous!"

The Storyteller roared, his eyes instantly bloodshot.

Earlier, within Chang Yi's "Light Rhythm" domain, his brother's body had exploded, but that was his own choice. Now, however, his brother's head had been blown apart in plain sight... This hatred was too profound; even if his brother told him not to act, it would be impossible for him to comply. All thoughts of compromise, face, or bloodless resolution vanished.

"Die, you bastard!"

With a single roar, he charged forward alone. Xu Xiaoshou, standing aside, was dumbfounded.

"Me?!"

This was the first time he had heard the Storyteller refer to himself in such a masculine way. Had this guy truly been driven mad by the provocation?

The Storyteller gripped "Yin-Yang Life-Death" upside down, tapped his toes on the ground, and instantly swapped positions with his brother. Without hesitation, he swung out a palm. He didn't even bother uttering a Heavenly Dao command, instead raising the suddenly enlarged ancient book illusion and forcefully slapping Yu Lingdi with it. It seemed that only by returning the same attack could he quell the fury in his heart.

"Watch out!"

Number Thirty-Three called out a warning. But the spatial displacement was too fast. The sudden turn of events left Yu Lingdi no time to react. His intention had been to cut the chatter, simply ignite the battle, and incidentally summon Senior Wuyue back to join the fight. He never expected that just one palm strike... would provoke such an extreme reaction from the opponent!

"Boom!"

An explosion ripped through the air. The resulting shockwave surged, pushing back the rain from the sky. With a whoosh, the Storyteller's body flew backward. Everyone caught a fleeting glimpse: the attack Yu Lingdi hadn't been able to react to was actually blocked by the tall, peerless man standing beside him with an elbow.

"Number Thirty-Three..."

Yu Lingdi murmured softly, a hint of gratitude in his eyes.

"Whoosh!"

But in that instant of distracted murmuring, another whistling sound came from behind him. The Storyteller in front of him had clearly flown backward from Number Thirty-Three's elbow strike, yet when Yu Lingdi suddenly turned, he saw another enraged Storyteller behind him.

"Die!"

The colossal illusion of Yin-Yang Life-Death, bent by force, descended from above like a giant's palm, poised to pulverize Yu Lingdi. But Number Thirty-Three truly resembled an emotionless combat machine. He didn't even pause for a moment; after sending the Storyteller in front of him flying with an elbow, he whirled around and delivered a whip kick, sending the second Storyteller flying.

"Boom!"

The second Storyteller was still sent flying. Behind Yu Lingdi, a thick, elongated black hole was forcibly kicked into the void. Space disintegrated inch by inch, making Xu Xiaoshou, who was watching, twitch his eyelids.

This reaction speed...

This attack power...

"Is this a fully matured Heavenly Secret Puppet?"

"A Throne Body?"

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...

The masked man's head in front of him transformed into sword energy, then re-solidified into the shape of a human head. He looked at the frantic Storyteller, frowned, and muttered, "Too impulsive. It's just a head, isn't it?"

At this point, Cen Qiaofu could no longer listen.

"You've changed," he retorted.

"Decades ago, I daresay you wouldn't even have uttered these words... no, you wouldn't have even entertained such thoughts. But now, you truly have changed."

After a moment of contemplation, Cen Qiaofu continued, "Perhaps to you, this is just an insignificant head. But to the Holy Slaves, this is their dignity!"

As he spoke, he tightened his grip on the Immortal Coiling Axe, flexed his calf, and added, "Now, you can't just leave. This battle must be fought... And that boy must not survive!"

With that, Cen Qiaofu's figure shot forward like a cannonball.

Xu Xiaoshou watched in horror. Two Storytellers were already more than enough in the battle. But under Number Thirty-Three's continuous defense, both Storytellers had already been sent flying. Yet, a third Storyteller suddenly tore through a void fissure in mid-air. Like a persistent maggot, without even changing his move, this Storyteller Number Three once again swung the ancient book illusion into a full circle, striking towards Yu Lingdi.

"Beware."

Number Thirty-Three showed no ripple of emotion, his warning utterly devoid of feeling. Once he entered combat mode, he completely discarded everything he had learned about humans in daily life, focusing solely on the battle. The Storyteller's attack was fast, but under his combat awareness of the second realm, he could clearly perceive and even anticipate it.

"Block."

Uttering the two simple words, Number Thirty-Three crossed his hands above his head, ready to block the Storyteller's descending attack.

But suddenly, the scene blurred, and an old man with squinted eyes, wielding an axe, flew out.

"Big block of iron, care to play with this old man?"

This sudden attack caused even Number Thirty-Three to momentarily falter. Because before this, he hadn't even detected the old man's aura.

"Weren't you still there..."

Taixu!

In an instant, Number Thirty-Three reacted. This old man wasn't just a Dao-Cutting cultivator like the Storyteller; this was a true Taixu!

"Immortal Coiling Axe, Chaos's Genesis!"

Cen Qiaofu arrived with his axe. The moment the weapon was about to strike, it suddenly expanded into a mottled giant axe, several yards long. With his sharp cry, the elements of heaven and earth were cleaved apart, transforming into primordial purple energy that was drawn into the giant axe.

"Clang—"

The clanging sound of metal clashing exploded. Number Thirty-Three's body was like the world's hardest spiritual artifact; he forcefully blocked the attack with his abdomen, not even retreating half a step.

He curved his lips, mimicking a sneer.

"Mere humans, nothing more than this..."

A smile had just appeared on his face, but before he could finish speaking, Number Thirty-Three felt something was wrong. The essence of the Heavenly Secret Puppet's unique internal energy core was being frantically drained away after the old man's giant axe grazed a sliver of his skin. In an instant, more than half of the energy core's essence had vanished.

In contrast, Cen Qiaofu's giant axe, previously rusty, now looked as if it had been thoroughly cleaned. In the blink of an eye, the axe blade became lustrous and gleaming.

"Mere block of iron, daring to comment on humans?"

Cen Qiaofu scoffed disdainfully and exerted force with his hand.

"Split."

Boom!!!

Yu Lingdi's long hair fluttered upward. Number Thirty-Three, who was in front of him, was horizontally cleaved in half by Cen Qiaofu's exerted force. One half shot into the sky, the other plunged into the earth. Neither space nor ground could stop their explosive momentum. The part of the body that shot skyward instantly disintegrated into spatial debris. The piece that plunged into the earth struck the ground like water-ground tofu, embedding itself deeply and vanishing from sight.

"Holy crap!"

Xu Xiaoshou exclaimed silently in his mind. Watching this horrifying scene, his scalp tingled with dread. This was a Heavenly Secret Puppet! A being capable of blasting the Storyteller away with a single elbow, yet encountering Cen Qiaofu...

One axe, two halves?

"That's it?"

"Is this the difference between Dao-Cutting and Taixu?"

It wasn't over yet!

Yu Lingdi, no longer protected by Number Thirty-Three, was now exposed to Cen Qiaofu, who was dragging his giant axe, and the Storyteller, who had suddenly descended from the sky with his ancient book. Yu Lingdi, a mere Dao Realm cultivator, a negligible Throne. Just moments after blowing the masked man's head apart with a palm, what he faced next... was the Storyteller, a peak Dao-Cutting master who had survived all Nine Deaths Thunder Tribulations, and the true supreme expert—Taixu, Cen Qiaofu!

His face turned green.

He had captured Dao-Cutting cultivators and even struck Taixu. However, this didn't mean Yu Lingdi could remain unperturbed when the Storyteller appeared before him, or unwavering when the Woodcutter emerged to his left. Overwhelmed by fright, Yu Lingdi swiftly brought his hands together in mid-air to form a hand seal.

"Water Moon Cavern, Imprint."

A complex and intricate profound diagram appeared in his palm. Dao patterns overlapped on it, giving rise to an boundless, magnificent essence of the great ocean's mystery. As the profound outline materialized, a full moon shone down from the Nine Heavens. A water-elemental vortex churned beneath Yu Lingdi's feet, and he began to sink, preparing to escape into it.

"Flowers Bloom for Miles, Half-Step Immortal Court!"

From a distance, Begonia lightly spun the six-petaled begonia flower in her hand and took a subtle half-step forward. The profound cavern beneath Yu Lingdi's feet suddenly vibrated, its energy seemingly in disarray mid-process, and new sprouts actually emerged from the water.

Immediately, the sprouts grew wildly, completely draining the rain from several square miles of the area, converting it into nourishment. A colossal hundred-yard-wide enchanting purple-leaf begonia burst into full bloom, its fragrance drifting for thousands of miles. Everyone present, upon smelling it, felt their minds reel.

Xu Xiaoshou felt his spirit momentarily lost, as if he were in an Immortal Court. The rain had ceased. The enemies were gone. All that remained was hazy white mist of the Immortal Court and, within the mist, enchanting begonia flowers blooming everywhere.

"So beautiful..."

He couldn't help but murmur. Such an ethereal realm could only exist in dreams. In the mundane world, not even half a trace of it could be found.

But suddenly,

"Affected by Delusion, Passive Points +1."

The information panel flashed, and Xu Xiaoshou immediately snapped out of his trance.

"Illusion!"

As he cleared his mind, the images transmitted by his "Perception" replaced everything his eyes saw. He noticed that all the white-clad figures who had retreated to the rear and were no longer participating in the battle were also mesmerized, their faces showing expressions of infatuation. Yu Lingdi, in the thick of the battle, also curved his lips slightly. However, his mental strength seemed far superior to others. Before the smile could fully form, he stopped it, his expression returning to normal. Then, with a blink of his eyes, he saw reality...

The terrifying reality!!

"Immortal Coiling Axe, Elemental Annihilation!"

Cen Qiaofu grinned sinisterly, his axe directly slicing through Yu Lingdi, who had just regained his senses from the trance. He knew that Yu Lingdi had comprehended the water-elemental profound mystery. People like him were usually elemental bodies. What was an elemental body? Like the Chief, they were immune to ordinary physical attacks. The opponent could simply use the Heavenly Dao and elements, and in an instant, reconstruct their body using the Five Elements Water Dao and the water elements throughout heaven and earth.

But who was Cen Qiaofu?

Taixu!

What others needed multiple battle attempts to summarize and comprehend, he immediately grasped and applied. Not only did he sever the water-elemental Dao in this Heavenly Dao out of thin air, but his "Elemental Annihilation" technique also completely emptied all water elements within several square miles.

Meanwhile, outside, with Begonia's enormous flower continuously absorbing the sky's rain, Yu Lingdi's last resort—the possibility of drawing energy from the previously accumulated rainfall to restore his body—was also instantly eliminated.

Furthermore, even if all external factors that could have healed Yu Lingdi's injuries were neutralized, there still remained the possibility of self-recovery from the spiritual essence within his Qi Sea! But that was precisely the crucial point. The unique "spirit-draining" property of the "Immortal Coiling Axe" was terrifying; it was a spiritual artifact capable of instantly draining half the essence from even a Heavenly Secret Puppet's core energy. How long could Yu Lingdi, a mere Throne, withstand that?

"Die!"

There was no surprise. Yu Lingdi, whose every escape route had been cut off, had initially harbored a glimmer of hope. But the moment the Immortal Coiling Axe sliced into his skin, his expression drastically changed, and he instantly realized his mistake. Elemental body, rain-based recovery, spiritual essence repair... All escape routes were severed by this one axe strike!

"Bang!"

An explosive sound. The scene of Number Thirty-Three's body being severed was replayed. The difference this time was that Yu Lingdi's body, cleaved in two by the axe, did not explode into a mist of water as everyone expected. Instead, after a bang, crimson blood immediately spurted out. Furthermore, as he flew backward, his fragile body, unable to withstand the Taixu power of the Immortal Coiling Axe, disintegrated into several large fragments on the spot.

"Good heavens..."

Xu Xiaoshou clearly perceived every minute fluctuation on the scene using his "Perception." What seemed like an ordinary slash to others was, in his eyes, incredibly subtle, precise, and calculated to an utterly terrifying degree. Were Taixu battles always so devastating? Giving the opponent not even a sliver of a chance, going for the kill right from the start?

"This... is the consequence of not showing respect?"