Chapter 628: The Dying Man Should Not Make Noise

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

Elder Sang muttered, turning his head slightly. Then, fixing his gaze on the newcomer, a smirk played on his lips. "Old dog Wuyue, it's been a long time. I've truly missed you."

Gou Wuyue held his sword at an angle, but his gaze skipped past Elder Sang and landed on Xu Xiaoshou.

"Your disciple?"

"Indeed," Elder Sang narrowed his eyes.

"I thought he was Baxun'an's disciple."

"Then you are mistaken."

Elder Sang chuckled. "Baxun'an wanted to snatch my disciple, but unfortunately, he couldn't."

Xu Xiaoshou: "..."

Why hadn't he realized he was so sought after?

"Little Shi Tanji..."

Gou Wuyue muttered, then asked, "Where is Yu Lingdi?"

He could sense pure fire elemental energy in this space. However, within the Heavenly Dao, there was no water elemental energy at all; even the water-based rules of this space had been severed. Without a doubt, Yu Lingdi had been here. Elder Sang's "Dragon-Melding Realm of Ten Thousand Mountains" could only have been conjured by Yu Lingdi.

"You mean this?"

The old man adjusted his straw hat, opened his fingers, and a drop of liquid seeped out from his palm.

"Whoosh..."

A faint whimpering sound spread. If all three pairs of eyes hadn't been focused on the droplet, it would have been difficult to notice.

"Is that Yu Lingdi?"

Xu Xiaoshou was the first to be shocked. He truly hadn't expected that the esteemed master of water elemental mysteries, fallen into Elder Sang's hands, couldn't even stir a ripple. He had actually been refined into a single drop of essence!

Gou Wuyue's brows furrowed, and sword intent permeated the air. Though it was a high-temperature space, Xu Xiaoshou inexplicably shivered.

Killing intent!

Gou Wuyue's murderous intent had truly awakened!

"Don't worry, he's not dead yet."

Elder Sang flicked a finger, and the water droplet bobbed up and down in the air. He smiled and said, "But if you had been even a moment later, the outcome would have been a different story."

"Release him," Gou Wuyue said indifferently.

"Certainly."

Elder Sang nodded. "Gather all the White-Clothed, release the Holy Slaves, and release Cen Qiaofu. Then I will release Yu Lingdi."

Gou Wuyue's eyes darkened. This was utterly impossible. In the Eight Palaces, Cen Qiaofu, empowered by the Blood Tree, was fighting with his back against the wall, holding back Thirty-Three and most of the Dao Slayers among the White-Clothed. He was incredibly difficult to deal with. But the repercussions of the Blood Tree were too severe. In all likelihood, he would eventually be captured by Thirty-Three. As for the Storyteller... Although he had been continuously imprisoning the White-Clothed, as long as he couldn't escape immediately, he wouldn't get away once Gou Wuyue finished dealing with this old straw-hatted man in front of him. The only ones unlikely to be captured were Baxun'an and Haitang'er. How could Gou Wuyue abandon his main mission for a mere Yu Lingdi?

"Tsk tsk."

Elder Sang clicked his tongue, looking at the droplet still struggling helplessly in his palm. He shook his head and sighed, "Poor little thing, you've been abandoned."

"Xu Xiaoshou!"

Even though Elder Sang was still speaking, Xu Xiaoshou heard another voice from the old man in his ear. Startled, he subtly nodded, realizing that Elder Sang was using voice transmission.

"Head southeast. The Storyteller is waiting for you there. Depart immediately."

Upon receiving the message, Xu Xiaoshou froze. "What about you?" he asked.

"I'll be there shortly," Elder Sang replied.

"Really?"

"Of course."

"What if you don't..."

"Why so much nonsense!" Elder Sang suddenly turned his head, his eyes sunken, and his gaze within the dark circles was incredibly deep.

Xu Xiaoshou pursed his lips lightly. He knew that staying here would only be a burden in the end. Whether Elder Sang was truly Gou Wuyue's match, perhaps he had no other choice but to believe. After all, this was a transcendent being who had repeatedly escaped from Gou Wuyue's sword in the Central Region and Qinglong County.

After a brief pause, Elder Sang spoke again. This time, he didn't use voice transmission. "Pay close attention, from what you know to what you don't know: the final way an elemental body can die..."

"Huh?"

"Absolute Power!"

Xu Xiaoshou nodded in cooperation, stepping back half a pace, and inspecting his Qi Sea. His Qi Sea was already full. One Vanishing Art, followed by multiple "Ascension Steps," and he could immediately escape this place. Their act was convincing. Gou Wuyue hadn't noticed anything. He simply watched as Sang Qiye suddenly unleashed all the Dao power he held.

Instantly, the water droplet struggled violently and transformed, and an extremely translucent figure solidified before Sang Qiye.

"Yu Lingdi..."

Gou Wuyue's pupils trembled. The figure was so weak it would scatter with a mere breeze, as if only a soul remained. If not for the familiar aura he could still sense from it, it would have been impossible to recognize it as Yu Lingdi, the Head of the Spirit Division, based solely on his face, which had been blurred by refinement!

"Sang Qiye!"

Gou Wuyue bellowed in a low voice, rising with his sword, striking upwards into the clouds. A brilliant golden light burst forth as the Ascending Ladder Style reappeared, layers of golden illusory steps emerging. But then, with a sword hum, they completely split in two. Sword energy pierced the void, arriving in an instant.

Xu Xiaoshou felt his entire aura locked down. Even though the sword energy wasn't targeting him, the dense aura of death still washed over him. In his ear, Elder Sang, without a shred of worry, transmitted a calm and unhurried voice.

"Transforming form with thought, attaching it to the body; infusing thought with spirit, manifesting it as form; comprehending the Heavenly Dao, merging with the illusions of the nine spirits, where the illusory is real, and the real is illusory..."

The profound Daoist incantation resonated like a grand bell exploding in his mind. The abstruse and profound incantations were like a brand of fire. Even though he didn't understand half of it, it was deeply etched into Xu Xiaoshou's soul. As this lingering sound faded, a memory seemed to be stirred in his mind. Xu Xiaoshou felt as if time itself had slowed at that moment. Gou Wuyue's sword energy was about to pierce the void at the critical moment. Yet, Elder Sang's slowly raised sleeves before him seemed to hold eternity within a single thought, unmoved by the external world.

"Thorough... Spirit... Thought!"

A faint white light emanated around Elder Sang. It was very faint and shallow, merely rustling his straw cloak. But as those three words settled, the boundless mighty power that had erupted from the Ten Thousand Mountains, like a blazing sun falling to earth, seemed to respond to Elder Sang's soft call, ready to be summoned.

It wasn't "seemed to"!

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes widened. He stared in horror as the Dragon-Melding Realm, covering tens of thousands of miles, shattered in an instant. The scorching white flames, with Elder Sang's body as their black hole-like epicenter, instantly traversed time and space, even faster than Gou Wuyue's sword, merging into Elder Sang's body in a flash.

The world darkened. The vast expanse of white abruptly vanished. Everyone who had been in the Dragon-Melding Realm earlier looked up at the sky. After adapting to the intensity of the white flames, they returned to reality. They should have been relieved, but their vision seemed distorted.

Darkness lasted only a moment! In that single instant, even the golden light of the Ascending Ladder Style struggled to fully reopen!

Elder Sang raised his hands high, his straw hat obscuring half his face. "Sleeveless - Scorching Red Hand."

At his words, the tattered sleeves of his straw cloak withered and fell away, as if swept by a breeze. From his fingertips, wrists, to elbows and shoulders... Elder Sang's withered hands rapidly blackened and charred, from outside in, at a visible speed.

High temperature! Ultimate high temperature!

Xu Xiaoshou was clearly far away. But a glimpse from the corner of his eye at those charred black hands, tinged with dark red, directly ignited his eyes with white flames, making him immediately look away in pain.

"Cheshen Nian..."

He was shocked. Elder Sang could use Cheshen Nian! Not the mediocre, half-baked level of Monk Bule's weak Cheshen Nian. This "Sleeveless - Scorching Red Hand" technique was clearly a transcendent 'Cheshen Nian' of the same caliber as "Punishment of Gods, Calamity of Heavens," created by Lei Han, the foremost of the Ten Venerated Ones!

"Is this... absolute attack?"

Xu Xiaoshou's heart pounded wildly. He couldn't move at all! Logic told him that during the battle between these two peerless grandmasters, the best thing he could do was immediately activate Vanishing Art. But even his soul was locked down by one of Gou Wuyue's techniques. Xu Xiaoshou's thoughts were even paralyzed. He wanted to mentally call out the names of the three Awakening Skills that would free him, but Elder Sang could make a single thought last an eternity, while he himself was trapped in an eternal single thought.

He could think it, but not do it!

The Grim Reaper swung his scythe, and the world grew dim in golden and white light. Xu Xiaoshou's face turned ashen. The sword hadn't even arrived, yet his soul already felt like it was tearing apart. But at this critical moment, Elder Sang's "Sleeveless - Scorching Red Hand," which traversed time and space, materialized just before the sword energy.

"A sword?"

He scoffed. His charred, blackened hand extended only two fingers, and with a gentle flick, he said, "Throughout my life, what I've hated most is swords."

"Boom!"

A muffled thud resonated through the world, as if a deity's heart had suddenly contracted. Xu Xiaoshou, with a "噗" sound, spewed blood from his mouth and was sent flying backward. But the sword energy that had torn through the sky ladder was halted as if someone had slammed on the brakes at the very last moment. After Elder Sang's two fingers clamped down, it couldn't advance an inch.

Then, in the next instant.

"Rumble!"

The void spanning tens of thousands of miles suddenly exploded, and steam surged and churned, rising like layers of a tsunami into the sky. Spatial fragments withered and melted within the mist. Clouds turned to mist, and the evening glow abruptly appeared in the sky. Xu Xiaoshou felt his chest tighten and he became dizzy. He had been thrown back, and the battle hadn't even taken place directly beside him, yet he couldn't even withstand the slightest residual ripple.

Was this what a battle between true powerhouses was like?

"Hiss."

The sword energy, clamped by two fingers, suddenly flared with white flames. Within half a breath, it was incinerated and vanished. Elder Sang looked up, a smile on his face. "Old dog Wuyue, do you know why I've delayed killing your subordinates?"

Gou Wuyue retrieved his sword and immediately lunged forward, as if he understood something. "How dare you?!"

Elder Sang, however, lowered his gaze, like a Bodhisattva lowering his eyelids, but without mercy. "Your subordinate dared to attack my disciple, a Throned battling an Innate. For such shameless scum, I will cut him down again right before your very eyes, Sword Immortal Wuyue!"

Just two fingers could incinerate Gou Wuyue's Ascending Ladder Style. Yet at this moment, Elder Sang extended his entire arm! An arm completely charred black, without a hint of flesh tone, an arm of ultimate high temperature!

"Gurgle gurgle..."

Yu Lingdi's figure in front of him struggled rapidly, twisting. His blurred facial contours flickered into and out of view, and there was panic in his eyes. But gathering all his remaining strength, he conjured a mouth, emitted a black light, and let out a roar. "Old geezer, do you really think you can cut me down, Yu Lingdi? I still have Evil Sin in my hand..."

The black hand sliced horizontally. It should have been splashes of water. But Gou Wuyue, who floated over, and Xu Xiaoshou, who was thrown away by the battle, could clearly see it. The elemental body, before the absolute power of the Sleeveless - Scorching Red Hand, seemed to have been completely nullified. Blood splattered, scattering in all directions. After a single strike, the very instant Yu Lingdi was beheaded, his entire body and the splashing blood vaporized on the spot, giving him no time to react.

Elder Sang lowered his arm, nodded, his straw hat obscuring his face, and snorted. "Why bother making noise when you're about to die?"

The scene was utterly silent. Xu Xiaoshou was dumbfounded. He watched from afar. Before, he hadn't understood why the other Holy Slaves had such iconic titles. The Storyteller, the Old Woodcutter, the Eighth Sword Immortal... But Elder Sang alone had only the ordinary two words, "Sleeveless." Yet what he saw today – the straw-hatted old man who dared to brutally sever the closest subordinate with a horizontal strike right in front of the Seven Sword Immortals, those charred and decayed hands, the sleeves of his straw cloak that couldn't even be protected by the Heavenly Dao after activating Cheshen Nian...

"Sleeveless?"

Xu Xiaoshou murmured softly. This shouldn't be called "Sleeveless," it should be called "Invincible"!

"Sang... Qi... Ye!"

Gou Wuyue's voice grew utterly cold, like the chilling ice of the Nine Netherworlds, and coldness spread throughout the realm. He knew this old man was doing it on purpose! It wasn't that Gou Wuyue couldn't save Yu Lingdi with a single sword strike, but that this old man was waiting. Waiting for Yu Lingdi to be calcined and refined to his weakest state... Waiting for Gou Wuyue to re-enter the game, as a sliver of hope ignited in his heart... Waiting for that moment when Yu Lingdi seemed to see light again in hell and glimpsed the beauty of heaven...

Then, he personally extinguished him! Yu Lingdi was actually already dead. Sang Qiye not only used two fingers to clamp the sword energy, he even clamped time itself! He seized the precise moment when old grudges and new hatred were most vivid, using his renowned ultimate skill to stoke both sides' fury to the extreme. The most unbearable extreme!

Gou Wuyue let out a heavy sigh. He knew what Sang Qiye wanted. The other party simply wanted to force him to stay and fight, to utterly sever his thoughts of supporting other fronts. Thoroughly and completely, in this third confrontation, to conclude the previous two unresolved battles. Clearly, Sang Qiye had succeeded.

Gou Wuyue halted in mid-air. He sheathed his sword and let his sleeves fall, observing three breaths of silence for Yu Lingdi, then raised his gaze.

"Om—"

Within a radius of ten thousand miles, azure power extracted from the earth transformed into ten thousand silent swords, slowly ascending into the air. A great wind rose, causing clouds to fly, and Gou Wuyue's long robes rustled wildly. For every inch the ten thousand silent swords rose, the earth sank three feet.

"Om, om, om..."

Rhythmic sword hums resonated, piercing all directions. Even Thirty-Three, far away in the remaining chaos of the Eight Palaces, looked on from afar with a group of White-Clothed. They had captured Cen Qiaofu, who had been drained by the Blood Tree. But over there, the battle of Sword Immortal Wuyue seemed to have just begun. Moreover, the sound of that sword realm seemed to be declaring to all:

"A life-or-death situation, idlers beware!"

It was clear. The "idlers" here included Dao Slayers, and even himself, a Heaven's Secret Puppet.

"So strong."

Xu Xiaoshou's scalp tingled, and even his soul felt as if it would crack from the sword hums. At this moment, the ten thousand silent swords were hovering in mid-air, forming a unified sword array. At the core of the array, Elder Sang stood with his arms lowered, wearing a sleeveless straw cloak. He seemed to be smiling.

In this world, if there truly was such a thing as archenemies, then Sang Qiye seemed to have been entangled with Gou Wuyue, one of the Seven Sword Immortals, for decades, an entanglement he could never completely sever in his lifetime. Things happen once, and then twice, but they always end at the third time. This battle was one he had coveted. Likewise, it was a battle Gou Wuyue coveted.

But before the battle...

Elder Sang turned his head, his lips moving silently. "Run."

A single word reached Xu Xiaoshou's ear, and he immediately felt the restraint around his stiff body break, regaining his mobility. He nodded, knowing what was best to do at this moment.

"Vanishing..."

Before he could even finish half the thought in his mind, suddenly, with a "噗" sound, he spat out a mouthful of blood. Xu Xiaoshou was dumbfounded.

"Thump-thump!"

"Thump-thump!"

His heart suddenly pounded wildly. Xu Xiaoshou didn't understand why. He was stunned for a long time before he remembered that this seemed somewhat similar to a special sensation brought by "Perception"—an instinctive urge. But never had such an urge been so terrifying, causing his Grandmaster's body to inexplicably spit out blood!

The info bar trembled: "Targeted, Passive Value, 1."