Chapter 2082: Complete Self-Destruction

This long spear was precisely the offensive pseudo-deity realm treasure controlled by the middle-aged man from the Temple. He had refined it on the way here but had never used it, intending to hide it along his escape route and deliver a fatal blow.

Previously, succeeding would have been almost impossible. But now, the opponent was severely wounded, further eroded by the aura of decay, reducing his strength to less than one percent. Moreover, it was a sneak attack. Although he dodged a direct hit to the head, the spear pierced through his shoulder and out his chest. The injury was severe enough to prevent him from escaping again.

He plummeted from the air into the water, creating a large splash.

Once in the water, the four Celestial Beasts were in their element. The sea churned and roiled. A few breaths later, the dying old man appeared before them.

If Zhang Xuan's various methods had caused him to lose ninety percent of his life force, then the four Celestial Beasts' encirclement nearly depleted ninety percent of the remaining ten percent!

In his current state, if not for the resilient will forged over many years, he would likely have fallen into a coma and completely lost consciousness.

"Who is this master you speak of? Why did he want to kill me?" Zhang Xuan's voice carried hints of hypnosis and allure, as the four Celestial Beasts brought the old man over.

Soul Oracles were masters of interrogation, capable of extracting any information they desired. Zhang Xuan simply chose not to employ such methods ordinarily.

Unaffected by any allure, the old man sneered, "I finally understand why my master was so determined to capture you... You truly are capable! The victor becomes king, the vanquished a bandit. Since I've lost, death is my only option. Dream on if you think you can pry information from my mouth..."

"Damn it, retreat!" Before the man could finish speaking, Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted. Disregarding everything else, he swiftly plunged into the ocean. The four Celestial Beasts also sensed the danger and, without hesitation, dove into the water with him.

Just as they entered the water, a colossal explosion instantly reached their ears. This was followed by an immense sense of pressure and overwhelming heat descending from the sky, as if to evaporate the entire sea surface!

A massive mushroom cloud rose from above. Seawater thrown up by the explosion scattered for hundreds of kilometers, resembling a torrential downpour.

Zhang Xuan and the four Celestial Beasts simultaneously spat out blood in the sea. It took them a long time to stabilize themselves.

From the moment they reacted to the impact of the force, less than three breaths passed. In that short time, they had already reached tens of thousands of meters beneath the sea, traveling for dozens of miles. Even then, they barely withstood it and were almost instantly annihilated.

One could imagine that if they had been at the epicenter of the explosion, they would likely have been utterly destroyed, their souls scattered.

"He self-destructed?" Back on the surface, looking at the massive crater in the sea caused by the explosion nearby, the Black-backed Turtle, despite its invincible defense, still trembled uncontrollably.

He had long heard that cultivators from the Temple were all fanatics, but he never expected... they were *this* crazy!

Without a word, he just self-destructed... If their master hadn't reacted quickly and led them into the ocean, they would probably have been instantly killed. It was terrifying.

"What a shame..." Zhang Xuan shook his head.

"Master, are you lamenting that he self-destructed his hard-earned cultivation, showing such little regard for his own life?" The Great Shark looked over.

"I'm just lamenting that I spent such a huge price and gained absolutely nothing in return. It's a bit sad..." Zhang Xuan said.

The four Celestial Beasts were silent.

To kill that guy, he had truly gone all out. He used a pseudo-deity realm corpse, the aura of decay, and even the iron chain was severely damaged because of it... He had hoped to at least gain a more powerful golden figure in return, but the result was... absolutely nothing!

He had completely self-destructed, his soul scattered. In other words, this battle resulted in such heavy losses yet yielded nothing. The thought was quite depressing.

However, in a battle of life and death, there were always gains and losses. At least he wasn't injured, and the opponent was dead, which could be considered a profit.

With a grab of his hand, the iron chain flew before him. He pointed a finger, and several bottles of "bathwater" appeared, enveloping the chain.

Before long, the iron chain's injuries were completely healed, and its previous weakness was gone.

He had naturally anticipated this point when letting the chain take such a risk. Otherwise, he would have been reluctant to waste a pseudo-deity realm defensive artifact.

"Let's go back!" Knowing that the Temple had suffered such a heavy loss, they probably wouldn't send anyone else in the short term. Remaining here wouldn't attract any more strong cultivators. Just as Zhang Xuan was about to put the Black-backed Turtle and the other beasts back into his beast pet bag, a voice rang out.

"Master, were you looking for me just now? Is something the matter?" Immediately after, a small yellow chick wobbled into view. Its tiny body swayed incessantly, as if it had just woken up from a hangover.

Zhang Xuan's scalp tingled. He strongly suppressed the urge to rush over and beat it senseless.

When he needed it earlier, it was sound asleep, as if dead. Yet, when the enemy self-destructed, it woke up and asked what was wrong... If he weren't good-tempered, and if he wasn't sure he couldn't defeat it, he would have surely struck it already.

"Your strength... why hasn't it increased?" The Great Shark's puzzled voice rang out.

Zhang Xuan was startled. He quickly looked over and also noticed something was amiss.

He had thought that after consuming the divine blood, the little yellow chick's cultivation would skyrocket, allowing it to break through the peak of Immortal Lord and achieve pseudo-deity realm, just like the Black-backed Turtle and Great Shark. He never dreamed... it would be exactly the same as before, with no change in cultivation whatsoever, and its body size also identical!

It was as if... the divine blood it had consumed earlier had no effect on it at all!

How was this possible? Even if there wasn't much of the blood, it was still genuine divine blood. How could it have no effect?

"I don't know either. After drinking that drop of blood, I felt like I was drunk and just slept for a while... Apparently, besides making a chick sleepy, it has no other effects!" Looking left and right, the little yellow chick twitched its somewhat bald tail and said.

In fact, it was also quite depressed, feeling some doubt about its "chick life."

It had also thought that consuming divine blood would advance its cultivation and allow it to successfully break through to the pseudo-deity realm. But now it seemed completely useless! If that were the case, how was it supposed to improve?

"Alright then..." After asking in detail and even examining it thoroughly, Zhang Xuan found that the little yellow chick was indeed no different from before it consumed the divine blood. Zhang Xuan then helplessly waved his hand, putting the four Celestial Beasts and the chick into his beast pet bag, and flew back towards Star-chasing Island.

Between cultivating and setting up an ambush for the Temple expert, nearly a day had passed. The Star-chasing Palace Master's succession ceremony was also about to commence.

Previously, whether becoming the sect leader of Myriad Beasts Gate or Seven Star Tower, he had used pseudonyms, leading people to believe they were two different individuals. Now, the same Zhang Xuan had become the master of two major sects: Lingyun Sword Pavilion and Star-chasing Palace...

He truly wondered how big a commotion this would cause! He estimated that other sects on Star-chasing Island who had heard the news were already in an uproar!

Just as Zhang Xuan had guessed, Star-chasing Island was indeed in an uproar.

"Why should someone from our Star-chasing Palace appoint an outsider as our master? And where has the Palace Master gone? Why isn't *she* announcing this news?"

"It seems like the Grand Elder, in conjunction with the other elders, made this decision. The Palace Master is nowhere to be found; she's not in the sect!"

"To establish a new master while the current one is absent... isn't that rebellion?!"

"How could it be rebellion? It's said that before leaving, the Palace Master left instructions for this Master Zhang Xuan to succeed her position..."

Such discussions were rampant within Star-chasing Palace.

As native inhabitants of the Forsaken Continent, they had always been at odds with other sects. Under normal circumstances, their own master should appoint one of their own people. Yet, they allowed the master of Lingyun Sword Pavilion to take over... This had never happened in the thousands of years since Star-chasing Palace was founded!

It went against their rules and ancestral teachings!

"Everyone, quiet!" Hearing these discussions, an elder snorted, "The reason we decided to appoint Master Zhang Xuan as our Palace Master is because Palace Master Du, when offering sacrifices to the deities, received their instruction and approval. What... do you think you are stronger than the deities themselves?"

"Received instruction from the deities?" Those who were full of doubts instantly trembled with fear, not daring to say anything more.

As members of Star-chasing Palace, they always held reverence for the deities in their hearts. Since the elder said so, there must be a reason for it, and they dared not question it further.

While the Star-chasing Palace members were easy to explain to, the other sects were utterly bewildered.

In a spacious room, Han Jianqiu sat, equally confused.

"What exactly did the Sect Master do? To make... Star-chasing Palace willingly establish him as their Master?"

He knew that the Sect Master had always intended to come to the Star-chasing Sea, but he never expected that after only a few days here, he would oust Du Qingyuan from her position and become the master himself...

Could it be that he rushed here just to become their master? If so, why did he claim to be a rogue cultivator?

"Regardless, our sect and Star-chasing Palace will definitely have to communicate closely and share weal and woe from now on!" He shook his head.

Since two major sects now revered the same person as their master, as elders of the sect, they naturally dared not say much, nor could they, and could only abide by the regulations.

"Han Jianqiu, what exactly is going on?!" As he was musing, the air in the room shimmered, and a figure rushed in—Elder Qin Yuan of Myriad Beasts Gate!

"If you don't explain this clearly today, our Seven Star Tower will never let it go!" Sect Master Kui Xiao also followed closely behind, flying to stand before him.

As this news spread, these two former sect masters, who had already arrived at Star-chasing Palace, could no longer restrain themselves. They collectively came to find Han Jianqiu, wanting to understand what on earth was happening.

When did Lingyun Sword Pavilion and Star-chasing Palace start sharing the same master?!

Originally, the six major sects were independent, with no alliances or conflicts between them, coexisting quite harmoniously. Now, with one master managing two major sects, their combined power would double...

Naturally, the other sects grew nervous.

"This... I don't know either!" Han Jianqiu forced a bitter smile.

"Don't know?" Elder Qin Yuan, known for his fiery temper, scowled upon hearing this. He couldn't help but wave his hand, saying, "Your actions put us in a passive position. Believe it or not, our Myriad Beasts Gate and Seven Star Tower can also form an alliance!"

"Exactly! If our two major sects form an alliance, with our newly appointed Sect Master Liu Yang and their Sect Master Zheng Yang..." Elder Kui Xiao stated, "...even if you share Master Zhang Xuan, who comprehends the Sword Intent of Deities, you would still suffer losses!"