Chapter 23
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Chapter 23: Senior Did Great
"The Palace Master has decreed it; I have no choice but to obey."
Han Dongliu straightened up, retrieved the edict, his expression turning sharp as a blade.
"You wish to take action inside Heaven’s Secret Pavilion?" Ye Xu smiled.
Seeing Ye Xu’s smile, Han Dongliu felt a surge of unease. Yet, the backing of the Xuanfu Palace bolstered him to continue his threats before Ye Xu.
"Master, our Xuanfu Palace has stood unshaken in the Southern Wilderness for over a hundred thousand years. Our Palace Master is a supreme God King, only one step away from ascending to Sagehood."
"The Palace Master personally dispatched me to invite you, Master, as a sincere gesture of goodwill."
"Now that you refuse, Master, blame not this humble servant for showing no mercy."
Han Dongliu’s gaze turned icy. He activated his Xuan art, preparing to mobilize his spiritual power to seize Ye Xu.
The next instant.
Han Dongliu’s expression froze solid.
His spiritual power, even his Divine Sense, was utterly unmovable. He couldn’t even summon the divine weapon nurtured within his Purple Palace space.
At this moment, he might as well have been powerless as a newborn chick.
"You… what did you do to me?" Han Dongliu asked in terror.
"Do you have any idea how formidable the Xuanfu Palace truly is?"
Ye Xian’er looked at him with pity.
Han Dongliu wasn’t the first cultivator to think of acting within Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, but he was definitely the most foolish.
Cultivators like Qin Haishan, the moment they sensed something amiss, immediately apologized profusely.
None were as dense as Han Dongliu, still trying to threaten Ye Xu with the Xuanfu Palace.
"Xuanfu Palace?"
Ye Xu chuckled softly, "Forgive my bluntness, but it wasn’t until you stepped into Heaven’s Secret Pavilion that I even knew where the Xuanfu Palace was located."
"Daoist friend, you have violated Heaven’s Secret Pavilion’s cardinal taboo. A mere Xuanfu Palace cannot shield you."
"You took action in Linglong City, and twenty-six civilians perished because of it. Thus, I sentence you to die twenty-six times. Consider it atonement for your sins."
Han Dongliu’s eyes bulged.
Ye Xian’er was equally astonished. Could one life truly endure death twenty-six times?
Soon, both understood Ye Xu’s meaning.
The first death: Han Dongliu was disintegrated by sword energy, his body ground to dust, his primordial spirit shattered into nothingness.
The second death: Han Dongliu was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, cooked until his skin blistered and flesh split, a truly horrifying sight.
The third…
Half an hour passed. Han Dongliu died exactly twenty-six times.
This time, with his primordial spirit thoroughly annihilated, Han Dongliu’s lifeless body was tossed out of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.
Ye Xian’er watched, dumbfounded. "Senior, you are truly amazing! Why not become my master?"
Killing a living person then reviving the dead, repeating this twenty-six times—such methods could elude even spirits, defying belief.
Han Dongliu suffered far too terribly.
"He got off easy," Ye Xu remarked coldly. A single life could never atone for twenty-six. That man viewed lives as weeds, treated mortals as ants, slaughtering without restraint. Death twenty-six times over was his just due.
Ye Xian’er had been worried about Ye Xu facing Xuanfu Palace’s retaliation. But now, it seemed Xuanfu Palace should be the one trembling, not Ye Xu.
Han Dongliu’s divine weapon, Qian Kun Ring, and anything of value remained with Ye Xu.
"System, exchange."
[One divine weapon, six second-tier divine weapons… Total value: 4000 heavenly secrets points.]
Ye Xu was very satisfied.
Killing and arson brought gold indeed—the ancients spoke truly.
He now possessed 20,000 heavenly secrets points.
Thud!
A corpse, charred black, its flesh nearly cremated beyond recognition, flew out of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion. Only the golden talisman on its robe and the Xuanfu Order clutched in Han Dongliu’s hand remained distinctly visible.
"I know who that is!"
A passerby, spotting Han Dongliu’s body, raged: "That bastard’s robes match Xuanfu Palace intruders who stormed Linglong City. It has to be him."
"The master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion is a good man! He eliminated a scourge for the people!"
The crowd cheered and jeered, declaring Han Dongliu got less than he deserved.
Amidst the people, a shadow slithered silently across the ground, faintly showing a human face—the Shadow Divine God of the Red Dust Demon Sect.
"Isn’t that Han Dongliu?"
The Shadow Divine God’s gaze trembled. Though disfigured, he recognized him.
A Divine God, slain on the spot, discarded outside like trash.
This master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion… was utterly ruthless.
"It seems I mustn’t act recklessly either. I need to ask the City Lord of Linglong." Thoroughly frightened, the Shadow Divine God immediately headed toward Linglong City.
Inside his palace, the City Lord of Linglong was poring over the Great Five Elements Sword Formation when footsteps echoed outside.
"City Lord, wonderful news!"
Zhao Cheng burst in, beaming. "That wretch has been killed! Dumped right outside Heaven’s Secret Pavilion!"
"Who?"
The City Lord hadn’t grasped Zhao Cheng’s meaning.
"The Divine God from Xuanfu Palace," Zhao Cheng added. He didn’t know Han Dongliu’s name, so referred only to his faction.
"Hahaha…"
The City Lord threw his head back in laughter, choking so hard on his own spit he coughed violently. Once he caught his breath, he slammed the table. "Splendid! That senior handled this superbly!"
Inside Linglong City, none but the master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion could kill Han Dongliu.
Moreover, hurling Han Dongliu directly outside Heaven’s Secret Pavilion was tantamount to declaring war on Xuanfu Palace.
If they only knew—Ye Xu had simply lacked the strength to affect the world beyond Heaven’s Secret Pavilion—it begged the question of how they might react.
"How formidable is that master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion?"
Suddenly, a raspy voice echoed through Linglong Hall.
A shadowy mass writhed in mid-air, coalescing into a distorted human shape with an indistinct, chillingly unnatural face.
"You… who are you?"
Zhao Cheng panicked, shouting hastily, "Guards! Guards!"
That the City Lord’s residence had been infiltrated by an intruder left Zhao Cheng both terrified and enraged.
"Unnecessary alarm."
Shadow Divine God chuckled softly, a command token materializing in his palm.
The City Lord of Linglong peered closely and instantly relaxed. "Ah, an elder from the Red Dust Demon Sect!"
"This humble servant, City Lord of Linglong, pays respects to the elder!"
Shadow Divine God stated, "Since Heaven’s Secret Pavilion resides in Linglong City, you, as City Lord, surely grasp its circumstances?"
"Not entirely."
"Report truthfully."
After the City Lord of Linglong relayed all he knew, Shadow Divine God’s expression turned peculiar. "An elder obsessed solely with business?"
"Reclusive masters naturally differ from worldly folk," the City Lord replied.
"This second-tier divine weapon shall be your reward."
Shadow Divine God casually tossed an obsidian divine ring to the City Lord of Linglong before dissolving back into shadow, vanishing from Linglong Hall.
"Omniscient and omnipotent, comprehending past and present? If true… then the sect master’s ascension to sainthood is attainable."
He soared toward Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.
Now convinced that the Pavilion Master was no bloodthirsty demon, Shadow Divine God proceeded fearlessly—his mission demanded immediate action at Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.
After all, he too acted under orders.
…
Xuanfu Palace.
"Report!"
A pseudo-divine being staggered into Xuanfu Divine Hall from Xuandeng Hall, collapsing tearfully before the throne where the Master of Xuanfu Palace sat.
"Palace Master… Elder Han… has fallen."
Sobs wracked the pseudo-divine being, grief staining his face with tears.
"Cease this undignified weeping,"
the Master of Xuanfu Palace—a woman—snapped coldly, her expression dark. "Explain. What transpired?"
Just moments ago, Elder Han’s soul lamp flickered intermittently, dimming and brightening twenty-six times in total before finally extinguishing," reported the pseudo-divine being guarding the Hall of Mystical Lanterns.
"Twenty-six dimmings?" The Master of Xuanfu Palace’s expression darkened as she fumed, "When a person dies, the lamp goes out. How could a soul lamp dim and brighten twenty-six times?"
"You wretch! How dare you fabricate lies to deceive me?"
"Guards!"
Summoned by the Palace Master, a pseudo-divine being entered the Xuanfu Divine Hall.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Lock this creature away in the dungeons for a year," ordered the Master of Xuanfu Palace.
"Palace Master, I am innocent! Every word I spoke was true, without a shred of falsehood," pleaded the pseudo-divine being from the Hall of Mystical Lanterns through tears.
"Palace Master, I beg for your mercy!"
But the Palace Master remained as cold and unmovable as iron, utterly ignoring the creature’s desperate wails. She watched impassively as the guards restrained its cultivation base and dragged it from the hall.
"Twenty-six dimmings? Does that mean Han Dongliu died twenty-six times?"
"That’s utterly preposterous! Sheer nonsense!"
Furious, the Palace Master let out a cold laugh. Yet, within moments, she regained her composure.
Truth or lie, one thing was certain:
Han Dongliu was dead.
"Master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion," she hissed, her voice icy. "So you’d prefer the rod over the wine?"
With a flicker of thought, she summoned Luo Tianfeng.
Shortly after, Luo Tianfeng entered the divine hall, accompanied by a tall, powerfully built man clad in silver armor.
"Han Dongliu is dead."
The Palace Master’s words struck like thunder.
"What?"
Luo Tianfeng cried out in shock. "The master of that Heaven’s Secret Pavilion dared act against our Xuanfu Palace?"
The silver-armored man frowned slightly; this Heaven’s Secret Pavilion was unknown to him.
"Whether it was Heaven’s Secret Pavilion’s doing remains unknown for now," the Palace Master stated coldly.
"Lu Yu, you and Luo Tianfeng are to go immediately. Investigate the cause of Han Dongliu’s death."
"If it truly was Heaven’s Secret Pavilion that did this," her eyes turned venomous, "then raze that pavilion to the ground."
"For over a hundred thousand years, our Xuanfu Palace, seated upon the Southern Wilderness, has held undisputed dominance. Now, some reckless fool dares to cause trouble for us before Tai Sui—truly growing weary of life!"
"I shall obey the command," Lu Yu acknowledged.
