"I'll kill you!" Guàn Yin's Dao of Unyielding Pride erupted as she was surrounded by a faint white light, her aura spiked in intensity by several times, but unfortunately, compared to Yan Zaizen's Dao, her amplification was far too little. As a bestowed dao of the peak lower-tier, it couldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as Yan Zaizen's.
Towards her threat, Yan Zaizen only coldly smiled. At first, he was terrified at the thought of facing a Heavenly Genesis expert, but now that one was before him, he felt absolutely zero fear. If anything, he felt excitement and battle intent. To truly know one's combat strength, one must enter combat!
Guàn Yin didn't hesitate, despite being in the spatial slit, she directly turned her palm, bringing forth a peak-grade sky-rank armament. The armament was a white saber, from blade to hilt, and it gave off faint fluctuations of sharpness that seemed ready to sever the world with a single slash. As she brandished her saber, a prideful and tyrannical aura erupted from its point. The spatial void quaked ferociously.
However, she didn't stop there. Her dantian radiated a vast heavenly aura. From within, a heavenly shrine with only one-level manifested so clearly that one could glimpse at it from any directions. To Yan Zaizen, he was intrigued and also a little wary. This was the first time witnessing a heavenly shrine in action. It looked like a building, to be more accurate, like a temple.
It had a flat roof with curved tips, pillars supporting the roof, an entrance, a foundation, and even a hollow inside. The pillars had white saber markings etched onto it, the hollow inside had swirling orbs of condensed heavenly energy floating about, and the entire palace was golden with a faint white glow. Despite this description, it was no larger than a baby's fist!
"She's comprehended a saber-based conceptual law, and built her Heavenly Shrine around that, be careful. The offensive power of a saber law should not be underestimated." Pinaka warned. Despite having total confidence in Yan Zaizen's abilities to survive and fight, she felt it was necessary to do this much.
As if reinforcing the idea that Heavenly Genesis cultivators need to be taken seriously, Guàn Yin raised her saber, and with unyielding momentum, she valiantly chopped down! Saber energy sliced outwards with speed that exceeded Yan Zaizen's soul energy by a considerable degree, and before long, it'd already reached him.
With a clenched fist, Yan Zaizen barreled forward without fear. He punched outwards, all the strength in his physical body was placed behind this strike as it met the saber energy head-on.
BOOM!!!
The surrounding spatial void started to fragment as if only a little more was required to shatter. The saber energy was dissipated upon the collision, and Yan Zaizen's fist was unharmed. As Guàn Yin saw this, her pupils constricted with intense fear. Yan Zaizen, on the other hand, felt even more confident than ever before. His previous wariness dissipated with that one punch.
Unwilling to lower his momentum, taking a step forward, he shattered the fragile space beneath him. In the time it takes for a flint to spark, he arrived before her with a readied fist.
With a thunderous shout, he barreled his fist towards her. Instinctively, she created a spherical barrier of true-essence. Unfortunately, the moment his fist came in contact with the sphere, it shattered like glass facing a high-speed cannonball.
BOOM!!!
Her willowy body viciously collided with Yan Zaizen's fist. With this, her body was sent flying like a loose kite in a grand storm as the residual energy completely shattered the surrounding spatial void. As if unwilling to hold them within its confines any longer, the spatial void spewed them out into the White Crane Sect's territory. With this, they were separated as they exited from different points several hundred li apart.
However, how could Yan Zaizen give up his momentum?
With his spiritual sense infused with his Mortal Dao, he located Guàn Yin's flying body instantly. With another step forward, he sundered the skies, shattered the solid earth beneath his feet, and penetrated across space like a missile. The level of physical exertion he placed on the surroundings caused the fragile continent to quiver as earthquakes plagued the entire White Crane Sect's territory. Many buildings with weak foundations directly collapsed!
"This!" Guàn Yin's pupils constricted to a needlepoint. Her expression revealed utter disbelief and terrifying levels of fear at Yan Zaizen relentless pursuit. Yan Zaizen's speed was far, far too fast for her to react to. Even with her heavenly sense, she could only perceive him coming, but not fully react to his attacks. The very first blow had already severely injured her physical body and qi foundation to the point it was nearing total collapse.
In front of this man before her, she couldn't even formulate a proper defense.
She was terrified.
The sensation of an intense deadly crisis caused her scalp to turn numb as she sensed Yan Zaizen shot through several hundred of li in distance towards her within milliseconds.
"!" With what little she could do, she constructed what little defense she could, withdrawing a talisman from her spatial ring, and crushing it without hesitation. The moment she did that, Yan Zaizen was already before her with viciousness spewing and a readied fist that seemed intent on shattering the world!
With a thundering roar, he threw this fist forward with indomitable momentum, crashing against her barrier, penetrating said barrier, and smashing heavily against her physical body once more. With another resounding boom, she smashed helplessly into the ground. In her wake, she crushed countless residences and many other locations, producing a crater the size of a football field at her impact zone.
"She has a pseudo spirit-rank defensive armament," Pinaka's notified Yan Zaizen. In truth, he realized that when he smashed into her before. It was as if a thin barrier dispersed a majority of the force in his fist while protecting her body from shattering. He stood in mid-air, his eyes looking at Guàn Yin's bloodied and broken body in the crater. Despite her protection, her body was essentially in shambles. If it was someone in the Essence Path, it's likely they'd have long since perished.
At this point, he wasn't in a rush to kill Guàn Yin. In truth, he didn't even wish to kill her to begin with. To reach her level of cultivation, she didn't deserve to die because of her disciple's mistakes. However, he needed to establish dominance and relay a message to all others: Do Not Offend Me.
His gaze suddenly shifted towards the north. He could see a spatial slit forming; a new arrival was coming.
He decided that he was going to make his identity known. He'll be a genuine powerhouse, with a name that resonates across the entire Xiantu Realm. With this, his subordinates will be directly protected by his name alone, and not a single person would dare offend him. Therefore, he wasn't in a rush.
Guàn Yin stayed in her crater, her eyes flickering with rage and fury. Not only did this man steal her disciple, he also nearly collapsed her physical body. If it wasn't for her pseudo spirit-ranked defensive armament, her life would've already been reaped away. As she gazed at Yan Zaizen's calm expression as if her life and death were only a thought away, her eyes suffused with venomous hatred.
From the spatial slit, a figure appeared with calm steps. He had a handsome appearance, looked like he was around sixteen or seventeen years old, but he had eyes that were filled with unlimited pride and wisdom. He dressed in a white martial robe that seemed to be without a hint of taint. His aura was profoundly steady, and space seemed to be obedient in his presence. This was an indication that he was a Heavenly Genesis expert.
"The expert that bestowed his Mortal Dao to Guàn Yin," Yan Zaizen remarked. From his eyes and familiar aura of the dao, he could tell this was the person who bestowed his dao to the White Crane Sect. He was the reason for their rise. From what Yan Zaizen remembered, he married a woman from the sect.
The young man's eyes looked at Guàn Yin bloodied and distorted body, his eyes suffused with a hint of disappointment. Shifting those very eyes, he looked at Yan Zaizen with an intrigued gaze.
Yan Zaizen replied with his own. From his instincts, he felt zero fear from this person. As such, he decided to converse with Pinaka instead. "How strong do you think I am?" As he displayed his maximum capabilities which treated a one-floor Heavenly Genesis expert like trash, he felt Pinaka should be able to make a somewhat accurate estimation.
"Hm...From what I can see, your full strength should rival a peak two-floor Heavenly Genesis expert. If you were to execute actual martial arts with your Herculean Avatar Art: Life Form, it's hard to say." Her words contained a little surprise, but also intense excitement. She had her suspicions, but it seemed that her assumptions were true. Somehow, Yan Zaizen not only refined a second regalia into his body, but he also refined the strength of a two-floor hell altar into his body.
As she was locked within his soul form by those threads of hell, she had no idea what happened. However, this meant Yan Zaizen was no longer a small character.
"Your name?" The young man spoke, his voice carrying for thousands of li, yet he didn't seem to shout.
"Yan Zaizen," he calmly replied, adding, "yours?"
"Gu Yu."
"So, shall we fight?" Yan Zaizen had a faint smile on his face, his fist clenching in anticipation. As it did, the world quaked slightly at the force he exerted by this simple action alone. In truth, he was raring to engage in combat. However, the young man only furrowed his brows, looking again towards Guàn Yin.
"No." He waved his hand, sending a small, golden bottle towards Yan Zaizen. It sped towards him like a comet. Witnessing this, Yan Zaizen was a little surprised. Catching the bottle in his palm, he looked at the contents. It was liquid, a small amount, perhaps a tenth of a fluid ounce. It radiated a heavenly aura, very similar to Guàn Yin's heavenly shrine.
"Heavenly Law Liquid?" He was shocked. Why would the young man give him this? A single drop of this was beyond valuable, but this was around 50 drops of Heavenly Law Liquid. He looked at the young man with dense skepticism that couldn't be hidden.
"Spare the White Crane Sect. All I ask." As he said that, he looked at Guàn Yin once more and shook his head with profound disappointment. How could he not know what happened? Guàn Yin offended someone that could rival the Xiantu Emperor! What the hell was she thinking?
With that, he didn't even ask for any more information, simply re-entered his spatial slit. It closed behind him, and his aura vanished.
"..." Guàn Yin was speechless.
"..." Yan Zaizen was confused. When did he ever say he'd destroy the White Crane Sect? Well, cultivators were far more decisive than normal, and he likely just jumped to the most logical conclusion based on the given circumstances. In that case, he turned towards Guàn Yin. He fully intended to end her existence. After all, it's not like he agreed to spare her nor did he even agree to spare the White Crane Sect.
Witnessing Yan Zaizen turn his focus back on her while radiating dense killing intent, her entire body felt icy-cold, especially her heart. "Wait!" Her holy, untouchable appearance shattered as she shouted in full panic.
"Hm?" Halting, he looked at her with curious eyes.
"Here!" Taking out a similar golden bottle, she threw it viciously towards Yan Zaizen.
Directly afterwards, she decisively shouted with a tone as sharp as a blade, "From henceforth, Guàn Yao is no longer a disciple of I, Guàn Yin, nor is she a disciple of the White Crane Sect! Her actions are condemnable and hated by both gods and men alike! I swear a heavenly oath that I, Guàn Yin, shall not seek revenge for my former disciple's fate! Whether she dies or otherwise!" Her voice resounded across the entire continent. A faint song of the heavens resonated.
"..."
WHAT?!