I accidentally looked back and saw a small black dot laughing hysterically.
After a moment of silence, I suddenly said in a low voice, “Someone has been staring at us. It seems his status isn’t low.” After all, that staff covered in gems was exceptionally eye-catching.
The wind had been too strong just now. I really couldn’t hear what he was mumbling.
Xi Zhiruo couldn’t be bothered to pay him any mind. “Who knows.”
The little one was still very cold. This was somewhat inherited from me; I was also virtually unapproachable and cold toward strangers I wasn’t familiar with. My tenderness was reserved only for those close to me.
The Great Priest’s eyes were feverish as he stared fixedly at the location of the spirit boat.
Finally, after the spirit boat arrived at a certain spot, he raised his staff high amidst wild laughter. “Surrender before the First Array!”
At this moment, the spirit boat was only a few hundred kilometers away from Sky Abyss. While this distance seemed far, to a cultivator, it was only a few breaths away.
Suddenly, within Xi Zhiruo’s slightly confused large eyes, an array that blotted out the sun formed, and countless phantom sword lights were thrust into the void. It bore the posture of 10,000 Swords Returning to the Ancestor, as if it would slice toward the spirit boat in the next second.
Pressure swept across heaven and earth.
It could only be said that it truly lived up to its name as the First Array. The naturally activated power alone was enough to make experts of the 3- or 4-Source levels unable to breathe, let alone the countless sword shadows hanging overhead, which could strip away any thought of resistance. This was no longer something human strength could contend with.
7-Source was a threshold. Below 7-Source, all were ants; this saying was definitely not a joke.
Once one stepped into this realm, it meant they had touched the ranks of high-level Source-grade experts and could initially regularize their Source-grade power. Although they could not yet form their own supreme Rule Domain like a Half-Emperor, they were no longer beings that low- or mid-level Source-grade experts could resist.
Rules were the supreme attribute, things that could not be violated.
At this moment, such an invincible sword array hung right above Xi Zhiruo’s head, ready to strike down and take her life at any time. These weren’t Xi Zhiruo’s words, but a scene the Great Priest kept imagining amidst his wild laughter.
Xi Zhiruo raised her small hand and threw a careless punch forward.
One-third of the sword light filling the sky dissipated.
Xi Zhiruo’s small face remained calm, showing no reaction.
I, however, sucked in a breath of cold air. This was the first time I had ever seen something that Nannan didn’t shatter with a single punch.
Seeing this, the Great Priest’s laughter grew even more arrogant. “Have you already exhausted your strength?”
“That’s right, this is a sword array you won’t be able to break in your entire life.”
“The supreme array laid down by my master.”
“I admit, you are indeed somewhat powerful; using your full strength was enough to shatter a small portion of the sword shadows.”
“But it ends here.”
“Because as long as the array does not dissipate, sword shadows will continue to generate.”
“This is the price for your stubbornness.”
“This place shall be your burial ground.”
“Weakness is the original sin. After all, not everyone is as powerful as my master.”
Xi Zhiruo tilted her head. This time, she heard clearly what this person had been babbling about.
7-Source was no longer considered weak; it could at least be counted as entering the high-level camp. But that was all.
With the careless punch over, Xi Zhiruo’s gaze grew a bit more serious. Of course, that was also all it was—she was just becoming slightly more serious. She didn’t even deploy her supreme Rule Domain, merely condensing her Dao Fruit. Pitch-black energy gathered on her small fist, and the color of the sky changed in an instant as a ghost domain was born in a heartbeat.
She was in the Ghost Realm. In a territory filled with countless malevolent ghosts, she generated an oversized ghost domain.
The Great Priest’s jaw dropped to the ground. Just who was the ghost cultivator here? How could this human with a physical body perform the very technique ghost cultivators excelled at?
Boundless malevolent aura swirled as vengeful spirits wandered between heaven and earth.
With just one punch, countless cracks appeared on the array before them.
*Crack — crack —*
This was the omen of imminent collapse.
Xi Zhiruo looked at her small hand and murmured to herself, ‘So a Half-Emperor needs a second punch to resolve a 7-Source expert if they don’t release their Rule Domain?’
While she felt a bit of surprise, the Great Priest was already frozen in place, his eyes filled with disbelief.
How could this be!!
The invincible sword array his master had set up had been blasted with countless cracks by just one punch. The Great Priest was panicked beyond recognition.
‘Has the array fallen into disrepair over the years?’
He even considered that possibility. However, after repeated inspections, there was nothing wrong with the array.
She — just who was she? What was her realm?
The Great Priest was already trembling. When did such a terrifying expert appear in this world? She was even stronger than his master in his prime.
Because Xi Zhiruo had gone through childbirth, her appearance had changed. The Great Priest did not recognize her as the First Experimental Subject who had escaped. The Great Priest was the Third Experimental Subject and the most loyal subordinate of the number one evil cultivator.
In the center of the overwhelming, pitch-black ghostly qi, Xi Zhiruo condensed her fist once more. Simultaneously, the small tree in her sea of consciousness swayed continuously. This was the symbol of the Dao Fruit being fully activated.
This punch was her strongest strike outside of her Rule Domain.
After all, the greatest change for a Half-Emperor expert was their Rule Domain. Once they left the supreme domain, they were no different from an ordinary 9-Source expert. When a 9-Source expert fought a 7-Source expert, both being in the high ranks, it didn’t mean the former could kill the latter with a single punch. That would be too exaggerated.
Even so, these two punches were enough to make the Great Priest’s blood run cold. There was actually someone in this world who could destroy a great array comparable to a 7-Source expert in just two punches.
He was terrified. He even thought of the nameless expert who was born some time ago.
‘Could it be —’
An incredible guess emerged in his heart. ‘Could it be the person before me?’
Xi Zhiruo threw her punch, a trace of a smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.
“Is weakness the original sin?”
She returned those words exactly as they had been given.
The wild wind raged across heaven and earth, but the Great Priest still heard those words clearly, as if they were echoing right in his ear. In the next second, he saw countless sword shadows crushed by a single punch. The array known to the world as the First Great Array of Heaven and Earth had reached its end under this punch, collapsing into dust before his eyes.
An instant later, the sky cleared and the earth brightened.
Above Sky Abyss, there wasn’t a single trace of the invincible sword array left.
The Great Priest slumped to the ground completely; fear had rendered him speechless.
Unbeatable! This was an absolutely unbeatable enemy.
Suddenly, amidst his despair, the Great Priest denied it again. No, it wasn’t!! It wasn’t impossible to win. If it was just shattering the invincible sword array in two punches, then his awakened master could also do it.
In the next second, he felt a flicker of hope again. As long as he could awaken his master early, he could surely cut this person down!!
No one could be his master’s opponent; this was the innate, fanatical worship deep in his heart.