Chapter 1921 - Reign Supreme Under Heaven

Confronted by Liu Wuxie's challenge, Li Baoshu remained frozen beneath the arena, fear robbing him of the courage to advance.

Jeering laughter swiftly erupted from the surroundings. Li Baoshu had ambushed Liu Wuxie only moments ago, so he should have known that retribution would come.

Li Baoshu's face darkened. He understood all too well that his mastery of spiritual arrays could never rival Liu Wuxie's. Another category might have offered him some hope, but Liu Wuxie specialized in teaching spiritual arrays at the Azure Flame Dao Hall.

"Get up there," Elder Gu ordered, rising to his feet.

Despite everything that had happened, the Celestial Moon Dao Hall still retained a slender chance of victory. If they seize it, they might yet reverse the entire situation.

Li Baoshu had no desire to enter the arena, but no alternative remained. Refusal would count as forfeiture, allowing Liu Wuxie to kill him directly. Since death awaited him either way, he might as well stake everything on that faint hope of survival.

Li Baoshu's figure flashed, and he appeared opposite Liu Wuxie. Two array flags were already clutched in his hands, while three array compasses rested beneath his feet. He had brought every trump card he possessed into this match.

Darkness gradually crept across the sky. The competition had already been going on for four days, yet its conclusion was nowhere in sight. As the final rays of sunset washed over the spiritual array arena, Liu Wuxie and Li Baoshu cast long shadows into the distance.

"Li Baoshu, Liu Wuxie exhausted an enormous amount of immortal energy during the blacksmithing category. Stall him for as long as you can and drain whatever immortal energy he has left," a mentor shouted from below the arena.

Li Baoshu's eyes immediately brightened. The strategy could indeed work. Inscribing the Solar Rune and Lunar Rune while forging the blade should have consumed a tremendous amount of Liu Wuxie's immortal energy.

Furious curses erupted from the Azure Flame Dao Hall, condemning the Celestial Moon Dao Hall's shameless behavior.

When the sun finally vanished beyond the horizon, Li Baoshu launched his attack.

He could not afford another moment of delay. The longer he waited, the more immortal energy Liu Wuxie would recover.

The three array compasses shot through the air as streaks of light and settled around Liu Wuxie in a triangular formation.

Liu Wuxie produced neither an array compass nor an array flag. He merely stood in quiet composure and allowed Li Baoshu to complete all preparations.

Moments later, Li Baoshu swept the array flags through the air. The three array compasses expanded rapidly, swiftly forming the Heaven-Earth-Mortal Arrays.

"Today, you die, Liu Wuxie," Li Baoshu roared viciously.

A tempest of swords immediately materialized around Liu Wuxie, each blade carrying enough power to pierce a low-level Origin Immortal with ease.

It seemed like if Liu Wuxie had taken the initiative to establish a spiritual array of his own from the outset, the sword storm wouldn't have trapped him.

"You call this pathetic thing a spiritual array?" Liu Wuxie sneered.

He immediately executed the Seven Dipper Steps and slipped effortlessly through the descending rain of swords.

Swords plunged into the arena one after another, yet not a single blade so much as grazed the hem of Liu Wuxie's robes.

"What exquisite footwork! He uncovered the spiritual array's weakness almost instantly," the spiritual array experts exclaimed, shock gleaming in their eyes.

Perhaps the crowd's nerves had already gone numb. Only a few people reacted aloud, while everyone else observed the contest in stunned silence.

Liu Wuxie glided through the spiritual array and swept his right hand across the air. A rune formed in an instant and shot directly into the array compass on his right.

The moment the rune entered the array compass, a bizarre transformation occurred.

The array compass stopped abruptly, and Liu Wuxie seized control of it with astonishing ease.

This is bad! Li Baoshu cried inwardly.

He immediately threw away his array flags and began inscribing frantically with both hands, desperate to reclaim control of the array compass.

Liu Wuxie had no intention of granting him that chance. He traced another rune with his left hand and sent it flying into the array compass on the left. Moments later, that array compass also fell under his control.

The sight of Liu Wuxie stealing an opponent's array compass with a single rune left the entire crowd stunned.

Under ordinary circumstances, wresting control of someone else's array compass required countless runes. Liu Wuxie's method defied that limitation. The instant his single rune entered an array compass, it divided into hundreds of smaller runes.

Only one array compass remained beyond his control.

Liu Wuxie swept his right hand forward and inscribed a third rune.

Before Li Baoshu could respond, Liu Wuxie had already claimed all three array compasses.

"How could this possibly happen?" Li Baoshu asked, his face turning deathly pale. He stared blankly at the scene as though bewitched, too overwhelmed even to remember that he should continue attacking.

"I expected an exciting contest. Who could have imagined it would become such a one-sided slaughter?" the Kang Clan's patriarch remarked with a rueful smile.

The other clan patriarchs responded with equally bitter smiles. Language could no longer capture what they felt.

"He's a monster. Someone like Liu Wuxie never should have appeared in Eastern Emperor City," the Yue Clan's patriarch said.

Even the words monstrous prodigy were longer sufficient to describe Liu Wuxie. A person of his caliber belonged in the celestial realm's core regions, leaving everyone baffled by his presence there.

Speculation swiftly rippled through the crowd. "No one has uncovered Liu Wuxie's background even now. Could he have come from one of the celestial realm's core regions?"

Mystery continued to cloak Liu Wuxie's origins. No one knew where he came from or where his path would ultimately take him.

"Time to finish this," Liu Wuxie said as he beckoned.

The three array compasses surrounding him immediately shot outward, imprisoning Li Baoshu.

A thunderous rumble shook the arena as the three array compasses completely engulfed Li Baoshu. Lightning, wind, and a storm of swords battered him without mercy.

"That isn't the Heaven-Earth-Mortal Array anymore. Liu Wuxie has incorporated wind, rain, thunder, and lightning into it," an Azure Flame Dao Hall mentor exclaimed in shock.

Liu Wuxie had done far more than seize the array compasses. He had amplified their power severalfold.

Night settled over the arena, leaving only Li Baoshu's tormented screams echoing from within the spiritual array. Countless swords riddled his body with holes until he resembled a sieve. Blood stained the arena crimson while luminous pearls rose into the darkness and illuminated the entire Ten-Mile Slope.

Li Baoshu finally crumpled to the ground without a single patch of intact flesh remaining. He curled within the spreading blood like a mangled honeycomb.

The spectators inhaled sharply, and even the Divine Immortals felt chills crawl down their spines as they watched Liu Wuxie kill an Origin Immortal with a mere wave of his hand.

Liu Wuxie swept his hand through the air, summoning nine Heavenly Dao shackles from the sky.

"Perish!"

They claimed the lives of another nine mentors, all of them Profound Immortals, leaving the Celestial Moon Dao Hall with only thirty-odd mentors.

A deathly silence fell on the entire Ten-Mile Slope, broken only by the sound of labored breathing. Everyone still struggled to believe that Liu Wuxie had slaughtered so many people single-handedly.

"Liu Wuxie, let this end here. There's no reason to continue this merciless bloodshed," the Stormcloud Sect's sect master said, hoping to persuade Liu Wuxie to leave the Celestial Moon Dao Hall a path to survival.

Everyone could already see that even the martial path category would no longer offer the Celestial Moon Dao Hall an easy way to kill Liu Wuxie.

The Celestial Moon Dao Hall's hall master could not bring himself to speak, forcing the Stormcloud Sect's sect master to intercede on his behalf in the hope that Liu Wuxie would respect his standing.

The dead Celestial Moon Dao Hall mentors came from many different backgrounds, with a clan standing behind almost each of them. Those clans now emerged one after another to denounce Liu Wuxie, longing to tear him apart where he stood. "He's a monster! A creature like him must be executed!"

Liu Wuxie's actions had already ignited outrage throughout the crowd.

The Azure Flame Dao Hall's mentors immediately surged forward and formed a protective wall around Liu Wuxie, refusing to let the surrounding condemnation overwhelm him.

......

Many among the spectators sincerely hoped Liu Wuxie would end the competition and grant the Celestial Moon Dao Hall a chance to survive. Others, however, demanded that he be brought to justice.

"This monstrous demon has no right to exist. I suspect he slaughtered every cultivator who entered the Ancient Origin Spatial Realm," a Shen Clan disciple cursed.

"Kill him!"

"Put him to death!" disciples from several other clans shouted as they joined the condemnation.

Numerous subsidiary sects beneath the Eastern Emperor Pavilion added their voices to the growing clamor. "Eastern Emperor City will know peace only after Liu Wuxie dies!"

"Stand aside," Liu Wuxie told the Azure Flame Dao Hall's mentors.

"Wuxie!" Lao Kaiyu and the others stared at him in confusion, unable to predict what would happen if they abandoned their protective formation.

"Do what he asked," Gongye Zhang said.

With no other choice, the Azure Flame Dao Hall's mentors stepped aside. Liu Wuxie remained alone amid mounting condemnation as the situation rapidly spiraled out of control.

Many people began advancing upon him and stopped only several dozen meters away. After witnessing Liu Wuxie's terrifying methods, however, not a single person had the courage to get any closer.

"Which one of you intends to kill me?" Liu Wuxie asked as his gaze swept across the spectators. Anyone who desired his death now had the opportunity to step forward.

"Liu Wuxie, you monstrous demon. Your hands are stained with countless people's blood, and execution is the only punishment you deserve," a Shen Clan disciple shouted. Yet he dared not take a single step and could only try to incite everyone else to act.

The surrounding cultivators were no fools, and none intended to become a disposable chess piece for the Shen Clan.

"He's right. Liu Wuxie has already fallen into the demonic path. Why are you all still hesitating? Kill him," the Zhu Clan disciples shouted, likewise attempting to provoke the crowd.

The sight of their twisted expressions made Liu Wuxie suddenly throw back his head and burst into thunderous laughter.

The surrounding cultivators halted in confusion and asked, "Why is he laughing?" They could not understand how Liu Wuxie still found the will to laugh at such a moment. Only a small number frowned in realization. Liu Wuxie was no deranged demon, but he had already predicted this reaction.

Liu Wuxie laughed for three breaths before falling silent. His piercing gaze traveled across the crowd, engraving every face into his memory.

"If heaven tries to crush me, I'll tear the heavens apart. If the earth tries to bind me, I'll shatter it beneath my feet. And if anyone comes to kill me..." Liu Wuxie paused as boundless murderous intent engulfed the Ten-Mile Slope. "So what if I kill everyone beneath the heavens?"

His voice rolled across the heavens with tremendous power, making even the clouds overhead rumble. Becoming the enemy of the entire world would not frighten him. Unable to endure the force contained within his words, many people hurriedly covered their ears.

Everyone who heard his declaration stood stunned, including the Divine Immortals. They knew that Liu Wuxie neither lied nor boasted. If that day truly arrived, he would slaughter everyone throughout Eastern Emperor City without hesitation. The world could brand him a demon, and he would remain utterly unmoved. After all, a single thought could separate humanity from a demon.

A sovereign aura emanated from Liu Wuxie, terrifying the weaker cultivators into uncontrollable trembling. Those who had shouted loudest for his death immediately shrank backward and vanished into the crowd, no longer daring to utter another word.