Chapter 1927 - Fighting Each Other

If anyone asked who had gained the most from the competition, everyone would say Liu Wuxie. He had unquestionably emerged as its greatest beneficiary. Not only had he eliminated the Celestial Moon Dao Hall, but he had also advanced from the third- to the eighth-level Spirit Immortal Realm, accomplishing both objectives in a single stroke.

Liu Wuxie had known the Celestial Moon Dao Hall would eventually come for him, so he chose to strike first. Outsiders would never understand why he had pursued its destruction, but the Azure Flame Dao Hall's mentors knew the entire truth. By uncovering He Lianyi's betrayal in advance, Liu Wuxie had exposed the Celestial Moon Dao Hall's conspiracy against him.

Had He Lianyi's betrayal remained hidden, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Liu Wuxie rose and swept a glacial gaze over the Celestial Moon Dao Hall's section. Once crowded and lively, it now appeared sparse and desolate. With so many mentors dead, numerous students had seized their chance to escape.

Zhu Gaoyang and the other mentors had previously prevented those students from leaving by force. Now, those mentors were dead, while the survivors could scarcely preserve their own lives. How could they possibly stop anyone else from departing?

"Which of you dies next?" Liu Wuxie asked, looking across the fourteen surviving mentors. Their oath demanded nine more lives.

The fourteen mentors glanced uneasily at one another, but none dared volunteer. The competition had already concluded. If they survived this final ordeal, every one of them could leave alive.

The Celestial Moon Dao Hall's hall master and Elder Gu remained silent. Neither had participated in the oath, leaving them beyond the restraints of the Heavenly Dao's oath.

"Liu Wuxie, please spare me! I'll become your concubine and serve you faithfully," a female mentor pleaded as she rushed toward him. Her appearance was ordinary, with several blemishes marking her face.

A cold gleam suddenly flashed, and her severed head flew through the air. No one had expected another Celestial Moon Dao Hall mentor to kill her.

Thirteen mentors remained, each watching the others with wary eyes. They still needed to decide which eight would die. Once eight more lives were claimed, the surviving five could leave.

"Mentor Lan, Mentor Ling, join forces with me. Together, the three of us have a strong chance of killing eight of them," said the man who had beheaded the female mentor. As an Origin Immortal, he directed his proposal toward the other two Origin Immortals. Every remaining mentor was merely a Profound Immortal, far beneath them in cultivation.

"Agreed!" Mentor Lan and Mentor Ling nodded in agreement. They needed to settle the matter before Liu Wuxie invoked the Heavenly Dao's oath. If they allowed him to choose, none could predict who would die. By taking action themselves, they could retain the initiative.

The three mentors moved with lightning speed and unleashed several immortal arts at once.

The Celestial Moon Dao Hall's hall master and Elder Gu closed their eyes at the sight. They understood that Liu Wuxie had deliberately withheld the Heavenly Dao's oath to force the mentors to kill one another. Even if he could not personally kill every Celestial Moon Dao Hall mentor, he could still tear apart whatever unity remained among them.

"Liu Wuxie is utterly ruthless! He could have selected nine people himself, yet he made the Celestial Moon Dao Hall choose," the surrounding cultivators lamented. They knew that whoever survived this bloodbath would ultimately die at the hands of the Celestial Moon Dao Hall's hall master.

Many had already predicted the outcome. The fighting continued for roughly fifteen minutes, leaving the three Origin Immortals drenched in blood. Beside the female mentor who had died first, eight other mentors had been slain.

Fourteen mentors had stood there at the beginning, but only five remained. They looked upon the corpses scattered around them, dropped to their knees, and clutched their heads as bitter sobs tore from their throats.

"Forgive us... We're sorry..." the five mentors repeated as they kowtowed, looking guilty.

"Go with them," the Celestial Moon Dao Hall's hall master said. His Divine Immortal Realm aura erupted, crushing all five mentors into piles of mangled flesh.

Everyone had anticipated their fate, yet witnessing the deaths firsthand was difficult to endure.

The sky grew darker as thunderbolts ripped across the horizon and illuminated the entire Ten-Mile Slope. Another deafening clap followed, prompting everyone to raise their defenses against the coming rain.

Bean-sized raindrops poured from the heavens, and puddles rapidly formed across the Ten-Mile Slope. The cultivators abandoned the lower ground and moved toward higher terrain.

"We're leaving," the Yue Clan's patriarch said before departing with his clan's elders and disciples.

The rain intensified until it obscured everyone's line of sight, and complete darkness descended over the land.

"Let's move," Gongye Zhang said as he led the members of the Azure Flame Dao Hall away, staying vigilant in case the Celestial Moon Dao Hall lashed out in desperation.

Midnight had already arrived by the time everyone returned to the Azure Flame Dao Hall. Liu Wuxie went directly to his courtyard, where no one disturbed him.

News of the competition spread through Eastern Emperor City like wildfire.

Ye Guhai also returned to Fourfold City to discuss certain matters with Chen Ping. Before his departure, Liu Wuxie had entrusted him with overseeing the Peace and Stability Merchant Association, fearing that the Celestial Moon Dao Hall would target it.

Xiang Zicheng returned to the Xiang Manor, while the representatives of the Skyhalberd Auction House departed alongside Ye Guhai. Before leaving, the owner of the Skyhalberd Auction House spoke with Ye Guhai at length.

The Eastern Emperor Pavilion remained brightly illuminated, and no one inside showed the slightest intention of resting.

"This is intolerable! Liu Wuxie has ruined our plans repeatedly and shattered our grand ambition to unify Eastern Emperor City. We must eliminate him as quickly as possible," a man seated near the Thousand Hands Yama said, fury twisting his face.

The Shadow Divination Gate shared a close relationship with the Eastern Emperor Pavilion, and both had secretly supported the Celestial Moon Dao Hall. The destruction of those two forces had inflicted devastating losses upon them.

"Pavilion Master, what do we do now? If this continues, there'll be no reason to call this place Eastern Emperor City. We might as well rename it Azure Flame City," another man said as he rose, indignation burning through his voice.

Eastern Emperor City had taken its name from the founding of the Eastern Emperor Pavilion. However, the pavilion’s influence had declined over the years, making it only a matter of time before the city was renamed.

The Thousand Hands Yama remained silent and turned toward the hall's entrance. It continued raining outside, each droplet striking the roof tiles with a steady clatter.

At that moment, several figures suddenly appeared beyond the entrance. Each wore a bamboo hat as they stepped into the main hall.

The Thousand Hands Yama immediately rose to welcome them.

"Greetings, Pavilion Master!" the four newcomers said as they removed their bamboo hats and revealed their faces.

"Please come in and take your seats," the Thousand Hands Yama said. The Eastern Emperor Pavilion's upper echelons also rose to receive the guests.

"Greetings, Celestial Moon Dao Hall's hall master, Stormcloud Sect's sect master, Patriarch Shen, and Patriarch Zhu," the Eastern Emperor Pavilion's upper echelons said.

After arranging accommodations for their elders and disciples, the Celestial Moon Dao Hall's hall master and Stormcloud Sect's sect master had rushed directly to the Eastern Emperor Pavilion, accompanied by the patriarchs of the Shen and Zhu Clans.

Once everyone sat down, an oppressive weight settled over the hall. The murderous intent radiating from the Celestial Moon Dao Hall's hall master had not diminished in the slightest.

Sheng Guang rose to his feet. "Pavilion Master, let's speak plainly. Everyone here knows why we have gathered here tonight. Since we share the same objective, we need to devise a plan immediately," he said, getting straight to the point.

Everyone understood that Liu Wuxie would eventually move against the Shen and Zhu Clans. In the past, Shen Guang and Zhu Chaoyang would have laughed at such a possibility. After witnessing the competition firsthand, however, they knew they had to act now and kill Liu Wuxie before he struck them first.

The Celestial Moon Dao Hall's hall master and Stormcloud Sect's sect master remained silent, but that silence revealed their positions clearly enough.

The Stormcloud Sect and Celestial Moon Dao Hall had always maintained close relations. Moreover, Liu Wuxie had publicly humiliated the Stormcloud Sect's sect master. Only Liu Wuxie's death could extinguish the hatred consuming him.

"Since Patriarch Shen has spoken so directly, I won't conceal my thoughts. If we intend to eliminate Liu Wuxie, only one method will work," the Thousand Hands Yama said, remaining at the center of the hall instead of returning to his seat.

"What method?" Zhu Chaoyang demanded anxiously as he shot to his feet.

Among the five factions gathered there, the Zhu Clan possessed the least strength. That made it the most likely to face destruction first, so Zhu Chaoyang's worry was only natural.

"Divide and conquer," the Thousand Hands Yama said.

Silence immediately consumed the hall as every gaze fixed upon him, waiting for a detailed explanation. ℴ

"Pavilion Master, stop keeping us in suspense and explain the plan," Shen Guang urged. This was no time for riddles or evasive words.

......

Dawn gradually crept over the horizon.

After returning the previous night, Liu Wuxie had fallen asleep immediately. He did not leave his room until late morning, when Ye Linghan arrived with food.

Reaching the eighth-level Spirit Immortal Realm had transformed Liu Wuxie drastically.

"Have you received any new information?" Liu Wuxie asked while eating the breakfast Ye Linghan had brought. He knew Eastern Emperor City would not remain peaceful after the competition.

"Nothing for now. The Eastern Emperor Pavilion has been unusually quiet. Large numbers of students have also abandoned the Celestial Moon Dao Hall, and this morning, nearly ten thousand students came to the Azure Flame Dao Hall in hopes of joining us," Ye Linghan reported as she sat opposite him.

"The Eastern Emperor Pavilion has remained quiet?" Liu Wuxie asked with a frown. He put down his pastry and walked beneath the large tree in the courtyard. His right hand moved continuously as though calculating something.

Ye Linghan did not interrupt. Resting her chin upon her hands, she silently watched Liu Wuxie's back.

"Prepare some paper and a brush," Liu Wuxie said after calculating for fifteen minutes.

Ye Linghan acted immediately. She cleared the food from the stone table and placed several sheets of paper and a brush upon it.

Liu Wuxie returned to the table, picked up the brush, and swiftly wrote several short lines across the papers.

Ye Linghan looked confused. The writing appeared chaotic and disordered, incapable of forming even one complete sentence. Rather than conventional words, the lines looked like a collection of riddles.

"There are six in total. Deliver them to the City Lord Mansion, the Xiang Manor, the Skyhalberd Auction House, the Heavenly Divination Gate, the Peace and Stability Merchant Association, and Hall Master Gongye," Liu Wuxie said as he finished and handed the papers to Ye Linghan.

Ye Linghan gathered the papers and immediately departed from the courtyard.

"I may have to leave before I can witness their destruction," Liu Wuxie murmured.

During his earlier calculations, the Heavenly Dao Book had flipped through its pages without pause. The same phenomenon had occurred during his battle with Chen Kun, and Liu Wuxie understood that the Heavenly Dao Book was attempting to warn him.