Chapter 1255: Lu Ding, I Owe You a Life. The Third Sovereign Runs Ten Thousand Miles in a Straight Line

That familiar voice rang out, reaching his mind first like a heavy club smacking him right on the back of the head.

The mechanics of the Call of the Seized Soul made his vision swim with stars.

He froze on the spot for an instant.

Strike while he’s down! Finish him off!!!

Lu Ding used Celestial Shift to close the distance in an instant.

But that damn old man from Gouchen Hall had the same idea. He went straight for the kill against the Third Sovereign!

Lu Ding took one look.

What the hell!

This wouldn’t do!!

His sneak attack was his business. This was a Grudge between him and the Third Sovereign. It wasn’t exactly honorable, sure, but the Third Sovereign had ambushed him first, so he was only returning the favor.

But the Third Sovereign had helped him kill Ye Jun back then, stopping Ye Jun from kicking him while he was down.

Even if Ye Jun had kicked him while he was down, he wouldn’t have been able to hurt Lu Ding anyway.

But the Third Sovereign’s attitude had been clear.

Did Lu Ding not have principles of his own?

It wasn’t as though he was the only one who cared about doing things properly.

As he watched both his attack and the old man from Gouchen Hall’s attack about to hit the Third Sovereign, Lu Ding’s mind raced through countless options in that split second.

In the end,

“Go to hell, you damn old geezer!!!!!”

He redirected his attack, sweeping both hands sideways!!

He forcibly shifted the attacks aimed at the Third Sovereign and sent them straight at the old man from Gouchen Hall instead.

BOOM!!!!

Mountains and rivers shattered, the heavens and earth fell into disarray. The terrifying force swept everything aside, clearing a vast area and blasting the battlefield into a gigantic crater!!!!

Stray energies of every color whipped about, stirring the heavens and earth and pulverizing space.

That single, multiply compounded strike smashed the old man’s Sky-Spanning Mirror to smithereens, then sent him flying with half his body crushed.

To be fair,

that Sky-Spanning Mirror had something going for it.

If it hadn’t taken most of Lu Ding’s firepower for the old man, that guy???

Would’ve been sent straight to the afterlife, speedrun style!

But even now, he was close to death.

He’d taken a blow from the Way of the Jinche and lost half his body. Forget whether he could ever recover, Lu Ding wasn’t about to let him off even now!

The fact that the attack hadn’t hit the Third Sovereign snapped him out of his daze. Breaking into a cold sweat, he flashed away, repeatedly forming hand seals to protect himself as he retreated into the distance.

He watched Lu Ding with lingering fear.

If that strike had landed on him just now, he wouldn’t have survived even with a hundred lives.

That power was terrifying!

Both its numbers and its mechanics were maxed out beyond belief.

From far away, the Third Sovereign called out, “Lu Ding, I owe you a life!”

Lu Ding was already furious, and hearing that only pissed him off more. “You think I wanted you to owe me one? Fuck you! I wanted to kill you!!!”

“But that idiot old man had to butt in!!!”

Lu Ding turned to look at the old geezer surrounded and protected by Gouchen Hall’s people.

His teeth clenched. “You damn old man, you really deserve to die! Was that attack even under your control? Then why the hell did you strike? How can you be so shameless!!!!?”

The Gouchen Hall experts shielded the old man behind them and challenged Lu Ding. “Who are you!?”

Lu Ding replied, “Weren’t you the ones who told me to come here and beg forgiveness, ready to die? Well, I’m here now. Why don’t you recognize me?”

At those words,

everyone immediately realized!

Lu Ding!!!

He was Lu Ding!!!

No, wait! How was he this strong!?

Our deputy hall master couldn’t even stop him!?

This wasn’t how they’d imagined things at all.

Then again, nothing had gone the way they’d imagined.

They hadn’t expected the Third Sovereign to be so powerful. They’d ambushed him in advance, only to be steamrolled by him.

And they hadn’t expected Lu Ding to be so strong, either. One move, and Gouchen Hall’s deputy hall master had instantly lost the ability to fight.

Because of the rumors that Lu Ding had killed Mu Xuecheng, they’d assumed from the outset that Lu Ding was a junior prodigy, just like Mu Xuecheng. No matter how impressive he was, he couldn’t be all that powerful.

But the truth was,

they weren’t even in the same league.

He looked young, but his methods were far too seasoned!

Mu Xuecheng’s father froze on the spot.

For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

All he could do was lower his head.

They simply couldn’t handle him. If he still dared to run his mouth now, it would be no different from dragging Gouchen Hall into a death match with Lu Ding!!!

Lu Ding paid their silence no mind.

He turned to the Third Sovereign. “Let’s settle our score today, shall we!?”

The Third Sovereign assumed a fighting stance. “Then come on!”

Lu Ding shot forward. Celestial Shift! The Way of the Jinche gathered in his palm, and he brought it down!!!!

The Third Sovereign was blasted into nothingness.

So it had been a clone!!!!

After the clone dispersed, the Third Sovereign’s voice rang out. “Lu Ding, I owe you a life. I’ll repay you someday. When you need help most, I’ll be there. That will be my repayment for your mercy today!!!”

“Until we meet again, Lu Ding!!!!”

A dark line appeared on Lu Ding’s forehead. “Coward!!!”

He’d thought the guy was actually tough enough to fight, but he’d run off just like that.

What the hell, how many tricks did this bastard have? Lu Ding hadn’t the faintest idea how he’d escaped or where he’d gone.

Having missed this chance, who knew when he’d get another opportunity to kill the Third Sovereign?

And Lu Ding suspected that the next time they met, the Call of the Seized Soul wouldn’t work so well!

The Third Sovereign, fleeing far away, streaked off in a straight line for ten thousand miles, going so fast his shoes nearly split at the seams.

Fight?

Fight my ass!

After seeing Lu Ding’s display, the Third Sovereign couldn’t even imagine facing that last move. When he ambushed Lu Ding, at worst he’d leave him bruised and give him a little scrape, like a massage. When Lu Ding ambushed him, he’d be smashed into pieces that couldn’t even be put back together.

Still, thinking of the way Lu Ding had redirected his attack, the Third Sovereign couldn’t help admiring him.

He felt that Lu Ding was a man of principle, just like him. Even when they ambushed someone, they kept it one-on-one and never let anyone else get involved.

On that point, the Third Sovereign acknowledged Lu Ding.

High above, beneath the vast sky, he couldn’t help sighing. “It’s a pity you’re human and I’m a demon. Our positions are different, and we were enemies from the start. You’re also a direct disciple of Lü Mountain. Otherwise, I’d have gladly shared wine with you and discussed the heroes of this world. Among our generation, no one could surpass the two of us.”

“It’s a pity...”

As the Third Sovereign spoke, his feet never stopped moving for even a moment. He was terrified Lu Ding might catch his scent and come after him. This time, he’d lost another large number of demonic creatures belonging to the Salvation Alliance, and once again, he was all alone.

In just these few short days, his forces had been wiped out twice!

But a brave sovereign never gives up. The Third Sovereign decided to seize a few more territories, recruit some subordinates, and then fight Lu Ding again!

He’d fight every day and never give in. If he couldn’t beat him today, he’d fight tomorrow. If he couldn’t beat him tomorrow, he’d keep fighting. Demon Province had plenty of demons, and the Third Sovereign had plenty of ways to conscript troops and rally an army. His fists were big enough, after all. If he couldn’t handle Lu Ding, surely he could handle someone else!

He refused to believe otherwise!

And so, he continued sending people to their deaths at a sustainable rate.