Chapter 695 213: The National Preceptor's Golden Arrow, A Terrifying Might

The Water Flow dissipated, and the Marquis of Ren De's hands fell to his sides.

The two sections of the long spear fell to the ground, dissolving into a puddle of bloody mud.

He looked at the Longsword in his chest, his face filled with disbelief.

Death was spreading through him.

"I've lost. To think that I, a Marquis, would lose to a mere boy."

The Marquis of Ren De clawed at the air, but he lacked the strength to lift his hands.

Bitterness and indignation filled his heart.

"I rose up during the years of war, invincible on the battlefield. Although I was never a match for my own brother, I still earned countless merits in that era. And yet, I lost to you."

Today, if anyone else had killed him—if it had been Eunuch Chen from the Imperial Palace, or someone from the General Department,

or even the Prime Minister or the Dean—he would have felt it was a fair loss.

But he had lost to Shen Bai.

At this moment, an indescribable resentment bloomed in his heart.

But a loss was a loss. There was no arguing it.

Shen Bai planted a foot on the Marquis of Ren De's chest, pulled out Cold Moon, and flicked the blood from its blade. "You're strong," he said faintly. "Stronger than Wang Tianxing. But still far from strong enough."

The fact that he had been forced to use even his Ten Thousand Water Technique told Shen Bai that the Marquis of Ren De was the strongest person he had ever faced.

The Marquis of Ren De collapsed to the ground, the aura of life around him steadily fading.

At this moment, as death drew near, a question suddenly occurred to him.

"If I had been willing to surrender, could I have lived?"

His Divine Soul was gradually disappearing, and his consciousness began to blur.

A solemn silence fell over the area as everyone turned their gaze to Shen Bai.

They had witnessed Shen Bai's power, as well as his decisiveness and ruthlessness.

In that moment, Shen Bai had become their backbone. No one dared to overstep him and answer the question.

Shen Bai shook his head. "If merits could atone for crimes, the world would fall into chaos as people used their achievements to escape justice. Besides, you have too much blood on your hands. At most, surrendering would only have granted you a quicker death."

With his hair in disarray, the Marquis of Ren De said, "But what did I do wrong? I just wanted wealth and status. I fought for half my life. I just wanted a stable life."

"A stable life grinds away a man's fighting spirit."

Shen Bai said slowly, "In my eyes, you are no longer the battlefield General you once were. You've become a parasite clinging to power."

"A parasite clinging to power... well said."

The Marquis of Ren De lay flat on his back as the last spark of life vanished from his eyes. Then, his body turned into a pile of yellow earth, indistinguishable from the surrounding soil.

Shen Bai let out a long breath.

His internal Qi was already depleted by half.

Even with his terrifying Recovery ability, he had consumed too much in this battle.

He was certain now: the Marquis of Ren De had been incredibly powerful.

"Let's go. It's time to head back," Shen Bai said.

Now that the fight was over, all that remained was the cleanup.

As for the final wrap-up, Shen Bai could leave it to Wang Teng and Ma Yuan.

They could report to their superiors, who would then decide on the specific course of action. Shen Bai didn't need to concern himself with any of it.

Now that the internal threat was eliminated, Shen Bai planned to focus all his thoughts on grinding his Skill Level.

As for the external threats, once he found a lead, he could just follow it and eliminate them.

Wang Teng took a few steps forward, about to cup his hands and agree.

But just then, Shen Bai's expression suddenly turned incredibly grim.

Wang Teng was slightly startled. Before he could ask why, a sound of something tearing through the air suddenly rang out.

Everyone whipped their heads around just in time to see a Golden Arrow streaking toward Shen Bai.

Its speed was extreme, arriving in the blink of an eye. Even if Wang Teng had wanted to intercept it, he wouldn't have been fast enough.

A sense of danger exploded in Shen Bai's heart, and the hair on his entire body stood on end.

This threat of death was even greater than the one posed by the Marquis of Ren De.

'This Golden Arrow is after my life,' Shen Bai realized immediately.

He could feel that this Golden Arrow was far beyond his current ability to handle.

It carried the blessing of some other Daoist Sect's power, so terrifying it made his very soul tremble.

In that instant, Shen Bai suddenly felt everything around him begin to slow down.

It was a peculiar phenomenon that occurred in moments of life-and-death crisis.

He forced himself to calm down, his mind racing through countless thoughts in an instant, searching for a way out.

'Blocking it is out of the question.'

'Even if I managed to block it, the result would likely still be death.'

This was a deliberate plot to eliminate him. The power imbued in this arrow had long surpassed the Celestial Spirit Realm.

'If I can't fight it, then I'll run.'

But Shen Bai discovered that running was also impossible.

'The blessing on it can actually lock onto me. No matter where I run, it will follow,' Shen Bai realized at once.

Running was a useless maneuver.

In that instant, the Attributes of all his Divine Powers appeared before his eyes.

The next moment, he decided to take a desperate risk.

'Since I can't run, I'll have to block it.'

'There are no other options now.'

He would use all his strength to block the Golden Arrow's impact and see if he could achieve a Reversal.

At this thought, Shen Bai mobilized all his Qi, concentrating it into Cold Moon.

The Water Flow descended once more, enveloping Shen Bai.

But even with all the Qi in his body circulating at its peak and his Divine Powers pushed to their absolute limit, he could still feel an immense gap in power.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Shen Bai's forehead.

He had never felt such danger, nor had he ever been so focused.

His Divine Power collided with the Golden Arrow, and the terrifying aftershock sent a Vibration through the surrounding Space.

Even Wang Teng and the others couldn't withstand it, and they coughed up blood.

Shen Bai felt his life force gradually being extinguished.