Chapter 1977: If I Live, You Die

At Desolate Academy, Xun Guozhu suddenly felt his heart palpitate.

In the next instant, he appeared in the void. It took him only a few breaths to pinpoint the direction from which that sense of unease had originated.

He frowned. "That direction..."

Without hesitation, he tore through layer after layer of the void at his fastest speed, rushing toward Three World Mountain.

At the same time, he didn't forget to transmit messages to several teachers in Desolate Academy, instructing them to head to the City God Temple of Desolate City.

After the Day Walker in the City God Temple received the message, he immediately returned to the Underworld.

***

Three World Mountain.

"Interesting. Did you sense that? Some of the cultivators in this region noticed my power. They are currently rushing over."

The man holding enough power in his palm to destroy Tuxiong Star suddenly curled his lips into a smile, amusement appearing in his eyes. "Let's just wait for them to arrive. If what the Young Master said is true, then practically every cultivator in this region should belong to the Immortal Hong lineage. We can ask them whether the core descendant of the lineage is actually here."

Another person smiled. "Perhaps the ones rushing over are the core of the Immortal Hong lineage.”

One of them seemed relatively cautious. "Given our strength, we shouldn't need to worry too much, right?"

"No need to worry. The Immortal Hong lineage was expelled from the Supreme Qingming Alliance long ago. They can no longer follow the Saint Canon. They can’t even break the limits."

"Can’t you sense it? The aura of the cultivators in this realm is far too weak."

"That's good, then."

The three waited patiently.

Aside from Xun Guozhu of the Desolate Academy, many Immortal King cultivators on Tuxiong Star also sensed this earth-shattering force. Those who were closer to Three World Mountain arrived even earlier than Xun Guozhu.

"Who are you, scoundrels?! You dare cause trouble here?! Do you even know whose territory this is?!"

The first to arrive was an old man in Daoist robes. The moment he arrived, he noticed three ordinary-looking men standing at the foot of Three World Mountain. One of them was gathering a terrifying amount of immortal essence in his palm.

The three were stunned. This person’s cultivation couldn’t even be called weak—it was almost pitiful. He hadn't even mastered immortal essence. His entire body was filled with an overwhelmingly dense concentration of low-level spiritual energy. Judging by its strength, he was at most at the Dao Union Realm.

"His aura is that of an Immortal Hong descendant, right?"

The three completely ignored Ouyang Xuanzhen of the Great Expansion Dao Sect. They didn’t bother asking about his identity. They just discussed the matter among themselves.

One of them took out an ancient bronze disc and aimed it at Ouyang Xuanzhen. The bronze disk immediately erupted with dazzling white divine light.

"White divine light. According to Young Master, this radiance only appears when one cultivates the methods of the Immortal Hong lineage. If his bloodline were merely similar, it would only produce a fluorescent light, not divine light."

The person holding the bronze disc was somewhat pleasantly surprised.

Ouyang Xuanzhen instantly flew into a rage. "What kind of demonic mirror are you using to shine on me?!"

"I’m curious. Didn’t you already notice we are far stronger than you? Where did you find the courage to shout at us?" one of them asked.

Ouyang Xuanzhen sneered coldly. "Heh."

He wasn't a fool. How could he not know how strong they were? But similar incidents had occurred several times over the years. And which time hadn’t ended with experts from the Underworld cleaning things up? Sometimes, only that person from the Desolate Academy needed to act.

These three had caused such a massive disturbance and even looked like they intended to destroy everything on Tuxiong Star. The Desolate Academy and the local City God Temples across Tuxiong Star had to have sensed it already.

Yin soldiers would arrive shortly. When that happened, Ouyang Xuanzhen didn’t even need to guess how miserable the fates of these three would be.

Ouyang Xuanzhen sneered coldly. "What a joke! You three nobodies dare act arrogantly here? So what if you are stronger than me? My backer is Monarch Yan of the Underworld! Who the hell do you think you are!?"

"You’ve never heard of Monarch Yan of the Underworld? Who in the Nine Realms doesn’t know of Monarch Yan’s existence nowadays? Not to mention that he is the Dao Ancestor of the Three Thousand Dao Sect. He could pull a single hair off his body and crush you three suicidal little bugs to death!”

So satisfying!

This time he had finally been the first to arrive. Calling out harsh words in front of three extremely powerful existences without having to worry about his own safety. That was sheer bliss!

After speaking, Ouyang Xuanzhen swept his peripheral vision around the area.

Those Yin soldiers I can’t see are probably already covering every mountain and valley around here, right? Monarch Yan will definitely see my performance today. Perhaps I'll even receive praise, and when others learn of this, they will surely envy me!

At that thought, Ouyang Xuanzhen almost burst out laughing.

The three exchanged glances.

"Monarch Yan?"

One of them said in a low voice, "In the past, someone from the Immortal Hong lineage was indeed highly regarded by the Soul Race and bestowed the authority to govern reincarnation. When the Immortal Hong lineage went into exile back then, that person left along with them."

"During that exile of the Immortal Hong lineage, all Saints were wiped out. That person was no exception. Even if they’re still alive now, they shouldn’t be able to control their Inner Domain. That person should be about as powerful as us, but we outnumber them."

"Mm, no need to worry then."

Just as the three finished their discussion, Ouyang Xuanzhen lightly flicked his sleeves and cupped his fists toward them. "Ouyang Xuanzhen, sect leader of the Great Expansion Dao Sect under the Three Thousand Dao Sect, challenges the three of you to a Dao Debate! Please give your guidance!"

"Dao Debate?"

"Ignorant bumpkins! When we Daoists challenge someone to a Dao Debate, it means we fight to the death! Only one person can walk away alive!"

Ouyang Xuanzhen withdrew his hands, placed them behind his back, and looked down at the three out of the corner of his eye.

The three finally couldn't hold back and burst into hearty laughter. Even the one holding the power capable of destroying Tuxiong Star put that power away.

Ouyang Xuanzhen knew what they were laughing at. However, he didn’t care. He just sneered coldly.

After a long while, one of them nodded. "The others haven't arrived yet, so I'll play with you for a bit. Tell us the rules of your Dao Debate."

Ouyang Xuanzhen laughed loudly. "There are no rules to a Dao Debate!"

He rapidly formed hand seals and summoned rolling heavenly fire that transformed into over a thousand fire lions, charging toward the other party.

The man blew a gentle breath. The fire lions were extinguished.

Ouyang Xuanzhen's composure didn’t crumble. He immediately unleashed his techniques with everything he had.

Unfortunately, against an expert who surpassed him by an entire major level, even his full strength was little more than a mosquito bite.

The other party reached out and made a grasping motion. "Get down here."

A giant hand of immortal essence that Ouyang Xuanzhen couldn't resist grabbed him and slammed him against the ground. The entire region trembled. Even the mountains shook under the impact.

Ouyang Xuanzhen crashed face-first into the ground, his mouth filling with dirt. A trace of confusion appeared in his eyes as he looked around.

Why haven't those Yin soldiers acted yet?

At the same time, Xun Guozhu finally arrived. Alongside him came Immortal King experts from various regions. Among them were Immortal King Gu Xi of the Innate Dao Sect, the Dragon Sovereign of the Morning Star Dao Palace, and Wang Zhenlong and others from the Void Immortal Sword Sect.

They were all old acquaintances of Ouyang Xuanzhen. The moment they arrived, they saw Ouyang Xuanzhen being pressed onto the ground and rubbed in the dirt.