Chapter 538: Bonds

In the next instant, Wuying and Xiao Qingxuan’s figures clashed violently. True Qi collided and swelled, waves of force sweeping in every direction.

At the same time, an iron hammer had somehow appeared in Xiao Qingxuan’s hand.

In his mind, the words of Director Gao surfaced once more.

“This Mountain-Moving Hammer was the artifact I used during my Gold Core stage. The current situation is unstable and unpredictable, so after True Lord Magneto reforged it for me, I’ll lend it to you temporarily.”

“But remember—it’s still a Gold Core artifact. Don’t use it recklessly. Only in the most dangerous moment, to protect yourself—and protect Zhang Yu.”

On the other side, Wuying’s expression flickered slightly.

“This guy… is using the External Core technique?”

“An ancient External Core technique?”

“But he shouldn’t even have a Gold Core License!”

Thinking this, Wuying raised his EyeNet lenses, recording the battle.

He remembered the man’s face from earlier, but now the opponent’s entire body was wrapped in protective Qi, impossible to make out.

Just from this footage alone, it was impossible to identify him.

Still, Wuying didn’t care. The recording was merely a precaution. As long as he defeated his opponent and brought him into the Unemployed Devil Sect, he had plenty of ways to hold something over the man.

“Just a fake core, and you dare fight me?”

While Xiao Qingxuan and Wuying fought fiercely, Shi Yunxiang and Ying Xin were furiously digging at the ground on the other side. In just moments, they had dug out a huge pit.

Their movements drew the attention of Zhang Yu, Yu Xinghan, Shi Huaiyu, and Xiao Qingxuan.

Amid the constant clashes, Xiao Qingxuan and Wuying gradually moved toward the pit.

“Trying to run?” Wuying laughed lightly. “Do you think you can escape?”

In a flash of movement, Wuying was already one step ahead of Xiao Qingxuan, blocking the pit and cutting off their retreat.

But in the next moment of fierce combat, he noticed something strange—the opponent was deliberately forcing him toward the pit.

Under the Mountain-Moving Hammer’s crushing strikes, Wuying was pushed back again and again.

He stomped down hard to stop his retreat and counterattack—

—but the ground beneath his foot suddenly fractured layer by layer under Yu Xinghan’s control, leaving him stepping into empty air.

“Ha!”

With a shout, Wuying flared his Qi to thrust himself upward.

But Shi Huaiyu unleashed her Earthfiend Gravity, layers of invisible force dragging him down.

Xiao Qingxuan swung the Mountain-Moving Hammer again, slamming it down.

“Get out of my way!” Wuying roared. Even after taking several blows, he still managed to halt his fall and surge upward again—

—but the instant his foot touched the ground, Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang’s coordinated strikes detonated with blinding arcs of electricity.

Ying Xin thought anxiously, This is the mana circuit that powers the Magnetic Channel…

Shi Yunxiang looked at the storm of electricity engulfing Wuying. The Magnetic Channel moves tens of thousands of tons of material every second. If its circuits surge through him, even a Gold Core cultivator—

As civil engineering students, they knew the University City’s infrastructure well—the main mana and spiritual energy conduits of each layer.

But under the suffocating pressure of the Devil Sect’s Gold Core aura, their minds had gone blank—until Zhang Yu stood before them. Until Yu Xinghan, Shi Huaiyu, and Xiao Qingxuan rose to fight.

Then they remembered—they, too, could resist.

The instant their pit was finished, the other civil engineers understood their intent without a word.

Now, as the mana circuits ruptured and connected through Wuying’s body, the ground trembled with deep, echoing booms.

No one knew how many Magnetic Channels had been damaged, but the sight made Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang’s hearts pound.

If they trace this back to us… how much would we have to pay for repairs?

But before they could think further—

A furious roar erupted. Wuying, wreathed in lightning, his body cracking apart, burst from the pit with a snarl.

“Hold him back!” Xiao Qingxuan shouted, hammer raised high.

“Die!” Yu Xinghan bellowed, unleashing Small Threefold Harmony, collapsing the ground wherever Wuying tried to gain footing.

Shi Huaiyu’s Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might manifested as countless invisible arms, dragging Wuying downward.

She screamed in her heart, You can’t live! Either you die, or we do!

Wuying’s body flared with fire, igniting with a secret technique. He blocked blow after blow and was about to break free—

—when Zhang Yu appeared before him.

“When did he—?!”

Wuying froze. His eyes widened as he saw Zhang Yu’s right arm—now replaced by a Hand Law Husk.

A glance to the side showed Le Mulan gripping his severed arm, pouring deep-cold mana into it.

Wuying’s mind reeled. So after disappearing… he cut off his own arm and replaced it with Mo Shangjin’s Law Husk?

Not only that, Zhang Yu had gathered a new surge of Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might through his Nine Heavens Cloudstride Force.

In that instant, the twin forces erupted together.

Channeled through the Hand Law Husk, Zhang Yu’s strike shone like a white comet, crashing down upon Wuying.

This time, he didn’t use the Earth-Wood Saint Body to fortify himself. He switched to the Martial Saint Body—focusing every ounce of power into offense.

Boom!

As Wuying resisted with everything he had, Zhang Yu’s flesh exploded apart, his body nearly coming undone.

And Wuying, unable to bear the force, fell back into the electrified pit.

Yu Xinghan, Shi Huaiyu, and Xiao Qingxuan’s combined attacks rained down once more.

Mana surged violently through the Magnetic Channel, tearing through Wuying’s meridians and body, erasing every trace of life.

“Damn it—!”

His eyes bulged wide, the twin Law Husk Eyes trying to record it all.

“Damn it—!”

He struggled to connect to the Spiritual Realm—to send out the footage—

—but the electromagnetic storm scrambled his internal artifacts. His eyes flickered wildly, unable even to record anymore.

“I…”

With a deafening boom, Wuying’s body was swallowed by light—gone, without a trace.

Zhang Yu collapsed backward, his flesh mangled, caught by Le Mulan, who flooded him with deep-cold mana to seal his wounds.

Then, she sliced her own arm and fed her medicine-infused blood into his mouth.

Feeling the medicinal power surge inside him, Zhang Yu latched onto her wrist, drinking deeply.

Xiao Qingxuan rushed forward, using ancient medical techniques to treat Zhang Yu.

After a moment, he glanced at Le Mulan, startled by the potency of her cold mana.

She froze under his gaze. Did he notice the life-extending effect of the Deep Cold Mana?

But seeing Zhang Yu’s shattered body, she clenched her jaw and continued the infusion.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yu, half-conscious, forced the Chain Diagram in his body to switch from the Martial Saint Body back to the Earth-Wood Saint Body.

Instantly, his fading life force stabilized and began to recover under their combined treatment.

His flesh knit itself back together, regenerating rapidly.

He exhaled weakly. Good thing the Greenlotus Sword Embryo preserved the effects of my body diagrams. Otherwise, Wuying’s last blow might’ve killed me outright.

While Le Mulan and Xiao Qingxuan tended to him, Shi Huaiyu turned toward Li Xiao.

The mutated Li Xiao opened his mouth as if to speak—

—but Shi Huaiyu didn’t let him. Her hand clenched, and her Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might tore him apart.

“Why!” Li Xiao screamed, staring at the wounded Zhang Yu surrounded by his friends. “Why do you all risk your lives for him?!”

Shock, fear, fury… and envy burned in his eyes.

“Why didn’t anyone ever help me?! Why—”

His words dissolved into a hoarse roar.

“At least… at least let him know! Let him know it was me—Li Xiao! That it was because you crossed me that—”

Shi Huaiyu’s power crushed down again. His body shattered into a mist of blood and vanished.

Then, she turned to the pit.

The mana circuits had automatically shut down from overload.

At the bottom lay Wuying’s charred corpse. Shi Huaiyu raised her hand, and Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Might obliterated what remained.

But amid the ashes, a small black orb remained unscathed.

Shi Huaiyu frowned, hesitating over what to do with it—

“Can I see it?” Zhang Yu’s hoarse voice came from behind.

As she passed it to him, Fuki’s voice echoed urgently in his mind. “Take it! That thing—it was made by a high-tier Evil God!”

Her tone trembled with excitement. “They actually succeeded?!”

The moment Zhang Yu touched the orb, his thoughts linked with it.

With Fuki’s aid, his consciousness was pulled through layers of the Spiritual Realm—

—until he stood beneath a vast starry sky, where three colossal, twisted figures radiating overwhelming malice sat around an ancient wooden table.

As Zhang Yu and Fuki arrived, those three monstrous beings slowly turned to look at them.