He killed Zhou Shanjia in a single punch!

Zhou Changyi’s pupils constricted, and his expression changed dramatically.

The others’ expressions darkened too.

Especially Zhou Qingxuan, whose cultivation was only in the mid-stage Grain Avoidance Realm. She was so scared, she almost couldn’t help but cry out.

Were a punch like that to target her, she feared she’d burst in midair!

The other Earthly Immortals couldn’t help but gasp, and their hearts quivered.

“Is this all you Unknown Dragons have got?” Su Yi stood in the sky, eyes flashing with cold light, words rife with disdain. Xiantian qi encircled him, and his black hair and blue robes fluttered around him. His skin was as lustrous as a crystal, making him seem like a deity or immortal.

“Kill him!” Zhou Changyi roared in fury. He suddenly drew his sword.

Boom!

Vast, seemingly limitless swaths of purple lightning descended from the sky.

Zhou Tuhong and the others each activated their treasures as well. Several disparate powers spread out, like the river of stars pouring onto the world below, blanketing heaven and earth.

At a time like this, who dared hold back?

Su Yi shot forward in a flash, arriving before Zhou Qingxuan a moment later.

She was the weakest of the six, but she was the most prone to saying things she shouldn’t.

During their earlier staredown, she’d repeatedly mocked and insulted him. Su Yi had long since set his sights on her.

“Tch!” Zhou Qingxuan’s expression changed dramatically, and she suddenly used a defensive magic art. Her hand flew through the air, and dazzling, multi-colored arcs appeared out of nowhere, intertwined like flowering branches, and formed a wall in front of her.

Ten Thousand Vines Form a Rainbow!

This was an ancient secret art that absorbed the power of the surrounding area.

But how terrifyingly powerful was Su Yi?

Boom!

One punch, and the barrier formed of countless arcs instantly exploded.

Light scattered like rain, and Zhou Qingxuan’s delicate, slender figure burst like paper mache.

“Hm? A substitute talisman?” Su Yi’s eyebrows arched up. The “Zhou Qingxuan” he’d just hit was actually an illusion created by a talisman.

As expected, Zhou Qingxuan soon reappeared several hundred feet away, lingering terror written all over her delicate face.

As that punch drew near, she truly felt as if she’d had a close brush with death. If not for her substitute talisman, she feared she’d already be dead!

“Stop him!” bellowed Zhou Changyi.

But Su Yi was just too fast, and his movement technique was light and airy. Although they tried to surround him, they hit nothing but air. This was what led to Zhou Qingxuan’s earlier brush with death.

As he spoke, Zhou Changyi led the charge, waving his sword in fury.

“Of all those present, only you, the Origin Palace cultivator, are worthy of my notice, albeit just barely,” said Su Yi calmly.

He completely ignored the others’ attacks and swung his palm at Zhou Changyi.

Boom!

Zhou Changyi’s sword was swift, and it struck with unstoppable purple lightning. It was bursting with limitless power.

His origin power was incomparably condensed. He lived up to his reputation as an Origin Palace. His every movement carried the profound charm of the Dao, and his strength was vast and majestic.

He was even stronger than Su Hongli had been after his breakthrough.

However, Su Yi was even more terrifying. Although he wasn’t using any treasures, his every move, his every punch and palm strike, contained unstoppable momentum, and the force of his fist contained Dao-rank xiantian qi. He was like an immortal from the heavens, practicing his martial arts in the mortal world. His movements looked simple, but they were full of the mysteries of the Grand Dao.

Just a few exchanges later.

Su Yi’s palm swung vertically, as if he were swinging a knife.

Bang!

The purple lightning sword qi filling the air burst apart. Zhou Changyi’s Daoist robes burst apart, bit by bit, and he retreated explosively back. With every step he took, the air beneath his feet collapsed, and fierce gales burst forth. 

This was because he couldn’t withstand Su Yi’s power, and he had no choice but to direct the impact beneath his feet.

One palm strike had forced Zhou Changyi back. The Origin Palace cultivator’s face was flushed red, and his blood and qi churned. He was in so much pain that he almost coughed up blood.

While all of this was happening, the others attacked with all their might too, but no matter what miraculous arts and treasures they used, when their attacks approached Su Yi, his xiantian qi neutralized them!

This left the Unknown Dragons, as well as Lonely River and the other Earthly Immortals, both stunned and furious.

After breaking through, Su Yi had become so strong that they couldn’t even imagine it! 

“Get in formation!” Zhou Changyi said gravely. As he spoke, he took out a small, apricot-colored flag.

The others took out formation flags as well. Each formed hand seals and chanted, putting a Daoist formation together in the blink of an eye.

Boom!

The illusory projection of a thousand-foot-tall demonic god appeared around each of the Unknown Dragons. They stood on the ground and towered into the skies, their auras terrifying. Baleful, bloody energy permeated the air around them, forceful as a waterfall and limitlessly vast.

The entire stretch of heaven and earth trembled as if unable to bear that level of power.

“Ee?” Su Yi seemed a bit surprised.

The five Unknown Dragon’s grand formation was extremely strange and miraculous. It didn’t just fuse their presences; it made their individual power soar explosively, and they could manipulate the power of the demon gods it manifested!

“Alas, Zhou Shanjia is already dead. Otherwise, this Six Gods Demon Manifestation Formation would have been a full level stronger.” Grief appeared in Zhou Qingxuan’s eyes.

Zhou Changyi’s eyes flashed like lightning, and he said coldly, “Su Yi, since we dared come here, we naturally knew better than to look down on you. See this? This is the Six Gods Demon Manifestation Formation, an inheritance we obtained from Heavenfault Yao Mountain. With this formation, we can kill anyone beneath the Spirit Dao level. Witnessing its power is your good fortune; now, you can descend to the Nine Springs with a smile on your face! 

He held an apricot pennant in his hand, and the illusory demonic god he’d manifested surged with towering majesty. He was terrifying to the extreme.

“What ‘Six Gods Demon Manifestation Formation’? This is nothing but a combination attack formation of the demonic way. Sure, you can borrow the power of the demonic gods, but the formation devours the cultivation of those who use it. It’s completely unfit for the public eye.”

Su Yi had already seen through its secrets, and his expression filled with undisguised disdain.

This formation’s power could shake heaven and earth, and it could manipulate the power of demonic gods. Were an ordinary Origin Dao cultivator standing here, they might well have given into panic already. 

Alas, these little tricks weren’t enough to scare Su Yi.

As he spoke, Su Yi pressed his fingers into a sword. Sword qi instantly flew through the air, arcing like a rainbow.

“Kill him!” Zhou Changyi and his surviving companions simultaneously formed hand seals, activating the grand formation.

The five massive projections of demonic gods were like their avatars. When they moved, the projections moved with them, their power vast, ancient, and terrifying, as if capable of shattering everything in their path. All of their attacks swept toward Su Yi.

When the five Unknown Dragons joined forces, they were incomparably mighty to begin with. The support of the formation only made them even more terrifying.

The distant onlookers watched as five demonic gods roared. They seemed powerful enough to cleave the earth and flatten mountains. Their very presence threw the surrounding skies into disarray.

Countless spectators were so stunned that their scalps went numb. Some even felt suffocated to the point of despair.

But Su Yi neither dodged nor retreated. He charged straight ahead.

He pressed his fingers into a sword, his sword qi dense and imposing. It pierced right through the heavens, the profundities of the Rejoicing Sword Sutra on full display.

Pulling Galaxies, Demarcating Purity, Splitting Mountains and Seas, Plucking Suns and Moons, Wandering the Ten Directions, and Severing Melancholy!

These six moves had long since surpassed the limits of fetters of pre-set attacks. Su Yi struck freely, joyful and unrestrained.

The Unknown Dragon’s formation was indeed powerful, but it could do nothing against Su Yi.

On the contrary, as his sword qi descended, it repeatedly struck the Six Gods Demon Manifestation Formation, which shook and churned.

Cuts and rifts appeared on the five projected demonic gods, and their auras were showing signs of disarray.

Zhou Changyi and the others were practically dumbstruck. Even if you hit them over the head, they never would have guessed that not even the Six Gods Demon Manifestation Formation could suppress Su Yi!

They had no idea that Su Yi had long since seen through their formation’s secrets, and that he knew how to counter it. How could the formation possibly hurt him?

“Cut!” Suddenly, Su Yi roared, and dazzling, clear sword qi appeared between his fingers. Each streak was only as thick as a finger, but they were concentrated to the extreme. Anyone who looked directly at them felt their concentrated, searing light burn their eyes.

Whoosh!

There almost weren’t words to describe this attack; as it descended, heaven and earth seemed dull by comparison.

The slash bore through the Six Gods Demon Manifestation Formation at unbelievable speeds, sweeping across all five Unknown Dragons.

And then—

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

One blast rang out after another. 

The formation’s five, thousand-foot-tall projections of demonic gods split apart like paper mache, crumbling into nothingness.

Immediately afterward, Zhou Changyi and company let out stifled grunts as eye-catching, startling, bloody wounds appeared all over their bodies.

Zhou Tuhong’s face contorted with agony. He looked down at himself, as if in disbelief.

Splurt!

The moment he lowered his head, his body split at the waist, and his lower half fell down to earth with a rain of blood.

This mighty saber cultivator of the late-stage Grain Avoidance Realm had, in just one attack, been cleaved in two at the waist!

But that was only just the beginning.

Crunch!

A bloody like appeared on Zhou Yunhai’s forehead, then swiftly spread down his nose, lips, throat, and chest…

In the end, he split right down the midline. Terrifying sword qi burst out of his bisected body.

“Alas….” Only Zhou Yunhai’s last mournful sigh lingered in the air. 

Before they even hit the ground, rampaging sword qi cut both halves of his bisected body into mincemeat. 

Immediately afterward, the handsome young man in brocade robes and a feather headdress, Zhou Beilin’s head lolled to the side, and blood gushed from his neck like a geyser.

Bang!

A sound like the crackling of firecrackers emanated from Zhou Qingxuan’s slender figure as all the talismans and treasures she had on her burst into powder.

She stared at the distant Su Yi in a daze, then opened her mouth as if to speak, only for a cut to appear on her neck; sword qi had opened a hole through her throat.

Her corpse plummeted down to earth.

A substitute talisman could save her once, but not twice!

Only Zhou Changyi remained. He coughed violently, and there was a gash on his back so deep that you could see his bones. A waterfall of fresh blood gushed from the wound.

Only he had escaped, injured but alive!

Just one slash, and he cut through the Six Gods Demon Manifestation Formation as if it were made of rotten wood, cutting down four Unknown Dragons and leaving the Origin Palace Realm Zhou Changyi severely injured!

This scene instantly stunned everyone present. The onlookers were at a loss for words, and everything sank into silence.

What…. What kind of attack was that? This bloody spectacle left Lonely River, Yun Zhongqi, and the others who’d been hiding behind the grand formation so scared that they felt chills in their hands and feet. It was as if they’d been plunged into an icy abyss; irrepressible terror surged within their hearts. 

When they next looked at Su Yi, they saw him faintly shaking his head.

That attack was the combination of his Xiantian Martial Ancestor cultivation, mixed with the power of his blood, qi, and essence and the profundities of the Rejoicing Sword Sutra. Its power was, of course, extraordinary. How could it be anything less? 

However, Su Yi was somewhat dissatisfied. 

He’d only killed four people! He couldn’t take the Origin Palace Zhou Changyi down with them. This left him no choice but to admit that, immediately after breaking through, his control over his newfound power was still somewhat lacking. He needed more practice!  

Mount Heavenfault was mentioned once in passing, as one of the most dangerous places in the Great Zhou. Yue Shichan explored the place. I think it was mentioned first in chapter 180.

It was not called a Yao Mountain at the time, so I dunno if this is a retcon or if we should have just assumed “a dangerous place occupied by yao” was a Yao Mountain, but hey.