Chapter 86: The Patriarch's Strength

The seven immortals mountain figures who fell to the ground vomiting blood wore expressions as if they had seen ghosts. That they were able to accompany Li Hewei and the youth surnamed Kong down the mountain was partly due to their close relations, and partly because the few of them enjoyed a certain renown back on the immortal mountain. Although they still merely held the status of attendants at present, judging from how Li Hewei had not forgotten to arrange accommodations for them when looking to have some fun, they were actually treated on an equal footing.

The combined attack formation that was originally invincible and could fight toe-to-toe even against the top-tier immortal masters of the immortal mountain had been casually shattered with a single point by the youth before them. The spiritual energy from the instant backlash was simply not something the few of them could withstand. The reason why they had not quickly gathered their strength and unleashed a rapid assault in the beginning was precisely because such combined offensive arts demanded absolute precision without the slightest flaw.

Yet, at this moment, saying anything was already too late. Looking at the purple thunder continuously cleaving down from the sky, the remaining shred of wishful thinking within the seven had probably been completely ground to dust.

"Our skills are inferior to others."

"So apart from the heaven-reaching immortals, there are such peerless figures in this world."

"That bastard Li Hewei has dragged us all down to hell!"

"How could this young man possess such terrifying strength? One must know that individuals of extraordinary talent were long ago gathered up by our immortal mountain. If he is a genius who only emerged after the mountain was sealed for a year, how could he treat us like mere ants after just one year?"

"Sealed? ... Could it be?"

None of the seven were foolish martial artists who buried their heads in secluded cultivation and remained ignorant of worldly affairs—this could be glimpsed from the fact that they followed Li Hewei down the mountain in search of amusement. Therefore, at the thought of the mountain being sealed, several of them roughly guessed the crux of the matter, only finding it hard to believe in their hearts.

Just as the few of them were letting their imaginations run wild, the thunder and lightning in the sky had accumulated for long enough, finally crashing down with a world-destroying might. That pillar of purple light was no longer a single thread or line, but instead poured down like impenetrable, driving rain.

"Rumble!"

Apart from the thunderclouds occasionally emitting a couple of heaven-shaking roars, the ground below was so silent that even the sound of breathing was starkly clear. For a time, the entire Li clan tribe was completely shrouded within this purple thunder radiance. The intensity was neither more nor less; Chen Hongxu's control was just right.

The purple thunder came quickly and went just as fast. In an instant, the place that had previously been a fine homeland where the Li clansmen lived and worked in peace was scorched into a barren wasteland by the purple lightning. Eerily, not a single person still standing on this scorched earth had been injured by the purple thunder. Many people sat paralyzed on the ground, blood continually dripping from their faces, which was actually caused by the panicked shoving, scraping, and bumping against one another as the purple thunder descended.

Chen Hongxu paid no mind to the seven defeated foes lying on the ground. In his eyes, aside from their combined attack formation being somewhat worthy of study, these individuals possessed strength truly not worth mentioning. One had to recall that Chen Hongxu was a character who had withstood a supreme king of men head-on during his breakthrough in grades, and that king of men had even possessed the inconceivable domain. Although he ultimately failed to win and suffered defeat, being able to survive was also a form of strength. At this point, he had already transformed the state of his life, his entire body brimming with vitality. For the endless stream of spiritual energy, he naturally had a deeper understanding. With just the power of a finger-flick, even that freak Jiajia with its Xuanwu bloodline, should it come over, would likely be split into smithereens.

Turning his head, he cast a profound and meaningful glance at the elderly man of the Li clan, and Chen Hongxu smiled subtly.

The old man of the Li clan swept his gaze over the tribe that had still been bustling with prosperity moments before, sighed softly, and said, "Actually, there was no need for you to go this far."

Chen Hongxu shook his head and replied, "If I don't bind you to my chariot, I can neither eat nor sleep in peace. They might not understand, but I know your strength..."

The old man's eyes narrowed, somewhat surprised that Chen Hongxu could actually perceive his cultivation realm.

The corners of Chen Hongxu's mouth parted slightly, forming a silent phrase, and then he shook his head, shifting his gaze to where Jiajia was fighting. Afterward, seeming to recall something, he turned his head once more to look at the old man whose expression was shifting uncertainly, and said, "I once fought a battle with someone of your same realm. He should have been supreme, after all, he mastered a domain!"

The old man's body trembled, a piercing light shooting from his turbid eyes. He shook his head vigorously and muttered, "Impossible! Though I must admit you are very strong, if you encountered a figure like that, how could you still be alive?"

Chen Hongxu offered no explanation; borrowing another's prestige works best when stopped before overdoing it. People's thoughts always tend toward the most perfect aspect; as long as you can provide a flawless starting point, others will fill in the subsequent details until even you feel they are airtight.

Watching the battle in the distance, Chen Hongxu said with quiet confidence, "My being alive is the best proof. Believe me, I don't like to lie."

That's right. The reason Chen Hongxu had resorted to his ultimate technique to deal with seven mere ants was naturally not to show off or to capture the heart of some woman within the Li clan. Rather, upon their first meeting, Chen Hongxu had sensed a faint aura familiar from Xuan Kun on this kindly old man.

Chen Hongxu was not close with Xuan Kun; what he could recognize was naturally only that trace of the realm's aura. Therefore, Chen Hongxu had always been unable to figure out why someone of the Li clan elder's strength did not go up the mountain himself to annihilate the heaven-reaching immortals, instead pinning his hopes on an outsider like himself.

Chen Hongxu had consistently harbored guard against the old man. This was also the reason why he always rested in the small grove and never stayed temporarily in the quarters arranged by the Li clan elder.

According to the rules of this world, if one lacked sufficient strength, being abandoned and utilized was an absolute certainty. After all, a tiger will never cooperate with a rabbit to catch a wolf, and those of weak strength will forever have to submit to the powerful in the face of a correct choice—even if the path chosen by the powerful one happens to be wrong.

Chen Hongxu's heaven-shaking blow had intentionally scorched the Li clan tribe's stronghold into barren earth. Aside from flexing his muscles, it was also partly to force the Li clan into burning their boats and accompanying him to storm the immortal mountain.

Since the old man possessed the strength of a king of men, he naturally was not bound by mortal lifespans, and Chen Hongxu's little tricks were not worth mentioning in his eyes. However, Chen Hongxu's strength was indeed worthy of careful deliberation. At this moment, remaining silent and fixed in place, his no-longer-aging visage instantly aged another decade. There is nothing more mentally exhausting than pondering a decision where one cannot make up one's mind.

Chen Hongxu was in no hurry to rush him. Staring into the distance with a calm assurance, he knew that since the old man had not struck immediately, it proved his prediction had won out.

With a trace of a smile at the corner of his mouth, Chen Hongxu watched the distant combat and only now realized that this fellow Jiajia was actually capable of fighting desperately when it exerted itself.

In the distance, because Chen Hongxu's finger-flick had only enveloped the Li clan's stronghold, it had not affected the battlefield where Jiajia and the youth surnamed Kong were fighting.

However, given the youth surnamed Kong's cultivation level, as long as he wasn't dead, he could sense such momentum anywhere.

He had never underestimated Chen Hongxu's strength, and had even shamelessly turned and fled. Yet upon witnessing that attack which altered the color of heaven and earth, he knew he had been wrong, and he also knew the accuracy of the immortal mountain being sealed. At this moment, the battle over there had already concluded, though he didn't know why Chen Hongxu had not come up to help this pet of his.

Who knew if Chen Hongxu's intentions might change a moment later? He dared not gamble, nor did he dare to harm Jiajia, fearing that harming Jiajia would draw Chen Hongxu over.

After all, divine beasts were extremely precious creatures.

This resulted in the youth surnamed Kong fighting with extreme frustration throughout the match. Not harming Jiajia meant he had to control the force of his attacks, yet if he didn't go all out when facing Jiajia—who possessed Xuanwu bloodline—that level of force would probably fall short of even a tickle. Meanwhile, wanting to escape inevitably required knocking Jiajia down, but knocking Jiajia down meant summoning that terrifying Chen Hongxu.

The youth surnamed Kong had fallen into a vicious dead cycle, acting overly cautious and timid, unable to display even half of his usual strength.

Conversely, looking at Jiajia, it was rare to have such a powerful sparring partner, so it naturally let out strange howls and went completely all out. Usually, catching an immortal master to practice moves was far too difficult. After all, that master of his constantly poked it with his fingers, utterly devoid of any care for small animals. Jiajia didn't dare to fight him; while it wouldn't result in death or mutilation, being constantly bullied still hurt—not just its body, but its heart ached too.

"Roar~~"

Jiajia's body slowly shrank. It was no longer boundlessly huge, but at a glance, it looked much more solid and dense.

Like a thick rope, Jiajia tightly coiled around the youth surnamed Kong, then exerted its monstrous strength, producing the crackling sound of crushed beans.

The youth surnamed Kong's face swelled to the color of pork liver. At this juncture of life and death, what he was still thinking about was not to harm Jiajia, terrified of attracting Chen Hongxu over. From this, one could tell how massive a psychological shadow Chen Hongxu's previous strike had cast upon him.

"Jiajia, don't kill him, he's still useful!" Seeing that the youth surnamed Kong had completely given up resistance while Jiajia was still ignorantly increasing its strength, Chen Hongxu hurriedly called out to stop it.

Jiajia turned its head with a resentful expression and weakly asked, "Should we boil him, or roast him?"

Upon hearing this, the youth surnamed Kong's pupils contracted, and he passed out from fright.

"Hah, he fainted from scare!" Jiajia's eyes were filled with pride. After piercing a small hole in the youth surnamed Kong's body with its tail, it scampered over to Chen Hongxu's side like a trophy-bearing victor asking for praise, ingratiatingly rubbing its massive pincers against the tip of Chen Hongxu's shoe.

"Scram! Looking that ugly and you still dare to act cute!" Chen Hongxu kicked Jiajia away, then squatted down to pat the youth surnamed Kong a few times in succession. Turning his head to look at the old man of the Li clan, he said, "I'll leave the interrogation about the specific location of the immortal mountain to the elder. After all, I'm still young, and such matters are better left undone by me."

With that, Chen Hongxu walked over to the remaining seven individuals, likewise patting each of them several times. As for the youth named Li Hewei, he had been directly and mistakenly slapped to death by Chen Hongxu with a single palm; ingratitude found no path to survival in Chen Hongxu's hands.

The reason Chen Hongxu patted each person was not only to place restrictions upon them, but also to test whether the Li clan elder understood things like golden-thread runes. After all, his restrictions were all sealed using golden-thread runes. Although it was merely a flash of golden light, with the Li clan elder's strength as a king of men, it wouldn't be difficult to see clearly.

Yet the Li clan elder's expression remained unchanged. After giving Chen Hongxu a deep look, he directly had people haul away the remaining eight individuals to be interrogated separately.

One must know that the location of the immortal mountain had always been a secret, and those capable of ascending it were guided up by immortal masters who descended from the mountain. Take Qi Hui, for instance, who had already been to the immortal mountain once—asking her to sketch out its location in her mind was an impossibility. Otherwise, why would Chen Hongxu have needed to stay in this Li clan for so long? He would have long since led Qi Hui to storm the immortal mountain.

It was precisely because numerous methods had been tried and failed to clear away the fog-like barrier in Qi Hui's mind that Chen Hongxu wished to try his luck at a major tribe.

"It seems my luck isn't bad!" Chen Hongxu watched the people busying themselves in an orderly fashion and said to himself with a smile.