The noble golden hand pushed forward, its power overwhelmingly domineering, as if carrying mountains and seas. The mere pressure caused Xu Mu's simple cloth to explode, his flesh and blood tearing.
"Bang!"
In the next second, Changsun Wuji's palm landed on Xu Mu's chest, catastrophically crushing the youth's physique. The bones and flesh, which Xu Mu himself had considered impossibly strong, were now like paper.
This was not only because Changsun Wuji was a peak level four lord, but also because this was the fastest and strongest palm strike of his life, a strike he had prepared for a long time, intending it since he was in Xishan.
Boom!
The violent and dull impact, like toppling mountains, shattered Xu Mu's sternum. The domineering palm force invaded his body, causing a slight crack in his heart, which pulsed like glass. Sacred blood gushed out.
"Pfft!" Xu Mu spat out several mouthfuls of blood, his body flying back like a kite with a broken string, before crashing into a willow tree.
His pupils dilated, and he slipped to the ground.
"Xu Mu!" The Wine Immortal Taoist's pupils shrank to the extreme, rushing towards the ground in shock, while Changsun Wuji, having struck, rapidly retreated.
"Good!" The Old Ancestor of the Wang family roared, a hint of abnormal redness appearing on his face.
"A domineering royal bloodline. Even you wouldn't be able to withstand such a close-range palm strike, would you?" Jin Dafu's expression was also pleased, and he turned to look at the Old Ancestor of the Wang family.
"With preparation, perhaps. But as a sneak attack..." The Old Ancestor of the Wang family pondered, then shook his head, "I would never give anyone the chance to sneak attack me."
"No wonder you've lived so long." Yao Huo, for the first time, chimed in, clearly in a very good mood.
The Wine Immortal Taoist carefully supported Xu Mu and fed him a very precious medicinal pill.
Hiss...
The surging medicinal power flowed through Xu Mu's body, instantly mending his broken bones and flesh, but the crack on his perfect glass-like heart could not be healed.
"Why did you do this!" The Wine Immortal Taoist's eyes turned red, his fists clenched, and he stood up, radiating killing intent as he looked back at Changsun Wuji.
By now, the latter had retreated over a thousand meters, and Yao Huo and the others were slowly surrounding him, their imposing presence suggesting they could strike lethally at any moment.
"For no reason other than the revival of my family!" Changsun Wuji's complex expression held a near-obsessive determination.
"I came to the Land of Guiven to seek opportunity, and Xu Mu possesses what I desire, so I chose to act."
The eyebrows of the Wine Immortal Taoist slowly turned pale. Lightning flashed in his eyes, and he roared in fury:
"Can the great task of revival be accomplished by betraying your friend? Changsun Wuji, I will kill you now and see how you will revive!"
As the Wine Immortal Taoist spoke, several lightning bolts as thick as ancient trees descended from his eyes and from the heavens, illuminating the entire night sky.
"Boom!"
Terrifying lightning struck, causing Yao Huo and the others to retreat, unwilling to get involved. Changsun Wuji, however, stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the sky with a solemn expression, making no other move.
He seemed not to be worried about dying.
Therefore, just as the terrifying lightning was about to strike, two figures, one large and one small, appeared above Changsun Wuji's head. The larger one roared and expanded its form, while the smaller one unleashed incredibly terrifying flames. The combined power of their abilities clashed with the lightning, and then exploded.
Rumble!
The heavens and earth seemed to tremble, thunderous roars erupting, stirring up countless terrifying energy waves. Everyone was blinded by the white light until it gradually dissipated, revealing the identities of those who had shielded Changsun Wuji from the lightning strike.
"Annie, Malphite!" The Wine Immortal Taoist's face grew grim. The combined strength of these two was not weaker than a half-step Human King. Coupled with Yao Huo and the siege of several domain lords, his chances of winning were slim indeed!
"Hehe, surrender now, and we won't kill you if you hand over the Heavenly Tome," Annie said with a giggle, standing atop the stone giant's head and addressing the Wine Immortal Taoist.
"Impossible, Xu Mu must die today!" Before the Wine Immortal Taoist could speak, the Old Ancestor of the Wang family and Jin Dafu both exclaimed in unison.
"Indeed," Yao Huo nodded. "Wine Immortal, I don't know why you're protecting him like this. Is an undeveloped genius worth you making enemies of so many people?"
"Hand him over, and I can still let you go!"
"Let me go? You're afraid I'll kill you!" The Wine Immortal Taoist took a sip of wine and roared with laughter in the face of the siege.
"No one wants to face the desperate counterattack of a peak-ranked expert, even if that person is also on the ranking." Yao Huo frowned and said calmly.
"Senior Wine Immortal, in truth, we have no deep enmity. Why must you protect this Xu Mu? He's merely an undeveloped genius; surely you can find another," Jin Dafu also spoke, trying to persuade the Wine Immortal Taoist to abandon Xu Mu.
"Find another?" The Wine Immortal Taoist, hearing this, burst into laughter, his anger ignited. He pointed at Jin Dafu and sternly shouted, "You know nothing!"
"My White Cloud Taoist Temple has always emphasized a single line of succession, with extremely rigorous and perfect inheritance conditions. If we cannot find such a successor in a lifetime, we will take the inheritance to our graves, waiting for the true successor to appear."
"You mean Xu Mu is your successor?" Yao Huo asked with a frown.
"Of course not, I'm just running errands!" the Wine Immortal Taoist replied irritably, then continued, "The one who truly wishes to take Xu Mu as a disciple is my senior brother."
"My senior brother is a once-in-a-century prodigy in our Taoist temple, who inherited the mantle of True Master Zhang. He cultivated in seclusion for a hundred years, and after the Apocalypse, he broke through to the Human King realm!"
"Human King!" Upon hearing these words, everyone was somewhat shocked. But then Yao Huo raised a doubt:
"There are very few Human King experts on the continent. Besides your rear mountain sect leader, who spends his days drinking and carousing after accepting a disciple, when has your Taoist temple ever had a second Human King?"
"Drinking and carousing is also cultivation!" the Wine Immortal Taoist retorted angrily. "Moreover, my senior brother, apart from seeking a successor, has lived a life of chastity and never descended the mountain, so how could you have heard of him."
"You say your senior brother has never descended the mountain in his life. Then how did he know Xu Mu would be his successor?" Annie asked curiously, blinking her eyes.
"Divination," the Wine Immortal Taoist said.
"Divination?" Everyone was surprised.
"My senior brother understands yin and yang, knows feng shui, calculates the heavens and the earth, life and death. To divine a successor from across half a continent is well within reason," the Wine Immortal Taoist said proudly.
"This..." Yao Huo couldn't help but hesitate. If it were just the Wine Immortal Taoist, he could handle it; he was not afraid of provoking him. But now, with the mention of someone who claimed to be among the top ten experts on the ranking, he had to reconsider killing Xu Mu.
For a true Human King could easily kill him!
"I have never heard of your senior brother," Jin Dafu said grimly. "And even if he truly exists, I don't believe he could divine a successor from such a distance!" The man's expression was grim and serious. As one of the four top figures of the Jin Yin Merchant House, he had far-reaching influence and thus had the right to question.
"Yes, if you want us to believe that Xu Mu is a Human King's successor, you must provide proof," the other domain lords whispered amongst themselves for a moment, then all spoke out, demanding that the Wine Immortal Taoist produce evidence.
The Old Ancestor of the Wang family looked grim. If the Wine Immortal Taoist were to produce evidence next, wouldn't that mean Xu Mu would not die today?
"Evidence... I suppose there is some, but it's entirely unnecessary," the Wine Immortal Taoist waved his hand and continued, "Although my senior brother didn't directly name the successor as Xu Mu, he gave me a very detailed description."
"Such as?" Yao Huo asked with a frown.
"For instance, he said the successor's name would be two characters, and that he would be a young expert from the Demon Extermination Division, very fast, quick-witted, and a skilled swordsman. Besides Xu Mu, who else in your Demon Extermination Division fits this description?"
Yao Huo seemed to recall something, then pointed with a half-smile to Xu Mu's waist, who had just woken up, and asked:
"Take a look, is that a sword?"
The Wine Immortal Taoist first snorted dismissively, but then his pupils constricted to an extreme.
He stiffly turned around and looked at the saber at Xu Mu's waist, falling silent.
"My inheritance is about sabers. You use swords, it's not suitable."
"Brother Tree Spirit, you may not know, but I have always used a saber. From six years old until now, for fourteen years..."
Xu Mu's conversation with the Tree Spirit lord echoed in his mind.
The Wine Immortal Taoist's face turned pale. He had not found anything unusual about this statement at the time, but now it struck him like lightning.
"You... you've used sabers since you were young, but you can also use a sword, right!" The Wine Immortal Taoist swallowed nervously and continued, "I personally saw that sword light that slashed towards the sky wall. It was incredibly powerful. That couldn't have been fake!"
He looked at Xu Mu's pale face, hoping for a confirmation from his mouth.
"Swordsmanship... I don't really understand it," Xu Mu said with great difficulty, enduring the piercing pain.
"What do you mean you don't understand? I saw that sword strike earlier, and many people saw it too!" the Wine Immortal Taoist exclaimed anxiously, stamping his foot.
"He himself has admitted it. Why are you still forcing the issue? Why not look at the one lying on the ground," Yao Huo said with a laugh, as if the outcome were already decided.
"Impossible!" The Wine Immortal Taoist shook his head fiercely. He gritted his teeth and took out a bundle of counting rods from his robe, his face ferocious. "Good Xu Mu, since you won't admit it, this old Daoist will properly divine whether you are truly my senior brother's successor!"
As the Wine Immortal Taoist spoke, he used his finger as a brush and his primal energy as ink, drawing a Taoist divination altar in the air. Complex and intricate Taoist seals appeared, causing the entire space to tremble.
Buzz!
No one interrupted him, as they could clearly sense that the Wine Immortal Taoist was performing divination, not setting up a formation.
"When divining one's own fortune, the 'world' hexagram is used as the divine object. Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, the Three Pure Ones above, please tell this poor Daoist, is Xu Mu my senior brother's successor?"
The Wine Immortal Taoist chanted, and then the divination altar glowed brightly. From the divination tube, a lot stick suddenly flew out and hovered in the air.
"Fou."
Looking at the inscription, the Wine Immortal Taoist instantly looked fifty years older, his entire being appearing dejected.
"A lower-lower lot... it's actually a lower-lower lot!" The Wine Immortal Taoist's lips trembled slightly as he grasped the lot stick. He then forced himself to take a breath and shouted loudly:
"Then please tell me, if Xu Mu is not the successor my senior brother is looking for, then who is the successor, and where is he!"
Whoosh!
A deep red upper lot stick flew out of the bamboo tube and, before everyone's eyes, landed precisely on the unconscious Yan Yu.
...