The silence was stifling and oppressive.

The power of Su Yi’s strike made even the distant Cloudstone Venerate, Yue Shichan, Ge Changling and the others tremble. They were deeply stunned.

The other onlookers were rooted to the spot.

That strike seemed capable of cleaving a celestial immortal!

Zhou Changyi’s eyes already brimmed with deep astonishment.

He would never have guessed that Su Yi could unleash such strength just by pressing his fingers into a sword. He’d even destroyed their Six Gods Demon Manifestation Formation as easily as if it were made of tissue paper, breaking it in just one strike.

Zhou Tuhong, Zhou Yunhai, Zhou Beilin, and Zhou Qingxuan’s deaths made Zhou Changyi’s hair stand completely on end.

He dared say with certainty that, had that sword targeted him directly, he likely couldn’t have escaped calamity either!

“Su Yi, this was our Unknown Dragon Mountain’s mistake. Might we talk things over? Please, give me a chance to make up for my mistakes.” Zhou Changyi took a deep breath. “I’m not afraid of death, but without the forces of Unknown Dragon Mountain, the entire Great Zhou will surely descend into chaos. When the time comes, endless strife will befall the nation, and it’s the people who will suffer. Could you bear to see this happen?”

For the first time, the calm, composed grand elder of Unknown Dragon Mountain had no confidence at all.

Su Yi laughed derisively. “Earlier, you saw me as a harbinger of disaster for the Great Zhou, someone who would bring ruin to the nation unless killed. Why have you suddenly changed your tune?” 

Zhou Changyi sighed. “I have only my poor judgment to blame. I couldn’t see the big picture clearly. So long as you show mercy, I swear that I’ll compensate you for my mistakes one hundred times over!

“It’s too late,” said Su Yi coldly.

Zhou Changyi’s expression instantly turned incomparably unsightly.

Su Yi’s gaze swept across the distant Lonely River, Yun Zhongqi, Shi Fengliu, and the others.

“If you dare run, one of these days, I’ll visit your nests in person. When that happens, you won’t be the only people I kill.”

Their expressions shifted dramatically. Earlier, the sight of Su Yi’s slash shocked them. Afterward, they were terrified to the extreme, and they regretted ever getting mixed up in this.

Their hearts sank when they heard Su Yi’s warning.

Zhou Changyi took a deep breath, then said coldly, “Everyone, at this point, all we can do is die in battle. Otherwise, we might be able to escape, but our factions, friends, and allies won’t!”

His aura instantly surged, becoming lofty and inscrutable. His entire being seemed to merge into heaven and earth, and his every movement now drew upon the power of his surroundings.

“Fight!” Yun Zhongqi’s infuriated gaze surged with waves of light. He held his Daoist insignia in one hand, a feather whisk in the other, and the full force of his aura burst around him. He was the high elder of the Wheel of the Moon Sect, and his cultivation was extraordinary too. 

“Praise to the immeasurable radiance of the Buddha. In that case, I ought to abandon this fleshly vessel and carry out the heavens’ will.” Lonely River was as solemn as a Buddhist statue, with no sign of joy or sorrow. Radiant Buddhist light hovered around him.

Shi Fengliu and the Pineflame Daoist glanced at each other. Both looked determined.

It was just as Zhou Changyi said. If Su Yi wanted to kill them, they might escape, but their sects couldn’t.

Boom!

All of them joined forces, their majesty on full display, their power altering the world around them.

“You’re finally acting a bit like true cultivators,” said Su Yi with an approving nod. “So long as you don’t flee, I’ll naturally give you each a dignified death.”

He still fought barehanded, but clear xiantian qi hovered around him, making him seem illusory, detached, and ethereal.

“Attack!” Zhou Changyi swung Purple Lightning.

Boom!

Purple thunder sword qi shot through the sky, thick as a water barrel. It descended from the heavens with shocking momentum.

At the same time, Zhou Changyi opened his mouth and spat up a pearl. It was red, bright as the sun, and blazing with flames seemingly capable of burning the heavens themselves.

A divine fire pearl!

This was an extremely destructive spiritual treasure.

At the same time, Yun Zhongqi took to the skies, insignia in hand, and attacked.

Lonely River activated his glowing alms bowl, which flew forth and enveloped Su Yi from afar.

Shi Fengliu raised his sword, which glowed as he flew through the air. Sword qi spread throughout heaven and earth.

The Pineflame Daoist immediately took out his treasure too, a golden jade ruler. He swept it through the air, firing countless beams that arced through the sky like divine rainbows. 

Rumble~

Heaven and earth shook, and a grand battle broke out once more.

However, this time, Su Yi couldn’t be bothered to drag things out any further.

He instantly broke through his foes’ attempt to encircle him and arrived before Yun Zhongqi.

His first punch sent the Daoist insignia flying from Yun Zhongqi’s hand. Spiderweb-like cracks formed on its surface.

His second punch slammed directly into the astonished Yun Zhongqi. Both he and his numerous protective treasures burst apart.

Just two punches, yet they’d exploded this high elder of the Wheel of the Moon Sect’s body into pieces.

“Next.” Before the crowd could react, Su Yi darted forth, like a streak of illusory lightning, and attacked Lonely River.

“Well done!” Lonely River’s face filled with pity and grief. He clasped his palms together and chanted a grand and obscure sutra.

Boom!

His body suddenly burst with radiant light, as if he were on fire. Towering Buddhist flames transformed into a luan, then dove at Su Yi.

The Karmic Fire Flying Luan Art!

This was a forbidden technique, a method that burned one’s cultivation base, sacrificing oneself to kill another for the greater good.

Using it was like igniting one’s spirit, qi, essence, and cultivation. It gathered all of one’s power into a single point; it was terrifying to the extreme.

This was a forbidden technique. Using it meant one no longer cared about their life and death. All that mattered was dragging their foes down with them!

Su Yi’s pupils constricted slightly, and he took a deep breath before forming a series of hand seals.

Bzzz!

Clear xiantian qi surged into being, forming a strange palm imprint. It bloomed like a densely-layered flower and condensed in front of Su Yi.

The Boundless Flowers Seal!

This, too, was a secret Buddhist art. It was an inheritance of the Wilds’ top Buddhist holy land, the Little Western Paradise. Were an Imperial Realm expert to use it, they could instantly form eight thousand, four hundred spherical barriers around themselves.

Su Yi’s Boundless Flowers Seal only had twelve layers, and they only contained the barest hints of the technique’s true profundity.

However, against Origin Dao cultivators, its defenses were practically invincible!

Bang!

A luan bathed in fire flapped its wings and descended, striking into the Boundless Flowers Seal. The layered barriers instantly cracked and split with a series of deafening booms.

Searing firelight enveloped the entire area with shocking noise and momentum. 

But when the smoke parted, the onlookers saw that three of the Boundless Flowers Seal’s twelve layers remained, and that Su Yi didn’t have so much as a single hair out of place. 

This was the Karmic Fire Flying Luan Art, a technique Lonely River had unleashed at the cost of his life, burning both himself and his cultivation, yet Su Yi’s barriers had completely neutralized it!

When Lonely River saw this, he couldn’t help but sigh. Even after sacrificing his life, he couldn’t even scratch Su Yi. Of course he was dejected!

Then, the dazzling Buddhist fire around him burnt him to cinders.

The chief elder of Shanglin Temple’s Arhat Hall had fallen, just like that.

Everyone present was shaken.

In two snaps of the finger, Yun Zhongqi and Lonely River, Earthly Immortals of the Great Wei and Great Qin, perished in battle!

Two punches had burst the former apart, while the latter died burning up his own cultivation.

Who knows how many people’s hearts quivered just watching this?

“Next.” Su Yi’s expression was calm, and he didn’t even pause. As Lonely River died, Su Yi shot toward the distant Pineflame Daoist in a flash.

The Pineflame Daoist’s expression changed dramatically, and he immediately tried to dodge. He simultaneously activated his golden jade ruler. Thousands of arcs, like thousands of sharp swords, formed in midair and flew toward Su Yi, stirring up howling winds.

Su Yi waved his sleeves.

Boom!

The sharp blades filling the air instantly burst apart.

At the same time, he stabbed with his sword fingers.

Whoosh!

A streak of misty clear sword qi shot forth. It was a full thousand feet long, and it swept toward the Pineflame Daoist from a distance

Splurt!

The Pineflame Daoist perished on the spot, his head separated from his shoulders.

His cultivation had only been in the mid-stage Grain Avoidance Realm to begin with, and he wasn’t even as strong as You Tianhong. Against Su Yi, who now had Xiantian Martial Ancestor cultivation, he was no different from a clay chicken or porcelain dog.

“Master….” Chang Guoke was among the distant onlookers. When he saw this, his eyes reddened and his fists clenched. In his heart, he felt incomparably bitter and stifled.

He was initially only worried that his benefactor, Su Yi, would die.

But now, watching Su Yi kill his master, Chang Guoke didn’t know whether he should hate him or not. He just stood there in a daze, feeling empty and agonized.

Qing Jin’s eyes dimmed. She, too, felt deeply conflicted.

“Kill him!”

These repeated deaths seemed to stimulate Zhou Changyi, whose eyes reddened. He bellowed in fury, the sound shaking heaven and earth. Purple Lightning boomed, and origin energy surged forth, gathering into a purple arc that flew toward Su Yi.

Like a frenzied demon!

Su Yi responded with the Starry Sky Sword Fingers. Stars filled the skies, then bore down on his foe.

In their last clash, Su Yi’s sword qi swept across him. The grand elder of Unknown Dragon Mountain was already severely injured. How could he possibly endure this attack?

Crunch!

First, the divine fire pearl burst into pieces. Next, the surging purple lightning sword qi dispersed into nothingness.

Then, the stars slammed into Zhou Changyi with a bang. As his piteous, desperate shrieks rang out, he split apart in midair. His bones snapped, and his flesh was reduced to a meaty pulp. 

All six Unknown Dragons had now perished in battle. Not one had survived!

Against all expectations, the one remaining Earthly Immortal, Shi Fengliu, shifted, then blurred into a streak of bloody light and shot over the horizon.

He obviously realized that staying meant certain death, so he fled without so much as a second look!

“You’re one of the possessed, yet you’re chickening out so easily?” Su Yi’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh well. I’ll just have to show you what I can do.”

His eyes flashed with ruthless and indomitable blue light.

Whoosh!

The onlookers then watched as, bizarrely, Su Yi’s forehead split apart, and a bean of radiant blue light shot forth. It took shape and condensed in midair, becoming an incomparably concentrated little blue sword.

The little sword was only several inches long, and it looked illusory and formless. Its surface was covered in densely-packed, obscure Daoist markings.

When the little sword appeared, despite thousands of feet of distance, the onlookers felt as if their souls were tearing apart.

“This is called the One-Strike Divine Slaughter Incantation. This sword was forged of my divine sense, true essence, qi, and spirit. It’s specifically designed to target the soul. I haven’t used it in battle since I began practicing it. Shi Fengliu, today, you were the first to perish beneath this sword. You ought to feel honored.”

Before Su Yi’s voice finished echoing through the air, the little Divine Slaughter Sword silently disappeared into thin air.

Tens of thousands of feet away.

Shi Fengliu was fleeing for his life when suddenly, he froze.

The type of barrier Su Yi is using is actually fairly specific. It’s called a (Jiéjiè), or “kekkai” in Japanese. It’s a specific type of barrier with Buddhist origins. Often (but not always) a round, Buddhist forcefield. They’re common in east Asian fiction.

I confess that despite my job as a Chinese translator, the Japanese term is much more familiar to me. Here’s some pics of “kekkai” from a Chinese Inuyasha wiki. Kekkai are also in the (Japanese) names of the anime Blood Blockade Battlefront and Kekkaishi, or “Barrier Master.”

Bit random, but here’s an example from modern art.