Chapter 44: Killing a Genius

Some strange entity seemed to be writhing within the deep crater left by the meteorite, accompanied by a continuous stream of hair-raising, terrifying whispers.

However, because the dust filling the sky had not yet settled, it was difficult to discern the situation within...

At that moment, a piercing sound tore through the air from afar, followed by a sudden streak cutting across the sky—it was Su Ling, who had been closely pursuing.

With the fierce wind howling past his ears, Su Ling lowered his gaze to look at the ground expanding beneath his feet, suddenly noticing that a vast area below was shrouded in a pall of dust.

Seeing this, Su Ling did not hesitate. The moment before landing at high speed, he clenched his fist and struck downwards with a terrifying, overwhelming momentum.

The instant Su Ling's fist made contact with the ground, it pierced dozens of meters deep into the earth. Yet that was not all; the terrifying force contained within his arm surged entirely toward the surface in a split second.

With a deafening roar, Su Ling's casual punch instantly blasted out a massive, crater-like depression a hundred meters in diameter and dozens of meters deep, resembling the impact of a meteorite.

Simultaneously, a visible shockwave spread rapidly across the vicinity like lightning, instantly clearing away the dust that filled the sky along with its path.

The loudest sound is often silent. Following the thunderous explosion, Su Ling slowly stood up within the deep crater and casually raised the fist he had used to strike the ground.

At that moment, crystal-clear, fragmented crystals peeled off and detached from Su Ling's fist.

They rattled down onto the ground beneath his feet—ground that had solidified under the terrifying pressure—making a crisp, almost celebratory clinking sound.

"Was I using too much force?"

Seeing this, Su Ling frowned slightly, secretly concerned that his actions might draw the attention of Qi Jingchun.

Waiting for a moment in the crater and realizing that Qi Jingchun did not appear as he had imagined, Su Ling let out an involuntary breath of relief.

Since Qi Jingchun had not come, he would simply assume that Qi Jingchun tacitly condoned his reckless behavior.

Su Ling cast a casual glance at the steep, dozens-of-meters-deep slope of the crater wall, leaned his torso forward, and exerted a slight push with the balls of his feet.

Like a graceful wild goose, Su Ling soared upward with a single leap, leaving a blurred afterimage across the midair.

In the next moment, Su Ling's figure appeared on the edge of the giant crater. Looking out, he saw that the dust that had previously obscured his vision had been entirely swept away by the wind of his punch.

Right at that moment, however, Su Ling suddenly noticed that at the spot where the Mountain-Moving Ape had fallen, streaks of visible purple Qi were imperceptibly gathering toward the bottom of the crater.

Like wisps of azure smoke, they converged into a giant funnel-shaped belt of purple vapor, continuously inhaled into the lungs of Yuan Zhenye, who stood at the bottom of the crater.

Yuan Zhenye was in a thoroughly wretched state at that moment. The dark battle armor he wore had long been ruined by that previous punch, exposing a bloodied and mangled fist print on his chest, with three of his ribs completely fractured.

Amidst his ragged, heavy breathing, Yuan Zhenye's expression was exceptionally ferocious as a continuous wave of excruciating pain surged through his chest.

Yuan Zhenye's body trembled slightly, a result of the agonizing pain in his chest that was enough to drive a man to death. Every single breath was an extraordinary torment.

Yet, Yuan Zhenye stubbornly endured this inhuman torture just to exchange away one of his martial arts true qi.

With every strand of martial arts true qi he discarded, Yuan Zhenye's strength would break free from the suppression of the Heavenly Dao, temporarily restoring him to his absolute prime.

Correspondingly, every time Yuan Zhenye drew a breath, he would forfeit decades of his lifespan—truly a terribly poor trade-off, but one he had no choice left than to make.

By now, Yuan Zhenye was acutely aware that relying solely on his current strength, which was heavily suppressed by the Heavenly Dao, spelled doom.

Even with the physique of a martial artist at the peak of the Soul-Refining Third Realm, he still could not defend against Su Ling's attacks, whereas his own attacks were effortlessly parried by Su Ling...

Though this was a severe blow to his pride, Yuan Zhenye had to admit that if he continued down this path, he would likely be killed by Su Ling without a shred of suspense.

However, one must not forget that Yuan Zhenye was not merely a peak-realm martial artist; he was also a Qi practitioner whose cultivation had reached the Nascent Soul realm.

Yuan Zhenye simply refused to believe that at his absolute peak, he could not shatter this punk named Su Ling who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

On the other side, not far beneath the giant stone sculpture, Su Ling was watching with keen interest as the Mountain-Moving Ape continued drawing its breath.

"Oh?"

"Already triggered the low-health berserk mode?"

"That's it? Even Song Changjing from a little while ago was better than this..."

"..."

Whether or not Su Ling's disdainful voice had reached Yuan Zhenye, who was still regulating his breath at the bottom of the crater, was unclear.

In any case, the swirling vapor drifting in midair seemed to accelerate its flow considerably.

If this were a life-or-death battle of equal footing, Su Ling naturally would not drag things out like this, waiting deliberately for the Mountain-Moving Ape to recover its full strength.

Unfortunately, this was hardly an evenly matched battle; it could not even be called a battle at all. At best, it resembled an adult teaching a lesson to a toddler.

After all, the so-called Mountain-Moving Ape—unrivaled in both physical body and cultivation—was, in Su Ling's eyes, merely something he could toy with at will, while his own body would never be injured by a weak and powerless child.

"Well now~, are you going to work or not, old ape? It's been ages, and you're still not done? Even the cold greens are spoiled..."

"..."

Yuan Zhenye ignored Su Ling entirely, simply enduring the agony racking his whole body as he desperately accelerated his breathing pace.

Just at that moment, however, a voice that startled even Su Ling suddenly rang out from somewhere behind in the distance.

"Kid, you certainly gave this king a hard time tracking you down."

"What?"

The unmasked killing intent contained within that deep voice, coupled with a murderous aura so turbulent and vast it could suppress any lingering ghost, told Su Ling precisely who had arrived.

Su Ling turned around to look into the distance, his deep eyes reflecting a domineering and robust figure.

Song Changjing wore battle armor meant for slaughtering across battlefields and held a three-foot-long spear adorned with red tassels.

The spear was forged entirely from an unknown material, its shaft dark and glowing with a gloomy, somber hue.

The spearhead was dyed a stark, brilliant red, as though stained by an immense amount of blood, exuding an inescapable smell of carnage.

Song Changjing held the tasseled spear in one hand, wearing his battered, ancient armor without a helmet, revealing a steady, resolute face.

As a gust of fierce wind swept by, the blood-red cloak draped over his shoulders fluttered in the gale, snapping loudly.

Song Changjing's sudden arrival dramatically altered the atmosphere, casting a heavy pressure born of the battlefield over the skies of the Deities' Grave.

Even the rumbling thunder seemed to grow fainter, as though driven away by this terrifying momentum.

"You didn't leave?"

Su Ling looked at the battlefield general walking slowly toward him, speaking in a low murmur whose voice drifted on the wind into the ears of the stern-faced Song Changjing.

"Leave?"

"This king hasn't killed a peerless genius like you yet, how could I bear to leave!"

Hearing this, Song Changjing threw his head back and laughed aloud, his heroic voice brimming with an ultimate killing intent, as if he would never stop until Su Ling was dead!

"This king has three major hobbies in life. Do you know what they are?"

Song Changjing chatted idly as he walked, yet the momentum emanating from his body underwent a dramatic shift with every single step he took—truly a terrifying sight.