Shrouded Sky

Chapter 154 - Beating Until Black And Blue

Bang!

Ye Fan soared into the sky, swinging his golden fist down with crushing force, smashing nearly all of Ji Ren’s chest bones.

Yet the old steward’s cultivation was unfathomable, his vitality was terrifyingly strong. He showed no sign of death, instead growling and roaring in a deep voice.

Ye Fan followed up without hesitation, performing the martial art, Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada, reaching an extreme speed. Each step landed on Ji Ren’s body with a crisp crack.

By the end of the eight steps, Ji Ren’s body had over a dozen shattered bones, his form nearly twisted out of shape. At the same time, he crashed to the ground.

Ye Fan landed the final punch, sending Ji Ren flying like a stone, landing like a dead dog.

The means were brutal, but Ye Fan felt no pity. In this world of the strong preying on the weak, if he wasn’t ruthless, he would’ve already been killed.

Ji Hui had made up her mind to eliminate him. Ji Ren had come to carry out an execution, always cold and emotionless, utterly indifferent about killing Ye Fan. So Ye Fan felt nothing either, he simply killed.

“Argh…” Ji Ren was still growling, still not dead.

Ye Fan felt a chill. This man was too strong. Any ordinary cultivator would’ve long since perished.

He couldn’t gauge Ji Ren’s cultivation, it was unfathomably deep. Not wanting to risk any surprises, Ye Fan summoned the Dao Scripture’s golden page.

The page of the Dao Scripture turned into a dazzling beam of golden light, sharp and piercing, blurring the void as if tearing it apart.

Though not a traditional weapon, the Dao Scripture Page was tougher than the Jiang Clan elder’s Purple Copper Mirror and could immerse into the Bitter Sea, something even powerful artifacts like the Eight Trigram Mirror, Heaven Net Umbrella, or Jade Pure Bottle couldn’t do. In this way, it was even better than a weapon.

Shiiing!

The golden page sliced through the air, razor-thin yet sharper than any sword.

Pfft!

Ji Ren’s head was severed. Blood sprayed from the neck like a crimson fountain, gushing several meters. The head tumbled far away.

In this cruel world of cultivation, it was kill or be killed. Mercy had no place here. Ye Fan sighed, but just then, he noticed with shock that the headless body was still twitching, and the severed head was also shaking.

Even now, Ji Ren was still alive. Ye Fan was horrified and immediately sent the golden page flying toward the source of Ji Ren’s godpower.

Pfft!

The Golden Page penetrated Ji Ren’s Oceanic Wheel, cutting off his source of godpower and splitting apart the secret realm inside his body. No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t recover from that.

Shiiing!

Not finished, Ye Fan once again targeted the twitching severed head, preparing to destroy it completely.

Buzz!

At that moment, something unexpected occurred, a five-colored light burst out from Ji Ren’s balding head, blocking the Golden Page.

A powerful godpower sealed the area, keeping the page at bay.

Within the dazzling five-colored glow, a thin bone hairpin shimmered mysteriously. It released a sacred energy flowing toward Ji Ren’s head.

At that instant, the hairpin shattered, and a beam of light burst forth. A projection of Ji Hui appeared, shouting: “What happened?!”

Ye Fan’s scalp tingled. As much as he wanted to crush this venomous old crone, he knew the gap in strength was enormous. The Ji Clan’s elders were like giants to him.

“It’s you…” Ji Hui’s image looked deeply shocked. “How could Ji Ren be defeated by you? And even near death?! I gave him the bone hairpin as a safeguard, and even that shattered?! This… is impossible!”

The old matriarch of the Ji Clan looked utterly disbelieving, as if she’d just heard that a lion was killed by an ant.

Ye Fan quickly composed himself and didn’t say a word. He immediately launched the Golden Page at Ji Hui’s projection. He knew this wasn’t her real body, only a spiritual imprint. He had to act fast to eliminate it before Ji Ren's head could regenerate.

“This… defies all logic,” Ji Hui murmured, stunned. But the Golden Page slashed through her image, splitting it.

However, she reformed quickly. “You’re too green. You can’t even tell the difference between an imprint and a real body. You’ll never destroy me like this.” She then shouted, “Ji Ren, wake up now!”

Shiiing!

From between Ye Fan’s brows, the golden lake reappeared, and a small golden sword of divine soul attack flew out, slicing directly at Ji Hui’s projection.

Now that he understood her state, Ye Fan felt confident. A divine soul attack was the perfect way to destroy a spiritual imprint.

“Aaah!” Ji Hui’s projection shrieked in pain and fury, trying to flee.

It was like plunging a red-hot iron rod into snow. The imprint melted quickly and became blurry, on the verge of annihilation.

Against a supreme elder of the Ji Clan, Ye Fan stood no chance. He had only trained for a bit over three years. But this was just a spiritual imprint, not the real person. So he went all-out.

“You vicious old bitch! I might not be able to kill your real body, but your spirit imprint? You're done for!”

Ye Fan had nothing but disgust for this cruel woman. She repaid kindness with blood and had tried to destroy him utterly. Now, she was the perfect target to vent his rage.

“You, ” Ji Hui tried to speak, enraged and humiliated. Never had a Ji Clan elder been insulted like this.

Shiiing!

Another burst of golden godpower shot from Ye Fan’s brow, piercing Ji Hui’s head. Light exploded, flooding the area.

Ye Fan had no time to waste. One, he couldn’t risk any surprises. Two, he still had to deal with the half-dead Ji Ren.

With a roar of frustration, Ji Hui’s imprint shattered and dissolved into snowflakes, disappearing from the world.

Ye Fan dived down and once more used the Golden Page to strike at Ji Ren.

At that moment, the head, nourished by sacred energy, calmed down. Ji Ren’s eyes opened, his gaze razor-sharp and ice-cold.

“You really have a tenacious life…” Ye Fan sneered.

He pushed the golden Dao Scripture forward again. This world was still sealed. Only by slaying the enemy could he escape.

Ji Hui’s spiritual energy had fully awakened Ji Ren. The severed head suddenly flew up, trying to escape.

Shiiing!

But Ye Fan ignored it and attacked the headless body instead.

Suddenly, something astonishing happened, five figures burst from Ji Ren’s shattered body, standing in front of it like guardians.

The first was clad in black iron armor, wielding a massive scythe. His whole body was dark as ink, like the god of death.

The second wore fiery red armor, holding a blood-red long blade that glowed with eerie brilliance.

The third wore green armor resembling dragon scales and held a spiked mace, exuding immense pressure.

These five resembled demonic gods, each exuding strange power.

“Dao Palace Realm!” Ye Fan realized in shock and inhaled sharply.

It was said that cultivators of the Dao Palace Realm could manifest five god-spirits with mysterious abilities. Even after their body was destroyed, these entities could act independently.

Though he had destroyed Ji Ren’s Oceanic Wheel, the Dao Palace was intact, and its five god-spirits had emerged.

The only silver lining: Ji Ren’s head couldn’t reconnect with his body, so the god-spirits weren’t fully under control.

“The Dao Palace Realm is far deeper than I imagined. This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Ye Fan muttered.

There was no escape. He could only fight forward.

Ye Fan summoned the Golden Page and activated the Dao Scripture, mobilizing his motherly energy of all things, readying for a bloody battle.

Shiiing!

To his surprise, the god-spirits weren’t as terrifying as expected. A flash of gold severed one of their arms.

In the distance, Ji Ren roared in rage and despair.

“Hahahaha!” Ye Fan laughed. “I get it! Without your head, they can’t show their full power. Why should I fear them?”

He dashed forward, swinging his golden fist.

Boom!

One god-spirit was shattered into glowing light.

Ji Ren shrieked. Though without a body, the howls of his soul were chilling.

Whoosh!

The sky dimmed. A massive purple net descended from the sky, the Grand Allheaven Net.

Ye Fan was startled. It was this net that had trapped him before.

But unexpectedly, it didn’t trap Ye Fan, it wrapped around Ji Ren’s head and shot into the distance. The remaining four god-spirits turned into beams of light and also tried to flee.

“You old bastard, !” Ye Fan roared. He crushed Ji Ren’s body completely and unleashed a remnant form of the Grand Void Palm into the sky.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Four black hands covered the sky and crushed the four spirits into dust.

Ye Fan didn't delay. He chased Ji Ren's fleeing head.

Without a body, Ji Ren had no more godpower. His Oceanic Wheel and Dao Palace were destroyed. The Allheaven Net couldn't protect him for long, and he was slowing down.

Ye Fan had mastered the Old Madman’s supreme footwork, he caught up in a flash.

"Hey old freak! No divine source, no god-spirits, how are you going to run now?"

Ye Fan felt relieved. Severing the head first had been key. If Ji Ren had rejoined his body, he wouldn’t have stood a chance.

But it hadn’t been luck. Ye Fan had made this happen. His divine soul attack had sealed the outcome.

Bang!

Ye Fan struck again, but the Allheaven Net lit up with purple light, neutralizing his blow and protecting the head.

Still, a flying head had limited power. It couldn’t sustain the net. The godpower ran out, he could no longer control it.

Even the greatest treasure required power to activate. Without it, it was useless.

“Thanks for the free gift, old man!” Ye Fan shouted.

Boom!

His final strike smashed Ji Ren’s head into pieces.

The purple net fell gently. Ye Fan caught it.

“A true treasure indeed!”

He sensed Ji Hui’s aura on it, clearly a gift from the Ji Clan elder. It seemed woven from starlight, gleaming brilliantly.

“To ensnare all under heaven, this is a spirit artifact!”

Ye Fan felt it was much stronger than the destroyed Trigrams Mirror or Heaven Net Umbrella. Dao Runes shimmered faintly across it, mysterious and powerful, as though it could seize the sun, moon, and stars.

He didn’t linger. After erasing all traces of the battle, he vanished like a bolt of lightning.

For now, he needed to lay low. Once the Ji Clan elders learned of this, they’d be furious, and they would never let him go.