Chapter 86: Exterminating the High-Ups

On the sword arena, a wild wind howled.

Great Elder Zhao Wuji, whose vital Flying Sword had been brutally snapped by Sect Master Lin Wuwen, now looked deathly pale, his eyes filled with horror and despair.

He couldn't understand how Sect Master Lin Wuwen, whose strength had once been on par with his own and whose vitality should have been depleted from practicing a Demonic Technique, now possessed a Physical Body so terrifyingly robust.

"Senior Brother Zhao, run! There's something wrong with this monster!"

The Second Elder shrieked, transforming into a streak of crimson fire as he attempted to flee the sword arena.

"Run? Did I give you permission to leave?"

Chu Chang stood at the back with his hands clasped behind him, a cold smirk playing on his lips. With a slight nudge of his Divine Sense, the Divine Soul imprint in his Sea of Consciousness instantly transmitted a kill order to Sect Master Lin Wuwen.

"Roar!"

A muffled roar escaped Sect Master Lin Wuwen's withered throat. He stomped his right foot heavily onto the sword arena made of Darksteel Stone. With a deafening boom, the hard surface of the arena instantly caved in, forming a deep pit several Zhang wide as spiderweb-like cracks spread frantically.

Utilizing this violent recoil, Sect Master Lin Wuwen moved as fast as a bolt of dark-gold lightning, instantly leaving behind a series of solid afterimages.

In less than a millisecond, he crossed hundreds of Zhang of the Void Realm and appeared directly behind the fleeing Second Elder in midair.

The Second Elder felt a sudden chill run through his body as a bone-piercing sense of danger surged from his spine straight to his crown. He didn't even have time to turn around; he could only frantically summon his protective Magic Treasure—a heavy shield refined from the shell of a Tier-Three Black Turtle.

"Black Turtle Shield, defend!"

Buzz! A massive phantom of a green turtle shell instantly materialized behind the Second Elder, exuding a steady and solid aura.

However, in the face of this defense—which was strong enough to withstand a full-force blow from an Early Stage Purple Mansion Realm Cultivator—Sect Master Lin Wuwen merely raised his right hand with a blank expression and clenched his fist. Without using any fancy techniques, he punched down ruthlessly, relying solely on the physical strength of this reconstructed Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Puppet.

"[Heavenly Demon Strength, Myriad Catty Shatter!]"

Boom!

The moment the heavy fist collided with the Black Turtle Shield, a deafening metallic roar erupted.

The seemingly indestructible phantom of the Black Turtle Shield shattered like fragile glass the moment it touched Sect Master Lin Wuwen's fist. Without losing any momentum, his fist smashed ruthlessly into the Second Elder's back with unstoppable force.

Pfft!

This single punch pierced straight through the Second Elder's chest!

Sect Master Lin Wuwen's dark-gold arm protruded from the Second Elder's chest, his hand clutching a slightly throbbing Golden Core of vitality that emitted a faint red glow.

"You… your Physical Body…"

The Second Elder's eyes widened in shock. Blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs poured frantically from his mouth, and the light in his eyes instantly went out.

Sect Master Lin Wuwen withdrew his arm expressionlessly. The Second Elder's corpse fell limply like a snapped kite, crashing heavily onto the sword arena and splashing blood everywhere.

"Second Brother!"

Great Elder Zhao Wuji and the Fourth Elder stared with eyes nearly splitting, a bone-chilling dread simultaneously rising in their hearts.

A powerhouse of the Early Stage Purple Mansion Realm couldn't even withstand a single punch from Sect Master Lin Wuwen! What kind of Puppet was this? It was practically an infinitely strong, pain-free killing machine!

"Fight them to the death! Activate the mountain-protecting grand array!"

The Fourth Elder roared, his face contorted. As he retreated frantically, he pulled out a jade token emitting a five-colored glow from his robes—it was the secondary control hub of the Divine Sword Sect's "Nine Heavens Sword-Controlling Grand Array".

"As long as I activate the grand array and draw down the Nine Heavens Sword Qi, even a Peak Purple Mansion Cultivator will die!" A flash of madness crossed the Fourth Elder's eyes as the true essence within his body poured into the jade token like a tidal wave.

However, before he could even activate the jade token, a cold voice abruptly rang in his ear.

"The grand array? Do you really think you still have the chance to activate it?"

Without anyone noticing, Chu Chang had silently appeared right above the Fourth Elder.

He looked down at the Fourth Elder from above, a faint golden light flickering in his eyes.

"Little beast, get away from me!"

Shocked and enraged, the Fourth Elder swung his left hand violently. A dense swarm of black poison needles turned into a cloud of black mist, blanketing the sky as it swept toward Chu Chang. This was his vital yin weapon, the "Hundred Bones Soul-Devouring Needles", which specifically targeted and harmed the Divine Soul, making it incredibly malicious.

Facing this sky full of poison needles, Chu Chang didn't even bat an eye.

"[Dharma Treasure Body], activate."

The Chaos Physique Origin inside Chu Chang's body vibrated slightly. A layer of faint golden Buddhist runes surfaced on his skin, making him exude a sense of solidity and holiness akin to a Buddhist Vajra.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Those "Hundred Bones Soul-Devouring Needles", which were enough to completely obliterate the Divine Soul of an ordinary Golden Core Stage Cultivator, merely produced a series of dense metallic clanging sounds upon hitting Chu Chang before snapping and falling one after another. They couldn't even pierce the hem of his robe.

"This… what kind of monstrous Physical Body is this?!" The Fourth Elder was scared out of his wits.

"Die."

Expressionless, Chu Chang raised his right hand and pressed down toward the void.

A giant golden palm several Zhang wide, condensed from Chaos True Essence, crashed down with heavy pressure.

Bang!

The Fourth Elder was slammed squarely onto the sword arena by this palm strike. A human-shaped pit instantly appeared on the hard Darksteel Stone ground. Every bone in the Fourth Elder's body shattered, and before the Nascent Soul inside him could even escape, it was violently ground into dust by the wild Chaos True Essence.

Retracting his hand, Chu Chang stood in midair, his robes fluttering in the wind like a deity.

Below, tens of thousands of Divine Sword Sect Disciples stared at this scene, dumbfounded.

If Sect Master Lin Wuwen's formidable strength was because he was once the Sect Master with profound cultivation, then the power displayed by Chu Chang—an Outer Sect Disciple who was usually completely obscure—had completely shattered their understanding.

Resisting High Grade Magic Treasure poison needles with his bare Physical Body, and slaying a Purple Mansion Elder with a single palm strike!

Such combat strength was simply unheard of!

On the sword arena now, among the Elders who had conspired with Sect Master Lin Wuwen, only Great Elder Zhao Wuji remained.

Watching his two colleagues get decimated in the blink of an eye, Zhao Wuji knew there was absolutely no way he would survive today. He let out a miserable laugh, an extremely crazed look appearing in his eyes.

"Hahaha! Good! What a Chu Chang, what a Puppet!"

Zhao Wuji stared intently at Chu Chang, his teeth grinding. "But did you think this was the end? The Xiao Family, the Iron Sword Sect outside the city, and the Dayuan City Lord—the power behind them is simply beyond your imagination! I will be waiting for you on the road to the Yellow Springs!"

With that, Zhao Wuji's body began to expand rapidly, and the Purple Mansion Dao Embryo within him erupted with a destructive light.

He was going to self-detonate as well!

"Sect Master Lin Wuwen, stop him," Chu Chang commanded calmly.

Swoosh!

Sect Master Lin Wuwen's figure appeared in front of Zhao Wuji as if teleporting. He reached out with both hands, clamping Zhao Wuji's shoulders like iron pincers, and the Devilish Qi within him poured frantically into Zhao Wuji's body, trying to forcibly suppress his reversing true essence.

"It's useless! I practice the Heavenly Fire Heaven-Guiding Art. Once the self-detonation process begins, even gods cannot save me! Let's die together!" Zhao Wuji laughed hideously.

Seeing that Zhao Wuji's body had expanded to its limit and a violent, destructive energy was about to detonate on the sword arena.

At the critical moment, Chu Chang moved.

With a flash of his figure, he instantly landed right in front of Zhao Wuji.

"I told you, in front of me, you don't even have the right to self-detonate."

Chu Chang took a deep breath, fully activating the Taiyin-Taiyang Chaos Physique within his body. His left eye turned into a blazing sun, while his right eye turned into a dark moon. He pressed his palms together in front of his chest and slowly pulled them apart.

"Chaos Returning to the Void, All Laws Dissolve!"

A grey, seemingly motionless sphere of light condensed in Chu Chang's palm. With a flick of his finger, this grey sphere of light instantly sank into Zhao Wuji's bloated body.

Buzz!

The crimson firelight, which had already reached a point of extreme violence, actually calmed down in a bizarre manner the moment it touched the grey sphere of light. It was like a red-hot iron thrown into ice water; under the assimilation of the Chaos Origin, that destructive energy was rapidly disintegrated and devoured.

Zhao Wuji's bloated body deflated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"No… this is impossible… my cultivation… my true essence…"

Zhao Wuji discovered in despair that the power within his body had vanished completely in an instant, leaving him a crippled person with no cultivation whatsoever.

Chu Chang looked at him expressionlessly, raised his right hand, formed a sword hand-gesture, and lightly sliced across Zhao Wuji's neck.

Pfft.

A white-haired head flew high into the air, bringing with it a spurt of boiling blood.

The Divine Sword Sect's Grand Elder, Great Elder Zhao Wuji, has been executed!

With the fall of the last villain, the entire main Peak's sword arena fell back into a deathly silence.

A thick scent of blood permeated the air. The corpses of three Purple Mansion Realm Elders lay sprawled on the platform, while Sect Master Lin Wuwen stood silently behind Chu Chang with blood-soaked hands, looking like a loyal demonic guard.

Tens of thousands of Divine Sword Sect Disciples looked at Chu Chang on the stage, their eyes filled with nothing but endless awe and terror.

Chu Chang slowly descended to the center of the sword arena. He scanned his surroundings, and wherever his gaze fell, whether they were Inner Sect True Disciples or Outer Sect Disciples, they all lowered their heads involuntarily, not daring to meet his eyes.

"Great Elder Zhao Wuji, the Second Elder, and the Fourth Elder colluded with external enemies and harmed their fellow Disciples. Their crimes are unpardonable, and they have been executed today!"

Infused with true essence, Chu Chang's voice rang out in the ears of every Disciple like a great bronze bell.

"Although Sect Master Lin Wuwen has been punished and refined into a Puppet under my command, his position as the Divine Sword Sect Leader is still retained. From this day forward, I… am the Supreme Deacon of the Divine Sword Sect! Everyone in the Divine Sword Sect shall treat me as they would the Sect Master!"

Having said that, Chu Chang directed his gaze toward the remaining Elders and deacons who were trembling below the stage.

"Do you have any objections?"

Hearing Chu Chang's words, several senior Golden Core Stage Elders who had not participated in the evil deeds looked at each other. They understood the current situation very well; the top combat power of the Divine Sword Sect had been almost entirely slaughtered by Chu Chang alone. Right now, Chu Chang was the absolute ruler of the Divine Sword Sect!

"We… pay our respects to the Supreme Deacon! We are willing to follow the Supreme Deacon's orders!"

With the Grand Elder's trusted aides dead, how would the remaining Elders dare to show any disobedience? They immediately knelt down on the ground in unison.

With someone leading the way, the tens of thousands of ordinary Disciples in the back also lowered their Flying Swords one after another, kneeling down like a tide as their cheers echoed through the clouds:

"We pay our respects to the Supreme Deacon!"

Standing on the high platform, Chu Chang looked down at the dense crowd kneeling below, a satisfied, cold smile appearing on his lips.

The Divine Sword Sect was now entirely under his control.

"Rise, all of you."

Chu Chang brushed his sleeves, and Sect Master Lin Wuwen behind him also stood to the side with his head bowed.

Looking at the Golden Core Elders who had just pledged their loyalty, Chu Chang issued his command with a cold gaze: "Pass down my decree. Starting today, the Divine Sword Sect will seal its gates; entry is permitted, but no one is allowed to leave. Furthermore, clean out all of Great Elder Zhao Wuji's remaining faction. In half a day, I will personally select troops to descend the mountain with me!"

"Supreme Deacon… where are we going?" one Elder asked tremblingly.

Chu Chang looked toward Dayuan City, intense killing intent flashing in his eyes.

"The Xiao Family, the Iron Sword Sect, the City Lord's Mansion… it is time for them to repay the blood debts they owe to the Divine Sword Sect."