Chapter 135: The Power of the Battle Axe

In the courtyard of the Su family’s council hall, the tall cultivator was trapped by the supreme spiritual artifact, the Jade Ring, controlled by Su Che. Not only were his movements slowed down several times over, but his ability to fly was also sealed, leaving him trapped on the ground.
The Jade Ring wasn’t highly aggressive, but it was a magical artifact with exceptional restraining capabilities. If Su Che used it to capture a cultivator at the peak of the Qi Refinement stage, it would suffice in just one move.
While it couldn’t completely bind a cultivator in the early Foundation Establishment stage, it could still impose significant constraints on them.
However, if faced one-on-two against two cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage, Su Che still had no chance of winning and needed an ally.
Who could be that ally?
Whoosh!
Su Che raised his hand again and threw out another massive object.
“Wahaha!”
Lao He appeared, controlling a demonic puppet forged from a Asura corpse, wielding a war axe of the Witch tribe. With a loud roar, he made a dramatic entrance.
“Asura?”
At the sight of Lao He, everyone in the courtyard paled in fear.
It was well known that Asuras were demons at the Golden Core stage, infamous for their brutality and ferocity. If an Asura really appeared, it could swallow everyone present without even burping.
Not to mention those independent cultivators—even the Su family members were trembling in fear. “Just how powerful is Che? He summoned a powerful serpent demon just now, and now even a more terrifying Asura. What kind of abilities does he possess?”
Hiss!
A stream of scarlet flames erupted from Lao He’s mouth as he glared viciously at the independent cultivators, roaring in a deep voice, “You wretched vermin, kneel down and wait for your fate!”
His roar was like thunder, scaring a cultivator in the later stages of Qi Refinement so much that he trembled and tried to flee. But with clanging sounds, he was struck back by the Su family members, one of whom even pierced his right abdomen with a magic sword, reducing his combat strength by half instantly.
“No!”
The short cultivator, despite being at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, had sharp eyesight and immediately spotted the flaw. He shouted, “No, it’s not a real Asura! It definitely doesn’t possess the strength of a Golden Core stage. Everyone, don’t panic…”
Lao He swung his battle axe, laughing heartily, “So what if it’s not? It’s more than enough to deal with you all.”
As he spoke, following Su Che’s instructions, he charged at the trapped tall cultivator.
Although the Asura corpse had been turned into a demonic puppet, its strength would inevitably decline by several levels. But overall, it should still be able to handle a cultivator in the early Foundation Establishment stage alone.

Lao He swung his axe. The tall cultivator, unable to move quickly to dodge, could only summon his vital energy to strengthen the protective shield around him.
Thud!
Although the Witch Tribe’s battle axe wasn’t a magical artifact and couldn’t shatter his shield, its indestructible nature was like tearing through a thin layer of paper, easily penetrating it.
The tall cultivator twisted his body desperately to avoid the critical strikes, managing to dodge just in time, but his right arm was severed by Lao He’s axe.
“Ah!”
With a scream, the tall cultivator fought back fiercely, thrusting his flying sword at Lao He’s chest.
Lao He didn’t dodge at all and swung his axe again, using an even more reckless life-or-death move.
Whoosh!
The flying sword pierced Lao He’s chest, but it only sank half a foot before being tightly gripped by his formidable demonic body, leaving it stuck—neither able to penetrate nor pull out.
The tall cultivator dodged desperately, narrowly avoiding the axe’s blade, but Lao He quickly changed his tactic, slapping the tall cultivator’s shoulder with the flat side of his axe, right on the wound from where his arm had been severed.
“Ah!”
Another agonized scream—this blow nearly killed him from the pain.
Seeing his companion in danger, the shorter cultivator summoned his magical artifact to offer help, only to be stopped by a flying sword that flew toward him.
“You’re up against me,” Su Che said calmly.
The shorter cultivator’s eyes shifted, and he immediately smiled. “Brother Su, this is all a misunderstanding. We were indeed rude and overly emotional earlier. I hope…”
Before he could finish, Su Che controlled his flying sword and launched another thrust.
Bang!
The shorter cultivator used his defensive artifact, the “Spiritual Resonance Shell,” to block the flying sword, but he couldn’t say anything else.
“It’s fine. You can get even more emotional. I don’t mind,” Su Che said, continuing to attack with his sword, giving him no chance to talk.
Swish!
The shorter cultivator summoned a sharp cone-shaped magical artifact and launched it at Su Che in retaliation.
Su Che also created a shield to block the cone, quickly changing his position and using his flying sword to harass his opponent, not aiming to kill but merely to delay him.
After all, the shorter cultivator was at the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment phase. Even as a lone cultivator, his overall strength was inferior to that of a sect disciple like Su Che. However, it would be impossible for Su Che to defeat him in a short time. Unless he used several highly powerful spiritual talismans to bombard him, there would be no quick solution.

However, top-tier spirit talismans were extremely powerful with a wide range of damage, making it easy to accidentally harm the elders of the Su family in the courtyard. Thus, Su Che’s current tactic was to hold him back, preventing him from finding the chance to rescue his companions. Once Lao He dealt with that tall cultivator, he could then come to help himself—things would be much easier then…

The short cultivator wasn’t stupid either; he had long guessed Su Che’s intentions. Though he knew this, he couldn’t think of any effective countermeasure. After all, the other party was a Foundation Establishment disciple from a top sect. Even if he was only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, one level lower than himself, his overall strength would still be greater, not weaker.

Seeing the tall cultivator in dire straits, on the verge of being killed by the battle axe, the short cultivator realized he had to use his ultimate move if he wanted to survive.

So, he stepped back a few steps and shouted, “Su Che, don’t force me! Otherwise, I’ll perish along with your Su family!”

As he shouted, he took out a spirit talisman and held it in his hand, ready to cast it.

Su Che sensed that the talisman contained abundant fire spirit energy—it must be a top-tier fire spirit talisman. He couldn’t help but laugh and say, “Just with one top-tier spirit talisman, you want to perish with us? Don’t you find that ridiculous?”

It was just one top-tier spirit talisman. Even if it were a wide-area fire spell, at most it could turn this courtyard where the council hall was located to ashes. How could it destroy the entire Su family estate?

“Hmph, of course I won’t cast the talisman here,” the short cultivator said viciously. “But I’ll go to your Su family’s inner courtyard to vent my anger. With so many women and children in your family, can you save them all?”

Su Che retracted his sword and stood firm, smiling lightly. “A fire spirit talisman, huh? Not bad. So, can you produce any other top-tier spirit talismans?”

The short cultivator was stunned, not understanding the meaning behind Su Che’s words.

Su Che sneered inwardly. Judging from his reaction, it was clear he couldn’t produce any other top-tier spirit talismans.

Top-tier spirit talismans could only be crafted by cultivators at the Golden Core stage or above. To cast them, true energy was also required. In other words, even if lower-level cultivators possessed them, they couldn’t use them.

A top-tier spirit talisman was extremely valuable and in high demand in the major markets. For them, mere casual cultivators with limited resources, getting one was already quite good.

“If you only have one fire spirit talisman, then fine,” Su Che said, raising his hand to release a ball of flame, his voice laced with mockery. “I am fire true energy—I’m not afraid of such things at all.”

“You may not be afraid, but your Su family’s women and children…”

The short monk still tried to threaten verbally, but his expression changed as he turned to look… He saw that the tall monk could no longer hold on, having been hit in the forehead by Lao Hei’s axe and collapsing to the ground. He wasn’t dead—just unconscious. Lao Hei didn’t want to kill him; it would be more fun to capture him and bring him to the Immortal Prison for gradual treatment. Besides, Lao Hei also needed cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage from the human, demon, and fiend races for the second fusion—these men were practically gifts delivered to him.
“It’s over!”
The short monk sighed inwardly. This time, all his accomplices had failed. Next, if he could manage to save his own life at all, that would already be good enough.
“Brother Su, show mercy where possible. Let me go—wouldn’t that be a good deed?”
“Let you go?”
Su Che sneered coldly. “So you can find another chance to harm our Su family when I’m not here?”
“No, no,” the short monk shook his head repeatedly. “I can swear on my inner demon…”
Before Su Che could interrupt him, he suddenly soared into the air, trying to escape using teleportation.
“I guessed you’d be this cunning.”
With a thought, Su Che controlled his top-tier spiritual artifact, the Jade Ring, and chased after him. With a buzzing sound, the ring’s restraining force halted the short monk again.
“This magical artifact is truly useful,” Su Che thought to himself. At the same time, the image of Zhen Zhen from Tianwu Peak flashed through his mind. He wondered what her fate was—had she been rescued by Tianxuan Sect?
The short monk was surrounded by the restraining force of the Jade Ring, his flight speed dropping to a snail’s pace. He roared, “Su Che, this is your fault!”
With that, he desperately activated his flying sword and headed toward the inner courtyard of the Su family. It was only a few dozen feet away—no matter how slow he flew, it would take just a few breaths to reach there.
“Che-er!”
Seeing this, Su Yunshan shouted urgently, “Che-er, you must stop him! Your mother is also inside!”
“It’s fine, Second Grandfather,” Su Che replied calmly with a smile.
Lao Hei pushed off with both feet, shooting upward like a crossbow arrow and instantly catching up to the short monk, swinging his axe down.
Bang!
A deafening explosion shook the air.
The short monk’s Lingxi Shell acted like a thick turtle shell, shielding him from behind. With a series of cracking sounds, his face showed horror—the Lingxi Shell had split into countless cracks and was clearly on the verge of breaking, unable to withstand another strike.
“What kind of axe is this? It’s clearly not a magical artifact, yet it’s so powerful?”

The short monk could never have imagined that this simple-looking battle axe with a dull sound was actually a treasure of the Witch Clan. Countless years ago, such battle axes had slain countless ancient powerful cultivators. It was only because Lao Hei did not possess Witch Clan blood that he could not unleash its true power. Otherwise, with just one swing, mountains and rivers would be shattered—something a Foundation Establishment cultivator could never withstand…