Chapter 544: One and a Half!

Since it was a surprise attack, the strongest tactics should be used from the start to ensure a one-shot kill!
Su Che was waiting for exactly this moment—the moment the man stepped firmly on the ground. His own shadow vanished instantly, slipping into the shadow of the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man’s expression changed abruptly as his left foot, about to take a step, suddenly felt an extremely strange pulling force that trapped him in place.
“Damn it, I’m in an ambush! It must be that Tian Yu!”
True to his Mahayana-level wisdom, he figured out what was happening in just a fraction of a second.
But even so, it was useless!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The crocodile dragon and the strange bird above rushed down at high speed, unleashing their most powerful attacks simultaneously.
Lin Feng also roared loudly. A ghostly mask phantom appeared from his heart, opening its gaping maw to bite at the middle-aged man.
In such a hurry, the middle-aged man had no time to break free from the shadow’s restraint or dodge these attacks. He could only defend himself with his Dao artifact and his own protective energy.
Boom! Boom!
The giant ice spikes fired by the crocodile dragon and the powerful wind blades spat out by the strange bird struck him, dealing heavy blows and pinning him firmly in place, preventing him from moving even an inch.
Hiss!
Lin Feng’s ghostly mask phantom had a unique attack method—it could bypass the defensive barrier of the Dao artifact and penetrate directly into the middle-aged man’s body.
This ghostly attack was a soul-based attack. It might not cause direct harm to a Mahayana-level warrior’s vital spirit, but at this moment, it still disrupted him enough to force him to divert his attention to counter its intrusion.
In essence, Su Che’s shadow, the attacks of the two beasts, and Lin Feng’s ghostly mask phantom were all merely auxiliary tactics meant to trap the middle-aged man in place and prevent him from deploying any counterattacks.
The real killing blow still required Hong Ju to act.
Roar!
Hong Ju, who had just been in the form of a boulder, suddenly reappeared. With just one leap forward, he was instantly at the middle-aged man’s side. Swinging his heavy staff with force, a powerful column of energy rushed toward the man’s defensive barrier in just a fraction of a second.
“Ah!”
After all, the middle-aged man was also a Mahayana-level warrior with an intuition beyond ordinary people. Even though he hadn’t yet experienced just how terrifying Hong Ju’s attack power was, he realized that disaster was imminent.

He let out a shrill roar, trying to muster all his strength to break through the cultivation seal imposed on him by the mysterious old man and regain his true power as a Mahayana-stage cultivator in an instant. Only then could he protect himself and survive against certain death. Yet, the mysterious old man’s power was terrifying—his cultivation seal was as impregnable as an iron wall. The middle-aged man’s desperate effort was as futile as a dragonfly trying to shake a pillar.

Bang!

The defensive barrier of his top-grade Dao artifact was no different from thin paper in the face of Hong Ju’s massive column of energy, allowing it to penetrate effortlessly. It then easily broke through his protective aura before striking his chest.

“My life is over!”

In his final moments, this Mahayana-stage cultivator never understood how Tian Yu had found such a formidable opponent whose attack power was utterly terrifying—far beyond what even a late Yuan Ying-stage cultivator could withstand.

“This isn’t fair!”

He tried to roar, but no sound came out.

Boom!

His physical body was shattered by the powerful energy column, while his soul was instantly annihilated by the mysterious forces of this space, reduced to nothingness. There was no chance of his soul escaping.

This was one of the most terrifying aspects of the mysterious old man’s domain—once dead, one was utterly destroyed, reduced to complete nothingness.

Clang!

A crimson survival token fell to the ground, making a clear sound as it hit the stones.

Apart from this token, all the other possessions of the middle-aged man, including his combat artifacts and storage tools, were instantly taken away by the mysterious old man, ensuring they wouldn’t become spoils for Su Che. It had to be said that in this regard, the mysterious old man was indeed stingy.

Fortunately, at this stage, Su Che valued the survival token the most—life was paramount, while everything else was secondary.

Swish!

From dozens of feet away, Su Che used his energy-grabbing technique to successfully retrieve the survival token.

“Another survival token—three now!” Su Che was overjoyed.

His predictions were spot on. Under the influence of his own shadow and Hong Ju’s terrifying attacks, aside from the extremely tricky Snow Jade Fairy, the other Mahayana-stage cultivators were no match. It wasn’t that they were useless, but after being sealed in terms of cultivation, they couldn’t evade Hong Ju’s attacks in such a crisis.

If they couldn’t evade, their fate was certain destruction!

The ambush was a success!

Let’s go! Keep searching for more Survival Tickets, or steal them from other Mahayana-level competitors! Su Che and his group didn’t hesitate at all, determined to make full use of the remaining thirty hours to acquire as many Survival Tickets as possible. Though their intentions were good, luck seemed to run out soon after—far from finding any Survival Tickets, they hadn’t even encountered a single Mahayana-level competitor after traveling thousands of miles. Why? The reason was simple enough for Su Che to guess: by now, almost all Survival Tickets must already have owners. Those who obtained them would surely hide and wait quietly for the end of this survival game. Aside from Su Che’s powerful group of raiders, no one would be foolish enough to wander around aimlessly. Those Mahayana-level competitors must have extremely clever hiding methods, so it was normal not to be able to find them. During this time, Su Che and his group used the soul connection function to locate Heng Yi, who had come away empty-handed. Heng Yi was clearly unlucky—he not only failed to find a single Survival Ticket but also got exhausted by several exotic beasts he encountered along the way, barely managing to survive until now. Time slipped away little by little, and the 100-hour game time finally ran out… Whoosh! A blur appeared before their eyes as the sensation of teleportation struck again. A few moments later, Su Che saw Tian Yin’s figure. They were still in front of the Cloud Temple at the other end of the hundred-mile cableway, but only forty-three people could be seen now. Out of the original fifty-five, twelve had perished in this survival game. Su Che’s other subordinate, Miao Li, was fortunate in misfortune—although he had lost both legs and one arm and was almost reduced to a walking stick, he still survived. “Master, I’m incompetent. I never even came across a Survival Ticket. It’s all because of those exotic beasts that I ended up like this,” Miao Li said weakly to Su Che through telepathy. It was truly hard for him to have lasted this long, but the reason he survived was that he hadn’t found the location of any Survival Tickets, so he hadn’t encountered other Mahayana-level competitors. On the contrary, those who died must not have been killed by exotic beasts but by the hands of other Mahayana-level competitors. To survive, even old friends who were usually familiar and close to each other had to engage in ruthless battles until one of them fell completely.

In total, ten people died at the hands of acquaintances; the other two—a very ancient being and a middle-aged strong man—both died at Su Che’s hands… Su Che sent a message to comfort Miao Li, and Tian Yin had already arrived by his side. The two held each other’s hands tightly, meeting eyes, as deep affection flowed silently between them. “I found three. How about you?” Su Che asked softly. “Not as many as you. I only found one and a half,” replied Tian Yin, unharmed and still looking radiant, with a smile. “One and a half?” Su Che was slightly surprised—not because of Tian Yin’s formidable potential; as a great shaman in her past life, she was certainly not to be underestimated, and her foundation in certain aspects was even stronger than that of those at the Great Vehicle stage. It wasn’t surprising that she had obtained a Survival Token. What surprised Su Che was that Tian Yin had gotten the only “half Survival Token.” Such luck was quite bizarre. Thus, the five of them together had four and a half Survival Tokens, meaning one of Heng Yi, Lin Feng, and Miao Li would have to unfortunately settle for that “half” token. “What exactly does a half Survival Token mean?” Su Che thought. “Does it mean one must destroy their physical body and only keep their soul?” Half dead, half alive—was that what it meant? The answer would soon be revealed, as the giant head of the mysterious old man appeared above everyone’s heads. Among the forty-three people in front of Yunzhong Temple, more than a dozen looked pale and panicked. Clearly, these people hadn’t obtained any Survival Tokens, and even if they were still alive, these might well be the last moments of their lives. “Forty-three people, yet only twenty-five and a half Survival Tokens were obtained. There are still two complete Survival Tokens left, yet no one has found them. What a bunch of fools!” The mysterious old man’s thunderous voice resounded through the air. Through his words, the people below learned that there were still two complete Survival Tokens that no one had found—probably because they were hidden too well, causing many to miss them. Next, seventeen people who hadn’t obtained any Survival Tokens would suffer the old man’s death penalty. At that moment, eleven of these seventeen people were kneeling on the soft clouds, kowtowing repeatedly and begging earnestly. “Elder, please don’t kill us!” “I beg for your mercy. I really tried my best. It was just bad luck that I couldn’t find the Survival Token.”

“Elder, I am willing to stay in your private domain and become your most loyal servant, even willing to offer my soul to you… Please have mercy and do not kill me!”
Life is the most precious thing. Even these powerful beings at the Mahayana stage, who have lived for tens of thousands of years, still haven’t had enough of life and are extremely afraid of death. In the face of death, all dignity and pride are forgotten.
Of course, there were still six people who maintained their dignity and pride, refusing to kneel and beg for mercy, standing firm.
Among them, two even stood upright with calm expressions, whispering to each other…