Chapter 546: A Desperate Situation

This was a nearly completely enclosed space, resembling a huge cavern deep underground, about a thousand zhang in area and dozens of zhang in height.
This was the desperate situation Su Che now found himself in—having to fight to the death against four other experts at the Mahayana stage here.
Even though he was fighting one against four, the chances of winning and surviving were virtually zero. Yet Su Che still had to go all out; he couldn’t easily compromise to anyone.
The rules of the battle were simple: a free-for-all where only one of the five could survive. Moreover, they couldn’t lift their feet off the ground and had to fight on the ground.
Fighting on the ground was the only advantage for Su Che, as his shadow could still be useful.
When he was first transported to this space, Su Che was alone in a corner, with four Mahayana experts not far away.
“Thankfully, I wasn’t grouped with that woman, Xue Yu…”
Su Che secretly rejoiced. If he had been unlucky enough to end up in the same group as Xue Yu, things would have been truly disastrous…
Huh!
Without hesitation, Su Che immediately summoned Xiao Hei. After all, Xiao Hei, armed with a giant axe, was also a formidable combatant.
“If Brother Hong Ju could join this life-or-death struggle, there would be no need to worry.”
Such thoughts crossed Su Che’s mind. Unfortunately, the mysterious old man wasn’t that kind-hearted—he wouldn’t send Hong Ju to protect him.
Speaking of summoned creatures, aside from Su Che’s Xiao Hei, those Mahayana experts, even if they had special types of summoned creatures, wouldn’t dare to summon them. Because normally, summoned creatures worthy of a Mahayana cultivator’s level should at least possess the strength of a Tribulation stage. In the game controlled by the mysterious old man, summoning such creatures would be a serious violation, leading to certain death.
Moreover, in the current situation, the four of them unanimously decided to deal with Su Che first as their initial target, and then engage in a life-or-death battle among themselves. The ultimate winner would not only get a chance to survive but also obtain the long-desired pagoda.
Four Mahayana experts against a mere Huashen stage cultivator like Su Che—was there any need to summon more creatures to assist?
Absolutely not!
“Tian Yu, today, your life comes to an end. It was destined from the start.”

The Ancestor of Good Fortune, assigned to this group, spoke in a deep voice, “Speaking of which, I truly feel some respect for you, young man. To be honest at this moment, stop resisting and just accept it gracefully. We won’t make things difficult for you.”
“Wanting me dead isn’t making things difficult enough?” Su Che laughed. “Stop repeating these so-called gentle words of advice. Today, only one of us five can leave alive. Our fates are almost the same—no one should talk about pity or respect.”
“That’s true!”
The Ancestor of Good Fortune nodded firmly. “Then, the four of us will surely join forces to kill you. Tian Yu, you’re a decent young man. It’s just a pity…”
There was no need to say more. Battle!
The attacks from the four Great Perfection-stage powerhouses converged together—powerful divine techniques of the four elements: metal, wood, water, and fire. Though their colors differed, their destructive power was extremely fierce.
Moreover, these four attack techniques were unleashed through top-tier offensive Dao instruments, while Su Che could only control one top-tier defensive Dao instrument to resist. Could he hold out?
Although back on Qiyuan Star, Su Che had managed to withstand the combined attacks of Tai Xu, Huan Mo, the Blood Divine Sect Leader, and several other Yuan Ying elders with just his Wealth Barrier, that was because those enemies didn’t possess top-tier offensive Dao instruments, and their overall strength was far inferior to these four Great Perfection-stage cultivators with sealed powers. The situation was completely different!
Even with just the first strike from those four, Su Che wasn’t sure if he could endure it.
Boom!
In this confined space resembling an underground arena, with no possibility of using flight techniques to dodge attacks, Su Che had no choice but to take all the blows head-on.
Crack!
The Wealth Barrier shattered without a doubt. Even though it had blocked about 70% of the attack force, some residual power still struck Su Che’s protective aura.
Bang!
Su Che’s body trembled, his chest feeling heavy, and he suffered minor injuries immediately.
Injured after just one attack—how could he continue fighting?
“If I can’t fight, I’ll still fight!”
Whoosh! Su Che retracted his Wealth Barrier and instantly summoned another top-tier defensive Dao instrument prepared by Lao He in the Immortal Prison. Bang, bang, bang, bang—simultaneously, he launched hundreds of Destruction Fists in retaliation.
The advantage of Destruction Fists was that they could target multiple enemies, delivering around a hundred punches each. This counterattack wasn’t meant to injure them but to buy himself enough time to fully activate the defensive barrier of the newly summoned top-tier Dao instrument.

“Shadow, go! Don’t hold back anymore,” Su Che shouted in his heart.
“Okay!” Shadow replied, instantly slipping into the shadow cast on the ground by a Great Perfection-stage warrior.
Inside the underground secret chamber, some lighting crystals were scattered on the walls. Though the light wasn’t very bright, it was enough to cast shadows.
The female cultivator under Shadow’s control specialized in water-based techniques, which had strong countereffects against Su Che’s fire-based essence. Moreover, her defensive capabilities seemed the weakest, so she was chosen by Su Che as his first target.
The woman in the blue dress suddenly changed expression and staggered slightly—clearly, her feet were restrained by Shadow, as if tripped and on the verge of falling.
Boom… Boom… Boom…
Xiao Hei rushed toward her with heavy steps, wielding a giant axe. When he got close enough, he unleashed his overwhelming power, swinging the axe forward without hesitation. No matter how strong his opponent was, he felt no fear.
Trapped and unable to dodge Xiao Hei’s fierce attack, the woman in the blue dress also feared this divine weapon bestowed by the Witch God, unsure if her defensive barrier could hold.
A weapon of the Witch God—invincible!
Pfft!
The light blue, translucent defensive barrier indeed couldn’t withstand Xiao Hei’s fierce assault. After absorbing the mysterious purple energy flow, his strength soared significantly, reaching the peak of the late Yuan Ying stage. He was just one step away from entering the Hua Shen stage.
In fact, there was no spiritual barrier preventing Xiao Hei from advancing—he could easily reach the Hua Shen stage with enough of that purple energy. But Su Che didn’t dare let him do so, because summoning creatures stronger than late Yuan Ying stage would prevent him from bringing them to aid him in this survival battle.
The massive axe, several zhang wide, pierced through the woman’s defensive barrier. Its speed slowed slightly, but it still swung forward with unstoppable force, aiming at her chest.
Such a huge axe, if it struck a person’s flesh, wouldn’t just split them in two—it would crush them into pulp. Even a Great Perfection-stage body couldn’t withstand it.
“Thud!”
After all, she was a highly experienced Great Perfection-stage fighter. Despite her fears of the Witch God’s battle axe, she didn’t panic. Instead, she uttered sacred mantras and quickly formed several mysterious hand seals.
Snap! Snap! Snap…

A huge, pure-white hand appeared out of thin air and continuously struck Xiao Hei’s double-edged battle axe. Using a highly ingenious method of diverting force, it managed to deflect Xiao Hei’s axe, causing it to pass just a few feet above the woman’s head without even disturbing a single strand of her hair.

Although Xiao Hei was already several zhang tall—far taller than ordinary humans—his horizontal swing could better be described as a downward diagonal cut. The female cultivator pushed her battle axe upward, matching Xiao Hei’s height perfectly, resulting in an extremely clever way to counter his attack.

Yet, though Xiao Hei’s strike was primarily aimed at the female cultivator, his height and long arms, along with his several-zhang-long battle axe, meant that his sweeping motion could still affect the other three Great Perfection-stage cultivators to some extent.

Thanks to the Devastating Fist and Xiao Hei’s efforts, Su Che managed to gain enough time to successfully activate his second top-tier Dao artifact defensive barrier. Even so, switching to another top-tier defensive Dao artifact could only withstand their next wave of attacks. How long could the barrier hold before collapsing again?

At this point, Su Che didn’t have time to worry about such things. His mindset was simple: fight as long as he could, and do whatever was possible. In one word: fight!

Xiao Hei felt the same way. After delivering one axe strike, before the four opponents could launch a second attack at Su Che, he struck again. His close-quarters combat attacks were indeed faster than the cultivationists’ spells, requiring no preparation—just continuous strikes one after another.

This time, his target was unequivocally the blue-dressed female cultivator. Taking advantage of her still being trapped in the shadow barrier and unable to move, if he could eliminate her and relieve some pressure on Su Che, that would be the best outcome.

Of course, a Great Perfection-stage powerhouse wasn’t that easy to deal with. This was merely a wish, a tactic. Who could predict whether it would succeed?

Whoosh!

Xiao Hei’s axe strike carried the force of toppling a mountain, but instead of using the blade to cut, he used the massive, heavy head of the axe to slam downward, like swatting a fly, aiming to crush the blue-dressed woman into pulp.

If he used the blade to cut, her ingenious hand seals might still deflect the strike. But with the axe head slamming down, it would be hard for her to resist such overwhelming force.

The blue-dressed woman couldn’t move, and her Dao artifact defensive barrier had already been shattered by Xiao Hei’s previous strike. Faced with this massive axe head coming down on her, she truly had no choice but to endure it head-on, with no other way to divert the force.

With one force, he can overcome ten opponents—this is Xiao Hei’s tactic.
In such a situation, the woman in blue had no time to attack Su Che; she could only raise her bare hands and quickly form several mysterious hand seals, attempting to use her powerful hand seal technique to counter Xiao Hei’s overwhelming strength.
Boom!
The woman in blue staggered, but her petite frame remained upright. Her translucent hand seal managed to withstand the heavy axe strike heading straight for her head.
Yet, she also suffered greatly—her face turned pale instantly. Even though she wasn’t injured, her breath became irregular and her body trembled…
Of course, this was just the beginning. Next, she would have to face Xiao Hei’s relentless heavy attacks, with no time to figure out why she was trapped.
On the other side, Su Che was under the combined assault of the three members of the Hongyun Ancestors, putting him in an even more dire situation…