Chapter 19: One Strike

Crazy—truly crazy.
Meng Hu, from the Realm of Madness, couldn’t help but show a hint of admiration in his eyes upon hearing Qu Yi’s words.
“I’ll strike first! Fine, since you’re so confident and arrogant, I won’t disappoint you. I’ll go first,” Meng Hu said with a cold laugh.
Instantly, the tens of thousands of villagers in Beast Village stepped back, clearing a space for Qu Yi and Meng Hu to duel.
Qu Yi took out two magic swords of the Upper Heavenly Soul Immortal level—one in each hand. Standing calmly on the ground, he glanced at Meng Hu as if examining a corpse, radiating utter disdain.
Meng Hu also produced a magic weapon, also of the Upper Heavenly Soul Immortal level. It resembled a round rod, thicker at one end and thinner at the other. With a slight swing, it generated a fierce wind, carrying the force to crush mountains.
The tens of thousands of villagers watched the two combatants and voiced their opinions.
“The magic weapons of these two are of the same level; it’s hard to tell who’s superior.”
“The winner will be determined by the number of spiritual entities in their bodies. No matter how clever the spells, they’re useless against absolute divine energy.”
“Meng Hu has been in the Divine Realm for tens of millions of years, and his Earthly Spiritual Entity has reached an extremely high level. Qu Yi has only been in the Divine Realm for over a decade—how many spiritual entities could he possibly have?”
“Yes, I’m also in favor of Meng Hu.”
“It’s a bargain for Meng Hu. Once Qu Yi dies, the 2,000 Divine Crystal Trees in this land will belong to him. Although he still has to take care of another 8,000, those trees can produce new saplings, sparing Meng Hu the trouble of searching for Divine Crystal Trees in the dangerous Beast Mountain Range.”
…
The tens of thousands of villagers spoke up one after another; almost everyone favored Meng Hu.
Cultivators at the Divine Being stage had only grasped one complete set of laws, so their strength was primarily determined by the number of spiritual entities in their bodies. Naturally, all the villagers knew the time when Meng Hu and Qu Yi ascended to the Divine Realm, and their immediate conclusion was that Meng Hu was stronger.
Village Chief Xu Qiang and Head Tian Duo watched the duel without joining in the villagers’ discussions, but their expressions clearly showed they hoped Meng Hu would win.
The mystery surrounding Qu Yi made Xu Qiang and Tian Duo feel uneasy, fearing they might one day fall victim to his schemes and regret it deeply. Therefore, it was better to eliminate him in advance.

The position of village chief in Beast Village is not permanent either; every ten million years, the villagers must decide on a new chief among themselves. There is only one way to elect one—through a challenge. Anyone who wants to be the chief must accept challenges from other villagers. As for the position of the hundred-household leader, that is determined by the village chief. Naturally, Xu Qiang and Tian Duo were both a bit afraid of the terrifying potential shown by Qu Yi. Losing the positions of village chief and hundred-household leader meant losing wealth and status, something neither of them could afford. Therefore, even without Xu Ming’s request from Li Fei City to assign a team leader, Xu Qiang would secretly take action against Qu Yi for his own interests. Amidst the various concerns of the villagers in Beast Village, the two duelists were finally about to fight. “The magical weapon in my hand is called the Wind-Calling Rod. I’m telling you this so you know you’ll die at its hands. Now, take my strike!” Meng Hu’s body trembled as he exuded an arrogant aura, as if nothing in the world mattered to him, and he shouted coldly. Qu Yi simply planted the two swords in his hands in the ground, using them as crutches to support his body. He puffed out his chest, signaling to Meng Hu to spare words and just attack. Provoked by Qu Yi, Meng Hu’s upright hair seemed to move on its own without wind. His body surged forward like a fierce tiger, quickly reaching Qu Yi. He swung the Wind-Calling Rod downward at Qu Yi’s face. As the rod descended, it transformed into a yellow Earth Spirit Rod, containing an estimated 70,000 spirits condensed into one weapon. Its power was immense, capable of shattering mountains, let alone Qu Yi’s head. The tens of thousands of villagers watching from the sidelines were shocked when they saw Meng Hu’s Wind-Calling Rod strike down—clearly amazed by the 70,000 Earth Spirits within him, not expecting his strength to have advanced to such a level. For cultivators at the Divine Being stage, the maximum number of spirits in their bodies is 100,000. With 70,000 Earth Spirits, Meng Hu was considered a top expert among Divine Being cultivators and a formidable warrior in Beast Village. As the shock faded, the scene instantly turned icy cold. Everyone fell silent, their eyes filled with terror. When Meng Hu’s attack reached his head, Qu Yi suddenly abandoned his two swords. Raising his right hand, he threw a powerful punch at the Wind-Calling Rod, shattering it into pieces with just one blow.

At the same time, Qu Yi pushed forward with his left hand, and a green palm landed directly on Meng Hu’s chest, crushing him into flesh. As expected, he killed Meng Hu with just one strike, fulfilling his bold claim. To the villagers of Bai Shou Village’s surprise, the heavy punch Qu Yi had just blocked with the Wind-Calling Staff was fueled by 80,000 Wood Spirit Entities. This allowed him to withstand Meng Hu’s staff, which contained 70,000 Spirit Entities, while simultaneously shattering the Wind-Calling Staff. 80,000 Wood Spirit Entities! Qu Yi had ascended to the Divine Realm less than twenty years ago, yet he had already gathered 80,000 such entities within his body. Such strength meant he could control weather in Bai Shou Village. Even cultivators at the Divine Being stage could only have up to 100,000 Spirit Entities in their bodies—how could the villagers not feel terrified at Qu Yi’s level? After killing Meng Hu with one strike, Qu Yi smiled at the villagers. “You…” Village Chief Xu Qiang pointed at Qu Yi, not knowing what to say. Although Xu Qiang had more Spirit Entities than Qu Yi, the latter’s terrifying potential left him stunned, making him doubt his position as village chief. Tian Duo, whose mouth was big enough to fit an egg, was still shaken, unable to believe what he had seen. With the number of Spirit Entities he possessed, he was only slightly ahead of Qu Yi, but he couldn’t be sure Qu Yi’s count was truly only 80,000. Who could guarantee Qu Yi wasn’t hiding some of his strength? The other villagers also regained their composure and stared at Qu Yi with various expressions. “Qu Yi, having 80,000 Spirit Entities is truly amazing.” “Qu Yi, you’re so hidden-minded. Today, I’ve seen your true strength. Qu Yi, how about coming to my place? I have a fine bottle of wine.” “Qu Yi, let’s get in touch more often from now on.” … In an instant, many villagers began praising Qu Yi and trying to build relationships with him. Xu Qiang and Tian Duo’s expressions darkened immediately—the villagers were too quick to flatter Qu Yi. Xu Qiang also realized that in the next village chief election, Qu Yi would have the same popularity and strength as him, or even more. Hearing the villagers’ words, Qu Yi merely smiled on the surface, but he was fully aware of their intentions—some wanted to befriend him, while others aimed to become village chief. They were using words to provoke Village Chief Xu Qiang, aiming to create enmity between him and Qu Yi in the future.

Actually, Qu Yi had long known that Meng Hu was incited by Tian Duo to target him, which was why he acted decisively and killed Meng Hu, thereby preventing the villagers from being further manipulated by Tian Duo to disturb him in the future. Of course, behind Tian Duo was the village chief, Xu Qiang. Qu Yi was also aware of this, but it wasn’t yet time to kill the two of them outright, as neither of them had directly attacked him, and Qu Yi couldn’t kill them without reason. However, if given the chance, Qu Yi would kill them without hesitation. Anyone who plotted against him couldn’t stay unscathed—this was the belief Qu Yi always adhered to. “We’re all villagers of Bai Shou Village; let’s interact more often from now on. Since I killed Meng Hu today, I’m not in a good mood, so I won’t visit your homes,” Qu Yi said with a smile to the ten thousand villagers. Since Qu Yi had spoken, the ten thousand villagers couldn’t stay any longer. Even if they had many doubts about him, seeing his strength, no one would bother questioning him anymore. Only Village Chief Xu Qiang and Head Tian Duo remained at the scene. “Qu Yi, according to the rules of the Fire Departure Divine Realm, in a duel between villagers, the winner takes on the loser’s planting tasks. Now that you’ve killed Meng Hu, in addition to taking the divine crystal trees he already planted, you must also complete the remaining number of trees he was supposed to plant,” Xu Qiang said calmly. “Of course, you’ll also have to cover the remaining amount of divine crystals owed by Meng Hu,” Tian Duo added. Each villager had two tasks: plant ten thousand divine crystal trees and pay one million divine crystals. Hearing their words, Qu Yi simply smiled slightly and nodded, saying, “Don’t worry. Since I dared to kill Meng Hu, I have the ability to complete his planting tasks.” After saying that, Qu Yi went straight into his wooden house and closed the door. Xu Qiang and Tian Duo, seeing Qu Yi’s calm expression and demeanor, remained outwardly calm but were filled with rage inside, wishing they could kill him right away. “Let’s go back and check Meng Hu’s completed trees and the amount of divine crystals he paid, then inform Qu Yi,” Xu Qiang said calmly before turning to leave. Tian Duo understood Xu Qiang’s intention—to reduce the amount of work Meng Hu had completed—and left accordingly. On his wooden bed, Qu Yi sensed their departure with his spiritual sense and smirked coldly.

“There will be plenty of time in the future. As long as you give me a chance, your lives will be in my hands,” Qu Yi said with a faint smile.
Then, Qu Yi sat quietly on the wooden bed, intending to continue refining the Earth Beast Core.
At that moment, the Artifact God sent a message through his spiritual sense: “Qu Yi, I need to continue teaching you the artifact formation techniques.”