Chapter 309: Vast Difference in Strength

Since Su Che had long changed his appearance, neither the Phantom Devil Sect Leader nor the Great Martial Ancestor recognized him as Tian Yu of Tian Xuan, the one whom the seven major sects were desperate to eliminate.
Hua Guang Zhen Ren was merely a solitary cultivator; even if people saw his true appearance, few would recognize him.
Added to this was the protective barrier created by the Giant Wealth, which blocked spiritual perception, preventing outsiders from discerning the true strength of Su Che and his companion. As a result, their identities remained shrouded in mystery.
“The Giant Wealth already has a master. Stop pestering them,” Su Che shouted in a rough voice.
“What if it does?”
The misty veil covering the Phantom Devil Sect Leader’s face swirled like water vapor, and her gentle voice sounded like a light rain covering vast areas: “This moment belongs to you, but the next might not.”
Not to mention seizing treasures from two unidentified people, even against the Tai Yi Sect, her allies, she would not hesitate to fight.
Su Che shouted again, “The Giant Wealth has a spirit of its own and has already chosen its master. No amount of force will change that.”
In truth, all this was nonsense. No matter how much they talked, they couldn’t undermine the others’ desire to possess the Giant Wealth through words alone. Su Che was merely trying to buy time to determine if there were any weak points in the restraining force generated by the Tian Luo Umbrella.
The Phantom Devil Tian Luo Umbrella was a Dao artifact—it was impossible to destroy!
The Phantom Devil Sect Leader possessed the cultivation level of late Yuan Ying stage—it was also impossible to repel her!
Su Che could only find a way to disrupt the restraining force of the Tian Luo Umbrella, allowing the Giant Wealth to break free and increase its flight speed as quickly as possible.
In short, they must not stop.
The only way out of this predicament was to rush into the Wind and Thunder Desolate Land of the Barren God Valley. There was no other solution.
The two Yuan Ying-level elders of the Phantom Devil Sect also wanted to stop wasting words with Su Che. Severe attacks struck again, this time targeting the platform where Su Che and his companion stood.
Two nearly identical multicolored energy streams rushed down at Su Che, but he remained standing firm, neither blocking nor dodging.
He had great confidence in the Giant Wealth’s defensive capabilities.
Boom! Boom! Two explosions erupted as the multicolored energy streams were blocked by a golden barrier, releasing dazzling golden light and dreamlike multicolored starlight that scattered across the sky like the most magnificent fireworks—utterly spectacular.

Su Che stood motionless. Through Lao Hei’s detection abilities, he had already identified a weak point in the Illusory Demon Sky Umbrella. Of course, it was only relatively weak—no matter what, his own strength was nowhere near enough to damage a Dao artifact.
He tried his best to avoid using the Power of Destruction, because once it was unleashed, they would identify his identity. So, he could only resort to…
Su Che focused his mind on a specific point on the Sky Umbrella and, with a thought, unleashed a divine technique he had just mastered.
The Great Thunder Strike.
Crack!
A crimson sky fire thunder bolt descended from the heavens and struck precisely at that weak point of the Sky Umbrella.
With a loud explosion, the Sky Umbrella remained untouched, leaving no trace at all. Yet, it still had some effect—the restraining force on Jufu weakened slightly.
Crack!
Another thunder bolt followed.
The weakening of the restraining force became even more noticeable.
Taking advantage of this slight weakness, Jufu rushed forward violently, like a wild horse trying to break free from its restraints.
Crack!
More thunder bolts continued to strike. Su Che’s training at Tianxuan Sect had not been in vain. If he could accurately hit the rapidly moving Zi Xiao, hitting the Sky Umbrella, which was hundreds of feet in diameter, was even easier.
“What kind of divine technique is this?”
The Illusory Demon Sect Leader wasn’t surprised by the power of the sky fire thunder. He merely found it incredible that this mysterious person could summon thunder as a weapon.
“It’s similar to the legendary Great Thunder Strike…” The Illusory Demon Sect Leader, who was at the later stage of the Yuan Ying cultivation level and possessed profound Dao knowledge, thought to himself, “But the true Great Thunder Strike is far more powerful than this. If it were truly a celestial spell, just one strike from such a thunderbolt could turn us mortals to ashes.”
“Who exactly is this person?”
With various suspicions, the Illusory Demon Sect Leader calmly flew onto the surface of the Sky Umbrella. With a wave of his long sleeves, he drew the sky fire thunder bolt into them, making it disappear without a trace.
The power of the sky fire thunder was not enough to harm Guang Wu, who was at the middle stage of Yuan Ying cultivation. It posed no threat whatsoever to the Illusory Demon Sect Leader, who was at the later stage.
“Sigh! The gap in strength is too huge—there’s no comparison!” Su Che sighed inwardly.
The difference between the middle stage of Jin Dan cultivation and the later stage of Yuan Ying cultivation was enormous. Without Jufu’s protection, the Illusory Demon Sect Leader could have taken Su Che’s life with just one casual strike.
Jufu’s flying speed grew slower and slower, as if a small horse were pulling a heavy cart, struggling immensely.

There’s nothing to do; the Giant Wealth is not some flying magic artifact. With its mountain-like weight, it isn’t designed for speed, and without a Yuan Ying cultivator of the same level to control it, it truly struggles to compete against a combination like the Illusion Demon Sect Leader and the Sky Net Umbrella.
Crack! Crack! Crack…
The Heavenly Fire Thunder continued to fall relentlessly, though now from other locations. The weak spot of the Sky Net Umbrella was guarded by the Illusion Demon Sect Leader, so Su Che had no choice but to target other areas. The effect was minimal, but it was better than doing nothing.
Even feeble struggles were still struggles; even if one couldn’t struggle, they would at least shout a few curses. In any case, one couldn’t just stay hidden in the Giant Wealth Palace and do nothing.
Boom! Boom! Boom…
The two senior Yuan Ying elders of the Illusion Demon Sect continued to attack the Giant Wealth, denying it any chance to resist. It was like two gulls constantly pecking at a turtle’s hard shell, preventing it from stretching its limbs and escaping back into the sea.
Such a top-tier Dao artifact as the Giant Wealth, simply because it lacked a master with sufficient cultivation to control it, faced such humiliation right after returning to the cultivation world.
Thousands of years ago, it had protected the last master of the Giant Wealth Palace as they escaped from the joint siege of all the heroes in the world, enduring countless severe blows. Now, it faced the same fate—truly pitiful.
But as a defensive magic artifact, its fate was to take hits; it was inevitable…
“That Lightning Technique of yours…”
The Illusion Demon Sect Leader suddenly said, “It only has the form, not the essence. Its power is truly disappointing.”
Before his words faded, he waved his long sleeves, and with a whoosh, a faint cloud of mist appeared, covering the Sky Net Umbrella. As a result, the Heavenly Fire Thunder summoned by Su Che was like red-hot steel needles falling into water—with a few hisses, it disappeared, never able to reach the Sky Net Umbrella again.
It turned out that the Illusion Demon Sect Leader had been observing and studying Su Che’s Lightning Technique all along, never taking it seriously.
“Old witch, truly despicable!”
Su Che gritted his teeth, willing to expose his identity, intending to use his most powerful Destruction Fist technique to attack the side of the Sky Net Umbrella. But as his vital energy began to flow, he shook his head in frustration and gave up on the idea.
Why give up?
Because Su Che had already seen a streak of escape light flying in from the distance, approaching at an terrifying speed.
The Illusion Demon Sect Leader, standing on the Sky Net Umbrella, also noticed it and turned to look…
The leader of the Taiyi Sect, wielding the mid-tier Dao artifact “Taiyi Dragon Sword,” had traveled thousands of miles in an instant and was already close by.

“Fellow Illusion Demon, you’re one step ahead of me.” The seemingly serene and upright Patriarch of Tai Xu chuckled.
The Leader of the Illusion Demon Sect nodded slightly in silent response.
The Patriarch of Tai Xu was already accustomed to her reticence and did not consider it a display of disrespect toward him.
“Elder Brother Patriarch,” Tai Wu also came over immediately.
Swish!
With a wave of his hand, another person appeared beside him—Tai Hao, the chief elder of the Tai Yi Sect, also stepped onto the stage.
Thus, there were three members from the Illusion Demon Sect, three from the Tai Yi Sect, two lower-grade Dao artifacts from the Illusion Demon Sect, and one mid-grade Dao artifact from the Tai Yi Sect. It could be said that both sides were evenly matched.
Su Che knew they would surely compete for the treasure, but he wasn’t sure how they would do it.
Would they suppress the treasure first and then fight over it?
And who would step in to suppress it then?
In any case, Su Che was clear that the trick of “the fisherman profits from the fight between the sandpiper and the clam” could no longer happen. The Patriarch of Tai Xu and the Leader of the Illusion Demon Sect were such formidable figures that they were unlikely to be deceived.
Tai Xu’s gaze fell on Su Che and the other person. He wasn’t surprised by their presence, as he had already heard news from North Wasteland Island about Tai Wu and Feng Ying competing for the treasure and being tricked by someone else.
“North Wasteland Island is under the jurisdiction of the Tai Yi Sect. Taking the treasure from my sect’s territory without greeting first seems a bit unreasonable, doesn’t it?” Tai Xu asked in a deep voice.
“We never have the habit of greeting,” Su Che replied calmly. “But next time I go to your sect’s headquarters to take that underground spiritual vein, I will definitely greet you in advance.”
Next time he visited the Tai Yi Sect, Su Che didn’t plan to steal the spiritual vein—he intended to take it openly by force.
“That’s best,” the Patriarch of Tai Xu nodded slowly, smiling, though his gaze carried a murderous intent. “I’m also not used to talking while flying, so could you please stop?”
His words sounded polite, but his actions showed no concern for Su Che’s consent.
Whoosh!
A silver dragon burst out from the Tai Yi Dragon Sword, exhaling dragon breath toward the treasure.
“The soul of a true dragon!” Su Che exclaimed in his heart.
Su Che could tell that this silver dragon wasn’t created by some spell but was indeed the soul of a real dragon. He marveled inwardly, “The spirit of the Tai Yi Dragon Sword is actually a dragon soul—no wonder it can be considered a mid-grade Dao artifact.”
A loud dragon roar suddenly rang out, and a white misty dragon breath instantly enveloped the treasure.
Hiss… hiss…

It was like a giant sea ship crashing onto the beach, emitting a harsh scraping sound. Once on the sand, it was bound to run aground!
The two Dao instruments controlled by two advanced cultivators at the Yuan Ying stage finally managed to bring this “golden giant ship,” which had intended to ride the waves forward without pause, to a halt with great difficulty.
Buzz…
The giant ship let out a resolute roar before coming to a stop, motionless!