Chapter 522: Irreversible

The thick dust gradually settled, revealing a scene that shocked everyone even more than Liu Cangju’s understanding of the turbulent forces at play. Lin Dong held a Ruyi stool in his right hand, with more than half of his body already buried in the hard soil. This showed just how powerful Liu Cangju’s palm strike was. Yet what truly stunned everyone was that Lin Dong’s eyes were still open.

“How is this possible?”
The elders murmured, unsure how to describe the shock in their hearts.

“That’s impossible!”
Liu Cangju stepped back and then raised his palm, swinging it down at Lin Dong’s head. He refused to believe it—how could the most outstanding disciple of the Golden Vision Sect, someone who had the potential to become a peak warrior, fail to kill a warrior in the Mental Phase in a short time despite being at the Fourth Stage of Mental Reversal?

Lin Dong raised his head and glanced toward the sky, where a small black dot was rapidly growing larger. He paid no attention to Liu Cangju’s attack at all.

Just as Liu Cangju’s right palm was about to touch his head, Lin Dong finally recognized that the growing black dot was undoubtedly the Tianpeng Bird. His energy shield was then activated at full strength.

Boom…

Liu Cangju was flung backward, leaving eyes scattered on the ground.

“Cangju, what happened to you?” Chi Yufeng rushed over and intercepted Liu Cangju halfway.

Liu Cangju looked terrified, staring at Lin Dong, unable to speak for a long time.

“Fourth Stage of Mental Reversal… He actually has the strength of the Fourth Stage of Mental Reversal.”

“How is that possible? He’s not even thirty years old. Even Yun Cangqiong, who was hailed as the greatest genius of the Great Han Nation back then, couldn’t reach the Fourth Stage of Mental Reversal before the age of thirty. Moreover, the heir of the Heavenly Sword Sect is said to be Yun Cangqiong’s daughter.”

“But he clearly has the strength of the Fourth Stage of Mental Reversal. I checked with my mental senses.”

“It’s… it really is the Fourth Stage of Mental Reversal. He hasn’t taken any spiritual pills—how could he achieve such strength?”

For a moment, the elders of the Golden Vision Sect were in chaos. Chi Yufeng and Liu Cangju stared at Lin Dong in horror. If he truly had the strength of the Fourth Stage of Mental Reversal, did that mean he could seriously injure Liu Cangju before the Golden Vision Sect could arrive to rescue him?

“That’s impossible!”
Liu Cangju couldn’t tolerate it and refused to believe there could be anyone who trained faster than him. He raised his palms again and struck Lin Dong’s head.

Lin Dong leaped forward without any sign of being seriously injured. He waited until Liu Cangju got close, then stretched out his right palm, unleashing a surge of spiritual energy. In an instant, Liu Cangju’s body was as if trapped by an impenetrable wall, leaving him completely unable to move at will.

“What, what kind of spiritual technique is this?” Unable to move, no matter how much spiritual energy he tried to muster to resist, it was utterly futile. Liu Cangju wanted to seek help from Chi Yufeng but found it hard to speak up. The conflict in his heart and resentment toward Lin Dong even gave him the urge to perish together with him.

Throughout his life, he had been the pride of heaven—only he could toy with others, never anyone could toy with him. Today was the only exception, one he absolutely could not accept.

Though not explicitly stated, Chi Yufeng clearly also noticed something unusual. Seeing Liu Cangju’s body flying rapidly toward Lin Dong’s palm, he planted his feet firmly and shot forward at full speed.

Suddenly, he stopped halfway.

“In this lifetime, I, Ding Tian, have nothing but a few old friends I can rely on. If you dare to seriously injure my friends, no matter which sect you belong to, I, Ding Tian, swear to destroy you!”

A loud and resounding voice rang out in the air. The elders of the Golden Vision Sect raised their heads in shock and realized that the Tianpeng Bird had returned hundreds of meters in the air. And that voice came from above.

“Ding Tian? The Wine Lord Ding Tian is still alive?”

An exclamation erupted, and the elders immediately became chaotic. The Wine Lord Ding Tian, who had been around for nearly a century, was still alive and in an adversarial relationship with them. Not to mention that even among peak experts, there were differences in strength. This Wine Lord Ding Tian was definitely among the top tier. Just the Tianjian Sect had a peak expert as a friend, and Yun Cangqiong had narrowly escaped death. If the two joined forces, along with the strength of the Tianjian Sect, even though the Golden Vision Sect excelled in spiritual arrays and had a long history—with two peak experts in its history having set up numerous ninth-level spiritual arrays outside the sect—the outcome of a battle against another large sect with the same long history, and two peak experts on its side—even if one of them was severely injured and would lose much of his strength after recovery—was unpredictable.

Chi Yufeng’s eyes were filled with fury. More than the elders, he could sense that the force restraining his body came from the source of that voice in the air. From hundreds of meters away, it was enough to expose a master at the ninth level of the Reverse Heart Phase. Just how powerful was this force? He understood best.

Great disaster was coming to the Golden Vision Sect!

Puh!

On the other side, Liu Cangju’s body landed right on Lin Dong’s palm.

“Let me go…!” Liu Cangju cried out in rage.

Lin Dong remained unmoved, gripping Liu Cangju’s throat tightly. Initially, he had no intention of doing anything to Liu Cangju—he was half a merchant, so naturally, he prioritized profit over revenge. At most, he planned to take Liu Cangju as a hostage and demand a ransom from the Jin Shi Zong.

But the old man Ding’s words made him reconsider this plan. He realized he had underestimated how much the old man Ding valued Yun Cangqiong. If not for his extreme anger, the old man Ding would never have spoken those words before attacking. As the old man Ding had said, he had nothing, but there was one thing he hadn’t mentioned—out of laziness, he didn’t bother carrying anything with him. If it weren’t for his concern for his image, he wouldn’t even bother wearing clothes.

The old man Ding usually didn’t bother with pleasantries; he would act only when necessary. When he wasn’t busy, he would just lie in bed, drinking fine wine to pass the time.

The Tian Peng Bird spread its wings and descended—no one stopped it, nor did anyone dare to. It wasn’t that they lacked the strength, but rather that they didn’t dare.

The fame of the Wine Lord hadn’t been heard of in forty or fifty years, but even after such a long time, he still hadn’t perished. When he reappeared, his fame would only grow even greater than before.

“Elder Wine Lord, I am the leader of the Jin Shi Zong. I didn’t know beforehand that you and Yun Cangqiong were close friends. If I have offended you, I will surely make amends,” Chi Yufeng shouted loudly.

“Lin, what are you waiting for? To be honest, your relationship with Yun Cangqiong should be even closer,” the old man Ding said with a sharp gaze. Chi Yufeng immediately spat blood and stepped back. Though he was no longer under his control, he was severely injured just from one glance.

Lin Dong gritted his teeth and increased the pressure on Liu Cangju’s throat under the latter’s terrified eyes.

“P-please spare my life…”

With a crack, the top talent of Hongtu Commandery, a young man with the potential to become a peak warrior of the Great Han Nation, died at Lin Dong’s hands.

“Cangju!”

Chi Yufeng screamed fiercely, his eyes bloodshot, his bulging eyeballs looking especially terrifying.

“Kill them! Kill them all!”

Chi Yufeng roared in anger. There was no turning back— the future fortunes of the Jin Shi Zong for the next hundred years were ruined. He was ready to go all out.

Since the situation was irreparable and the Wine Lord clearly didn’t intend to show mercy, coupled with the destruction of the Jin Shi Zong’s future, the elders no longer tried to persuade Chi Yufeng to hold back, as they had already crossed their bottom line.

Hurtting the leader of a faction with the strength of a peak warrior, and even if both sides suffered heavy losses in battle, there was still a chance for reconciliation. But killing an heir with the potential to become a peak warrior meant that unless they suffered catastrophic losses, they would never agree to reconcile.

Nearly a hundred elders at the fifth level or above in the Heart Reversal Phase flew out together, thrusting their palms at the Tianpeng Bird.
“Elder Ding, drink in peace. We’ll take care of this.”
Feng Yue leaped upward, heading toward the energy column formed by the combined efforts of those elders. Without hesitation, he pushed forward with his palms.
A massive wave of energy rushed toward the energy column.
With a deafening explosion and fierce winds, Feng Yue tumbled back onto the Tianpeng Bird’s back, taking dozens of steps backward before stabilizing himself. The elders of the Jinshi Sect only appeared slightly unsteady, clearly holding a significant advantage. Yet their expressions grew increasingly terrified.
Another peak warrior! Another!
In just one day, this was the third peak warrior they had seen.
Peak warriors whom most people could hardly encounter in their entire lives—today, they had seen three of them. Moreover, all three were on their enemy side, even enemies to the death. One peak warrior was already someone no one dared provoke, let alone two. Their combined strength was far more than the sum of its parts, enough to gradually wear down any major sect.
“Retreat! Back to the spiritual array!” Chi Yufeng instantly changed his mind. Faced with the threat of destruction, he had to set aside his anger.
The group of elders retreated together, sharing the same thought as Chi Yufeng. Only by relying on the ninth-level spiritual array set up by those two peak warriors could they resist their combined force, buying time for over a decade until their anger subsided, giving them a chance to reconcile. Otherwise, even if they managed to kill one or two of them here, they would suffer heavy losses. Even if they returned to their sect, they would still need to maximize the effectiveness of the ninth-level spiritual array.
As the elders retreated into the spiritual array, Yun Lan flew down to Lin Dong’s side and asked, “Are you okay?”
Lin Dong shook his head. “I fought alone against a genius from the Jinshi Sect for a while. I’m not even injured—didn’t even take the Wind and Moon Pill.”
Yun Lan breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t want to face such urgency again.
“Girl Yun, is the spiritual array okay?” Old Ding suddenly called out from atop the Tianpeng Bird.
Yun Lan shook her head and looked at Lin Dong. “You go back first, okay?”

“How can things go on without me?” Lin Dong shook his head with a smile. He didn’t like the sect’s style of avoiding conflicts most of the time but resorting to killing countless people once enemies were made. But now, Yun Cangqiong was Yun Lan’s father and had once saved her life; Old Ding also radiated murderous intent. Since there was no turning back, it was better to offer their help straightforwardly.
Yun Lan said no more and leaped back onto the back of the Tianpeng Bird. She too disliked killing casually, but Yun Cangqiong’s injuries filled her with extreme anger, and her worry along the way was mixed with deep resentment.
The killing actually became inevitable the moment Yun Cangqiong was severely wounded in the attack by the Jinshi Sect.