Chapter 589

Chapter 589

I Can See Through Everything

The burly man clearly aimed to finish the battle in one strike. The long-blade artifact he activated unleashed terrifying power, flashing forward like a shooting star to cleave toward several targets ahead.

“Not good!”

The man who had mocked the burly fellow earlier changed expression. Fortunately, he had been on guard and hurriedly summoned an artifact to shield himself.

Boom!

The two artifacts collided, triggering a violent explosion. Grass fragments flew everywhere, and countless rocks and clumps of dirt shot out in all directions.

A massive pit appeared on the grassland, now serving as a barrier between both groups.

“Hahaha! Scarblade Liu, thanks for the assist. We’ll be taking our leave now!”

The man at the front laughed heartily as he recalled his artifact. Taking advantage of the chaos, he stopped holding back his spiritual power and suddenly accelerated.

The others with him caught on quickly and likewise sped up.

They knew this was a golden opportunity to shake off their pursuers.

Hesitating now would only mean being hunted relentlessly to the bitter end.

“Damn it!”

Scarblade Liu hadn’t expected his attack to fail—and worse, to aid the enemy. He was so furious steam almost poured out of his seven orifices.

The strange looks from his comrades around him only added fuel to his rage.

No longer caring for anything else, he circulated his Golden Core spiritual power with full force. With a burst of energy, he shot into the sky, transforming into a stream of light to chase down the fleeing foes.

He no longer conserved spiritual power, even at the cost of enduring the tenfold consumption of flight, determined to catch and capture them to wash away his humiliation.

“Brother Liu!”

His sudden move startled the comrades around him.

Since entering this strange secret realm, they had faced danger after danger. Their pills and spirit stones were nearly depleted.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have lowered themselves to banditry.

That was also why they had avoided flying until now.

Flight in this cursed realm consumed far too much spiritual power.

Even with their Golden Core cultivation, flying for just a quarter of an hour left them drained.

Now, with their resources running dry, exhausting their spiritual power again would truly land them in peril.

Thus, when Scarblade Liu suddenly erupted with power, his companions were shocked but hesitated. None of them immediately followed.

That moment of hesitation doomed Scarblade Liu.

The few men ahead were initially startled to see him catch up in a flash of light.

But when they realized his companions hadn’t followed, the man who had taunted him earlier grinned with cruelty.

“Scarblade Liu, you’re the one asking for death. Don’t blame us!”

Before he even finished speaking, he erupted with killing intent, his longsword unleashing countless sword lights toward Liu.

His comrades also responded in perfect sync. Their Golden Core energies exploded as they launched powerful strikes at Liu.

“You dare?!”

Scarblade Liu had just closed the gap when sword lights and blade auras filled his vision. Rage and alarm twisted his features.

He was furious his teammates hadn’t followed, and shocked because, while he was stronger than these foes individually, facing all of them together was too much.

With death at his door, he held nothing back.

Circulating his power wildly, he summoned a shield artifact that unfolded into layers of glowing barriers in front of him.

Boom!

Scarblade Liu’s shield was no ordinary treasure—it was a high-grade artifact, one of his most powerful trump cards.

Yet even that wasn’t enough.

Against the full-force joint attack of several slightly weaker opponents, his defensive shield shattered like fragile glass.

The remaining sword and blade energy struck the artifact itself.

Under the savage barrage, even a high-grade artifact couldn’t endure. In less than two breaths, the artifact’s glow dimmed, let out a cracking sound, and shrank back into Liu’s body.

Then the leftover sword light and blade aura engulfed him completely.

“Ahhh!”

Scarblade Liu screamed in agony. When the storm finally passed…

He lay battered on the ground, horrifically wounded, his fate uncertain.

“Move!”

The lead man didn’t even check on Liu’s condition. He barked an order, and they all rushed forward again.

They had already drained much spiritual power during the pursuit. That last burst had cost them even more. Lingering here was unwise.

Besides, a gravely wounded Scarblade Liu was more useful than a dead one.

He would distract their pursuers, buying them time to escape.

Sure enough, the people behind stopped, staring at Liu’s fallen form and barely-there aura.

They looked at each other, uncertain whether to continue the chase or help their companion.

That brief hesitation allowed the fugitives to get far ahead. Catching up now by footwork alone was unlikely.

As for transforming into streams of light—the cost was too steep. Scarblade Liu’s example was right before their eyes. No one wanted to be the next fool to lead the charge.

Watching the escapees vanish into the distance, one man finally sighed. “Let’s wake Brother Liu first and figure things out later.”

It was a silent agreement not to continue the chase.

“These two groups—the ones in front act in perfect unison, while the ones behind are scattered and self-serving.”

Lu Qing, who had watched the battle unfold, came to a conclusion.

Had the seven or eight people in the rear worked together, the ones in front wouldn’t have escaped at all.

“But in this Secret Realm, the power of Golden Core cultivators is weakened this badly?”

He had observed the fight in its entirety.

Both sides were early-stage Golden Core cultivators. Scarblade Liu was the strongest, likely at the peak of the second transformation.

And yet, the clash of Golden Core cultivators only left a pit in the ground.

That level of destructive power was underwhelming.

Outside this place, even Foundation Establishment battles sometimes caused more havoc.

Clearly, without the amplification of Heaven and Earth’s Spiritual Energy, even Golden Core techniques were drastically weakened.

Lu Qing watched as the survivors fled in his direction and descended to the ground.

Daoist Wubao was still meditating. Lu Qing couldn’t let them disturb him.

When he flew earlier, he had already used a Concealment Talisman on himself.

So none of them—including Scarblade Liu—had noticed someone watching from the skies just ten miles ahead.

“Someone’s there up ahead—could it be someone Scarblade Liu sent to ambush us?”

The fleeing group suddenly noticed a figure in the distance and were startled.

They thought Scarblade Liu had sent someone ahead to cut them off.

But when they got a clear look, they realized they were mistaken.

It was a young man they’d never seen before, with a much weaker aura than theirs.

Beside him sat a plump Daoist in meditation.

It seemed the young man was standing guard while the Daoist cultivated.

“That Daoist’s meditating… does that mean he still has spirit stones?”

The leading man’s eyes flickered.

Then he sent a voice transmission to his companions: “Brothers, these two aren’t strong, and they look like they’ve got spirit stones on them. Why not kill them and take everything?”

The few companions also noticed Daoist Wubao meditating and even spotted the spirit stone in his hand.

Their spirits lifted instantly, and greed flashed in their eyes.

In this bizarre Secret Realm, spirit stones and pills that could restore cultivation were the most precious treasures.

With spiritual energy so scarce here, only those two resources could sustain their strength.

Otherwise, once they ran out of spiritual power, they wouldn’t even be able to defend themselves from the physically powerful monsters lurking in this realm.

So, as soon as the lead man proposed the idea, the others all agreed without hesitation.

“Perfect! Kill the two of them—we’ll replenish our spirit stones and pills!”

“Let’s strike together!”

“Make sure it’s a one-hit kill!”

The exchange of Divine Soul messages was near-instant. Within a breath, they had reached a consensus.

The next moment, they all unleashed their strongest techniques, aiming directly at Lu Qing and Daoist Wubao.

“Hm?”

Lu Qing had been thinking about asking these people for some information on the Secret Realm.

He hadn’t expected them to suddenly attack him.

And their attacks weren’t casual—they were going for the kill, trying to completely eliminate him and Daoist Wubao.

“So that’s how it is—see a lone cultivator, and just rob and kill without hesitation?”

Seeing the murderous intent in their eyes, Lu Qing immediately understood.

These people might be the ones being hunted now, but they were no better themselves.

If they ran into someone weaker, they’d strike just the same.

With that clarity, Lu Qing’s gaze turned icy.

As the attacks rushed toward him, he gently raised his hand. A yellow-glowing domain instantly spread out, enveloping the space within several miles.

In that instant, all the sword qi, blade force, and glowing Dao Techniques froze in midair in front of him, unable to move forward.

The next second, everything shattered and vanished—completely dissolved, as if they had never existed.

“What?!!”

The sight nearly made the attackers' eyes pop from their sockets.

Terror surged in their hearts.

They had just watched Lu Qing casually freeze and dissolve their most powerful attacks.

Now they knew—they had kicked a steel wall. They had provoked a being far beyond their comprehension.

“Run!”

The lead man shouted in panic. He fully activated his Golden Core and prepared to use the Stream-of-Light Technique to escape.

In that moment of pure fear, he couldn’t care less about conserving spiritual power.

He only wanted to flee—flee as far and fast as possible.

His companions did the same, unleashing their Golden Core power to escape.

But just as they were about to transform into streaks of light, they felt an immense force of suppression descend upon them.

No matter how they surged their cores, they couldn’t escape. They couldn’t even move.

“Senior, spare us!”

They realized immediately—they were being suppressed by Lu Qing.

Terrified, they began to beg for mercy.

Even the strongest among them, the lead man, showed pleading eyes.

But Lu Qing paid them no mind.

His gaze remained cold as he raised his hand—and gently clenched his fingers.

Then, the lead man witnessed the most horrifying scene of his life.

His companions trembled slightly—then, without warning, exploded into clouds of blood mist.

“Ah!!”

Watching his comrades be crushed into blood mist, the lead man's eyes widened to their limit.

A chill of unimaginable depth flooded through him. He screamed in horror.

The way he looked at Lu Qing now—was as if gazing at a terrifying demon, an embodiment of nightmare itself.

But the next instant, his scream halted.

A wave of soul force struck his forehead, entering his brow acupoint.

Countless illusions surged into his mind, and he instantly fell into them, completely consumed.

“What’s going on?”

Over ten miles away, the seven or eight figures who had just revived Scarblade Liu sensed a sudden surge of energy from ahead. All were shocked.

“It’s those guys who got away earlier! Who are they fighting now?” someone shouted.

“This is our chance! Hurry and catch up—block their escape!”

Scarblade Liu, just awakened, also sensed the disturbance and called out.

The others looked at each other, then all moved at once, speeding toward the commotion.

They had hesitated earlier and let those fugitives go. They’d been worrying about how to explain that to Scarblade Liu.

Now that another chance had presented itself, they couldn’t afford to miss it.

They followed the trail of energy and traveled more than ten miles—only to be greeted by a bizarre scene.

The man who had led the fugitives stood there blankly, his eyes dazed and his face wooden.

In front of him stood a young man cradling a strange spirit beast.

Not far away, a chubby Daoist sat with eyes closed, still meditating.

As for the fugitive’s other companions—there was no trace of them. It was as if they had vanished.

“What... is going on?”

The scene was so strange that the new arrivals were filled with doubt and wariness.

“You all showed up too? Good. Saves me the trouble of looking for you.”

Lu Qing spoke lightly upon seeing them arrive.

As his voice fell, golden light flickered—and the newcomers were stunned to find an invisible, overwhelmingly powerful suppressive force had fallen upon them.

They were locked in place, unable to move a muscle no matter how they struggled.

They understood instantly: they had encountered a terrifying expert far beyond their level.

“Senior, we meant no offense! Please have mercy!”

“Senior, we just sensed the fluctuations here and came to investigate. We never intended to offend you—please spare us!”

“We have nothing to do with that man. Please see the truth, Senior!”

They all began to beg for mercy.

“Silence!”

Lu Qing’s voice rang out coldly.