"Why would a Divine Treasury Realm expert come to the Golden Marsh?"
Zhao Lingshu's eyes went wide.
Wu Qingyi was a native powerhouse of the Ancient Region who belonged to no sect.
Instead, she belonged to an aristocratic clan!
There were martial clans in the Ancient Region as well.
In the Ancient Region, the definition of a martial clan was that every generation had to have a Divine Treasury Realm martial artist presiding over it to earn the title.
Otherwise, none of its members even qualified to call themselves scions of a martial clan.
The Wu family was one such martial clan. While not exceptionally powerful, they had produced an unbroken line of Divine Treasury Realm experts for centuries.
Wu Qingyi was the foremost figure among the Wu family's younger generation.
Several years ago, Wu Qingyi had opened her brain domain and advanced to the Divine Treasury Realm. Ever since, her activities had been largely confined to the second layer of the Ancient Region, and she had hardly set foot in the first layer again.
Her sudden appearance here in the first layer was clearly no simple matter.
"Could Wu Qingyi have come for the Golden Fruits?"
Zhao Lingshu considered the possibility.
Yet, precious as the Golden Fruits were, to a Divine Treasury Realm martial artist they held little genuine value.
Furthermore, although there was no explicit rule forbidding Divine Treasury Realm martial artists from appearing in the first layer,
it had practically become an unspoken rule among the major factions.
If a Divine Treasury Realm martial artist came down to the first layer simply to bully Divine Gang Realm martial artists, they would become a laughingstock.
Yet Wu Qingyi had come anyway.
"Wait."
"With Wu Qingyi here, there might be a turning point in the struggle for the Golden Fruits,"
Dong Tianhua suddenly spoke up.
"A turning point?"
"Could it be that she didn't come for the Golden Fruits, but for him..."
Zhao Lingshu's gaze instantly snapped toward Lu Changsheng.
A mighty Divine Treasury Realm expert would never come to the first layer for no reason; she had to have a purpose.
At this moment, the Golden Marsh was quieter than it had ever been.
With his invincible might, Lu Changsheng had turned the battle into an almost one-sided slaughter.
Those martial artists and elite squads no longer dared contend for the Golden Fruits, fleeing one after another from the reach of Lu Changsheng's domain.
Yet when they caught sight of Wu Qingyi, their eyes widened, stormy waves churning in their hearts.
Wu Qingyi was not exceptionally famous,
but naturally, there were people in the Ancient Region who recognized her.
Perhaps in the second layer of the Ancient Region, Wu Qingyi did not amount to much,
but here in the first layer, the abrupt arrival of a Divine Treasury Realm martial artist was bound to set off a tempest.
Before anyone could even voice their speculations, Wu Qingyi was already striding steadily toward the Golden Fruit Tree.
Yet from start to finish, her gaze remained fixed on a single figure.
Lu Changsheng!
Wu Qingyi's target was Lu Changsheng!
Anyone could see that her cold, detached gaze was locked entirely onto him.
"Wu Qingyi... Lu Changsheng, that's Wu Qingyi, a Divine Treasury Realm martial artist!"
At that moment, Liu Yuan also spotted the ice-cold woman.
Although she possessed exquisite beauty, probably no one across the entire Golden Marsh spared a thought for her looks.
Because she was a Divine Treasury expert!
There was a saying among martial artists: without Divine Treasury, all ends in emptiness!
In a sense, the Divine Treasury Realm was the true first step of martial arts.
Only upon stepping into the Divine Treasury Realm did one truly embark upon the grand path of martial cultivation!
Every realm of cultivation below Divine Treasury was merely laying a foundation to attain it.
"Lu Changsheng, she seems to be coming for you, and almost certainly with bad intentions. Should we pull back now? It might not be too late,"
Liu Yuan could not help but urge.
Wu Qingyi's frosty eyes remained glued to Lu Changsheng.
Anyone could tell that her seeking out Lu Changsheng boded nothing good.
"Retreat?"
Lu Changsheng did not answer directly, asking instead, "How many Golden Fruits have you harvested?"
"We've picked eight Golden Fruits in total."
"Eight? Too few."
Lu Changsheng shook his head.
Once the Golden Fruits truly began ripening, they would all finish maturing within an hour.
If they had gathered more than eighteen Golden Fruits, Lu Changsheng might truly have preferred not to clash with a Divine Treasury Realm expert.
Yet with only eight, if they withdrew now, wouldn't his efforts over the past month have gone completely to waste?
"Keep harvesting."
"Leave this Wu Qingyi to me."
Lu Changsheng's tone remained calm.
He showed no panic or dread simply because his opponent was a Divine Treasury Realm martial artist.
Wu Qingyi walked swiftly,
drawing ever closer to the Golden Fruit Tree.
Thirty zhang, twenty zhang, ten zhang...
She halted just ten zhang away, without stepping into Lu Changsheng's domain.
"Are you Lu Changsheng, the true disciple seed of the Northern Region Heavenly Sect?"
Wu Qingyi spoke slowly.
"Indeed, that is I," Lu Changsheng replied indifferently.
Wu Qingyi swept her gaze over the Golden Marsh,
then over the corpses strewn across the ground.
Many bodies had not yet been swallowed by the mire.
Thus, with a single glance, Wu Qingyi could tell that a fierce battle had just taken place here.
Having participated in the contest for the Golden Fruits in the past,
she understood all too well how savage that struggle was among Divine Gang Realm martial artists.
Yet now, only Lu Changsheng and the members of the Tianlin Squad stood beside the Golden Fruit Tree.
Within ten zhang, no one dared draw near!
"What a Northern Region true disciple seed!"
"Yet even if your talent is peerless and unmatched, your journey ends today."
Wu Qingyi's tone was entirely detached, devoid even of killing intent.
Yet a Wu Qingyi without killing intent was all the more terrifying.
Perhaps in her eyes, Lu Changsheng did not even register.
It was just like a person stepping on an ant.
Who would harbor killing intent toward an ant?
"Wu Qingyi, who wants me dead?"
"I know it certainly isn't you!"
Lu Changsheng asked coldly.
Wu Qingyi might be the one striking the blow, but the one who truly wanted him dead was someone else.
"I am merely fulfilling a request!"
"You should not have killed Xu Haoran. His brother is Xu Haotian!"
Wu Qingyi's words made everything clear to Lu Changsheng.
Xu Haotian!
The one who truly wanted him dead was Xu Haotian.
The root cause was his slaying of Xu Haoran.
While the trope of beating the younger brother only for the elder to come seeking vengeance seemed rather cliché, this was how the world truly worked.
Be it the mortal martial world or the Ancient Region,
they were fundamentally the same.
"Wu Qingyi, it would be one thing if other Divine Gang Realm martial artists attacked him, or even if the disciples of the Huangtian Sect joined forces!"
"Yet as a dignified Divine Treasury expert, you dare bully the junior? Do you truly believe our Ancient Region Heavenly Sect has nobody left?"
"Lu Changsheng is the true disciple seed of the Northern Region Heavenly Sect, a future supreme Divine Treasury expert with boundless prospects! If you dare break the unspoken rules and kill Lu Changsheng in the first layer of the Ancient Region, my Ancient Region Heavenly Sect will wipe out the Wu family!"
Liu Yuan could not help shouting.
Lu Changsheng was new to the Ancient Region and unfamiliar with its circumstances,
but Liu Yuan understood them clearly.
The first layer of the Ancient Region was tacitly understood as the domain of Divine Gang Realm martial artists.
Under normal circumstances, Divine Treasury experts and Immortal Masters would never set foot in the first layer.
Even if they did, they would not deliberately come to murder a Divine Gang Realm martial artist.
Did anyone truly believe that such "unspoken rules" relied purely on voluntary restraint?
How could that be?
It was one matter for disciples of major sects to act against those of smaller sects.
Yet what was Lu Changsheng's status?
He was a true disciple seed of the Northern Region Heavenly Sect!
Though not yet a true disciple, he was destined to become one!
For Wu Qingyi, a mere clan Divine Treasury cultivator, to dare break the tacit rules agreed upon by all parties and intrude upon the first layer to commit murder—
did she take the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect for a decorative ornament?
Liu Yuan knew full well that once Lu Changsheng died and the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect was enraged, the Wu family would pay a colossal price; their entire clan might well be crushed into dust!
This was no alarmist exaggeration, but plain fact.
Wu Qingyi cast a glance at Liu Yuan.
"Noisy."
"Utter one more word, and I will kill you first!"
Wu Qingyi's tone turned menacing.
"You..."
Liu Yuan's expression turned exceedingly grim.
They said women were unreasonable.
It seemed the saying held true.
A powerful woman was more unreasonable still!
"Since I have come, Haotian naturally possesses a way to preserve the Wu family."
"Lu Changsheng, are you ready to die?"
Wu Qingyi could no longer be bothered to waste words.
Boom!
Wu Qingyi struck.
A domain erupted from within her body, expanding outward in an instant.
The domain seemed drenched in supreme, frigid cold.
Wherever Wu Qingyi's domain swept, everything transformed into crystalline ice.
This was an Ice Domain!
Moreover, an Ice Domain unleashed by a Divine Treasury Realm martial artist was a real domain!
The moment Lu Changsheng's Starry Sky Waterfall Domain made contact with it, it crumbled immediately.
A semi-real domain was ultimately only semi-real,
unable to compare with a domain that had truly crossed from illusory into reality.
Crack, crack!
Wu Qingyi's Ice Domain was utterly terrifying.
Wherever it passed, even the marsh froze solid.
The Golden Marsh was an expanse capable of swallowing Divine Gang Realm martial artists, far from any ordinary swamp.
Yet even so, it was completely frozen over by Wu Qingyi's Ice Domain.
This was the terrifying power of a real domain—turning illusion into tangible reality within its bounds.
An illusory domain, or even Lu Changsheng's semi-real domain, still belonged to the realm of illusion.
They could not interfere with reality.
No matter how formidable Lu Changsheng's Starry Sky Waterfall Domain was, it could not affect the Golden Marsh in the slightest.
It could not even move a single blade of grass or a tiny, ordinary pebble.
Frozen!
Completely frozen!
Lu Changsheng's domain, which had just seemed unbeatably mighty, capable of shattering over a hundred domains in an instant,
stood entirely defenseless before Wu Qingyi's Ice Domain.
Wu Qingyi had not even moved, remaining poised right where she stood.
Yet as the Ice Domain expanded, it froze Lu Changsheng's Starry Sky Waterfall Domain along with everything else.
Such was a Divine Treasury Realm martial artist.
There was no need for physical strikes.
Merely by releasing their domain, a Divine Gang Realm martial artist was left without any means to resist.
Once a domain shifted from illusion into reality, it tapped into an entirely different caliber of power.
It had surpassed the bounds of ordinary martial arts,
bearing more resemblance to the spells cast by Immortal Masters.
"Lu Changsheng is finished. With Wu Qingyi taking action personally, even the strongest Divine Gang Realm martial artist must die!"
"Divine Treasury... So this is a Divine Treasury expert! Among those in the Divine Treasury Realm, Wu Qingyi isn't particularly powerful, perhaps even quite ordinary. Yet such an ordinary Divine Treasury expert can crush Lu Changsheng with unstoppable force, as easily as stepping on an ant."
"Lu Changsheng was already the undisputed number one Divine Gang of the entire Ancient Region. Yet even as an almost invincible existence among Divine Gang martial artists, he has no power to resist before a Divine Treasury expert. The disparity is simply too vast."
"Between Divine Gang and Divine Treasury lies an unbridgeable chasm."
Ten li outside the Golden Marsh stood a multitude of martial artists.
Several elite Divine Gang Realm experts who had fled to safety were watching from afar.
The moment a Divine Treasury Realm martial artist acted, they were left in awe.
Crushing superiority!
Wu Qingyi held complete, absolute dominance!
Not only was Lu Changsheng powerless to stop it, but even if all of them combined their forces, the outcome would be no different—they would be frozen directly into ice sculptures by Wu Qingyi's Ice Domain.
Unless a martial artist relied on specific treasures,
it was fundamentally impossible for a Divine Gang cultivator to withstand a Divine Treasury powerhouse!
At this moment, however, Lu Changsheng's state of mind was exceptionally ethereal.
His thoughts were colder and calmer than they had ever been.
Lu Changsheng remained thoroughly rational.
After all, he was facing a Divine Treasury expert!
Secret methods, martial arts, and the like were useless here.
Lu Changsheng was waiting.
He was waiting for an opportunity.
An opportunity to strike a fatal blow!
Such an opportunity would likely come only once.
If Lu Changsheng failed to seize it, he would be in grave peril.
However, he would not die.
Lu Changsheng knew very well that he could not be killed so easily.
If an opportunity never presented itself, or if he failed to seize the chance for a one-hit kill, Lu Changsheng would use a Shift Talisman.
As long as one was not completely cut off from the outside world by a domain or utterly trapped within it, a Shift Talisman could whisk its user away directly.
This was also why Liu Yuan and the others had not tried harder to dissuade him.
They knew Lu Changsheng had a Shift Talisman.
If the situation proved untenable, Lu Changsheng could certainly flee.
Of course, if Lu Changsheng escaped, whether Wu Qingyi would vent her fury on the Tianlin Squad was anyone's guess.
Yet that was one of the risks the Tianlin Squad had knowingly accepted.
From the moment they resolved to join the contest for the Golden Fruits, everyone in the squad had prepared themselves mentally.
The Ice Domain continued to freeze forward.
Lu Changsheng's Starry Sky Waterfall Domain could only hold it back for an instant.
Yet that single instant was enough!
"Sever!"
Lu Changsheng's mind stirred.
The Mind Sword was unleashed in a flash.
Although Lu Changsheng had just executed dozens of Mind Swords earlier,
his mental power was far from depleted.
The reason he had been waiting was precisely for the Mind Sword to gather and fire.
Even the Mind Sword required time to trigger.
Though that interval was fleetingly brief,
it still took time.
Lu Changsheng was waiting to see the Mind Sword's effect.
He wanted to know whether the Mind Sword worked against a Divine Treasury martial artist as well.
Whoosh!
Nearly all of Lu Changsheng's mental power coalesced into a single Mind Sword!
Formless and shadowless, the Mind Sword slashed straight into Wu Qingyi's mind in an instant.
Rumble!
Wu Qingyi's psyche shuddered violently.
The "vibration" effect inherent to the Nine-Word Mantra attempted to shake Wu Qingyi's mental consciousness.
However, a Divine Treasury martial artist's spirit was exceedingly stable.
It stood firm as a mountain; how could it be easily shaken?
Yet beyond the vibration, the Mind Sword was incomparably sharp.
Striking into the psyche like a literal blade, it sliced through the spirit.
"A mental secret method?"
Wu Qingyi's brow furrowed slightly.
Pain!
A searing pain tore through her head!
Although the Mind Sword did not affect her significantly—failing to shake or cleave her spirit—
her psyche had still suffered an impact, which naturally brought immense agony.
Yet that was all.
Mere pain could cause no substantive harm to Wu Qingyi.
However, the fleeting instant her brow furrowed
was precisely the chance Lu Changsheng had been waiting for!
Wu Qingyi's Ice Domain had lacked only a sliver to completely freeze Lu Changsheng's Starry Sky Waterfall Domain.
And that tiny remaining fraction of his domain preserved Lu Changsheng, keeping him from being instantly crushed by hers.
Hum!
In the next breath, Lu Changsheng held back nothing.
His mind power surged out of his body, pouring instantly into the Starry Sky Waterfall Domain.
Rumble!
Lu Changsheng's Starry Sky Waterfall Domain churned and trembled violently.
A pitch-black starry sky descended.
Even Wu Qingyi could not help lifting her head to look into the void.
What did she see?
A starry sky!
A vast, boundless starry sky!
Yet it was broad daylight—where did a starry sky come from?
Furthermore, she felt as though she were standing amidst the infinite expanse of the cosmos itself.
A single glance at that shoreless starry void was enough to make one feel unimaginably small.
"This is... a real domain!"
Wu Qingyi's heart jolted!
Finally, a flicker of shock surfaced on her face.
Until now, her expression had remained utterly serene.
It seemed nothing could shake her composure.
Not the Golden Fruits, and not Lu Changsheng.
She had cared for neither.
Number one Divine Gang?
Semi-real domain?
One fighting a hundred?
So what?
That was merely lording over the Divine Gang Realm, nothing of true significance.
Without entering the Divine Treasury, all were mere ants!
Why would she feel moved when stepping on an ant?
Yet now, beholding this pitch-black starry sky, Wu Qingyi could not remain unmoved.
Because this was a real domain!
The hallmark of a Divine Treasury Realm martial artist—a domain made manifest!
Yet was Lu Changsheng a Divine Treasury expert?
Clearly not!
He was still a Divine Gang Realm martial artist, so how could he materialize a domain into reality?
"Mind power..."
Wu Qingyi thought of a possibility.
Using mind power to forcibly sustain a domain's transition from illusion into reality.
Yet how immense would that mind power have to be?
Even a mind index of one hundred might not suffice.
And if one truly possessed a mind index of one hundred, why wouldn't they open their brain domain to reach the Divine Treasury Realm instead of lingering in the Divine Gang Realm?
"Hmph, no matter what trick you used to materialize your domain, sustaining it in reality without nourishing it through a brain domain requires an unimaginable amount of mind power."
"How long can you hold it?"
Wu Qingyi quickly regained her composure.
She still did not care all that much.
Even if Lu Changsheng could materialize his domain, it would last only an eyeblink.
Perhaps a single instant, or a single moment.
At most half a breath, or one breath—what could that accomplish?
Unless she could be slain in an instant!
Yet how could that be possible?
She was a genuine Divine Treasury Realm martial artist, and her Ice Domain was far from weak.
How could she possibly be instantly slain by a domain forcibly materialized by a Divine Gang Realm cultivator?
Wu Qingyi did not know that Lu Changsheng's semi-real domain drastically reduced the expenditure of mind power.
Even so, she had guessed part of the truth.
Lu Changsheng truly could not sustain his materialized domain for long.
Only for half a breath's time.
Yet half a breath was more than enough!
Wu Qingyi would never know just how terrifying a domain she was about to face.
Rumble!
Suddenly, from within the pitch-black starry sky, a faint roar echoed.
The rumbling grew louder and louder until it resonated throughout the entire cosmos.
"That is..."
Wu Qingyi's eyes went wide.
What was she seeing?
Amidst the starry sky, a colossal waterfall spanned the heavens, piercing straight through the celestial expanse.
She had never witnessed a waterfall so terrifying.
This was no ordinary cascade.
Plunging through the cosmos with magnificent majesty, it seemed as though even the stars themselves would be washed away by its torrent.
All creation seemed doomed to be swept away in its wake.
Wu Qingyi attempted to mobilize her Ice Domain.
Yet her Ice Domain was utterly suppressed.
Though not shattered, it was compressed into a tiny zone extending only tens of zhang around her.
What use was a domain of such pitiful size?
Compared to the boundless, shoreless starry sky, what did a few tens of zhang amount to?
On the cosmic scale, it was nothing more than a speck of dust.
Finally, the celestial waterfall crashed down.
Descending from the heavens, it plunged straight toward Wu Qingyi's head.
The instant the torrent grazed the Ice Domain around her,
the Ice Domain was utterly breached.
It offered no resistance whatsoever.
"No, no, impossible..."
Wu Qingyi finally felt the mortal peril.
Yet it was already too late.
How could she have known that Lu Changsheng's Starry Sky Waterfall Domain was a fusion of two perfected domains?
Once materialized into reality, it instantly became one of the supreme domains.
It possessed the power to crush all before it!
Never mind that Wu Qingyi had only a single Ice Domain;
even if she commanded ten domains stacked ten layers deep, it would be utterly futile—she would still be swept away by the waterfall.
Boom!
The waterfall crashed down, submerging Wu Qingyi in an instant.
In a single breath, everything vanished.
Not even a speck of dust of Wu Qingyi remained.
It was as though she had ceased to exist entirely.
This was annihilation!
Total, absolute annihilation!
Without leaving behind a single trace.
The terror of the Starry Sky Waterfall materializing into reality exceeded even Lu Changsheng's expectations.
"Retract."
Lu Changsheng drew back his mind power immediately.
Even so, he felt a wave of hollow exhaustion.
His mind power was almost entirely spent.
Fortunately, Wu Qingyi was dead.
An instant kill!
Wu Qingyi had been slain in a single breath!
The very thing she had deemed most impossible had come to pass.
And the price had been catastrophic.
She was dead!
Dead at the hands of a Divine Gang Realm martial artist.
After today, Wu Qingyi's name would perhaps spread throughout the entire Ancient Region.
After all, she would serve as the backdrop to Lu Changsheng's ascent.
Slaying a Divine Treasury expert from the Divine Gang Realm—
who else in the vast Ancient Region could accomplish such a feat?
Only Lu Changsheng!
At this moment, the entire Golden Marsh sank into dead silence.
No one spoke.
One could practically hear the beating of hearts.
Shock!
Unfathomable shock!
What had they just witnessed?
Not even the maddest lunatic would have dared imagine this.
Wu Qingyi was dead!
A dignified Divine Treasury expert had been slain by Lu Changsheng.
And instantly slain at that!
The most unbelievable event had unfolded right before their eyes,
witnessed by several hundred Divine Gang Realm martial artists.
"If my eyes don't deceive me, that was a domain crossing from illusion into reality, wasn't it?"
"A Divine Gang Realm martial artist materializing a domain into reality... How did he do it?"
"Could it be... mind power?"
In an instant, everyone's hearts burned with fervor!
A Divine Gang Realm martial artist could materialize their domain into reality as well.
Didn't that mean even if they failed to break through to the Divine Treasury Realm, they might still wield the methods of a Divine Treasury expert?
This was pioneering a path!
Lu Changsheng was truly opening a new path for martial arts!
Chapter 159