Chương 104: Tremble Before Me!

"Die, you little brat!" A frigid, twisted sneer suddenly climbed onto Mo Yu's face, his pupils exploding with a paranoid and frantic crimson light. He had watched Reyn, this rising star, ascend step by step until his brilliance threatened to eclipse not only Mo Yu himself but his entire lineage. The jealousy and ruthlessness he had suppressed for so long finally erupted in a volcanic burst of malice.

To crush this irritating spark with his own hands, to grind Reyn into the dirt—the mere thought sent a searing wave of ecstasy through his very marrow. Today, he would sever all restraints and eliminate this existential threat once and for all. Inside his soul, murderous intent roared like a caged beast, churning with a miasma of pure destruction. Around him, the shouts of alarm and the frantic attempts of the elders and protectors to intervene rose in a chaotic tide, but Mo Yu blocked them all out.

His heart was a furnace of killing intent. Ignoring the world, he forced his spiritual energy to surge like a tidal bore, pouring it without reservation into the Xuantian Jade Ruler held within his palm. Hum—! A heavy, resonant drone shook the very air of the Spirit Immortal Terrace. The Xuantian Jade Ruler erupted with a blinding spiritual light, its form expanding against the wind until it transformed into a massive slab of jade several dozen feet long.

The sheer volume of spiritual energy wrapped around it created a localized gale, tearing through the atmosphere with a piercing, ear-splitting howl. The heavy ruler descended with the crushing weight of Mount Tai, carrying a lethal, inescapable momentum as it slammed down toward Reyn's skull. This strike was swift, sudden, and vicious—a blow meant to execute.

Had any ordinary cultivator been in Reyn's place, caught off guard by such a treacherous assault, they would have been obliterated instantly, their soul scattered to the winds. Yet, from beginning to end, Reyn remained as calm as a frozen lake, his composure not wavering by even a hair's breadth. He had been wary of Mo Yu from the start.

Every flicker of hidden malice in the old man's eyes, every tremor of unstable aura, every tensed muscle, and every whisper of killing intent had been precisely cataloged by Reyn's senses. At the exact moment the jade ruler tore through the sky and the killing blow reached his personal space, Reyn struck.

"Swift." A single, cold word fell from his lips, quiet yet carrying the weight of an imperial decree. A faint, indifferent smile played on Reyn's mouth as his fingers blurred into a series of afterimages, weaving a condensed, pure dharma seal in a heartbeat. He pointed a single finger toward the heavens—a movement so fluid and sharp it seemed to slice the air—and a streak of piercing energy erupted from his fingertip.

Despite his fame as a Grade 3 High-tier Alchemist and a cultivation level that rivaled the Mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, Reyn had always been looked down upon by the sect's senior elders and protectors. These old men, steeped in their own arrogance, viewed his achievements as mere luck or fluke, never truly acknowledging the monster standing before them. Today, he would use a thunderous display of power to shatter their pride and prejudice.

He would use absolute dominance to instill a fear so deep that those who once mocked him would have no choice but to bow in awe. The spectators felt their vision blur as light and shadow shifted. From Reyn's fingertip, a spark of blindingly brilliant spiritual light manifested—bright as a falling star, fast as a lightning bolt. It vanished as soon as it appeared, traversing the distance in total silence, piercing the air at a speed the naked eye could not track.

It was a tiny mote of light, yet it contained a lethal edge capable of overturning the heavens. Puff—! There was no world-shaking explosion, only the dull, wet sound of internal organs rupturing. The murderous frenzy on Mo Yu's face froze instantly, replaced by a mask of sheer horror and primal terror. A violent, chaotic force tore through his meridians and shattered his inner organs. His body convulsed violently as a massive spray of hot blood erupted from his mouth, drenching his robes in crimson.

The powerful aura he had just boasted collapsed into nothingness; his face turned as pale as funeral paper as he stumbled back, his strength completely withered. With a shrill, agonizing metallic wail, the Xuantian Jade Ruler—a natal treasure Mo Yu had nurtured for decades—saw its spiritual radiance extinguished inch by inch. The heavy jade slab, stripped of all spiritual support, crashed heavily onto the ground.

It vibrated twice with a hollow sound before losing all its luster, turning into nothing more than a useless, common rock. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The Spirit Immortal Terrace fell into a suffocating silence, followed by the collective sound of dozens of people drawing in sharp breaths. The elders and protectors who had rushed to stop the fight stood frozen, their pupils shrinking in shock.

Every gaze was locked onto Reyn, who stood there with effortless grace. The old contempt and disdain had vanished, replaced by a profound sense of shock, reverence, and deep-seated dread. They looked closer. In the very center of the Xuantian Jade Ruler—a tool famous for its indestructible hardness—there was a tiny, needle-sized hole. It had been driven straight through the core foundation of the artifact. A single strike had bypassed its defenses and permanently crippled a top-grade spirit tool.

"Impossible! Elder Mo Yu's Xuantian Jade Ruler was forged from Thousand-Year Deep Sea Jade from the North Sea, reinforced with Gengjin essence and Profound Iron Essence!" one elder stammered, his voice trembling with disbelief.

"Even though it is a top-grade spirit tool, its physical hardness is comparable to a low-level magic treasure! To be pierced through and ruined in an instant..."

"That destructive power is terrifying!"

"Elder Reyn has been hiding his true strength! He must possess a top-tier magic treasure! If that strike had hit any of us, we would be dead without a doubt!"

"With that artifact in hand, no one below the Golden Core stage is his match!" Mo Yu's mind raced as he gasped for air, his face pale as a stray dog's.

'This is bad... the boy has such a terrifying treasure. If he kills me now, given the talent and power he's shown, the sect will never punish him for my death!' Panic set in.

'I have to bring the Sect Leader and Dan Chenzi here immediately, or I'm a dead man!' Mo Yu was decisive in his desperation. He reached into his robes and pulled out a jade slip, crushing it instantly with a flicker of spiritual light. In the next heartbeat, the atmosphere grew heavy. Two powerful spiritual pressures erupted from the back mountains, surging toward the terrace with breathtaking speed, tearing the clouds above into white shreds. Reyn's expression shifted slightly, followed by a cold, mocking smirk.

He hesitated for a moment before slowly retracting his killing intent. Since Qingxiaozi and Dan Chenzi had been alerted, killing Mo Yu now would only invite unnecessary friction with the two old leaders. They might not punish him, but they would certainly harbor resentment. Within seconds, two figures appeared in the sky above the Spirit Immortal Terrace, their auras rolling like a deep, restless sea. Qingxiaozi looked down at the scene, his brow furrowing deeply.

"What has happened? Why did Elder Mo Yu crush the sect's emergency transmission slip?"

"Sect Leader, I beg you to uphold justice for this old man!" Seeing his rescuers, Mo Yu collapsed to his knees, his voice raspy and desperate.

"Reyn is the murderer who killed my grandson, Mo Tiancheng! I attempted to bring him to justice, but he used a powerful hidden treasure to destroy my Xuantian Jade Ruler and tried to execute me! I only crushed the slip because my life was in imminent danger! I beg the two ancestors to grant me justice!" Qingxiaozi and Dan Chenzi exchanged a look, both seeing the flicker of worry in the other's eyes. If Mo Yu was lying, it was one thing, but if it were true...

with the sect's laws above and the eyes of so many disciples and elders below, they would have no way to protect Reyn. If they did, their authority would vanish, and the sect's laws would become a joke.

"Mo Yu, if you claim Reyn killed Mo Tiancheng, do you have concrete proof? Perhaps you both should follow us to the back mountain chambers for a private investigation. We must not let a misunderstanding ruin a talented elder," Qingxiaozi said, his voice heavy with hesitation. Mo Yu understood immediately. Qingxiaozi wanted to protect Reyn by moving the matter behind closed doors where it could be buried. If he agreed now, the matter would eventually be swept under the rug.

But Mo Yu's heart was filled with venom; he knew that if he didn't destroy Reyn today, he would never have another moment of peace.

"Sect Leader, since I have spoken, I am naturally certain that Reyn is the killer! As for evidence, I will reveal it now for all to see!" Without waiting for a response, Mo Yu's hands blurred as he formed several mudras.

"Crimson Blood Mark, manifest!" Reyn's brow twitched. Inside his soul, the black, eerie rune suddenly surged outward. Countless rays of blood-red light radiated from his body, transforming into the shapes of vengeful spirits and malignant ghosts. They swirled around Reyn, clawing and shrieking at the air for several moments before slowly dissipating.

"Death-qi transformed into a blood talisman... manifesting as vengeful spirits clinging to the perpetrator... That... that really is the Crimson Blood Mark. Mo Tiancheng truly died at Elder Reyn's hands."

"This is a disaster. The Sect Leader and Alchemist Ancestor clearly wanted to shield Elder Reyn, but Mo Yu refused to back down. With the mark revealed publicly, the evidence is undeniable. The Sect Leader can't ignore this anymore."

"Mo Yu ignored the Sect Leader's hint just to expose this. It's a fight to the death now. I wonder how the Sect Leader will handle it—if he's too biased, the sect will fall into chaos." The elders and protectors whispered amongst themselves, their gazes toward Reyn becoming incredibly complex. Some were worried, but many others could not hide the schadenfreude in their eyes. After a long silence, Qingxiaozi's face turned grim. He looked at Reyn and asked coldly, "Reyn, what is your explanation for this?"