Chương 66: The Humiliation of Guan Tianma

Elders Yan and Mo frowned slightly, their expressions flickering with a momentary hesitation before they slowly nodded. Their bodies erupted in streaks of light, surging forward once more. However, their voices drifted back from the distance, vibrating directly in the younger man's ears.

"Offer him a sharp reminder, but do not take his life." Guan Tianma's expression shifted, his eyes gleaming with a predatory light. He gave a curt nod and let out a cold, sharp laugh. With a sudden burst of speed, his streak of light pivoted, hurtling in the opposite direction with lethal intent. Elders Yan and Mo exchanged a glance, both seeing the helplessness mirrored in the other's gaze.

As the Young Miss of the Myriad Extinction Demon Sect, Li Yier's life was governed by forces far beyond her own will, and by extension, theirs. This was the most they could do for the boy. If he could somehow ascend to the Nascent Soul stage in the future, perhaps there would be a sliver of hope for them. But in this North Yue State—a land where cultivation resources were barren and the level of spiritual arts was abysmally low—dreaming of the Nascent Soul realm was nothing short of a fool's delusion.

With a collective sigh, they pushed the thought from their minds, their streaks of light accelerating until they vanished into the horizon. Reyn did not stop. For half an hour, he pushed his flight to the limit until he reached the skies above a vast, primordial mountain range. Below him, jagged peaks rose like broken teeth, ancient trees clawed at the heavens, and a thick, toxic miasma swirled through the valleys. It was the perfect place to vanish.

Just as he prepared to descend and employ his Breath-Concealing Art to melt into the forest, a powerful Divine Sense latched onto him like a venomous serpent, locking him in place with suffocating precision. Reyn's face darkened instantly. He reined in his light and revealed his form. Though he possessed the strength to rival a cultivator at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, he was not arrogant enough to believe he could outrun the Divine Sense of a Golden Core master.

A streak of obsidian light shot across the sky, arriving before him in a heartbeat. The light dissipated, revealing Guan Tianma's face, twisted into a mocking sneer.

"Why the rush, boy?" Guan Tianma crossed his arms, hovering in mid-air. Dark spiritual energy coiled around him like hissing vipers.

"Back at the tavern, where exactly were your eyes wandering?" Reyn's brow furrowed. He cupped his hands in a stiff gesture of respect.

"What is the meaning of this, Daoist? I was merely having a meal. I have provoked no one."

"Playing the fool?" Guan Tianma's lip curled in derision. He closed the distance in a flash, stopping barely three yards away. The sheer pressure of the Golden Core realm crashed down like a tidal wave.

"Junior Sister Li is a celestial beauty; everyone in the Myriad Extinction Demon Sect cherishes and protects her. And you? A piece of Qi Condensation trash? You dared to let your filthy eyes linger on her?" Reyn was forced back half a step, his shoulders feeling as though they carried the weight of a mountain, yet he kept his spine straight.

"You misunderstand. I have no designs on Lady Li. We are merely strangers who happened to cross paths. We haven't even exchanged a single word."

"No designs?" Guan Tianma threw his head back and laughed as if he had heard the world's greatest joke, the sound vibrating through the surrounding clouds. Suddenly, the laughter died. His face contorted, his eyes burning with jealousy and savage violence.

"I've seen plenty of low-life rogue cultivators like you! You claim innocence, but your mind is undoubtedly a cesspit of filth! Junior Sister Li is pure and ethereal—is she someone a piece of dross like you can even look at?" He stepped forward, and the void itself trembled. A visible ripple of spiritual energy exploded outward! Reyn felt as if he had been struck by a physical hammer.

His chest tightened, the copper taste of blood rose in his throat, and he was sent hurtling back ten yards before he could stabilize himself.

"Today, I shall cleanse those wandering eyes for her!" Guan Tianma snarled. He reached out, and a pitch-black longsword materialized in his hand, wreathed in demonic miasma as thick as ink.

"If you're smart, you'll gouge out your own eyes and kowtow three hundred times. If Master Guan is in a good mood, I might let you keep your pathetic life." Reyn wiped the blood from his lip, a cold glint flashing in the depths of his pupils. He slowly straightened his back, his hand resting on his storage bag. His voice was low and hard as iron.

"I will say it once more. I have no intentions toward Lady Li. If you continue to persist—""Persist?" Guan Tianma reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"You think you're in a position to negotiate?!" Before the words had fully left his mouth, he transformed into a streak of black light. The obsidian sword was raised high, the demonic energy coiling into a massive, spectral ghost claw that swiped down toward Reyn's head. This strike held nothing back; it was meant to grind Reyn into dust. Reyn's pupils shrank. He retreated violently, a small bronze shield flying from his storage bag as he flooded it with spiritual energy.

The ghost claw slammed into the shield with a deafening roar. Reyn was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, and the bronze shield groaned, spiderweb cracks spreading across its surface before it shattered into four pieces.

"Pfft—" Reyn spat out a mouthful of blood. Before he could even steady his breathing, Guan Tianma was upon him again. The black sword lunged for his heart. Even before the blade arrived, the frigid sword-qi shredded Reyn's robes and left fine, bloody gashes across his skin.

"Let Master Guan teach you a lesson—" Guan Tianma's face was a mask of malice, the sword tip a mere three inches from Reyn's chest.

"Toads belong in the mud!" Reyn's eyes turned blood-red. His spiritual energy surged in a frantic cycle, forcing his body to twist at an impossible angle. The blade grazed his ribs, carving a furrow of flesh and spraying blood into the air. He used the momentum to retreat, his hands blurring into mudras. Dozens of wind blades whistled forth, only to be shattered instantly by the vibrating demonic aura around Guan Tianma. This story originates from Royal Road.

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"An ant trying to shake a tree!" Guan Tianma roared with laughter. He swung the sword in a wide arc, sending a hundred-foot-long crescent of black sword-qi tearing through the sky. Reyn had no room to dodge. He crossed his arms over his chest, condensing his spiritual energy into a desperate shield— BOOM! The sword-qi collided with him, and Reyn was hammered into the mountains below like a falling meteor.

He smashed through ancient trees and shattered boulders, carving a blackened trench hundreds of feet long through the forest. Finally, he slammed into a cliff face, sending stone fragments flying as a cloud of dust billowed upward. Guan Tianma hovered in the air, his dark light receding as he wore the cruel smile of a cat playing with a mouse. He raised his hand, gathering a ball of ink-black demonic flame, and began to descend slowly toward the wreckage.

"Not dead yet, are you?" his voice was soft, almost conversational.

"I haven't had my fill of fun." Inside the ruins of the cliff, Reyn was embedded in the shattered rock. Seven or eight of his bones were snapped, and blood seeped from his eyes, nose, and mouth, staining the stone crevices beneath him. He struggled to lift his eyelids, watching the dark figure approaching through the sky. There was no fear in his gaze—only a cold, crystalline killing intent.

"Golden Core..." he rasped, blood bubbling at the corners of his mouth. His voice sounded like sandpaper on stone.

"Today's gift... I... will remember this." Guan Tianma caught the whisper and laughed even louder, the demonic flame dancing in his palm and turning the sky a bruised purple-black.

"Remember? With what? Your worthless life?" He threw his hand down, and the demonic flame transformed into a pillar of black light, crashing toward the ruins.

"Killing you is as easy as crushing a mortal!"

"The gap between us is as vast as the heavens and the earth!"

"With your talent and cultivation, you dared to harbor designs on Yier? I will leave you with your life today. Hand over her identity jade slip and crawl away!" Guan Tianma stood like a god-emperor of the heavens, exuding an aura of infinite majesty. He looked down at Reyn with half-closed eyes, his voice cold and commanding. Reyn's blood continued to flow, his aura weak, yet his eyes remained unyielding as he stared back at Guan Tianma.

"You can crush me like a mortal only because your cultivation is higher than mine."

"Your cultivation is higher only because you stepped onto the path of Dao earlier than I did."

"I will give you the jade slip. But remember this: one day, I will personally come to collect the debt for the humiliation I suffered today!" The fire in Reyn's eyes gradually settled into a chilling calm. That unyielding defiance was no longer on the surface; it was being etched into his very marrow and bone, becoming inseparable from his soul. He reached into his storage bag, pulled out the identity jade slip, and with a violent flick of his wrist, threw it at Guan Tianma's feet.

Guan Tianma retrieved the slip, looking at Reyn's blood-soaked form with a series of cold sneers.

"Fine, I'll give you that chance! Remember, my name is Guan Tianma, the third disciple of the Ziyun Sect's Great Elder. If you ever think you've earned the right, come find me in the North Province!" With a final, mocking laugh, Guan Tianma erupted in light and vanished into the horizon in an instant.

"Guan Tianma!" Reyn's eyes were as sharp as a wounded wolf's. He whispered the name repeatedly, branding it into his heart. He spat out another mouthful of blood, took several pills from his bag, and swallowed them whole. He turned and sped away, leaving a trail of blood rain in his wake. Xuanxiao Sect Reyn's expression was somber as he walked quickly with his head down.

Though he had used his spiritual energy to suppress his internal injuries, Guan Tianma's sword-qi was bizarre; it lingered in his body, roaming through his meridians and causing further damage. If he could not refine it soon, it would leave a permanent scar on his cultivation. As he walked, a group of people approached from the opposite direction. They were surrounding four individuals, laughing and offering sycophantic praise. Reyn looked up and saw their eyes turn toward him.

Realizing he could not avoid them, he frowned slightly and cupped his hands.

"Reyn greets the Senior Brothers and Sisters." The four at the center of the crowd were Dan Chenzi's personal disciples: Duan Zhonghua, Li Zidu, Liu Yuyao, and Ji Yueli.

"Senior Brother Duan, who is this?" a tall young man in silk robes asked with a smirk. Duan Zhonghua let out a cold laugh and spoke dismissively.

"This is Reyn. A registered disciple Master took in a year ago."

"So he's Reyn!"

"A piece of trash at the 2nd level of Qi Condensation? How dare he bump into Senior Brother Duan? He's looking for death!"

"Indeed. Senior Brother Duan is at the peak of the 8th level of Qi Condensation, a top talent among our generation. After the upcoming ceremony, he'll likely take a Foundation Establishment Pill and become a true master. How can this kid even compare?"

"Hehe, after the Ascension Ceremony, when Senior Brother Duan decides to teach him a lesson, there will be a good show. We must all remember to watch." A group of the sect's young elites looked at Reyn with undisguised mockery, their taunts continuous.

"Haha, we are all fellow disciples. I won't make it too hard on him," Duan Zhonghua said, waving a hand dismissively, his eyes full of playfulness as he looked at Reyn.

"As long as he is willing to kowtow and admit his wrongs publicly during the ceremony, I will let the past go."

"Senior Brother Duan is truly magnanimous!"

"As expected of the Alchemist Ancestor's eldest disciple, a true dragon among men."

"This kid is lucky. If it were me, I'd humiliate him until he couldn't show his face again." The flattery from the crowd intensified. Reyn's brow furrowed, and his body tensed. He already had no goodwill toward Duan Zhonghua. Since the man was intent on public humiliation, Reyn saw no reason to maintain any pretense of politeness.

"There is no need for Senior Brother Duan to hold back. During the Ascension Ceremony, whatever you have planned, I will accept it all." Reyn's voice was flat and calm. Silence. After those words, everyone stared at Reyn with looks of utter disbelief, their gazes filled with bewilderment.

"Is this kid insane?"

"He's digging his own grave. The Alchemist Ancestor has successfully formed his Golden Core, becoming the second Golden Core master of our sect. As his registered disciple, Reyn's status could have risen, but he chose to provoke Senior Brother Duan. His future will be miserable."

"Exactly. He'll be utterly crushed at the ceremony."

"He deserves it. A 2nd-level trash talking big? He needs to be put in his place." Amidst the mockery, one person's beautiful eyes flashed with a strange light. Ji Yueli stared intently at Reyn's calm face, thinking to herself: Is he finally done hiding? Good. I am very curious to see just how deep you have hidden yourself over this past year. Ji Yueli was a genius the Xuanxiao Sect hadn't seen in centuries. In just one year, her progress had been staggering.

"Junior Brother Reyn," the true top talent of the younger generation spoke. Though her voice wasn't loud, it commanded the attention of everyone present. Given her talent, she was likely to reach the Golden Core stage within a century, becoming a pillar of the sect.

"Master has successfully formed his Golden Core. The Sect Tournament and the valley's alchemy assessment have been postponed. They will now be held in one month during Master's Ascension Ceremony. Do not go into secluded cultivation; ensure you attend on time."

"Thank you for the information, Senior Sister. I will be there in one month. If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave." Reyn looked at her, offered a brief salute, and walked away with long strides.

"Everyone, I have matters to attend to. I'll be leaving first," Ji Yueli said simply. Ignoring the changing expressions of the crowd, she took flight, vanishing like a cloud fairy before their eyes.