Chapter 1075: Sealing Sainthood on Void Island This Old Man Will Kill You, Even to the Ends of the Earth

“Pū ěr!”

In the void, blood flowers bloomed.

Xu Xiaoshou, lured out by the Half-Saint decree's character "Gui," had no way to fight back against Jiang Buyi's will avatar. Even though he was in his throne body form, even with his array of passive skills, even with the first wisp of his own Saint Force emerging in his qi sea...

Yet, when facing a true Saint, under the assault of absolute power, Jiang Buyi thrust his hand through his chest as easily as piercing brittle paper.

On that hand passing through his body, everyone could see the shocking chunk of flesh that had been ripped out, pulsing and throbbing, beating away.

— His heart!

“Die!”

Jiang Buyi's voice was shrill, like a venting of rage, ignoring the incoming sword from Mei Jiren behind him and Ye Xiaotian's spatial confinement.

With a clench of his hand.

“Peng!”

The ripped-out heart exploded in mid-air, turning into a spray of blood mist.

The satisfaction and release of his desires reached perfect fulfillment. Jiang Buyi smirked, then yanked back, and high above the nine heavens, he burst into wild laughter.

“Ha ha ha ha...”

No one could know how stifled he, a dignified Half-Saint, had felt in this place!

Not only had he been used as a pawn by a junior, not only had he made enemies of Teng Shanhai and the Saint God Hall by killing them, but even a minor Sword Immortal could destroy one of his Half-Saint avatars...

In the end, he couldn't even take Xu Xiaoshou with him and had to slink away in disgrace.

What a humiliation!

Jiang Buyi had no intention of leaving in such a pathetic manner!

From the moment the last "Ba Zun An" appeared and he pretended to back down, he had been plotting to take Xu Xiaoshou's life.

Only then could he quell the hatred in his heart.

What of the Eighth Sword Immortal?

What of the chief Saint Slave?

What of the honored one of the black and white veins?

Jiang Buyi didn't care! Not at all!

Void Island was the territory of the Ba Zun An, but if they sought revenge, they'd have to go to the North Domain, and then... who would win was still uncertain.

Jiang Buyi wasn't like those reclusive Half-Saints with unclear stances.

He was of the Saint God Hall lineage.

After the Lei family incident, everyone was in the same boat, wearing the same pants, with no distinction of you or me.

Jiang Buyi firmly believed that the accusations heaped on him could be cleared up if he personally went to Sacred Mountain and explained to Dao Qiong Cang. What misunderstandings couldn't be resolved?

By then, if the Ba Zun An truly sought revenge, he could even ally with the Saint God Hall to set a trap in the North Domain and capture that person.

But plans never survive contact with change...

Jiang Buyi never expected that even the "Ba Zun An" who arrived last as reinforcements was a fake!

A fake...

They really dared to play such games!

Deceiving even a Half-Saint?

But the problem was... since the real Ba Zun An was someone he was already prepared to offend, and this one was fake, then under the heavens, what could he still fear?

Jiang Buyi felt fortunate now.

He was glad he hadn't been scared off, or else, looking back on this, he would have beaten his chest and stamped his feet in regret.

Turning back...

No matter how this battle ended, Jiang Buyi had already left behind the Half-Saint decree.

Was it worth using that scroll, more precious than a Half-Saint avatar, just to kill Xu Xiaoshou?

Jiang Buyi thought it was worth it!

In life, it's all about settling grudges with ease.

If a Half-Saint had to cower and hesitate, worrying about everything and calculating gains and losses just to kill someone... wouldn't that make him no different from those petty villains?

Killing Xu Xiaoshou gained him nothing material.

But Jiang Buyi felt his mind clear and unburdened—how refreshing!

After all, everything that had happened to him stemmed from this junior!

Xu Xiaoshou was the root of all evil!

As long as he lived, Jiang Buyi's heart would never be at peace!

“Off to reincarnation you go, ignorant junior...”

“In your next life, remember not to offend those you shouldn't!”

Without any pause, after crushing Xu Xiaoshou's heart, the remaining Saint Force from the Half-Saint will poured into his body, transforming into that technique that could erase even Teng Shanhai's existence—"Zhu Sheng Yun Guang."

Under the radiant Saint light, the heavens and earth blurred into halos.

Within the halo, Xu Xiaoshou's face was etched with tears of regret and an expression of eternal, frozen terror.

“Chi”

There was no suspense.

His flesh vanished, his soul was wiped out, and even his will... dissipated like smoke under the Half-Saint power!

“Roar!”

The Void Servants outside the field let out pained cries at that moment, as if, like Ye Xiaotian and the others, they couldn't accept what they were seeing.

Such a fine human youth, handsome and spirited—right up the Void Servants' aesthetic—yet he was erased from the world in an instant, dying unjustly.

If even the Void Servants felt this way, how much more so for Ye Xiaotian and the others, who had deeper ties with Xu Xiaoshou?

Mei Jiren's sword arrived too late.

Perhaps it was because Jiang Buyi's final nonsense successfully distracted him.

Or perhaps because no one could imagine that Jiang Buyi would leave behind a Half-Saint decree, something even Half-Saints treasured, just to take Xu Xiaoshou's life.

People are used to thinking from the perspective of self-interest, and sometimes forget that some act purely to clear their minds, regardless of cost.

It sounded absurd, but it made sense.

Cultivators pursue the Dao, which is to cultivate the heart.

And for those who cultivate the heart, how can they tolerate any fetters on their spirit?

Xu Xiaoshou blocked Jiang Buyi's path, so Jiang Buyi acted to eliminate him, no matter the price—it was understandable.

But even so, Mei Jiren appeared outwardly unmoved, though his sword-holding hand trembled slightly.

“Three Thousand Sword Paths...”

The soft murmur echoed in the air.

Mei Jiren knew Jiang Buyi's true body had already left.

What remained to ambush Xu Xiaoshou in the Half-Saint decree was merely a fragment of Jiang Buyi's will avatar.

Now, with all its power poured into Xu Xiaoshou, one fact was clear—it couldn't let him revive!

So, little power was left to withstand his sword.

Mei Jiren fully understood Jiang Buyi's intent—he didn't even plan to retrieve this will avatar. Once Xu Xiaoshou was killed, its mission was complete; it could simply dissipate.

Yet at that moment...

Mei Jiren knew all this, but he still couldn't suppress the killing intent in his heart.

This was his student who hadn't even formally entered his school!

How dare a Half-Saint stoop to slaughter a junior?

— Utterly shameless!

“Shattered Dao...”

A cyan sword formed below the stone sword.

Mei Jiren didn't use much power, not even the Eighteen Sword Streams, because a mere will avatar of a Half-Saint wasn't worth it.

But as the sword, carrying the stone sword, pierced into Jiang Buyi's will avatar—which had turned around with a calm smile—Mei Jiren could no longer hold back his impulse.

“Qing He Sword Realm!”

“Shattered Dao: Ling Chi!”

“Die for me, you old fool!”

With a boom, sword intent erupted, and endless cyan swords formed in the nine heavens, wildly piercing through Jiang Buyi's will avatar, dismembering it into fragments.

Yet, until it dissipated, Jiang Buyi's face didn't twitch at all; it still held that unrestrained, joyful smile.

“It really hurts...”

He chuckled softly, lowering his head to look at his will avatar shattering into crystalline points, but before vanishing completely, he leveled his gaze at Mei Jiren.

“To use such devastating power on a Half-Saint will avatar that has no resistance at all...”

“It hurts so much! It really hurts! As will and body are connected, my true self can already feel the pain of your Ling Chi.”

“But...”

Jiang Buyi kept smiling as his will avatar finally shattered, leaving one last line echoing in the nine heavens.

“What I, as a Saint, truly wanted to experience is this very pain!”

“Because I can imagine, the pain in your heart right now... is a hundred times worse!”

The void echoed with residual sounds, fading to just a few words.

“Mei Jiren, you've lost!”

“You've lost...”

“Lost...”

“Lost...”

The endless echoes reverberated in his mind.

That detestable face, though gone, loomed larger in his pupils.

“Uh.” Mei Jiren felt his heart constrict, grunting as blood overflowed from the corner of his lips.

This was partly from the backlash of that sword he had just unleashed after suppressing it for so long, and partly from the emotional turmoil stirred by Jiang Buyi's taunts.

Yes, Mei Jiren knew he had lost.

Even though he destroyed Jiang Buyi's Half-Saint avatar, since the one he meant to protect didn't survive and Jiang Buyi had succeeded, he had lost forever.

Never before had Mei Jiren felt such a fierce urge to kill someone immediately.

He had cultivated his heart for so long and shouldn't be so violent, but now, fierce emotions surged like the hot-blooded impulses of his youth, repeatedly assaulting his spirit.

Silence brewed in the air.

For a long time, Mei Jiren's body showed no movement, as if he had turned to stone.

The world expanded in his eyes...

Everything his gaze touched slowed down.

Ye Xiaotian lunged forward but came up empty. Even with the world's strongest speed from his "Space Mysteries," he was still half a step too late, due to Jiang Buyi's sudden strike and the damage from the Half-Saint decree.

It seemed "space" was his destiny.

Even though he threw himself forward with all his might, what he embraced in the end was merely the foam illusion of Xu Xiaoshou, erased by the Saint light.

Nothing but air.

Nothing but emptiness.

Nothing but space, eternally and solitarily accompanying him.

The little white-haired boy froze in mid-air with his arms outstretched, his mind flashing through scenes of Old Sang and Xu Xiaoshou.

Roasting goose and drinking in the thatched hut... the collapse of Tianxuan Gate, where he built a spatial passage for his disciple and covered for him...

Losing an arm in the Ling Palace night battle... the Ling Treasury Pavilion being burned, yet still lying for his disciple, chasing a nonexistent attacker...

In the Eight Palaces, watching Old Sang get struck by an arrow and fall to madness... In the Ling Palace, Xu Xiaoshou exposing the four stolen town-bound treasures right in front of him, then shamelessly bending down, reaching out, and using his foot to kick back the ring that belonged to him...

Memories jumbled together.

Ye Xiaotian couldn't make sense of anything anymore.

He only knew he hadn't fulfilled Old Sang's final wish—Xu Xiaoshou was gone.

“I couldn't do anything...”

The white-haired boy closed his eyes heavily in mid-air, his inner pain turning into two streams of clear tears flowing down.

Behind him, Xiao Kongdong struggled on the ground.

Affected most by the Half-Saint decree, he couldn't even move now, watching Xu Xiaoshou die without managing to unleash a single sword strike.

Xiao Kongdong was completely stunned.

They had said "ten breaths," but he had only held out ten breaths longer than Ye Xiaotian in front of the Half-Saint decree, and when it mattered most, he couldn't contribute even a shred of power.

“What have I done?”

Xiao Kongdong felt his soul leave his body, his eyes filled with infinite confusion.

In his memories, when they first met in Tian Sang City, that was the first time in years he had formally received a command from his teacher.

He encountered Xu Xiaoshou.

With his Ten Section Sword Fingers, he killed that Three Incense killer, Red Dog, and officially passed on the "Guan Jian Dian"—a gift from his teacher in his youth.

Xu Xiaoshou learned Sword Thought...

Xu Xiaoshou began stirring up trouble...

Xu Xiaoshou erupted in Dongtian Wang City, and Xiao Kongdong went to support him...

But now, on Void Island, Xu Xiaoshou was erased alive in front of him by the Half-Saint Jiang Buyi!

“Powerless...”

This sense of powerlessness was indescribable for Xiao Kongdong.

He believed he had few equals at his level across the world, and that was true.

But when facing a Half-Saint, what good was being unbeatable among peers? He still couldn't protect even a single junior.

“Teacher, I'm sorry, I messed everything up...”

Xiao Kongdong collapsed half on the ground, banging his head against the earth, murmuring weakly, his eyes filled only with deep self-loathing.

One scene after another unfolded.

Mei Jiren took in the pain of everyone around him.

He was the calmest, showing no sign of disturbance.

But as the oldest and strongest here, even he couldn't protect his unofficial student.

The pain Mei Jiren bore in his heart at that moment, as Jiang Buyi had said, was a hundred times the agony of Ling Chi!

One breath...

Three breaths...

Ten breaths...

After a silent half-incense stick's time, Mei Jiren could no longer stay still.

The calmer his body, the more frenzied his heart, because Jiang Buyi's final taunts echoed relentlessly in his mind.

At some point, Mei Jiren suddenly lifted his gaze.

“Boom!”

Sacred Tribulation clouds surged and gathered out of nowhere in the nine heavens.

Mei Jiren's eyes flashed like lightning. With a single glance, his sword intent spread, instantly stirring across all of Void Island.

“Rumble rumble—”

Large swaths of space in Miracle Forest collapsed.

The Sacred Tribulation was summoned, nearly solidifying, with purple lightning flickering within, as if it would strike down the next second.

“Mr. Mei Jiren!”

Xiao Kongdong was still struggling to recover from the Half-Saint decree's damage and immersed in the grief of Xu Xiaoshou's death.

But seeing this, he was alarmed and had to temporarily suppress his emotions, shouting loudly.

“That old thief Jiang Buyi is just provoking you, Mr. Mei Jiren! You mustn't fall for his trap—this is his final move!”

Mei Jiren's body trembled in mid-air, wanting to stop.

He knew full well this was Jiang Buyi's final ploy!

But...

How could he dispel the hatred in his heart without killing that man?

And how could he kill the Half-Saint Jiang Buyi without entering the Saint realm?

“Enter the game, seal as Saint, sense, self-imprison, waste away, confine...”

“And the loss of freedom...”

Mei Jiren had figured it all out, but he couldn't stop his actions.

Because the Sword Dao's direction and the situation demanded it, he could no longer suppress his realm and had to break through.

His Half-Saint position flew out from his body. Under the shocked gazes of Ye Xiaotian and Xiao Kongdong, Mei Jiren rose high into the air.

“He...”

Ye Xiaotian snapped out of his shock, touching his chest and finding the crystal gem still there.

That meant Mei Jiren had already prepared the Half-Saint position for him, just as he said.

“Sealing as Saint is but a thought away.”

But Ye Xiaotian and Xiao Kongdong both recalled another of Mei Jiren's words.

“Freedom, however, is what this old man seeks all his life.”

Now, for Xu Xiaoshou, was Mr. Mei Jiren planning to abandon his neutral status, abandon his freedom, and seal as Saint on Void Island, fully entering the game?

“Boom!”

The Half-Saint position howled in the nine heavens, winds and clouds changed, and everything in the world began to tremble.

Mei Jiren's eyes lost sight of all things. He knew he might have been influenced by the Half-Saint will, but... so be it.

“Jiang Buyi, you've outmaneuvered this old man!”

“So... this old man will kill you, even if it's at the edge of the world!”

Mei Jiren no longer paid attention to those below. Even as Xiao Kongdong desperately tried to dissuade him, even as Ye Xiaotian realized something was wrong and called out, even as the two massive Void Servants, who had been cowering with their heads down, with one of them standing up for some reason and staggering toward him...

“Roar!” A Void Servant bellowed.

Mei Jiren didn't care. Others might fear Void Servants, but he didn't.

Besides, in the midst of Sacred Tribulation, anyone entering the tribulation area would die for sure.

“Roar!” The Void Servant kept roaring, its face growing anxious.

Mei Jiren had no intention of acting. It was just a Void Servant seeking its own death; he was determined to undergo the tribulation, and if the giant came, it would only suffer.

“Silly...”

The Void Servant actually spat out human words!

But it seemed to realize something and quickly restrained its urge to curse. Its two sun-like eyes rolled in their sockets, flashing with a cunning glint, like a sudden inspiration.

Then, the Void Servant bent down, one hand on its knee, freeing the other to point at Ye Xiaotian and Xiao Kongdong's heads, stammering out human speech.

“Humans... sad... shame on you...”

Ye Xiaotian: ???

Xiao Kongdong: ???

Had this big guy gone mad?

Daring to provoke them?

Didn't it know what "furious outburst," "emotional diversion," or "killing a giant to vent" meant?

The other Void Servant behind lifted its eyes, completely stunned.

Bro! Have you lost your mind?

You saved my life, but you arrived late and didn't see that old guy slice a Half-Saint with one sword. Why are you charging out now? You're asking for death!

Luckily, you're provoking those two little humans, not that human old man. How dare he undergo Sacred Tribulation on Void Island... even we Void Servants find it terrifying. What kind of person is he?

But the next second, it was dumbfounded.

The Void Servant brother, not content after pointing at the two little humans, turned his massive head unsatisfied and reached out to point at the human old man.

He was in the midst of tribulation!

And you point at his head!?

The Void Servant was frantic, almost rushing over to drag its brother back.

But before it could move, the Void Servant brother demonstrated what "ignorance is bliss," not only daring to point but also mocking him.

“Sword Immortal... tricked... shame on you...”