Chapter 144 Xiao Huo Dies, Lin Xuan Deceived by a Pair of Affectionate Eyes
"Now, we can have a battle to the death."
After carrying away Fu Youcai, Gu Qing no longer had any concerns. From now on, Lin Xuan would be all alone in the Star God Temple.
"Good!"
Xiao Huo smiled faintly, but there was no trace of a smile in his eyes. The killing intent around him had almost condensed into substance.
Fu Youcai had just given him sacred artifacts and sacred medicines, yet Gu Qing had annihilated his entire clan and crippled his cultivation.
With new and old grudges combined, today either Gu Qing would die or he would perish.
The two stepped into the boundless starry sky. Xiao Huo immediately summoned his defensive supreme artifact, a great cauldron suspended above his head, with raging flames burning in the furnace.
The scorching firelight burned the void, like a small sun illuminating the boundless starry sky.
"Heh!"
Seeing this, Gu Qing sneered. How could he not guess Xiao Huo's intentions?
As expected of a protagonist, thinking himself invincible among his peers, believing he only defeated Lin Feng through sneak attacks and opportunistic tactics.
Since the protagonist couldn't face reality, it was time to give Lin Xuan and his disciple a shock.
It was time to let the world witness the power of the Starry Cosmos Divine Body.
Gu Qing no longer hid his strength. After all, Lin Xuan was no fool; having lost two disciples in succession, he would surely notice something was amiss.
Besides, Lin Xuan was already isolated and without support in the Star God Temple.
As for the remaining disciples, wouldn't it be easy for him to kill them?
With this thought, Gu Qing stepped forward, and the boundless starry sky rumbled. Infinite starlight gathered, and ten thousand laws blessed his body.
Gu Qing was like a god ruling over the cosmic starry sky. With a single finger point, the Star-Shattering Finger gathered the power of countless stars.
The entire void was enveloped by his finger.
"Indeed very strong..."
Feeling the world-destroying power of the Star-Shattering Finger, Xiao Huo's expression slightly changed.
He naturally knew that Gu Qing couldn't have killed Lin Feng through a sneak attack alone. Without some real strength, how could one possibly ambush a genius of the same realm?
The sneak attack only gave Gu Qing the initial advantage.
Ultimately, it came down to raw strength.
Therefore, he regarded Gu Qing with unprecedented importance, immediately summoning his defensive treasure, locking his divine sense on Gu Qing, and preparing to respond to any move with stillness.
However, upon seeing the Star-Shattering Finger, Xiao Huo realized he had still underestimated Gu Qing.
The Star-Shattering Finger made him feel an unprecedented crisis, more terrifying than facing a seventh-level Venerable Realm genius.
The Starry Cosmos Divine Body truly lived up to its name, worthy of being a supreme divine body.
In a flash of thought, Xiao Huo summoned a sacred artifact, the Li Fire Sword.
This was an artifact embryo, refined by Lin Xuan, making it far more powerful than ordinary sacred artifacts.
"Li Fire Spreads Like Prairie Fire..."
Xiao Huo unleashed his ultimate divine ability. A boundless sea of fire burned in the starry sky, the intense heat seemingly turning space itself into nothingness.
Xiao Huo was like a god mastering the Great Dao of Fire. The longsword in his hand erupted with heaven-shaking sword intent, carrying the boundless sea of fire to strike at the Star-Shattering Finger.
Boom!
Xiao Huo, along with his sword, was sent flying by a single finger. His body burst apart, blood gushing like a fountain, splattering across the starry sky. Every drop of blood contained terrifying power, like a small sun of fire.
"Worthy of being the strongest Starry Cosmos Divine Body in history..."
An elder watching from afar couldn't contain his excitement.
Gu Qing had only joined the Star God Temple a few years ago yet had already broken through to the fourth level of the Venerable Realm. This speed surpassed all previous Starry Cosmos Divine Bodies.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't have believed that Gu Qing had achieved human supremacy at such a young age.
Even more terrifying was Gu Qing's combat strength, which was simply unbelievably powerful.
They could tell that Xiao Huo was not weak at all, absolutely deserving of being called a genius prodigy.
Especially his "Li Fire Spreads Like Prairie Fire" divine ability, with the enhancement of a sacred artifact, could kill a peak Supreme Realm expert.
Yet he was sent flying by Gu Qing's single finger, without even using any treasure.
If Gu Qing were to use a treasure, how could Xiao Huo possibly survive?
"Pfft!"
Xiao Huo violently spat out a mouthful of blood and hastily consumed over a dozen spirit pills and three drops of Three Light Divine Water. He circulated his cultivation to refine them, expelling the residual Star-Shattering Power from his body.
However, the Star-Shattering Power rampaged wildly, seemingly fused with his body, making it impossible to remove in a short time.
"Too strong, I'm no match..." This thought emerged in Xiao Huo's mind, but he was unwilling to believe it.
How could he possibly be defeated by a peer genius in a single exchange?
After all, throughout his journey, those so-called ancient geniuses and prodigies were no match for him in a single exchange.
He had even killed those above his realm.
Xiao Huo considered himself invincible among his peers. How could he possibly lose to Gu Qing of the same realm?
Yet the rampaging Star-Shattering Power in his body forced him to accept this cruel reality.
Xiao Huo looked up at Gu Qing, dressed in black with ink-black hair flying, standing on the Starlight Great Path, like a god or demon. An aura of invincibility washed over him, and the immense pressure made Xiao Huo's breath catch as fear surged in his heart.
This was a battle to the death.
Losing meant death.
At this thought, Xiao Huo immediately unleashed the Character Secret of "All."
That's right, Lin Xuan also possessed the Nine Secrets that spread throughout the myriad heavens.
A protagonist without the Nine Secrets system wouldn't be called a protagonist at all.
It's like "Dominating the Myriad Ages" - if a protagonist doesn't achieve something like that, can they still be called a fantasy protagonist?
"Die!"
Gu Qing's left hand formed the Lunar Divine Fist, and his right hand formed the Solar Divine Fist. The two ultimate forces of extreme yin and extreme yang converged, erupting with the power of yin-yang destruction.
"Hiss~"
The fear of death spread from the bottom of his heart. Xiao Huo gasped and no longer held anything back, summoning a broken divine artifact for defense.
The Supreme Bone within his body erupted with Li Fire Sword Intent, burning the heavens, and the peerless sword intent tore through the void.
Boom!
The broken divine artifact cauldron blocked the Yin-Yang Divine Fists, but Xiao Huo was also sent flying by the immense power of the fists.
Although divine artifacts were powerful, it depended on who was using them. Besides, this was a broken divine artifact.
At most, Xiao Huo could only unleash one-ten-thousandth of the artifact's power.
"Wait, I surrender."
Seeing Gu Qing about to strike again, Xiao Huo forcefully swallowed the mouthful of reverse-flowing blood that had reached his throat and said urgently.
He had exhausted all his trump cards, yet was heavily injured by Gu Qing's two fists. His secret technique was interrupted, causing his realm to drop.
Moreover, he could only use the divine artifact cauldron once and lacked the strength to use it a second time.
Under such circumstances, Xiao Huo was well aware that he could no longer withstand even a single move from Gu Qing.
"A battle to the death, do you think it's child's play? You fight when you want, and surrender when you want?"
Gu Qing sneered, but his actions didn't stop at all. The Lunar Divine Fist struck out, and a bright moon appeared in the sky, freezing the river of stars.
Xiao Huo's scalp tingled. He immediately burned his essence blood and forcefully unleashed the "Li Fire Spreads Like Prairie Fire" divine ability.
After losing half his life to withstand it, Gu Qing struck again with another fist, also the Lunar Divine Fist.
Xiao Huo spat blood and shouted towards Lin Xuan: "Master, save me..."
Lin Xuan's fists were clenched tightly, his cold gaze filled with bone-chilling killing intent.
If looks could kill, Gu Qing would have been killed thousands of times by now.
He finally realized that Gu Qing had been hiding his true abilities all along.
Gu Qing was far more powerful than he had imagined.
But he found it hard to accept. His disciple was the Son of Fortune, the invincible Son of Fortune who swept through all obstacles. How could he be defeated?
Could Gu Qing also be a Son of Fortune?
Lin Xuan asked his system, but the answer remained the same: he couldn't detect any information about Gu Qing. This made Lin Xuan's heart sink.
Even the system couldn't detect him. What exactly was Gu Qing's background?
"Master..."
Seeing that Lin Xuan had no intention of making a move, Xiao Huo's mind went blank for a moment.
His domineering and protective master, why wasn't he saving him?
Could it be that he, like Fu Youcai, was being abandoned by Lin Xuan?
No, impossible.
Xiao Huo shook his head frantically.
He could not be abandoned by Lin Xuan.
After all, Lin Xuan was his life-saving benefactor. It was Lin Xuan who had guided him, a useless person unable to cultivate, onto the path of cultivation.
It was Lin Xuan who gave him a new life, taught him supreme cultivation methods, and bestowed upon him countless treasures.
He treated him like his own son; how could Lin Xuan possibly not care whether he lived or died?
Lin Xuan indeed could not possibly ignore him.
But at this moment, Lin Xuan was powerless, because he was locked by Jiang Yu's divine sense.
If he dared to make a move, he would face Jiang Yu's thunderous strike.
Although Lin Xuan was confident he could escape the pursuit of the Star Temple.
But he was not sure he could escape with his remaining disciples.
The veins on Lin Xuan's forehead bulged, his killing intent soaring to the sky as he tried to pressure Gu Qing, forcing him to give up killing Xiao Huo.
Gu Qing met his gaze. Seeing that Lin Xuan did not dare to act and was still holding back, Gu Qing sneered, not hiding his ridicule at all.
He then killed Xiao Huo with a single punch.
Another Supreme Bone... Gu Qing stored the Supreme Bone in a jade box, placed a restriction on it, and then calmly began to collect all of Xiao Huo's treasures.
This Li Fire Sword was a fine item, made from Li Fire Immortal Gold with limitless potential.
Gu Qing planned to fuse the Li Fire Sword into the Sun Mirror to enhance its power and potential.
"Good, good, good!"
Seeing this, the elders could not contain their excitement.
Gu Qing was too strong, his physical body unparalleled.
With the talent Gu Qing had now displayed, even if he ascended to the Immortal Realm, he would be an outstanding figure.
Now, with the addition of a Supreme Bone, Gu Qing would only become even stronger.
Their lineage was destined to produce another supreme powerhouse, and their orthodoxy would prosper for ages.
"Jiang Yu, why? Why are you helping a tyrant do evil?"
Watching his disciple be killed before his eyes, Lin Xuan roared, his expression collapsing in pain and agony.
It was one thing for Jiang Yu not to help him, but she was actually helping Gu Qing, the main culprit.
Jiang Yu's betrayal felt like a knife twisting in his heart.
Jiang Yu: ...
Speechless.
Silent.
Her elegant indifference was her only attitude toward Lin Xuan.
After all, Lin Xuan seemed incapable of understanding human language, living entirely inside his own thoughts.
Jiang Yu had already said what needed to be said. Whether Lin Xuan listened was his business. She had no interest in debating with a paranoid lunatic.
However, Jiang Yu's transcendent demeanor, as detached as a chrysanthemum, appeared cold and heartless in Lin Xuan's eyes.
"Fine, fine, fine. Since you are heartless, don't blame me for being unrighteous."
Lin Xuan's gaze was icy as he turned and left, swearing in his heart that he would annihilate the Star Temple and make Jiang Yu pay the price.
He would make Jiang Yu regret treating him with indifference now, so that she would be unable to reach him later.
Lin Xuan decided to widely accept disciples, no longer limiting himself to Sons of Fortune. There were so many geniuses in the Star Temple who met the system's recruitment standards that he could find them in droves.
Although the rewards were low, a mosquito leg, no matter how small, is still meat.
He would use the system to quickly become stronger.
"Tsk! Idiot."
Gu Qing sneered.
He could figure it out with his toes: Lin Xuan must be planning to use the system to become stronger and swear revenge on everyone.
But with him around, Lin Xuan couldn't possibly stir up a single wave in the Star Temple.
If Lin Xuan were a little smarter, he should have realized that the Star Temple was not his place of origin, but a trapped dragon formation.
But Lin Xuan was the Son of Providence. Protagonists all share a common flaw: they like to survive in the cracks, take chestnuts from the fire, and find life in desperate situations.
For Lin Xuan to think he could develop sneakily in the Star Temple was wishful thinking.
Thinking of this, Gu Qing sent a message to Chu Yao and Luo Li, then followed Jiang Yu back to Starlight Peak.
Gu Qing asked curiously, "Palace Master, did you ever like Lin Xuan?"
From beginning to end, Lin Xuan acted as if he had been abandoned by Jiang Yu.
This made Gu Qing wonder if Jiang Yu was a heartless, fickle woman.
"Thump!"
Jiang Yu angrily tapped Gu Qing's forehead and scolded, "You heartless little bastard."
She had helped Gu Qing so much, yet he didn't believe her. It was enough to make her angry.
Gu Qing rubbed his forehead and said depressedly, "Palace Master, it's not that I don't believe you, but Lin Xuan is truly convinced that you have feelings for him. I just wanted to ask for clarification. If not, I can clear your name."
"In my heart, you are a holy and sacred goddess. How can your reputation be tarnished by Lin Xuan?"
"Smooth-tongued."
Gu Qing's sincere words instantly pleased Jiang Yu; after all, what woman wouldn't like to hear such things?
"There was really nothing between us. We were always just ordinary fellow disciples. In fact, even Lin Xuan's belief that he saved me was nothing more than his own wishful thinking."
"Oh? Tell me more."
Gu Qing's curiosity was piqued.
"Back then, we went on a training mission together. My cultivation was higher than his. I could have easily dealt with that demonic beast, but Lin Xuan stepped forward and wouldn't let me act..."
Jiang Yu also felt a flash of anger recalling the matter.
She had specifically sought out that demonic beast to deal with her master's assignment, but not only did Lin Xuan snatch it from her, he also made her feel indebted to him for saving her life. It was simply ridiculous.
If she hadn't seen that Lin Xuan was seriously injured by the demonic beast, she would have wanted to stab him with a sword.
After that incident, she no longer had any interaction with Lin Xuan.
There was no need to associate with someone who lacked self-awareness.
"Then how did he..."
Gu Qing understood instantly. He was all too familiar with the trope of a protagonist stepping forward to win a female lead's favor.
But if Jiang Yu wasn't moved by Lin Xuan, why had he been mistaken all this time?
"I'm not sure either."
Jiang Yu was also puzzled.
What exactly had she done to give Lin Xuan the illusion that she liked him?
"Is that so..."
Gu Qing looked at her gentle, watery beautiful eyes, lost in thought.
Jiang Yu's eyes were indescribably beautiful, the most beautiful he had ever seen.
They seemed to possess a magical quality; meeting her gaze made one's heart and mind involuntarily calm, the body and mind relax, and sink into a boundless tenderness.
In short, Jiang Yu's eyes looked深情 even at a dog.
That bastard Lin Xuan must have been deceived by Jiang Yu's eyes, inevitably developing the misconception.
Understanding the reason, Gu Qing's mouth twitched. The protagonist was truly narcissistic, thinking the world revolved around him and that all supreme goddesses were in love with him.
"What bad idea are you thinking of now?"
Jiang Yu felt uncomfortable under Gu Qing's direct, intense gaze, her delicate earlobes turning slightly red.
She changed the subject with an annoyed expression.
"Nothing."
Gu Qing, not noticing her reaction, had a sudden thought and revealed a pleading smile. "Palace Master, could you help me refine a treasure?"
Jiang Yu rolled her eyes, her charm infinite. "Speak."
Gu Qing immediately took out the Sun Mirror and the Li Fire Sword, stuffed them into her hands, left a sentence of "Palace Master, take care of it. I'm going into closed-door cultivation," and ran off like a wisp of smoke.
Jiang Yu: ...
Are you a monkey?
You climb and run away too smoothly.
She hadn't even said anything, and he was already gone.
Jiang Yu decided that in the future, if a similar situation arose, she would state her conditions first.
"You cunning little boy..." A mischievous smile appeared in Jiang Yu's gentle, watery eyes.
Did he think he could get her services for free?
How naive.
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