Fear flooded Su Yuncang's eyes.
Solar Realm!
Even if the man wasn't truly in the Solar Realm, anyone who could wield Solar Force could erase someone like him with ease. Su Yuncang knew it—once that power was brought to bear, he wouldn't survive.
He never expected to run into a monster of this level.
Run!
Only one thought remained in Su Yuncang's mind.
With a single sword strike, the other party had cut down two Moonwheel Eighth Stage experts. Killing him would take nothing more than one extra slash.
Revenge? Whether the sect would avenge him? None of that mattered. Keeping his life was all that mattered.
"Qi Lockdown!"
Lin Ye lifted a hand, and a terrifying surge of mystic qi swept out, sealing the sky in every direction.
Since he'd said he would kill Su Yuncang, he wouldn't let him escape.
The chance had already been given.
Boom!
A violent backlash slammed into Su Yuncang as the surrounding space turned rigid—completely sealed. If he tried to break the seal head-on, he would never withstand Lin Ye's next killing move.
"Damn it!"
Without hesitation, Su Yuncang crushed a jade talisman.
A layer of golden light wrapped around him.
The instant the golden barrier formed, nine sword-qi blasts crashed into it in rapid succession.
The golden shield shook violently, yet Su Yuncang didn't pause for even a breath. He poured everything into a single strike and slashed out.
Boom!
Moonwheel Ninth Stage power erupted—Lin Ye's lockdown shattered, and Su Yuncang burst through the opening.
At that moment, the golden shield on his body rang out in dense, rapid impacts—eighteen crisp tremors in total!
A trace of surprise flickered in Lin Ye's eyes.
Blood-Slaughter Ninefold Massacre, combined with the Eight Desolations Blood-Slaying Force, should have been enough to smash Su Yuncang's defenses. Yet that golden barrier was clearly extraordinary.
Using that brief window, Su Yuncang had already shot several hundred meters away.
He still didn't dare look back. The moment he turned his head, he feared Lin Ye would be there—close enough to wipe him out on the spot.
But since he'd managed to break free, Su Yuncang couldn't help feeling a sliver of confidence.
With his speed, he could shake off pursuit and reach a safe zone.
And when that golden barrier finally shattered, the sect would receive his distress signal and send reinforcements immediately.
On the Fengyu God-Suppression Pass, the Hongwei Sword Sect disciples were dumbstruck.
What were they seeing?
An expert from the Upper Sect—defeated by a young man, and fleeing in panic.
Forget the Upper Sect expert— even their own elder had been no match for this youth. Who in the world was he?
"Trying to run?"
Lin Ye snorted coldly.
"Nine Nether Blood Wings!"
His wings snapped open. In the same instant, they carried him forward in an explosive burst.
Boom!
Afterimages tore across the air. In a blink, Lin Ye caught up to Su Yuncang, who had fled nearly a kilometer.
"A flying martial technique!"
Su Yuncang's scalp tingled as he saw Lin Ye closing in from behind, the power of those wings roaring.
A flying technique!
To most cultivators, flying techniques were little more than a luxury—useful for travel, and not much else. Unless you were crossing thousands upon thousands of miles in one go, the advantage was marginal.
But Lin Ye's was different.
It could multiply his speed by three to five times in an instant.
That alone was enough to make countless people jealous—and enough to make Su Yuncang feel despair.
"Blood-Rakshasa Skyfall Palm!"
In the next second, Lin Ye was already on him.
Solar Force gathered in Lin Ye's palms.
One palm strike came down—
—and Su Yuncang exploded into fragments.
This time, he had no chance to escape. He hadn't even imagined Lin Ye could catch him so quickly.
So what if you're from Upper River?
Do you think that makes you unkillable?
Su Yuncang was blown apart by a single palm.
"If I hadn't condensed Solar Force, killing him would've taken some effort," Lin Ye thought.
Su Yuncang was Moonwheel Ninth Stage. His comprehension of techniques and the tier of his cultivation art were clearly above those of the Plum Blossom Sword Sect. Naturally, he was harder to deal with.
But Solar Force changed everything.
Most people who possessed Solar Force still wouldn't dare claim a sure victory every time.
In Lin Ye's hands, though—
it was a guaranteed instant kill.
Because Lin Ye's understanding of mystic qi went beyond even Solar Realm experts. Even a Return-to-Void Realm powerhouse might not surpass him.
With only the thinnest thread of Solar Force, he could unleash the might of a peak Solar Realm cultivator.
No matter how strong Su Yuncang was, he could not withstand Solar Force.
That was the tyranny of realms—Solar Realm crushing Moonwheel Realm.
Su Yuncang became a cloud of blood mist. Shreds of flesh and broken bones rained into the river. Lin Ye reached out and hooked Su Yuncang's storage ring back to his hand.
On the pass, the Hongwei Sword Sect disciples stared with eyes full of terror, unable to believe what they'd witnessed.
"Quick… hurry and report to the sect master!"
Lin Ye's gaze swept toward the towering waterborne wall ahead.
The wall had been built from extremely durable stone, and formation masters had carved arrays into it. It resisted erosion from the river's constant scouring and could even withstand the impact of river beasts.
Just building this single wall had cost tens of millions of spirit crystals.
"A wall like this dares block me?"
Lin Ye let out a cold laugh and swung the Nie-Gui Sword.
A sliver of Solar Force clung to his sword-qi.
A blade of qi tens of zhang long slammed into the Fengyu God-Suppression Pass and blasted a huge chunk out of the wall.
Several Hongwei Sword Sect disciples tumbled straight into the water.
With a large section of the wall shattered, the waters of Upper River thundered through the breach, surging outward.
Shock froze on both Luo Gui's and Xia Wei's faces.
The Fengyu God-Suppression Pass had stood for at least a hundred years. Now, it was being reduced to ruins by a single strike from Lin Ye.
It was a gate like this that created a chasm between Upper River and Lower River.
Just like the Heaven-Bestowed Imperial Clan—forever gripping the highest resources, while the people below could never turn the tables.
Lin Ye was no savior, and he had never intended to rewrite the world's rules. But if anyone wanted to stand above him, they would first have to ask the sword in his hand.
Lin Ye sheathed the Nie-Gui Sword, flashed forward, and returned to the Wavebreaker.
"Keep going."
Xia Wei immediately drove the Wavebreaker onward.
She knew Lin Ye was strong, but the enemy was an Upper River sect—deep as the abyss. Every Upper River sect held terrifying resources and strength, beyond what ordinary people could even imagine.
Lin Ye had openly provoked the Qingtian Sword Sect. If they hunted them down, there was a real chance they would die here.
I'm still young, Xia Wei thought bitterly—still at the age where I should be beautiful and carefree—yet I might end up buried in Upper River.
In everyone's mind, the image of Upper River sects was an unshakable monument of power. And now Lin Ye had killed three of the Qingtian Sword Sect's experts. That was a feud, plain and simple.
Still, Xia Wei tried to comfort herself: a sect like Qingtian had countless disciples. A few missing might not be noticed so quickly.
"It's strange," Xia Wei said. "Why would the Qingtian Sword Sect suddenly seal the checkpoint?"
"Strange indeed," Luo Gui frowned. "I've never heard of them sealing the pass like this. Either their sect has suffered a massive internal upheaval… or something huge has happened across all of Upper River."
"How huge could it be…?" Xia Wei's pretty face paled.
She looked up at the sky, thinking: even if the heavens fell, would it really be this serious?
After a few more words, Xia Wei focused on steering the Wavebreaker, pushing forward at full speed.
The priority was still the Bone Saint's inheritance. If they could seize that top-tier legacy, maybe no one would be able to challenge Lin Ye again—and then every danger would vanish.
But when Lin Ye handed Su Yuncang's storage ring to Xia Wei to inventory, she suddenly found something inside.
A sealed confidential letter—bearing the Qingtian Sword Sect's mark.
"This is…"
When Xia Wei and Luo Gui read the contents, their faces changed instantly.
Back at the Fengyu God-Suppression Pass, five figures tore through the sky at high speed.
Boom!
Boom!
Each of the five radiated an aura no weaker than Su Yuncang's.
And the aura of the leader was even more terrifying.
The mystic qi around him seemed to ignite the surrounding spiritual energy, thick and scorching—pure proof of overwhelming power.
A half-step Solar Realm expert—
Li Changsheng, Deputy Hall Master of Fengyu Hall!
The moment Li Changsheng received Su Yuncang's distress signal, he moved. For even an External Affairs Chief Enforcer to call for help meant they had run into something extremely troublesome.
"Solar Force… Looks like we encountered a Solar Realm powerhouse," Li Changsheng said, keenly sensing the lingering aura in the air.
"Deputy Hall Master, the checkpoint can't be repaired," someone reported.
Li Changsheng's gaze turned cold.
"Excellent. This is a declaration of war against the Qingtian Sword Sect."
"Whoever you are— even if you're Solar Realm— I will cut you down."
"Send the message. Set checkpoints along the route. Inspect every ship. Leave no one unchecked!"
"Yes!"