An unseen force seemed to have frozen even time itself.
The fleeing cultivators halted midstep and glanced around in bewilderment.
"What's going on? Why did everything stop moving?" someone shouted, panic creeping into their voice.
"Someone has locked down the space around us!" a cultivator at the peak of the Earth Profound Realm exclaimed, noticing the anomaly.
"Die!" A thunderous roar, brimming with boundless fury, exploded across the battlefield.
Everyone who witnessed what happened next would remember it forever. No matter how many years would pass, none would be able to forget it.
A colossal palm descended from the heavens, as if doomsday itself had arrived. The pressure cracked the skies, and the earth quaked in despair. Its power engulfed the entire battlefield, shrouding the three clans in a suffocating, apocalyptic aura.
The Wang Clan's patriarch stared in terror as the crushing force splintered his body, fragment by fragment, until only dust remained. He died without pain, and he felt only terror as his physical form crumbled before his eyes.
Each crack rang out sharply and distinctly; it was like a titan's foot was stomping on eggshells. Each crack indicated the death of a living being.
"It's Liu Wuxie!" someone cried out after catching a glimpse of the figure hovering in the sky. He radiated overwhelming killing intent, and his figure was draped in the Divine Glazed Cloth, looking like the very incarnation of death.
The massacre raged on as the elites from the three clans collapsed in heaps. The disciples and elders froze midstep and stared in disbelief at the carnage.
Liu Wuxie killed the newly instated patriarchs of all three clans with a single, devastating blow.
At that very moment, Liu Wuxie's name became synonymous with dread. His arrival chilled everyone to the bone.
Even the Heaven Profound Realm experts who were fighting in the air paused and turned in disbelief to witness the scene. Their expressions flickered—some excited, some elated, while others were resentful or confused.
Liu Wuxie looked down at the corpses littering the battlefield. His face remained emotionless. He felt fortunate that his earlier preparations had worked; the Liu Clan ensured that casualties were low by deploying the Ten-Sided Annihilation Array.
While a few disciples fell, most survived with only minor injuries, thanks to the array's protection and Liu Wuxie's timely intervention.
However, he shuddered to think what would've happened had he arrived a moment later.
His fury made the three clan ancestors tremble.
The Wang Clan's ancestor roared when he saw his great-grandson, the new patriarch, die before his eyes.
"Liu Wuxie, damn you!" The Liao Clan's ancestor howled, his heart bleeding at the devastating loss. Their clan had suffered too greatly.
Liu Wuxie wiped out over five hundred elite cultivators with a single strike. With that, he shattered the three clans' threat completely.
He no longer paid them any mind and turned toward Liu Hanyi.
"Ancestor, you've been poisoned," he said after detecting the same toxin that had once afflicted Liu Xiucheng.
"I'll live," Liu Hanyi replied, forcing a pained smile.
"I'll remove the poison. Take this pill—it'll heal your wounds and push your cultivation further," Liu Wuxie said, handing her a Divine Nine Cauldron Pill.
He activated the Poison Dao Art, extracting the poison in the span of a single breath. Liu Hanyi's complexion instantly brightened.
Without question, she swallowed the pill. The moment it dissolved, her eyes widened. She wanted to speak, but Liu Wuxie silenced her with a glance.
"Focus on your breakthrough. Leave the rest to me," he said.
Though his supply of Divine Nine Cauldron Pills was limited, he had enough for those close to him. Each pill held the power to elevate someone straight into the Heaven Profound Realm.
Liu Hanyi's wounds rapidly healed, and her cultivation surged toward the second-level Heaven Profound Realm.
The three clan ancestors gaped in disbelief. They could tell that the pill was the reason behind her breakthrough.
To them, such a pill was a miracle.
Each of them had been stuck at the first level of the Heaven Profound Realm for decades. Even after so many years, not one of them had managed to make a breakthrough.
However, Liu Hanyi ascended with ease thanks to that one pill.
The three exchanged greedy glances.
If they could kill Liu Wuxie and take his pills, they could probably make a breakthrough themselves.
Liu Wuxie noticed the change in their expressions and sneered coldly.
He planned to kill them anyway and refine their laws to break into the eighth-level Earth Profound Realm.
Though he hadn't yet reached the Heaven Profound Realm, he stood at the peak of Earth Profound, and ordinary treasures could no longer help him advance. Only by absorbing the laws of Heaven Profound Realm cultivators could he continue on his path.
He saw no reason to slaughter others needlessly.
Since these three had challenged him, however, he decided not to hold back.
Liu Hanyi continued to push her cultivation even further. Soon, she neared the third level of the Heaven Profound Realm.
The ancestors grew desperate. Once Liu Hanyi was done with her breakthrough, she could crush them alone.
Their only chance lay in killing Liu Wuxie, seizing those pills, and making a breakthrough on the spot.
Meanwhile, the Liu Clan celebrated Liu Wuxie's return and their ancestor's breakthrough, but worry quickly replaced their joy.
Liu Hanyi couldn't fight while breaking through, which meant the battle now rested on Liu Wuxie's shoulders.
Could he truly fight three Heaven Profound Realm experts alone?
"Come at me!" Liu Wuxie bellowed, his voice ringing with defiance.
He had no time to waste. The Heavenly Dao Society still faced danger.
Once he killed these three, he would wipe out the Spirit Jade Pavilion, the Profound Cloud Sect, and the Scarlet Dragon Cult. Only then could the Liu Clan and Heavenly Dao Society secure their place in the True Martial Continent.
By then, even the two great academies would no longer be able to interfere.
"Liu Wuxie, you escaped last time, but you won't escape today!" the Liao Clan's ancestor roared and launched his palm strike.
Even during a breakthrough, Liu Hanyi was focused on the battlefield.
If Liu Wuxie showed any sign of falling, she would abandon the breakthrough and fight.
Her instincts told her that he was special—he could not die here. She had witnessed him stand alone against the three clans at Astral Glory City, protecting the Heavenly Dao Society without losing a single man.
That single act had already become a legend.
"Let the killing begin—with you three," Liu Wuxie said coldly.
After slaying Bai Wensheng and refining his laws, his strength had doubled since Eternal Spirit Mountain. He no longer feared Heaven Profound experts; only those at the second level still posed a threat to him. First-level cultivators were mere insects to him now.
Several Heaven Profound Realm cultivators floated in the skies and watched.
"Madman, were you waiting for him?" an elder beside Elder Madman asked.
They had arrived long ago and had been watching everything unfold before them. Elder Madman could have made a move, but he had chosen not to do so.
"Some things he must handle himself," Elder Madman replied. He had returned to the Central Plains earlier than Liu Wuxie, and he knew what had happened to the Liu Clan.
"You think he can beat all three?" the old man asked, doubting Elder Madman's faith.
"Let's just watch," Elder Madman said calmly. He had no intention of revealing what had happened atop Eternal Spirit Mountain. For Liu Wuxie, slaying Heaven Profound cultivators was no longer remarkable.
The Liao Clan's ancestor launched forward like a streak of lightning, traversing the sky in a heartbeat.
He struck with a palm that ripped through space, laws forming a massive cage that trapped Liu Wuxie.
Everyone in the Liu Clan looked up, their hearts pounding.
"Father... can Wuxie win?" Liu Dazhi asked, anxiety tightening his throat.
Though Liu Wuxie had rekindled their hope, this was still a battle of life and death.
They had initially agreed to conceal the situation, fearing Liu Wuxie would rush back. Even if they all ended up dying, the Liu Clan's legacy could live on through him, after all.
"Don't worry. Now that he's returned, I trust him to win," Liu Xiucheng answered, full of quiet conviction.
Liu Wuxie didn't move as the palm drew closer.
The other two ancestors remained still as well, confident that the Liao Clan's ancestor alone could kill him. The pressure collapsed the space around them. The strike tore black holes through the air like gaping maws and made the sky tremble.
"Why isn't Liu Wuxie fighting back?!" someone cried, panic rippling through the crowd.
Horror seized the crowd as they stared at the unfolding scene.
Those of the Liu Clan stood frozen in place. They watched him in silence, and their eyes were filled with unwavering belief.