Lu Jingshi felt a profound sense of emotion, his gaze tinged with a degree of envy for Zhang Junwei's good luck.
How come his own sect couldn't produce an Immortal Seed, especially one so young who could cultivate the Ten Thousand Soul Banner?
One glance at the banner and you knew that Su Jie was a merciless killer who regarded human life as worthless, the most suitable disciple for their Heavenly Soul Sect's nature.
However, what Lu Jingshi didn't know was that Su Jie's Ten Thousand Soul Banner, besides a portion of human souls, mainly drew on soul power from livestock, a far cry from the carnage he imagined Su Jie committing in his conquest of cities.
"The Sect Master worries too much. Once we stabilize our position in Qingzhou and attract talented disciples to join us, there will certainly be Immortal Seeds and geniuses. We won't be inferior to Ghost Ridge Palace,"
Zhao Lianshan flattered, and the other Elders quickly chimed in with their agreement.
"Indeed, once we resolve this war, we too should focus on our development for a while,"
Lu Jingshi shook his head, and while paying attention to the battlefield situation, he suddenly let out a light chuckle, "It looks like the outcome will be decided now."
Above the battlefield, Wei Ji's body plowed a deep trench several hundred meters long across the ground, shattering several huge rocks before he finally managed to stop.
At this moment, Wei Ji was far from his former grace. His once immaculate white clothing was now ragged like strips of cloth, messily hanging from his body, covered in bloodstains that nearly drained all the blood from his body.
If it wasn't for Wei Ji's extraordinary True Dragon Body and its associated life force, he would have died in the melee.
When Wei Ji, with his knees propping him up, staggerly stood, his body fractured in many places, his movements became extremely unsteady and difficult. With one unsteady move, he fell to his knees, actually kneeling in front of Su Jie.
Su Jie stood on top of the thousand-hand centipede, receiving Wei Ji's kneeling, and said with a faint smile, "Seeking mercy? The so-called Immortal Seed of Guan Chao Pavilion, the premier youth of Qingzhou, is but so-so."
Wei Ji's face was pale, whether from loss of blood or rage induced by Su Jie was unclear. His eyes were bloodshot red, overflowing with anger.
Even more enraged were the Righteous Disciples who witnessed this disheartening scene.
"Am I seeing things? Brother Wei is actually kneeling to that devil."
"It's over, Brother Wei has really lost, his backbone broken, kneeling before the devil begging for mercy."
"I'm ashamed to be associated with someone . Better to die than to surrender! It's a total disgrace to our Righteous Sect's style."
The expressions of many Righteous Sect Disciples were on the verge of collapse, with Wei Ji's defeat, and especially his kneeling and pleading, causing their morale to plummet.
"Impossible, how could Brother Wei possibly lose?"
Mo Shiyao clenched her fists tightly, unwilling to accept this fact.
"It's because the opponent is too strong, that guy is simply inhuman."
Xiao Guanglian swallowed hard, feeling a profound shock for this battle.
Yu Wenjing's emotions were complex; this was the first time he saw Wei Ji lose, and it could very likely mean death.
"Haha, I knew that kid could win."
On Ghost Ridge Palace's side, Taoist Qiu burst into hearty laughter, his voice filled with relief and pride.
"Worthy of being our sect's prodigy."
Zhang Junwei's smile was faint, Su Jie's performance exceeding his expectations.
"Just as I thought, the victor is him, he's grown even stronger."
Ning Xinyue muttered to herself. She was only at the First Level of the Secret Realm cultivation, while Su Jie had run off to the Third Level. His combat ability was so strong that it was beyond measure, and she didn't know how Su Jie cultivated.
Wei Ji's face turned from green to white as he heard the discussions of the others. He violently reached into his Storage Bag and took out a pitch-black stone fragment, intending to swallow it.
This was a fragment of a Dragon Ball, which he had acquired by chance. It was also the key to why he was able to achieve the physique of a True Dragon.
As long as he ingested the Dragon Ball fragment, he could temporarily possess the physical prowess truly comparable to that of a True Dragon. However, the consequence would be his death and the dissipation of his soul afterward—it was a mutual destruction move.
"Let's all die together."
Wei Ji's facial features twisted as he was about to swallow the Dragon Ball fragment.
But before Wei Ji's hand reached his mouth, his right hand was severed at the wrist.
Han Ruyan appeared, holding the White Bone Sky Slaying Sword in her hand, and with one swing, she chopped off his palm.
With a flick of his finger, Su Jie caught the Dragon Ball fragment in his hand.
"I was on guard against this trick of yours all along. You people always have some bizarre last-ditch methods. I've actually caught one in the act."
With a cheerful smile, Su Jie put away the Dragon Ball fragment and, holding the Red Training Flying Sword, he advanced step by step toward him, ready to personally decapitate him.
"Give it back to me. It's mine..."
Wei Ji broke down. His last life-threatening trump card had just been wasted, and he felt as if he were going mad.
As Su Jie raised the Flying Sword high and was about to behead the other party, he suddenly heard a loud shout: "How dare you, boy!"
Zhuang Liangru's roar was earth-shattering, and he could no longer restrain himself.
Responding to him was the cold and ruthless swing of Su Jie's sword.
Accompanied by a splash of fresh blood onto Su Jie's pants, he held up Wei Ji's unresigned severed head with his left hand and bellowed, "The slayer of Wei Ji is Su Jie of Ghost Ridge Palace. Who dares to challenge?"
The scene fell silent. At the Righteous Sect's side, one could hear a pin drop. Each Righteous Disciple had a numb and pained look in their eyes, some even shedding hot tears, like Mo Shiyao.
On the side of Ghost Ridge Palace, after a brief silence, there erupted cheers and roars like a tidal wave.
"Su Jie! Su Jie! Su Jie!"
This momentum was earth-shattering, like raging fire boiling oil, echoing endlessly between heaven and earth.
Familiar faces like Ning Xinyue, Xiao Fengyuan, Tang Peiqing, and Zhang Junwei, looked toward Su Jie with excitement, exhilaration, relief, and emotion. Even the usually stern Taoist Qiu's old face bloomed into a chrysanthemum-like smile.
"All troops, attack! Today we shall annihilate Ghost Ridge Palace here and now. Also, anyone who slays Su Jie will be rewarded with five million Spirit Stones."
Zhuang Liangru, who had previously wanted to intervene and rescue, was blocked by Zhang Junwei. He watched powerlessly as his prized Immortal Seed was beheaded by Su Jie. His eyes were filled with a murderous fury that could no longer be controlled, and he issued a deafening war command, putting a bounty of five million Spirit Stones on Su Jie.
"All elders and disciples of Ghost Ridge Palace heed my order, today we shall exterminate all these Righteous scum and protect our Mountain Gate heritage. If the blood of the Righteous does not flow into a river, we shall not cease."
With a grand wave of his hand that resounded like thunder, Zhang Junwei sent forth his message to all corners, making the same war response.
"Kill, kill, kill, slaughter all these Righteous scum."
"Fight, fight, fight, exterminate these Demon Cultivators and glorify our Righteous sect."
The two forces of Right and Evil clashed like opposing torrents, blood enemies meeting with particular enmity. In an instant, they charged toward each other across the entire area, with Magic Artifacts, Flying Swords, talismans, magics, Arrays, spiritual beasts, poisonous insects, Magic Boats... Countless secret techniques collided, with blood and limbs flying everywhere. The war entered its final decisive stage.