To protect Ye Ling's body, the Avatar controlling him didn't dare use too much strength.
Otherwise, the enemy might not even be dead yet before Ye Ling was worked to death by her.
Even so, the pain flooding in from his body was still unbearable for Ye Ling.
Force went both ways. However brutally "Qin Rushui" was beaten, Ye Ling felt it too. Still, with the Avatar shielding him, he didn't have to take the full brunt of what "Qin Rushui" suffered.
And even if it hurt worse than it did for "Qin Rushui," at least he wasn't the one who had to be smashed into the ground. So he could endure it.
If putting up with this much pain could save Tie Chunsheng and the others, then it was more than worth it.
Right now, his body was completely under the Avatar's control. It felt like he'd become a character being controlled by players.
It was a strange, novel sensation, but he swore he only wanted to experience it once.
If he weren't so weak right now, he wouldn't need this at all.
Next time he ran into an enemy, he was going to rely on his own strength and kick their butt properly.
But he only had time for that thought before things changed again.
"Ha, hahaha… how long has it been?"
The dust on the ground, stirred up by the earthquake and still not fully settled, carried an outrageously arrogant voice.
Even after getting beaten this badly, "Qin Rushui" showed no fear at all.
"Other than that woman who only knows how to ambush people, no one's ever beaten me this hard, kid… no. You bastard, you are…"
"Qin Rushui" raised a finger and pointed at Ye Ling. A peerless pressure surged forward, punching straight through the dust. A circular hollow opened in the air between them.
"The first!"
An aura as terrifying as a demonic god descending poured out of him. In the night sky, patches of dark clouds flickered with thunder, and eerie laughter echoed everywhere like something from a horror tale.
Around him, it was as if the outline of a thousand-handed, thousand-eyed demonic pillar could be seen. A twisted, sinister presence spilled from his body without pause, like a fountain that never ran dry.
"Oh. Are you done?"
Up in the sky, "Ye Ling" only yawned, utterly bored.
The Avatar had long since lost interest in this sort of show. Back when her true body was still in the Lower Realm, she had seen scenes like this too many times. She was numb to them now.
So many people who appeared before her loved dramatic entrances. Some even provided their own running commentary, as if afraid she might miss how impressive they were.
Then, just as she'd brace herself for a satisfying fight, they would collapse in an instant.
The ones who stayed silent, on the other hand, could usually trade a few more moves with her, even if they still ended up smashed into a wall in the end.
The only real exception, the one who had actually let her fight to her heart's content, was the Immortal the Immortal Realm sent to take her away after she first Severed the Heavenly Ladder.
That Immortal was ordinary, but because she had spent a great deal of strength severing the Heavenly Ladder, the fight lasted a rare half an hour. To this day, that Immortal could brag about it for ten lifetimes and still not run out of breath.
So a lightweight like "Qin Rushui" could not possibly interest her.
"Finished clowning around?"
"Clowning around?"
"Qin Rushui" felt humiliated. His aura swelled again.
He had already been using full strength, yet under the surge of rage, he actually erupted with one hundred twenty percent of his power.
He was determined to tear "Ye Ling" apart, to tear him…
Huh?
Why… why am I flying?
Before "Qin Rushui" could even react, he realized his body was moving through the air on its own, completely out of his control.
Then came pain so intense it nearly knocked him unconscious.
Every blow struck his weakest points, each one saturated with killing intent.
No… this can't go on… if it keeps going… I will… I will die!
With death closing in, "Qin Rushui" forced out another burst of potential.
One hundred fifty percent!
Not enough?
Two hundred percent!
Still not enough?
Then you forced my hand!
Murderous light flared in "Qin Rushui's" eyes. If death was coming for him, then even if he died, he would drag his opponent down to hell with him.
"Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique… open!"
Gathering every last thread of True Essence in his body, "Qin Rushui" relied on sheer, iron will to activate this forbidden move.
In the next instant, even more violent Baleful Qi burst from him. This was the result of forcibly disintegrating his own Cultivation Level.
Now his strength skyrocketed again.
One thousand percent.
This time… this time it had to be enough.
He refused to believe that such terrifying power still couldn't stop the other side's assault.
At this moment, even if he faced Immortals, he wouldn't flinch.
With a casual motion, he could tear space apart. The laws of the Lower Realm could no longer contain him.
But then...
Bang!
"Ye Ling" slapped "Qin Rushui" across the face, sending him flying.
"Why are you trying to look cool?"
After that, "Ye Ling" went right after him again.
There was no helping it. The Avatar could fight without fear, but Ye Ling's body was incredibly fragile. In a Great Ascension Stage battle, without the Avatar protecting him, he would not last even half a second.
So he had needed a brief pause to recover, which was what gave "Qin Rushui" the opening to use his big move.
Even so, no matter what "Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique" he pulled out, it was still nothing in front of the Avatar's sheer power.
In truth, the Jade Pendant's purpose was simply to give the Avatar a place to stay.
The Lower Realm was too fragile. If she remained there for too long, the laws of the Lower Realm would reject her and eventually send her to the Immortal Realm. That was the basic principle behind how Great Ascension Stage cultivators ascend.
That was why an Avatar housed in a Jade Pendant could only appear in the Lower Realm for five minutes. If she stayed longer, she would have to sever the Heavenly Path.
Severing the Heavenly Path was easy enough for her, but doing it too many times would throw the laws of heaven and earth into chaos, making it far harder for cultivators after her to ascend.
So if she wanted to act right now, the only way was by controlling Ye Ling's body.
"No… impossible…"
After using the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique, "Qin Rushui" was not completely unchanged. At the very least, he had gone from being unable to speak to being able to force out words, and his mind was clearer than before.
But...
He would rather not have that clarity.
Earlier, the intensity of the fight had let him ignore the pain.
Now, with his strength boosted and his thoughts sharper, he could feel it instead. Pain that sank straight into the bone.
The Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden was very good at beating people.
No mystery to it. Just experience.
So the Avatar, carrying the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden's memories and manipulating Ye Ling's body, aimed straight for "Qin Rushui's" weak points and vital areas.
A ruthless kick to the groin!
A ruthless kick to the groin!
A ruthless kick to the groin!
Each strike hit with brutal precision. Ye Ling hurt even more than before, the kind of pain that crawled into your mind and made you flinch just thinking about it.
And the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden also knew that physical pain alone was not enough. You needed to crush the spirit too.
So then came:
A foot to the face!
A kick to the butt!
Slap after slap!
The combination of pain and humiliation made "Qin Rushui" feel worse than dead. For a split second, he even wanted to just die and be done with it.
But he pulled himself together immediately. If he was going to die, he would drag Ye Ling with him.
Then "Ye Ling" spoke, and it got even worse.
"Aren't you impressive?"
"Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique?"
"That's it? That's all? That's it?"
"Wait… Heavenly Demon Sect? Why does that sound familiar?"
"Oh, right… that shameless demonic sect."
"Didn't I crush them to death with one finger? And they still crawled back out."
"Demonic sects really are like cockroaches. No matter how you kill them, they never go extinct."
At first the Avatar did not react, because her true body had made far too many enemies. There was no way she could remember them all.
But the Heavenly Demon Sect was an exception.
They were one of the rare sects that had actively gone out of their way to provoke her. That alone had left her with a faint impression. Otherwise, she would not have even known who they were.
And now she finally put it together. She asked,
"Come to think of it, you didn't come because of this kid, did you?"
"Ye Ling" stopped pursuing him, an odd look on his face.
"!!!!!!"
"Qin Rushui" had already been suffocating with frustration. Now he felt even more choked up.
"You… you're that woman!"
He had devoured Qin Rushui. In a sense, that made him Qin Rushui as well. So he knew Qin Rushui's original plan, and he understood exactly why the Heavenly Demon Sect had fallen here.
"Looks like I guessed right."
"Ye Ling" rubbed his chin, murmuring to himself,
"If that's the case, then I should probably compensate the people here a little."
Cultivation followed the cycle of heaven and earth. Since this disaster had been drawn here by the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden, she had to clean up the aftermath.
Even if this was also Tianqiong City's own calamity, everything had a primary cause. And she was that cause, so she owed them something in return.
"There's a place near Heavenly Peak, I think. Let them relocate there."
After thinking it over, "Ye Ling" opened his left hand, then clenched his right as if sealing the decision.
With Heavenly Peak nearby, the Heavenly Gate Sect could also keep an eye on them and offer some protection.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
"Qin Rushui" felt ignored again. The way the other side spoke and acted made it clear he was not being taken seriously at all.
But...
What could he do about it?
All at once, he remembered a thousand years ago, back when he had still been an ordinary mortal.
He had looked up at cultivators flying through the sky, and his eyes had been filled with the same envy, jealousy, and hatred.
Those people were born with heavenly talent. Of course they were stronger. Of course their lives were brighter and richer than his.
He had been bitter, painfully bitter.
He wanted that life too.
So he had sacrificed his entire family, including the wife he had married into his home and his newborn son, all for a chance to become a cultivator who stood above others. Even if it meant becoming a demonic cultivator.
He had paid that price, and now he was on the road to ascending to the Demon Realm.
So why... why did he still have to run into something this unreasonable?
He hated it. He hated this whole world.
I did nothing wrong!
The one at fault is this world that never gave me talent in the first place!