Watching the Mountain

Chapter 323: Chapter 188: Not Fast Enough

”Prioritize your defense against the Evergreen Sword Saint, and be wary of Wuchen True Monarch. Watch out for his tricks.”

”The fight has started on the other side. Everyone, get ready. Careful now, they’re coming.”

At that moment, a series of earth-shattering tremors echoed from the distance. They knew the battle on the other side had begun.

Those three Nascent Soul Late Stage Cultivators had been operating separately from the start and were not positioned with them.

This was to be expected. Although they were all in the same Realm, the gap in power between them was simply too great. They were besieging the Profound Pure Sect from four directions; the three Nascent Soul Late Stage Cultivators were each responsible for one direction, while the twelve of them handled another.

As they spoke, Zhang Zhentian and Shen Wuchen, who had been advancing at a steady, unhurried pace, finally arrived before them.

Seeing this, the men didn’t hesitate. Following a shout from their leader, they rapidly channeled their Power of Law, unleashing the terrifying might of their Divine Magical Treasure and causing the very heavens to pale.

They had originally focused all their attention on Zhang Zhentian, their killing intent boundless. They had no intention of testing the waters, planning to unleash their strongest attacks from the very start.

However, just as they were about to strike, Shen Wuchen’s figure suddenly appeared before them.

The instant they saw Shen Wuchen, their momentum suddenly faltered, and a thought surfaced in their minds:

’Oh, it’s just Wuchen True Monarch. If it’s him, there’s no need to use our full strength. A single Divine Technique might obliterate him, leaving not even ash behind. We need to save our energy for the Evergreen Sword Saint.’

’He’s just Wuchen True Monarch. I can destroy someone like him with a wave of my hand. There’s no need to go all-out. If word got out that I used my full power against Wuchen True Monarch, I’d be too ashamed to ever show my face again.’

’A mere Wuchen True Monarch? Why waste my energy? I have my pride. So what if I just stand here and let him hit me three times?’

’Wuchen True Monarch is nothing but a disgrace to the Nascent Soul Realm. Watch me make a fool of him today and spread my fame far and wide.’

’Wuchen True Monarch! Hahaha, excellent! This is perfect! My time to become famous has arrived!’ ℴℴ𝘮

All sorts of similar thoughts arose in each of their minds. As these ideas surfaced, the attacks they were preparing faltered, and the power they had been charging was instantly withdrawn.

Of course, their reactions were also swift. The moment they sensed something was amiss, they snapped back to their senses, exclaiming inwardly, ’This is bad! Why would a thought like that even cross my mind?’

But by the time they realized their error, it was already too late.

Zhang Zhentian and Shen Wuchen had only fought cooperatively once before, but prior to that, they had sparred against each other three thousand times over three years.

At the time, Zhang Zhentian had lost to Qin Yufeng. To help him regain his fighting spirit, Shen Wuchen had deliberately lost to him nearly ten times a day.

It could be said that they were the two people in the world who knew each other best, with the most seamless rapport imaginable.

The instant Shen Wuchen activated his Mental Realm, Zhang Zhentian moved.

Still as a silent abyss, he moved like a crack of thunder.

He took a single step, and the space beneath his feet seemed to warp.

There was no earth-shattering display of power, only a deathly stillness that instantly spread out, so oppressive the very air seemed to solidify.

The hearts of the twelve Nascent Soul True Monarchs felt as if they had been viciously seized by an invisible hand.

The sword in his hand was simple and unadorned, yet at this moment, it seemed to have become the very boundary between life and death.

The blade was shrouded in a hazy, gray halo. As the light swirled, fleeting illusions of withering life and bones turning to dust flickered into existence, only to be followed by the sense of faint new life struggling to sprout.

The pupils of the gray-robed Cultivator targeted by Zhang Zhentian shrank. ’Not good!’ he cried out inwardly. The chilling aura of death that enveloped him instantly broke him free from Shen Wuchen’s Mental Realm.

But it was already too late.

A flash of sword light erupted.

Zhang Zhentian’s figure flashed past.

It was not a matter of speed; it was simply inescapable.

Wherever the edge of the blade pointed, the space around the gray-robed Cultivator instantly grew viscous and began to decay.

His vaunted Protective Spirit Light was like lingering snow under a scorching sun; it sizzled and silently melted away.

He tried to move, but his Divine Soul felt as though it were frozen in primordial ice. He didn’t even have time to register fear.

PFFT. With a soft sound, like a leaf being crushed, a gray line silently appeared on the gray-robed Cultivator’s body, running from the center of his forehead down to his groin.

The next moment, his entire being, along with the Magical Treasures on his person, crumbled like a sand sculpture weathered for ten million years, collapsing into a pile of grayish-white powder.

Not even his Nascent Soul managed to escape; it too was reduced to silent dust.

In the final moment before his death, only a single thought remained in his mind:

’Why... Why did I just have that thought? That wasn’t my thought.’

The terrifying phenomenon that accompanied the death of a Nascent Soul Cultivator instantly jolted the other cultivators present to their senses.

Many looked in horror at their fallen companion. They had been influenced by Shen Wuchen’s Mental Realm, and had just been wondering why they had felt so strange, possessed by thoughts completely alien to their normal selves.

They never imagined that in the blink of an eye, one of their companions would already be dead.

As Nascent Soul Cultivators, their reactions were extremely fast. One of them roared:

”Something’s wrong with our minds! Spread out, now!”

But as fast as they were, Zhang Zhentian was faster. After felling one man, he flicked his wrist, his sword’s momentum unabated.

The gray light on his blade’s edge suddenly transformed. A violent, chaotic burst of the Power of Reverse Reincarnation—which forcibly stimulated life—erupted and swept viciously to the side.

The bizarre and tyrannical Law of Life and Death Reincarnation, a power that could directly strip away life, reverse vitality, and toy with one’s very lifespan, poured forth from him.

The sword light flashed. In just half a breath’s time, one man was dead, another was gravely injured and near death, and a third’s cultivation foundation was shaken.

Zhang Zhentian watched the enemies scatter, a trace of regret flashing in his eyes.

He was not entirely satisfied with the outcome. Their reactions had been a little faster than he had anticipated. ’But they are Nascent Soul True Monarchs, after all,’ he thought. ’This is normal.’

He sighed to himself, then turned his gaze to Shen Wuchen.

Shen Wuchen gave a slight nod, and his figure instantly appeared at Zhang Zhentian’s side, standing firm with him in the air.

The surrounding Nascent Soul Cultivators stared at the two figures, and one of them suddenly cried out in alarm:

”Watch out for Wuchen True Monarch! He must be responsible for that bizarre mental state we were in!”

The battle began anew, but the more the men fought, the more their hearts filled with shock and terror.

Every time they gathered their full strength to attack, the image of Shen Wuchen would suddenly surface in their minds, causing them to pull back their power. In that same instant, they would realize something was wrong and snap out of it, just barely mustering enough force to defend against Zhang Zhentian’s assault.

The greatest difference between Shen Wuchen’s Mental Realm and an ordinary one was its silence. It carried no hostile intent, making the thoughts it induced feel as if they had arisen naturally, which in turn made it impossible to defend against.

It was not a Law, yet it was more effective than one.

Even when they became aware of the issue, there was still a fleeting moment of daze. For most, that brief instant would be difficult to exploit, but when paired with a teammate like Zhang Zhentian, who possessed both explosive speed and power, it was utterly fatal.

Forced to defend in a hurry, their strength was naturally insufficient. Faced with Zhang Zhentian’s tyrannical Power of the Law of Life and Death Reincarnation, they were wounded instantly.

After some time, another two men had fallen.

”How can this be? How can a mere Mental Realm possibly affect us Nascent Soul Cultivators?”

”What in the world is going on? Why do I automatically let my guard down whenever I see Wuchen True Monarch, thinking he can be swatted away like a fly? This isn’t right. It’s not right at all!”

”No... there’s something strange about Wuchen True Monarch.”

One of them, mentally exhausted and terrified, even screamed, ”It’s a Demon Technique! Wuchen True Monarch is using a Demon Technique!”

”Let’s get out of here!”

Unable to break through after a prolonged assault, they scattered in a chaotic retreat.

Only Zhang Zhentian and Shen Wuchen remained on the battlefield, standing back-to-back as they surveyed the area.

”Junior Brother Shen, are you all right?” Zhang Zhentian asked, panting slightly.

Shen Wuchen’s expression was aloof, his tone indifferent. ”I’m fine.”

He had personally witnessed Zhang Zhentian’s terrifying Power of the Law of Life and Death Reincarnation and his fearsome combat instincts. Even when facing so many enemies, Zhang Zhentian had still been able to attack while ensuring his complete protection.

This level of combat prowess made him unconsciously clench his fists as a thought flashed through his mind:

’My cultivation speed is still not fast enough.’