Chapter 173: Chapter 173: Cursed
Qin Zi watched the scene unfold, his eyes filled with emotion.
He had been captured by the Weak Water Heavenly River, but his father had destroyed it with a single sword strike, pinning Elder Lijiang to the stone wall.
This was his father avenging him!
Suddenly, Qin Zi's pupils shrank in horror. He wanted to warn his father but could only manage muffled "mmm mmm" sounds due to the vine gag.
Whoosh!
A sharp sound of wind tearing through the air approached. Qin Chuan felt a tremendous pressure above his head, as if a star was crashing down on him.
Without time to look up, he instinctively raised his right hand to block the massive force descending upon him.
"Boom—"
The sky trembled violently, and a colossal shockwave spread outward from his raised hand, sweeping across thousands of miles, splitting the heavens and the earth!
Qin Chuan's body was pressed downward inch by inch, the air around him distorting, seemingly collapsing under the pressure.
"Break!"
With a roar, the fingers of his right hand tightened. Crimson cracks, like molten lava, spread from his palm, rapidly covering the massive object above him, shattering it into pieces.
"Bang!"
Through the falling debris, Qin Chuan saw the Praying Star Holy Master standing high in the heavens, his right hand raised, supporting an illusory sky filled with stars. One by one, the stars flickered, as if they were becoming real.
"No matter who you are, the Praying Star Holy Land is not a place where you can act recklessly!" the Holy Master declared coldly.
With a wave of his hand, giant stars, each the size of a small mountain, began to fall toward Qin Chuan.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The stars were blazing hot, igniting fiery ripples as they descended like meteors through the atmosphere, their terrifying power causing the ground to tremble.
"Oh my god, we're doomed!"
"Run! It's a wide-range attack!"
"There's no time to escape!!"
On the ground, the elders Qin Chuan had subdued earlier, who had been playing dead, sprang up in terror, scrambling in all directions.
But Qin Chuan only smiled disdainfully. "I've been playing with ants like you to give him time, and this is what you show me? I have to say... it's disappointing!"
Whoosh!
In the next moment, Qin Chuan raised both hands, and a massive black sword materialized in his grip. A blinding sword light surged into the sky, piercing the heavens like a towering pillar that reached from earth to the sky.
In that instant, he seemed to transform into a Martial Emperor, embodying an invincible will and indomitable spirit, all contained within that single sword strike.
"What?!"
The Praying Star Holy Master's eyes filled with horror, his face turning pale. He let out a desperate scream, "Impossible!!!"
Just moments ago, he had sneered, thinking this man was foolish for wasting time with weaker opponents, giving him the chance to charge up his power.
But as the terrifying power of the sword enveloped him, he suddenly realized the truth—his opponent had intentionally given him time. He had allowed him to feel confident, to believe victory was assured, only to shatter his pride and plunge him into despair with overwhelming strength.
"Run!"
The Holy Master made a split-second decision to flee. However, the sword's aura had already locked onto him, making it feel as though there was no escape, no matter where he turned.
"Slash—"
The sword descended like a divine blade from the heavens, sweeping across the sky, as though it could slice through the stars themselves.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The massive light column passed through, and all the falling stars exploded one by one, like firecrackers popping in the air.
In the end, the sword cleaved through the starry sky like a mountain crashing down upon the Praying Star Holy Master.
"Immortal Emperor Body!"
The Holy Master screamed, his body radiating brilliant golden light. Laws of creation intertwined around him, forming a dazzling, multicolored shield.
But, as everyone knew, when the protagonist makes a move, the villain's defenses are nothing more than paper.
"Boom!"
With a deafening crash, the shield shattered like fragile glass, and in the Holy Master's final terrified scream, the giant sword swept through him.
"Pfft!"
The sword was so massive that its blade was thicker than the Holy Master's body. It couldn't slice him in two, so what was left was nothing more than a mist of blood, swirling in the air.
With a single strike, the emperor fell!
As the sword passed, its afterimage split the heavens, and stars continued to explode one by one. Amidst the chaos, the blood mist stood out starkly.
The world fell silent.
"Hiss—"
"Hiss hiss—"
"Hiss hiss hiss—"
The elders, who had been pretending to be dead, gasped in shock, each louder than the last, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
The Praying Star Holy Master was dead!
The once high and mighty Realm Emperor, ruler of this vast territory for thousands of years, was gone just like that?
Many of them had wished for his death, but now that it had actually happened, it felt surreal.
"Crack... crack..."
With the Holy Master's fall, the statues forming the locking array began to crack, collapsing into rubble, and the formation dissolved.
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances.
They wanted to flee.
But after a moment's contemplation, they...
"Thump, thump, thump!"
"Please, senior, spare us!!"
These old monsters, who had lived for centuries or millennia, knelt without any dignity, kowtowing to Qin Chuan.
"You may go," Qin Chuan said calmly, waving them away.
He had no intention of killing them. After all, they had been acting under orders and had no personal grudge against him. Otherwise, his earlier moves would have wiped them out, leaving no chance for them to feign death.
"Thank you, senior! Thank you!"
"We will never forget your mercy!"
They hurriedly expressed their gratitude, overjoyed to have survived.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a scream echoed.
It was White Qingtian.
Black mist poured from his body, and he rapidly withered. Black and white runes seeped from his skin, gathering into a symbol that blossomed into a cursed flower.
"It's the Ma Po Curse!"
An elder cried out, and everyone instinctively backed away, fear etched on their faces.
"What is the Ma Po Curse?" Qin Chuan frowned.
"In this region, there's a mysterious forbidden area called Ma Po Cave. It holds countless opportunities, and those who enter often leave with great rewards. But some unlucky souls... they return with a curse. Maybe it's because they've done too many wicked deeds, like White Qingtian here," explained an elder dressed in green.
Unlucky?
Qin Chuan glanced at White Qingtian's body, his expression twitching slightly—Is this why you're only worth 1 point in my system?
When Qin Zi had humiliated White Qingtian earlier, Qin Chuan had assumed someone of his stature and prestige would at least earn him five or six points of "parental face value."
But in the end... only one point!
Do you know what one point means?
It's exactly equal to Lu Chong's worth!!
Trash!
That left him with only 9.6 points in total.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, the cursed flower bloomed with pitch-black flames, transforming into a streak of black light that shot toward Qin Chuan.
Instantly, he felt an overwhelming sense of danger. He quickly activated a protective barrier with his laws, hoping to block it.
"Buzz!"
However, the black light seemed to be intangible and passed through the barrier, entering his body.
"This..."
Everyone was stunned.
Especially the elder in green, whose smile froze on his face. Swallowing nervously, he stammered, "Senior... actually, this curse is very picky. Being chosen by it means you are an extraordinary genius, one in a billion..."