Chapter 986: Chapter 954: Raising a Hand to Kill

Ding.

A crisp sound of metal snapping rang out, piercingly clear in the deathly silence.

The five of them stared over in terror, only to see that Tier Four Spiritual Artifact suddenly break apart between Lu Ping’s two fingers with a tiny motion!

Yes, it was snapped clean into two segments, like a twig being broken in half, looking as if it hadn’t taken any effort at all.

"Hiss—"

One of them couldn’t help drawing in a sharp breath. When had he ever seen such a scene? A Tier Four Flying Sword, casually pinched and snapped between two fingers.

What kind of strength... did that take?

It was simply unbelievable!

"Th-this... how is this possible?!"

Seeing his sword fail to kill Lu Ping, and instead be so effortlessly neutralized and broken in one move, the ugly man went completely dumbstruck, unable to believe his own eyes.

The middle‑aged beautiful woman and the other two also froze on the spot, feeling an overwhelming visual shock.

"Y-you you you..." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

The ugly man was the first to recover. His expression, overstimulated by terror, had already twisted; his words became incoherent. He could only extend a trembling finger and point at Lu Ping, his whole body quivering.

Seeing their expressions, Lu Ping narrowed his eyes slightly and did not speak. Instead, he directly released his own aura.

Rumble.

A peak Nascent Soul Stage aura swept out, like a raging storm, crashing down upon the four around the middle‑aged beautiful woman.

Feeling this formidable aura, utterly irresistible, the ugly man’s legs went weak. He collapsed and literally pissed himself on the ground in fright.

The other three’s eyes bulged wide.

"A N‑Nascent Soul True Monarch!!"

With this level of strength, even if they themselves were powerful, how could they possibly be opponents for a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

Even with ten times their numbers, four hundred Crystallization Stage Cultivators attacking together, they still wouldn’t be able to withstand a single move from a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

The ugly man had collapsed in terror on the ground; as for the other four, in the midst of their shock, they had not the slightest thought of lingering any longer.

Two of them hastily used an Escape Technique to flee, while the middle‑aged beautiful woman and the remaining one each mounted a Flying Sword and shot toward the distance.

Lu Ping cast a faint glance at them. His body didn’t move; with a casual wave of his hand, he sent out four streaks of magic light, each one chasing after one of the four around the middle‑aged beautiful woman.

This was the most basic Sword Light Technique, simple in form, manifesting as four snow‑white sword lights that tore through the sky at extreme speed.

"Ah..."

First came a miserable scream from the middle‑aged beautiful woman. Struck by a white sword light, her entire body was cleaved cleanly in two.

Immediately after, in the other three directions, the three fleeing Cultivators didn’t fare any better. Faced with the slashing white sword lights, they had no ability to fight back at all.

Before they could even bring out their Magical Artifacts or dodge aside, they followed in the middle‑aged beautiful woman’s footsteps and were cut down in midair.

With a casual raise of his hand, a lazy swipe, he cut down four in a row.

"Ah!" The ugly man on the ground let out a strangled cry, his face filled with sheer terror.

This battle was one they had thought they would win with ease. Who would have thought Lu Ping’s strength was hidden this deeply—a Nascent Soul True Monarch, no less.

"You..."

The ugly man stared wide‑eyed, his mind a complete mess from fear. He didn’t even know how to cast his Magic anymore.

All he knew was fear; he wanted nothing more than to turn and run right this instant, but his body refused to obey.

For a Crystallization Stage Cultivator to be scared like this was truly spineless.

Lu Ping’s expression remained calm as he looked down from on high, giving the ugly man a faint glance.

"Spare me, spare me... Don’t kill me, don’t kill me."

Being gazed down upon by Lu Ping like this, the ugly man finally managed to string together a few more words, his body trembling as he begged for his life.

Lu Ping was just about to make a move and erase this Bandit Cultivator, when two figures quickly approached from behind.

"What’s going on here?"

The woman among them spoke.

The two who appeared were precisely the Cultivators he had encountered earlier when crossing the Celestial Secret Valley.

"Likely bandits."

The man said, his gaze landing on the ugly man. Noticing the man’s distinctive face—a knife scar along the right cheek—and the black robe embroidered with black clouds, he recognized his identity.

"He’s one of the Celestial Nether Five Wanderers."

Looking again at the four corpses on the ground—three men and one woman—wearing the same black‑cloud robes, Liiu Taiheng recalled the recent rumors he’d heard about the Celestial Secret Mountain Range.

Bandit Cultivators often ran rampant within this Celestial Secret Mountain Range.

Among them, the most brazen and infamous were precisely the Celestial Nether Five Wanderers.

These five were all Loose Cultivators, each with Crystallization Stage Cultivation, who had been doing the business of murder and robbery here for five or six years, slaughtering countless Cultivators. Their hands were drenched in blood; their sins could only be described as monstrous.

"It is indeed the Celestial Nether Five Wanderers."

The other woman also spoke up.

She had long heard the name of the Celestial Nether Five Wanderers.

Recently, in the cities near the Celestial Secret Mountain Range, bounties for killing the Celestial Nether Five Wanderers had appeared, drawing the attention of many Cultivators.

They hadn’t expected to run into these five Bandit Cultivators so quickly.

Noticing the arrival of the two from the Liiu Family, Lu Ping swept them a bland glance.

The ugly man on the ground finally came back to his senses. Without another word, he hurriedly mounted a Flying Sword and tried to Escape toward the distance.

"Stop right there!"

Seeing the bandit trying to flee, Liiu Taiheng immediately shouted and was about to give chase, when Lu Ping moved first.

"Hmph."

A low snort rang out.

In the direction the ugly man was fleeing, a surge of Void Power instantly appeared, gathering into a Void Lock Chain that coiled around the ugly man like a Spiritual Snake, binding him tightly.

"Ah—"

Suddenly bound, the ugly man let out a terrified scream. He struggled to break free, only to find it completely useless; he couldn’t move an inch.

With the Xuanyuan Sword Form unleashed by Nascent Soul Power, this kind of spatial binding was something not to mention a Crystallization Stage Cultivator—even a Nascent Soul True Monarch wouldn’t be able to withstand this kind of attack from Lu Ping.

"Don’t kill me, don’t kill me, I’ll give you everything."

Feeling the gulf between his own strength and Lu Ping’s all the more clearly, the ugly man once again begged for mercy.

To the side, the two from the Liiu Family, seeing Lu Ping’s strength and sensing the Cultivation aura he released, both had looks of shock on their faces.

A Nascent Soul True Monarch!

This Level of powerhouse was one of the absolute top in Central Yunzhou, second only to an Incarnation Daoist Monarch.

And Incarnation Daoist Monarchs wouldn’t easily show themselves; they were dragon‑like existences that were seen in form but never in full.

Who would have thought that this young man, who had merely seemed poised and extraordinary before, would have his strength hidden so deeply.

Judging by age, he didn’t look much older than the two of them, yet his Cultivation was this profound.

The words their clan elders often spoke—there is always a higher sky, and beyond every person another—were truly no exaggeration at all.

To encounter such a figure here was really no small stroke of luck.

Lu Ping temporarily paid no mind to the two of them. With a thought, the Void Lock Chain in midair suddenly tightened. Under the enormous force, it tore the ugly man to pieces, ripping him into fragments.