Yuan's Ascension

Chapter 636: The Final Gambit (1)

"Not good."

"Young Master!" The two peak-stage Eldritch Warrior experts following Zhu Ren also paled.

They were responsible for protecting Zhu Ren. Within the tribe's capital, given their strength and Zhu Ren's background, they usually encountered no danger, with no one daring to provoke them. But today, they had clearly run into an iron plate. [1]

"Me?" Zhu Ren was merely an early-stage Eldritch Warrior, a pampered young master who had never experienced any life-or-death battles.

Whoosh! The two peak-stage Eldritch Warriors instantly erupted with power, their bodies growing to enormous proportions as they moved to block Hou Tong's attack.

But the distance was too close. How could Hou Tong, a peak-stage Eldritch General who had been trained for years by two Eldritch Deities and a High Eldritch veteran elder, miss her target at close range?

Boom~ Boom~ The giant palm instantly split into several fleshy giant hands, two of which grabbed the two peak-stage Eldritch Warriors. They struggled and unleashed their power, but despite employing their ether arts, they couldn't move an inch.

Their expressions crumpled in horrified disbelief. Even with their peak-stage Eldritch Warrior strength, they were powerless to resist?

Boom! At the same moment, the largest palm directly passed above the crowd, grabbing Zhu Ren, as though he were just a small insect. Her fingers clamped around him, immobilizing him completely. He couldn’t even make a sound.

Splat~ The sound of someone squashing a fleshy insect echoed.

The giant palm opened, revealing weapons and armor scattered on the ground, along with an assortment of bloody body parts and flesh.

Zhu Ren was dead!

Elysian Field cultivators could regenerate from a drop of blood, thus one had to destroy all their flesh to kill them.

As for Shambhala cultivators, though they could survive having their heads or hearts pierced, their bodies were far less miraculous. As long as their souls were extinguished or their internal shambhalas shattered, they could be quickly killed.

Boom~ Boom~ The two peak-stage Eldritch Warrior Protectorates and remaining ordinary followers were sent flying out of the courtyard with massive slaps, looking no better than dead dogs.

For Hou Tong, killing Zhu Ren was enough. There was no need to take his followers’ lives.

This scene left the many tribe nobles who were here to watch the auction stunned, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.

Without a doubt, this seemingly unremarkable red-robed maidservant was actually an incredibly terrifying powerhouse.

"Quick, let's go."

"Run."

"Hurry, we must report to the Eldritch General." The followers fled the courtyard in terror, turning into several streaks of light.

Inside the courtyard, all was silent.

"Alright everyone, the troublemaker has been dealt with. Let's continue with the auction," Hou Tong said calmly, her aura returning to normal, as if she had truly just squashed an annoying bug.

But everyone stared at the pile of shredded flesh not far away, swallowing unconsciously.

Auction? How could anyone still be thinking of the auction?

These so-called tribe nobles were mostly from Eldritch Warrior families, and the majority were at the Eldritch Soldier phase, only indulging in other pursuits due to their inferior talent. They were far from the true holders of power in the tribe.

Real experts focused on cultivation. Why would they come to view the works of a so-called master sculptor? Even if they wanted to see them, they would usually just summon the artist to their residence.

The status of a master artist might be high in the eyes of ordinary eldritch race members, but to true bigshots? It wasn't worth mentioning.

"Little Tong, let them go," Wu Yuan spoke up from nearby.

"Fine then." Eldritch General Hou Tong frowned slightly, but followed his instructions, "Alright, the young master has spoken. You may leave."

"Thank you, Master Thousand Mountains."

"Thank you, Master."

"Quick, let's go." In the blink of an eye, the hundreds of people gathered in the plaza scattered and fled rapidly in all directions.

They could see that this Master Thousand Mountains had an extremely powerful background. Even his maidservant possessed formidable strength.

However, this was the Ju Hong Tribe, with Eldritch Generals in their ranks. Moreover, they were within the tribe's territory. How could ordinary experts act brazenly here?

The courtyard quickly emptied.

Whoosh! Hou Tong flew over to Wu Yuan, Eldritch Deity Hou Tu, and High Eldritch Hou Zhi. She snorted, "Not fun."

Wu Yuan and the others looked at each other, chuckling.

"Many tribes of the eldritch race seem to have grown somewhat lax again," High Eldritch Hou Zhi sighed.

"Mm. Another Eldritch-Immortal War has ended, our eldritch race achieved a great victory and has already suppressed the immortal race. Moreover, the vast majority of regions were unaffected by the great war," Eldritch Deity Hou Tu said in a low voice. "Without external threats, internal strife and hedonistic trends will naturally arise."

"All systems will gradually degenerate. This is the norm," Wu Yuan said calmly.

The three of them were part of the highest echelons of the Huanggu eldritch race. On this journey across the land, they had passed through many eldritch tribes, seeing many pampered young masters, as well as some seemingly powerful tribes that were actually already crumbling internally.

They had seen quite a bit.

Someone like Zhu Ren? He was just an unremarkable one among the many pampered young masters they had encountered, and he had only wanted to buy a maid with ethercrystal, not yet reaching the point of outright robbery.

In some eldritch tribes, only a few powerful experts and bloodline family members of the bigshots lived in abundance, while the remaining eldritch members were treated little better than slaves. There weren’t many such tribes, but they did exist.

"Our eldritch race is inherently united, passionate, and warlike, but with human nature, many things are unavoidable," High Eldritch Hou Zhi said. "The only thing we can do is to inspect and reform the system repeatedly.”

"The strong should have privileges, but these privileges should be kept within boundaries, not expanded unscrupulously," High Eldritch Hou Zhi said.

Wu Yuan and Eldritch Deity Hou Tu both nodded, clearly having reached a consensus on this matter.

"Eldritch Deity Hou Feng, when are we leaving?" Eldritch Deity Hou Tu smiled. "Our cover here has been blown, so we should move to another place, right?"

"Mm. The few of us can't sort out the entire Huanggu eldritch race on our own, but since we've come to this tribe, we might as well do a little management," Wu Yuan said with a faint smile. "Moreover, we've also run into an acquaintance, so there's no need for us to intervene personally."

"Indeed, an acquaintance."

"Let's go!"

Without much to pack up, Wu Yuan, Eldritch Deity Hou Tu, High Eldritch Hou Zhi, and Hou Tong turned into streaks of light and departed.

As for that thunder beast sculpture? It was left in its original position.

With their power, the defense array of this mid-tier tribe didn’t show the slightest disturbance as they departed.

...

As a mid-tier tribe, the Ju Hong Tribe occupied quite a large area, spanning over a hundred thousand li.

Inside a large hall, a banquet was currently underway.

"What? My Zhu Ren is dead? Someone killed him outright?" The host of this banquet was none other than Eldritch General Zhu Yan, Zhu Ren’s father. Listening to his subordinate's report, a hint of anger colored his face.

He had several sons, and Zhu Ren was just the most unremarkable among them. Thus, he didn't care much about him and didn't expect him to achieve much. But no matter how little he cared, that was still his son. Hearing that his son had been killed, a surge of fury naturally filled his heart.

"Let's go take a look. Who is this person who dares act so boldly in the tribe's capital?" Eldritch General Zhu Yan stood up, about to leave.

Hum~ A terrifying wave of pressure suddenly descended. Eldritch General Zhu Yan, who had just stood up, fell back onto his chair with a thud. A hint of terror flashed in his eyes.

What level of pressure was this?

The dozens of Eldritch Warriors at the banquet collapsed to the ground, each one overwhelmed with fear.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! In the sky above the hall, three figures appeared. The leader was an elderly man in black robes, with a man and a woman in purple robes at his side.

"Chieftain?" Eldritch General Zhu Yan looked somewhat dazedly at the middle-aged man in purple robes whose posture was similar to a manservant.

His own chieftain, acting like a servant? Then what kind of existence was this black-robed elderly man?

"Zhu Yan, you have committed a grave error. Do you understand your mistake?" The middle-aged man in purple robes glared at Eldritch General Zhu Yan, shouting sternly.

Eldritch General Zhu Yan grew even more confused, but those at his level didn’t get there without a brain.

In an instant, he vaguely understood. His son had offended a terrifying existence? Was it this black-robed elderly man, an Earth Eldritch?

Thud!

"Chieftain! I was wrong." Eldritch General Zhu Yan no longer cared about what the others present would think of him. He fell heavily to his knees, tears welling up as he cried bitterly, "It’s all my fault! I failed to educate my son properly, causing him to violate the tribe's rules. I beg the chieftain to punish me severely."

Complete silence.

The Eldritch Warriors sprawled on the ground stared at him, mouths agape. How could their mighty Eldritch General Zhu Yan act like this?

"Ju Hong, your subordinates are quite interesting. No wonder he could raise such a son," the black-robed elderly man shook his head slightly, glancing at the purple-robed man. "Your tribe still has room for improvement."

The purple-robed man's forehead glistened with sweat as he lowered his voice, "Veteran Elder, it was my oversight."

The black-robed elderly man was, in fact, an Earth Eldritch veteran elder from the high-tier eldritch tribe that the Ju Hong Tribe was affiliated with.

Eldritch General Ju Hong had previously left this high-tier eldritch tribe to establish his own tribe.

As it happened, this veteran elder was visiting the Ju Hong Tribe these past few days. He was also the acquaintance mentioned by Wu Yuan, Eldritch Deity Hou Tu, and the others.

"Enough, Ju Hong. Considering this is your first offense, and those seniors didn't pursue the matter, I'll let you off," the black-robed elderly man said nonchalantly.

"Thank you, Veteran Elder." Eldritch General Ju Hong breathed a sigh of relief.

"As for you?" The black-robed elderly man glanced at the now-silent Eldritch General Zhu Yan below. "I won't kill you, but you are to be banished to the border army for thirty thousand years."

Eldritch General Zhu Yan's face paled.

The eldritch race, scattered across the land, did maintain border armies, mostly composed of forces from Archeldritch tribes and numerous high-tier eldritch tribes. These armies patrolled the vast lands, crushing rebellions and resistance from various major races.

Normally, an Eldritch General would serve in the border army for three thousand years. Thirty thousand years?

It was worth noting that Eldritch General Zhu Yan had already lived for over ten thousand years, with less than twenty thousand years of his lifespan remaining. This sentence was tantamount to life imprisonment, unless he could break through and become an Earth Eldritch.

"Zhu Yan, aren’t you going to thank the Veteran Elder for his leniency?" the purple-robed man bellowed angrily.

"Zhu Yan thanks the Veteran Elder," Eldritch General Zhu Yan said in a low voice, his heart filled with resentment, yet not daring to show even a hint of defiance.

Defiance meant death!

1. kicking/running into an iron plate (撞到了铁板) implies encountering unexpected difficulty or opposition, often from someone or something that proves to be much tougher or more formidable than anticipated. ☜