Volume 7, Chapter 452 – Immortal Might Descends, the Destruction of Shuiyu Valley (Part 5)

The overwhelming pressure blanketed the heavens and the earth, centered on Shuiyu Valley, suppressing all living creatures within a fifty-mile radius. Whether birds, beasts, flowers, or fish, every living thing was immobilized as if trapped in deep mud, each movement requiring every ounce of their strength.

Of course, this only applied to the areas outside Shuiyu Valley. As for the intensity of the pressure within the valley, no one knew. Most had already fled, but that was the extent of their luck.

“Help! I don’t want to die!”

“Heavens! What have we done to deserve such punishment?”

“God, please, spare my child! She’s only five years old!”

Those who had been slow to escape had not gotten far and thus bore the brunt of the pressure. Desperate cries for salvation filled the air, but everywhere they looked, they saw only others wailing in the same despair. In that moment, terror shattered their hearts, leaving them with nothing but the instinct to shield those beside them. Men protecting women, women shielding the elderly and children.

The cultivators of Shuiyu Valley fared slightly better. Sensing the dire situation, most abandoned the mortals and fled for their lives, having already gone above and beyond their duty.

Yet, among them were kind-hearted disciples who refused to leave the ordinary people behind, choosing instead to stay.

But this resistance did not last long. The heavenly pressure never ceased its relentless escalation. Within another quarter-hour, the elderly and children collapsed first, unable to endure. Then the women fell, followed by the men, and finally, even the cultivators. The mountains and forests were littered with bodies, some sprawled, others curled, unable to scream, unable to even twitch a finger. The only movement left to them was the contortion of their tear-streaked faces, eyes brimming with anguish and defiance. They did not know what sin they had committed to suffer such calamity.

Meanwhile, Wen Yunmei and her daughter had reached the outermost edges of the immortal pressure and soon encountered the fleeing survivors.

“Elder Zhao, what is the situation?”

Wen Yunmei urgently intercepted Elder Zhao for answers.

This Elder Zhao was none other than Zhao Li, the same woman who had once escorted Mu Ruoyi to the Yuxiao Sect in search of the Nine Nether Demon Cats. Having repeatedly transported mortals to safety, her divine sense was severely depleted, leaving her face deathly pale.

“Valley Master, don’t go any further! The immortal might has already been unleashed!”

Zhao Li’s eyes were red-rimmed as she pleaded.

Mu Ruoyi stood frozen. She had been agonizing over whether to erase Cheng Hongling’s name, but the Lü Clan had robbed her of the choice.

“What of the disciples still in the valley? And the ordinary people?”

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Wen Yunmei pressed urgently.

“I don’t know. Everyone fled in all directions. Judging by the timing, most disciples should have escaped, but the mortals… I’m sorry. I did everything I could.”

Zhao Li’s voice broke. After all, mortals lacked the speed of cultivators. Covering fifty or sixty miles in half an hour was impossible unless they rode horses.

“This is all my fault! All my fault!”

Mu Ruoyi’s tears fell like broken pearls. Shuiyu Valley was home to hundreds of thousands of ordinary people.

“You go with Elder Zhao first!”

Wen Yunmei ordered her daughter before immediately flying back toward Shuiyu Valley.

Without hesitation, Mu Ruoyi followed.

“Valley Master! The immortal might has already descended, don’t go!”

Elder Zhou shouted after them. Seeing that her pleas fell on deaf ears, she gritted her teeth and followed.

The three of them flew toward the valley, the immortal pressure growing ever more oppressive. Soon, Mu Ruoyi, being the weakest, could no longer endure and plummeted from the sky. Wen Yunmei and Zhao Li, however, pressed forward fearlessly, scooping up immobilized mortals and disciples into their spatial rings. But as the pressure intensified, even they could no longer fly, forced instead to stagger forward on foot.

By now, the immortal might had grown even more terrifying. The surrounding vegetation was the first to succumb—branches snapping, small creatures bursting apart. Humans and larger animals fared no better, their bones emitting crisp cracks under the immense pressure.

“Valley Master, we can’t go any further! We still have so many people in our rings!”

Zhao Li, sensing the danger, desperately urged retreat.

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Wen Yunmei hesitated, her steps slowing. But when she tried to quicken her pace again, she found it impossible. The immortal pressure was escalating too rapidly. Even as a late-stage Incarnation Realm cultivator, she now felt as though Mount Tai itself was crushing her.

“Valley Master! We must leave!”

Zhao Li grabbed Wen Yunmei, and the two struggled back, soon reuniting with Mu Ruoyi.

Crack! Crack!

Under the horrifying pressure, even the bare tree trunks around them shattered. The bodies of mortals and animals burst like overripe melons, painting the earth in gruesome crimson. Blood mist hung thick in the air, carried by the howling winds.

And still, the immortal might intensified. The very earth itself began to fracture, soil and stones crumbling apart.

Wen Yunmei, her daughter, and Zhao Li could no longer advance. Their bones groaned under the strain, every inch of their flesh screaming in agony. Blood seeped from their eyes, ears, and noses.

In a desperate move, Wen Yunmei mustered the last of her divine sense and shoved both her daughter and Zhao Li into her spatial ring.

The ring, now unsupported, clattered to the ground. Though it offered some protection, the pressure within was still immense.

Not stopping there, Wen Yunmei retrieved another ring, transferring everyone into it, a double-layered refuge.

Outside, the immortal might had reached apocalyptic levels. Space itself twisted under the pressure, the distortions slicing through everything in their path like an unstoppable blade.

Crack!

The outer ring was struck, shattering instantly and exposing the inner one.

This nightmare lasted another quarter-hour before finally ceasing. Though the inner ring had not been directly hit by the spatial distortions, it too eventually gave way, spilling its occupants onto the ravaged earth.

“Gah—!”

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Zhao Li vomited a mouthful of blood, injuries sustained before entering the ring.

Mu Ruoyi had long since lost consciousness. As a mere first-stage Incarnation Realm cultivator, her resistance had been the weakest.

The only solace was that the mortals and disciples within the rings remained unharmed.

Wen Yunmei’s face was ashen as she surveyed the devastation. The sun blazed mercilessly upon a barren wasteland. Every tree, every hill, every trace of life had been erased. Not a single corpse remained, not even a rock larger than a thumb. The mountains had been flattened into nothingness.

“This… this is the immortal might?”

Zhao Li stammered in disbelief.

Wen Yunmei’s legs gave out, and she collapsed to her knees. She knew that after such an annihilating strike, fewer than thirty percent of Shuiyu Valley’s inhabitants could have survived. Millennia of heritage had been wiped out in an instant.

“I’ve failed you all…”

She shut her eyes in anguish, tears streaming down her face.

Far away in Yongning Prefecture, Qi Huang knew nothing of the catastrophe. She frantically tried to reach Mu Ruoyi via the Thousand-Mile Communication Tube, but it was not until nightfall that she finally received a response.

“Shuiyu Valley… is gone.”

Mu Ruoyi’s voice was choked with sobs.

“What happened? Tell me everything!”

Qi Huang’s instincts screamed danger.

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“W-we… the entire valley and fifty-mile radius… turned to ashes. Half the elders and disciples are dead or injured. Eighty percent of the mortals… didn’t make it out.”

Mu Ruoyi could barely speak through her weeping.

“W-what?!”

Qi Huang’s vision darkened. The communication tube slipped from her fingers and clattered to the ground.

“Qi Huang? Are you still there?”

Mu Ruoyi’s frantic voice called out from the tube.

“This… is because of me. All of it… because of me!”

Qi Huang’s hands trembled as overwhelming guilt crashed over her. She knew she had indirectly caused this massacre. Tears spilled freely.

“No, no! It’s my fault. If we hadn’t insisted on engraving Hongling’s name on my grandmother’s tombstone, none of this would have happened.”

Mu Ruoyi, ever rational, shouldered the blame. After all, it had been her and her mother who pressured Cheng Hongling and Qi Huang into the marriage alliance.

“H-how are you all holding up?”

Qi Huang wiped her nose, her eyes bloodshot. Tens of thousands of innocent lives, gone.

“We have no home now. We’ve taken shelter in a small town for the time being.”

Mu Ruoyi’s voice was hollow with grief.

“If you’re willing… come to the Honghua Sect. I swear to you, blood will be repaid with blood. The Lü Clan will pay for what they’ve done.”

Qi Huang’s words were a vow, each syllable dripping with cold fury.