Chapter 035: This Time It's Real

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Falling Stars!

After using the Ninefold Power-Stealing Talisman, Zashi felt his confidence surge. The might of the Yellow Tier was about to be his, and today he would finally experience the exhilaration of a soaring cultivation. “Old fools who always shield their juniors, today I’ll beat you into the ground!”

He leapt into the air, his heavy sword brimming with domineering intent, eager for battle. Gazing at the two faces drawing nearer, both showing panic and confusion, Zashi was filled with a sense of achievement, as if he had already brought them to their knees.

But wait—where was the surge he expected? Why wasn’t the feeling coming?

A chill gripped his heart. Cold sweat broke out, and a cascade of unease crashed through him.

What was destined to happen, happened.

His clash with the two old men from the Liang clan was not delayed just because the Ninefold Power-Stealing Talisman on his body failed. No, it arrived right on time.

Clang! Clang!

Still only at the peak of the Human Tier, Zashi met the full force of two Yellow Tier experts. The difference in strength was obvious—he was clearly outmatched. His heavy sword was knocked from his hands, a long arc of blood spurted from his lips, and he was sent flying backward toward Lin Zhan.

Lin Zhan hurriedly reached out to catch him, only to be sent tumbling as well, his feet plowing two deep furrows into the earth.

“What the—what just happened? Is this what ‘Falling Stars’ is supposed to look like?”

When Lin Zhan finally managed to push Zashi off him, aching all over, he could only stare blankly at the reversal of fortune.

The entire situation had flipped in an instant.

Even the two old men from the enemy camp looked as though they’d just been through a drama of joy, anger, sorrow, and delight—a whole opera in miniature.

“That cocky little brat—what grand move, what ‘Falling Stars’? He’s playing with his own life! Young people these days are so reckless and arrogant.”

After exchanging glances and confirming the state of Zashi and Lin Zhan, the two old men attacked without hesitation.

Strike while the iron is hot—this has always been the creed of cultivators.

Lin Zhan had no intention of waiting around to die. In the blink of an eye, he dragged Zashi away, determined to save their skins first and foremost.

Lin Zhan’s right hand gripped Zashi’s arm—right where that one-use Ninefold Power-Stealing Talisman was still stuck. Perhaps it had passed its expiration date and failed, but it still clung stubbornly to his skin.

At that moment, something miraculous happened. As the two of them scrambled left and right, dodging desperately, a strange change began to stir within Zashi’s arm.

The nine-star diagram in Lin Zhan’s palm began to spin, drawing on the leftover spiritual energy from the first star consumed back in the cave when they’d obtained the beast egg. Some of this energy flowed into the Ninefold Power-Stealing Talisman.

The talisman’s runes began to glow and pulse with life. Suddenly, golden characters lifted from the paper, burrowing into Zashi’s arm and vanishing without a trace.

The effect was immediate. Even as they fled in panic, Lin Zhan felt Zashi’s body suddenly tremble—a surge of unprecedented strength blossoming within him.

The blow from the talisman’s earlier failure had left Zashi silent, letting Lin Zhan drag him along blindly. Now, it was as if he had been reborn.

Under the influence of the Ninefold Power-Stealing Talisman, Zashi broke through—Yellow Tier, initial stage!

“Falling Stars!” The name of the sword technique, whose true might could only be unleashed at the Yellow Tier, burst from Zashi’s lips as he finally stopped running, summoned a heavy sword from his storage space, and turned to face their pursuers with new resolve.

The two old men, still chasing gleefully, were determined not to let the two “little rats” escape. Their attacks tore down trees and sent earth and stone flying. Every spot where Lin Zhan and Zashi had stood half a moment before was obliterated, reducing the small creatures in their path to dust—a scene to inspire terror.

Yet, despite being so close, the two old men couldn’t land a single blow, their faces growing more and more livid with frustration.

And then, inexplicably, Zashi stopped running and prepared the same so-called “grand move” once again. If the old men still believed his bluff, they would surely be fools.

In truth, they were convinced Zashi had given up all hope of escape and was simply trying one last desperate trick.

“Falling Stars, my foot! I’ll be damned if I don’t see the sun rise in the west—die, you little bastard!”

“Another bluff—watch me crush you with a single toe!”

They cursed as they advanced, their posture lax, as if this was nothing more than idle amusement.

“Let’s not finish him off too quickly this time…”

“Yes, yes, let’s take our time—make him wish he were dead…”

Hearing this, Lin Zhan shrank back, still keeping as far away as possible from the impending disaster. This time, he didn’t forget to clench his fist and lend Zashi his strength, pushing the latter’s Yellow Tier power even higher.

Of course, even as he dodged the coming storm, Lin Zhan couldn’t resist a quip: “Seniors, this time it’s real—this really is his ultimate move!”

But the old men weren’t listening. Their minds were already picturing how, after this move failed, they would make Zashi beg for death. As for Lin Zhan, they’d deal with him too, once he was caught.

What was destined to happen, happened—this time, with earthshaking force.

Transformed under the talisman’s power, Zashi seemed like a different person. Though his robes were in tatters and his body covered in wounds, an aura of transcendence shone from him, dazzling as the stars themselves.

Suddenly, that brilliance vanished in an instant, replaced by a chilling darkness, a vortex of death that drew the eye and threatened to consume all.

At the center of this darkness, Zashi slowly swung his heavy sword, almost casually, as if tracing a line through nothingness.

“Careful…” One of the old men felt the surge of Yellow Tier power from Zashi and cried out, “Damn, he really is Yellow Tier!”

“Only initial stage—nothing to fear!” the other scoffed, switching his technique and pouring more spiritual energy into his attack. “Shift mountains, fill seas…”

But no one noticed, in the split second before their weapons collided, the blade of Zashi’s heavy sword flared like leaping fire, growing tenfold in length and breadth, its power rivaling the peak of mid-Yellow Tier.

Clang! Clang!

A storm of ruthless, tyrannical energy exploded between the three of them.

Behind a boulder he’d thought was safe, Lin Zhan was blasted away, clutching the rock as he tumbled through the air. In that moment, he caught sight of Zashi, miraculously still standing, staring in shock at the heavy sword in his hand—his face a mask of disbelief.