Chapter 220

"Ridiculous! Fool’s fantasy!"

Bai Songran forced out words through gritted teeth.

His eyes locked onto Shen Yue, jaw grinding audibly.

He refused to accept the overwhelming gap between them.

Losing beneath Green Mountain would’ve been acceptable.

But now, Shen Yue aimed to defeat him without even using Green Mountain’s power!

Unthinkable!

He was an acknowledged near-prodigy!

Did they take him for some common weakling?

Bai Songran roared with bulging eyes: "Black Wind Ends the World! Haaah!"

Whoosh!

Swinging his raised arms wildly, violent black winds swirled around him. Within moments, a fifty-foot black tornado tore through the earth.

The expanding tornado shredded everything within thirty yards, leaving only barren ground.

Mere outer winds could kill ordinary full-level cultivators instantly.

Yet Shen Yue stood firm against the gales, paintbrush steady in hand, only his robes flapping wildly.

"Not bad."

After genuine praise, Shen Yue materialized a square seal in his palm.

"Would rank fifth… among Tiger-Chasing techniques."

He stamped the seal onto his Galaxy Descends painting.

Poof!

The artwork dissolved like mist.

A shimmering river of stars cascaded from the heavens, dousing the black tornado.

Within seconds, Bai Songran’s ultimate technique crumbled to nothingness.

When winds cleared, the black-robed youth sat hollow-eyed on bare earth.

Sealing Green Mountain’s power was supposed to give him a fighting chance.

Now seeing his proudest efforts erased by casual brushstrokes, he understood his delusion.

Near-prodigy. Never true prodigy.

That hairline difference was actually an impassable abyss.

Finally he grasped Shen Yue’s meaning.

The undefeated entity wasn’t Green Mountain.

It had always been Shen Yue himself.

Bai Songran raised his eyes filled with resentment, watching the starry river approach as a thought flashed through his mind: "Maybe dying here wouldn’t be so bad."

To perish beneath a true genius’s hand seemed preferable to living forever in their shadow.

Yet when the celestial stream reached him, raw survival instinct surged through his veins. He activated the Life-saving Method his sect had prepared.

Whoosh.

A curtain of true essence materialized three inches above his head, blocking Shen Yue’s starry onslaught.

Shen Yue dismissed his technique with a wave. "Well?"

Bai Songran rose unsteadily, his damaged resolve requiring unknown time to reform. His fists clenched then relaxed after a shuddering breath. "Now I understand what true invincibility means."

"I withdraw from this conflict. Do as you will, Brother Shen."

He turned to leave. Shen Yue made no move to stop him – with Green Mountain sealed, the true essence barrier couldn’t be breached.

Three figures suddenly arrived.

"Senior Brother Bai! Help!"

The lead runner was the Huoliao Temple disciple who’d pursued Zi He earlier. Though armed with spiritual treasures, he’d struggled until Yang Lingrui – supposed to be dead by Luo Zhuli’s hand – appeared unexpectedly.

Battered and bleeding, the disciple barely escaped their pincer attack.

Bai Songran glanced sideways but remained still, having declared neutrality. Then his dull eyes ignited upon recognizing one pursuer.

"Yellow Wind Ghost!"

Yang Lingrui’s gaze locked onto Bai Songran simultaneously. Fate’s current surged between them, awakening primal energies within both cultivators.

"Steal his path!"

"Steal his path!"

The shared thought sparked action. Bai Songran abandoned departure, unleashing black wind against Yang Lingrui. Yellow wind answered.

Two cultivation levels separated them – direct confrontation doomed Yang Lingrui.

"Here!"

Zi He flung golden light that crystallized into armor around Yang Lingrui.

On the other side, Shen Yue had intended to intervene initially. Recognizing the unfolding situation, he swiftly cast three spirit-of-words characters that forcefully elevated Yang Lingrui’s aura to match Bai Songran’s level.

Crash!

The black wind clashed with yellow wind, devouring and entangling each other until they merged through mutual destruction.

As this fusion occurred, both figures froze in place. Their eyes clouded with emptiness as their consciousness drifted to another realm.

Seeing this, the Huoliao Temple disciple mistook it for an ordinary standoff and prepared to cast a technique.

Boom!

The green mountain descended, crushing him to dust instantly.

With Bai Songran’s consciousness withdrawn into the void, the mountain’s binding seal dissipated.

After eliminating the disciple, Shen Yue guided another green mountain to settle protectively around Yang Lingrui and Bai Songran. Zi He simultaneously activated his secret method, manifesting his Golden Body as an additional barrier around the mountain.

Yang Lingrui and Bai Songran had entered the profound state called "Path Competition" – a rare occurrence between cultivators sharing root cultivation methods but developing divergent phenomena. Though their techniques originated from the same source, they’d cultivated wind in entirely different forms. Now their dao lineages clashed.

In this merged state, harming either would cripple both foundations until the competition concluded. This explained Shen Yue and Zi He’s vigilant protection.

"We’ve done all we can. Now it rests with Lingrui." Zi He watched Yang Lingrui anxiously. Path Competition failure meant more than lost insights – history showed defeated cultivators often broke mentally, never recovering. Those who persevered afterward remained shadows of their former selves.

"Lingrui’s resolve is firm. He’ll succeed."

"Agreed, Brother Shen! We trust him."

They positioned themselves beside Yang Lingrui, guarding against all approaches.

Meanwhile, the other battlefields concluded. Four injured direct disciples from Han Mountain Sect and Listening Snow Tower retreated here seeking Bai Songran’s aid, only to face the terrifying green mountain protecting him.

Trapped between threats, the four clustered defensively. Shen Yue immediately summoned another green mountain against them.

"Disaster!"

Their combined resistance only slowed the mountain’s descent. As despair gripped them, silvery moonlight streamed from above, freezing the mountain mid-air.

Every witness – including Xiao Yize and Li Qingwan – stared upward in shock.

The twin prodigies of northwest Canglan had arrived together.