Chapter 43 Do Not Push Me

In just the blink of an eye, the lightning spear appeared right before him.

The purple-robed man’s eyes widened instantly like copper bells, staring fixedly ahead as his eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets.

At this moment, everything around him seemed to freeze into stagnation, with only that single spear tearing through the void and advancing toward him inch by inch.

Having cultivated for many years, the purple-robed man had never felt so utterly helpless.

He could only watch wide-eyed as the spear condensed of pure lightning pierced into his chest. The immense force flipped him completely upside down and ultimately nailed him hard against the wall behind.

Feeling the burning, searing pain radiating from his chest, the purple-robed man wore a ferocious expression filled with absolute disbelief.

Zhou You dragged Lu Zhi past him, his gaze never shifting toward the man for even a split second.

Right at that moment, from the various courtyards ahead of the burly man, numerous fierce-auraed cultivators from the Dye-Cloth Lane suddenly swarmed out. There were nearly a hundred of them, most possessing the cultivation of the Qi Sea Realm, with quite a few in the Foundation Establishment Realm, and even some of higher levels.

Standing right at the very front were precisely the high-ranking figures of Dye-Cloth Lane who had participated in the strategic discussions with the Old Ancestor last night.

Zhou You remained completely expressionless. He looked at the crowd blocking his path as if gazing at a group of lowly ants, not even deigning to show the slightest change in facial expression.

He continued walking forward, paying zero attention to the people gathered before him.

Feeling the terrifying aura emanating from the burly man, the crowd's eyes were filled with deep dread. Before such a supreme cultivator, these seasoned Dye-Cloth Lane experts, who usually killed without blinking an eye, actually felt a suffocating pressure.

Those with insufficient cultivation were even struggling to remain standing.

A long-faced man gritted his teeth and stepped forward to block Zhou You's path. Striving to steady his churning mind, he said through clenched teeth, "Senior, spare those who can be spared and leave a way out. Must you push things to absolute extremes?"

Zhou You did not speak. His only response was a fierce arc of lightning shaped like a spear.

In a mere fraction of a second, the man was nailed to the wall beside them.

His complexion turned as pale as paper, his lips devoid of any color. He trembled slightly, yet could not utter a single sound.

Beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled down his forehead, his hair roots already soaked through, with strands of hair plastered tightly against both sides of his cheeks.

The next moment, the thunder pool in Zhou You's palm trembled slightly, and more lightning spears darted out from within, shooting fiercely toward the crowd of Dye-Cloth Lane members ahead.

Resembling a volley of arrows, nearly a hundred fierce, flashing spears illuminated the entire alley in a deep, vibrant blue.

The mournful wails of the Dye-Cloth Lane cultivators echoed ceaselessly. Crimson blood splashed everywhere, and the pungent smell of copper and iron filled the air, so thick it was choking.

The Dye-Cloth Lane cultivators had no room to resist whatsoever; before they even had a chance to summon their magical treasures, chaos had already consumed their ranks.

To anyone watching, this was nothing more than a one-sided massacre.

Just then, a resonant voice full of vigor suddenly rang out from behind the crowd: "Enough."

An old man clad in white robes stepped out from the midst. Behind him, the screams continued incessantly. He looked at the dull-witted man before him with a complex expression.

"A century has passed, yet Senior remains just as youthful."

A trace of reminiscence surfaced on Zhou You's face. "Little Zhou, it has been many years. You have grown so old."

The white-robed elder pleaded with a sorrowful expression, "Senior, can you spare them? I am willing to use this life to give you an explanation for the White Tiger Ridge incident."

Zhou You frowned slightly, casually tossing the gray-robed man in his hand aside like a dead dog.

"Look, he said those exact words too. I didn't agree."

The elderly man surnamed Zhou glanced sideways at the on-the-verge-of-death Lu Zhi on the ground, his heart sinking completely to the bottom. He had once followed this person to cultivate in the Northern Stop-The-Ge Continent for a month. To him, that was a month of utter transformation, and indeed it was.

It was precisely that month of living and breathing together that had made him mistakenly believe he had a deep understanding of this supreme senior whose cultivation shook the heavens.

In his impression, the Senior possessed unfathomable cultivation yet a gentle temperament, and was undoubtedly a reasonable person.

Therefore, even after learning the reason why the other party had come to Ink-Stained City, though somewhat worried, he was not truly afraid.

This was also why, knowing full well that Lu Zhi had provoked a formidable enemy for the sect, he had still been willing to let this junior whom he valued greatly off the hook.

However, listening to the desperate, agonizing screams of the younger generations of his sect behind him, it was only at this moment that he was abruptly jolted awake, struck so hard by the brutal truth that he almost lost his mind.

He was wrong—everything was wrong. He had never truly understood the man before him. The reason the Senior had been amiable to everyone back then was simply because they had not touched the dull-witted man's true reverse scale.

Once someone harmed anything the man genuinely cared about, what awaited them was bound to be his thunderous fury, exactly like Dye-Cloth Lane today.

Thinking of this, a trace of bitterness welled up in the old man's heart.

But soon, he reverted back to that decisive Old Ancestor of Dye-Cloth Lane.

His surrounding aura surged terrifyingly, expanding outward like ripples to envelop the group of younger generations behind him. Wisps of crimson-tinted spiritual energy tangled and sparred with those relentless lightning spears.

Witnessing this scene, Zhou You’s eyes held no disappointment; instead, he nodded to himself in satisfaction.

A mocking smile played on his lips. "Little Zhou, are you planning to make a move against me?"

The old man’s hoarse and weathered voice came through, "Senior, I implore you not to force me."

"Oh?" Zhou You's eyes lit up with a hint of perplexity as he softly spat out two words: "Force you?"

Following the burly man's voice, the aura around him—which was already terrifying enough—began to climb once more. Like a tidal wave, it swept through the entire alley, plunging the white-robed elder, whose heart was already churning with towering waves, into utter despair.

The elder's body seemed struck by an immobilization spell, standing rigidly in place. Only his hands twitched slightly and involuntarily, his fingers digging tightly into the fabric of his clothes until his knuckles turned white.

His feet felt as though they had taken root, unable to shift even a fraction of an inch. Every single muscle was tensed to the limit, as if they would snap the very next second.

His throat felt as though it had been stuffed with a ball of cotton, dry and obstructed, and the sound of him swallowing his saliva was exceptionally clear in the heavy, silent atmosphere.

Meanwhile, the younger generations behind him had it even worse. Their hearts beat frantically within their chests like a dense flurry of drumbeats, each thump slamming against their ribs as if trying to burst through their torsos.

Their breathing was rapid and erratic; every inhalation felt like a struggle as their chests heaved violently. A sense of suffocation, reaching the absolute extreme, enveloped them from all directions, leaving no room for retreat.

Ever since that great battle at the borders of the Daoxi Dynasty over a hundred years ago, this was the first time the elder had witnessed Zhou You make a move, and he never expected it to be so shocking.

He likewise never anticipated that even after a century had passed, he remained as insignificant as an ant before Senior, capable of doing nothing at all except look up in awe.

Just like when he first caught sight of that towering figure all those years ago.

A thick wave of frustration flooded his heart.