Wu Qi could feel Yu Miao's fragile nose break under his hard kneecap like an eggshell. Then, he heard a crisp crack, as the old man's nose and half of the face caved in together. Blood sprayed out from around his knee, coupled with snot and some unknown fluid, probably saliva that spewed out of the throat.
After throwing Yu Miao into a great confusion with a sudden knee attack, by force of habit, Wu Qi struck again with a deadly trick Wu Wang taught him; both of his elbows suddenly smashed down and broke Yu Miao's shoulders. Not only did the brutal force shatter the old man's shoulder blades and clavicles, but also five or six of his upper ribs. Then, Wu Qi thrust his other leg and crushed Yu Miao's male organ with his knee. He could clearly feel two oval-shaped balls burst under his kneecap. Finally, both of his hands turned as soft and flexible as serpents, coiling around Yu Miao's neck as he was getting ready to break it with a twist. He had decided to kill this old fellow who had been giving him troubles over and over again.
Beside them, Yu Mu watched indifferently as Wu Qi delivered such an inhuman torment to his brother. He had remained unmoved when Wu Qi destroyed Yu Miao's face, shattered his shoulder bones, and crushed his male organ, and just watched quietly with a bizarre smile. But then, Wu Qi's arms were around Yu Miao's neck and was trying to kill him, which was when Yu Mu finally struck.
A thin bone talisman burned up at Yu Mu's fingertip and a trail of black smoke shot at Wu Qi like a viper. A shrill whistle echoed out as a thumb-sized depression suddenly appeared near his chest. If he had insisted on killing Yu Miao, the smoke would have penetrated his chest, cut through his internal organs, and killed him on the spot at the same time he struck.
With no other choice, Wu Qi let go of Yu Miao's neck and threw himself back.
It was at that point in time that Yu Miao's third palm strike fell crashing to the ground. Terrible cries filled the air as it landed straight on the formation formed by the ninety-nine Oracles who Yu He brought here. The formation crumbled with a boom, and all the Oracles were smashed into mincemeat. Blood and gore splattered into all directions, further adding a tiny touch of blood to the cruel duel.
The ghosts and deities on the altar laughed joyously as they scrambled to swallow the flesh and souls of the dead Oracles.
Wu Qi fell back to the arena, his eyes flashing with a bloody gleam as he gave Yu Mu a fierce glare and bellowed, "Grand Oracle, why are you shielding this old fool?"
Yu Mu's heart raced when he caught a glimpse of the bloody gleam in Wu Qi's eyes, fierce and emotionless like that of a savage beast. He quickly crushed two bone talismans and covered himself in two layers of thick defensive barriers. His action had woken the other Elders up, and they also crushed bone talismans one after another to unleash energy barriers. A few Elders who were apparently on Yu Miao's side were in a rush to feed him some life-saving spirit medicines and tend to his broken bones.
But, too bad that even though his broken bones could be mended, his crushed male organ could no longer be recovered. Nevertheless, Yu Miao was an old man, and it seemed that he would not have the need to use that little thing between his legs at this age. At worst, his beard would slowly leave him, but his cultivation base would not be affected at all.
Several Elders lurched to their feet with indignation, their bodies shrouded in swirling dark smoke, twinkling stars, darting lightning, and many other unusual phenomena. They stared angrily at Wu Qi, all prepared to strike. To them, it was simply lawless for a mere hundred-men Lieutenant from the Military Court of a lesser county to blatantly assault the Left Minister of Directorate of Celestials of Zhong Province. On top of that, not only was Yu Miao one of Yu Clan's Elders, he was also an Elder who held real power in his hand. And yet, he was brought down to such a miserable state by Wu Qi. It would be a great humiliation to all the Elders if it were to spread out.
All the sons of Yu Clan were frozen in horror. Even Yu He was sitting blankly in the stands, not daring to make a sound at all.
Yu Miao was the Left Minister of the Directorate of Celestials. As the Oracle of Great Yu Dynasty, although he possessed great magical power, he had innate weaknesses as well, just like the warriors of the human race. It was a known fact that the souls of the human warriors were weak, and they did not have the slightest power to resist when cultivators attacked them with divine abilities that targeted at their souls. On the other hand, because of their great magical power and with ghosts and deities protecting their souls, the souls of some Oracles were almost a few times stronger than Immortals of the same level. However, their fleshly bodies were too weak.
For a Great Oracle like Yu Miao, who had been dealing with ghosts and deities for many years, his fleshly body was eroded by all sorts of evil powers, hence making it stronger than that of an ordinary human. With his cultivation base as strong as a Gold Immortal, the strength of his fleshly body was actually comparable to that of a mid-tiered Heaven Immortal. Even so, he could not be stronger than an eighteenth tier Heaven Immortal, and was far weaker than Wu Qi.
And, the deadliest weakness of Oracles was that they had no experience of close combat. In their long life, they were more accustomed to the use of various divine abilities and mystic arts to kill the enemies. Close combat was a task that their personal guards would perform. The Oracles would provide protection for the warriors' souls, while the warriors would provide close combat protection for the Oracles. It was the most common pattern of war employed by the armies of Great Yu.
That was the reason why Yu Miao was so defenseless when Wu Qi rushed before him with the Kuafu Chasing The Sun Step and nearly killed him. Not only was that a humiliation to Yu Miao, but also a big slap on the faces of all the Elders of Yu Clan.
Therefore, after having themselves protected behind various defensive barriers in a haste, the Elders could not wait to strike at Wu Qi.
Wu Qi's eyes were cold and his body was shrouded in a purple mist. He was all prepared to act according to the circumstances. He gave the sons of Yu Clan on the stands a fierce glance. He was confident that under the attack of these Elders, he could still kill these lineage sons in seconds. It would take nothing more than a strike of thunder!
When in desperation, he couldn't care less to expose his identity as a cultivator who had mastered immortal spells. At worst, he would move to a new place and start afresh with a new identity. In any case, he had understood the weaknesses of these Oracles, and it was not difficult to assassinate them in secret with his uncanny abilities. He could always slowly seek his revenge in the future.
Some crisp popping sounds were heard coming out of his joints as a plume of purple mist gradually rose into the air from behind his back. Amidst his long hair, Ao Buzun, who had shrunk to the size of a hair, lifted his head, his mouth gushing with wisps of flame. He was also ready for slaughter.
A few Elders snorted coldly, each having their hands locked into an incantation gesture and getting ready to strike.
At that moment, Yu Mu suddenly rose to his feet and shouted, "Stop, all of you! Yu Miao has brought this to himself!"
His words startled all the Elders. About sixty percent of them looked at him thoughtfully, and they sat back down with a strange smile on their faces as if nothing had happened. It took a few moments for another ten percent of the Elders to sink ponderously back in their seats, their eyes staring resentfully at Yu Mu.
In the end, only less than thirty percent of the Elders jumped up angrily to question Yu Mu. A few of them pointed at Yu Miao, who was severely wounded and could not get back to his feet, and demanded the reason why Yu Mu said that it was Yu Miao who brought this to himself, even though it was Wu Qi who had beaten him.
Yu Mu glanced coldly at those Elders, who kept demanding him for an answer, and said grimly, "Yu He, do you dare to swear before the many Ancestors on the altar that Tan Lang is really a retainer whom you've recruited, not a personal guard whom your father or other Senior have arranged for you?"
Yu He gave the hundreds of bloodthirsty ghosts and deities on the altar a glance, clenched his teeth, and leaped into the arena, then came before the altar with a dash. He fell heavily on his knees, bit his fingertip, and swore with the blood, "Ancestors of my clan, Yu He is here to swear on his own soul that Tan Lang is indeed a retainer whom I've recruited in An Le County. Tan Lang was born in the wilderness, a human warrior who had gained enlightenment of the Great Dao of Pangu by himself, and not someone whom any of the Senior of Yu Clan have arranged for me. If this oath is violated, if Yu He has anything to hide, Yu He will sacrifice my soul to the Ancestors!"
Gusts of chilly wind blew out of the altar and penetrated Yu He's body in a flash, lingering both inside and outside him for a long while.
After a quarter of an hour, those fierce ghosts and deities nodded slowly and let out a few strange howls.
Yu Mu smiled calmly, flicked his sleeves, and said in a deep voice, "The accusation of Elder Yu Miao is ridiculous. Tan Lang is the retainer whom Yu He has recruited him himself, and it is verified by our Ancestors. What else is there to say? Elder Yu Miao has caused trouble for no reason, so it is his fault, and no one else can be blamed for his misfortune."
All the Elders fell into silence at the same time. They did not have much to say in front of the many ghosts and deities on the altar, as any act or word of disrespect would not be tolerated. As the Oracles, these Elders were well aware of the consequences. If they did not take care of their words before the ghosts and deities, they would most likely bring harm to themselves. It was not worthwhile to do that.
Since Yu Miao was seriously injured, Yu Mu had decided the matter arbitrarily.
Judging from the scene of the duel just now, it was impossible to deny the fact that Yu He had taken the lead, so he was free to choose any of the sixteen ninth-grade provinces. As for the remaining fifteen provinces, their ownership would be decided once the other forty-seven sons had reorganized their subordinates and fought another duel.
Since Yu Miao was badly wounded, the Elders who were on his side had lost their leader, and under the strong pressure from Yu Mu, they could only agree to the decision.
Yu He rose to his feet in excitement, and chose Hai Province without the slightest hesitation, the most populous and richest province among the sixteen.
Wu Qi smiled as he watched Yu He pick and choose among the sixteen provinces, and suddenly thought that the name of Hai Province was rather familiar to him.
Meanwhile, the Elders of Yu Clan were studying Wu Qi with an odd expression. Many of them had a fierce gleam flashing in their eyes, an obvious sign that they did not like him.
But, Wu Qi was not afraid of them. He smiled and nodded to those Elders, his heart filled with killing intent as well.