Star Trace Gate

Chapter 893 Peach Blossoms Bury the Old Lover, Zhao Mi's Suspicious Points

Before coming to Wudao Academy today, Xiao Huaiwang had mentally rehearsed many contingencies. He had considered that Zhou Taozhi might suddenly have a breakdown and attack him and his two companions; he had also considered that when he questioned the other party, he might be noticed by the experts of Wudao Academy... In short, he had thought of all the contingencies he could think of, but he never expected that Zhou Taozhi would be so ruthless as to kill someone who was "delivering food".

You can't stop them, you absolutely can't stop them.

He rushed out of the three huts with the storyteller, only to see Zhou Taozhi soar into the air, his body radiating an aura as powerful as the sun, illuminating half of the Wudao Academy.

This commotion is bound to cause a huge stir.

"Boom!"

Zhou Taozhi's body floated gracefully in the sky like a god, and he unleashed his spiritual power without reservation, condensing it into a world-destroying fist shadow that smashed straight toward Zhao Mingdi.

That punch, without any mysterious spells or techniques, relied solely on the terrifying accumulation of spiritual power and the strength of the physical body to tear apart the void with overwhelming force.

"Zhou the Madman, what are you doing?!"

Zhao Mingdi was so frightened that his face turned pale, and his voice was filled with confusion and grievance as he looked up at the sky and shouted angrily.

"Ong!"

The shadow of a fist shattered the night sky and descended in an instant.

Seeing that the other party really wanted to kill him, Zhao Mingdi stopped questioning him and immediately summoned a golden alms bowl magic weapon to defend against the sky.

The fist, like a mountain, suddenly crashed down, and the golden bowl shone with seven-colored light in mid-air, as dazzling as a divine object.

"Boom! Rumble...!"

A deafening roar shook the heavens and the earth.

"Crack...!"

Suddenly, the golden bowl was blasted apart by the fist shadow, its light dimmed rapidly, and fragments were faintly scattered and flew around.

"puff!"

As the force of the punch entered his body, Zhao Mingdi immediately staggered back several steps and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Crack!"

In mid-air, the golden bowl only paused for less than a breath under the shadow of the fist before it shattered completely and vanished into dust.

With a single punch, Zhou Taozhi shattered one of Zhao Mingdi's priceless treasures, demonstrating truly terrifying combat prowess and earning him a place among the top fighters in the Illusionary Village.

Although Zhao Mingdi was also a Black Qi level expert, she was no match for Zhou Taozhi, who had been famous for many years. After all, the latter was the guardian of the Divine Tomb, and could an ordinary person possibly contend with an old monster qualified to enter the Divine Tomb?

"Bang bang bang...!"

With a single punch, the void trembled, and the walls, steps, thresholds, trees, and greenery of half of the peach grove courtyard were blasted to pieces and leveled to the ground by the force of the punch.

"Boom...!"

Li Xiaopang, who managed to escape by sheer luck, was sent flying by the violent force of the punch. His body bounced several times on the ground before finally coming to a stop in a disheveled state.

His eyes were bloodshot as he looked up, his face filled with extreme fear as he cursed, "This...this level of existence, you're leaving me to cover your retreat?! Holy crap, if you don't come to save me, I'm going to the clan hall to turn myself in right now...!"

Not far away, the storyteller, amidst the swirling wind of the punches, had already raised his hand to shield Ren Ye from most of the remaining force. Moreover, he himself was not affected in the slightest by the violent aura, appearing as relaxed and composed as an outsider.

This suggests that the storyteller's character and magical abilities may be such that they become stronger when facing stronger opponents, making them somewhat unpredictable.

"vomit……!"

But Ren, being a third-rank wild dog, wasn't so lucky. Although the storyteller blocked most of the fist's power for him, he still felt a sweet taste in his throat and gagged as the void trembled.

However, the little rascal was also a tough guy. When he felt his internal organs were shaken and he was about to vomit blood, he swallowed the blood back down.

Immediately afterward, a trickle of bright red blood flowed from his nostril, but he cautiously raised his arm and wiped his nose. He even looked down to carefully examine the ground, making sure he hadn't left a single drop of blood before urgently shouting, "Someone will be here soon! We can't stay here any longer! Let's get out of here! Let's get out of here...!"

Li Xiaopang rushed over, his face pale with panic, and transmitted his voice: "With such a commotion, the clan hall will definitely ask Zhou Taozhi who has been here, and investigate everything that happened tonight... We may all be exposed."

“Investigate my ass! I’m Zhou Taozhi’s nephew, I can’t even stop him from having an episode, what right does the clan hall have to interrogate him?!” The storyteller shouted urgently, “Let’s go, let’s go.”

"That woman who got beaten has seen me before," Li Xiaopang reminded her again.

"Seeing you won't help." The storyteller turned his head and glanced at Zhao Mingdi, who was spitting blood and whose spirit was extremely weak, and then decisively said, "She...she won't live past tonight."

As soon as he finished speaking, the storyteller raised his hand and used his powerful spiritual energy to lift Li Xiaopang and Ren Ye's bodies. Then he stood up and leaped out of the peach grove courtyard with the two of them.

As soon as the three left, they saw at least several hundred chaotic auras rushing towards them from the Enlightenment Academy. Therefore, instead of swaggering through the city against the flow of traffic, they disguised themselves as disciples who had come to watch the excitement, advancing and retreating as they went. When there were more people around, they mingled in the crowd and fled out of the Enlightenment Academy.

In front of the Peach Blossom Courtyard, Zhao Mingdi was punched and left half-crippled, his sternum caved in, his arms cracked, and his body covered in blood.

Feeling deeply wronged and innocent, she kept shouting, "Zhou Taozhi... I was only following the orders of the family head to bring you food every day and secretly take care of you. Even if you've forgotten my kindness over the years, you can't repay kindness with enmity, can you?!"

"Everyone in the Zhao family must die!"

Zhou Taozhi completely ignored the other party's words, and instead gathered his fist again, launching a deafening attack.

"Shh!"

Knowing he was no match for Zhou Taozhi, Zhao Mingdi activated his magical artifact in an attempt to escape, shouting repeatedly, "Save me! Zhou Taozhi is trying to kill me! Please, gentlemen of the academy, help me...!"

"Bang! Boom!"

A punch landed squarely on Zhao Mingdi's back, instantly shattering her spiritual energy, causing her to plummet to the ground like a kite with a broken string.

"Whoosh!"

Immediately afterward, Zhou Taozhi appeared on the ground as if by teleportation, raised her right hand, and caught the falling Zhao Mingdi from mid-air. Then, grabbing the other's hair with one hand and swinging her fist with the other, she shouted, "I'm going to smash you, you evil spirit, to pieces...!"

He stopped throwing punches and instead used his right fist to relentlessly bombard Zhao Mingdi's face like a sandbag.

"Bang! Bang bang bang...!"

"Snap, plop!"

Punches rained down on him, and Zhao Mingdi's skull cracked violently. His entire head was smashed apart, turning into a mist of blood and bits of flesh that fell to the ground.

"Whoosh!"

A wisp of ghostly spirit burst forth from Zhao Mingdi's tattered body, rising into the sky, attempting to escape.

Zhou Tao slammed down with his palm, carrying endless gales and pure Yang power, striking directly at Zhao Mingdi's Yin spirit.

"Ah! You madman... madman, why do you have to kill me?!" Even as his ghostly spirit was about to dissipate, Zhao Mingdi still roared in bewilderment and resentment, "You will die a horrible death sooner or later! A horrible death!"

With a single palm strike, the vengeful spirit dissipated.

Zhou Tao dragged Zhao Mingdi's body up with his left hand and slammed it against the ground like a broom, his face contorted with madness as he shouted, "Even in death, I'll humiliate you. I'm going to feed your body to the three Netherworld Beasts... let them chew it up."

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh...!"

Dozens of powerful auras arrived. A preacher from the Enlightenment Academy, looking at this scene in disbelief, roared angrily, "How dare you torture and kill Mingdi here so cruelly?"

"Get out, all of you get out! Tonight, I'll only kill members of the Zhao family!"

Zhou Taozhi turned to look at the dark night sky, facing dozens of preachers alone, and said without fear: "The blood feud will be settled today. Whoever stops me will die first!"

If the previous Old Zhou had completely forgotten everything that happened the night Zhao Mi broke into the tomb, then the current Old Zhou, within the scenario set up by the storyteller, has been strongly stimulated and guided, thus jumbled up memories of that night...

These jumbled memories, like surging tides, completely swallowed his last shred of reason.

He hated Zhao Mi, but he hated himself even more.

He felt ashamed of his actions that day, and even more guilty for the deaths of his two sworn brothers. Now, all he wanted was to kill Zhao Mi and avenge his family, slaughtering the entire Zhao clan; even if it meant his own demise, he had no fear!

Zhou Taozhi stood in front of the courtyard gate, holding Zhao Mingdi's mangled corpse in her right hand. The vast aura emanating from the body soared straight into the sky.

His fighting spirit was boiling to the extreme, like a war god who had completely fallen into demonic possession. He was so angry that his arms were trembling, and he roared to the sky: "You lackeys who have been raised by others, the cannon fodder kneeling before the tomb of the gods, are you going to get out of here or not?! Huh!"

"Insanity!"

An elderly man, over two hundred years old, arrived riding on a divine rainbow. He stared sharply at Zhou Taozhi and replied in a low voice, "You were once a tomb keeper. If we are all lackeys and cannon fodder, then what are you? It is only because of the protection of the divine tomb that the Void Village has been able to survive to this day. You speak arrogantly and desecrate the divine tomb; you are truly courting death!"

The old man's name was Qian Zhongcai. He was the cousin of the Qian family patriarch and one of the current deans of the No. 1 Enlightenment Academy. His cultivation was extremely profound. He usually lived in seclusion and rarely showed his face. He had only come out of seclusion because he sensed the abnormality in the Peach Blossom Courtyard.

Zhou Taozhi, covered in blood and with a crazed expression, stared at Qian Zhongcai, laughing mockingly, "The illusory Divine Tomb can only be opened by the four great families, and only the four great families can get close to it. Others are not qualified to enter at all. If you insist that the people here revere the Divine Tomb, it's more accurate to say... that revering the Divine Tomb is revering the four great families! Others use the emperor to command the princes, you use the Divine Tomb to establish your faith! By fooling the people, you can maintain your supreme rule for thousands of generations. Hahahaha, hypocrites... a bunch of hypocrites!"

His mocking laughter echoed through the heavens, causing many "enlightened people" in the Enlightenment Academy to exchange thoughtful glances.

Upon hearing this, Qian Zhongcai immediately shook his head with a cold face: "You are so insane that you despise the way of survival in the Void Village. You are truly beyond redemption. Academy teacher, listen to my command, join me in setting up the Falling Immortal Array, capture this madman alive here, and throw him into the Heavenly Prison."

"As ordered!"

"Formation!"

"...!"

The dozens of highly accomplished masters around them scattered and took their places, their surging energy creating a grand formation.

In fact, Qian Zhongcai did not want to have a conflict with Zhou Taozhi, because they were from the same generation and had a good relationship in their early years. In addition, the Qian family members have always been principled and upright, so from a personal point of view, he felt some sympathy for Zhou Taozhi.

The crux of the matter lies in the fact that Zhou Tao not only killed one of the academy's teachers, but also uttered arrogant words, showing contempt for the Divine Tomb and its "way of survival." This action undoubtedly crossed the line of balance and stability, and Qian Zhongcai, as one of the academy's top leaders, could not possibly pretend not to hear it.

Left with no other choice, Qian Zhongcai had to clean up Zhao Mi's mess by forcefully suppressing him to express the academy's attitude.

"Boom boom boom...!"

Dozens of academy teachers took their positions, each taking out their magical treasures to form the Falling Immortal Array.

Endless divine rainbow light filled the sky, enveloping and suppressing only a madman standing in front of the dilapidated courtyard.

Zhou Tao's hair flew wildly as she fearlessly declared, "...Everyone says I'm crazy, but I think you're all crazy! The living don't know how to live, and the dead don't know when they'll die... Haha, a bunch of clueless bastards! If you want to fight, then let's fight!"