Chapter 1927: Entering the Tiger's Den to Catch the Tiger Cub

Honestly, facing a top-tier artifact of this caliber, Lord Xu Yang's best course of action should have been to summon his own main artifact for a direct confrontation, rather than releasing his soul's essence to appease it.

Even if he had other methods to deal with the enemy in this way, it would still be the riskiest approach. Given his brilliant tactical mind, he couldn't possibly have overlooked this point.

Xuan Guang's judgment was unanimously supported by everyone around him. I also felt the monk made a valid point; even if there was a chance to fight, such an approach wouldn't be very wise.

Only Nangong seemed to always have complete faith in Xu Yang, perhaps because Xu Yang was the first to pull him out of darkness. Nangong smiled, shook his head, and began to speak.

"I agree with everything you've said, but I still believe Xu Yang is 100% confident that he has a way to win in a single move.

As the old saying goes, 'You can't catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's den.' Let's consider this: if Lord Xu Yang's soul power is strong enough to render this soul artifact helpless, then his current approach will undoubtedly drive that old man to complete despair."

Nangong's judgment was incredibly bold, yet he was the only one who was correct, as his thoughts aligned with Xu Yang's.

In Xu Yang's mind, extreme power would always be the key to breaking any cultivation method in the world. As long as one's inherent physical strength reached a certain limit, the opponent, whether mastering all techniques or all paths, would never be able to exert enough pressure.

At this moment, Xu Yang intended to use this purest method to plunge these arrogant old men into despair. He deliberately released his soul's essence, allowing it to be drawn in by the bottle's devouring power, and soon his soul entered an endless darkness.

"Hahahaha, this boy is truly digging his own grave! I must admit he is indeed a prodigy of his generation, but his end is inevitable because he is simply too arrogant. Always believing himself invincible, he is destined for such a tragic outcome."

The green-robed elder suddenly seemed to reach the pinnacle of his life, beginning to expound on his philosophy to his green bottle, which had just devoured Xu Yang's soul essence.

At this moment, he appeared majestic and exuded an air of invincibility. Unfortunately, the instant he finished boasting...

The green treasure bottle in his hand suddenly unleashed an incredibly powerful force, causing cracks to rapidly appear on its surface.

"What's happening? What is this?"

The old man felt the tremor as the force was released into his arm and instantly froze in bewilderment. Before he could react, the bottle in his hand shattered, and all the black aura completely vanished.

The old man immediately spat out a mouthful of blood. As Xu Yang's soul essence reappeared before him, a red glow, like the unique aura of the grim reaper, instantly enveloped the elder's entire body.

"Sorry, your time is up. Exactly one hour."

Xu Yang always kept his word. The moment that sentence was uttered, the elder's soul world was instantly filled with endless red. Gradually, he lost all perception of the surrounding forces, and his soul began to collapse.

Every part of his body became completely engulfed by the eerie red power, and everything he possessed melted into the void. From beginning to end, not even a single pained roar escaped him.

He had no chance to resist against Xu Yang's absolute power. The green-robed martial god, a fossil-level expert who had just been flaunting his might, vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye. Xu Yang then returned his soul's essence to his body and looked over the remaining five fossil-level martial gods one by one.

"I wonder which of you five dares to challenge me next. If no one does, then all five of you can come at once. Let me advise you: do not make the same foolish mistake as that green-robed elder, or I guarantee you will die an even worse death than him."

At this moment, Xu Yang's prestige reached its peak. Below, the elders of the Evercloud Heavenly Sect burst into laughter and cheered Xu Yang's name.

It was at this instant that everyone felt having Xu Yang as an ally was the greatest honor on their path of martial god cultivation.

"Oh my, these six individuals were at least the true pinnacles of faith in the Empire's martial arts. Yet, now they can barely breathe in front of Xu Yang. This colossal difference is truly astonishing."

Now only five of the six old men remained. No one knew what they were thinking.

The Puppet King couldn't help but interject with a tease. He was usually quiet, but ever since Xu Yang saved him, he always felt Xu Yang possessed too many incredible miracles, and he had unconsciously grown to revere him.

"Haha, what else could they be thinking? The remaining five old men are cornered. If they choose to flee now, as Lord Xu Yang said, they will become the biggest laughingstock in the entire martial world.

But if they continue to fight, it's unlikely all five of them combined would stand a chance. They've cultivated in the martial world for so long; if they weren't sufficiently confident, I doubt they would have become puppets for the dark faction's disciples.

There must have been some kind of exchange between them. My guess is that the dark faction disciples promised them more power of faith.

The old men, being absolutely confident in their own strength, decided to emerge from seclusion and take on this perilous task, never imagining they would end up risking their lives against Lord Xu Yang.

Ultimately, it's just their insatiable greed and self-inflicted misery. They abandoned their faith for more personal gain. Such individuals are unworthy of being called martial artists."

"Well said!"

Although Xu Yang was positioned in the void battlefield, every word spoken below reached his ears. The Puppet King's summary immediately earned Xu Yang's personal approval.

The moment those three words left his mouth, Xu Yang began to unleash his truly formidable martial aura. This time, Xu Yang simultaneously locked his aura onto the physical bodies of the five fossil-level experts before him.

"Since none of you five have the courage to face me alone, I will take all five of you at once." The smile on Xu Yang's face froze in the next instant, followed by an endless, terrifying cascade of sword energy that continuously materialized in the sky.

In a mere thought, countless sword shadows descended from the sky, following Xu Yang's command. His single move unleashed an overwhelming rain of swords. Regardless of raw power, Xu Yang's mere display of might utterly crushed these old men.

"Oh my goodness, Lord Xu Yang is truly terrifying. Is he going to crush the entire Empire's martial arts by himself?" The woman in red gasped, and at that moment, her admiration for Xu Yang reached a new peak.