CHAPTER 249: IF YOU'RE NOT STRONG ENOUGH, YOU'RE NO DIFFERENT FROM COMMONERS

Lu Chen spat out a mouthful of blood. "Damn it... of all times it could happen, it's now that I have no spirit qi left!"

He struggled to get back on his feet, wanting to charge at Wind Dragon again. But the spirit qi in the Heavenly Pool had been completely depleted, and his strength was drained dry. The abnormal rate of depletion had even caused cracks to spread across the Heavenly Pool.

Both the Innate and Acquired Green Sovereign Divine Trees tried desperately to replenish the energy. The Acquired Divine Tree poured its own essence into repairing the damage, while the Innate Divine Tree attempted to channel vast amounts of spirit qi from the small world. Yet, bound tightly by the Spirit Light Chains, their efforts were in vain.

Lu Chen pressed his hand against the ground, forcing himself upright. But before he could stand, his body gave out and he fell heavily again.

At that moment, everything that relied on spirit qi to function—the vine giant, the Innate Bagua Diagram, the Stone Formation, the Spirit Light Chains, and the Thunderburst Curse—collapsed and vanished.

Without spirit qi to control it, the Divine Tree's vines went berserk. The vines lost their sense of distinction between friend and foe. They lashed out wildly at anything containing spirit qi, draining their essence to replenish the Acquired Divine Tree and the Heavenly Pool.

The skeletal giant swung its massive hands, knocking away the crazed vines.

Completely freed from its restraints, the giant let out a wild roar at Lu Chen. It slammed its right foot into the ground, unleashing violent tremors that sent Lu Chen's second and third avatars into the air.

Seeing the avatars flung into the air, the skeletal giant froze for a moment with the wooden dragon in hand. It hadn't anticipated such an outcome.

Once it confirmed that Lu Chen and his avatars could no longer resist, the giant gave a sinister laugh. The black mist around it surged and wrapped around the wooden dragon as it swung it like a bat, sending both avatars hurtling through the air.

The two avatars traced arcs across the sky before crashing beside Lu Qing. Blood spilled from their lips as they collapsed. Deprived of Lu Chen's support, their bodies grew faintly ethereal under the extreme depletion of spirit qi.

Fixing its hollow gaze on Lu Chen and his avatars, the skeletal giant let out another chilling laugh and slammed the wooden dragon into the ground. Cracks spread out rapidly in all directions as the earth quaked, exposing the buried remains of fallen cultivators.

Blood Soul Beasts hiding within the bones sensed the danger and shrieked in terror, dragging the skeletons with them as they fled.

The skeletal giant hurled the wooden dragon, now tainted with black mist, toward the fleeing creatures. A dark shockwave erupted, shaking the ground as it drew in the Blood Soul Beasts and the cultivators' core essence.

Opening its jaw wide, the giant unleashed a black mist tornado that swallowed everything in its path, devouring the beasts and the cultivator's core essence in an instant.

Having consumed its prey, the skeletal giant roared at the sky. Its cultivation surged rapidly as black mist burst from the Three Dantian Gates and Three Meridian Fields along its body, completely enveloping it.

Sensing the thick, dense energy, the giant grinned with satisfaction. It wiped its mouth, chuckled darkly, and began advancing step by step toward Lu Chen with the wooden dragon in hand.

Lu Chen could only watch it approach. He wanted to crawl forward and retrieve the Hunyuan Greatsword, but it was impossible for him to even lift a finger.

***

Seeing his state, Venerable Hua Xin called out anxiously, "Master, should we help him? If something happens to him, we won't make it out alive—"

Before she could finish, Heaven Venerable Ban Yao laughed. "Help? What's the point? This is the perfect time to see who's backing him. Besides..."

She waved her hand, sending the nearby beasts back into another dimension, then turned with a sly smile. "Even if we don't step in, it's what Lu Chen wants. If he dies, that's on him, not us."

Daoist Du shook his head silently, saying nothing.

For a brief moment, silence blanketed the courtyard. Then, Daoist Du turned to Ancestor Suitian. "Old freak, what now? Do we help him or not?"

"Not yet," Ancestor Suitian replied calmly. "It's only a mutated beast at the Sunken Core Realm. Lu Chen's just exhausted, not in mortal danger. Maybe he's even pretending to be defeated to lure it in."

He had been about to intervene when he saw Lu Chen's condition, but after hearing Heaven Venerable Ban Yao's words, he held back his spirit qi. His purpose wasn't to expose whoever supported Lu Chen, but to test how far the young man could go.

Lu Chen had unleashed countless top-tier techniques in this battle, but he had never truly taken the giant seriously or gone all out. His current defeat was merely due to running out of spirit qi, not a lack of strength.

Heaven Venerable Ban Yao sneered. "Heh, so even the mighty High Sage Suitian can be this hypocritical, huh? I wouldn't expect anything less from someone born into a sect family. 'Commoners are worth less than grass, while noble clans rise higher than mountains'. If I recall correctly, that's exactly what you once said."

Misinterpreting his intentions, she continued mockingly, "Daoist Du, don't you agree? These sect families can be so cold and heartless sometimes."

Daoist Du heard Heaven Venerable Ban Yao. He frowned and glared coldly at her.

His cloak fluttered in the wind. As the breeze faded, the cloak slowly settled, revealing thirty poison daggers beneath, each tip hovering just a hair's breadth from Heaven Venerable Ban Yao's forehead.

Cold sweat streamed down her face as she stared at the daggers. She could feel the murderous intent radiating from Daoist Du. It was a chilling aura like that of venomous serpents or scorpions, suppressing her cultivation and aura entirely. Despite being a Heaven Venerable, she found herself utterly incapable of resistance.

Seeing her trembling uncontrollably, Daoist Du's lips curved into a sinister smile. With a light flick of his finger, the daggers vanished from midair and returned to his cloak. Heaven Venerable Ban Yao covered her mouth and hurriedly retreated to the side.

"I am the avatar of a High Sage," Daoist Du said coldly. "As for you, you are merely a Heaven Venerable. There are some words I can say that you can't. The honor of a High Sage is not for you to stain."

He turned his gaze toward the skeletal giant, leaving those words to weigh on Heaven Venerable Ban Yao's ears heavier than the daggers themselves.

"Yes... I understand," Heaven Venerable Ban Yao stammered, trembling as she spoke. As she slowly regained control of her body, she sensed the faint surge of lightning energy behind her and immediately bowed toward Ancestor Suitian.

Lowering herself even further, she pleaded, "High Sage Suitian, it was only a slip of the tongue. Please, do not hold it against me."

Ancestor Suitian said nothing. Daoist Tian Ji approached him from behind and gently patted his shoulder, signaling that a light reprimand would suffice. After all, they had only a few hours left before entering the secret realm together.

Ancestor Suitian nodded slightly at Daoist Tian Ji's gesture. He smiled faintly at Heaven Venerable Ban Yao and said, "Hehehe... How could I hold it against you?"

Black lightning flickered briefly around his fingers before slowly fading away. Then his tone hardened. "But it's true. Commoners are worth less than grass, while noble clans rise higher than mountains. If you lack strength, you're no different from a commoner."

At those words, Heaven Venerable Ban Yao's legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground. Ancestor Suitian didn't press the issue. Instead, he strode forward cheerfully and reached out a hand to help her up, teasing, "What's this? Sitting on the ground like that? The ground's so cold. You might catch a chill or upset your stomach."

He smiled brightly, but in Heaven Venerable Ban Yao's eyes, that smile looked more like the grin of a devouring demon.

She shrank back and refused his help. Ancestor Suitian's grin stiffened, and he barked, "Fellow Daoist, isn't it rude of you to reject my goodwill? I'm offering to help, and you avoid me like I carry the plague! Do you think I'd harm you!?"

He bellowed like a mischievous old rogue, then turned toward the other venerables behind him. "Come now, fellow Daoists! Tell me! Am I really the one at fault here?"

His voice echoed across the cliff.

Startled, the other venerables immediately stepped back, shaking their heads and murmuring, "No, no, not at all..."

Inwardly, though, they were all grateful that Heaven Venerable Ban Yao had taken the brunt of it first. Even among those in the Human Core Realm, rank mattered. From Venerable, Heaven Venerable, to High Sage, each title marked a vast difference in power. Simply put, if Ancestor Suitian wished, he could crush any of them in an instant.

Under the suffocating tension, the Scripture Hall fell silent. Just as Venerable Hua Xin was about to speak, Daoist Tian Ji motioned for everyone to focus on Lu Chen's condition instead.

"Ke, ke, ke..."

Watching Lu Chen lying helpless on the ground, the skeletal giant let out a hoarse laugh and hurled the wooden dragon once more. Shrouded in black mist, the dragon exuded a sinister aura as it struck, showing no mercy to its original master and aiming straight for Lu Chen.

Hiding behind a tree, Nantian Wan'er saw the corrupted wooden dragon charging toward him. Panicked, she quickly swallowed several Heaven Restoration Pills and rushed out. "Lu-gege, watch out!"

A shimmering ice-blue light enveloped her as she charged forward like a drifting flurry. Guided by her will, the Dragon-Slaying Sword flew from its sheath into her hand.

Seeing her rushing toward him, Lu Chen shouted, "Wan'er, stay away!"

He forced out the words, but before he could finish, a gust of cold air filled his lungs. His strength gave out, and he collapsed to the ground, coughing violently.