Chapter 334 – The Shocking Avici Chains

“She’s not insane, she’s just overwhelmed by good fortune.”

“Indeed, without a sufficiently strong will, one simply cannot control such formidable power…”

Since Yan Yunyu had never displayed great strength before, everyone looked down on her, believing that by actively accepting the challenge, she had lost sight of her own position.

While others were discussing, upstairs, an old man angrily shouted, “What nonsense!”

That was the recent manager of the Four Seas Tavern, also a temporary powerhouse the Yan Family had brought in to maintain order. If Yan Yunyu had gone upstairs, she would have discovered that the powerhouse was the Yan Family Sixth Clan Elder.

From his exclamation of “What nonsense!” it was clear… he also thought Yan Yunyu’s response was unwise.

Hearing the Yan Family Sixth Clan Elder’s angry words, the original manager of the place tentatively spoke up, “Clan Elder, should we step in to stop this?”

After a moment of hesitation, the Yan Family Sixth Clan Elder shook his head.

“Forget it, let her learn a lesson… With us watching, her foolishness won’t lead to disaster—we can cover for her. But if she doesn’t learn this lesson, loses sight of her place, and acts recklessly outside, no one will be able to save her then.”

As for Yan Yunyu’s life or death, the Yan Family Sixth Clan Elder wasn’t particularly concerned. She wasn’t a direct descendant of his, and even among his direct descendants, over hundreds of years, he had thousands of offspring. With so many, his emotional attachment was minimal.

However, Yan Yunyu was different.

She was the Yan Family’s only connection to Mu Lin and had just obtained the Void Concealment Chains. If she died, the Yan Family would suffer a great loss.

Thus, the Yan Family Sixth Clan Elder couldn’t simply watch Yan Yunyu die.

At the same time, a thought crossed his mind.

“We must take advantage of our good relationship to arrange for a few more direct female descendants to be sent to Mu Lin. That way, even if Yan Yunyu loses her mind, our connection won’t be severed…”

…

Yan Yunyu was unaware of the Yan Family Sixth Clan Elder’s thoughts. Watching Black Wolf’s menacing expression as he approached step by step, she was filled with eagerness to try.

However, her expression only enraged Black Wolf further.

He had always regarded Mu Lin as his rival, wanting to defeat him personally and completely crush the hopes of the Southern Aristocracy.

But now, instead of Mu Lin appearing, it was his woman who declared she would defeat him. How could Black Wolf, who had always measured himself against Mu Lin, tolerate this?

Especially since, compared to other Northern scholars, Black Wolf was more insane, unrestrained, and had a heavier killing instinct. This was precisely why the Southern Aristocracy saw him as a point of breakthrough.

With such a temperament and viewing the current situation as an insult, it was no surprise that he erupted completely.

“You wretch, how dare you insult me like this? I’ll make you die!”

“Boom!”

As soon as he finished speaking, he shattered the air and charged wildly toward Yan Yunyu.

His charge was too fast, his momentum too fierce, and his killing intent overwhelming.

Stunned by that killing intent, Yan Yunyu momentarily failed to react.

Fortunately, Spirit Tools inherently possess the ability to protect their masters. After being activated by Mu Lin, the Avici Chains were even more responsive.

Though Yan Yunyu didn’t react, the Avici Chains did.

“Swish!”

The moment Black Wolf charged, a silver chain silently lashed out from the side.

“Smack!”

With a loud crack like a whip striking flesh, Black Wolf… was sent flying once again.

Moreover, due to the soul-hooking nature of the Avici Chains, this strike not only injured Black Wolf’s body but also lashed his Divine Soul, causing him immense agony and contorting his expression.

However, it must be said that while Black Wolf might be reckless and utterly arrogant, he does possess some capital for his arrogance.

He actually endured the excruciating pain of the soul-lashing, gritting his teeth without uttering a cry.

Yet, though he could bear the pain, the shock in his heart was no less intense.

“When did that chain appear?”

Black Wolf was no fool; in fact, his combat instincts were exceptionally sharp.

After being struck by the Avici Chains earlier, he had remained vigilant against them. Even in his furious charge, he had reserved some energy to scan his surroundings.

But what made his pupils contract sharply was that, despite his caution, he still failed to notice when the Avici Chains had appeared. It was only when the attack landed that he became aware.

Such an eerie occurrence naturally filled him with dread.

And this was, in fact, to be expected.

The spatial traversal attribute inherently gave the Avici Chains a ghostly, elusive quality. Since they did not move through physical space but abruptly traversed dimensions to strike the enemy, most Cultivators simply couldn’t react in time.

Of course, if that were all, Black Wolf might not have been able to completely evade the attack, but he could have detected it in advance and dodged vital areas.

The reason he remained unaware until the attack struck was due to the characteristic the Avici Chains gained after merging with the Da Luo Vast Heaven Qi—the disappearance of presence.

This attribute rendered the spatial chains’ strikes silent and undetectable—or rather, subconsciously overlooked.

It was akin to someone frantically searching for their phone or keys, only to suddenly realize they were holding them all along.

This terrifying attribute, combined with the ghostly elusiveness of spatial traversal, meant that unless an enemy’s spiritual perception reached monstrous levels, they would be unable to evade the lash of the Avici Chains.

Even with advance warning, dodging was impossible.

…

“You actually got hit. You’re not that strong after all.”

It was only after Black Wolf was sent flying that Yan Yunyu snapped out of the shock of his murderous aura.

Seeing Black Wolf coughing up blood and realizing she had severely injured him with little effort, Yan Yunyu couldn’t help but mutter under her breath.

This mutter only fueled Black Wolf’s rage further.

“You wretch! Don’t think that just because you have a Spirit Tool, you can do as you please. I’ll make you understand that those of us who have grown through bloodshed cannot be erased by your reliance on a Spirit Tool.”

“Whoosh!”

As soon as he finished speaking, he charged toward Yan Yunyu once again.

While charging, he constantly zigzagged and moved erratically, attempting to evade the lash of Yan Yunyu’s chains.

Then… with a sudden “crack,” the ghostly, elusive Avici Chains struck him down once more.

“…”

This scene left many onlookers dumbfounded.

“Yan… Yan Yunyu, is she really that strong?”

“It’s not that Yan Yunyu is strong; it’s her chains that are overpowered. They appear arbitrarily from the surrounding space, and before striking, they make people subconsciously overlook them. This ability is too formidable. Even I wouldn’t be confident in dodging the attacks of those chains.”

Due to Yan Yunyu’s performance, some were envious, some sighed, while others had strange expressions as they said, “Hey, do you think Yan Yunyu might actually defeat Black Wolf on her own?”

“This…”

If someone had said this earlier, others would have thought they were daydreaming, but now, they truly saw a glimmer of hope.

This filled their faces with both joy and a hint of satisfaction, as well as endless dejection.

The joy and satisfaction came from Black Wolf’s earlier arrogance and insolence, calling Mu Lin a coward who avoided battle. Yet, in the end, he couldn’t even defeat Mu Lin’s woman, which everyone felt was the greatest humiliation for Black Wolf.

Moreover, since Black Wolf had not only insulted Mu Lin but also mocked others, his defeat—and such a disgraceful one at that—naturally brought everyone immense pleasure and satisfaction.

The dejection, however, stemmed from the fact that Black Wolf couldn’t defeat Yan Yunyu, and they couldn’t even defeat Black Wolf, let alone stand a chance against Yan Yunyu.

If Yan Yunyu were exceptionally talented and diligent in her training, they would have nothing to say and would only admire her.

But Yan Yunyu was not like that. She spent her days busy with trivial matters, with little time for cultivation. The only thing she did right was aligning herself with the right person.

Thinking of their years of hard training, only to find themselves inferior to Yan Yunyu simply because she followed the right person, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of dejection.

However, their sighs didn’t last long. The second strike still failed to knock Black Wolf down.

The moment he spat blood and hit the ground, he let out a furious roar and charged at Yan Yunyu once more.

“You can’t kill me…”

“Smack!”

Before he could finish, Black Wolf was sent flying again.

“Hiss…”

With his soul repeatedly struck, he finally couldn’t hold back and gasped sharply.

But it must be said, he was truly a tough individual. Even as his soul was struck again and again, he refused to fall. Instead, he quickly rose and charged at Yan Yunyu once more.

“I don’t believe…”

“Smack!”

Then, like a ball, he was tossed back and forth by Yan Yunyu’s Avici Chains.

The combination of spatial teleportation and the disappearance of presence made the Avici Chains somewhat overpowered now.

No matter how much Black Wolf increased his speed, how suddenly he changed direction, or how he tried to defend himself, it was all useless.

The ability to manifest freely in the surrounding space rendered Black Wolf’s speed meaningless.

As for defense… the disappearance of presence meant that even if the chains were right in front of him, people would subconsciously overlook them.

Unable to dodge or defend, and repeatedly struck, even the spectators began to feel that Black Wolf looked somewhat pitiful and… wretched.

“I can’t believe I’m actually feeling pity for Black Wolf. I must be going mad.”

“Me too. This isn’t a fight; it’s a massacre…”

“Hey, do you think Mu Lin is still recruiting? Is there a chance I could join him?”

Yan Yunyu’s strength made many people deeply tempted.

While everyone marveled, Black Wolf still refused to give up.

“Howl!”

Amid another piercing wolf howl, over a dozen shadows suddenly emerged from his own shadow.

These shadows rapidly expanded as soon as they appeared, quickly transforming into more than a dozen giant wolves.

“Growl…”

Under Black Wolf’s command, the pack of wolves charged wildly at Yan Yunyu from all directions.

But Black Wolf wasn’t done yet.

While summoning his subordinates to charge, he no longer insisted on close-quarters combat with Yan Yunyu. Instead, he swiftly retreated and, from an extreme distance, slashed out Dark Moon Sword Qi toward Yan Yunyu.

“Swish, swish, swish…”

As he swung his claws, countless Dark Moon Sword Qi surged toward Yan Yunyu like a violent storm.

This sword qi assault, combined with the giant wolves’ pincer attack, momentarily seemed to turn the tide of the battle.

“Hahaha, let’s see how you block this now!”

“Oh no…”

Such a perilous scene prompted the Yan Family Sixth Branch Clan Elder to step forward, intending to intervene.

However, his movement soon halted.

The overwhelming onslaught was indeed terrifying, but Yan Yunyu… blocked it.

“Clatter, clatter…”

The giant wolves and the torrential Dark Moon Sword Qi were fierce, but Yan Yunyu’s Avici Chains were even stronger.

Without moving herself, dozens of silver voids appeared behind her. Then, amid a series of clattering sounds, dozens of silver chains shot out violently from the rippling silver voids.

“Swish, swish, swish…”

The chains danced like silver serpents, effortlessly dismantling all of Black Wolf’s attacks.

“So powerful!”

This sight left many in awe, leading them to believe that Yan Yunyu was certain to win.

Yet, amid the excitement, some shook their heads and said, “Don’t celebrate too soon. Black Wolf in his normal state is indeed no match for Yan Yunyu, but he still has his Forbidden Power.”

“…”

The mention of Forbidden Power instantly silenced the crowd.

In recent battles, the Northern Aristocracy’s Forbidden Power had caused them immense suffering.

It was a force beyond the reach of Gang Sha, and once unleashed, the Northern Aristocracy often turned the tables.

Just as the southern scholars had anticipated, repeated failures in his attacks and constant humiliation drove the furious Black Wolf to consider using his Forbidden Power.

“Bitch, you forced me into this!”

“Owooo…”

Black Wolf let out another howl toward the sky.

With this roar, the heavens… changed.

Although Yan Yunyu and Black Wolf were inside the Four Seas Tavern, a dark, gloomy black moon suddenly materialized above Black Wolf’s head amid his howls.

The appearance of this black moon made the space within the Four Seas Tavern inexplicably vast, desolate, and eerily ghostly.

The once intricately carved floor now sprouted withered weeds, tombstones, broken swords, and… vast shadows.

These shadows didn’t just appear in the surrounding space but also crept into the hearts of everyone present.

With the emergence of the dark moon, everyone felt their minds being shrouded, sending chills down their spines.

“So eerie…”

The bizarre transformation also frightened Yan Yunyu. Muttering subconsciously, she focused her will, and a thick silver chain, like a long serpent, shot across over a hundred meters toward Black Wolf.

Whether Black Wolf failed to notice or simply disregarded it, he paid no attention to the silver chain. Instead, he stretched out his arms, beckoning the dark moon in the sky to descend.

The dark moon descended rapidly, but the silver chain was even faster.

In less than a breath, the chain reached Black Wolf and coiled around him like a serpent.

“No longer whipping, but binding now…”

As he spoke, Black Wolf suddenly unleashed his aura, attempting to shake off the chains.

To his astonishment, this burst of energy failed to move the chains at all.

This sight first left him somewhat shocked, but soon he paid it no mind.

At this moment, the Dark Moon had already descended into Black Wolf’s brow, merging with his body, adding an eerie quality to his already ferocious and terrifying presence.

“You’re finished. I, who have summoned the Dark Moon, am invincible.”

He roared with savage laughter, while Yan Yunyu… showed no fear. Instead, she smiled brightly in return.

“No, it is you who should fail. I no longer intend to play around—I will now wield the true power bestowed upon me by Brother Mu.”

“Play around? You wretch, you call that earlier battle playing around? Hahaha… To insult me like this, you bastard! I will make you die, make you witness the true terror of the Dark Moon’s power!”

“Boom!”

As he spoke, his expression twisted with ferocity as he once again unleashed his aura in an attempt to shake off the Avici Chains.

Simultaneously, he took a step forward, advancing toward Yan Yunyu.

His intention was to shatter the chains and then launch another attack on Yan Yunyu.

However, after taking just one step, his movements froze.

(End of Chapter)