The Gap Between Realms

...

Meanwhile, Su Yueli ran wildly across the wilderness.

She had been fleeing for two full days and nights since leaving the city.

On the horizon ahead, the massive silhouette of the next city was faintly visible.

Without slowing her pace, Su Yueli frowned slightly, wondering if she should enter the city to seek refuge.

While a crowded city made it easier to hide, if she was discovered, her fate would only be more miserable.

In this dog-eat-dog cultivation world, no power would ever offend the Cangyun Sect for the sake of a secular martial artist, let alone cross a Seventh Realm cultivator.

From what she knew, not far outside the next city lay a notoriously dangerous secret realm.

It was teeming with demon beasts and fraught with danger, but for her current situation, it might actually be safer than a city.

“I'll lie low in the secret realm!”

A fierce glint flashed in Su Yueli's eyes. She abruptly veered off, rushing toward the entrance of the secret realm at full speed.

Yet, the very instant she changed direction, a sharp whistle pierced the sky behind her.

A colossal pressure crashed down like Mount Tai, instantly fracturing the ground within a hundred-meter radius.

The Seventh Realm cultivator had arrived after all.

Stepping on his flying sword, Elder Han arrived in the blink of an eye, blocking Su Yueli's path.

His face was so dark it seemed ready to drip water as he glared at Su Yueli. “Little thief, you killed several of my Cangyun Sect disciples. Where else do you think you can run?”

Su Yueli was forced to a halt, her face extremely pale.

The spiritual pressure of the Seventh Realm expert's mana made her bones creak under the strain.

The sound of rushing wind followed immediately. Four other Cangyun Sect inner disciples landed around her on their magic treasures, sealing off all avenues of escape.

“Elder, this is the female thief! Junior Brother Li and the others all died by her hand!”

“A mere mortal martial artist actually dares to be so arrogant! Today, we must grind her bones to dust!” The four disciples gritted their teeth, their murderous intent completely unconcealed.

Elder Han snorted coldly, not bothering to waste words on a mortal.

Keeping his hands behind his back, he coldly commanded the surrounding disciples, “You four support from the sidelines. Set up a formation to prevent her from doing anything desperate. Do not let her escape. I will personally wring her neck.”

“Yes, Elder!” The four disciples immediately retreated and manifested their magic treasures, forming a pale blue barrier of spiritual energy.

Facing a Seventh Realm expert directly, the blood qi in Su Yueli's body instantly tensed as she felt an unprecedented pressure of life and death.

But waiting to die was never her style. Su Yueli took a step forward, the blood qi of her Delusion Breaker Rank erupting.

The sleeve of her right arm exploded in the violent air currents, revealing a fair yet explosive arm. The double hidden forces she had condensed deep within her bone marrow the night before instantly overlapped.

“Mountain-Shaking Heaven-Shattering Force, open!”

Su Yueli threw a punch with all her might. The fist blades of Xiaohei screeched through the air, heading straight for Elder Han's face.

The punch was too fast for the naked eye to track. The pure physical strength generated by the double hidden forces pulverized the gravel on the ground.

Yet, facing this formidable punch, Elder Han merely sneered.

He slowly raised his left hand without even using a defensive magic treasure. With a slight movement of mana in his palm, he effortlessly caught Su Yueli's full-force punch.

A dull vibration exploded at the point of contact, the resulting shockwave blasting away the dirt within a ten-meter radius.

Elder Han's body remained completely still, but his contemptuous expression suddenly stiffened, and an undeniable look of shock flashed in his eyes.

His palm felt slightly numb. Those two bizarre, vibrating hidden forces had actually penetrated his protective mana, nearly damaging his meridians.

“Such overbearing physical strength. A Martial God at such a young age?”

Elder Han stared intently at Su Yueli, then shook his head. “No... an ordinary Tenth Realm Martial God could never possess such monstrous strength. You are actually stronger than a Martial God! No wonder Disciple Nephew Li and the others fell to you.”

The four supporting Cangyun Sect disciples were also startled. They clearly hadn't expected this mortal woman's desperate strike to elicit such a reaction from a Seventh Realm elder.

“However, no matter what kind of freak you are, this is where it ends.”

The astonishment in Elder Han's eyes instantly transformed into a deeper, more intense intent to kill.

If a martial arts monster like her was allowed to live, she would eventually become a major threat to the Cangyun Sect.

“Die! I will extract your soul and refine it for forty-nine days to see what secrets you are hiding!”

Before his voice could fade, Elder Han pressed his right fingers together and unleashed a terrifying technique of the Seventh Realm.

He did not use his full power. Since his opponent was a martial artist, he risked destroying her soul entirely, which would prevent him from extracting it.

A giant serpent condensed from violent blue mana materialized out of thin air, crashing down toward Su Yueli with a force that seemed to tear the void.

The surrounding space seemed to be completely locked down in that instant, leaving Su Yueli with absolutely no room to dodge.

Facing this strike head-on, she had only one thought: if she took it directly, she would die.

The gap between the Seventh Realm and the Eleventh Realm was simply too vast.

There was no other choice. She had to gamble!

Su Yueli's face turned ruthless, her eyes filled with madness.

At this moment, the Delusion Breaker Rank blood qi inside her body began to flow in reverse, her heart pounding frantically.

Ji Dao Fifth Style: Life Burner!

In an instant, an almost destructive, terrifying power surged within Su Yueli.

Thirty years of her lifespan were instantly incinerated like kindling. Amidst her originally pitch-black hair, a few strands of white faintly appeared.

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Su Yueli braced herself to take the mana serpent head-on.

An earth-shattering explosion reverberated across the plains. As the residual mana settled, Elder Han assumed Su Yueli had been reduced to ashes.

But when the dust cleared, he was shocked to discover only a large pool of glaring blood on the ground nearby.

Su Yueli had actually used the terrifying impact of the explosion to propel herself backward by several hundred meters, hurtling straight toward the nearby entrance of the secret realm.

“What?! She actually survived my strike?”

Elder Han's face instantly turned ashen.

In that brief moment, he had clearly felt this mortal woman's aura suddenly spike several times over. That was absolutely impossible to achieve through normal means.

“Reckless wretch! That strike must have left her with a fatal injury! Chase her down! I want her dead or alive!”

Furious, Elder Han flew after her on his sword, and the four disciples behind him scrambled to pursue at full speed.

By now, Su Yueli's condition was at its absolute worst.

Burning thirty years of her lifespan and taking a fatal blow from a Seventh Realm expert had displaced nearly all her internal organs and ruptured her meridians on a massive scale.

Mouthfuls of blood spilled continuously from her lips, staining her blue-and-white dress.

Her vision was completely blurred, and her ears rang. She moved her legs mechanically, driven entirely by a Ji Dao martial artist's formidable physical instincts and her unyielding will.

Closer, closer.

The entrance to the secret realm, shimmering with a distorted barrier of light, was finally right before her.

Su Yueli gritted her teeth. A split second before her consciousness plunged into complete darkness, she leaped forward, diving headfirst into the distorted mist of the secret realm, and blacked out instantly.