Chapter 175: No One May Insult the Patriarch
No One May Insult the Patriarch
His voice rang across the mountain.
"Old dog!! How dare you insult our Patriarch!!"
The Death Illusion Demon Flame surged skyward, summoning countless phantoms—truth and illusion intertwined.
As if pulling all into a world of void.
The moment those words formed in Austin Salvatore’s heart, the world around him seemed to lose its shape.
The battlefield, the mountains, the countless watching prodigies—all of it became distant.
Only darkness remained.
Not ordinary darkness.
It was the kind of darkness that seemed to have no beginning and no end, a boundless void where even sound struggled to exist.
Austin’s pupils contracted.
He could feel something ancient stirring within him.
"Master! Help me kill this old dog!!"
The words were not spoken aloud.
They thundered through his soul.
Akeno’s ancient voice echoed inside Austin’s mind.
"Yes!"
The answer was quiet.
Yet the instant that single word sounded, an overwhelming force awakened.
Akeno’s soul power surged through Austin’s body.
It was like an ancient river suddenly breaking through a dam.
Austin’s muscles tightened.
His bones trembled.
His blood seemed to boil.
Then—
The Death Illusion Demon Flame changed.
The flames that had been roaring toward the heavens suddenly quieted.
They stopped burning wildly.
Instead, they scattered.
One spark.
Then another.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Countless pale flames floated around Austin like drifting motes of light.
They were beautiful.
Almost peaceful.
There was no terrifying roar anymore.
No overwhelming blaze.
Only countless tiny sparks weaving through the air.
Yet every spark contained an illusion.
A world.
A dream.
A lifetime.
A person could look into one of those flames and lose themselves forever.
This...
Was the true power of the Death Illusion Demon Flame.
Not destruction.
Not simply burning.
But illusion.
The ability to make reality itself indistinguishable from a dream.
Even the Lunar Saint’s gaze became unfocused for a brief moment.
His pupils trembled.
For someone of his cultivation, that momentary lapse was practically impossible.
But Austin caught it.
His body moved.
There was no hesitation.
His foot slammed into the ground.
BOOM!
The earth beneath him cracked.
Austin exploded forward.
His fist tore through the air, wrapped in terrifying physical strength and the pale radiance of the Death Illusion Demon Flame.
Then—
BOOM!
His fist struck the Lunar Saint directly.
The impact erupted like thunder.
The air distorted.
The Lunar Saint’s robes snapped violently behind him as his body was forced backward.
One step.
Two steps.
Several steps.
He finally stabilized himself.
Silence descended over Red Cliff Mountain.
The surrounding prodigies stared in disbelief.
A young cultivator had actually forced a Lunar Saint backward.
"Insolent brat!!"
The Lunar Saint’s expression changed completely.
His face flushed with fury.
He was a Lunar Saint.
Wherever he went, countless cultivators bowed their heads.
Even powerful clans treated him with respect.
He had lowered himself enough to offer these three young prodigies the chance to become his disciples.
Yet they had refused.
Worse—
They had attacked him.
The humiliation burned hotter than the wounds.
His eyes became cold.
With a single wave of his hand, the void trembled.
Countless phantom weapons appeared in the sky.
Swords.
Spears.
Halberds.
Blades.
Every weapon was formed from condensed law power.
They floated above Austin like a black storm waiting to fall.
"Die!"
The Lunar Saint’s voice carried no warmth.
The weapons descended.
RUMBLE—!
It was like an endless rain of blades falling from heaven.
Every weapon tore through space.
Every weapon carried enough power to obliterate an Astral Manifestation Realm cultivator instantly.
Austin stood beneath them.
He didn’t move.
Instead, he raised his head.
His black eyes burned.
"Old dog!! Our Patriarch is a being of divine stature—how dare you slander him!!"
His voice rang across the mountain.
"If you gave our Salvatore Family time, even our gate-guarding disciples could beat ten of you!!"
His words were almost reckless.
But Austin meant every single one.
He remembered everything.
The resources.
The cultivation techniques.
The treasures.
The opportunities.
The way Victor had resolved the broken engagement that had once weighed on his heart.
And most importantly—
Those words.
Walk forward boldly.
Walk your own path.
Everything can start anew.
Austin had never forgotten them.
To others, Victor was the Patriarch of the Salvatore Family.
To Austin...
Victor had been the person who gave him the courage to stand again when his entire world had collapsed.
How could he tolerate someone insulting him?
Even if the one standing before him were a god.
Even if it were a Buddha.
Even if heaven itself descended.
Austin would still burn it.
He would burn the heavens with his flames.
SHING—!
SHING—SHING—!
The endless weapons descended.
Space trembled.
The ground shattered.
The very air seemed to scream beneath the pressure.
Austin remained still.
Akeno’s ancient voice sounded inside his heart.
"Leave this to me!"
Austin’s expression softened for the briefest moment.
"Thank you, Master!"
His voice was quiet.
Then he closed his eyes.
Something changed.
The youthful fire that had filled Austin’s gaze disappeared.
When he opened his eyes again—
They were no longer the eyes of a young man.
They were ancient.
Weathered.
Cold.
They carried the weight of countless years.
It was as though an existence that had watched civilizations rise and fall had awakened inside his body.
The incoming weapons filled his vision.
Austin—or rather, Akeno controlling his body—merely sighed.
It was a quiet sigh.
Almost tired.
Then her hand moved.
The Death Illusion Demon Flame danced between her fingers.
A single pale spark drifted forward.
Then another.
The flames moved gently through the storm of weapons.
Wherever they passed—
The weapons disappeared.
There was no explosion.
No collision.
No earth-shaking confrontation.
They simply vanished.
One after another.
The countless weapons formed from pure law power melted before the pale flames like snow falling into a furnace.
Silently.
Completely.
Gone.
The Lunar Saint’s eyes widened.
"What!! How is this possible?!"
His voice cracked with disbelief.
That attack had contained genuine law power.
Under the Great Laws of World, ordinary living beings were little more than ants.