Riley spoke with quiet finality, his voice cold as steel. He did not waste breath on the dead.
"Boundless Stone Mountain Secret Technique: Overturning Heaven Sword Art."
The words left his lips in a calm murmur, the name grand and ostentatious—just enough to fool any onlookers who might have been listening.
In truth, the technique was meaningless, a smokescreen designed to mask what he was really doing. Behind the theatrics, a different force stirred—one ancient, formless, and impossibly lethal.
A faint shimmer passed through the air. Nothing more. No flash of light, no thunderous roar. And yet—
"Puchi!"
The sound was soft, almost gentle. Like a fruit being sliced open.
One moment, Daoist Ghosty Zealot hovered proudly in the sky, exuding boundless arrogance and the aura of an untouchable expert. The next, his vision tilted.
His world spun sideways, and for a split second, he couldn't comprehend why.
Then he saw his own body—still standing, still poised in midair, unmoving.
