I Can Only Cultivate In A Game-Chapter 194: A List Of Three

Huang nodded slowly. "Then allow me to confirm his energy signature against our inner records. It's protocol. We must ensure we don't wrongfully execute someone with fabricated evidence."

Ruanzhi paused. "You think I don't know my own disciples?"

"I think that the Pavilion would prefer caution over recklessness."

A tense silence followed, then Ruanzhi stepped aside.

Tarkos met Huang's eyes. For a second, no words were exchanged. But the message was clear.

Before the strongest elder could blink, Elder Huang suddenly sprang into action and grabbed hold of him from behind.

He locked his arms and pulled him backward with great force.

Just at that very moment, Victor came bursting into the chamber with a sharp glint in his eyes and several qi-locking talismans in hand.

He immediately slapped two of them on the elder's back in quick succession.

But before he could slap the third one, Elder Ruanzhi let out a sudden surge of resistance.

Despite the talismans beginning to suppress his qi flow, the elder twisted violently and wriggled free from Elder Huang's grip with a serpent-like movement. His hand flashed forward and landed a brutal palm strike right on Victor's chest.

Victor was flung backward like a broken kite and crashed straight through the thick stone wall with a thunderous crack while coughing blood mid-air as he landed.

The qi-locking talismans were not enough to completely suppress Elder Ruanzhi. He growled and reached back to rip them off his body but was struggling to do so.

However, Tarkos had already recovered from the pressure that had bound him earlier.

Without hesitation, he dashed forward in a flash and grabbed Elder Ruanzhi from behind, preventing the elder from taking off the talismans.

"Now it's my turn," Tarkos snarled, and with great force, he rammed the elder face-first into the ground, forming cracks beneath them.

However, despite being suppressed, Elder Ruanzhi's cultivation strength was still overwhelming due to the fact that he was a Void Tribulation Elder.

With a flash of light, his body glowed and twisted like a slithering serpent. He suddenly reversed their positions, slipping out of Tarkos's hold smoothly.

"Too slow," he whispered, and then unleashed a vicious technique.

Ten strikes landed on Tarkos in the blink of an eye laced with the power of Void-Serpent Style martial arts.

Tarkos's body flew into the ceiling from the force, smashing into it and crashing back to the ground with a loud thud with blood dripping from his mouth.

In the next instant, Victor came bolting through the collapsing entrance of the chamber while coughing through a veil of dust and debris as fragments of stone rained down from the shattered wall.

His ribs ached from Elder Ruanzhi's palm strike as he let out heavy breaths. Still, he pushed himself forward.

Inside the now-exposed interrogation hall, Elder Huang's arm was still outstretched from his last attack as a spiral of residual energy crackled around his fingers.

Tarkos was already staggering to his feet despite being bloody and bruised.

His tattoo-covered body was still smoking slightly from the ten-palm strikes he'd just endured. And yet, his eyes glowed with murderous fury.

"You bastards think you can take me down?!" Elder Ruanzhi roared as blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

His fingers dug into the qi-locking talismans stuck to his robes, desperately trying to rip them off.

But before he could, Tarkos moved again.

In a blur, he wrapped both arms around Elder Ruanzhi's waist and hoisted him into the air before slamming him back into the marble floor with a bone-rattling crash. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

The chamber shook from the impact as dust plumed into the air.

But even suppressed, the Void Tribulation Realm elder was too powerful.

His body twisted unnaturally as he invoked a forbidden movement technique, his form slithering like a serpent from Tarkos's grasp. In the blink of an eye, he struck back—a storm of palm blows crashing into Tarkos's chest.

Victor surged back while swinging his blade infused with Shadow Crescent Strike.

<[ Shadow Crescent Strike Activated ]>

The strike connected with Elder Ruanzhi's shoulder, but the blade only grazed flesh. The elder retaliated immediately with a spinning palm that knocked Victor sideways into one of the stone support pillars.

A crack echoed as Victor hit the floor hard.

"ENOUGH!" Elder Huang's voice thundered.

Golden light enveloped him as a complex seal formation bloomed around his body. He had been preparing this attack for the last couple of minutes which was why he hadn't been very involved in the fight.

In an instant, he invoked one of his strongest techniques—a radiant lotus of pure spiritual qi.

Elder Ruanzhi's eyes widened, but he was too late.

The lotus unfolded and blasted toward him. Energy carved into his chest, ripping his robes and drawing a cry of pain from his lips. He was driven to one knee and began gasping for air.

"Why, Huang?!" he snarled. "You conniving rat!"

"Because you bastards were always the real poison in this sect... and I have chosen to be on Fang Chen's side," Elder Huang spat.

The elder instantly tried to flee...

He staggering toward the exit with bloodied steps.

Victor body trembled as he forced himself up. Tarkos descended from above with a yell, and both of them struck together—

Victor hit the elder with a Frost Bloom Palm to the ribs causing his movement and little qi flow to be hindered while a piercing ink spike that burst from Tarkos tattoos.

The dual strike hit home, sending Elder Ruanzhi toppling forward.

But he wasn't done yet.

Even while falling, the elder twisted and launched his arm back with his palm glowing. The shockwave from his dying blow sent Victor flying into a stone wall and Tarkos skidding backward in a spray of dust and blood.

Victor groaned as his body turned even more bruised. He was losing a lot of HP.

He couldn't imagine how much more terrifying it would have been if they were fighting the elder at his full strength.

Tarkos clutched his stomach in pain.

However at the last minute, Elder Huang appeared above the fallen Elder Ruanzhi and drove a blade of pure qi into his back.

The light in Elder Ruanzhi's eyes dimmed.

It was done.

Victor could barely register the sensation of victory before distant footsteps and panicked voices rang out.

"We're out of time," Elder Huang said quickly. "Go. Now."

He staggered backward, then, without warning, stabbed himself in the abdomen. Blood splattered across the chamber floor.

"What the hell?!" Victor exclaimed.

"I need to fake things and It has to look real," Elder Huang clutched his stomach in agony. "I'll tell them Elder Ruanzhi fought to the end. That we were attacked. Now go!"

Tarkos didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Victor by the arm and dragged him toward the tunnel exit. As they ran, Elder Huang collapsed dramatically beside the elder's corpse as blood pooled at his knees.

Moments later, more than a dozen disciples burst into the room.

"Elder Huang! What happened?!"

The old man coughed with blood stained lips.

"We were attacked... powerful intruders... Elder Ruanzhi gave his life... to protect me."

Cries of outrage filled the room. Several disciples dropped to their knees beside Ruanzhi's mangled body, while others raced out in every direction.

"Seal the grounds! We must catch the culprits!"

But Victor and Tarkos were already gone.

Outside the pavilion, deep in the hidden alleyways of Yinfrost City, the two of them collapsed behind a vendor's shed.

"That... was way too close," Victor panted.

Tarkos didn't respond at first. He sat silently, with his clothes soaked in blood. Then he looked up and grinned.

"That old man just bought us the time we need."

Victor nodded.

"Now we have three left. Two senior disciples and one eldef. And then this damn list is done."

Alarms rang out in the distance, causing them to move this discussion back to their hideout.

Just as Victor had stated, they truly had only three left on the list.

Yan Rui, Xiao Mei and the remaining female elder.

...

...

In the coming days, Victor and Tarkos made investigations and properly plotted their next plan on how to take down the three left on the list.

However, they discovered that Xiao Mei had vanished after the last incident. Now matter how much they tried to look for her, she was nowhere to be found.

Whether she had gone into hiding or was preparing some countermeasures, no one knew.

For now, she was off the board.

So the attention shifted to the last two.

The female elder—Zhen Luyin, a woman known for her cruel methods and terrifying ice techniques—

And Yan Rui who was still in seclusion, attempting her breakthrough to the Soul Transformation Realm.

With the strongest elder already dead and the sect in disarray, disciples were fleeing the pavilion in droves.

Many no longer wanted any part in the growing chaos. Only the most loyal—or the most ambitious—remained behind.

This shift in numbers made infiltration easier.