Rebounding on his opponents’ distress, Xinzi put one hand on Dong Ling’s shoulder, “A’Ling, she can’t. As much as it pains me to say, in their eyes, the sword array and cultivation method mean more than these years of friendship. Otherwise, why would they be ambushing us? We can only blame ourselves for being too blind to their rotten nature.”
“Big Brother Xia, A’Ling was led astray by this evil monk. Allow him to keep sowing the seed of discord and he will truly ruin our brotherhood. Don’t let that so-called kindness he showed you in the past fool you. It was all part of his plan to strip you of all that should by right be yours.”
Both Xinzi and Chun Xu tightened their grip on their prey, cementing the divide between the four sworn siblings. Silence ensued, but while Dong Ling and Xia Hu’s minds reeled down a rollercoaster of emotions, the puppeteers dove into another mental contest.
‘Xinzi, I underestimated you.’
‘Likewise, love. To think that you’d try to dispose of me because you can’t stop thinking of my cock. How many inches do I pack in your dreams? Tss, tss, tss, poor brother Xia.’
‘Don’t act as if you wouldn’t pin me down and breed me to the ninth heaven if given a chance.’
‘Nah, I’d rather start by drowning that venomous tongue of yours in liters of warm spunk.’
‘And that…is why you have to die.’
With Xia Hu at the center, waves of Spiritual Qi billowed out—putting an end to the two’s exchange. How long had it been since someone brought out those unsavory episodes of his childhood? Xia Hu had long-locked all those memories in the deepest recesses of his mind, never bothering to relive them. And why should he?
Unlike what Dong Ling believed, of the list of things that put a smile on Xia Hu’s face, the village’s destruction ranked first. Each time he superimposed those depraved country folks’ happy days with their brutal deaths, each time he paired the village head’s heinous smile with his melting face, his mother’s doting eyes with her skewered chest, Xia Hu’s heart swelled with glee.
However, though they all deserved to suffer the eighteen hells, he couldn’t revel in their destruction. That wasn’t right. Not heroic. So he kept the memories trapped where he wouldn’t find them. A pity that Dong Ling had to bring them out.
Veins beat across Xia Hu’s arms and temple. His bloodshot eyes widened, his pupils shrank, and the two combined for a perverse look.
“The thing I dislike the most is betrayal. Xinzi, I admit that I don’t know why Chun Xu needs the Nine Paths of Yin and Yang. I also don’t care. If she wants it, I’ll get it. The same would have been true for you. But now…” Faster than the eyes could follow, Xia Hu unsheathed his sword—aiming it at Xinzi. “Since we must part ways, I will give you a chance to put up a worthy struggle. Three swords. Survive three of my sword strikes, and you’re free to go,” Xia Hu said.
“Don’t g—” Xia Hu’s words had barely left his lips that Chun Xu denied them. But before her interruption went through, Xia Hu cast her a sidelong glance—silencing all opposition with an oppressive surge of Spiritual Qi. In that instant, Chun Xu realized that she could manipulate him because he allowed her to and trusted that she had their best interest at heart. Once that trust weakened, his sword could swing at her the same way it’d soon swing at Xinzi.
Xinzi had no interest in Xia Hu’s offer. Since when did his survival become a product of Xia Hu’s will? The arrogance in those words almost made the monk want to renounce his vows—then again, he wasn’t following them well to begin with.
“The Golden Lotus be praised. Man proposes; Heaven disposes,” Xinzi joined his hands in a prayer sign, then tapped his storage ring. Four wooden swords flew out, orbiting Xinzi alongside his bronze pot and jewel box.
“Evil-Repelling Swords? Xinzi, if you want to leave this place with your head on your neck, you’ll have to do better.” Xia Hu didn’t recognize the bronze pot, didn’t care for the jewel box and disdained the wooden swords. While some arrays had fixed layers, others scaled up infinitely. The Evil-Repelling Array belonged to that category and was often used by monks to ward off beasts, ghosts and foul cultivators. However, as far as defensive formations went, it was one of the weakest. Even if he paired it with his Jeweled Dome, the array couldn’t affect the outcome of this fight. Dong Ling thought so as well and summoned her Lesser Spirit Snake Sword.
“A’Ling, I only ask you these two things: Don’t let go of the wooden sword, ask no question and make no move,” Xinzi said.
‘That’s three things,’ Dong Ling thought, but realizing that this was most likely a challenge set up by Xinzi to test her, she kept her mouth shut and sent her treasured sword back into her storage ring. Satisfied, the monk used his Spiritual Sense to align the wooden swords at the four cardinal points, with Dong Ling as the center.
Powered by Soul Force, without unique skills to exploit it, a cultivator’s Spiritual Sense only served three purposes: communication, telekinesis and long-range observation. But often, the depth of the Spiritual Sense also revealed how resourceful the cultivator was. In the Qi Refinement sphere, Xinzi’s Spiritual Sense only lost to Xia Hu, and yet the gap was so large that the two seemed to belong to entirely different realms—or so Xia Hu thought, at least.
“One.” Without budging from his spot, Xia Hu waved his sword in a casual slash. The daunting waves of Spiritual Qi coiling his slender form morphed into a single arc of Sword Qi that hurtled at Xinzi.
The runic marks on each of the wooden swords flashed and, still with Dong Ling as the center, the blunt tools shifted positions, going through 60 permutations in one breath as they conjured a thin screen of white light around Xinzi’s Jeweled Dome. But as if the screen failed to take note of Xia Hu’s sword strike, the blow went right through—not even leaving a scratch before colliding with Xinzi’s Jeweled Dome Array.
A deafening blast followed. But where Foundation Building experts failed to shake Xinzi’s dome, Xia Hu’s casual sword slash ripped it asunder. Large jewel stones broke down and tumbled in droves. The collision sent Xinzi reeling back. But though the dome couldn’t withstand the blow, it still took enough away to prevent the actual Sword Qi from reaching Xinzi. Instantly, Dong Ling’s face twisted into a grimace of sheer horror.
“This is not reasonable. How can a Qi Refinement cultivator unleash a blow of this magnitude?” Dong Ling couldn’t believe her eyes, and to say nothing of her, even Chun Xu had a hard time processing the scene. She too could have laid waste to Xinzi’s dome, but such a move would require her all-out strength. Xia Hu, however, wasn’t even getting warmed up. Xinzi’s feet sank in the cracking ice ground. Blood trickled down his lips, but still he remained unfazed, as if this result didn’t surprise him. The sight stabbed Dong Ling’s heart. She wanted to summon her sword and rush to Xinzi’s aid, but realized that by doing so she risked ruining his plans—whatever they might be. Opting to believe in the monk’s savvy, Dong Ling clenched her teeth and stood still.
Dazzling white light surged from Xia Hu. Over 3,000 Spiritual Drops powered them, locking the scene in a pressure infinitely close to Pulse Condensation. Underneath this might, Dong Ling, Chun Xu, Xinzi, all felt their knees buckle and their backs weigh 1,000 tons. Still, Xinzi raised his head, channeling his measly 90 Spiritual Drops to contend with the horrific aura Xia Hu unleashed.
Tapping his storage ring, Xinzi pulled out six lustrous Qi Gathering pills, the gifts he’d received from Xia Hu beforehand—and chugged them all down. However, instead of using the berserk qi surge to condense more Spiritual Drops, Xinzi repaired and fueled his Jeweled Dome—bracing himself for the next move.
‘What is wrong with him?’ Chun Xu thought. Time and time again, Xinzi showed a lack of judgment at odds with his usual self—making the Sword Fairy wonder if he wasn’t laying down a trap. But before Xia Hu’s absolute strength, what could Xinzi’s traps amount to?
“Two.” This time, Xia Hu adopted a fighting stance and cleaved upward. A radiant greatsword of pure white light took shape. Standing at over nine meters, the sword carried a might that no ordinary Foundation Building expert could resist. That might now bolted towards Xinzi’s renewed dome with clear murderous intent.
The monk’s hands moved in a succession of mudras. Again, the Evil-Repelling Array didn’t stand in Xia Hu’s way. The dazzling greatsword rammed through the Jeweled Dome, making the stones and Xinzi’s array burst into sparkling debris.
Xinzi’s Retribution Seal kicked into gear, but with only a Qi Refinement cultivation base to support it, it could do nothing against Xia Hu’s sword. A slashing sound followed, bringing alongside it the fall of Xinzi’s right forearm and an eruption of blood.
“Xinzi!” Dong Ling could finally not hold it in. Even Chun Xu frowned at the scene, feeling her heart clench for reasons she dared not comprehend. But as if it wasn’t his arm and blood tumbling down, Xinzi stood still and flashed Dong Ling a cold, disheartening stare.
“Good spirit. Worthy of being my beloved brother. But spirit alone can only get you so far. Xinzi, this is your last chance.” Xia Hu stressed the words by releasing a larger quantity of Spiritual Drops. And Before the audience’s astonished eyes, the 3,000-strong nightmare rose to unthinkable 4,500.
In the Great Desolation world’s recorded history, there was no such thing as fighting across two realms. No matter how gifted, strong or wealthy, the number one Qi Refinement cultivator couldn’t take a blow from the weakest Pulse Condensation expert. But as they stared at Xia Hu’s overwhelming force, all came to the conclusion that he…could subvert those certitudes with a single sword slash!
Oddly enough, it was precisely at this instant that Xinzi’s lips curled into a smile. Raising his mangled arm, the monk waved at the ceiling, sending his blood raining and forming patterns of its own on the ground and walls.
“From the Earth I came, to the Earth I return. If I don’t face the Bitter Sea, who will?” A golden lotus bloomed underneath Xinzi’s right arm and sucked it into its petals.
“That being the case, third…” Not caring for Xinzi’s plot, Xia Hu raised his sword for the final strike. Golden light poured forth, draping the monk in hallowed rays that drove his soul force to superior levels. At that time, Chun Xu noted that the same rays fuelled the patterns formed by Xinzi’s blood. On the ground, across the walls, all patterns lit up.
“Runic seals. Wait, aren’t these the patterns of a reverse poten…merciful Heavens, Xinzi stop!” For the first time since she appeared, Chun Xu lost her composure and unsheathed her sword. Confused by her outburst, Xia Hu cast her a sidelong glance, not noting that even the wooden swords now shone in golden light.
In that instant, the monk’s soul force exploded—eclipsing Xia Hu’s. The Mental Repression Xia Hu exerted on the Arctic Bearworms collapsed. The same golden rays that filled Xinzi’s eyes coiled their massive forms, and regardless of the obvious gap between Xia Hu and them, the dozens of beasts dropped on both Chun Xu and him with the hunger of 1,000 ravenous fiends!
Powered by the sacrifice of Xinzi’s arm, the blood seals cast an overbearing Reverse Potential Formation that merged with his Evil Repelling Array to transform it into the foul Evil Summoning Array. The souls that Xinzi had collected till now leaped out of the bronze pot, fueling this nefarious formation which, to Chun Xu’s grief, spread to cover the entirety of the Ice-Fire cave!
“I said it before. Xia Hu, there are many people you can afford to offend. I am not one of them. You can have my arm. I will settle for your life. And no, I’m not giving you three shots.” The calm and sinister tone that laced Xinzi’s words made the audience take the full measure of his unholy heart.
Baleful winds rose from the five wooden swords, forming a sharp contrast with the golden rays brightening the scene. Portals of pure darkness opened in the hundreds as, wave upon wave, ice and fire beasts at rank three and below reared their heads, joining the Arctic Bearworms to tear Xia Hu to shreds!