The black-haired old man, a Martial King powerhouse, was not easily controlled. His vast vital energy surged, repelling the spiritual force. Immediately after, he swung his arms, launching a fierce attack towards the masked old man.
**Boom! Boom! Boom!**
The two clashed mid-air, their strikes creating thunderous roars. Waves of immense energy continuously radiated outward as the two powerhouses engaged in a fierce battle.
“You want to kill me?” Lin Xiao’s icy gaze fixed sharply on Zhou Xiong, an overwhelming killing intent surging within him.
However, at that very moment, Lin Xiao sensed an even colder aura of killing intent and danger approaching him. A spiritual force was controlling a dagger, flying towards him from the side at lightning speed.
The dagger did not come from the masked man’s direction but from someone else entirely.
“Third-grade advanced spiritual force! This is bad!” Lin Xiao’s expression changed drastically. He quickly flung out the skeletal hand, attaching a spiritual force to it, and swung it horizontally to block the incoming dagger.
“Wait, this direction is… Meng Ying!” Lin Xiao’s brows furrowed deeply. Meng Ying was standing about two zhang behind him, and the dagger’s trajectory was clearly aimed half an arm’s length away from him—directly at Meng Ying.
Now he understood. The masked man’s true target was Meng Ying, not him.
The masked man’s attack on him was merely a diversion to draw away Meng Ying’s guards, while another third-grade advanced spiritual controller took the opportunity to assassinate Meng Ying.
Lin Xiao had no time to think further. In that split second, he pushed his spiritual control to the limit, shifting his position to stand directly in front of Meng Ying.
**Clang!**
A sharp metallic clang rang out as the dagger struck the center of the skeletal hand. However, the dagger continued its momentum, pushing through the skeletal hand and still heading towards Meng Ying.
“Be careful!” Chen Qing’er shouted in alarm. A lotus-shaped weapon flew out, intercepting the dagger in front of Meng Ying.
**Clang!** Another metallic clang echoed as the dagger, still carrying the force from the skeletal hand, struck the lotus disk. Most of the dagger’s impact was absorbed, but a residual force remained, causing Meng Ying to stagger back four or five steps from the recoil.
Fortunately, Meng Ying was unharmed. The dagger, now too far from the attacking spiritual controller, lost its control and fell to the ground.
Meng Ying’s face showed a trace of seriousness as she sensed the danger. It was clear that someone had been lying in ambush, waiting for the right moment to strike.
The crowd was also in shock. The attack had been too fast and too sudden, leaving them barely any time to react.
“Be careful!” Lin Xiao urgently warned. He saw the attacker—a black-clad masked man—rushing out from the crowd towards them. At the same time, another dagger was already flying towards them.
In that instant, Meng Ying raised her sword, and Chen Qing’er controlled the lotus disk weapon to rise into the air.
Lin Xiao also hurriedly controlled the skeletal hand to return. But when the dagger flew closer, he realized that its speed and power had increased severalfold compared to the previous strike. In the blink of an eye, it was upon them.
“Fourth-grade initial spiritual force!” Lin Xiao was shocked. The spiritual force controlling the dagger had reached the level of a fourth-grade initial spiritual controller.
At the same time, the masked black-clad man fighting the Martial King guard was suddenly weakened by the reduction in spiritual force and was pushed back.
“It’s him amplifying the spiritual force!” Lin Xiao instantly realized that the fourth-grade initial spiritual controller fighting the Martial King guard had diverted a portion of his spiritual force to enhance the dagger.
In other words, the dagger, originally controlled by a third-grade advanced spiritual force, had been further amplified by a fourth-grade initial spiritual force, making its power unimaginably stronger.
By now, the dagger was already upon them. Even though Lin Xiao’s skeletal hand was only two or three zhang away, it still couldn’t intercept the dagger in time.
**Screech!** A metallic screech echoed as the dagger grazed the edge of the skeletal hand, sending sparks flying and knocking the skeletal hand far away.
The dagger, still carrying immense force, continued its trajectory. Similarly, Chen Qing’er’s lotus disk couldn’t intercept it in time, leaving them helpless as the dagger shot straight towards Meng Ying’s heart.
“How dare you!”
At this critical moment, a thunderous roar erupted, and a massive wave of spiritual force surged towards them.
The dagger froze in place, just half an inch away from Meng Ying’s chest.
“Phew…” Meng Ying herself gasped in shock. The speed of the dagger, enhanced by a fourth-grade spiritual controller, was so fast that she barely had time to react. In the blink of an eye, it had nearly pierced her chest. Thankfully, someone had intervened to save her.
The brush with death left Meng Ying’s heart racing, her chest heaving as she caught her breath.
“Hmph! How bold of you to dare assassinate the princess at the trading fair!”
The martial king’s guard, who was currently fighting the masked man, was drenched in sweat because the two consecutive strikes were too fast.
Moreover, the fourth-grade primary spirit controller opposite him unleashed the most fierce attack, making it hard for him to keep up and nearly causing a serious mistake.
In that instant, the opponent’s most ferocious attack weakened slightly, allowing him to repel the attacker. However, he didn’t expect the opponent to divert some spiritual energy to attach to a dagger and attempt to sneak an attack on Meng Ying.
A spirit controller of the same rank is truly terrifying.
Secretly relieved, the martial king’s guard immediately launched a frenzied attack on the masked man.
“Go!” After failing the sneak attack again and seeing the appearance of another fourth-grade intermediate spirit controller, the masked fourth-grade primary spirit controller shouted loudly. His speed suddenly surged as he swept toward the third-grade spirit controller masked man and swiftly flew away.
“Don’t chase! He’s using a speed-boosting secret technique!” the bald old man quickly shouted.
He clearly sensed that the opponent’s escape speed was faster than his own, making it impossible to catch up. Even with a higher grade, his speed couldn’t match it, indicating the use of some secret technique to accelerate.
Hearing this, the martial king’s guard, who had chased for over ten meters, immediately stopped and flew back toward Meng Ying, fearing that the two might return to attack her again.
“Who dares to be so bold as to target the granddaughter of the old lady!” the bald old man sighed, his gaze turning toward the stunned Zhou Xiong.
The black-haired old man, along with Meng Ying, Lin Xiao, and others, also turned their eyes toward Zhou Xiong.
Zhou Xiong’s heart trembled. Among the younger generation, he feared no one, but this bald old man was someone he couldn’t help but dread.
This person was none other than Situ Guang, one of the two deputy alliance leaders of the Spirit Controller Alliance’s main headquarters.
Even if Situ Guang were to reprimand him, his family’s patriarch would politely respond, and given their close relationship, if Situ Guang were to express any dissatisfaction to his grandfather, he would undoubtedly face severe punishment.
Therefore, Zhou Xiong feared Situ Guang more than anyone else.
