On a battlefield, over a hundred powerhouses were fiercely engaged in combat.
The fighting was most intense in two areas. High in the sky, two Half-Step Martial Emperors were locked in a fierce battle. In another area, two Half-Step Martial Emperors were ganging up on a single Half-Step Martial Emperor.
The besieged Half-Step Martial Emperor was covered in blood, heavily injured.
Bang!
At that moment, caught off guard, the Half-Step Martial Emperor was struck by a blade from an elder of the Xiang family, clad in their distinctive attire, causing him to spit blood and fly backwards.
“Sheng Ning, You Boyi, not only will the elites of your Sheng family and Lingjian Sect fall here, but you’ll also drag your genius juniors to their graves. Truly foolish! Hahaha!” the Xiang family’s Half-Step Martial Emperor laughed loudly, his face full of glee.
Elsewhere, You Boyi, battling a Half-Step Martial Emperor from the Demon Sect, grew anxious. He unleashed his formidable power, relentlessly attacking his opponent, but he still couldn’t break free to aid the others.
“Elder Sheng Ning!”
In another area, Sheng Li shouted urgently, summoning the Wordless Heavenly Book. Twenty pages of the book flipped, unleashing terrifying power toward his opponent.
However, a Seventh Layer Martial Lord easily blocked it. Surging waves of energy erupted, and Sheng Li was forced back, blood spilling from his mouth.
At that moment, a black sword beam attacked Sheng Li. He countered with a palm strike, but the hastily unleashed force was far weaker than his opponent’s. A deafening boom rang out, and a terrifying shockwave sent Sheng Li flying, blood trickling from his mouth.
“Ming Que!”
Sheng Li glared at the young man in a patterned black robe who had attacked him. This youth was Ming Que, a genius from the Demon Sect, ranked eighth in the Southeast Region Youth Assembly, just one rank above Sheng Li.
Now, Sheng Li’s cultivation had reached Fifth Layer Martial Lord, the same as Ming Que’s.
However, his combat strength at the same level had grown stronger. In a one-on-one fight, he would not be inferior to Ming Que.
Yet, the enemy had the advantage in numbers, with a Seventh Layer Martial Lord joining Ming Que to attack him, leaving Sheng Li wounded and unable to fully engage either opponent.
“If you dare, fight me one-on-one!” Sheng Li couldn’t help but shout coldly.
“Hmph, defeated loser, you’re not worthy!” Ming Que snorted, ignoring Sheng Li. He gathered unmatched power and continued his assault.
The other Seventh Layer Martial Lord also charged at Sheng Li.
“Do I qualify?” Not far away, a young man’s shout rang out.
It was none other than Shi Jiuming, the genius ranked sixth in the Southeast Region Youth Assembly.
After joining Lingjian Sect, Shi Jiuming had made significant progress over the past six months, breaking through to Sixth Layer Martial Lord.
Unfortunately, his opponents were two seasoned Seventh Layer Martial Lords, against whom he had no strength to resist.
His handsome face was pale, his white robes stained with so much blood they had nearly turned red.
This was no fair fight, and Ming Que paid no heed to his words.
Shi Jiuming’s opponents gave him no chance to break free.
Elsewhere, Sheng Ning, who had been sent flying, was pale and weakened. Facing the simultaneous attacks from the Xiang family’s Half-Step Martial Emperor and the Demon Sect’s Half-Step Martial Emperor, he coldly spat, “Traitors, sooner or later, you’ll die at the hands of our clan leader!”
“Hmph, who dies remains to be seen. For now, you die!” With that, the Xiang family’s Half-Step Martial Emperor thrust his sword straight at Sheng Ning.
At the same time, the Demon Sect’s Half-Step Martial Emperor slashed at Sheng Ning from the other side.
Gravely injured, Sheng Ning could no longer hold on. Unable to block this strike with his yuan force, he closed his eyes.
“No!!!” The Sheng family members, including Sheng Li, roared in despair.
“Elder Sheng!”
You Boyi, the Half-Step Martial Emperor from Lingjian Sect, also shouted. He and Sheng Ning were close allies, having fought the Emperor Assailant together. Yet now, he could only watch helplessly as Sheng Ning faced death.
“Die!” The Demon Sect’s Half-Step Martial Emperor elder uttered softly. Their swords were already at Sheng Ning’s body. Even if Sheng Ning didn’t give up resisting, he was doomed.
But at that critical moment, everyone saw the two swords halt just as they were about to pierce and slash Sheng Ning.
The two attackers froze in midair, as if the scene had been paused.
Everyone felt an illusion, as if time had slowed down in their minds at the moment two Half-Step Martial Emperors were about to kill one.
Yet, after one or two breaths, their bodies remained motionless.
“What’s going on?” The crowd snapped back to reality. Even with a Half-Step Martial Emperor’s speed, their perception of time slowing couldn’t explain such a delay.
Clearly, the two had truly stopped.
Some even thought their eyes were playing tricks and rubbed them, but after three or four breaths, the scene remained frozen.
The two swords had stopped just a hair’s breadth from Sheng Ning.
“What’s happening?” Even Sheng Ning couldn’t help but open his eyes.
By all accounts, he should be dead. Why hadn’t he felt anything?
Seeing the two frozen before him, faces full of terror, Sheng Ning was utterly bewildered.
What was going on? Weren’t they about to kill him? Why had they stopped, and with such expressions?
“What’s this situation?”
At that moment, everyone in the battle was stunned. Why had two Half-Step Martial Emperors suddenly stopped?
But then, everyone saw the two clutch their heads. With a “crack,” their heads twisted several times before falling off, blood spraying wildly, drenching Sheng Ning.
“How is this possible?”
Everyone’s eyes widened, as if they were the size of eggs, filled with disbelief.
How could two Half-Step Martial Emperors suddenly freeze and have their necks snap on their own?
“Spirit controller, it’s a high-level spirit controller!” At that moment, the Demon Sect’s Half-Step Martial Emperor cried out in shock.
The crowd suddenly realized that only a spirit controller could control someone’s head to kill them.
But what kind of powerful spirit controller could immobilize two Half-Step Martial Emperors and twist their necks?
Even a Sixth Grade High-Level spirit controller likely couldn’t do it.
Could it be a Seventh Grade spirit controller?
But the entire Southeast Region had never heard of a Seventh Grade spirit controller. How could one appear?
As the crowd stood stunned and puzzled, a young man in black robes suddenly flew in from the horizon, appearing in everyone’s line of sight.
