“Whoosh!”
At that moment, the rhinoceros tapir didn’t self-destruct. Instead, it darted to the side of Lin Xiao’s original position at top speed.
Using a method akin to burning its essence blood, the rhinoceros tapir moved with incredible swiftness.
However, after Lin Xiao charged forward, there wasn’t much angle between him and the beast.
Lin Xiao rushed straight at the rhinoceros tapir, while the beast followed its original path. In an instant, Lin Xiao collided diagonally with the charging rhinoceros tapir.
Pfft!
A loud sound rang out. In the eyes of the onlookers, a large spray of blood gushed forth. The rhinoceros tapir’s speed slowed drastically, a gaping, bloody wound on its side.
Looking at Lin Xiao, who had come to a stop, he held a broken sword in one hand, his entire body drenched in blood.
Clearly, this blood belonged to the rhinoceros tapir.
“You!” The rhinoceros tapir, halted after only a short distance, looked at Lin Xiao in disbelief, then at the wound several feet deep on its body, unable to accept the reality.
“How can your strength be so great? How did you know I wasn’t going to self-destruct but to flee?” The rhinoceros tapir stared at Lin Xiao, asking in disbelief.
It couldn’t comprehend. In such a situation, even Martial Emperors were convinced it would self-destruct and fled in fear. Yet this youth not only didn’t retreat but attacked.
Moreover, this youth’s strength was astonishing. A typical Martial Lord couldn’t even cut into its body and would be knocked away.
But this youth’s broken sword sliced deep into its flesh.
Already critically injured and on the verge of death, it had burned its essence blood to forcefully attempt escape, risking its life even if it succeeded.
Now, with this deep sword wound, it had no chance of survival, not even the strength to self-destruct.
Its aura grew weaker by the moment.
Its only remaining question was how this youth knew it would flee.
Not just the rhinoceros tapir, but even Ling Xiao and the others who had retreated were eager to know the reason.
They couldn’t see any flaw in the rhinoceros tapir’s feigned self-destruction.
“Though you’re a spirit beast, your instinctive reaction betrayed you,” Lin Xiao said, turning around slowly. “The moment you saw me, a flicker of something unusual passed through your eyes. If I’m not mistaken, that fleeting reaction was you sensing a chance to survive.”
“In other words, you initially planned to self-destruct, but seeing me changed your mind.”
With the memories of the Heaven-Devouring Spirit Emperor, Lin Xiao was highly sensitive to danger and subtle changes in an opponent’s expression.
When the rhinoceros tapir glanced at him, he noticed a glimmer of hope in its despair.
He deduced that it likely saw him in this direction and sensed an opportunity.
Had he not been there, the rhinoceros tapir might have self-destructed without hesitation. But his presence in this direction led it to mistakenly believe this path was less defended.
It likely assumed he was just a Martial Lord youth protected by a purple corpse puppet, and in such an urgent situation, the puppet, lacking much intelligence, wouldn’t react in time.
Thus, the rhinoceros tapir saw a chance to escape.
Though it harboured deep resentment toward their group, it didn’t mean it wanted to die.
“Of course, there was an element of gambling involved,” Lin Xiao added.
Though he had guessed it, he wasn’t entirely certain. Charging in like that carried a gamble.
If the rhinoceros tapir had truly self-destructed, he’d be in grave danger.
“I, hate!” The rhinoceros tapir spat out its final words, and then its life force vanished.
It likely died unwillingly, unable to accept falling to a human youth.
The rhinoceros tapir’s corpse slowly fell from the void.
With a flash, Lin Xiao collected the entire corpse into his storage ring.
This rhinoceros tapir was a seventh-tier primary spirit beast. Beyond its spirit core, its entire body was a treasure, not to be wasted.
Afterward, Lin Xiao turned, his gaze sweeping over the fire vine sap and the red pixiu juvenile’s corpse.
Though the red pixiu juvenile was dead, headless, and without a spirit core, as a descendant of a legendary ancient ferocious beast, its corpse likely held value.
As for the fire vine sap, beyond its healing effects for those with fire-based constitutions or spirit beasts, it was a high-quality medicinal material with many uses.
He intended to claim both.
However, the other Martial Emperors were still present.
Lin Xiao’s gaze shifted to the Martial Emperors who had retreated some distance.
Catching Lin Xiao’s cold stare, the Demon Sect’s Great Elder and Ming Luo shuddered, their faces showing apprehension.
The Great Elder, in a panic, shouted, “Go!”
With that, he turned and fled.
With the red pixiu juvenile dead, the fire vine sap was valuable but not critical for them, useful only for trading.
With Duan Huang dead, the strength of the Emperor Assailants’ side was clearly inferior.
Staying was pointless and even life-threatening.
Better to flee while they had already retreated some distance.
Ming Luo seemed to share the same thought. As soon as the Great Elder spoke, he moved almost simultaneously, fleeing at top speed.
The Evil Sect Leader hesitated briefly before fleeing as well.
With the other two gone, staying would only disadvantage him.
As the three fled, they each took out their Sky-Soaring Boats, activating the resources within. The boats glowed with golden light, enveloping them, and they shot into the horizon like beams of light.
Ling Xiao, Fu Yan, and Lin Xiao didn’t pursue.
In truth, Lin Xiao intentionally let them escape.
His spiritual power was nearly depleted, and his origin force was almost exhausted. Continuing to fight, he likely couldn’t take down the Great Elder.
If the Great Elder held out until Lin Xiao’s origin force was completely drained, it would be Lin Xiao’s turn to be in danger.
In reality, he was only projecting strength now.
Seeing Lin Xiao refrain from acting, Ling Xiao naturally didn’t pursue either. Even if they chased immediately, the distance the others had retreated made catching them unlikely.
After the three fled, Lin Xiao’s gaze turned to Fu Yan.
Fu Yan’s heart skipped a beat, genuinely fearing Lin Xiao might attack him.
If Lin Xiao did, regardless of whether Ling Xiao intervened, Lin Xiao and the purple corpse puppet together could kill him.
He had seen Lin Xiao’s strength clearly.
“Emperor Ling, don’t forget we’re still part of the Zhengxiu Alliance. Farewell!” Fu Yan said, turning to flee. He activated his Sky-Soaring Boat, transforming into a beam of light and vanishing into the horizon.
His words were a reminder to make Ling Xiao hesitate.
In truth, even without the reminder, Ling Xiao had no intention of attacking Fu Yan.
Nor did Lin Xiao plan to kill him.
He had killed Elder Zhou because he was confident the news wouldn’t spread.
Even if it did, Zhou’s attack on him justified the killing, and he could explain it to Sikong Jian or Emperor Sheng.
But killing Fu Yan would likely provoke Sikong Jian.
If Sikong Jian acted recklessly, the Spear Dragon Sect, the Ling family, and the Purple family would face unrest, and Sikong Jian might even join the Emperor Assailants.
Thus, Lin Xiao had no intention of touching Fu Yan for now.
“Lin Xiao, killing Elder Zhou will make things hard to explain when Fu Yan returns,” Ling Xiao said with concern after Fu Yan left.
“We’ll deal with it step by step. At worst, we’ll break ties with them,” Lin Xiao replied.
Ling Xiao nodded helplessly. He didn’t want a rift with the alliance, especially with the powerful Emperor Assailants to face, but there was no other way now.
At that moment, Ling Xiao noticed Lin Xiao suddenly smile, looking at him with a grin. “Senior Ling, congratulations,” he said.
“Congratulations?” Ling Xiao was baffled. What was there to congratulate him for?
