“Spirit Burst Pill!” Gazing at the jade vial flying toward him, Lin Xiao crushed it with a palm, seizing the pill and shoving it into his mouth.
As the Spirit Burst Pill dissolved, it transformed into a surge of potent medicinal power, rushing toward his crown and seeping into his mind.
In that instant, Lin Xiao’s spiritual power skyrocketed—from third-grade intermediate to third-grade advanced.
For an ordinary spirit controller, third-grade advanced spiritual power equated to Heavenly Martial Ninth Layer.
With their unique techniques, they could tangle with an early-stage Martial King for a time.
But Lin Xiao’s spiritual power outstripped the norm by a grade. His third-grade advanced was akin to fourth-grade elementary—equivalent to a Martial King Third Layer.
It surpassed the pursuing Martial King.
“Lin Xiao, die!” Seizing the moment as Ye Fenghua turned to counter Feng Ziyang, the early-stage Martial King closed in, slashing again. A vast sword beam erupted from his blade, bearing overwhelming force as it cleaved horizontally.
“One Hand Covers the Sky!”
Above Lin Xiao, a massive spiritual energy palm coalesced, infused with third-grade advanced power, and smashed toward the sword beam.
“Rumble!”
A deafening roar shook the air. The sword beam shattered, and the colossal energy palm struck the Martial King, hurling him far back.
“How is this possible?!”
Disbelief twisted the Martial King’s face as blood sprayed from his mouth. His body flailed like a kite with a severed string.
He couldn’t fathom how Lin Xiao’s strength had surged so drastically—surpassing even his own as a Martial King.
“No—he’s getting away!” Chen Wendao, locked in combat with Yi Xuanfeng, frowned sharply. With a flick of his hand, a dome-shaped weapon shot toward Yi Xuanfeng.
“Heh, even a Martial King can’t stop him—you won’t hold him today!” Yi Xuanfeng laughed, unleashing a radiant fist beam at the weapon.
But as the fist beam struck the dome, it didn’t repel it—instead, the energy was absorbed, and the weapon glowed with brilliant golden light.
The light flared like a sun, enveloping Yi Xuanfeng in a blink. It solidified into a crystalline shell, unyielding as a fortress, trapping him inside.
Boom!
Yi Xuanfeng hammered it with another fist, but the golden dome held firm, his expression darkening.
“Hmph, Yi Xuanfeng, this is the Mysterious Golden Light Dome—a treasure I found in ancient ruins, my hidden trump card. I didn’t want to reveal it, but today it’s yours. You won’t break free anytime soon!”
Chen Wendao snorted coldly, blurring into an afterimage as he chased the fleeing Lin Xiao.
By now, Lin Xiao had escaped several li from the Feng estate—not a safe zone yet. Only by leaving the imperial city and reaching the outer forests could he claim a preliminary escape.
“Die!” As Lin Xiao focused his third-grade advanced spiritual power on flight, a terrifying force struck from behind.
It was a high-tier Martial Venerable’s power, threatening to rupture the void—far too strong for him to block. The scent of death loomed.
Glancing back, he prepared to dodge, but the radiant fist beam was mere zhang away. At its speed, evasion was impossible.
“No!” Just as the fist beam neared, a clear voice rang out. A lithe figure stepped before him.
She was a radiant beauty—delicate brows, bright eyes, clad in a simple red dress, untainted by worldly dust, like an ethereal fairy.
It was Chen Qing’er. Her body shimmered with pure light, her pupils blazing as a misty force erupted from them, clashing with Chen Wendao’s fist beam.
Boom!
A thunderous crash resounded as the fist beam pierced her pupil light, slamming into her.
“Pfft!” Blood gushed from Chen Qing’er’s mouth, splattering across her body. Her red dress stained crimson, her form became a mangled wreck.
She was flung back violently.
“Chen Qing’er!” Lin Xiao’s heart jolted. Reaching out, her body crashed into his arms, dragging them both downward.
A second-grade spirit controller, using a special pupil technique to block a Martial Venerable’s strike—the outcome was obvious.
“Why?”
Gazing at her bloodied, ashen face, barely clinging to life, Lin Xiao’s voice trembled.
He couldn’t fathom why Chen Qing’er would sacrifice herself to save him—him, her brother’s killer.
His heart quaked.
Chen Qing’er shook her head silently, a tear tracing her cheek.
“But I killed your brother with my own hands,” Lin Xiao rasped, his voice low.
She didn’t speak, managing a faint, bitter smile before her eyes slowly closed.
Her life slipped away in moments.
“Ah!”
Lin Xiao roared to the heavens, hair whipping wildly. A blood dragon anomaly materialized behind him, its rolling aura sweeping outward.
Someone he barely knew, with little connection, had given her life to shield him—her brother’s murderer—from her own elder’s fatal blow.
What kind of resolve was this?
His howl echoed far, his aura surging.
“Qing’er!” Chen Wendao’s body shuddered, freezing in place.
Though Chen Yan and Chen Qing’er weren’t his children, their talents had made him treat them as his own in recent years.
They were the Chen family’s brightest stars, his hopes for the next generation. Now, one was slain by Lin Xiao, and the other had died by his hand for Lin Xiao’s sake.
The crowd stared, stunned. The Chen family head had killed Chen Qing’er himself?
Feng Youyu’s heart trembled. To set aside a brother’s murder, to sacrifice her life and betray her family—what depth of feeling was this? She and Chen Qing’er hadn’t even been that close, had they? And what about herself?
“Beast!”
Chen Wendao’s fury erupted in a thunderous roar. His aura exploded like a flood, hair flaring wildly, boundless killing intent surging. The void itself seemed to quake.
Far off, Lin Xiao’s aura climbed, breaking through a layer. He pulled out the Thunder Spirit Pill—snatched from Yunfeng—and swallowed it, refining it rapidly.
Unmatched thunderous medicinal power fused with his spiritual energy, surging into his mind as wild lightning energy.
In his emotional peak, Lin Xiao pushed the Eternal Heavenly Spirit Art beyond his limits, swiftly blending the lightning energy with his dual spiritual powers.
His body roared to life, channeling the Heaven-Devouring Spirit Finger. Thunder, Heaven-Devouring, and Azure Fire energies raced through his meridians like a raging sea, coursing through his arm to his fingertip.
