“Shiu!” At that moment, a figure streaked through the air, catching the falling Wu Sha in one arm.
It was Situ Guang—a fourth-grade intermediate spirit controller!
He swiftly fed her a pill, glanced down at Lin Xiao, then charged toward an approaching Martial King. He avoided fighting near Lin Xiao, knowing the danger it posed.
“Lin Xiao, take the Fierce Essence Pill—catch this!” As Lin Xiao watched Wu Sha being carried off, a telepathic voice surged into his mind.
Turning, he saw a fiery, graceful figure flying toward him—Feng Huo—her palm outstretched, aiming a strike.
In her palm rested a red pill—the Fierce Essence Pill, a third-grade intermediate creation from the alchemy competition. It explosively boosted vitality.
With Lin Xiao’s current vitality and spiritual power, he was barely standing, let alone fighting or fleeing.
Consuming the Fierce Essence Pill could instantly restore and amplify his vitality.
“Roar!”
Lin Xiao unleashed a furious bellow, mustering his last reserves of strength. Like a tempest, he lunged at Feng Huo with a fist.
The stance screamed intent to wound or kill, but he wouldn’t truly harm her.
At the very least, he couldn’t let the Feng family suspect Feng Huo was aiding him—otherwise, he’d doom another woman.
“Lin Xiao, no!” As his fist met Feng Huo’s palm, Feng Youyu’s figure darted in, her sharp cry ringing out. A precise palm wind struck Lin Xiao from the side.
His middle and ring fingers parted mid-strike, snatching the Fierce Essence Pill. Simultaneously, Feng Youyu’s palm wind slammed into him.
“Pfft!” Blood sprayed as Lin Xiao’s body was flung far back.
Feng Huo froze in place, stunned.
She hadn’t expected her attempt to help would harm him—Feng Youyu had mistaken Lin Xiao’s move as an attack on her, intervening with a decisive blow.
Seeing Lin Xiao blasted away, Feng Youyu’s heart jolted. Gritting her teeth, she flew toward him.
Lin Xiao crashed to the ground, bloodied and mangled, yet miraculously alive.
But now, not just Feng Youyu—experts and Martial Kings from both families closed in from all directions.
Even if he swallowed the Fierce Essence Pill now, escape seemed impossible.
“Lin Xiao, die!” Leading the charge was Yan Yitian. To ensure no misstep, he didn’t unleash a palm beam but rushed in personally, his heavy strike aimed straight at Lin Xiao’s chest.
If it landed, Lin Xiao’s chest would be pulped.
In his current state, he couldn’t muster the strength to dodge.
“What a pity—my strength still falls short!” Lin Xiao glared at his assailants, resentment burning. One misstep, and he’d perish here.
Given another chance, he’d return with greater power and annihilate them all.
“Go!” Just as Yan Yitian’s palm descended, a tender voice sounded by his ear. A cool, small hand grasped his, a familiar sensation flooding his body.
Lin Xiao whipped his head around—no one was visible on the ground. Then his hand vanished from sight, followed by his arm, then his entire body.
“Hu Yue!” His spirit surged with realization.
It was Hu Yue, wielding her Concealment Anomaly, transferring it to him and rendering him invisible.
Boom!
Hu Yue yanked Lin Xiao aside as Yan Yitian’s palm smashed into the ground, cratering it.
“Charge Kill Technique—Ten Shadow Flash!” With a delicate shout, ten streams of aura burst in all directions.
“Three years from now, I’ll wipe out your entire clans!”
A resonant voice thundered from the center of the dispersing auras, echoing across the heavens.
Hu Yue dragged Lin Xiao’s body, speeding off in one direction.
Of the ten streams, only one was real—and without a visible figure, pinpointing it was near impossible.
Beyond a certain distance, pursuit would be futile.
The sudden vanishing stunned the charging crowd, leaving them dumbfounded. Such an eerie phenomenon was a first for them.
“Concealment Anomaly—chase them!” Feng Yuntian’s shout boomed from above, snapping them awake. They scattered after the ten streams.
Seeing this, Ye Fenghua and the arriving Yi Xuanfeng—who’d broken free of the light dome—sighed in relief. Only Yi Xuanfeng knew who’d come.
He hadn’t wanted Hu Yue in the imperial city, but at this critical moment, she’d proven invaluable.
Still, her cultivation was low—her Concealment Anomaly wouldn’t last long. With the families’ numerous experts, they might catch up. He roared, “Hold them back!”
He lunged at Yan Yitian and the others.
At his command, Ye Fenghua and the rest sprang into action, fiercely stalling the families’ forces.
From the perimeter, Meng Xi unclenched her sweaty palm as Lin Xiao escaped. Moments ago, she’d debated intervening, wanting to preserve him as a thorn in the families’ side.
But acting risked chaos—against a Martial Lord, she couldn’t guarantee the royal family’s safety.
Thankfully, someone had saved him.
“Go first!” She instructed Meng Sheng and a few others beside her, then whispered to an elder nearby.
Lin Xiao’s flight from the city would likely draw relentless pursuit. She’d stir some trouble for the families—without evidence, they couldn’t retaliate.
With the Beauty Sky Demon still a factor, she stayed to monitor that wildcard.
“Three years from now—will this kid return? This old woman’s quite curious!” Glancing at Lin Xiao’s departure direction, Meng Xi sighed with anticipation.
The battle raged on, though all knew it wouldn’t last much longer.
The main target had escaped.
None would forget that defiant figure.
A sixteen-year-old boy, at the height of the empire’s two greatest families’ genius union, had stormed the Feng estate alone, slain both prodigies, injured four Martial Kings, wounded another, blasted the Chen family head—a Martial Venerable—and drawn Tianxuan Sect, the Moyu Empire, and countless factions into the fray, even summoning the Beauty Sky Demon.
Ultimately, he’d broken through the families’ encirclement and fled.
His earth-shaking feats would echo through history—Lin Xiao’s name would resound across the empire.
The fighting continued, but what lingered in every mind was his parting vow.
“Three years from now, I’ll wipe out your entire clans!”
None doubted its weight.
A sixteen-year-old third-grade intermediate spirit controller with spiritual energy, crafting fourth-grade pills, winning the alchemy competition, wielding explosive pill formulas, and possessing a recipe to push a fourth-grade advanced spirit controller to fifth-grade. Heavenly Martial Fifth Layer, a single strike injuring a Martial Venerable—his miracles defied belief. In three years, he’d keep countless hearts restless…
