“Chi!” Baili He pointed, activating the array around the life-or-death platform, a barrier flaring to contain the battle’s shockwaves.
“Chi!”
With the array’s activation signaling the start, Xiahou Li’s killing intent surged, a chilling aura like the depths of the Nine Nether Hell radiating from him. Torrents of black energy erupted from his body.
In that moment, Xiahou Li transformed into a demonic fiend from the underworld, wreathed in infernal flames, a terrifying pressure flooding the arena.
Right from the start, he unleashed the Xiahou family’s core technique, Nine Nether Sword Prison.
His rage toward Lin Xiao was palpable, driving him to launch a ferocious assault.
“He’s using the Fifth Layer of Nine Nether Sword Prison!”
“So powerful!”
“Worthy of a Fifth Realm Martial Venerable. The Xiahou core technique’s might is overwhelming. Can Lin Xiao withstand it?”
“A killing move right off the bat—this fight’s intense!”
Exclamations rippled through the crowd. Nine Nether Sword Prison was the Xiahou family’s signature technique, immensely powerful. Xiahou Jing, at Third Realm Martial King, had reached the Second Layer Dual Sword Prison—equivalent to a Fourth Layer Single Sword Prison—with terrifying results.
Now, Xiahou Li, a Fifth Realm Martial Venerable, unleashed the Fifth Layer, its destructive force unimaginable.
Yet, under the crowd’s stunned gazes, Lin Xiao stood motionless.
“Die!”
With a furious roar, Xiahou Li swung his greatsword with mountain-splitting force. A mysterious prison field descended, its crushing pressure enveloping Lin Xiao.
Weaker cultivators would’ve buckled under the field alone.
“Why isn’t Lin Xiao moving?”
“Is he bound by the sword prison?”
The crowd gasped in alarm.
But as the greatsword, brimming with unstoppable might, descended, Lin Xiao’s right hand shot out, seizing it.
Clang!
A deafening metallic clash rang out. Lin Xiao’s bare hand gripped the sword above his head, halting it completely.
“Impossible!”
Xiahou Li’s voice cracked, his eyes bulging, disbelief etched on his face.
His full Fifth Realm Martial Venerable strength, channeled into the Fifth Layer Sword Prison, stopped by Lin Xiao’s bare hand?
The crowd was dumbfounded, jaws dropping.
Catching Xiahou Li’s Fifth Layer Sword Prison barehanded? This was beyond shocking.
How monstrous was Lin Xiao’s physical strength?
The Xiahou family’s faces twisted in horror. Their core technique, unleashed with Xiahou Li’s might, not only failed to overwhelm Lin Xiao but was caught effortlessly. It was unthinkable.
Since when was their signature technique so feeble?
“This kid!” Even Baili He was stunned. He knew Lin Xiao’s body, tempered by Martial Emperor blood, was formidable, but not *this* formidable.
He almost wanted to scold Lin Xiao for the reckless move. What if the sword had cleaved his hand?
At least use the stone hand!
Unbeknownst to them, Lin Xiao, while unsure of his exact physical limits post-refinement, sensed his body rivaled his stone hand.
If his stone hand could block Yue Xingchen’s strike, his Martial Venerable body could handle Xiahou Li’s.
As predicted, his hand stopped the sword cold.
“Nothing’s impossible!”
In that fleeting moment, as Xiahou Li reeled, Lin Xiao grinned. His left fist clenched, the air around it exploding as immense power surged through his arm. He smashed it toward Xiahou Li’s chest.
Xiahou Li’s face paled. His hands tied to the sword, he couldn’t block. Though he summoned a protective aura, Lin Xiao’s fist was unstoppable, crashing into his chest.
“Bang!”
A thunderous impact. Lin Xiao’s fist sank an inch into Xiahou Li’s chest, blood spraying.
A gush of blood spewed from Xiahou Li’s mouth, his grip on the sword faltering, his body hurtling backward.
“Xiu!”
Lin Xiao, a seasoned fighter, seized the moment. Tossing the sword aside, he shot forward, chasing Xiahou Li’s retreating form.
Now a Martial Venerable, his speed was blinding, catching up in an instant.
Lin Xiao’s right fist tightened, muscles bulging. His raw physical power was already immense, but he wasn’t done.
He activated the first form of the heaven-tier Chaos-Reversing Three Forms, wild yuan force surging from his dantian into his right hand.
“Chi!”
His berserk martial intent cloaked his arm, an explosive aura radiating.
Simultaneously, his fourth-grade high-level spiritual power surged from his mind, enhancing his arm.
Short of his dantian phenomenon, Lin Xiao unleashed his strongest close-combat strike.
Xiahou Li, spitting blood, forced his yuan force to flow, his palms glowing darkly as he crossed them to block.
Bang!
Lin Xiao’s fist was too powerful, smashing through Xiahou Li’s palms, driving them into his chest.
“Pfft!”
The fist pierced through his chest, exiting his back, blood spraying wildly.
Time seemed to freeze. The crowd stood petrified, faces blank with shock.
Two moves, and Xiahou Li was run through, dead on the spot?
Xiahou Wanyu trembled, frozen. His sister died by Lin Xiao’s hand before his eyes, and now his father, too?
Ziling, Mu Yao, and Tianmen disciples were speechless. They’d worried for Lin Xiao, yet in moments, he’d slain Xiahou Li.
Any trump cards Xiahou Li had were rendered useless.
On the platform, Xiahou Li’s eyes bulged, his face locked in disbelief, life fading. He died unresigned.
“Pfft!” Lin Xiao swung his arm, flinging Xiahou Li’s corpse toward the Xiahou family.
Bang!
It landed heavily before Xiahou Wanyu.
