“Don’t pretend to be dead. I know you’re still alive!”
Manager Jia did not believe his counter-shock force could actually kill Ling Xiao. That fellow’s body was incredibly tough.
Boom!
Right in front of everyone’s eyes, thousands upon thousands of terrifying beams of light suddenly shot out from the once-calm lake water.
Then a ball of light rose up.
Ling Xiao’s entire body was already shrouded in radiance. The huge Shadow Sword in his hand had clearly fused with the power of the Bright Divine Sword.
Dazzling, blinding, scorching, holy, noble!
One sword thrust straight toward Manager Jia’s arm.
This sword gave an almost completely opposite feeling from the demonic sword.
The watching crowd felt an extremely jarring sense of disharmony.
It was clearly so evil just moments ago, yet now it had become so holy and noble. What exactly was going on?
Sizzle!
This sword finally pierced through Manager Jia’s protective vital energy.
Yet once again, Ling Xiao was sent flying backward.
On Manager Jia’s arm there was only a small patch of seemingly minor burn.
“Is this your attack? It feels more like you’re scratching an itch.”
Manager Jia looked at Ling Xiao and laughed mockingly to his heart’s content.
“Really no good after all?”
Ling Xiao sighed. A shadow helped him stop his retreating body.
“It seems I must strengthen the attack!”
In an instant, a strange scene appeared behind him once more.
It was an endless stretch of blue sky.
No white clouds, no rainbows, only a blazing red sun hanging there.
Then the Bright Divine Sword in Ling Xiao’s hand grew even brighter.
Bright Divine Sword — Rising Sun Form!
That previous strike had only been a test. Ling Xiao wanted to find out exactly how strong Manager Jia’s defence really was.
Now he understood. The Bright Divine Sword alone could not harm the opponent at all. Only by adding the Rising Sun Form was there any chance.
Seeing this bizarre sight, the crowd showed expressions of horror.
A dark demonic sword had already slain more than ten Cavern Heaven realm martial artists!
Now another Bright Divine Sword had appeared! So scorching, so blinding that their eyes could not even look directly at the dazzling light.
Just how many more hidden trump cards did this Ling Xiao still have left to unleash?
Manager Jia was also stunned for a moment. He truly had not expected Ling Xiao to have a move even stronger than the earlier Heavenly Demon Destroy Body.
But moments later he regained his calm and cold demeanour.
“No matter how flashy your attacks are, you cannot cause me the slightest harm. In the face of an absolute gap in strength, even the most powerful technique is pointless.”
“Is that so? You will definitely pay a price for those words.”
Ling Xiao smiled disdainfully.
A martial artist’s power comes down to cultivation, techniques, martial soul, bloodline, physique, and so on.
The strength of a technique is also one of those factors.
“Then we shall see who pays the price!”
Manager Jia completely disdained Ling Xiao’s attack.
Because that earlier strike had basically caused him no real damage, it made him feel extremely smug.
“Go to hell!”
He no longer bothered defending at all. Instead he poured all his power into the attack. The furious giant iron shovel, wrapped in a violent hell storm, swept toward Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao showed no fear either. With one sword thrust, the entire Lingyue Courtyard was filled with piercing light.
Most of the martial artists could see nothing at all.
They only vaguely saw a rising sun charging forward at extreme speed.
A long time later, the light finally faded.
Ling Xiao stood there with a deathly pale face. Dozens of wounds all over his body were bleeding. Yet the corner of his mouth carried a trace of a smile.
On the other side, Manager Jia was screaming in agony. Flames rolled across his body, and a thick stench of burning flesh kept spreading.
“Ling Xiao won?”
“It looks like it. Manager Jia has been burned that badly!”
“No way. A Second Cavern Heaven realm martial artist defeating a Sixth Cavern Heaven realm one? Who would believe such a thing?”
“But the facts are right in front of you. Can you not believe them?”
Many martial artists in the crowd were dumbfounded. They could no longer believe what they were seeing.
Puchi!
Just when everyone thought Manager Jia was about to die, an extremely fast figure shot out from the flames and pierced straight through Ling Xiao’s body.
“What’s happening?”
The plot twist came too quickly. The crowd was completely confused.
Standing behind Ling Xiao was a tiny figure only about a foot tall. It was also bright red all over, but extremely ugly.
Meanwhile the huge body over there had already been burned to ashes.
“Gaga ga, Ling Xiao, oh Ling Xiao, you never expected this, did you? That giant body was merely a special ability of my martial soul. Now you understand what true despair feels like, right?”
The little figure did not stop attacking. It turned and stabbed toward Ling Xiao again.
This time, however, Ling Xiao did not let it succeed. He moved with exquisite footwork. Although the speed was not fast, the steps were clearly following a special formation.
The little figure could not figure out his pattern for the moment and failed to land a hit.
“Cough cough.”
Ling Xiao spat out a mouthful of blood and cursed, “Damn it. Luckily this young master dodged the vital spot, otherwise I really would have fallen here. I never thought there would be such a bizarre and freakish martial soul in this world.”
The little figure was Manager Jia’s true body.
Before Ling Xiao used the Rising Sun Form, he had not revealed his true form because he felt it was unnecessary.
But now he had no choice but to reveal it.
The power of Ling Xiao’s Rising Sun Form Bright Divine Sword was far too terrifying. Manager Jia had never imagined it.
That might had nearly taken his life.
“Cousin, that little figure is Manager Jia? He really is short and ugly. What exactly is his martial soul?”
At this moment Feng Yanran had actually forgotten to worry. Instead she was captivated by Manager Jia’s bizarre transformation.
“There is nothing strange about it. The Mysterious Realm is vast and full of wonders. If I remember correctly, his martial soul should be the ‘Human Skin Martial Soul’ recorded in the books.”
Feng Yinshan explained, “This kind of martial soul can not only change one’s own body but can also use the abilities possessed by the changed body. Of course the strength of those abilities still depends on the user’s own cultivation.”
“Why does this martial soul sound so scary?”
Feng Yanran asked again.
“It is not just scary. It is truly evil. Because maintaining the changes of a Human Skin Martial Soul requires human lives. To strengthen his Human Skin Martial Soul, this Manager Jia has killed who knows how many martial artists.”
The corner of Feng Yinshan’s mouth twitched. This kind of evil martial soul was only recorded in books. This was the first time he had seen it with his own eyes. Even with his mental fortitude, he found it somewhat hard to accept.
While Feng Yinshan was speaking, Manager Jia surprisingly did not attack Ling Xiao. Instead he pounced toward the corpses of the several assassins who had died earlier.
Then his body quickly changed. His appearance actually turned into that of the previous Fourth Cavern Heaven realm assassin.
“That stupid assassin had such a powerful martial soul but did not know how to use it. Then let this manager take it over.”
A cold, sinister and ferocious smile appeared on the corner of Manager Jia’s mouth.
