At that exact instant, Ling Xiao struck.
He moved the moment the guards wavered.
“Bad! All together!”
The captain knew disaster loomed. Only seven blades combined could blunt this assault.
Yet in that heartbeat, Ling Xiao vanished.
Worse, the instant he disappeared, a blinding beam shot from where he had stood.
Danger!
All seven felt death brush their necks, hearts hammering.
“Light-Shadow Escape, slay!”
Light-Speed Divine Walk fused with Shadow Step birthed Light-Shadow Escape.
The merged movement was no mere dodge. It killed while streaking.
In a flash, searing heat kissed three throats. Then they saw their headless bodies crumple.
A fourth stared at the smoking hole where his heart had been, charred, bloodless.
Light-Shadow Escape was Ling Xiao’s own creation.
Even the ancient Human King never grasped it.
The King’s fusions stayed pure movement. Ling Xiao’s fused flight and murder into one perfect stroke.
The fleeing light flared back, deadly.
He used no sword. The move was still raw; a blade might have broken the weave and ruined everything.
The burst also robbed foes of sight, leaving only white glare.
Fail to counter that, and steel found flesh.
Gulp.
Ling Xiao swallowed blood.
He could not emerge unscathed.
To drop three, he ate four counter-blows. His defences were proud, yet their strikes were fierce. Surviving unbroken was already victory.
Broken organs began knitting, but he hid the pain, turned, and faced the four survivors.
Cold eyes glinted with cruel mirth.
One against seven.
Every foe stronger, yet he had traded wounds for three lives.
A record to savour.
His final card stayed pocketed. No need yet.
“He’s hurt! Fear nothing, finish him!”
The captain kept his head. Ling Xiao masked the injury, but seasoned eyes saw truth.
The three rallied, heavenly yuan surging.
Whoosh!
Four shadows, four weapons, all carved into Ling Xiao.
Three blades melted into slag against Scarlet Sun Plume Robe, yet the captain’s spear punched clean through Ling Xiao’s gut, blood gushing.
“Die!”
Ling Xiao bared a feral grin.
Ignoring the spear in his belly, he lunged. Golden Crow Sword whistled.
Two more throats opened, red smiles blooming. They dropped.
“Bastard, I’ll tear you apart!”
The captain was losing his mind. This Ling Xiao was a demon. Gut-skewered, still reaping brothers.
Only two remained.
Two Eight Desolate Heavens warriors.
The captain, late-stage.
The last guard, early-stage.
He twisted the spear. Ling Xiao’s face went chalk-white, yet the sword fell, shearing the shaft. Torture ended.
“Plenty have wanted me dead. They all died first, your brothers included.”
Blood painted his lips now, impossible to hide.
Ruptured organs spasmed, pain like claws.
Yet fear never touched him. Pain sharpened focus, made him deadlier.
Killing sword intent roared higher, crimson light splitting the sky.
Behind him, a crouching nightmare beast took shape.
Crimson darkened to pitch.
Taotie’s power.
Essence of shadow.
ROAR!
The glutton howled from the dark, a sound to shatter courage. The two guards trembled, terror flooding their veins.
This Ling Xiao, gutted and bleeding, still smiled?
Still poured out such monstrous might, such blazing will?
Was he even human?
Just a beast wearing skin.
“Man or monster, you die today!”
The captain exploded with rage. Battle intent flared. A colossal black crow condensed behind him.
Icy crow eyes locked on Ling Xiao. Wings beat, sandstorms whipped, raw force unleashed.
“Kill!”
Ling Xiao stepped forward. Shadows swallowed Golden Crow Sword, forging a black greatsword. One thrust.
The captain drew a fresh spear from his ring. Black mist coiled. The crow screeched, hell’s own chorus.
BOOM!
Earth shuddered, fissures racing. A metre-high wall of grass was uprooted, shredded mid-air by the gale between them.
Ling Xiao flew backwards, yet rose. The broken spear still jutted from his flank.
The wound had clotted, but the sight was grim.
“Kill!”
He stood unbroken.
Facing a stronger foe while bleeding out, his battle spirit only burned hotter.
Power from Mountain-River Martial Soul poured without limit.
Golden Crow Sword blazed brighter. Black and white light fused, birthing a colossal energy drill.
Light-Shadow Divine Cone!
KRA-KOOM!
Air shattered. Already cracked ground collapsed, an earthquake in miniature.
The early-stage guard behind the captain stood frozen, too stunned to join.
“Break!”
The captain’s spear burst the cone, then buried itself in Ling Xiao once more.
Scarlet Sun Plume Robe was paper before this man.
His killing aura matched Ling Xiao blow for blow.
For the first time against an Eight Desolate Heavens foe, Ling Xiao looked utterly battered.
