What is a swordsman?
What is a warrior?
Only the fearless, who cleave through every obstacle in their path, can be called strong.
Even if heaven collapses and earth cracks, they remain unmoved.
Facing mighty foes, they never retreat!
This is a warrior. This is a swordsman!
And Ling Xiao was exactly such a person!
Though he knew he was outmatched, his battle spirit showed no sign of fading.
“What? You still wish to cross hands with this old man?”
Temur Mutu’s voice turned icy and biting, laced with disdain and regret. “You are clever. You should know that, with your current strength, you cannot touch a single hair on this old man. You cannot even reach my shadow!”
“You are forever this arrogant. But do not forget: before me, you have already lost twice!”
Ling Xiao smiled faintly. His aura gathered once more.
He could feel the strand of King’s Might he had just drawn was nearly spent. This strike might decide whether he could drive Temur Mutu away today.
Thus, he held nothing back.
He had no intention of holding back.
Behind him, the Eye of the World in the sky changed. No longer shifting inscriptions, but an entire realm.
Night and day alternated. A power surged forth that made Temur Mutu deeply uneasy.
“Playing mystic tricks!’
Temur Mutu pressed his palms together. Terrifying force condensed between them.
Then he slowly parted them, forming a black rhombus.
Everyone sensed the rhombus held utterly dreadful power, far beyond what Ling Xiao could block.
Yet Ling Xiao seemed blind to it, calmly gathering his sword move as if alone.
Light-Shadow Escape!
Kill!
The same technique, yet power incomparable to before.
A blinding golden light crashed into the black rhombus.
Clang!
A crisp clash rang out. Ling Xiao’s form appeared. His sword tip left only a faint scratch on the rhombus.
“This old man said it: all your attacks now are futile!”
Temur Mutu sneered coldly. Then the rhombus began spinning. The Golden Crow Sword trembled violently, on the verge of snapping.
Crack!
Strange cracks appeared on the Golden Crow Sword.
“Hahaha! This is your finest weapon, is it not? If it breaks, what then?”
Temur Mutu revelled in delight.
Suppressed by Ling Xiao for so long, he had nearly suffered internal injury from frustration.
Now he could finally vent his rage.
“So happy? Your opponent is merely an Eight Desolate Heavens warrior.”
Ling Xiao sneered in contempt. “And do you not know I am cunning?”
“Tai Chi Sword Body!”
Still the fifth step of light-shadow profound arts, but a fusion of Shadow Body and Light Body.
In this moment, Ling Xiao transformed into a razor-sharp sword!
The blade bore clear black and white, evolving into a massive Tai Chi pattern.
Light and shadow intertwined.
Black and white merged.
This sword was both incomparably sharp, destroying all, and supremely flexible, unfathomably elusive!
It seemed slow, yet was astonishingly fast.
The crowd felt a deeply contradictory illusion.
The sword appeared so slow, slow enough that anyone could dodge or evade it.
Yet in truth, it was so swift. Perhaps “a foot apart, yet worlds away” described such a strike.
A gentle shift, yet it crossed vast distance.
Danger!
Temur Mutu sensed ultimate crisis. He tried his fastest speed to evade.
But he was too late.
The sword pierced his body, leaving a huge Tai Chi pattern on his chest.
The eerie mark, like a demon’s curse.
One black, one white.
The white half was utter void. Organs and flesh within had vanished.
The black half was thoroughly charred, turned to coal.
The wound was circular, over a foot in diameter.
All saw it clearly, shockingly.
Time seemed to freeze.
Temur Mutu stared at his wound. He could not believe the outcome.
He could not accept it!
What manner of move was this?
The boy had never used it before!
Tricked again!
He must flee!
Temur Mutu felt his life force draining rapidly. He needed a place to heal, or he might truly die.
“Ling Xiao, wait! This old man will never let you go!”
Temur Mutu fled.
For he saw Ling Xiao still smiling calmly, seemingly unscathed.
This truly frightened him.
Facing such a crafty, terrifying youth, he needed to rethink his strategy.
Yes!
He still had hundreds of thousands of troops retreated near the Scorpion tribe, prepared as backup. Now they could be used.
He refused to believe Ling Xiao could survive hundreds of thousands of soldiers!
As Temur Mutu escaped, Lizard People, Black Crow Empire warriors, and Divine Phoenix Empire warriors all tried to flee.
“Sister Xie Li, do not let them escape!”
Ling Xiao stood motionless.
Not that he did not wish to move. He could not.
Using power beyond his body’s limit, he felt fine in battle. Now discomfort hit.
His body seemed ready to fall apart, on the verge of collapse.
But he could only pretend, fearing Temur Mutu would notice. If the old fellow discovered, he would have no resistance left.
Xie Li acted.
With her Tenth Cave Heaven realm strength, killing Celestial warriors was child’s play.
Many Scorpion warriors, restored by Ling Xiao’s pills, joined the fight.
Ling Xiao had driven off their greatest foe. The rest they had to handle themselves.
Thousands of Lizard People, hundreds from Black Crow and Divine Phoenix Empires, all slain amid the ruins.
Battlefields held no pity.
None was needed. The Scorpion tribe had lost over twenty thousand. Strange if they did not rage in vengeance.
The battle ended. All Scorpions knelt around Ling Xiao.
They worshipped this youth.
This sixteen-year-old boy broke convention, wrought miracles. Not only killed Feng Zhan and Le Bie, but repelled Temur Mutu.
Thud!
Ling Xiao crashed heavily to the ground.
Xie Li rushed over, lifting him instantly.
“I fear I am truly done. Used forbidden power this time. This body is finished.”
Ling Xiao was extremely weak, barely able to speak.
“No, you cannot die. You absolutely cannot! I will take you to the Blood Mirror Pool!”
Xie Li rose, holding Ling Xiao, eyes resolute.
“Xie Li, the Blood Mirror Pool is our tribe’s forbidden ground. Only the king may enter.”
A Scorpion reminded.
