Boom!
A tremendous explosion erupted directly above Jiao Batian’s head. Though his skull was tough, the scales still shattered inch by inch. The destructive power of light and shadow was utterly horrifying.
If Jiao Batian had not been a Cavern Heaven warrior, that single strike would have sent him straight to the underworld.
The wounded Jiao Batian frantically swung his enormous body to protect himself. Wild gusts blasted outward, once again hurling Ling Xiao away.
“Tch, so close.”
Ling Xiao clicked his tongue in annoyance. His Golden Crow Sword had nearly pierced Jiao Batian’s brain, only to be thwarted at the last moment.
Still, this blow had at least injured Jiao Batian.
That was exactly what he wanted. Continuous strikes to wound him.
That way, even as a Cavern Heaven warrior, Jiao Batian would gradually lose combat strength from blood loss and exhaustion.
He would whittle this fellow down until he died.
There was no other choice. With Ling Xiao’s current cultivation, defeating Jiao Batian easily was impossible. Grinding him to death was already no small feat.
“How can this guy, with only early Ninth Celestial cultivation, be so strong?”
Panic filled Jiao Batian’s heart. He actually resorted to his life-saving technique.
Layer after layer of thick ice encased his body. If Ling Xiao wanted to harm him now, he would first have to break through this ice.
From hunter to hunted, Jiao Batian’s mind could barely keep up.
Unfortunately for him, he did not realise that Ling Xiao’s martial soul was simply too powerful.
Ling Xiao’s soul force was also far too powerful.
Though his cultivation was higher, Ling Xiao’s soul force had already reached the level of a Second Cavern Heaven expert.
In terms of overall combat strength, Ling Xiao actually surpassed him.
“What’s this? The mighty, domineering Emperor of the True Demon Empire, the unparalleled Jiao Batian, now hiding like a turtle in its shell? Fine. I’ll smash that shell to pieces!”
Ling Xiao knew that Jiao Batian was now thoroughly terrified and probably couldn’t even display half his usual power.
This was the perfect moment to unleash his strongest attack.
Behind him, the sun and moon vanished, replaced by an enormous Taotie.
Golden Crow Sword in hand, the energies of light and shadow continued to gather.
If Jiao Batian interrupted the charging now, he might still block it.
But this cowardly turtle stayed sealed inside his massive ice coffin, too afraid to emerge, thereby granting Ling Xiao all the time he needed to prepare his most devastating move.
Only when he sensed the terrifying power of this technique did Jiao Batian finally realise.
Hiding was useless.
“Fine, boy. You nearly scared me. I refuse to believe that I, a First Cavern Heaven warrior, could be so humiliated by a brat like you!”
The ice coffin shattered. Jiao Batian gripped his massive trident with both hands. Freezing aura gathered incessantly.
Since Ling Xiao wanted a direct clash, he would oblige. This single exchange would decide the victor!
He simply refused to accept that, without all those strange tricks, Ling Xiao’s attack could surpass his own.
Soon, layers of ice flowers bloomed across the trident, beautiful yet deadly.
Energy continued to build, covering even Jiao Batian’s entire body in thick frost, as though he were being frozen solid.
“Ice Dragon Spiral Thrust!”
Jiao Batian’s body and the trident began spinning together, faster and faster, turning into a colossal spiralling cone.
The surrounding air was torn apart, sucked in, completely distorted.
“Die!”
At last, the enormous spiralling ice dragon soared into the sky. With terrifying speed, accompanied by sonic booms, it became a streak of white light shooting straight at Ling Xiao.
“Today you are finished!”
At this moment, Jiao Batian’s mind was utterly focused on killing Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao, however, remained motionless. On his Golden Crow Sword, the powers of light and shadow continued to condense.
If they were settling this with one decisive blow, Ling Xiao had to ensure his attack was overwhelmingly powerful.
Taotie Doomsday!
Finally, the gigantic beast roared and charged forth. As though it had been waiting for ages, it opened its massive jaws and swung its claws towards the spinning ice dragon.
BOOM!
The collision unleashed a horrifying shockwave that spread rapidly in all directions. The ground was ripped open, a full area of several dozen square metres torn apart.
After the single strike,
Ling Xiao still stood there, his long hair fluttering without wind.
He had already sheathed the Golden Crow Sword.
Jiao Batian, on the other hand, was half-buried in the ground, his bones possibly shattered completely, unable to move properly.
“Jiao Batian, I’ll ask you one last time. Where is the Soul Armour? Hand it over, and I can spare your life.”
After all, at this stage, the Soul Armour was what mattered most to Ling Xiao. Jiao Batian’s life could be taken anytime; it was of little consequence.
Having defeated him once, he could do so again.
“Hahaha… hahahaha! Keep dreaming, brat! Even if you kill me, you’ll never get the Soul Armour.”
Though Jiao Batian could still speak, his voice sounded ragged and weak.
“Very funny? Don’t you realise you just missed your best chance to live?”
Ling Xiao gave a contemptuous cold laugh. His Tai Chi Eye flickered, and terrifying soul force poured directly into Jiao Batian’s spirit sea.
“You really didn’t lie to me. You truly used the Soul Armour. But such a treasure belongs to the capable. You are not worthy of it.”
With a casual gesture, Ling Xiao erased Jiao Batian’s soul imprint, then equipped his own primal spirit with the Soul Armour.
This Soul Armour was neither gold nor silver; it was forged from extremely special materials and could fully fuse with the soul. It was extraordinarily rare.
Once worn, one could clearly feel one’s soul suddenly gain a home, a sense of security.
From now on, using soul detachment would be far less dangerous.
“Aaah! Kill me! Just kill me!”
Jiao Batian roared in fury.
“You can’t die yet. In fact, you can’t die at all. More precisely, this body of yours is still useful. Keep cultivating here.”
Ling Xiao planned to launch an assault on the True Demon Empire and needed an inside agent.
So far, he had found no suitable collaborator within the empire.
In that case, he would simply use his own soul to control Jiao Batian. That would make the next stages of his plan much easier to execute.
“No! Don’t!”
Panic finally appeared on Jiao Batian’s face.
Only now did he realise that this young man was far more terrifying, far more formidable than he had ever imagined.
“Begging for mercy now? Too late!”
Ling Xiao directly annihilated Jiao Batian’s soul and stored it away with the Eye of the Immortal Pot.
