Ling Xiao’s attacks rained down without pause, hammering the Marquis of Eastern County like a relentless storm.
Yet every blow still produced only the strange “clang-clang-clang” of metal striking metal.
“Hmph, so what if you’re fast? So what if you’re cunning? Ling Xiao, your cultivation level decides that you can never break this marquis’s defence!”
Realising he could not dodge Ling Xiao’s onslaught no matter what, the Marquis simply stopped trying. Relying on his powerful protection, he let the boy strike him all over, a cold smile spreading across his face.
As long as his defence held, he was invincible. What could Ling Xiao possibly do to him?
“Nether Flame Armour, is it?”
While attacking nonstop, Ling Xiao’s Tai Chi Eye observed the Marquis closely.
Thick Nether Flames wrapped around the man’s body, forming a solid defensive layer. This was probably the legendary armour created by compressing a Cave Heaven domain to its utmost limit.
No wonder it was so hard to breach.
A domain that vast, condensed into such a thin suit of armour, produced truly frightening defensive strength.
On top of that, the transformed Marquis already possessed the terrifying physical toughness of the Nether Phoenix clan.
His defence had reached a near-unbreakable level.
“I never expected a mere Heaven-Human realm warrior like you to know about Cave Heaven Armour. Correct, this is the powerful defence only Cave Heaven warriors possess. It is the evolved form of protective heavenly yuan force. Even though I am only at the early First Cave Heaven stage and my Cave Heaven Armour is far from perfect, it is still far beyond anything you can shatter!”
The Marquis looked at Ling Xiao with leisurely confidence, a smug smile on his face.
He knew that as long as he maintained this state, Ling Xiao would eventually tire and lose momentum. Then it would be his turn to perform.
“Nether Flame Armour is nothing special.”
Ling Xiao smiled faintly, then suddenly leapt backwards as an even stronger surge of power erupted from his body.
“He broke through?”
“This kid actually broke through during battle?”
The Marquis’s face darkened once more.
Although advancing from early Ninth Layer to mid-Ninth Layer was not a huge leap, a single breakthrough still brought comprehensive improvement.
“What’s so strange about that? Did you really think I’ve been hitting you all this time just for fun?”
Ling Xiao gave a contemptuous sneer.
Breaking through in combat was routine for him. He had deliberately suppressed his cultivation to advance one steady step at a time.
Battle allowed constant accumulation of power and greater mastery over his cultivation.
Once enough was stored, he simply released the suppression and broke through naturally.
The Marquis’s Nether Flame Armour was indeed troublesome, so he needed to raise his combat strength as much as possible.
Breaking through was only one part of that.
“Marquis of Eastern County, your turtle shell is impressive, but do you truly believe it’s flawless? Today I’ll smash it to pieces and show you!”
Ling Xiao smiled, a plan already formed in his mind.
He held the Golden Crow Sword in his right hand.
A Purple Lightning Sword appeared in his left.
On the Golden Crow Sword, a black-and-white Light-and-Shadow Divine Cone began to condense.
Since the Marquis dared not drop his shell to attack, Ling Xiao had plenty of time to gather power.
The Light-and-Shadow Divine Cone grew larger amid the weaving black and white.
The Purple Lightning Sword showed no visible change, only a quiet buildup of energy. Whatever Ling Xiao intended, the Marquis certainly had no idea.
Not daring to be careless, the Marquis poured all his strength into defence, making the Nether Flame Armour even thicker.
Light-and-Shadow Divine Cone!
Ling Xiao stamped the ground and shot forward.
The closer the range, the greater the power.
Though the Light-and-Shadow Divine Cone could attack from afar, Ling Xiao wanted to strike point-blank for maximum force.
His speed remained blinding, far too fast for the Marquis to react.
A piercing sonic boom tore through the sky. The enormous Light-and-Shadow Divine Cone slipped past the Marquis’s arms at a bizarre angle and slammed hard into his abdomen.
In that moment, the arrogant smile on the Marquis’s face turned ugly.
He had not expected that a mere minor-stage breakthrough would increase Ling Xiao’s attack power so dramatically.
Worst of all, the Light-and-Shadow Divine Cone did not simply stab. It spun wildly like a drill, boring into his Nether Flame Armour.
Crack-crack-crack~~
The Marquis felt his body twisting with the cone’s rotation, completely beyond his control.
The scenery whipped past his eyes.
Zzzzt-zzzzt~~
The cone spun faster and faster. While the rest of the Nether Flame Armour held firm, a tiny dent appeared at that single point.
And the dent showed every sign of growing larger. If this continued, it would soon become a hole.
“Little beast, so you still had such power in reserve! But it’s still useless!”
Roaring, the Marquis seized the Light-and-Shadow Divine Cone with both hands and forcibly halted its insane rotation with his terrifying strength.
His palms were shredded and blistered with blood for the effort.
Yet he had won this exchange again.
Taking advantage of Ling Xiao’s supposed “stunned” moment, he slashed a flaming hand-chop straight at the boy’s neck.
Though he had put away his great black sabre earlier, this hand-chop infused with Nether Flame remained deadly.
If it landed cleanly, Ling Xiao’s neck would probably snap.
But at that instant, the Marquis suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of deadly danger rushing towards him.
He did not know what it was, yet years of living on the edge told him clearly: this was a lethal threat, an extremely frightening attack.
He had to evade!
He retreated desperately.
He even abandoned his attack on Ling Xiao.
The onlookers were baffled.
They could not understand why the Marquis, who clearly had the chance to finish Ling Xiao, suddenly chose to leap back.
The next moment, they were even more stunned.
“Aaahhh—!”
A ghastly scream tore from the Marquis’s throat. His left arm was brutally ripped away, blood spraying across the ground.
No one understood how the Marquis had suddenly been wounded.
And so gravely.
“You filthy little beast, what did you do? What dirty trick did you use?”
Wracked with pain, the Marquis could scarcely believe his mighty defence had crumbled before Ling Xiao’s assault.
Most importantly, he still had no idea what Ling Xiao had done or how he had been injured.
Fear of the unknown instantly enveloped his entire mind.
He was afraid.
Truly afraid.
In his eyes, the youth before him was no longer a mouse, but a monster wearing a mouse’s skin.
