The Purple Smoke Poison Miasma enveloped Ling Xiao’s body, and gloating laughter immediately rose from the crowd.
In Sin City, very few warriors had any sympathy.
This was a truly vicious place.
Yet in the next instant, all the laughter stopped abruptly.
Ling Xiao had not even moved, but the terrifying Purple Smoke Poison Miasma vanished completely in the blink of an eye, as though something had forcibly sucked it away.
Those with sharper eyesight vaguely noticed a change in Ling Xiao’s left eye, but the moment passed too quickly for even them to see clearly.
“The Purple Smoke Poison Miasma was broken? And so effortlessly?”
Exclamations of shock rang out from the crowd. They knew Mang Xiao’s Purple Smoke Poison Miasma very well; countless warriors had died horribly beneath it.
Even those who survived were completely at Mang Xiao’s mercy once poisoned. No one had ever neutralised it so easily.
“No wonder this kid dares to provoke Mang Xiao. He really does have some skill.”
Thinking back to Ling Xiao’s earlier encounter with Mo Shaoyou, and seeing how calmly he now faced Mang Xiao, many people began to have the same thought.
“Good lad. No wonder you dare to show me, Mang Xiao, such disrespect. Still, I advise you to be careful in Sin City. What is your name?”
Mang Xiao looked at Ling Xiao with a half-smile.
Ling Xiao’s strength had indeed surprised him a little, but it was not yet enough to make him wary.
“Ling Xiao.”
Ling Xiao’s expression remained perfectly calm, showing no sign of agitation. Perhaps because he had seen too many experts, he had become much steadier.
The instant he heard that name, however, Mang Xiao’s triangular eyes suddenly narrowed and his brows knitted tightly together.
Ling Xiao?
Could it be him?
Mang Xiao had never met Ling Xiao in person, but the name was far too familiar. Pursuing enemies across a thousand miles, wiping out Temur Mutu, capturing Jiumo Zhiyan alive, causing havoc in the Divine Phoenix capital, killing the young master of the Righteous Alliance, destroying the Lightning Demon King.
Even more terrifying, recent reports said this fellow had returned to the Heavenly Dragon Continent, overthrown the True Demon Empire in one fell swoop, rebuilt the human dynasty, and named it the Celestial Empire.
He had even proclaimed himself Celestial Emperor.
Such news was known in detail only to the upper echelons of the major forces. Most ordinary people knew little about Ling Xiao; some had never even heard the name.
“I feel like I’ve heard the name Ling Xiao before, but he shouldn’t be anyone remarkable. He’s not one of the Ten Phoenix Sons of the Divine Phoenix Empire, nor one of the Six Sword Princes of Jade Wave Island, nor one of the Seven Baleful Stars of the Black Crow Empire, and he has no connection to the Black Python family.”
Many in the crowd looked puzzled. These days, the most outstanding young warriors of the three great powers were those twenty-three individuals.
Ling Xiao was certainly not among them.
Even among the warriors just below those twenty-three, his name did not appear.
Yet judging from Mang Xiao’s expression, everyone realised that Ling Xiao was probably no ordinary person. Mang Xiao clearly knew who he was.
“Heh heh, so it is Brother Ling. My apologies, my apologies. In that case, consider this item a gift from me to Brother Ling.”
Mang Xiao gave a small laugh. His elders had warned him at home never to provoke Ling Xiao if he ever met him.
Although he felt somewhat unconvinced, today he chose to heed their words.
“Thank you.”
Ling Xiao nodded faintly. This was, after all, the Black Python family’s territory. It was best if conflict could be avoided. Since the other side was willing to back down, there was no problem.
“No way, Mang Xiao actually backed off?”
“It seems that kid really is something special. He actually made Mang Xiao choose to give up.”
The crowd burst into discussion once more.
Mang Xiao heard these comments and felt irritated, but he could still restrain himself. As a prospective heir of the Black Python family, he needed at least this much self-control.
However, the people who had come with him could not hold back.
Ling Xiao turned to complete the transaction with the stall owner. The moment he took the ancient jade in his hand, a dangerous aura suddenly surged from behind him.
It felt exactly like being ambushed by a snake.
A cold smile lifted the corner of Ling Xiao’s mouth.
If others do not offend me, I will not offend them.
If others offend me, I will certainly return the favour.
He could show Mang Xiao face, but if someone insisted on attacking him, then sorry.
He did not even turn around. A blinding burst of light suddenly gathered on his back.
The light flashed and vanished.
What followed was a blood-curdling scream.
“Ah…”
The hands of the person who had tried to ambush Ling Xiao were completely incinerated, charred black. When the wind blew, they crumbled into flying ash.
Everyone stared in shock.
They had thought the matter was settled, yet something like this had suddenly happened.
The onlookers were naturally thrilled, while the expressions of the Black Python family warriors turned extremely ugly.
“Brother, what happened? What’s wrong with your hands?”
“That bastard ambushed me!”
The warrior whose hands had been destroyed was deathly pale. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, yet his eyes blazed with vicious killing intent, as though he wanted to tear Ling Xiao into ten thousand pieces.
Ling Xiao put the ancient jade into his storage ring, then turned and looked straight into those ferocious eyes. He suddenly pointed a finger.
A Shadow Cone shot through the air and pierced the warrior’s throat.
The warrior gurgled in his throat, clearly wanting to speak, but no words came out.
The ferocity in his eyes had turned to terror.
He had probably never dreamed that Ling Xiao would dare to strike so ruthlessly in front of Mang Xiao, in broad daylight, in Sin City itself.
Actually, Ling Xiao had not wanted to either. But after being ambushed, he was then accused of launching a sneak attacks.
He was not that good-tempered.
“I refuse to accept this!”
Although it was hard to speak, four relatively clear words still emerged from the muddled sounds.
He truly refused to accept it. He had believed no one in Sin City would dare touch him, that no one would dare kill him in front of Mang Xiao.
Yet he had been utterly wrong.
The price of that mistake was his life.
Everyone on the street jumped in fright. Even those whose cultivation surpassed Ling Xiao’s were shocked by his brazen provocation.
They might dare to move against the Black Python family, but they would never dare do so openly in front of Mang Xiao, in front of so many witnesses, in broad daylight.
This was not merely killing a man. This was declaring war on the Black Python family.
The Black Python family itself was immensely powerful, and behind it stood the support of the upper echelons of the Black Crow Empire, the Divine Phoenix Empire, and Jade Wave Island.
To oppose the Black Python family was to oppose all three great powers.
This young man really was insane.
“Spouting nonsense also has a price. If I were going to ambush someone, I would ambush a Cave Heaven realm expert. Are you worthy?”
Ling Xiao glanced indifferently at the corpse on the ground and left those words behind.
There was no need to explain anything.
Anyone with eyes could see that his strength far exceeded that person’s. He would never have needed to resort to underhanded methods.
