At the final moment, the one-eyed dragon actually begged for mercy.
The onlookers who had been waiting for the ultimate clash were all dumbfounded. When the one-eyed dragon arrived, how arrogant, how domineering he had been.
He had given Ling Xiao no chance to negotiate at all. He had simply demanded, in the most overbearing manner, that Ling Xiao hand over the Gluttonous Martial Soul.
If Ling Xiao refused, he would kill him. In his eyes, Ling Xiao was nothing more than an ant he could crush at any time.
And indeed, everyone had previously thought Ling Xiao was doomed.
Even if he did not die, the Gluttonous Martial Soul would probably be seized by the one-eyed dragon.
That would have been the best possible outcome. At least he would stay alive, and with Ling Xiao’s talent, dying now would be far too wasteful.
Yet the current conclusion was something no one could have imagined, even if they racked their brains.
The one-eyed dragon, known as the tyrant of Sin City, someone who did not even fear the Black Python family, was actually no match for Ling Xiao.
He had even lost the courage to fight Ling Xiao to the end.
Because he feared death, he begged Ling Xiao for mercy. He was ready to slink away and give up the Gluttonous Martial Soul.
Was this all just a dream?
“Trying to leave now?”
Ling Xiao asked as he walked forward.
“Yes, I’ll leave. I’ll go straight back to my pirate ship right now and never appear before you again.”
Having completely lost his will to fight, the only thing the one-eyed dragon could think of was to escape this place as quickly as possible and never provoke Ling Xiao again.
If he ever wanted to kill Ling Xiao in future, he would make far better preparations, perhaps bring several more experts.
The humiliation Ling Xiao had forced upon him today, he would definitely reclaim one day. He refused to be mocked like an idiot.
That day would not be far off.
Yet at that moment, one sentence from Ling Xiao plunged him into an icy abyss.
“If you had wanted to leave earlier, I would not have stopped you. But now, you no longer have the chance. You have only one choice left: death. You can die standing, or you can die kneeling. That is all.”
Ling Xiao was no fool. You come to kill me, block my path, start a fight, and then, the moment you realise you cannot win, you want to turn and walk away?
Where in the world was there such a cheap deal?
If his own cultivation had been just a little weaker, would the one-eyed dragon not have killed him?
“One-eyed dragon, oh one-eyed dragon. Should I call you shameless, or simply far too arrogant? Do you truly believe I, Ling Xiao, am someone you can kill whenever you please? The moment you attacked me, you should have understood: if you fail to kill me, you die!”
“You cannot kill me! I am the leader of the One-Eyed Pirate Crew! My crew is allied with the Black Python family!”
Seeing that escape was impossible and that Ling Xiao had no intention of stopping, the one-eyed dragon finally played his last card: the Black Python family.
“Allied, you say? Heh, I even dared to cripple Mang Xiao. What are you in comparison?”
Ling Xiao replied with disdain.
“You don’t understand. Mang Xiao may have been crippled, but he can still recultivate. Our One-Eyed Pirate Crew, however, is a sharp sword for the Black Python family. We often help them attack the merchant ships of rival factions at sea. Without us, the Black Python family’s standing in Sin City would plummet.”
At the critical moment, the one-eyed dragon truly threw caution to the wind and blurted out everything, whether he should have or not.
The secret collusion between the One-Eyed Pirates and the Black Python family to prey on other factions was something many had suspected, but no one had proof of.
No one expected the one-eyed dragon himself to confess it aloud today.
“That idiot!”
Hidden among the crowd, Mang Tian clenched his teeth. He desperately wished he could rush over and rip the man’s mouth off.
By saying that, the one-eyed dragon had directly painted the Black Python family as dishonourable and unjust.
“Heh heh, Lord Mang Tian, are his words true?”
Ling Xiao suddenly looked into the crowd, his gaze fixing directly on Mang Tian.
Mang Tian inwardly cursed. He had not expected Ling Xiao’s perception to be so sharp. Even from this distance, Ling Xiao knew he was present.
In an instant, countless eyes turned toward him.
Mang Tian stepped forward helplessly and said, “Young hero Ling, what the one-eyed dragon said is not entirely accurate, but it is not completely wrong either. Our Black Python family never instructed him to attack our competitors. We merely have a cooperative relationship. I hope, for the sake of the Black Python family, you will spare his life.”
This reply had been carefully considered.
He could not abandon the one-eyed dragon at this moment, because the One-Eyed Pirate Crew, like the Twin Flowers Pirates, answered to a certain powerful backer.
If he cast them aside now, he would inevitably offend that greater power.
So he stepped forward to plead for the one-eyed dragon. His words sounded a little like “there aren’t three hundred taels of silver buried here,” but he had no choice.
He had to say it.
“Did you hear that, brat? If you dare kill me, neither the One-Eyed Pirate Crew nor the Black Python family will let you go!”
Seeing Mang Tian appear, the one-eyed dragon regained some spirit. “Mang Tian, you bastard! Since you’re here, why aren’t you helping me? Hurry up and kill this kid!”
“Shut your mouth! Haven’t you caused enough trouble already?”
Mang Tian was livid. How could he have such a stupid teammate who could not read the situation at all?
This was not the time to act tough. Keeping his life was already fortunate enough, yet he still wanted to goad me into killing Ling Xiao?
You may not value your life, but I do!
While Mang Tian was still wondering how to beg for mercy on the one-eyed dragon’s behalf, Ling Xiao had already walked right up to him.
“Heaven’s sins may be forgiven, but those you bring upon yourself cannot be escaped! Since you came to kill me, you should have known there was a chance you would be killed instead. You brought this on yourself!”
With those words, Ling Xiao’s Sword Domain suddenly shuddered. Countless rays of sword light fused into the Phantom Shadow Sword and stabbed straight toward the one-eyed dragon’s chest.
“You dare to kill…”
His terrified shout was completely drowned out by the roar of the Sword Domain.
The one-eyed dragon stared in despair at that unstoppable sword light. He truly could not understand how Ling Xiao dared to be so bold, how he dared to ignore the Black Python family’s face entirely.
He actually dared to kill him right in front of Mang Tian?
He died with everlasting regret!
The sword fell.
His body was pierced clean through. The one-eyed dragon collapsed rigidly onto the street, kicking up a cloud of dust and splattering bright red blood.
A ghastly wound had opened in his chest. His internal organs were clearly visible.
Dead!
Completely dead!
The renowned leader of the One-Eyed Pirate Crew, the overlord who had terrorised Sin City’s waters for years, a peak half-step Cave Heaven realm expert, had died so easily at the hands of a mere youth.
A seventeen-year-old youth who did not have a single scratch on him, only a torn corner of his collar.
The contrast of this outcome was simply too great.
Countless people felt an immense sense of dissonance.
Everything seemed unreal, like a dream.
Thus, after the one-eyed dragon died, the street fell into deathly silence. Everyone was still immersed in the scene they had just witnessed, unable to pull themselves free.
Hua Luoying was one of the first to recover.
Her body trembled.
From excitement!
From exhilaration!
She was utterly in love with this man!
He was simply the perfect partner she had always dreamed of!
Decisive, ruthless, never dragging his feet.
No matter who the opponent was, if they provoked him, they would be punished. He would never grovel or play the coward.
