Four Cave Heaven Realm assassins, each possessing their own unique martial soul and special Cave Heaven domain.
One transformed into a raindrop of the black night and suddenly closed in.
One became a pitch-black curtain of night, merging perfectly with the natural surroundings.
One launched silent long-range attacks.
One approached at extreme speed, as though capable of instant teleportation.
The coordination among these four was truly formidable.
Even Ling Xiao found himself in trouble.
By his judgement, this time it was impossible to dodge every single attack.
After careful calculation, he swiftly thrust out a sword.
Blood sprayed into the rain, staining the soil red.
The assassin who appeared able to teleport was pierced through by Ling Xiao’s sword in a single strike, almost as if the killer had deliberately run himself onto the blade.
Of course, Ling Xiao paid a price for it. A sword struck his chest, and poisonous liquid seeped into his body. Instantly his limbs felt numb and paralysed.
Then another blade slashed across his arm.
Fortunately, the blood flowing in his veins was a fusion of human blood and ancient golden dragon blood, capable of devouring all poisons.
Moments later, he recovered completely and evaded the final lethal strike.
Killing one, suffering one serious wound and one minor wound, it was a worthwhile trade.
Ling Xiao swallowed a healing pill.
For him, pills were never a problem.
The remaining three assassins once again melted back into the darkness.
Although the ambush had succeeded, they lost one man and only managed to injure Ling Xiao. Such an exchange was truly not worth it.
Ling Xiao stood there expressionless, letting the healing pill’s power spread through his body. The bleeding from his wounds had already stopped.
A smile appeared on his face.
Although injured, he had a feeling that the strange state he had been trapped in was about to be broken.
“He’s almost finished, but with just the three of us, I’m afraid we can’t win. We need to call for reinforcements!”
In the shadows, the three assassins anxiously discussed.
“Agreed!”
“I agree too!”
Five silver-medal assassins of the First Cave Heaven Realm had already lost two, and they had only seriously injured Ling Xiao.
Their confidence was completely shattered.
The person who hired them had once said that if they needed help, they could blow the whistle in their hands. Cannon fodder? As many as needed.
The only goal was to kill Ling Xiao.
The sound of rain did not cover the clear whistle.
The whistle resembled the cry of an owl, yet it was slightly different.
Others could not recognise it, but the person who made such whistles knew it perfectly well.
Ling Xiao did not move.
He was healing, and he was waiting.
He needed stronger stimulation.
The more enemies, the better.
To the enemy, this rainy night might be the perfect moment to kill him.
But to him, it was the best opportunity to break free from his cage and smoothly stabilise his cultivation.
It did not take long.
Perhaps ten minutes, perhaps a quarter of an hour.
On the barren mountain, a dense black mass of people appeared like ants.
Every one of them wore bamboo hats.
Raindrops smashed against their hats, producing hard clacking sounds.
Ling Xiao noticed that the character “囚” (prisoner) was tattooed on all their faces.
They were actually prisoners!
And all of them were death row convicts!
In the Divine Phoenix Imperial Capital, not many people had the authority to mobilise death row prisoners. The list still came down to the Eight Great Clans and the Righteous Alliance.
Now it was basically confirmed. The ones ambushing him tonight were definitely arranged by people from the Eight Great Clans or the Righteous Alliance.
But how could these fools imagine that this assassination attempt would not only fail to kill Ling Xiao, but might even help him achieve a breakthrough.
Rainy night, murderous intent.
It was danger, but also opportunity!
“Kill!”
From somewhere in the crowd, someone shouted, and the masses covering the mountain surged forward.
The strength of these death row convicts varied greatly.
But basically all of them were Heaven Human Realm martial artists.
In other words, they had come to die.
Whoever survived this battle might have their death row status revoked. Ling Xiao did not need to think hard to guess such a promise.
They came to die in order to live.
It sounded contradictory, but for these death row prisoners, it was their only chance.
Should he feel pity?
Ling Xiao had no such sentimental thoughts.
Whoever comes to kill him, he kills them.
The principle is very simple.
But not everyone can accept it.
Yet Ling Xiao had walked this path all along.
The Dark Sword Domain finally displayed its true might. Terrifying sword shadows, protected by the cover of night, turned into streaks of deadly reapers.
Not far away, the personal guards of Feng Yin Mountain watched the scene in stunned silence.
The order their young master, the heir of Hidden Mountain, gave them was not actually to help Feng Yanran save Ling Xiao.
After all, they did not possess such ability.
The heir of Hidden Mountain gave only one simple command: “See clearly the true strength of Ling Xiao!”
In this world, perhaps only Feng Yin Mountain truly regarded Ling Xiao as both a potential opponent and a potential ally.
That was why Feng Yin Mountain needed to understand everything about Ling Xiao.
Including his progress, his potential.
Although Feng Yin Mountain had personally witnessed Ling Xiao fight before, those occasions were never Ling Xiao at his complete state. They held no real reference value.
Only in a dangerous situation like tonight could Ling Xiao possibly unleash his full power.
Therefore, these guards all stared with wide eyes, unwilling to miss a single detail.
Even though, from what they had seen so far, Ling Xiao’s performance was already shocking enough.
But perhaps an even more spectacular scene was yet to come.
“Bright Sword Domain!”
While the Dark Sword Domain was still active, Ling Xiao actually unleashed a second sword domain at the same time.
One black, one white!
One bright, one dark!
They complemented each other, creating a truly stunning sight.
Yet what shocked the most was the power of these two great sword domains.
Within the Bright Sword Domain, martial artists were engulfed in blazing fire. Every sword qi carried intense high-temperature reinforcement.
Within the Dark Sword Domain, martial artists could not capture the direction, position, or trajectory of the sword qi at all. They could not even block before being pierced through.
“Dual Cave Heaven Domains? How is this possible?”
Feng Yanran had read countless books, yet she had never heard of anyone able to unleash two or more Cave Heaven Domains simultaneously.
Even those who possessed multiple Cave Heaven Domains could only activate them one at a time.
But this scene with Ling Xiao, she had truly witnessed for the first time.
Under the terrifying power of the dual sword domains, the countless death row convicts across the mountain rushed forward like they were competing to die.
They could not even get close to Ling Xiao before becoming corpses under his sword, not even knowing how they had died.
The faces of the three First Cave Heaven Realm assassins turned extremely gloomy.
They felt extremely fortunate for the wise decision they had made.
If they themselves had to face Ling Xiao’s dual sword domains, they would likely end up either dead or heavily wounded.
Now, once these cannon fodder wore down Ling Xiao’s sharpness, it would be much easier to finish him off.
A hundred metres away, the Second Cave Heaven Realm martial artist who had been lying in wait looked even more grim.
He was none other than the ninth brother of Feng Ming Cliff Mountain, Feng Ming Heishan.
Upon hearing that his younger brother had been expelled from the Heavenly Origin Treasure Pagoda, his rage was beyond words.
Therefore, he had told no one and secretly laid an ambush here, intending to take Ling Xiao’s life.
