Slash!
Crack!
There was no overwhelming aura.
For Lin Ze had condensed all his fury and true essence into the blade.
With this single slash, the invisible assassin barely had time to shift slightly before a third of his right arm, torso, and leg was sliced clean off.
The sword technique Lin Ze employed appeared ordinary but was, in truth, a genuine Mortal Blade Technique, compounded by his cultivation, which far surpassed that of the invisible assassin.
Had this strike landed squarely on a vital point, the invisible assassin would have been dead without question.
However, the disadvantage of not being able to see his opponent meant Lin Ze’s attack, guided by the Heavenly Dragon True Essence, was slightly off-target.
Even so, the invisible assassin was left clinging to life, fleeing desperately toward the enemy’s battle formation.
“Think you can kill and just walk away? Dream on!”
A fully empowered Martial Vein Ninth Layer Early Stage Martial Master would have been no match for Ling Xiao.
But this invisible assassin, now barely alive, was so weakened that even an ordinary Seventh Layer Martial Master could finish him off.
Lin Ze’s attack was no jest—not only did it inflict surface damage, but his true essence was also wreaking havoc inside the assassin’s body.
Each strand of Lin Ze’s true essence was like a steel needle, rendering the invisible assassin profoundly frail.
So frail that most Martial Masters could kill him.
The problem was his ability to remain invisible, making it impossible for others to act.
“Let me send you off!”
Blood Blade Shadow King Slash!
Ling Xiao’s Cloud Dragon Divine Movement was lightning-fast, catching up to the fleeing invisible assassin in an instant. With a flick of his longsword, he struck.
The blade pierced from an eerily precise angle, targeting the assassin’s weakest point.
Thud!
Once again, Ling Xiao struck the invisible assassin.
This time, the outcome was markedly different.
Previously, the assassin was uninjured and didn’t have to contend with Lin Ze’s terrifying true essence.
Now, the invisible assassin’s strength was likely less than that of a Martial Vein Seventh Layer Peak Warrior.
With this thrust, Ling Xiao poured his frenzied Snow Lotus True Essence into the Snowfall Sword, channeling it through the blade into the assassin’s body.
The already gaping wound became even more horrific.
Crack, crack, crack!
The invisible assassin’s body began to freeze, gradually becoming visible to all.
Ling Xiao lightly kicked the crystalline figure, and it shattered upon hitting the ground, breaking into a pile of ice fragments.
Though there was no grand spectacle.
No catastrophic destruction.
This scene deeply shocked every warrior who witnessed it.
“The invisible assassin is dead!”
“The biggest threat is gone!”
“What’s that lad’s name?”
“Don’t you know? He’s Ling Xiao, Commander Lin’s true disciple!”
“No wonder he could kill the invisible assassin!”
The battlefield erupted!
The morale of the defenders at Hucheng Mountain soared, and the tide of battle swung sharply in favour of Yunkong City.
Even in the clashes between Ninth Layer experts, Yunkong City began to gain the upper hand.
“Well done, lad!”
Lin Ze rested his greatsword on his shoulder, standing tall. The wound on his shoulder had reopened from the force of his earlier strike and was bleeding.
But he paid it no mind, his heart filled with excitement and pride.
That was his disciple, his true heir!
“Commander Lin, who gets the credit for this?” Ling Xiao asked with a smile.
“You, of course!” Lin Ze laughed. “Without you, more would have died at the hands of that invisible assassin—even Ninth Layer experts might have fallen. Your presence changed everything. I was merely assisting. Stealing your credit would be far too shameful.”
It was clear to all that this battle against the invisible assassin was initiated, planned, and resolved by Ling Xiao.
Without Lin Ze, another expert could have assisted.
But without Ling Xiao, no one else would have succeeded.
With the invisible assassin dead, the Ninja Clan fell into disarray, their fighting spirit shattered.
Without the Ninja Clan’s support, the Blue-Eyed Clan couldn’t hold their own and gradually fell behind.
Barring any surprises, this war was effectively over.
Having expended immense energy in the fight, Ling Xiao retreated to the rear to recover his true essence.
“Father—!”
From the Blue-Eyed Clan’s formation, a figure clad entirely in black emerged.
It was Ming Tian.
Seeing his father brutally killed by Ling Xiao, he burned with the urge to rush forward and exact revenge.
But he was quickly restrained by a Ninja Clan expert.
“You’d be walking to your death! Don’t forget, the Twelve Hidden Sects of the Human Race have reemerged! We must tread even more carefully now, or provoking the Twelve Sects will mean death without knowing how it happened!”
“Are the Twelve Hidden Sects really that terrifying?” Ming Tian asked, unconvinced.
“Hmph. What if I told you that your master, Master Baiyun, was merely an outer disciple of the Moonlight Sect, one of the Twelve Sects?”
“What!” Ming Tian’s eyes widened, unable to accept such a claim.
“No need to be so shocked. Legend has it that the Twelve Hidden Sects only reappear when the Mountain River Martial Spirit emerges. Within these sects, even outer disciples are Mortal Warriors,” the Ninja Clan expert continued. “The Twelve Sects founded the Human Race’s Holy Dynasty. Once you reach the Mortal Realm, find a way to join one of them. Without entering the Twelve Sects, conquering the Human Race’s Holy Dynasty is impossible.”
Ming Tian gritted his teeth and said, “I understand. I’ll remember my father’s vengeance.”
With that, he turned and left the battlefield.
At the Ninja Clan expert’s command, every Ninja Clan warrior on the battlefield withdrew completely.
“Damn the Ninja Clan—treacherous cowards!”
The Blue-Eyed Clan’s Ninth Layer Peak expert, witnessing this, was so furious he nearly spat blood.
This war had been planned with the Ninja Clan—they were to act openly while the Ninja Clan operated in the shadows. Now, the Blue-Eyed Clan had been betrayed.
“General, we can’t hold on! The humans are counterattacking!”
“General, what do we do? Should we retreat?”
“The Giant Elephant Puppet has been suppressed. We have no other options!”
Panic spread through the Blue-Eyed Clan.
Meanwhile, Yunkong City shifted from defence to offence, launching a strategic counterattack.
Ling Xiao sat cross-legged in the rear, calmly observing.
With the humans now holding the advantage, there was no need for haste.
He had just acquired a complete Ninja Spirit from the Ninja Clan assassin—the Shadow Ninja Spirit.
This was an exceptionally formidable Ninja Spirit.
Though it offered little in terms of attack or defence enhancement, it allowed a warrior to enter a state of complete invisibility, concealing not only their body but also their aura entirely.
Unless an opponent’s cultivation surpassed the Shadow Ninja Spirit’s wielder by a major realm or possessed special abilities, detection was impossible.
Stronger opponents might sense a faint presence within ten metres.
A “major realm” referred to the leap from Martial Vein Ninth Layer to Mortal Warrior.
Thus, below the Mortal Realm, the Shadow Ninja Spirit was virtually invincible.
Had today’s Ninja Clan assassin not encountered a freak like Ling Xiao, they might have single-handedly altered the battlefield’s outcome.
“This Shadow Ninja Spirit is a complete Ninja Spirit. Once I convert it into a Shadow Martial Soul, its effects will be similar to the Blood Blade Martial Soul but far more powerful. I wonder if these two martial souls could be fused?”
