“Stay where you are!”
Ling Xiao knew the danger of letting tigers return to their mountains. If these Sword King Sect disciples escaped back to their sect, both the Divine Sword Sect and he would face grave trouble.
No matter what, they had to die to prevent future threats.
With a furious roar, twelve Tiangang Flying Swords shot through the air, streaking like lightning toward the twelve remaining Sword King Sect inner disciples.
Infused with the wind power of <Celestial Phenomenon>, the swords were faster and deadlier.
As they sliced through the air, sparks flew, and a foul stench spread.
“Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! …”
Twelve screams rang out in succession.
The twelve Mortal Realm first-level inner disciples were pierced through the throat almost simultaneously, crashing heavily to the ground.
All dead.
Ling Xiao recalled the twelve flying swords and, with a wave of his hand, absorbed their twelve martial souls into his Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul.
These, along with previously devoured souls, were used to strengthen the ancient Golden Dragon’s soul. Ling Xiao had no intention of using them individually.
Though the Golden Dragon had initially revived, its soul remained frail and needed vast amounts of martial souls to fully awaken.
Ling Xiao was certain the benefits from the Golden Dragon far outweighed those from stolen martial souls.
After absorbing the souls, he gave a slight shake, his true essence instantly clearing the blood and smoky scent from his body.
His clothes were as clean as if freshly washed, as if he’d never fought at all.
“Wan Ben, your backers are dead. What do you have to say now? Did you really think colluding with these Sword King Sect trash could destroy my Divine Sword Sect? Laughable!”
Turning to the stunned Wan Ben, Ling Xiao’s face was calm, as if Wan Ben were beneath his notice.
Wan Ben was gripped by abject fear.
But he had no intention of begging for mercy.
Seeing the chilling killing intent in Ling Xiao’s eyes, he knew there’d be no survivors today.
His only thought was how to use his remaining forces to escape Ling Xiao’s grasp.
But no matter how he calculated, victory seemed impossible.
He couldn’t fathom how Ling Xiao, only two months at the Yuehua Sect, had become so powerful—stronger than Master Baiyun by several magnitudes.
It wasn’t just him; the Ninja Clan experts couldn’t comprehend it either.
They were frustrated to the point of madness.
An ant they thought they could crush had turned into a colossal beast, a primordial monster.
This kid was only fourteen!
A fourteen-year-old boy had driven an army of over ten thousand Baiyun Province martial artists, plus a dozen Sword King Sect Mortal Realm experts, to a dead end.
If word spread, it would shake the Tianlong Continent.
How could Ling Xiao, with such a performance, be just an outer sect disciple? If he was, what were the Sword King Sect’s inner disciples?
Could he be a once-in-a-hundred-thousand-years prodigy?
“Governor, no need to worry. He killed over a dozen Mortal Realm experts in one go—his true essence must be nearly depleted. He’s just bluffing. If we strike, we can surely kill him!” Luxing suddenly said to Wan Ben.
It was a wake-up call.
Wan Ben realised that no matter how strong Ling Xiao was, even if he’d hidden his strength or was a Mortal Realm martial artist, fighting this long and killing so many must have drained him.
He’d seen this before—martial artists expending vast true essence early to intimidate foes.
The smart saw through the facade; only fools fled.
“Exactly! This is a rare chance. Miss it, and this kid will only grow stronger!” Zhuhua said coldly.
“Governor, don’t hesitate. Even if we can’t kill him today, wounding him gravely will let us escape and call Sword King Sect experts to wipe out the Divine Sword Sect!” another of Wan Ben’s men urged loudly.
“We can’t waver, or once he recovers his true essence, none of us will escape!”
Luxing, seeing Wan Ben’s hesitation, acted first. His longsword flicked, a swordsman martial soul appearing behind him.
His figure became a streak of sword light, thrusting at Ling Xiao, aiming to prove Ling Xiao was spent.
“Flash · Fatal Strike!”
The sword was blindingly fast.
From Luxing’s move to the sword light reaching Ling Xiao, it was a mere blink.
Luxing had used this move before—swift and ruthless.
But today, it was stronger and faster than ever!
“Pathetic.”
Ling Xiao shook his head as the sword light approached.
Back at the Hidden Dragon Camp, he’d thought these three had decent talent. With proper cultivation, they could’ve become fine martial artists.
But some people just couldn’t live quietly, courting death. What could you do?
True essence depleted? That joke wasn’t funny.
Against a few measly Mortal Realm first-level martial artists, he hadn’t even used thirty percent of his true essence.
Moreover, after reaching the Mortal Realm, his Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul’s “True Essence Devouring” effect had grown stronger.
He didn’t need to pause to recover; the more he fought, the faster he recovered, especially with more enemies!
“I’ll give you a chance to kill me—Martial Law, activate!”
– Cost: Stand still and take the opponent’s attack.
– Effect: If the opponent can’t pierce your body, they must endure their own attack’s damage.
Since Ling Xiao’s understanding of Martial Law was still shallow, he used it sparingly, testing it cautiously.
Luxing didn’t know Ling Xiao’s thoughts. His longsword struck Ling Xiao’s body.
Crack!
Not the sound of piercing flesh, but of a sword snapping.
“How?! My sword’s a mortal-grade treasure! Is his body tougher than that?”
How could Luxing know Ling Xiao’s body was impervious even to precious-grade treasures, let alone mortal ones?
Shocked, he hurriedly retreated, fearing Ling Xiao’s counterattack.
But Ling Xiao just looked at him disdainfully, not moving to strike.
The Martial Law had activated; he didn’t need to act.
“Ah!”
Luxing, now standing still, suddenly screamed as a gruesome gash appeared on his body.
He knew it was the damage from his own sword technique.
But until his death, he couldn’t understand why.
Why, when Ling Xiao hadn’t moved, was he injured?
And by his own sword technique?
Once a Martial Law was recognised by the Mysterious Realm’s laws, it was an ironclad rule no one could defy!
