The Shadow Armour was one of Ling Xiao’s means of self-preservation.
The Blood Skeleton couldn’t even locate him, let alone attack him.
“Damn it!”
As if enraged, the Blood Skeleton suddenly released an even more formidable aura of blood energy.
Eight Directions Blood Fiends!
As his Heavenly Yuan Power surged forth, countless skulls charged out in all directions.
The next instant, Ling Xiao sensed the threat.
Though his Shadow Armour allowed him to conceal his form, area-of-effect attacks could still strike him.
However, his arsenal extended beyond the Shadow Armour.
Black-and-White Wings!
Dismissing the Shadow Armour, Ling Xiao abruptly soared skyward, his speed resembling a streak of light.
The result? The Blood Skull’s attack missed its mark once more.
“Second strike. You’ve only three attempts left. Think carefully about your final move!”
Ling Xiao hovered mid-air, grinning down at the Blood Skull below.
“I may be weaker than you, but I can fly. What are you going to do about it?”
“Damn it! Witness my Death Coil!”
The Blood Skull roared furiously, clenching its fists and unleashing a colossal skull head trailing terrifying green flames towards Ling Xiao.
Wherever Ling Xiao flew, that skull head pursued relentlessly, like a persistent spectre.
“Ha ha ha ha! See how you dodge this! I refuse to believe your Heavenly Yuan Power will never be exhausted!”
“Scarlet Sun Spike!”
In the critical moment, Ling Xiao abruptly halted, a blinding golden light shooting forth.
Only the sharp-eyed could discern it was a spike-like projectile, piercing straight through the Death Coil that had consumed half a day’s energy.
The Death Coil itself feared intense heat and sunlight.
Having already burned for half a day, this single collision reduced it to ashes.
“Three moves have passed, Mr. Confident Blood Skull. Might I have your high-grade Heavenly Spirit Pill now?”
Ling Xiao did not descend immediately. After all, the other party was utterly shameless—who knew if that fellow might suddenly launch a sneak attack?
He had observed Blood Skull’s performance throughout these three exchanges and would never underestimate his opponent.
“Hand it over the moment you come down!”
Blood Skull trembled with rage.
He’d come seeking honour today, yet ended up losing even more face.
“Blood Skull, do you intend to break our agreement? If so, I wonder whether the Divine Phoenix Academy would retain any standing to flaunt its might before our Qingxu Academy once word spreads?”
At that moment, the Security Office instructors snapped out of their shock.
Ling Xiao’s performance had utterly surpassed their expectations.
Though defeating Blood Skull seemed unlikely, merely surviving three strikes without being slain was already enough to make a name for himself.
Thus, they resolved to assist Ling Xiao further.
Such a student deserved proper protection.
“Here you are!”
The Blood Skull’s reputation mattered, but he understood even more clearly that Shenhuang Academy’s reputation mattered far more.
If he brought shame upon Shenhuang Academy, he could forget about ever holding his head high there again.
“My thanks!”
Ling Xiao reached out to catch the Celestial Spirit Pill.
Yet his brow furrowed slightly.
“Who’d have thought the Divine Phoenix Academy would stoop so low? Did you truly believe injecting poison into this pill at the last moment would ensnare me?”
Ling Xiao sneered, “Alas, to my eyes, your tactics resemble nothing more than the mischief of a three-year-old.”
Hearing this, the onlookers all frowned.
Resorting to such underhanded tactics when unable to defeat an opponent? Blood Skull was truly debasing himself.
“You’re slandering me!”
Blood Skull’s face turned ashen with rage as he bellowed.
“Dare not admit your own deeds? Very well, I’ll extract it before your very eyes!”
With that, Ling Xiao suspended the Heavenly Spirit Pill in mid-air. Channeling his Heavenly Yuan Energy, he forcibly extracted the toxin before the assembled crowd.
“It’s the Shadowless Venom!”
Someone gasped in shock.
“Quite right. It’s the Shadowless Venom unique to Divine Phoenix Academy. Merely touching it can kill even a Heavenly Realm martial artist. This poison is exceedingly rare—even the academy possesses only a limited quantity. There’s no known method to refine it, so every use depletes the supply!”
This was clearly an expert in toxins.
“Seems Ling Xiao was right after all. That Blood Skull fellow is utterly shameless, isn’t he?”
“Shameless is putting it mildly. He’s brought utter disgrace upon the Divine Phoenix Academy!”
“Hmph, I suspect the Divine Phoenix Academy must have instigated this behind the scenes. Otherwise, how could Blood Skull possibly have obtained such a toxin?”
“Exactly! Now that you mention it, that does make sense.”
The murmurs of discussion rose and fell.
Blood Skull’s expression grew increasingly grim.
For everything had been laid bare.
That poison had indeed been given to him by Vice-Principal Sikong Zun of Divine Phoenix Academy, to be used to poison Ling Xiao.
Originally, he had disdained using it, believing that killing Ling Xiao with his own abilities would be as easy as turning his hand.
Yet after three moves, he hadn’t even managed to touch Ling Xiao. Thus, malice took root in his heart, and he resorted to such a potent, deadly poison.
Yet he could never have imagined that the poison, which Sikuang Zun had boasted no one could detect or extract, would be so effortlessly purged by this Ling Xiao.
Not only had he been utterly disgraced, but he had brought shame upon Shenhuang Academy itself.
“Ling Xiao, do not try to change the subject! That I failed to kill you today proves I underestimated you. Dare you meet me in combat at the Imperial City’s arena in one month’s time?”
In this predicament, Blood Skull could say nothing else. He could only forcefully shift the topic, drawing everyone’s attention.
“A duel to the death, then?”
Ling Xiao inquired coolly.
“Precisely! A duel to the death! Do you dare?”
Blood Skull demanded.
“Hmph. And when the time comes, you won’t resort to such underhanded tactics to harm me again, will you?” Ling Xiao sneered.
“Rest assured, I shall face you in fair and square combat, settling this once and for all!”
Blood Skull declared.
Ling Xiao fell silent for a moment before nodding. “Very well. Since you attempted to poison me today, I intend to see you dead anyway. Given you’ve made this demand, I accept. One month hence, we settle this on the Imperial City’s martial arena!”
A month would suffice for him to elevate his cultivation to the Two Extremes Heaven realm.
Of course, during this period, he would need to refine more Heaven Spirit Pills.
Previously, he possessed no formula for the Heaven Spirit Pill.
But now he did.
Leveraging the formidable analytical capabilities of his Mountain-River Martial Soul, he could thoroughly dissect the superior-grade Heaven Spirit Pill in his possession to decipher its refinement method, ultimately achieving success.
Once that point was reached, he could auction off the inferior batches to procure more herbs for continued refinement, while reserving the superior ones for his own use.
With the combined effects of the Celestial Spirit Pills and the Heavenly Yuan Pagoda, if he still failed to break through to the Two Extremes Heaven realm after a month, then even if the Blood Skull killed him, it would be his own fault.
Yet though he voiced this, none could fathom his true intentions.
Nearly everyone present deemed him mad.
The martial arena differed from this place.
There, spatial constraints prevailed. However agile one’s footwork, within that confined space, one could never fully unleash one’s power.
