Chapter 23 Astonishing Sword
The dagger, flashing with a chilling cold light, slashed toward Xiao Yi\'s vitals.
However...
The dagger abruptly halted, unable to advance even half an inch further.
A ferocious grimace froze on Fang Ao\'s face, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief as he stared at his own wrist. It was being tightly gripped by a hand, and the terrifying force emanating from that hand had completely deformed his wrist.
Agonizing pain shot through him instantly; the dagger fell from his grasp: "Aoooow... my hand..."
Xiao Yi snatched up the dagger and, amidst Fang Ao\'s screams, brought it down towards his groin.
Splurt!
A fountain of blood sprayed wildly, immediately turning the area beneath Fang Ao into a crimson swamp, as a piece the size of a pinky finger fell into the pool of blood. Fang Ao screamed in agony, while Xiao Yi remained expressionless, first slicing open his throat.
Letting the fresh blood spurt freely.
And then driving the dagger deep into Fang Ao\'s heart.
Thud! Thud!
Fang Ao lay twitching in the blood pool until he bled out and died. Until his last moment, his eyes were wide open, filled with disbelief, unable to comprehend how a poisoned Xiao Yi could still move.
After killing Fang Ao, Xiao Yi\'s gaze slightly lifted to rest on Lei Bao, Zhang Xiong, and others who all wore expressions of horror.
Zhang Ying said in disbelief, "You were clearly poisoned by my Muscle-locking Powder, how could you..."
"Muscle-locking Powder? Are you talking about this?"
Xiao Yi cracked a smile and tossed his hand aside, scattering a cloud of white powder.
"Damn, that\'s Muscle-locking Powder..."
"Get out of the way, don\'t let it touch you..."
Zhang Xiong\'s face changed drastically as he pushed Lei Bao away and quickly retreated.
But Xiao Yi was faster!
As soon as the Muscle-locking Powder spread in the air, the Blazing Wind Pursuit Sword was already in his hand, striking down the hunting team members and Black Tiger Gang one by one with his sword. These formidable opponents, caught off guard and paralyzed by the Muscle-locking Powder, stood helpless like wooden targets for Xiao Yi to slay.
More than thirty people, in a blink of an eye, only six remained.
Xiao Yi, wielding the Blazing Wind Pursuit Sword and bathed in blood, emanated evil Qi that pierced the heavens, while his Sword Intent seed turned even redder amidst the slaughter. What he comprehended was the Slaughter Sword Intent, a martial arts mentality focused on warfare and killing.
Gurgle!
Lei Bao shivered all over, his face completely drained of color.
Watching Xiao Yi drenched in blood, this image had become a nightmare for him. Unless he could kill Xiao Yi, he would never be able to step out of the shadow for the rest of his life.
Zhang Xiong\'s expression was grim, and his face twisted into a ferocious scowl.
He had brought along eighteen of the best from the Zhang Family Hunting Team, almost more than half of their fighting force, and now there were only him, Zhang Ying, and three other Qi Gathering Realm Third Layer experts left. The rest were all dead.
This was a colossal blow to the Zhang Family!
Zhang Ying\'s eyes were bloodshot: "Why? You were clearly hit by my Muscle-locking Powder, so why weren\'t you affected at all?"
Xiao Yi shrugged nonchalantly and casually said, "I had suspected you were up to no good from the moment I saw you and was on guard against you. When you used the Muscle-locking Powder, I sealed off my senses and even collected some of the powder. I should thank you, otherwise, with so many of you, it wouldn\'t have been so easy to deal with!"
"You, you..."
Zhang Ying was so furious that blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, her face turning even paler.
Just a moment ago, she was gloating, thinking that she had trapped Xiao Yi.
But...
She had been played by Xiao Yi all along.
Zhang Xiong said coldly, "Xiao Yi, I must admit that we all underestimated you, no... it should be said that everyone has underestimated you. The Xiao Family\'s true dragon isn\'t just Xiao Tianjiaao; you too are a true dragon..."
Xiao Yi calmly looked at him.
Zhang Xiong continued, "However, it\'s a pity that the biggest difference between you and Xiao Tianjiaao is that he is a true dragon soaring across the heavens, whereas you are still struggling in the mire, trying to cross the dragon gate. It\'s just too bad that you will never have the chance to cross it in this lifetime because today, within this Southern Desolate Mountain Range, you will meet your death!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth.
Zhang Xiong led the charge, with Lei Bao and the others close behind.
All with faces full of savage ferocity.
Zhang Xiong wielded a pair of gauntlets as his weapon: black as night, forged from tungsten iron, and covered with spikes, they were high-grade primary weapons. Black light swirled around the gauntlets, seemingly capable of devouring all light, and when he threw a punch, it formed a black canopy in the air.
Lei Bao\'s eyes brimmed with ferocity and hatred, holding a long spear like a venomous snake lying in wait, ready to strike at any moment.
Zhang Ying and the other three hunters spread out to all sides, preventing Xiao Yi\'s escape.
They had absolute faith in Zhang Xiong\'s strength, confident he could kill Xiao Yi.
Xiao Yi faced the black canopy head-on and swept the Blazing Wind Pursuit Sword in front of him: "Sweeping a Thousand Armies!"
Tear!
A slash of crimson sword light tore the black boxing shadows into two halves.
And within the splits of the shadowy fists, a black iron fist tore through the air. Instinctively, Xiao Yi raised the Blazing Wind Pursuit Sword horizontally across his chest. The black iron fist, with a roaring impact, struck the blade and sent Xiao Yi flying.
Lei Bao seized the opportunity, a trace of madness flicking across his eyes, "Die!"
The long spear, like a venomous snake discovering its prey in ambush, thrust fiercely towards Xiao Yi\'s back.
"Idiot, get out of the way!" Zhang Xiong\'s face changed dramatically as he bellowed.
"Huh?"
Lei Bao froze, the ferocity on his face disappearing.
In midair, Xiao Yi grabbed the spearhead, rolled with momentum, and clung to the spear shaft, circling to Lei Bao\'s back. As they brushed past each other, Xiao Yi\'s sword edge swiftly slashed across Lei Bao\'s throat.
The moment he landed.
Xiao Yi kicked out, sending Lei Bao\'s body and head flying toward Zhang Xiong.
Boom! Boom!
Zhang Xiong threw two consecutive punches, shattering both the head and body, but when the blood mist cleared, he had lost sight of Xiao Yi. Suddenly, three screams came from behind him; Xiao Yi had somehow made his way to his back, directly slaughtering the other three members of the hunting team.
Of the thirty-strong group, only Zhang Xiong and Zhang Ying remained.
"Zhang Ying, be careful!"
Zhang Xiong\'s eyes bulged with rage as he watched Zhang Ying, unable to dodge Xiao Yi\'s cold sword edge, and bellowed furiously, "Xiao Yi, if you dare to hurt him, I will exterminate your entire clan!"
Thud!
Xiao Yi\'s cold sword edge pierced Zhang Ying\'s chest. With a twist of his wrist, the sword spun like a drill, gruesomely boring a bloody, gaping hole straight through Zhang Ying\'s torso.
Xiao Yi turned to look at the enraged Zhang Xiong, his face smeared with blood, and cracked a smile, "The Xiao Family of the Great Qian Dynasty is always ready for you to try and exterminate them!"
"I..."
Zhang Xiong\'s face stiffened. The Xiao Family of the Great Qian Dynasty? Exterminate them, my ass!
Let alone him, even the entire Zhang Family wasn\'t enough to fill the gaps between their teeth!
Zhang Xiong, looking at the corpses strewn all over the ground, realized that this venture had been a disastrous loss. The only way to justify himself was to return with Xiao Yi\'s head: "Xiao Yi, I will grind your bones to dust!"
"Thousand Leaves Demon-Subduing Hand!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Zhang Xiong\'s fists pounded like pounding garlic, each strike conjuring dozens of fist shadows that coalesced into thousands, forming a dark steel torrent that swept toward him.
"Grind my bones to dust? You\'re not worthy yet!"
Xiao Yi sneered coldly, as all eighty of his God Sealing Seeds burst forth simultaneously, fully activating the power of the God Sealing Seed. The Blazing Wind Pursuit Sword in his hand hummed, and the power of the Sword Intent seed made the sword light more concentrated. With a low roar, "Life from Despair!"
This was the fourth stance of the Soul-chasing Life-taking Sword, Life from Despair!
It condensed all of his internal energy in the sword edge, producing the most powerful strike, three times stronger than normal.
Moreover...
The energy within Xiao Yi was the power of God Sealing, and with the boost of the Sword Intent seed, this strike was ten times more powerful than his peak!
Boom!
The sword light was astonishing.
It was like a beam of light piercing the horizon, tearing through the thousands of fist shadows, as if it could split the heavens and the earth.
Zhang Xiong\'s face changed drastically, raising his fists to block in front of him: "Absolute Defense!"
Thump!
This strike smashed through his pair of top-grade elemental fist guards, sending Zhang Xiong flying out, spewing blood. His hands trembled, his eyes filled with fear, "I almost got killed, can this really be the strength of someone in the Qi Gathering Realm Third Layer? This person... must not be allowed to live..."
His eyes bore into Xiao Yi with a ruthless gaze.
Xiao Yi\'s heart skipped a beat, "Damn, I didn\'t kill him?"
Using that most powerful strike had almost drained all the energy from his body.
Seeing Zhang Xiong chasing with a vicious face, Xiao Yi gathered his spirits and fled at full speed.
During the chase, they had covered dozens of kilometers.
Woooo...
Amidst the howling cold wind, a dark cliff appeared ahead, thousands of meters high, its bottom invisible at a glance. A golden eagle soared through the canyon, the roaring wind whistling eerily.
"Hahaha, keep running, will you? I want to see where else you can run to!" Zhang Xiong laughed viciously, following closely.
Xiao Yi took a deep breath, retreating, inadvertently knocking a few pebbles down the cliff, unable to hear even the sound of their fall!
Zhang Xiong said grimly, "Xiao Yi, you\'ve got nowhere to run now, surrender quietly!"
Xiao Yi\'s expression was as still as water. In his current state, he stood no chance against Zhang Xiong. As for escaping? Ahead was an abyss thousands of feet deep, wait a minute...
An image of a piece of parchment sprung to Xiao Yi\'s mind, and suddenly, with a corner of his mouth lifted, he turned back with an expression of cold determination, "Once I return to Nanhuang, that will be the day your Zhang Family is annihilated!"
He leapt into the abyss.
Zhang Xiong rushed forward, but Xiao Yi\'s figure was already gone. Frowning and snorting coldly, he muttered, "This cliff has walls sharp as swords on both sides, thousands of meters deep; falling means certain death. At last, the menace is gone..."