by Translator: Pokka; Author: 我本纯洁 (I Am Pure); Licensed From: Migu
Little White merely shot Dongfang Shuo a provoking gaze before speeding off.
Dongfang Shuo was infuriated, and with his sword raised, he chased after Little White. But it was at this moment that the old silverscale elephant unleashed its final attack of desperation; its tusks growing double in length before it stabbed its tusks at Dongfang Shuo.
The pair of tusks was the old silverscale elephant's fate weapon, and no defense could block it. Dongfang Shuo could sense the danger and immediately turned around and slashed his sword at the silverscale elephant. Although he had reacted quickly, a deep wound was still left on his waist even as his attack slashed off an ear of the old silverscale elephant.
"I'll deal with you later," Dongfang Shuo said. His main goal was the silverhorn fruit. Thus, he decided to move on from the elephant and went after Little White instead.
"Stop that little beast!" Dongfang Shuo yelled.
At that shout, a Transformation Realm removed himself from the battlefield and tried to intercept Little White. But Little White was too fast for him. At the same time, the silverscale elephants shrieked and charged the Mad Lion Hunting Group members without caring for their own lives anymore.
Unfortunately, there were not enough Great Demons among them. Thus, before long, one elephant after another was killed. With the defeat of the silverscale elephants, the Mad Lion Hunting Group left a few of them behind to clean up the elephants while the rest followed Dongfang Shuo and chased after Little White.
"Die, little beast!" Dongfang Shuo was the fastest among them, and mid-pursuit, he suddenly threw some concealed weapons at Little White.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The concealed weapons streaked across the air and instantly arrived near Little White. Just as the weapons were about to hit Little White, he curled up and rolled on the ground. With that, the bulk of his body became even smaller, helping him dodge the concealed weapons. But by doing so, his speed dropped considerably and allowed his pursuers to catch up with him.
"Die!" Dongfang Shuo stabbed his Greenflame Sword at Little White, sending a green beam of flame out from the tip of his sword.
This time, Little White would no longer be able to avoid the incoming attack. After all, this was the attack of a late-stage Transformation Realm expert. The speed and might of this attack could not be underestimated. Abruptly, a figure leaped out from above a nearby tree and swung his saber toward the sword.
Berserk Lightning Blade!
This was a tier-3 battle technique that Xiang Shaoyun had mastered a while ago. It had three stances, and Xiang Shaoyun was currently using the first stance—Mad Lightning Fall.
Xiang Shaoyun had been lying in wait here all along so that he would be able to start his slaughter the moment Little White arrived with their enemies. He attacked with his full strength, mixing even his innate purple lightning into his attack. One could say that this attack did indeed resemble its name as it descended from above akin to a lightning bolt falling from the sky.
Dongfang Shuo was someone with rich combat experience and was also a cautious person. Even so, he had not expected that this would be a trap, nor had he expected that this little beast was actually someone's pet.
His attention had been fully focused on Little White whereas Xiang Shaoyun's attention had been fully focused on him. Thus, when he noticed the incoming sneak attack, it was already too late.
"Damn it!" When he sensed the approaching saber, he was forced to abandon his attack on Little White, and he focused all his power to form a green barrier around him.
Bang!
Before Dongfang Shuo's defensive barrier was fully deployed, Xiang Shaoyun's slash had arrived. This was Xiang Shaoyun's first attack with the Overlord Skyslaying Saber. A layer of innate purple lightning was affixed on the damaged blade as the seemingly unstoppable and destructive slash struck Dongfang Shuo's barrier.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
"AHHHH!"
One of Dongfang Shuo's arm was severed, causing him to wail miserably. But he was still an expert, as even under intense pain, he did not forget to swing his sword toward Xiang Shaoyun's waist.
Clang!
Dongfang Shuo was expecting to kill his opponent with this unexpected counterattack, but when his sword struck his opponent's waist, a crisp clank rang out, telling him clearly his attack failed.
The impact sent Xiang Shaoyun flying, and it was at this moment that Dongfang Shuo's severed arm landed on the ground. Without the king-grade inner armor, Xiang Shaoyun would have been killed in the exchange.
"Worthy of being a late-stage Transformation Realm expert. He was able to attack even in that situation. Well, it still won't change his fate. He will die today," Xiang Shaoyun muttered to himself before he dashed forth again.
"Stop right now!" Dongfang Shuo's companions finally arrived.
The newcomers were two Transformation Realm experts. They both drew their weapons at the same time before dashing toward Xiang Shaoyun, trying to stop him from killing Dongfang Shuo.
"There is no escaping death if I want you dead," Xiang Shaoyun said with a sharp glint in his eyes.
Chapter 108: Undefeated Overlord
Overlord's Nine Nether Steps!
Xiang Shaoyun moved as swift as the wind, as his lithe body warped before vanishing from the incoming attacks. He had finally unleashed a tiny bit of the actual prowess the Overlord's Nine Nether Steps was capable of. After dodging the two attacks, he swung his Overlord Skyslaying Saber toward Dongfang Shuo again.
Dongfang Shuo was still struggling from the intense pain he was suffering after losing his arm, and coupled with the light injuries he accumulated during his battle with the old silverscale elephant, he was unable to avoid Xiang Shaoyun's attack. But due to his many years of combat experience, he still launched a counterattack by instinct alone.
"Even if I die, you will die together with me!" Dongfang Shuo ignored his injuries and mustered all his remaining strength before stabbing his sword at Xiang Shaoyun.
A beam of green flame shot out again, destroying all the trees in its path.
"Shall I dodge or keep on going?" Xiang Shaoyun hesitated. If he was able to dodge this attack, Dongfang Shuo would no longer have any energy left to keep on fighting. And if he could not dodge this attack, the only thing he could do was take it head-on, but he had no idea if he would survive the head-on collision.
His hesitation only lasted a split second before his eyes turned resolute. He shouted, "I have been breaking through limit after limit. Now, let me break through yet another limit!"
Innate purple lightning surged out of Xiang Shaoyun's lightning bone. At the same time, he also drew a large amount of lightning energy from his first star. Instantly, the Overlord Skyslaying Saber shone brightly. Then, the saber and the sword collided.
Rumble! Rumble!
A massive shockwave rippled outward, destroying numerous trees in the vicinity. The two newly arrived Transformation Realm experts were also forced to halt their advance and erect their respective defensive barriers to protect themselves against the shockwave.
Fear was plastered all over their faces, as they had not expected that the person assassinating their leader was actually so powerful. The two opposing sources of energy dispersed, and two figures were sent flying in two opposite directions.
Xiang Shaoyun coughed up a mouthful of blood as he flew through the air. The sleeves on his arms had been completely torn into shreds. That was all that happened to him after taking Dongfang Shuo's attack head-on—a mouthful of blood and ripped sleeves.
In other words, he had completely survived the attack.
As for Dongfang Shuo, he was in a far worse condition. He was already badly injured, and after the collision, his entire body was badly charred, with smoke billowing up from his hair. His body twitched without stopping, and he looked to be on his dying breath.
A late-stage Transformation Realm expert was actually pushed to such a state by a seventh-stage Astral Realm cultivator.
Nobody would believe this if they did not witness it themselves. Even the two Mad Lion Hunting Group members nearby were finding it hard to believe, and they had personally witnessed it unfold.
"Deputy commander!" shouted one of them who had finally recovered from his shock.
They darted over toward Dongfang Shuo. They no longer dared to try anything against Xiang Shaoyun. As far as they were concerned, Xiang Shaoyun was most likely someone far stronger than them and was merely pretending to be weak to catch his opponents by surprise. Thus, they did not dare to chase after him.
They only hoped to leave and ask for reinforcements after saving their deputy commander. Little did they expect, Xiang Shaoyun had no intention of letting them leave at all. Xiang Shaoyun’s current battle intent was surging.
He could sense the explosive power in every fiber of his being, and he could also sense the might of his innate purple lightning. There was no fear in his heart, and he longed for an intense battle right now. He caressed his saber, calmed his surging battle intent, and turned into a series of afterimages as he charged the two with his Nine Overlord Skyslaying Saber Technique.
Berserk Lightning Blade!
An overbearing saber energy shot forward with a layer of berserk lightning energy affixed to it, leaving a boundless purple radiance wherever it passed. Xiang Shaoyun's battle intent had reached the absolute limit, and in his current state, he seemed to have become one with his Overlord Skyslaying Saber.
As an overlord, he should be incomparably overbearing, be capable of defeating opponents nobody could defeat, and be unequaled. A fanatical belief suddenly rose in his mind, and like a bright lamp, it pointed him upon a bright path he shall tread in his future cultivation.
Of the two Transformation Realm cultivators, one was at the third stage while the other was at the second stage. Both of them were no pushovers either, and when they saw Xiang Shaoyun charging toward them, they were left with no choice but to face him.
"You dare assassinate a deputy commander of the Mad Lion Hunting Group? You won't survive this!" roared one of them before waving a massive saber at Xiang Shaoyun.
As for the other person, he slammed a massive hammer toward Xiang Shaoyun from a different angle. The two formed a pincer attack, each of them sending an incredibly powerful attack, filling the entire area with their aura.
Xiang Shaoyun activated his gift of instincts to give his eyesight a sharp increase. Two electrical currents could be seen snaking out of his eyes, giving him a rather sinister look. His attack arrived right at the blind spot of the two, destroying both their attacks.
Even though he was attacking their blind spot, he could still sense an intense shockwave from the impact. Fortunately, after reforming his body with the help of lightning energy, his flesh had become much stronger.
After forcing the two into a retreat, Xiang Shaoyun did not stop. He continued advancing with a wondrous footwork straight toward the weaker of the two. Then, he swung his saber forward mercilessly. His innate purple lightning was the purest of lightning energy and immediately destroyed his opponent's defensive barrier, forcing his opponent to stay on the defensive.
A thought of using offense as defense did surface in this person's mind, but when he thought of how Xiang Shaoyun was able to defeat his deputy commander, he concluded that Xiang Shaoyun was much stronger than him. It filled his heart with fear and caused him to give up all thoughts of attacking.
If he actually dared to attack instead of defend, he wouldn't have been suppressed so badly. The other expert rushed over in hope of saving his companion.
Xiang Shaoyun started fighting the two opponents at the same time. The energy revolving around him was no weaker than an actual Transformation Realm expert. With the addition of the powerful innate purple lightning, the gap between him and the two had been greatly reduced.
Xiang Shaoyun launched attack after attack. The more he fought, the more excited he became. At the same time, his innate purple lightning was becoming increasingly terrifying.
His two opponents found that it was becoming harder to hold on as they could sense the suppression of a king pressing down upon them, causing their battle intent to drop to the point they were considering to escape.
"What are you waiting for? Die!" Xiang Shaoyun did not wish to drag this out. He thus drew more power from his lightning bone. Instantly, projections of dragon and tiger appeared behind him while a majestic aura roiled out of his body. Fear filled the hearts of his two opponents, and their momentum dropped to the lowest point since the start of the battle.
Chapter 109: Fight by Your Side
With a powerful presence, one shall prosper. With a weak presence, one shall suffer.
Xiang Shaoyun's absolute kingly presence roiled out as he unleashed a heavy slash on the two before him. Two heads were separated from two bodies. After killing the two, his presence immediately weakened. His entire body turned limp, and he could only remain standing by propping himself up with the Overlord Skyslaying Saber.
"Looks like I have accidentally drawn too much power and have overdrafted myself," Xiang Shaoyun muttered with a bitter smile. He then crushed one low-grade spirit stone in his astral cosmos sea. The energy from the spirit stone flowed into his stars and coursed through his meridians, restoring his lost energy.
At the same moment, Little White arrived by his side and started guarding him vigilantly. The benefit of the astral cosmos sea was that it helped Xiang Shaoyun use or devour anything stored inside it faster. That in turn helped him recover more quickly when using a recovery item stored in there.
At this time, the Mad Lion Hunting Groups who had stayed behind to deal with the silverscale elephants finally arrived. When they saw the three corpses on the ground, shock covered their faces.
"T-the d-deputy commander is dead! And two captains are dead too! How did this happen?" a first-stage Transformation Realm expert cried out in alarm.
Little White suddenly grew large and pounced on that person.
"Howl!"
Before any of them could react, Little White landed and bit the Transformation Realm expert's head. The Transformation Realm was completely caught by surprise. The sight of this frightened the other Mad Lion Hunting Group members even more.
They had just finished fighting the silverscale elephants, and all of them carried different degrees of injuries. Their combat strength was not even half of their full strength right now. How could they face a Great Demon like this? More importantly, the youngster who had killed their deputy commander and two captains was still standing there.
"Retreat and ask for reinforcements!" someone cried out. At that, all the Mad Lion Hunting Group members scattered in all directions.
Xiang Shaoyun wanted to chase after them, but he stopped after thinking about it for a bit. Yes, the Mad Lion Hunting Group had indeed offended him. But it was impossible for him to kill every single one of their members.
I'll just make them disband in the future, Xiang Shaoyun thought to himself.
He then got Little White to hunt a demonic beast as their meal. After he finished the meal, he started to meditate to recover his lost energy so he could resume his journey as soon as possible.
After one night of meditation, Xiang Shaoyun had recovered by about 70 percent. He weighed the silverhorn fruit in his palm with a smile. "Silverhorn fruit, able to grow one's stars and expand the size of one's stars as well. It is a rather rare mid-grade spirit medicine."
Xiang Shaoyun then put the silverhorn fruit away instead of using it. With his talent, it was pointless to use this fruit. It wouldn't show any obvious effect. This fruit would be the most useful for someone with weaker potential.
Xiang Shaoyun was in a great mood. Mounted on Little White, they traveled on as he hummed a song. With the increase in his strength, he was no longer a weak scholar who couldn't even kill a chicken. So long as he continued working hard, he would soon be able to return to where he had come from and retake everything that was once his.
/> After a few days and many more killings, Xiang Shaoyun finally arrived at the outer fringe of the Hundred Beast Mountain Range. After so many days of tempering, he was now radiating a steadfast and sharp aura. It was as if he was now a murderous blade instead of a human, making it hard for others to even look straight at him.
After leaving the Hundred Beast Mountain Range, Xiang Shaoyun headed straight back to the Martial Hall Palace. He did not want Elder Zhen Peng and Zi Changhe to keep worrying over him. After returning to the Martial Hall Palace, he looked for Xia Liuhui and gave him the silverhorn fruit.
Xia Liuhui was extremely touched. The silverhorn fruit was a mid-grade spirit medicine, but his boss was giving it to him like it was nothing. This generosity was something many people couldn't even compare to.
Xiang Shaoyun was just trying to help Xia Liuhui as best as he could. After all, this was his first friend in the Martial Hall Palace. He was hoping that Xia Liuhui could grow even stronger, to be able to stand by his side in the future. Although it was rather unlikely, he still needed to try since he was the boss.
As for the destruction of the lightning strike wood, Elder Zhen Peng would be the one doing the explaining. In any case, Elder Zhen Peng was the one who had taken it from the Martial Hall Palace, not him. Nobody in Martial Hall Palace would dare to give a King Realm cultivator trouble anyway. Only an absolute idiot would do that.
Xiang Shaoyun ignored everything else and started a three-month-long seclusion. He had to grow even stronger before the Battle of Towns. More importantly, through the continuous killing in the Hundred Beast Mountain Range, he had already figured out that he needed to increase his accumulation of trump cards.
Three months were very short for someone focused on cultivating. With Xiang Shaoyun focusing on nothing but cultivation, time flew even faster for him. If Zi Changhe had not come to notify him that the Battle of Towns would start in half a month, he would have continued his seclusion.
The Battle of Towns was a major event of the Cloud Margin City. Over 100 towns would send the disciples of numerous academies and cultivation organizations to represent them in the competition and win honor and glory for them.