by Translator: Pokka; Author: 我本纯洁 (I Am Pure); Licensed From: Migu
However, that did not mean that Money would lose. He was one who had spent a long time under the nourishment of silver lightning energy. His flesh was comparable to the durability of ninth-stage Demon Kings.
The continuous silver lighting bolts he spat out of his mouth also caused the golden-eyed leopard a lot of pain. While the two Demon Kings were fighting, Su Jun focused on attacking Xiang Shaoyun. These days, he had been tailing Xiang Shaoyun's group through a secret technique he knew. He had long noticed that Xiang Shaoyun was in a bad condition.
Thus, he vowed to take this chance to kill Xiang Shaoyun. Only then would he be able to sleep at night. Otherwise, Xiang Shaoyun would become a demon planted in his heart, one that would adversely affect his path of cultivation in the future. Su Jun was also known as the Golden Dragon Sword. His attacks reflected that as he sent numerous golden dragons flying forward to surround Xiang Shaoyun.
Roaming Dragon!
Each dragon was as powerful as the attack of a peak King. Among the geniuses in the group, Su Jun's strength was in the middle range. But with his cultivation level of ninth-stage King Realm, he was strong enough to suppress the current Xiang Shaoyun.
Xiang Shaoyun knew very well he wouldn't be able to block Su Jun's attacks. He could only dodge using his Overlord's Nine Nether Steps. But the moment he used his footwork, a sharp pain assaulted his meridians and acupoints, causing him to slow down considerably. In the blink of an eye, several wounds appeared on his body and sprayed out blood.
"Haha, Xiang Shaoyun, today is the day you die!" Su Jun grew excited when he saw his attack hitting. He used even more strength and pushed on for the kill.
Damn it! Do I really need to release the ghostrune emperors? Xiang Shaoyun cursed inwardly.
Bearing with the pain, he continued moving around with his footwork. At the same time, he took out his Overlord Skyslaying Saber and looked for a chance to counterattack. Unfortunately, he could only release the combat prowess of a regular fourth-stage Skysoar Realm cultivator and couldn't pose any threat to Su Jun.
"Stop your worthless struggle," said Su Jun with a sneer.
Soaring Dragon!
To prevent any mishaps from happening, Su Jun decided to use his strongest attack, aiming to finish off Xiang Shaoyun as quickly as possible. As he attacked, his sword seemed to have transformed into a mighty soaring and roaring dragon.
Xiang Shaoyun could sense how dangerous this attack was and no longer hesitated. He pushed his strength to his current limit and started using both his Overlord's Nine Nether Steps and footwork intent to flee.
Fortunately, this was the territory of the devil wind beasts. The wind was constantly blowing around madly, and it let Xiang Shaoyun borrow the might of the wind as he moved, forcefully reducing the disadvantage his injuries brought him.
However, Su Jun's attack was too powerful. Even when Xiang Shaoyun was moving at his top speed, his back was still struck, and a bloody wound appeared. He crashed heavily onto the ground. Su Jun pressed on and slashed his sword at Xiang Shaoyun's head.
"Die!" shouted Su Jun in excitement.
He could already see Xiang Shaoyun's dismembered corpse in his head. Suddenly, an indescribable power surged out, covering a radius of one kilometer around them, seemingly carving this space from reality and turning it into an independent space.
Su Jun was stunned to find that he had lost sight of Xiang Shaoyun. And before he had even recovered from his shock, eight chains shot out toward him from the empty air. The eight chains moved like eight dragons, and they were so fast that they chained Su Jun before he could react.
"What is this? Piss off!" Su Jun roared and erupted with a sharp golden aura, trying to break the chains into pieces.
However, the eight chains seemed to be incomparably tough. Not only had he failed to break them, they had even tightened around him.
"Damn it! What is this?" Su Jun exclaimed in alarm. The space and these chains had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He had no idea what just happened, but he was certain all of this had something to do with Xiang Shaoyun.
Xiang Shaoyun appeared out of thin air and said murderously, "Su Jun, you have been creating trouble for me again and again, constantly trying to kill me. Today, you won't be spared."
This was the Imperial Nether Prison Xiang Shaoyun had constructed with his Nether Soul Domain. This was the first time he used the technique, and the only reason he was even using it was because he was left with no choice.
The moment he used the Imperial Nether Prison, Xiang Shaoyun had a sensation that he had become one with the space around him, allowing him to control everything within its domain. As for the eight chains, they were constructed using his soul power.
Xiang Shaoyun's soul power had long reached a level equivalent to an Emperor's. As he reached fourth-stage Skysoar Realm, his soul power had grown even stronger, comparable to the soul power of third-stage or even fourth-stage Emperors. Because of that, these chains corresponded to Emperor-level strength and were able to completely tie Su Jun up.
When Su Jun saw Xiang Shaoyun, fear covered his face, and he said, "Let go of me! I am a member of the Dragon Society! If you kill me, things won't end well for you either!"
Dragon Society, a top power in the Soaring Dragon Province, an organization few would dare to offend. Su Jun hoped that this would be enough to scare Xiang Shaoyun off and allow him to live.
Unfortunately for him, his words only caused Xiang Shaoyun's killing intent to grow. Xiang Shaoyun said, "Before you die, let me tell you a secret. I am the young master of the Ziling Sect. Your Dragon Society had snatched quite a number of mines and territories from us in the past. This is a grudge I will settle sooner or later."
"T-this...h-how can this..." Su Jun paled.
Xiang Shaoyun did not bother to wait for him to finish his words. He controlled the eight chains and ripped Su Jun into eight chunks of flesh. Just like that, Su Jun the Golden Dragon Sword, a genius of the Dragon Society, was killed.
At the same time, Money had also obtained victory over Su Jun's mount. The golden-eyed leopard had been killed by a terrifying silver lightning bolt Money had released from his horn. After using that attack, Money's aura had dropped greatly. It was evident he had exhausted himself greatly during the battle.
"Money, come back here." Xiang Shaoyun sensed what had happened and summoned Money back. At the command, Money shrank and returned to Xiang Shaoyun's astral cosmos sea.
Meanwhile, someone concealing his aura was flying in Xiang Shaoyun’s direction.
Chapter 460: Yet Another Damnable Traitor
Xiang Shaoyun kept his released Nether Soul Domain active, maintaining the independent space around him. Those with strength weaker than his soul power would find it extremely hard to detect his actual location.
In any case, the strength of his physical body had been greatly weakened at the moment. On top of that, he had been further injured by Su Jun. Although he had healed somewhat using a drop of lightning liquid, he no longer dared to easily reveal himself in his current condition.
He suspected that Di Tong would also turn around to kill him. But when he saw clearly who the person sneaking around was, he blanked out.
It's him! Xiang Shaoyun exclaimed inwardly.
The newcomer was none other than Huo Xudong. He should have left like the others long ago. Why had he returned? Xiang Shaoyun believed that he had a decent relationship with Huo Xudong. However, he found it hard to believe Huo Xudong would return for no reason. It was also unlikely that Huo Xudong had returned to take care of him. After all, he could have just stayed behind instead.
Whatever the reason, Xiang Shaoyun did not intend to reveal himself. Inwardly, he thought, I hope you don't disappoint me.
When Huo Xudong arrived at the area, he started looking everywhere. When he found the corpse of Su Jun's mount, shock covered his face as he cried out in alarm, "Brother Xiang, Brother Xiang, where are you? I am here to help you!"
Xiang Shaoyun wa
s going to withdraw his Nether Soul Domain upon hearing that. However, after a slight hesitation, he still decided to remain patient and kept waiting. In his current condition, he shouldn't be meeting Huo Xudong as he did not wish to be a burden. Thus, he decided to wait for Huo Xudong to leave by himself.
By this point, he already believed that Huo Xudong had returned to help him. He even decided that Huo Xudong was really a good friend. That thought had barely formed in his mind when he heard Huo Xudong's next words. His entire body went cold, as if he had dropped from a hot spring into an ice pool.
That was because after crying out a few times without getting any reply, Huo Xudong muttered to himself, "Su Jun's dead mount is here. I reckon Xiang Shaoyun and Su Jun must have fought each other. Regardless of whether Su Jun is dead or alive, I'm afraid Xiang Shaoyun must have left far away. What a pity. I had hoped to snatch the forbidden technique from him."
He was practically whispering in a very soft voice. Even if someone was standing right beside him, that person might not hear anything. But with the Nether Soul Domain, each of Xiang Shaoyun's senses was extremely sharp. He heard every single word clearly and was completely stunned.
Huo Xudong then went back into the devil wind beast territory. Xiang Shaoyun's eyes were raging with fury, and he was finding it hard to hold his anger. He gripped his fists tightly as he roared inwardly, Yet another damnable traitor! He deserves death!
A fierce murderous intent surged out of him. He was once betrayed by those closest to him back at the Ziling Sect, which was why he hadn't been able to easily trust others since then. That was also why he considered very few people his friend nowadays.
Recently, he had been getting along well with Huo Xudong. He had thought that Huo Xudong had befriended him because both of them were similarly a victim of the Seven Villains. That assumption caused Xiang Shaoyun to feel somewhat at ease around Huo Xudong, and was how he came to see Huo Xudong as a friend.
However, Huo Xudong was actually a treacherous person who wanted to snatch his battle technique. That realization placed Xiang Shaoyun in deep sorrow. What he hated most were traitors, and Huo Xudong was now someone he had to kill.
After a long while, Xiang Shaoyun finally calmed down as he thought to himself, To have a heart as clear as untarnished ice, to face the world with indifference. There is no need to get angry for somebody irrelevant.
He then withdrew his Nether Soul Domain and started moving toward a certain direction.
Instead of penetrating deeper into the devil wind beast territory, he found a spot at the outer fringe of the territory to rest up and heal. After about half a day, his external injuries were mostly healed. But his acupoints and meridians were still aching.
The moment he tried using his astral energy, an intense pain extremely hard to endure would assault him. This was the side effect of having harmed his foundation. If it wasn't for the fact that he had a body that was much tougher than an average person's, he currently wouldn't be able to unleash the combat prowess of a fourth-stage Skysoar Realm cultivator.
Xiang Shaoyun reached a decision. "Since I can't use my astral energy, I might as well focus on deepening my understanding on footwork intent."
He was currently located at a place filled with the power of wind. This was an ideal place for wind cultivators and was an excellent place for one to cultivate footwork intent. He had already grasped the first stage of footwork intent, moving like the wind. If he could progress further, he might be able to survive in the devil wind beast territory after all.
Only then would he stand a chance at getting the yin devil wind. That was his only option right now. After all, it was impossible for him to repair his foundation in a short time frame unless he could get his hands on an entire pool of millennium spirit spring water to cleanse his acupoints and meridians. Some specific emperor medicines of top quality would also be helpful for him. Otherwise, the only thing he could do was to slowly heal with time.
Xiang Shaoyun sat silently in meditation as he started absorbing the power of wind bit by bit. Any footwork would increase in speed when used together with the power of wind. That was how Ruo Suifeng had earned his moniker of Little Wind God, through footwork intent and the power of wind.
Xiang Shaoyun cultivated nine different powers, but in his wind star, there was only a tiny bit of wind power, and the star was completely incomparable to his first three stars. He endured the pain he was suffering and slowly absorbed the wind energy into his body to fill his wind star. The best way of getting acclimatized to this new environment was by absorbing the power here.
A regular person would not be able to absorb any energy from the Devil Domain. Xiang Shaoyun was an exception as the devilish energy would not harm him. When the wind energy laced with devilish energy entered his body, his blood would cleanse the devilish energy and send only pure wind energy to his star.
Before this, Xiang Shaoyun had never dared to openly absorb the energy here. Now that he was all alone, he no longer had any reservations. His blood seemed to have come alive as the amount of energy converging on him started growing. A large amount of devilish energy entered his body unendingly, giving him a sensation that his blood was boiling.
He also felt the pain of his acupoints and meridians receding. The pain had only decreased slightly, but he could clearly feel it.
"Can it be that my bloodline is capable of repairing my foundation?" Xiang Shaoyun muttered in excitement.
Chapter 461: Enhanced Recovery
With his inner gaze, Xiang Shaoyun observed his own blood and found that its color was darkening bit by bit. Although it was still red, it had a tiny tinge of black, looking somewhat different than the blood of a regular human.
However, his blood was still much brighter in comparison with the blood of the devils here, looking like a combination of human and devil blood. Some sort of power seemed to be hidden in his blood, and this power had currently formed some sort of resonance with his Nether Soul Domain, causing the Nether Soul Domain to become increasingly vivid.
But for the current Xiang Shaoyun, the lessening pain of his acupoints and meridians occupied all his focus. This was a change that caused him to be both happy and worried. He was happy that with his foundation repaired, he would be able to regain his combat strength, but he was worried of the trouble his blood could potentially bring him. After all, humans did not generally get along well with devils.
"Now is not the time to think about that. I should focus on repairing my foundation before upgrading my footwork intent." Xiang Shaoyun decided to toss it all into the back of his mind. He then increased the speed at which he absorbed wind energy.
As he repaired his foundation, his absorption speed grew. Due to his bloodline, a large amount of devilish energy was also converging around him before entering his body. His blood came alive and coursed all over his body, nourishing his entire being. His vitality grew boundless, and his bodily constitution started transforming.
It was an extremely astonishing transformation. His veins, meridians, and acupoints all expanded, and his inner organs grew more durable.. More importantly, when the blood reached his head, his Nether Soul Domain finally became fully solid. Its size grew, and his soul became more solid, looking sparkling and translucent. His soul power instantly multiplied several times over.
Before this, Xiang Shaoyun had a soul power comparable to that of a third-stage or even a fourth-stage Emperor. Now, his soul had become comparable to a fifth-stage Emperor's in strength. Furthermore, the solidity of his soul was something no Emperor could compare with.
In the Nether Soul Domain, the Nether Dragon Soul Headband started emitting an indescribable power as it started absorbing strands of the nether soul energy. The dragon-shaped loop of the headband seemed to have come alive, forming the apparition of a dragon around it.
All these changes were too shocking, something that nobody would have expected. Xiang Shaoyun spent an entire day and night seated in meditation, completely submersed in
his transformation.
Right this moment, two black figures drifted over along with a gust of wind. These were two devil wind beasts, both around the third-stage and fourth-stage Devil King Realms. However, they possessed a speed comparable to a sixth-stage King. They had a natural advantage in this kind of environment because they could move along with the wind.
They had noticed Xiang Shaoyun, and a look of bloodlust filled their eyes. A number of humans had intruded upon their territory, and a command had been issued to slay these human intruders. These two were the Devil Kings tasked to hunt the humans at the outer fringe of their territory.
One of the beasts concealed itself and opened its mouth wide before aiming it at Xiang Shaoyun. A powerful suction force erupted, instantly pulling a large amount of dust and pebbles along with Xiang Shaoyun toward its mouth.
This was an innate ability of the devil wind beast, Heaven Devouring Exhalation. They could multiply the power of their inhalation and exhalation with the power of wind. Right as Xiang Shaoyun was pulled into the devil wind beast's mouth, he suddenly opened his eyes. Both his hands shot out and grabbed at the edge of the mouth, stopping the beast from swallowing him.
Seven Scorching Sun Claws, Jade Tearing Stance!
He assumed a clawing stance while a formidable power of flame surged out of him, instantly tearing the mouth apart.
"Roar!"
The devil wind beast roared in pain. Xiang Shaoyun then flew out of its mouth before turning and clawing the beast three more times, tearing chunks of flesh from its body.
He had already fully recovered his combat prowess. In fact, his strength had grown, with his cultivation level reaching mid fourth-stage Skysoar Realm. This was a growth the transformation of his blood had granted him.
His physical flesh had also become much more powerful, and it was obvious from his chiseled body, which was practically radiating an explosive strength. The transformation had granted his body a qualitative change. One could say that he could currently withstand the frontal attack of a mid-king weapon without even using his Six Goldplate Manual. He could clearly feel that he was currently in excellent shape. Perhaps this was the strength he should have possessed all along.