Chapter 153: West Wind Withering Snow

Heh.

Xu Xiaoshou gently exhaled, popping his dislocated fist back into place. With the Shengsheng Buxi effect, his injuries healed in the blink of an eye.

He was somewhat surprised.

This was a Zongshi-level body, after all. Although he appeared much smaller than Yuan Tou, he hadn't gained the upper hand in strength?

That drop of blood... the enhancement was terrifying!

It might even contain power beyond Zongshi...

"Wangzuo?" Xu Xiaoshou's heart sank as he realized he had been too reckless. He shouldn't have let this guy consume the blood earlier.

But forcing down that substance, Yuan Tou certainly couldn't hold out for long!

Cackle, cackle...

Yuan Tou's laughter was eerie, completely devoid of any human quality.

He might not last much longer, but even in that short time, it was enough to complete his mission and kill Xu Xiaoshou.

This guy's physical strength could actually withstand one of his strikes? It seemed his innate body had broken through... but so what?

"Wanjun Zhili!"

Yuan Tou slammed his fists heavily into the ground, his entire body sinking halfway into the earth with a boom, making Xu Xiaoshou's eyelids twitch wildly.

"This guy can manipulate gravity. Wanjun... could that be his innate attribute power?"

As he marveled at the strangeness of Yuan Tou's attribute, the giant vanished from sight once more.

Xu Xiaoshou tensed up, simply closing his eyes and enhancing his "Perception" and "Agility" to react at maximum speed.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

In an instant, he dodged Yuan Tou's heavy strikes, sweeps, and knee slams...

However, Yuan Tou's reaction speed had also been multiplied, and he seized an opening in Xu Xiaoshou's defense, striking with both hands in fury and blasting him away.

Blood sprayed through the air.

Xu Xiaoshou flew like a kite with its string cut, but his injuries healed substantially during the uncontrolled flight...

Yuan Tou was knocked back by the recoil. He didn't know what skill Xu Xiaoshou was using, but from experience... it was utterly disgusting!

He couldn't land continuous attacks on him and had to wait for the recoil to end before striking again.

"Damn it!"

As he tensed his legs to launch forward, a sense of unease hit him instinctively.

His blood-red eyes snapped to his palms, where two fire seeds had somehow been etched onto them.

"From that earlier strike?"

The only explanation was that Xu Xiaoshou had secretly activated his technique during their brief contact...

So, he had deliberately let himself get hit?

Yuan Tou felt a chill run down his spine, but by the time he noticed the compressed fire seeds, their volatile energy had already exploded.

Yuan Tou was sent flying.

His immensely thick palms were directly pierced through, yet the power of the "Wangzuo Jingxue" within him activated, and his injuries began regenerating rapidly.

In no time, new flesh grew back!

"What the hell?"

Instead of focusing on his own wounds, he looked puzzled toward Xu Xiaoshou in the sky. Why... had this kid passed up another chance to press the attack?

Not far away, Xu Xiaoshou tilted his head, staring at his own fists, seemingly lost in thought.

"Is he crazy? Getting zoned out in the middle of a fight again?"

Yuan Tou's eyes held a hint of mockery, but he quickly sensed something was off.

There seemed to be terrifying energy fluctuations on Xu Xiaoshou's fists?

Sweeping his Lingnian over it, Yuan Tou's pupils dilated in shock.

This kid...

Each of his fists now bore an additional compressed fire seed... Was he planning to trade punches directly with him, who was enhanced by Wanjun Zhili?

Yuan Tou was completely thrown off.

This wasn't fair!

When he landed a punch on Xu Xiaoshou, it was clear the injuries were severe at first, but in the blink of an eye, the guy was back to full strength.

Yet his own compressed fire seeds required time to recover from each hit!

"How am I supposed to fight this?"

Realizing this, the giant Yuan Tou felt fear for the first time. This guy was too vicious—he couldn't keep fighting, or he'd be done for!

But before he could retreat, Xu Xiaoshou's feet erupted with Jinzhao Tianyan, propelling him straight over.

"Xiao Yuantou, your strength is pretty impressive!"

Xu Xiaoshou's face lit up with an excited smile. As expected, battle was the fastest way to improve himself.

"I've come up with a new move—let's have some fun!"

"Xiaohuoqiu Zhiquan!"

With a fierce shout, Xu Xiaoshou thrust his fist forward. Having suffered from the compressed fire seeds before, how could Yuan Tou dare to meet it head-on?

He slammed his palms into the ground, catapulting himself upward to dodge Xu Xiaoshou's punch.

Yuan Tou's expression twisted in frustration.

Why?

Why was he, with his superior strength, still forced to evade? This fight was too stifling!

He desperately wanted to draw his "Xuanming Bawang Qiang," but that thing was already shattered...

Even more frustrating!

As he grumbled internally, Xu Xiaoshou's missed punch didn't retract—instead, he let the fire seed explode.

Yuan Tou was about to mock him when he saw the kid spit blood but still fly toward him.

"Good opportunity!"

His first instinct was to finish off Xu Xiaoshou while he was hurt.

But then he watched as the kid regained control mid-flight, using the recoil to accelerate his incoming punch.

"Dodge!"

Yuan Tou's second reaction kicked in instantly, and without thinking, he twisted his head away.

Whoosh—

The wind howled as Xu Xiaoshou's punch missed, and he spun around, landing a vicious kick while Yuan Tou was off-balance.

"Xiaohuoqiu Zhi Jiao!"

Yuan Tou was sent crashing deep into the ground. The strike didn't do much damage, but hearing the name...

He glanced down and, sure enough, a compressed fire seed was etched in the center of the footprint on his chest.

"Shit!"

A mushroom cloud erupted, mingled with bits of flesh and blood.

"Oh my goodness..."

In the air, Xu Xiaoshou flinched in shock. The guy was embedded in the ground with no way to retreat—that meant he took the full force!

But having learned from before, he didn't want to give Yuan Tou another opening.

"Wuzhi Wen Zhong Zhishu!"

He extended five fingers, each sprouting a fire seed—for a total of five.

Yes, after entering the Xiantian realm, Xu Xiaoshou had gained more refined control over this self-created spiritual technique.

The limit for manipulating compressed fire seeds was no longer three and a half, but a full five!

With a flick, the five seeds rained down like meteors, tracing perfect arcs straight to the target below.

"Xu... Xiao... Shou..."

Yuan Tou had a massive hole in his chest but could still move. This battle, with its constant restrictions, had pushed his mentality to the brink. He slapped the deep pit and leaped up.

Looking up,

He caught sight of the five compressed fire seeds falling from above.

Yuan Tou: ???

"Inflicted with curse, passive value, 1."

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

One mushroom cloud after another pushed upward, generating ultra-high temperatures across a radius of several hundred zhang, vaporizing every trace of Lingwu in the air...

From a bird's-eye view, the deep pit was a gruesome mess of scattered flesh and blood.

Pfft, cough, cough... pfft!

After a long while, movement stirred from below.

Yuan Tou's body was shattered but regenerating thanks to the Jingxue power. He knew he probably wouldn't leave Tianxuan Gate alive.

He only regretted why he had waited an extra day.

Why, when he saw Xu Xiaoshou breaking through to Lianling Tenth Realm, hadn't he followed his instincts and killed him right then!

"Ahhhh!"

With bloodshot eyes, he roared skyward, dragging his mangled body to stand again.

"I'm not willing... urk!"

His eyes bulged wide, and Yuan Tou's words cut off as he clutched his neck.

Scanning around, there was no sign of Xu Xiaoshou.

"I gave you a chance, but you didn't cherish it." That detestable voice came from behind.

Yuan Tou struggled to turn his head, the intense pain from his body making him oblivious to the fact that he had just twisted a full one hundred and eighty degrees.

Xu Xiaoshou slowly sheathed his sword, the "Cangku" gauntlet gently tapping against the Hei Luo sword sheath.

"baiyun Youyou Wu: Xifeng Xiaoxue!"

A flurry of snowflakes drifted from the sky, pausing briefly as if sliced by a blade, splitting in two—yet not a wisp of spiritual energy dissipated.

Yuan Tou's massive head rolled from his neck and tumbled to the ground.