Chapter 199: Luxurious Battle

Time rewinds half a second.

The sword qi was closing in, and on the brink of life and death, Xu Xiaoshou completely shed his panic, leaving only the stillness of an ancient well.

What seemed like an unconscious movement was actually the most direct, instinctive reaction honed through countless battles.

In the blink of an eye, his various passive skills were pushed to their limits, further enhanced by his "ordinary telekinesis," and as the sword qi struck, he gently deflected it.

Bai Yun Youyou II: Deflection Style!

Yes, this was a pure sword intent technique, the very strike that had once deflected Zhou Tian Can's "Immortal Uproots Mountain Style."

Back then, it was a case of using the weak to overcome the strong, leveraging four ounces to move a thousand pounds, and now it achieved a similar effect.

The terrifying sword qi from the masked figure appeared unstoppable, but in reality, it shared the same origin as Xu Xiaoshou's—both were direct manifestations of pure sword intent combat.

Xu Xiaoshou's sword intent mastery was nowhere near that level, not even comparable to Lei Shuixing.

However, with the foundation of "Sword Mastery," his breadth of knowledge was truly formidable, allowing him to discern the core essence of any sword technique in the world.

With both hands, he seamlessly struck the critical point of the terrifying sword qi, then guided it onward.

This guidance didn't alter the sword qi's path in the slightest, but it allowed Xu Xiaoshou's body to borrow the force and shift away from the path of death.

Even if it was just half his body!

The sword qi slashed straight through, utterly destroying half of the council hall.

Xu Xiaoshou barely survived, but the flesh on his hands exploded upon impact, leaving only cracked bone.

It was merely an instant of contact, with only fingertips touching, yet it nearly severed his arms at the root.

The power of the sword qi was terrifying beyond measure!

Not only that, the lingering sword intent clung like a persistent maggot, impossible to shake off, instantly invading Xu Xiaoshou's body and bringing a pain like thousands of ants gnawing at him.

"Sheng Sheng Bu Xi" activated frantically, gradually regenerating his flesh bit by bit.

"Under attack, passive value, 1."

"Under attack, passive value, 1."

Lei Shuixing was stunned. That sword qi, capable of cleaving even the throne, had been withstood by this kid?

What kind of monster was this!

"Sword Nian?"

He seemed to catch a familiar scent, but wasn't that something only the chief had created? How could this kid have it too?

"No, it's not Sword Nian, just something similar..."

Lei Shuixing confirmed it repeatedly and finally reached a judgment.

"A coincidence?"

Ye Xiaotian was equally shocked. He never imagined Xu Xiaoshou could withstand the strike on his own. In that moment, his heart was filled with self-reproach.

This was something he should have faced himself, yet he let a disciple in the initial Yuan Ting Jing stage bear it. It was unforgivable.

With a wave of his hand, he directly transferred Xu Xiaoshou and Mu Zixi to his side.

"Sorry, I was careless. You two take a rest."

Xu Xiaoshou shook his head. He considered himself a cautious person, but in the heat of battle, he still couldn't account for everything, including the information he'd already obtained.

This strike wasn't anyone's fault, and it couldn't be said that Ye Xiaotian's lack of reaction was a mistake.

It was just sheer luck that he survived.

Mu Zixi felt a pang of heartache. In the crisis, Xu Xiaoshou's first instinct was to shoulder everything alone. Though she couldn't help much, being cared for like this was truly touching.

She hurriedly offered the "Life Spirit Seal" from her mouth.

"Quick, take it!"

"Do you have some misunderstanding about how to use this thing?"

Xu Xiaoshou's forehead showed three black lines. By now, "Sheng Sheng Bu Xi" had almost restored some of his flesh.

He snatched the spirit seal and frowned at its slippery feel...

"Come here?"

Mu Zixi stepped forward, puzzled. "What for?"

Xu Xiaoshou used the spirit seal to wipe her little skirt and said, "Your saliva should go back to you."

Mu Zixi: ...

"Under curse, passive value, 1."

Lei Shuixing looked at Ye Xiaotian and the other two, a sense of unease growing in his heart.

He had acted impulsively!

That sword qi jade stone was originally prepared for Ye Xiaotian, something that would result in severe injury or death upon contact. But because of Xu Xiaoshou's appearance, the hatred had been successfully redirected.

That was bad enough, but the sword qi hadn't even taken his life. This kid was only in the initial Yuan Ting Jing stage!

And from the looks of his recovery, he was gradually improving?

"Does a Zong Shi body make someone this strong? Or is the chief's sword qi not as fearsome as I thought?"

For the first time, Lei Shuixing harbored a sliver of doubt about the invincible chief.

He shook the last jade stone in his hand, signaling to Ye Xiaotian not to act rashly.

This thing had nothing to do with cultivation levels. Xu Xiaoshou had survived thanks to his sword intent insight, his Zong Shi body, and that divinely inspired deflection.

But there was no guarantee Ye Xiaotian could make it out alive too!

Ye Xiaotian was already furious, having been restrained and controlled repeatedly, feeling like an outsider in his own situation, and ultimately letting a child endure it all.

Seeing Xu Xiaoshou's injuries, he could no longer hold back. He tore at the void with both hands.

"Fragmentation!"

Boom, boom, boom—

Xu Xiaoshou watched in shock as the space before him twisted like a cloth being ripped by Ye Xiaotian, folding and crumpling before shattering into countless black spatial rifts.

From the void cracks emerged endless dimensional fragments, each sharper than any blade or sword, instantly surging toward the storm's epicenter where Lei Shuixing stood.

"This is..." Xu Xiaoshou was completely dumbfounded. Was this the true power of a Wang Zuo?

Mu Zixi was equally wide-eyed, swallowing hard in disbelief.

She glanced at Ye Xiaotian, realizing for the first time that this white-haired boy wasn't as cute as he appeared.

Lei Shuixing held Luo Leilei and ignored everything, calmly pulling out a formation disk and crushing it.

A transparent light shield enveloped the two of them, effortlessly blocking the dimensional fragments that could slice through space itself!

"A formation disk?" Ye Xiaotian furrowed his brow, hardly believing it. "Does 'Sheng Nu' have a Da Zong Shi?"

Da Zong Shi?

Xu Xiaoshou recalled Elder Qiao. "Can only a Da Zong Shi create that formation disk?"

"Exactly." Ye Xiaotian nodded. "Including the earlier sword qi jade stone—if it weren't for a Spirit Array Da Zong Shi, that masked person alone couldn't have made it."

"Tsk, tsk..."

For the first time, Xu Xiaoshou felt the urge to rob someone. This blind man was ridiculously wealthy!

If he could get his hands on these items, he'd face a Wang Zuo without a second thought.

Ye Xiaotian watched as the light shield began to fade and suddenly clenched his hands, trying to teleport the two inside out.

But at that very moment, Lei Shuixing alertly crushed another piece of purple jade, instantly locking the space within the shield!

"Space displacement won't work on me."

Xu Xiaoshou's eyelids twitched wildly. Again?

This time it was purple jade—who knew what would come next?

Lei Shuixing picked up the Divine Extraction Staff, tilting his head as if gazing at the now completely darkened sky, then pulled out a golden bead radiating dense spatial energy...

Xu Xiaoshou: ...

"A teleportation bead?" Ye Xiaotian's pupils shrank.

"The time is about right..."

The blind young man raised the Divine Extraction Staff, pointing it at Xu Xiaoshou before shifting toward what might be Mu Zixi or Ye Xiaotian.

"Until we meet again!"

He crushed the bead, and the figures vanished instantly.