Chapter 73: Good Dish

Great winds arise, and clouds soar high.

Feng Kong had already made his decision and no longer hesitated, about to leap into the air.

But just then, the tree in front of him swayed violently in the wind, shaking twice before something fell out.

"Clang!"

Feng Kong glanced over casually, only to freeze in place and plummet from the air.

A broken sword?

No, this was...

Shao Yi's sword!

His pupils contracted sharply, and Feng Kong's entire body trembled. Although he had long known that Shao Yi was dead, seeing his remaining relic filled him with shock like surging waves.

"Xu Xiao Shou!"

The name tore from his gritted teeth, his grief overwhelming. He moved toward the broken sword almost involuntarily, but suddenly snapped back to his senses.

How could Shao Yi's sword be here?

Had he escaped the courtyard and fled to E Hu, only to be slain here by that Xu Xiao Shou?

If so...

Where was Xu Xiao Shou now?

Feng Kong grew increasingly uneasy. He had just deduced that Xu Xiao Shou was in the small grove, but this sight delivered a massive blow.

"Buzz!"

Before he could think further, the broken sword on the ground trembled suddenly. Feng Kong sensed danger and kicked off the ground to retreat.

Too late!

The sword exploded violently, sending an invisible ripple spreading out instantly.

"Thud! Thud!"

Feng Kong was hit in an instant. Amid the tremor in his heart, he realized his body was being scorched by an invisible flame.

The pain was excruciating!

He instinctively used his Ling Yuan to protect himself, but even that was burned away in a flash.

"What the hell is this..."

Feng Kong was completely baffled. He'd never seen such an invisible flame, but it didn't stop him from realizing one thing...

Xu Xiao Shou was right here!

But how was that possible?

The area was wide open—where could he be hiding?

If he was far away, how was he controlling the broken sword from a distance?

"He's dead here!" Feng Kong was thrown back onto the white jade railing by the explosion, and as his toes touched it, his heart skipped a beat.

Not in front...

Could it be behind?

But he had flown over E Hu from above—how could he not have noticed?

"No!"

He suddenly shuddered, staring incredulously at the lake's surface.

Xu Xiao Shou...

Was at the bottom of the lake???

As if to confirm his suspicion, a series of bubbles burst on the lake, the water churned wildly, and a water column shot up, flinging a dark shadow into the air.

Feng Kong had no time to turn around. His body had just stabilized, in that brief moment between old force fading and new force rising, so he barely managed to swing a hand.

Blood Hand Feng Kong, furiously slashing at the shadow.

"Swoosh!"

The sound was as clean as slicing vegetables. The shadow split in two, and only then did Feng Kong see what it was.

A head!

Shao Yi's head!

"Ahhh—"

Feng Kong was utterly distraught. He had...

Split his teammate's head in two?

"Xu, Xiao, Shou!"

"I'll kill you!!!"

Rage clouded his mind, shattering his usual calm. Feng Kong's blood-red hands swept through the air, sending two blood lights toward where the head had come from.

"I-I'm here."

A shaky voice rose from the other side of the lake. Xu Xiao Shou had already changed positions when he threw the head.

Feng Kong whipped his head around to see Xu Xiao Shou trembling, his eyes blank, standing on the railing nearby with his feet turned inward like the character "eight," as if he might slip at any moment.

Yet, his right hand rested on the sword sheath at his left waist, brimming with an astonishing Jian Yi that made one's scalp tingle.

"Xian Tian Jian Yi?"

Feng Kong felt dizzy. What level of Xian Tian Jian Yi was this?

How much terrifying energy had been compressed into that sheath? If released, even a higher Ling Jing might not withstand it!

Feng Kong suddenly understood how Shao Yi had died.

A thick aura of death enveloped him, a chill racing from his soles to the top of his head. Without thinking, he retreated instantly.

"Too... late..."

Xu Xiao Shou's lips quivered. After swallowing ten Lian Ling Dan and compressing the energy at the lake bottom for over a quarter of an hour, how could this guy evade it?

Not to mention how close they were—if Feng Kong were in the small grove now, he still might not dodge it.

Xu Xiao Shou slightly lowered his body, bending at the waist.

"Iai Draw!"

No sword emerged, yet fallen leaves swirled.

The lake surface erupted in waves several yards high, weeping willows were instantly cut in half; the forest path was battered by rain, and blood sprayed into the sky.

"Ah—"

Feng Kong couldn't escape it. As he saw the white sword light, half his body and one ear had already been sliced away. The intense pain nearly made him black out on the spot!

"Demon!"

"This is a demon!"

Terror filled Feng Kong's eyes, and he lost all will to fight.

Xu Xiao Shou's combat power had nothing to do with his cultivation—it was just this one sword that could challenge a higher Ling Jing, even rivaling the Inner Court's Thirty-Three.

But...

Why hadn't he struck until now?

Why had he acted that way in the courtyard?

Feng Kong was stunned by the killing. He hurriedly used his Ling Yuan to stop the bleeding. If he hadn't instinctively tilted his head at the critical moment, he'd be split in half!

"Off target..."

On the other side, Xu Xiao Shou's mouth twitched. Watching half of Feng Kong's body get chopped off, he felt like crying without tears.

He had shuddered from the thrill at the last second, or it wouldn't have been just half—it would've been straight through!

Even so, he was shocked by his own sword.

How could it be this strong?

It shouldn't be!

That day, even Mo Mo had caught one bare-handed and regenerated after swallowing another. Though there weren't ten Lian Ling Dan back then, the power difference shouldn't be this vast!

Without overthinking, he still had Ling Yuan left, so Xu Xiao Shou unhesitatingly drew his sword again.

The massive waves on the lake hadn't subsided before surging once more; the pooled water on the forest path hadn't drained before rising again.

Feng Kong's battered body dodged the first sword light by instinct, but before he could react, the second one slashed through.

"Swoosh!"

Another arm flew into the sky.

The rainy night fell silent, blood spilling into the dark heavens.

Only dead gray remained in Feng Kong's eyes. He had never imagined that a single miscalculation of Xu Xiao Shou's ambush spot, just one step behind, would leave him unable to land even a single effective attack before meeting his end.

He stood there in despair, giving up the struggle.

All those days hunting geese, and now one pecked him.

In this moment, ever since he set foot on the assassin's path, he had foreseen it, but the only thing he hadn't expected was dying at the hands of someone like this.

So unwilling...

Blood gushed from Feng Kong like a spring, his gaunt frame like a pillar, his eyes hollow as he stared at Xu Xiao Shou...

Hmm?

He wasn't attacking anymore—out of Ling Yuan?

From what he could see, Xu Xiao Shou had released his sword-holding stance, as if deciding to spare him?

Joy surged in Feng Kong's heart, and he suddenly turned to flee.

"Swoosh!"

A green light vanished in his vision, piercing straight through his head.

What...

The hell is that?

Feng Kong crashed to the ground with a thud, dying in confusion. Only as life faded to its last breath did he seem to realize.

Shao Yi's... sword?

No one was left to answer him.

Under the ashen light, his body turned to ash.

"I thought you were tough, but I miscalculated..."

"When you split that head without noticing this sword, you'd already lost. Even if you could dodge my later 'Iai Draw'..."

"More so since you couldn't even dodge the 'Iai Draw'."

Xu Xiao Shou strolled over, picked up the sword from the ground, and turned to gaze at E Hu.

What a catch...