Chapter 748: Dazzling

From the spatial ring to the ingestion of saint blood.

It was merely the most ordinary method, the shortest distance.

Yet under the influence of pupil force, this distance became impossibly remote.

No one would have imagined that the spatial ring, typically the most convenient way to store items, had become nothing more than a forbidden vault under this pupil technique.

Xu Xiaoshou could already foresee that the other treasures on Jiang Xian were likely disabled in the same manner.

Tonight,

This guy was essentially on his own, relying solely on his identity as a semi-saint heir who could not die, using his meager cultivation to confront two Chop Dao experts head-on!

"Cough cough..."

The cost of directly annihilating the semi-saint essence blood filled with saint force using pupil force was clearly too much, even for a Chop Dao expert to bear.

The green-robed masked person wiped away the blood spurting from his eyes and mouth, sighing softly, "The third drop of saint blood... This guy is truly wealthy..."

"Not bad?"

The red-skirted masked person asked with concern.

"It's still manageable, but since he's not using his saint image, we have to guard against that trump card..."

The green-robed masked person's face darkened. "Lord Huang Quan instructed that success hinges on that single moment."

"There's no time left; we must end the fight quickly—someone is coming!"

At that moment, the red-skirted masked person began to shake his head.

The two exchanged no further words,

But clearly, they shared the same worry.

Xu Xiaoshou could not intercept this telepathic communication.

All he could do was vanish in front of the Chop Dao experts, not truly gain the power to rival them.

Hiding within the tree trunk, even while invisible, he was truly on edge.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't dare focus too much on the two Chop Dao experts, fearing he might trigger their sudden intuition.

Yet, he constantly assessed the entire situation.

"Hua Xian Mou..."

As Jiang Xian had said, the false storyteller possessed the Hua Xian Mou, the ultimate in illusion techniques, and the source of the illusion array here.

This pair of eyes was already formidable enough.

However, the false tear-bearer also had a pair of terrifying eyes!

What could that be?

"Shi Zi Yi Tong?!"

At that moment, Jiang Xian seemed to have verified it multiple times and finally saw through the eyes that the false tear-bearer had been concealing.

Realizing this in an instant, he was already somewhat panicked.

"Shi Zi Yi Tong possesses the power of 'Cross Annihilation'."

"This force can annihilate even saint power on the spot, at the cost of merely lifespan..."

"You, how could you have it?"

Jiang Xian was panicking.

The Tai Xu Lei Jia pupil techniques recorded in "Tian Xia Tong Shu" were not all known to him, as they had been lost.

But "Shi Zi Yi Tong," he had heard of it!

This thing was so rare that even during the peak of the Tai Xu Lei Jia, not a single pair emerged, so how could this person possibly have it?

"Hua Xian Mou, Shi Zi Yi Tong..."

Jiang Xian's thoughts raced, and he realized, "And my San Yan Tong Mu—you're collecting Lei Jia pupils; you're after the power of Tai Xu Lei Jia!"

"How clever."

The red-skirted masked person chuckled lightly, his slender hand flipping and flowing as if gathering momentum, no longer intending to speak.

Jiang Xian's heart grew even more chaotic: "Impossible! Are you insane? I don't believe you don't know why Lei Jia was destroyed—how dare you collect them..."

"Aren't you searching for them too?"

The false storyteller interrupted with a retort.

"I'm different!"

Jiang Xian stepped back repeatedly, "My Jiang clan is merely because..."

In his panic, he finally regained a trace of his initial calm and abruptly stopped speaking.

Yet, because of this calm, the scene felt even more terrifying.

Two Chop Dao experts appeared out of nowhere, each wielding "Hua Xian Mou" and "Shi Zi Yi Tong"—forces that existed only in legends.

The origins of these two masked people were undoubtedly extraordinary!

Would such people fear the identity of a semi-saint heir...?

It was clear they were afraid!

But the legend of a semi-saint heir's immortality was no longer absolute in front of them!

Jiang Xian glanced around frantically.

However, when he truly needed reinforcements,

He found not only was the surroundings empty, but the support that Jiang Qi and Jiang Si should have summoned had not arrived either.

Those two had vanished without a trace since the beginning...

"Who exactly are you?"

Jiang Xian lowered his voice, his face already pale as paper.

"Saint slaves."

The false storyteller's power in his hand had fully formed.

Jiang Xian bit his tongue hard, forcing himself not to tremble: "The Jiang clan of semi-saints—do you really dare to touch me? Aren't you afraid of my clan's semi-saint's retribution?"

"Your clan's semi-saint? He probably doesn't know yet."

"You think that's possible? My clan's semi-saint is like the eye of the great dao, able to peer into the five domains!"

"He's not bored enough to watch you every moment..."

The false storyteller hadn't finished speaking when Jiang Xian suddenly opened his mouth and shouted loudly: "Jiang... Pfft!"

Only the word "Jiang" escaped before blood filled his mouth, and with it vanished his tongue.

At the same time,

Ornaments on Jiang Xian's body, such as necklaces, rings, belts, and jade pendants, all exploded at once!

Booming sounds erupted.

It was as if thunder detonated across Jiang Xian's body, leaving him covered in wounds.

Within the spiritual energy mist surging from the defensive spiritual tools, some contained full dao rhymes, others even a trace of saint force.

But without exception, all were shattered!

"Annihilation..."

In his invisible state, Xu Xiaoshou could clearly sense the clash in that instant.

The latter half of Jiang Xian's words was annihilated by the green-robed masked person the moment he tried to speak.

But obviously, annihilating the sound alone was useless.

So the green-robed masked person's choice was to completely erase Jiang Xian's tongue in that split second!

This triggered a chain of protective mechanisms from the defensive spiritual tools.

However...

Under Shi Zi Yi Tong, even those containing saint force couldn't withstand it.

"What was he trying to say? Jiang?"

Xu Xiaoshou was shocked.

He was shocked by the false tear-bearer's extraordinary reaction speed.

This Chop Dao expert not only had formidable cultivation and astonishing pupil force but also seemed to anticipate all of Jiang Xian's countermeasures, stopping his actions at the first sign.

Truly terrifying!

As the green-robed masked person wiped away the blood and tears from his eyes again, the red-skirted masked person could wait no longer.

The Chop Dao power in his hands had gathered into two white light orbs, completely enveloping his hands, like holding two scorching white suns.

"Directly calling a semi-saint's name is disrespectful to the saint, you know."

With a mocking laugh, the red-skirted masked person struck while Jiang Xian was disoriented and spitting blood.

He thrust his hands forward, the white light orbs turning into piercing beams aimed straight for Jiang Xian's bowed head.

The white light blazed brightly.

The white glow illuminated the world.

Tian Qi Lin was instantly lit up in white.

Xu Xiaoshou could even feel a power similar to Jiang Xian's saint blood from those white beams; he thought Jiang Xian was doomed.

But in this critical moment,

Jiang Xian, who had been repeatedly bowing his head and vomiting blood, his words unclear, suddenly lifted his gaze toward the white beams.

The light bright enough to illuminate the night did not make him flinch at all.

Instead, on that ferocious, desperate face, the gray three flowers of San Yan Tong Mu swirled and turned at an incredibly rapid speed, contrasting with an almost sluggish slowness.

If the red-skirted masked person wanted to seize the gaze,

Then it had to act through the eyes.

And the light beam had to act through the eyes.

Their line of sight would inevitably follow.

That was the opportunity for San Yan Tong Mu.

"Zhuan Yi Kong!"

With his meager cultivation, Jiang Xian forcibly unleashed the ultimate ability of San Yan Tong Mu on the distant Chop Dao expert: Zhuan Yi Kong.

This power manipulated the spirit, transcending the heavenly dao.

Though cultivation level affected the control, it could be offset, like how the green-robed masked person used Shi Zi Yi Tong to forcibly counter saint force by paying a price.

In a flash,

The white beams halted just before piercing San Yan Tong Mu, mere millimeters from Jiang Xian's face.

Jiang Xian, now with white hair and the face of an old man, directed the swirling power of San Yan Tong Mu straight to the Hua Xian Mou of the red-skirted masked person, who dared to meet his gaze.

The white glow in the red-skirted masked person's hands weakened abruptly, his eyes turning vacant and lifeless as he began to mutter something.

"Yan Wang..."

On the side,

Almost the instant Jiang Xian used Zhuan Yi Kong, the green-robed masked person moved.

He drew his spiritual sword and slashed horizontally.

The sword light tore through the night, instantly piercing toward Jiang Xian's neck.

Bang!

Boom!

Yet at that moment, Jiang Xian's neck and the area behind him where the sword qi struck exploded simultaneously.

But not a drop of blood appeared.

The green-robed masked person's expression froze as he suddenly realized something.

"Saint image..."

Yes,

This was saint force!

A casual strike from a Chop Dao expert would shatter Jiang Xian's body, which had already exploded from the defensive spiritual tools.

But in that instant, as Jiang Xian continued to channel San Yan Tong Mu on the red-skirted masked person without letting go, white mist rose from his body along with that sword strike.

The white mist enveloped him.

Hiding at the back of the battlefield, Xu Xiaoshou felt his legs tremble uncontrollably at that moment.

Gazing at the white mist ahead, he felt a sense of guilt, as if his eyes had desecrated a deity, urging him to bow in repentance.

He even began to feel the urge to prostrate and worship.

This scene was eerily similar to the illusion of "Qi Tun Shan He" from before.

Almost the moment his emotions shifted, Xu Xiaoshou's aura surged, pushing away the terrifying power emanating from Jiang Xian and standing straight.

Xu Xiaoshou, at the rear of the battlefield and not the focus, could manage this.

But the green-robed masked person in the midst could not.

The instant the white mist rose, his kneecaps shattered with a bang, his entire leg erased.

In the moment his lower body vanished, even as he struggled to lift his head, under the terrifying pressure of the saint image's white mist, it felt as if his skull would crack, forcing his head deep into the ground.

Boom boom boom—

The surrounding area of Tian Qi Lin sank several meters in an apocalyptic roar.

And at that time,

Jiang Xian's saint image had not even fully appeared yet.

What emerged was merely the white mist preceding the saint image.

But that was saint force!

An irresistible factor transcending the heavenly dao!

A power only saints possessed, a calamity beyond the mundane world!

It was the sum of all disasters and the beginning of all new life, before chaos, after existence and non-existence, beyond the five elements, outside the six paths.

What is called "saint" stands above mortals and below gods.

"Saint" is a substitute term, not an absolute one.

This was a power indescribable in words; mortals used "saint" to signify transcendence, yet no one could truly explain what a "saint" is.

With the saint image's emergence, the scene completely changed.

The green-robed masked person, with only half his body left and buried in the earth, had guarded against everything but still ended up pressed into the ground.

The red-skirted masked person, fully controlled by San Yan Tong Mu and refusing to bow before the saint, was gradually disintegrating and vanishing.

Jiang Xian himself could not withstand this immense power.

Yet as his body decayed, the saint image's white mist healed him.

This was the power of bloodline, the foundation of a semi-saint heir, the final trump card unafraid of ultimate risks.

Even in his invisible state, Xu Xiaoshou was nearly overwhelmed.

Only after biting down hard and resisting did he suddenly realize that "Disappearance Technique" was not invincible.

Saint force could affect him in his invisible state.

And what he endured was already weakened by the technique, mere remnants of the battle's aftermath and saint dao's might.

If he faced it directly...?

Xu Xiaoshou dared not think further.

In that moment, even as he gritted his teeth and struggled, the rising saint dao might pressed him into a bowed position, his head impossible to lift.

But it didn't matter.

His perception still relayed the distant scenes,

Though distorted and blurred,

Yet sometimes still clear.

Xu Xiaoshou could see Jiang Xian switching between pain and ecstasy, knowing it was the interplay of wielding saint force and being healed by it.

He also saw the false tear-bearer, half-buried with his small frame nearly cracking.

And even more, the false storyteller completely dissipating into the last embers in the void...

"Dead?"

Xu Xiaoshou felt a chill run down his spine.

Was this a joke?

You were a Chop Dao expert!

In the midst of battle, the saint image appeared, and you were gone?

Weren't you on guard against this very move?

Hadn't you been wary of Jiang Xian's possible saint force all along?

Xu Xiaoshou strained to see through the saint image's white mist, but aside from a towering outline, he saw nothing.

It seemed like a three-headed, six-armed demon god, or a compassionate bodhisattva, or even an extraordinarily ordinary old man...

Was this what a saint was?

Before he could process it, all he had seen vanished from his mind.

"Is this the end?"

Xu Xiaoshou's thoughts seamlessly returned to his state before gazing at the saint image.

Then, this time, within the white mist, he spotted a hint of crimson.

"No, it's not over yet!"

In the perceived scene, the false storyteller had clearly been manipulated by Jiang Xian's San Yan Tong Mu and died for refusing to bow.

But now, behind Jiang Xian, another false storyteller emerged!

"Did Jiang Xian manipulate the wrong person?"

In that instant, such a thought flashed through Xu Xiaoshou's mind.

No one could answer.

In a spark of lightning, the second false storyteller appeared behind Jiang Xian.

His hands were enveloped in golden power, infused with a temporal essence, as if reaching from another world to grasp Jiang Xian's neck, unaffected by this world's saint force.

Then, with a twist of his hands,

Crack!

Jiang Xian's neck twisted one hundred and eighty degrees, San Yan Tong Mu losing focus instantly, his expression of pain and pleasure frozen in that moment.

The false storyteller's face was very close, pressed against Jiang Xian's forehead.

In his enchanting Hua Xian Mou, cherry-pink blooms unfurled as his hands, along with the white beams, plunged fiercely into Jiang Xian's eye sockets.

"Ah—"

A scream erupted.

Time froze in that instant, the night stained red.

Only a ethereal voice, like a mother from another world soothing a sleeping infant, murmured softly:

"Hold on, you're not dead yet, don't give up..."