Chapter 252: Mixed Doubles, Slaying the Martial Saint

Zhu Hao's eyes turned icy.

"Shen Qing, you are indeed formidable, but you still do not understand just how vast the gap is between a Martial Saint and a Half-Saint."

"The only time you could ever kill me was when you saw me on Mount Xuanwu."

"But at that time, you never noticed my abnormality."

Such confidence again—Shen Qing has long lost count of how many people like Zhu Hao, brimming with inexplicable self-assurance, she has encountered.

Bai Long Sect's Bai Li, Tong Ni Zhou Hu, the Wokou's Bei He Ninja Team...

Wait—every single one of them was like this, brimming with confidence, even more so than Zhu Hao.

Yet without exception, all of them died.

Zhu Hao let out a low growl, and the terrifying Dragon Qi Domain instantly expanded—this was the true Dragon Qi Domain, not a mere embryonic form, as immense pressure surged outward.

Shen Qing's gaze remained calm as she locked onto Zhu Hao through the domain, extended her hand, and lightly snapped her fingers.

In that instant, the karma threads Shen Qing had left on Zhu Hao violently surged, frenziedly coiling around his karma.

Instantly detonating Zhu Hao's karmic bindings, the Five Declines of Heaven and Man descended; Zhu Hao's ever-expanding Dragon Qi Domain ceased its expansion and even faintly showed signs of shrinking.

Zhu Hao felt as if he were plunged into the depths of an endless sea—lowering his head, he could not see the seabed; raising it, he could not see light; all that greeted him was a despairing sense of suffocation.

He dropped to one knee, gritted his teeth: "Shen Qing... what did you do?"

Shen Qing chuckled: "There is one thing you got right—your weakest moment was on Mount Xuanwu, so I left a backhand on you then."

Zhu Hao's eyes filled with disbelief: "Impossible—when? I've been watching you the whole time."

Suddenly, he froze: "It was when Shun Di and the others arrived!"

That was also the only time he had ever turned his back on Shen Qing.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Lingyue's eyes toward Shen Qing glimmered faintly.

Shen Qing reached out and gripped the hilt of the Dragon-Slaying Blade.

"Congratulations on getting it right—and there's a reward!"

"Gui Xu Yin!"

Shen Qing exploded into motion, transforming into a streak of blood-red light as she surged toward Zhu Hao, and in the sky, a terrifying dark blade aura appeared.

By now, under the suppression of the Five Declines of Heaven and Man, Zhu Hao's Dragon Qi Domain had already shrunk by several degrees and could no longer withstand Shen Qing's full-force strike.

Zhu Hao turned his head.

Only the sound of flesh tearing and bones being cut rang out.

Shen Qing's blade sank deep into Zhu Hao's shoulder, and simultaneously, a terrifying black hole erupted, beginning to annihilate his Dragon Qi Domain.

Zhu Hao's eyes brimmed with resentment as he lifted his head.

"I will kill you!"

With that, he thrust a powerful punch toward Shen Qing's chest, sending violent ripples through the air.

At that moment, Zhu Lingyue let out a fierce cry, and two pillars of pure white ice shot forth: "Condense!!"

Azure energy surged, instantly freezing Zhu Hao's arm, while the other end of the ice pillars remained in Zhu Lingyue's hand—she gave a hard tug, successfully blocking Zhu Hao's arm for a moment.

On Shen Qing's side, golden light blazed, ancient golden divine patterns flaring around her eye sockets, and the golden annihilation light instantly pierced through Zhu Hao's frozen arm.

Crack-crack-crack!

Bang!

Zhu Hao's arm, along with the frozen ice, shattered into fragments.

At that moment, an ice pillar coiled around Shen Qing's waist, a gentle force transmitting through it, propelling her swiftly backward, withdrawing her from Zhu Hao's next attack range before it could land.

Zhu Hao let out a roar—after all, he was a centuries-old monster, now barely having stepped into the Martial Saint realm, yet he stubbornly rose to his feet despite the Five Declines of Heaven and Man.

His eyes blazing with fury, he unleashed several black dragon palm strikes with his remaining arm.

Shen Qing glanced back at Zhu Lingyue, their eyes met, and they nodded.

The Black Sun instantly manifested, vast black mist billowing outward, while simultaneously, Shen Qing swung six Gui Xu Yin strikes into Zhu Hao's domain.

Instantly, six terrifying black holes appeared; the black mist from the Black Sun Subduing Demon Fist, inherently capable of corroding energy, combined with the annihilating power of the black holes, began rapidly eroding Zhu Hao's domain.

Zhu Hao suddenly panicked—he did not possess an energy sea as vast as the ocean.

He swung his palm to blast the black holes, trying to shatter them, but just then, from the darkness behind him, a terrifying annihilation light shot toward him.

Shen Qing instantly closed in; Zhu Hao had no choice but to turn and face her, smashing the annihilation light with a palm—yet immediately after, several Heavenly Dragon Fingers came hurtling toward him.

Thus, Zhu Hao had no time to destroy the black holes, only feeling his energy rapidly burning away.

"No, I can't go on like this," Zhu Hao gritted his teeth, raised his hand, and dispersed the Heavenly Dragon Domain.

But this was exactly what Shen Qing and Zhu Lingyue had wished for!

Shen Qing instantly burst from the darkness, the dragon-elephant's roar bellowing, the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique operating at full power, her hands like iron vises locking tightly onto Zhu Hao's remaining arm, while the black mist dissipated, revealing Zhu Lingyue's figure.

At this moment, Zhu Lingyue formed seals with both hands, her eyes sparkling like starlight—she had been gathering power, waiting for the domain to disperse.

"Ice Seal Barrier!"

With the domain's obstruction gone, azure energy surged instantly, enveloping Zhu Hao; in that instant, Shen Qing's pupils shot forth a terrifying annihilation light, while she released her grip and swiftly retreated.

As Zhu Lingyue let out a fierce cry, Zhu Hao was instantly frozen into an ice sculpture the size of a small mountain.

But this could not possibly hold Zhu Hao for long—his tyrannical voice echoed across the open ground.

"Do you really think you can kill me?!!"

Only to see the mountain-like ice sculpture begin to tremble, cracks slowly appearing.

Zhu Lingyue shouted high: "Shen Qing!"

"Come!!!"

Zhu Lingyue raised a finger, and a platform of mysterious ice appeared beneath Shen Qing's feet; with a powerful shock, under the dual acceleration of the ice platform and her own true qi, Shen Qing instantly soared into the high sky.

Shen Qing raised the Dragon-Slaying Blade, dark purple mist swirling, her black robe fluttering, her silhouette merging with the descending sunset.

At this moment, the world seemed to lose its sound.

Shen Qing spoke softly.

"Gui Xu Yin."

Boom!

Sound returned to heaven and earth once more!

A terrifying dark-purple blade light, never seen before, descended upon the ice mountain.

Zhu Hao panicked, but he still could not break out of the ice mountain, for this ice mountain was condensed by Zhu Lingyue exhausting all her vital energy.

He could only frantically roll his eyes, casting a pleading gaze toward Zhu Lingyue.

But Zhu Lingyue did not even look at him; she was gazing at Shen Qing descending from the heavens.

Crack crack crack crack!

This blade light, descending from the heavens, also split that ice mountain into two halves by Shen Qing.

Bang!

A black hole erupted, instantly devouring the ice mountain, and Zhu Hao's figure vanished along with it.

【Congratulations on slaying a Martial Saint realm martial artist, the trait "Thought Penetration" (Red) is upgrading】

Shen Qing landed on the ground, raised his eyebrows, and finally, is it time for this trait to upgrade?

This trait was obtained at the beginning and is also the most useful one, this trait granting him absolute comprehension, finally it's his turn to upgrade.

On the other side, Zhu Lingyue's face was somewhat pale; having just briefly restrained Zhu Hao, she had exhausted all her vital power, and seeing she was about to collapse, Shen Qing came to her side and scooped her up in his arms.

Shen Qing smiled and said: "Rest well."

Zhu Lingyue did not resist, merely resting her forehead lightly against Shen Qing's shoulder, closing her eyes.

She was already very tired; after she turned eleven, her mother was taken away, and she had lived under great pressure ever since, never having slept properly, now she could finally rest well.

Shen Qing carried Zhu Lingyue to Xuanwu Mountain; the battle here had just ended, everyone bore some wounds, they watched Shen Qing flying from afar carrying Zhu Lingyue, and everyone's faces showed smiles, instantly thunderous cheers came.

"We won! We won!"

Wu Nian also clasped his hands together and uttered: "Amitabha."

Shen Qing condensed his true qi beside Zhu Lingyue's ear, cutting off sound.

Then he shouted loudly.

"Return to the city!"

"Celebrate the victory!"