Chapter 986: The Ruthless Cousin

While Jiang Wanyu was struck with horror by the "Dragon Tooth Sword Shadow" Li Luo had unleashed, Zhao Shenjiang, who bore the brunt of it, felt his heart churn with tumultuous waves; his already ferocious face was now filled with profound shock.

He too sensed the biting sharpness of the sword Qi contained within the rippling, water-like Dragon Tooth Sword; that sword Qi was pure to an unimaginable degree, far beyond the level achievable by any ordinary Marquis-level Art.

This art, he feared, was no lower in grade than his "Hundred Beast Demon God Body."

"How is this possible! How could this Li Luo, a mere Extreme Evil Realm cultivator, master such a Marquis-level Art?"

Zhao Shenjiang was shocked to his core. He himself had hovered between life and death countless times just to cultivate this "Hundred Beast Demon God Body," enduring numerous failures before finally managing to reach the threshold. By what right could Li Luo master a Marquis-level Art of this grade?

Yet, Zhao Shenjiang had no time to ponder this, for the pale blue Dragon Tooth sword light had already pierced through the void to reach him. The sword light did not appear overly sharp, but it possessed an indescribable penetrative power, as if it could pierce through heaven and earth itself.

The jade talisman that could have saved his life had already been consumed by Li Luo’s "Ghost Thunder Talisman Arrow" earlier, leaving Zhao Shenjiang without that life-saving measure.

Roar!

Zhao Shenjiang let out a massive roar, and the blood within his body suddenly began to boil, surging toward the beast-transformed parts of his body.

"Hundred Beast Demon God Body, Blood Beast Art!"

Streams of blood-colored light erupted from within Zhao Shenjiang. Within these rays of light, it was as if the souls of ferocious, malevolent beasts were roaring as they converged and rapidly fused together.

In an instant, amidst the explosion of blood light, they transformed into a ferocious giant beast several dozen feet in size.

The giant beast was entirely blood-red and constantly dripping with blood. It was extremely bizarre, with a dragon's head, a tiger's body, and a python's tail, while its body also bore traces of many other fierce beasts. It radiated a monstrous, malevolent aura, and in that moment, it seemed as if even the sky had been stained red.

As soon as the blood-red giant beast appeared, it charged out, wrapped in a monstrous blood light, its giant paws trampling the void and sending out ripples.

The blood-red giant beast collided directly with the Dragon Tooth Sword, which was piercing through the void while rippling with boundless water light.

At the moment of impact, there was no earth-shattering sound, for that streak of water-like sword shadow simply drifted lightly through the giant beast's massive body; where the sword light passed, the surface was as smooth as a mirror.

The ferocious blood beast, with its monstrous momentum, was sliced in two. Endless blood sprayed out like a waterfall, splashing toward the Dragon Tooth Sword, only to be instantly obliterated by the sword light permeating it.

The azure sword light continued to slash silently toward the pale-faced Zhao Shenjiang behind.

Zhao Shenjiang gripped his Heavy Mountain Spear tightly and spat out a mouthful of essence blood onto the spear shaft. The spear instantly seemed to gain a life of its own, rapidly absorbing the essence blood, after which mysterious blood-red light patterns crawled across it.

With a roar, Zhao Shenjiang swung the Heavy Mountain Spear. A blood-red spear rainbow shook the void, creating cracks before clashing head-on with the azure Dragon Tooth Sword.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out, and the crisp sound wave seemed to spread across the entire world.

The next instant, Zhao Shenjiang was struck as if by a heavy blow, his body flying backward in a wretched state. The Heavy Mountain Spear in his hand let out a mournful cry, and the azure Dragon Tooth Sword turned into water waves, washing directly over the spear. Where the water light passed, all the blood-red light patterns on it dissipated.

But these water waves, like sword light, flashed past the Heavy Mountain Spear in the blink of an eye and swept across Zhao Shenjiang’s arm.

Ah!

Zhao Shenjiang’s miserable scream rang out as his arm was severed right from the root, blood spraying out like a waterfall.

Li Luo had severed one of Zhao Shenjiang’s arms, but he did not stop there. The Dragon Tooth Sword’s water light, though its power was much depleted, flashed like lightning toward Zhao Shenjiang’s head.

Clearly, since he had already made his move, Li Luo had no intention of sparing Zhao Shenjiang’s life.

Seeing this, Zhao Shenjiang understood Li Luo’s murderous intent and immediately retreated frantically.

But the water Dragon Tooth Sword was clearly faster. However, just as the sword light caught up and was about to kill Zhao Shenjiang, a figure suddenly appeared before him like a ghost.

Behind that figure, six brilliant Heavenly Pearls rotated, inhaling and exhaling the energy of heaven and earth.

It was a powerhouse from the Zhao Heavenly King lineage. Seeing Zhao Shenjiang in crisis, he had immediately appeared to save him.

"Brother Zhao Song!" Zhao Shenjiang called out, enduring the excruciating pain in his arm.

The man named Zhao Song nodded, glanced at the incoming water Dragon Tooth Sword, and struck out with a palm. Under this palm, majestic Xiang power surged out like a torrent, resembling a heavenly river, and crashed into the incoming water Dragon Tooth Sword.

Boom!

The two collided, and the water Dragon Tooth Sword immediately shook, scattering countless rays of water light before being shattered into a sky full of water droplets under the ravages of the majestic Xiang power.

The water Dragon Tooth Sword had already exhausted most of its power, and with Zhao Song being a genuine six-star Heavenly Pearl Realm powerhouse, it was naturally difficult for it to manifest its full might.

After shattering the water Dragon Tooth Sword with a palm, Zhao Song looked down at his palm, where some lacerations had appeared, with a few drops of blood even falling from the center of his palm.

This made Zhao Song’s expression grow even gloomier. As a powerhouse of the six-star Heavenly Pearl Realm, he had actually been cut by Li Luo’s peculiar Marquis-level Art, drawing a few drops of blood—this showed just how formidable the Dragon Tooth Sword was.

Murderous intent appeared in Zhao Song’s eyes; the strength Li Luo had displayed earlier had even made him feel a sense of dread.

After all, Li Luo was still only in the Extreme Evil Realm. If he were to reach the three or four-star Heavenly Pearl Realm, wouldn't he pose a genuine threat to him, Zhao Song?

"You cannot be left alive!"

Zhao Song’s eyes were grim. However, just as the last word fell, a green snake staff shadow, wrapped in majestic poisonous light, descended from the sky and smashed fiercely toward the crown of his head.

The terrifying power contained within the staff shadow caused his expression to change drastically.

He first sent Zhao Shenjiang flying with a palm, then opened his mouth and spat out a mottled tortoise shell. As it shone with mysterious light, it hung above him like a tortoise shield, attempting to block the green light staff shadow.

However, when the green light staff shadow fell, Zhao Song’s expression was filled with horror, for he saw that his Mysterious Tortoise Shell, a single purple-eye grade treasure, had actually cracked open with fissures at this very moment.

The green poisonous light seemed to be omnipresent, directly dissolving the Mysterious Tortoise Shell.

A chill rose in Zhao Song’s heart; the person who had launched this attack was truly ruthless to the extreme.

"Zhao Song, retreat quickly!" At this moment, Zhao Yan’s sharp shout came from afar.

Zhao Song’s face turned pale, and he withdrew without hesitation. He finally saw clearly that the person who had attacked was none other than Li Lingjing of the Li Heavenly King lineage. This woman was an eight-star Heavenly Pearl Realm cultivator, not someone he could contend with.

While retreating, Zhao Song decisively activated a seal, directly detonating the "Mysterious Tortoise Shell." The shell shattered, and from within it, bone-white needles shot out like lightning, attacking all the vital points on Li Lingjing’s body.

He intended to use this to delay Li Lingjing’s offensive. As long as he could block her for a moment, he could retreat, and with Zhao Yan coming to his aid, he could hold off this star of misfortune.

However, his plan was well-laid, but behind that green staff shadow, Li Lingjing’s eyes were cold to the point of being almost icy.

"I think the one who cannot be left alive is you!"

She seemed to mutter coldly to herself. The staff shadow in her hand suddenly shattered the void, and at the same time, she extended her slender arm, using her physical body to forcibly take the incoming bone-white needles.

The bone needles pierced into her flesh, even sinking three parts into the bone.

But Li Lingjing did not care at all. She seemed unable to feel such excruciating pain. The staff shadow wove through like a poisonous python, and then, in the eyes of the terrified Zhao Song, it struck his head without mercy.

Bang!

A dull sound suddenly rang out, and Zhao Song’s head became like a watermelon falling from a great height in that instant.

Blood and brains splattered everywhere, extremely bloody.

The surrounding world seemed to freeze for a moment. Pairs of eyes looked at this scene in horror; no one had expected Li Lingjing to be so ruthless and merciless, willing to risk her own injury just to put her opponent to death.

That was a six-star Heavenly Pearl Realm powerhouse from the Zhao Heavenly King lineage!

To be suddenly killed by Li Lingjing with a single strike of her staff, just like slaughtering a chicken!

The silence lasted for several breaths. In the distance, Zhao Yan’s eyes turned red, his gaze filled with resentment and ferocity as he looked toward Li Lingjing. His figure shot over, and his roar rang out like thunder.

"Li Lingjing, die for me!"