Chapter 3653: Chapter Fifty-Two: Blade Demon Spirit

On the circular battlefield spanning ten thousand square meters, tree walls tens of meters high surrounded the area, giving a sense of solid security—here, in this decisive battle, there was no need to worry about third-party interference or ambushes midway; one could say this was an ideal place to settle life and death.

With dark clouds filling the sky above, the floating sparks within the arena became even more conspicuous. Su Xiao gripped his knife with one hand, the long blade angled toward the ground. Having fought from the first to the ninth tier, this battle was his least confident, his slimmest chance of victory—even when facing the Black King, Iron Feather King, Nameless Captain, Old Knight, or Eternal Light God before, though he felt his odds were low, he had never felt this way.

Yet this time, Su Xiao had to come here and settle life and death with the traitor·Seiman·Archid, for many reasons—for example, the ninth-tier world was the highest-level world certified by the Reincarnation Paradise; in other words, "the Absolutely Strong" and "the Ultimately Strong" could also enter the ninth-tier world.

Even if, upon entering parts of the ninth-tier world, the strength of "the Absolutely Strong" and "the Ultimately Strong" were limited, when Su Xiao completed this world's progression, he would likely enter the upper-middle or even fully upper echelon of ninth-tier worlds next.

Such worlds had an extremely high combat ceiling, unlike this world with its 300-point cap on physical attributes—it was possible that "the Absolutely Strong" and "the Ultimately Strong," upon reaching the upper echelons of ninth-tier worlds, would not be suppressed at all.

This also meant that in his next world progression, Su Xiao would face the top-tier combat power from the Arcane Eternal Star: Sephilia, the Frostwind King, Dean Guya, and even the Soul Lord.

Not only was it the Arcane Eternal Star side—Su Xiao's current greatest dilemma was lacking the Awakening Stele of the Extinction Law faction, unable to grasp subsequent Extinction Law abilities, and worse, this item existed in only one copy, leaving no room for imitation or negotiation with Zhou Xuan.

If he failed to obtain the Awakening Stele quickly, Su Xiao's strength growth would soon halt—indeed, halt—once his four primary attributes reached 300 points, he would need to pass the "Iron Trial" to gain the corresponding attribute rewards for 300-point primary attributes and push his physical attributes beyond 300.

A more pressing problem arose: at that point, Su Xiao could neither boost his physical attributes to increase combat power nor access new high-tier Extinction Law abilities—he could only enhance his three technique-based abilities, which was too thin, as technique systems had always been built upon physical attributes and various passive abilities.

To complete the "Iron Trial," he had to go to the Eternal Light World—thus, leaving this world first to grow stronger before returning to confront the traitor was fundamentally unfeasible; Su Xiao's current options were only two:

1. Defeat the traitor·Seiman·Archid, search his soul memories via his weapon to find where he stored the Awakening Stele—once obtained, the subsequent path, once a broken narrow bridge, would instantly become a broad, smooth road with infinite possibilities.

2. Choose stability and retreat—either die at the caster's hands or be forced into the Eternal Light World to perish in the siege of apocalyptic-level races.

Is this even a multiple-choice question? No—who in life hasn't faced one or two unavoidable decisions, especially in the Reincarnation Paradise, a place where one fights with their life on the line?

Crack—

Su Xiao crushed the potion bottle in his hand; inside, a viscous, blood-like potion seeped into his skin, rapidly absorbed by his body.

【Dragon Blood Potion (Ninth Tier)】

Effect: After use, maximum HP increases by 20%, physical strength increases by 15%.

Note: This potion's effect lasts for 800 seconds.

……

With the Dual-Blade State active upon him, his soul core also switched to "Swift·Soul Core," causing the center of Su Xiao's pupils to emit a blue glow representing swiftness.

With a boom, space exploded—Bubu Wang, Bahar, and Holy Chant appeared; in fact, Bubu Wang had come too, but upon completing spatial transmission, he merged into the environment.

"Bai Ye, is this the ultimate strong enemy you spoke of? I feel..."

Before Holy Chant could finish, the ring on her Bai Xi index finger exploded with a snap, causing her pupils to contract to the smallest—because the enemy was so strong that even her warning gear detonated.

Holy Chant raised her hand and flung over a dozen light orbs into Su Xiao's spine, then retreated to the very edge of the battlefield—undoubtedly, this was the fastest she had ever applied her buff state.

"Ahmu."

"Moo!"

Ahmu, wielding the Dragon Heart Axe, charged ahead like a bull, heading straight for the traitor, leaving vast ice trails along his path.

Following custom, Ahmu went up to take a beating… cough, went up to probe the enemy's abilities, creating an opportunity for Su Xiao to seize the initiative with suppressive pressure.

As his charge ability activated, Ahmu's running speed surged—and kept increasing—when he was still a few meters from the traitor, Ahmu leapt into the air, gripping the axe handle with both hands, and brought it down in a powerful overhead chop.

Clang—clang! The Dragon Heart Axe struck the horizontally raised blade, and the traitor's swordsmanship could be described as simple and refined, without a trace of flourish, fully displaying masterful bearing.

The shockwave from the axe-blade clash spread—before Ahmu could steady his breath, he felt his axe handle as if pressed by a force of ten thousand jun, transmitted from the enemy's blade, causing him to instinctively tense his entire body, leaning forward into a grappling stance against the foe.

Just as Ahmu exerted his full strength, the force on the long blade before him suddenly vanished—this caused his center of gravity to lurch forward uncontrollably, but this sensation had barely appeared for less than 0.5 seconds when a vast slashing force descended upon the Dragon Heart Axe.

Crack!

Though it seemed Ahmu was locked in a strength contest with the traitor, force pierced through his body at multiple points, creating dozens of wounds resembling slash marks, from which blood spurted spectacularly in all directions.

Ahmu could only see a red blur before him, barely making out the traitor's silhouette, while opposite him, the traitor swept his long blade with a force—clang—clang! —sending Ahmu's Dragon Heart Axe flying.

Ahmu's combat experience was exceptionally rich; after losing his axe, he immediately scaled up a layer of solid ice over his entire body.

Seeing this, the traitor did not slash at Ahmu's neck with one stroke, but instead flipped the hilt in his hand, turning the blade to strike with the spine outward, delivering a diagonal downward chop aimed at Ahmu's knee and leg.

Bang!

Though the blade's spine lacked an edge, it carried greater smashing force and armor-piercing capability—one sweep down, Ahmu's right leg went numb, the leg bone shattered, causing him to collapse onto one knee; the force from this spine strike caused his full-body ice layer to shatter—this ice layer was strong against slashes, but against blunt force, once a point broke, it would explode entirely like tempered glass.

Without any visible movement from the traitor, his long blade had already shifted to a normal grip, and he swung it toward Ahmu's neck—if this blow landed, Ahmu would surely die on the spot.

The blade's edge sliced through the air, leaving a black trace where space was severed; a long blade wrapped in blue crystal met the traitor's Extinction Law Blade—two blades clashed.

Clang!!

The crisp ring of metal on metal— the crystal layer on the Dragon Flash Slash exploded, but its accompanying powerful slashing force still forced the towering traitor to retreat half a step.

The impact from the clash caused the weathered rocky ground of the battlefield to bulge upward in a layer; these rock fragments had just flown up when subsequent impacts shattered them into powder, scattering everywhere.

Had this been a normal blade clash, the one forced back would certainly have been Su Xiao—but after his battle with the Sand King, the memory of being struck down by the "Abyssal Fall" greatsword remained deep, so he placed special emphasis on compressing the crystal layer to greatly increase weapon weight, and he used this very tactic in the initial clash to gain an advantage.

At present, this tactic worked well—but it could only be used once per battle; if the opponent prepared for it, it might become a flaw.

After being shaken back by Su Xiao's single strike, the traitor's eyes flashed with surprise—but this surprise was instantly replaced by sharp killing intent; he stepped forward and simultaneously brought his blade down with force, swift and powerful, appearing simple and unadorned, yet in truth, he had refined this strike to its utmost.

Facing this incoming strike, Su Xiao could only block with his blade horizontally—not because he didn't want to dodge, but as the strike came, the surrounding aura and space were enveloped by it; if he tried to evade, the most likely outcome was being decapitated in shock.

Clang!

The slashing force transmitted from the Dragon Flash Slash caused Su Xiao's right arm to go numb; the impact from the forceful slash sent him uncontrollably flying backward—but this was exactly what he wanted; his left hand, wrapped in metal armguards, reached out, grabbed Ahmu—who was on one knee, dazed from shock—and flew backward together with him.

Bahar silently appeared behind the traitor, his sharp eagle claws lunging for the traitor's neck—yet the traitor seemed unaware, allowing Bahar to attack.

Suddenly, the traitor's long blade shifted sideways, and a resonant sound erupted from the blade.

Clang!!

The sound wave, laced with dark ripples, enveloped Bahar; Bahar felt not only were all his cells vibrating, but even his soul was affected by the vibration, making his control over distance and speed disastrous—he could barely continue flying, causing him to sweep past the traitor's ear, his claws grasping nothing.

"I damn it!"

Bahar fled at full speed, preparing to distance himself from the traitor—but after hearing his shout, clearly not something good, the traitor's empty left hand swung back.

With a snap, only a few shattered dark-blue feathers and blood droplets remained in the air; Bahar had broken through his lifetime speed limit, becoming a straight line as he flew sideways toward the tree wall.

With a thunderous boom, dry, splintered wood scattered—Bahar was slammed into the tree wall, his deformed wings dangling and twitching twice, after which he remained motionless.

Holy Chant, positioned at the very edge of the battlefield, had already summoned the "Holy Chant Knight Order"—twelve knights had all removed their armor and shields, discarded their ranged weapons, and drawn the twin blades at their waists; each twin blade bore bloodstains, exceeded 1.2 meters in length, and looked both crimson and sharp.

Under Holy Chant's command, the twelve twin blades surged forward like rabid dogs—though Holy Chant did not expect this to hold back the traitor for long, it at least bought time for the main force Bai Ye to catch his breath, thereby stabilizing the collapsing situation.

Twelve double-bladed mad dogs rushed toward the traitor's vicinity, poised to slash him to pieces, but in the next second, a ring-shaped slash infused with black flames suddenly spread outward from the surrounding area.

With a whoosh! A hundred-meter-wide ring-shaped black flame slash swept over, and all twelve double-bladed mad dogs vanished—more precisely, they turned into minced meat and weapon fragments, clattering as they scattered across the ground.

Witnessing this, Sheng Shi's breath caught; watching Su Xiao fight the traitor, she hadn't felt much pressure yet, but now, directly engaging the traitor, she truly experienced this unparalleled pressure—just one slash, and her combat techniques vanished entirely.

The traitor looked at Sheng Shi; his calm eyes concealed icy killing intent, causing her heartbeat to stop abruptly and her heart to tighten to the extreme, making her feel as if an invisible hand had gripped the back of her neck.

At this moment behind Sheng Shi, a black shadow appeared, wielding a crystalline curved sickle, swinging it at her neck—this sickle wouldn't harm her physical body, but would slay her soul.

Boom! The sound of a sideways swinging punch came from behind Sheng Shi; amidst the drifting black smoke, she felt a hand pinch her neck, crack—crushing a crystalline shell that had appeared unknown when, and only then did her heart, contracted to the limit, begin to beat again.

【Tip: You have dodged this soul slaying.】

【Tip: You are afflicted with the Abyssal Gaze debuff; for the next 48 hours, your willpower is temporarily reduced by 50 points, your maximum HP reduced by 20%, you are weak to soul damage, and weak to abyssal damage.】

……

Seeing this tip, Sheng Shi suddenly felt a bit wronged; she recalled her experiences since arriving in this world—first, Nightmare Island, where she saw the Candle Maiden and the Nightmare King, then went to fight the God of Radiance, then dealt with the Sand King, and now she directly faces the traitor·Ximan·Achid—these enemies, each stronger than the last, outrageously so, and she is merely a newly promoted ninth-rank healer; the more she thought, the more wronged she felt.

Sheng Shi turned her head, looking at Su Xiao with both indignation and resentment, about to speak, but noticed blood dripping from Su Xiao's sleeve onto his longsword; a golden-green light cluster appeared in her hand as she fed him a mouthful of healing—due to this healing act, she immediately felt the traitor's gaze refocus on her, and she instantly stepped back.

Barely into the fight, Bahah was severely wounded, Amu's mobility greatly reduced, Sheng Shi nearly got soul-slain, and Xiang Bubu Wang, hiding at the edge of the battlefield, was terrified out of its wits.

Wisps of black-blue smoke drifted from the traitor's body; though he had only slashed three times since the battle began, he gave an unimaginable sense of oppression; now he stared at Su Xiao, for some reason, his brows furrowed slightly.

"You don't even know how to use the Blade Demon Spirit—foolish."

The traitor, holding his sword with one hand, pointed his longsword diagonally at the ground; black-blue smoke drifted from the blade; seeing this, Su Xiao looked doubtful—he couldn't understand why, having just started fighting, the opponent had directly activated the demon blade.

The black-blue smoke drifting from the Demon-Slaying Blade quickly formed a black mist humanoid figure.

At the center of this black mist figure's chest pulsed a slowly beating crimson heart core; in its hand it gripped a crystalline longsword, and from its back extended a smoke rope as thick as a finger, connecting to the hilt end of the traitor's Demon-Slaying Blade—one could tell at a glance that this black-blue smoke rope could stretch very long and very thin.

Whoosh!

The Blade Demon Spirit suddenly surged forward—it was not only fast but also elusive to the extreme, arriving before Su Xiao in an instant, but mid-way it was blocked by Amu.

Cold air spread, and a massive ice shield was constructed, held in Amu's one hand to hard-block the Blade Demon Spirit's crystalline longsword slash—but who would have thought, the crystalline weapon in the Blade Demon Spirit's hand rapidly transformed into a crystalline war hammer with a hammerhead as thick as a water bucket, brimming with force, and came crashing down.

Bang!

The ice shield was shattered into pieces; Amu was forced to stagger backward from the impact, but who would have thought—the Blade Demon Spirit that struck the hammer bore no corresponding recoil, for it was made of black-blue smoke, able to briefly vaporize and ignore reaction force, thus it struck again, hammering Amu's shoulder.

Bang!

Flesh and fragments flew in all directions; Amu's mighty arm gripping the Dragon Heart Axe flew upward—it wasn't just his right shoulder that was shattered, but half his torso as well; furthermore, after the Blade Demon Spirit delivered a swift, powerful side kick, Amu flew in a straight line, crashing into the tree wall with a boom, very close to Bahah's position.

Are Amu and Bahah playing dead? Of course not—they're truly low on output, low on input, sustained only by potion recovery effects, otherwise they'd have died outright.

Amu was struck, and Su Xiao naturally wouldn't just watch; his blade sliced through the air, leaving a black trail, accompanied by cyan steel shadow energy, dual soul-slaying effect, blood energy boost, and various passive bonuses—he slashed at the Blade Demon Spirit's neck, but then, nothing happened—this Blade Demon Spirit took no damage at all!

Clang!

The Blade Demon Spirit slashed at Su Xiao; two blades met in a clash, and what was even more astonishing was that this Blade Demon Spirit not only ignored all damage, but its attack power was also exceptionally swift and fierce—this thing had high attack, high speed, multiple attack states, and finally, it took no damage from any attribute.

Clang!

Again, a blade clash with the Blade Demon Spirit, but in the next instant, a fierce wind hit Su Xiao's face as the traitor and the Blade Demon Spirit suddenly swapped positions, and the traitor's slash came at him.

Ding-lang! The impact from the blade clash spread outward; the tree walls around the battlefield were special—even if steel were struck by such force, it should shatter, yet these tree walls absorbed the energy, merely scattering large sparks.

Su Xiao had just blocked the Blade Demon Spirit's slash, his old force spent and new force not yet generated, when he took another heavy slash from the traitor—he nearly lost his grip on the Dragon Flash Slash, and cracks appeared on his right arm beneath the sleeve, blood seeping out.

Clang!

The traitor opposite delivered another heavy slash; Su Xiao blocked it with all his strength, which surprised the traitor, who had estimated that this slash would make Su Xiao break his blade and fall.

This slash was indeed blocked, but the whistling wind immediately followed, and with a thud, while Su Xiao was blocking with his sword, a one-meter-long slender crystalline cone arrow pierced his chest and abdomen; looking toward the source of the attack, it was the Blade Demon Spirit holding a longbow made of energy and crystal.

"Ha!"

The traitor let out a loud shout, his aura pressing forward; after slashing Su Xiao back, he took this opening, and the Demon-Slaying Blade in his hand emitted a dark blue radiance, causing the smoke line connected to the hilt's end to tighten, pulling the Blade Demon Spirit behind him, as if it were his shadow.

The traitor slashed down again; though he used no fancy sword techniques, each of his slashes gave the feeling of the heavens pressing down—inescapable, unavoidable, only hard resistance possible.

Clang, clang.

A rapid series of crisp sounds came—it wasn't the traitor slashing twice at high speed, but rather the Blade Demon Spirit attached to his back, giving his single slash the sensation of two slashes—this is the God-Blocking Parry technique.

Su Xiao only felt his right arm go numb; the longsword clashing with the enemy was shaken apart by this double impact force, and the crystalline layer immediately clung to his chest and abdomen.

Bang!!

The traitor kicked Su Xiao straight with his foot, sending him crashing into the distant tree wall—and that wasn't all; the Blade Demon Spirit detached from its possession state, and the crystalline great bow in its hand opened fire repeatedly.

Bang, bang, bang.

Three arrows fired at once; half-embedded in the tree wall, the wounded Su Xiao raised his hand.

"Blood Smoke Cannon."

The Blood Smoke Cannon shattered one crystalline cone arrow.

"Blade Path Sword·Azure Demon."

A cyan-blue blade flash flew out, striking the second crystalline cone arrow, shaking it loose; by the time Su Xiao prepared to face the third, it was already too late.

With a bang, his left shoulder went numb—the crystalline cone arrow had already pierced his shoulder, lodging in his body.

Dozens of meters away, the traitor's black eyes flashed with blue light; simultaneously, the barbed crystalline cone arrows embedded in Su Xiao's body also glowed with blue light.

Boom! Boom!

The two crystalline cone arrows embedded in Su Xiao's shoulder and flank exploded, creating two blood holes; in a short time, a large pool of blood appeared beneath his feet.

"Hah~"

Su Xiao regulated his breathing, feeling the healing power from Sheng Shi; the blood holes in his shoulder and flank were healing at a visible speed.

Su Xiao walked out of the smoke and dust, and several extremely fast crystalline cone arrows came at him.

"Blade Path Sword·Time."

With a thud, the impact of Time spread, slowing the incoming crystalline arrows; Su Xiao turned into a blood shadow, darting between them and launching a surprise attack before the traitor.

"Blade Path Sword·Extreme."

With a thunderous boom, the two longswords clashed again; sparks scattered across the battlefield, the blades' edges cutting and rubbing against each other, producing a crisp crackling sound, while on the side, the Blade Demon Spirit had once again nocked an arrow and drawn the bow, its sharp tip aimed at Su Xiao's neck.

A blood qi phantom over ten meters tall appeared above Su Xiao, a blood soul entered his spine, and the blood qi phantom pointed toward the Blade Spirit.

"Ultra·Blood Smoke Cannon."

Boom!

The Blood Smoke Cannon blasted the Blade Spirit into the distant tree wall, this attack actually worked, and the black-blue smoke on the Blade Spirit drifted away somewhat.

Noticing this, Su Xiao felt somewhat speechless in his heart; there was only one way to attack this Blade Spirit: strike when it attacks and enters physical form; otherwise, physical, energy, soul, etc. attribute attacks are ineffective against it.

Temporarily suppressing the Blade Spirit, Su Xiao's long sword in hand slashed repeatedly, gold and iron crisp ringing, sparks flying everywhere, a blood soul entered his spine.

"Blade Dao Sword·Slay."

Su Xiao slashed diagonally, with a whoosh, a blood-colored silk chain slashed out; with the blood soul's blessing, "Slay," the blood-colored silk chain he slashed out turned dark red, filled with scattered sparks inside.

But who would have thought, the traitor on the opposite side shifted his body slightly and actually barely dodged this dark red slash silk chain; not only that, but he also backhanded Su Xiao with a sword.

Pfft~

Fresh blood spattered, this slash struck Su Xiao's chest, the wound extremely deep; fortunately, he had a healing system behind him, a large mass of gold-green energy flew toward him.

Suddenly, the traitor disappeared; Su Xiao instinctively held his long sword vertically behind him, with a crisp clang, he used the sword's slashing momentum to leap forward, and in mid-air turned around, landing facing the traitor.

Because Su Xiao and the traitor's positions were nearly swapped, the Holy Chant's healing ability flew toward the traitor; seeing this, Holy Chant paid no mind, her healing ability is always used according to the life fluctuations of the one being healed, that is, it varies by person; even if the traitor blocked this healing ability...

The traitor clung black mist on his hand, grabbed the healing ability with one hand, and then absorbed it.

Before Holy Chant could react, a crystal cone arrow had already pierced her abdomen, pinning her to the tree wall.

【Warning: Your health has dropped to 5.9%.】

【Warning: You have entered the dying state.】

【Your self-healing ability "Holy Regeneration" has been activated.】

【Your health has been restored to 100%.】

Boom!

The crystal cone arrow that pierced Holy Chant's abdomen and pinned her to the wall exploded.

【Warning: Your health has dropped to 3.1%.】

【Warning: You have entered the dying state.】

The last two prompts, Holy Chant didn't even see them; she only had time to grant herself a slow healing ability, then her vision went black and she fainted.

Boom, boom two muffled sounds, Su Xiao slashed and exploded two crystal cone arrows flying toward Holy Chant; although our side's healing system is already unconscious and temporarily unable to provide healing, we cannot let the enemy kill her, otherwise this battle would be utterly unwinnable.

Su Xiao and the traitor faced each other from tens of meters apart; after a brief stare-down, the traitor actually turned his gaze, looking toward the edge of the battlefield where there was no one; in fact, Ignoring Bubu Wang, who had blended into the environment hiding here, had already been frightened stiff; it truly felt for the first time what it was like to be stared down by an enemy in battle; it was now quite certain that this strong enemy had seen it.

Suddenly, Ignoring Bubu Wang felt a dark blue before its eyes; it vaguely saw a phantom appear in its field of vision.

Ignoring Bubu Wang detached from the environment; its entire body drifted with black-blue smoke, its eyes turned pitch black; this was clearly being infected and controlled by the Blade Spirit.

"Roar!"

Ignoring Bubu Wang let out the most imposing roar of its life, then was immediately forcibly controlled by the Blade Spirit to charge toward Su Xiao; but it hadn't taken a few steps when a crystal wall appeared ahead; the Blade Spirit immediately controlled Ignoring Bubu Wang to dodge, but Ignoring Bubu Wang's obstacle avoidance was poor when running, so it immediately rammed headfirst into it, then its dog face dazed and sat there.

Ignoring Bubu Wang's foolish behavior provoked the Blade Spirit's disdain; it immediately prepared to detach from Ignoring Bubu Wang's body, but since it had just possessed Ignoring Bubu Wang, it couldn't detach quickly; at least half a minute was needed before it could detach; looking at it this way, it was actually Ignoring Bubu Wang that had restrained the Blade Spirit.

Clang, clang, clang......

The two long swords clashed repeatedly; Su Xiao again switched his soul core to "Swift·Soul Core"; although prolonged battle favored him, he could clearly feel that the traitor, due to age-related weakness, had lost the vigor he had at the start of the fight; but the problem is, two technique-based combat styles really make prolonged battle difficult.

Added to the traitor's immense pressure on Su Xiao, he didn't even have the chance to use luck attribute to summon worldly thunder.

Clang!

The Annihilation Law Blade chopped down and was blocked; the stone ground beneath Su Xiao's feet exploded and sank; he ignored his body's burden and delivered a backslash.

"Blade Dao Sword·Absolute Seclusion."

In the traitor's sight, the surrounding world suddenly turned pitch black; he only saw three slashes attacking head-on in his eyes.

Dong~

Space twisted, the surrounding world became even darker; the three blue slashes ahead of the traitor suddenly split apart, turning into a large area of slashes.

Only seen, the traitor's aura gathered, he shifted his body and thrust forward with a sword, crack-snap, the blackness and slashes ahead all shattered, the surrounding world recovered; this sword first pierced Su Xiao's left forearm, then his left shoulder, the blade tip protruding from behind the shoulder.

Crack crack crack~

The crystal layer clung to Su Xiao's left forearm and left shoulder; he forcefully twisted his left forearm upward, his left shoulder leaned in the opposite direction, using the torque formed by the two to fix the traitor's Annihilation Law Blade; then the long sword in his right hand slashed upward.

Pfft.

Fresh blood spattered; the Annihilation Law Blade was pulled from Su Xiao's shoulder and forearm, making the wound larger; meanwhile, the Dragon-Slaying Flash's blade tip slashed across the traitor's throat, barely cutting through the black-blue crystal layer, cutting through flesh.

Azure Qing Qing Gang Ying energy entered the traitor's wound; not only did nothing happen, but the traitor then consecutively slashed two swords, forcing Su Xiao to retreat several large steps.

"Blood Smoke Cannon."

With a boom, the Blood Smoke Cannon was dodged by the traitor shifting his body; he similarly raised his hand, making a virtual grasp toward Su Xiao, a black claw the size of a grinding wheel appeared behind Su Xiao, one claw lunged forward.

Su Xiao side-leaped to dodge, but before he landed, he suddenly felt a pulling force lunging face-on; looking toward the source of the pull, it was a dragon-eye-sized, radiating black light sphere located behind the traitor; its strong pull affected all surrounding objects; after debris was sucked in, it was instantly annihilated.

Su Xiao lowered his posture, the Dragon-Slaying Flash in his hand stabbed into the ground, but after resisting the pull for a moment, he chose to actively meet it.

Using the pull ahead, Su Xiao delivered a heavy slash with One Slash Is Heavy; but just as this slash was about to be unleashed, the dark core's pull stopped and changed into a repulsive force.

After this one and that, Su Xiao's waist almost flashed; he immediately abandoned the slash, resisted the incoming repulsive force, lowered his posture, his left hand clung to the crystal and turned into a claw, with a pa sound it stabbed into the ground beside him; but just as he exerted force to resist the repulsive force from opposite, the repulsive force suddenly vanished, turning back into pull; this battle-type Devouring Core is too shameless!

Because Su Xiao was resisting the repulsive force, so force was forward; this sudden pull let him instantly arrive before the traitor, facing a powerful slash.

With a boom, Su Xiao, who blocked this slash, had the ground beneath his feet crack and shatter; meanwhile, the traitor delivered a straight kick with his foot.

Boom!

Su Xiao turned into an afterimage, flew backward into the tree wall behind, smashing and scattering wood chips; the traitor stepped forward a few paces, seemingly slow steps, but a few steps covered a hundred-meter distance, as if only a few meters away.

Clang, clang, clang!

Several slash marks cut through the air, leaving black-blue intersecting slash marks in the air; the tree wall opposite was blasted apart by the slashes.

Smoke and dust surged from all sides.

"Blade Dao Knife·Blood Blade."

Su Xiao transformed into a crimson afterimage, delivering a thrusting slash at the limit of his blade speed.

Clang!

The impact scattered, the traitor blocked this blade, his long sword exerting force with a sizzle, the blade edge cutting through, deflecting the Dragon Flash Slash.

Clang!! Clang!! Clang!!

After the traitor's three heavy, powerful slashes, Su Xiao blocked them all, but the surging force within him caused him to spit out a large mouthful of fresh blood.

The fresh blood had not yet hit the ground when Su Xiao grabbed it with one hand, converting it into blood energy and hurling it outward.

"Roar!"

Several miniature blood beasts appeared; the traitor's wide sleeve blocked them, the miniature blood beasts exploded in succession, and the blood smoke that could disrupt perception scattered.

With a whoosh, the traitor's wide sleeve swept aside, dispersing all the surrounding blood smoke, and the "Super·Blood Smoke Cannon" boomed forward.

Boom!!

The traitor was blown back, landed steadily and calmly, flicked the bloodstains from his sword, and stepped forward with one foot.

"Ha!"

The traitor let out a violent shout; as his foot stomped down, a black light pillar erupted from the ground, perfectly meeting Su Xiao's charging assault. The blade gleam in the darkness caused large tears in his long leather coat, and multiple bloodstains appeared on his body.

Clang, clang!

Two slashes came with oppressive force bordering on explosion; Su Xiao was forced to block horizontally with his blade, but having just blocked those two slashes, his body still somewhat numb, the traitor opposite him, with a vacant grip, had already formed a black light sphere in his hand and pulled it out with one hand.

"Dark Surge."

Su Xiao exerted himself fully to dodge sideways; the funnel-shaped, continuously expanding energy cannon boomed past, causing a buzzing in his left ear near it, and before his eyes, large afterimages appeared.

The traitor's aura pressed forward from ahead; though Su Xiao was still in a dazed state, he had already drawn the Silent Jing Mie and fired five consecutive shots at the traitor.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Five Jing Mie bullets exited the barrel in succession, causing the traitor's gaze to grow stern, his aura suddenly swelling; he slashed four times in succession, detonating four Jing Mie bullets, the last one striking his chest, the impacted area immediately withering and turning to wood, dropping decayed remnants.

Taking this opportunity, Su Xiao stepped forward a few paces and delivered a powerful straight kick.

Wind pressure met his face; the traitor's slightly cloudy eyes instantly sharpened, everything around him slowed down, and unlike with "Time," this move of the traitor's did not slow him down as well.

Pop, pop!

The traitor struck Su Xiao's shin with the hilt's end first, then his jaw second, causing Su Xiao to lose balance and crash to the ground with a boom, lying in a stone pit.

All that could be seen was the traitor's long sword flipping over, reverse-gripping the blade for a downward stab; Su Xiao, lying in the stone pit, immediately tilted his head to dodge, but who would have known, after the traitor stabbed downward, he followed with an upward thrust.

Su Xiao felt a chill at his neck; disregarding his injury, he slapped the ground beneath him with one hand, using the reaction force to leap into midair, blocking the traitor's downward slash in midair, causing him to fly out and crash into a tree wall dozens of meters away.

Su Xiao rose from the depression in the tree wall, one hand covering his bleeding side neck, the Spirit Shadow Line pierced through flesh and blood, suturing the wound, then he pulled hard, the wound forcibly healing due to cellular-level suturing.

Seeing this, the traitor's eyes showed a hint of surprise; he had not expected the deep development of the Azure Qing Qing Gang Ying energy to have such a clever use; he pulled his hand, and several energy threads emitting black light appeared at his fingertips.

"Not bad."

Clang!

The traitor slashed out a path of Azure Ghost; Su Xiao slashed once, dispersing the incoming Azure Ghost, and the corner of his eye twitched imperceptibly.

A bottle of potion appeared in Su Xiao's hand, the 【Honor Recovery Potion (Nine Rank)】; he crushed it, the potion seeped into his skin, his health rapidly restored, but he could not yet enter the third stage, because he could easily be slashed by two strikes from the traitor.

The discomfort within him completely faded, but Su Xiao felt no relief; facing the traitor, this recovery to 100% health was merely a matter of a few strikes; the formidable enemy before him seemed to lack flashy, grandiose ultimate moves, yet in reality, each ordinary slash was ultimate-level.

A badge appeared in Su Xiao's hand, the 【Divine Cult Badge】.

"Divine Cult Badge: Assistance (Active), activating this effect will summon the Holy Choir, or summon the Wolf Knight Squad (each with 50% summon probability)."

Su Xiao activated it; one second later, a total of 30 Holy Choir members appeared behind him, including Holy Heart One.

This Holy Heart One held a spiral long spear in one hand, the spiral long spear long and sharp, while Holy Heart One's armor, made of gold plates and red fabric, unlike the hardness of armor, gave a sense of beauty while also possessing dual physical and energy strong defense.

However, this big sister of the Holy Choir, in terms of stature, was one head shorter than the other 29, but her aura was several times stronger; it was also unknown which generation of Holy Heart One she was.

"Hmph~"

Holy Heart One let out a cold snort at Su Xiao; the other 29 Holy Choir members fully energyized, merging into Holy Heart One's body—this was the Holy Choir's peak state.

With a boom, Holy Heart One vanished from the spot, transforming into a gold-red sharp light, charging toward the traitor; this Holy Heart One had a violent temper, and upon arriving before the traitor, she thrust forward with a spear.

Clang clang!!

The traitor blocked with his sword, took the hit, stepped back, and gauged Holy Heart One's power.

"Holy One·Ascendant Blood Song!"

Holy Heart One's fishbone braid scattered, golden hair flying; upon first contact, she unleashed a visage-facing ultimate-level ability, showing how violent her temper was; as for why Su Xiao did not step forward to suppress the traitor with this, it was because Holy Heart One completely disregarded friend or foe, and near her, one would lose life at a rate of 5% per second due to an ability called "Scorching Sun Reaping·Extreme Noon."

A tremendous roar came; Holy Heart One, at 1.5 meters tall, erupted with a 51-meter aura, gold-red light spreading to envelop the surroundings.

"Abyss, Banish."

Within the gold-red light, the traitor delivered a simple, unadorned horizontal slash, carving a black fissure ahead; intense abyss aura erupted from within the fissure, with suction coming from inside.

After a dull roar caused by the immense suction, Holy Heart One and the spreading gold-red light vanished, banished to an unknown place.

As a cost, the traitor's aura weakened slightly; whether it was an illusion or not, his figure also seemed somewhat emaciated.

Su Xiao transformed into a blood shadow, appearing before the traitor, slashing diagonally downward, but in the next instant, the traitor before him turned into a Blade Spirit, wielding a crystal long sword to block Su Xiao's slash.

At this moment, the traitor was in a weakened state; Su Xiao naturally could not pass up such an opportunity—this was his sole chance to win in this battle. He used Dragon Shadow Flash to pierce through space, appearing beside the traitor, slashing across the enemy's neck, yet felt no solid impact, because the opponent had also pierced through space.

Spatial undulations surged from behind; afterward, Su Xiao felt a numbness in his back, shattered crystal layers scattered all around, and he was slashed across the back by a blade.

Su Xiao retaliated with a slash, but struck only air; he did not immediately look toward the traitor over ten meters away, but instead looked at the Blade Spirit, for that thing was gathering power there, and he did not know what ability it would use.

In battle, anything gathering power must be interrupted; any ability requiring a charge, once unleashed, certainly cannot be blocked by merely parrying with a long sword.

Clang!

Two long swords clashed; Su Xiao, intending to charge toward the Blade Spirit, was blocked by the traitor; Su Xiao followed through with a straight kick, but the traitor, as if foreseeing, thrust forward with his blade.

Boom!!

The traitor was kicked straight in the chest, sent crashing to one knee, his body going numb.

As for Su Xiao, he was pierced through the neck by that awkwardly angled slash; continuing forward would be suicide, so he could only retreat a large step, letting the enemy's longsword withdraw from his neck.

When he had done that, preparing to slash the traitor, the traitor had already shaken off the numbness, delivering a powerful horizontal slash that drove the advancing Su Xiao back.

"Blade Dao Knife · Flow."

The flowing wind trace swept across the traitor's chest, leaving a deep bloodstain, yet the traitor did not retreat an inch, instead delivering a mighty overhead chop.

Clang! Su Xiao met the chop with a slash, deflecting it, but as soon as he did, he sensed danger—the blade's peril lay not in cutting the enemy, but in deliberately letting the enemy block, then using penetrating force to injure the enemy's internal organs.

Su Xiao's internal organs churned violently; he felt his heart nearly leap from his throat—an ordeal beyond awful.

Before Su Xiao could catch his breath, the traitor unleashed another overhead chop; seeing this, Su Xiao naturally wouldn't meet it head-on, but who would have thought the traitor vanished, swapping places with the charged Blade Demon Spirit? In a one-on-one situation, this ability is truly unstoppable: the traitor and Su Xiao clash blades while the Blade Demon Spirit charges from dozens of meters away; upon completing the charge, they swap places again, and the Blade Demon Spirit instantly appears before Su Xiao, unleashing the ability it had charged for over ten seconds.

"Roar!!!"

The Blade Demon Spirit let out a roar layered with black ripples; the moment the shockwave hit, Su Xiao went numb all over—though it lasted only 0.8 seconds of brief control, it was equally deadly.

The traitor and Blade Demon Spirit swapped places again, delivering a diagonally charged slash.

Whoosh—Su Xiao's left side was struck by the black-flame whip from the slash; his left arm was instantly severed, his long skin coat torn into strips scattering everywhere, his torso covered in deep gashes reaching the bone.

Thud—Su Xiao collapsed to the ground, while the traitor who delivered the slash seemed to have exhausted his strength, choosing not to pursue.

Lying on the ground, Su Xiao raised his longsword; blood souls clung to the Dragon-Slaying Flash as he pointed it toward the traitor.

"Super · Blood Smoke Cannon."

The Blood Smoke Cannon blasted into the traitor's chest, blowing out a bowl-sized hole on the spot, yet the traitor didn't even frown, instead slashing at Su Xiao from afar.

Pfft—

Amid the spray of fresh blood, Su Xiao was flung into the air by the slash, flying over ten meters before landing, sliding several meters across the ground leaving a large bloodstain, then lying still.

Crack, crack—

Like the ticking of a clock, the sound came; Su Xiao crushed the wooden box beside him with his sword hilt—this was precisely the insurance method he obtained through Caesar.

The wooden box shattered, revealing an old clock; when its hands pointed to zero, five threads emerged, piercing Su Xiao, Xiang Bubu Wang, Am, Bahar, and Holy Song in their hearts, spatial fluctuations erupted, the threads contracted, dragging the five toward the exploding clock—spatial translocation had been activated.

Ding!

A dark blue slash swept across, severing the spatial thread connected to Su Xiao's heart, causing him to freeze instantly in midair, while only Xiang Bubu Wang, Am, Bahar, and Holy Song were forcibly pulled into the spatial vortex; before vanishing, Xiang Bubu Wang's gaze turned to extreme terror, tears welling up against his will.

The spatial vortex vanished; Su Xiao thudded to the ground, his crystal left hand crushing the medicine bottle in his grip, but the Vital Essence liquid had not yet seeped into his skin before being evaporated by the ignited black flames.

Pa! Su Xiao's crystal left hand braced on the ground, blood continuously dripping from his chin as he rose from the earth—not dead, not defeated.

"Blade Dao Knife · Blood..."

Bang!

Su Xiao only had time to place his longsword sideways at his side when the traitor's side kick sent him flying; he had just slammed into the tree wall when several crystal cone arrows fired by the Blade Demon Spirit pierced him, then exploded, turning his chest into a bloody mess.

Su Xiao's vision darkened repeatedly; leaning on the tree wall to stand, his severe injury drastically reduced his perception range; relying on his doubling vision, he located the traitor and launched a fierce assault forward.

Chime—

The longsword swept past Su Xiao's ear; he ducked to avoid it, then thrust his blade through the traitor's chest—but the next second, the traitor kicked straight, striking Su Xiao's chest, sending him flying straight back to slam into the tree wall again.

Wind pressure appeared as the crystal war hammer-wielding Blade Demon Spirit attacked, swinging its water-bucket-sized hammer head, smashing toward Su Xiao's skull.

Crack! The crystal war hammer shattered Su Xiao's skull on impact; immediately after, the Blade Demon Spirit blurred, unable to maintain humanoid form, ultimately returning to the traitor's hand within the Extinction Law Blade.

Su Xiao drew a deep breath, braced to charge forward, when the traitor, over ten meters away, pushed forward with one hand, a dark giant claw appearing and slapping Su Xiao into the tree wall behind him.

When the dark giant claw vanished, Su Xiao collapsed at the base of the tree wall, summoning his last strength to rise—but failed, only able to sit leaning against the tree wall behind him; he tried to lift his right arm gripping the Dragon-Slaying Flash, but it felt as if filled with lead, lifting only a fraction before losing strength and dropping; he switched to lifting his crystal left arm, succeeding in raising it, yet while charging the Blood Smoke Cannon, it felt extremely strained, ultimately his blood qi exploded, shattering half of his crystal left arm.

Su Xiao's vision darkened repeatedly; seeing double, he gazed at the traitor over ten meters away, knowing he had lost this time—he had never fallen in battle against a strong foe before, which was why he had survived until now; but this time, he had lost.

Wielding the Extinction Law Blade, his loose robe somewhat tattered, the traitor walked toward Su Xiao; whether due to Su Xiao's severe injury causing blurred vision, he actually saw the traitor seemingly stagger sideways a few steps, relying on one hand braced on his knee to stand firm.

The traitor vomited a large mouthful of blood with a wail, breathing heavily as he stepped toward Su Xiao, but after just a few steps, he spat another mouthful of blood, his entire body aging severely, skin turning somewhat saggy, only able to use the Extinction Law Blade in his hand as a crutch to inch toward Su Xiao step by step.

After a full half minute, the traitor reached Su Xiao's front; his withered, nearly cold left hand pressed against Su Xiao's face, he raised his trembling right arm, appearing to thrust downward, but after several seconds, he still couldn't deliver the strike—more astonishingly, the traitor's life flame was rapidly extinguishing.

Thud—The traitor collapsed beside Su Xiao, the Extinction Law Blade also falling to the ground; the light in the traitor's eyes quickly dimmed, ultimately both eyes losing all luster, while the large sparks drifting in the battlefield also vanished with his fall.

Before Su Xiao plunged into a pitch-black faint before his eyes, he received a prompt.

【Prompt: You have slain the Abyssal Shadow · Ximan · Archid.】