Chapter 180: This isn't funny!

Fresh blood stained a stretch of field path red, and the bloody water mixed with entrails flowed into the rice field ditch.

A pink severed hand clutching a butterfly, its wings already broken, the palm-leaf fan remained still after a few flicks.

All the people laboring in the rice fields turned their heads to look.

The two martial arts masters engaged in the duel also lowered their masterly postures and looked over in surprise.

Time seemed to have stood still!

Immediately, a middle-aged couple from the left rice field stumbled over, panickedly trying to piece together the little girl's remains, but they simply couldn't, so they gave up and burst into helpless, desperate sobs.

Heng Xian's outstretched hand trembled slightly, his face filled with bewilderment.

What... am I doing?

Just to get a drink of water, I ended up killing a little girl?!

He raised his head to look at the sky.

Hou Zhenfang and his three companions had already arrived; they gazed at the little girl's remains, a flicker of astonishment crossing their faces before vanishing instantly.

Dao Ba waved his hand, and the small sword beside the little girl's corpse flew into his grasp.

Although he wielded a blade, he had secretly kept a spiritual-tool small sword capable of taking a head from ten li away; having just seen Heng Xian fall to the ground as if to fetch water, he threw the small sword in a sneak attack, but being too far off and lacking spiritual sense in the Qi Hai Realm, some deviation was inevitable.

"Still trying to run? Where could you possibly escape to?" Hou Zhenfang looked down coldly.

Heng Xian's face turned pale, his voice low: "You want to kill me; what crime did a commoner's little girl commit?"

The female disciple of the Overlord Sect snorted coldly: "Just an ant, ignorant of the profound truths of heaven and earth, unaware of the great Way of human relations, rushing through a few decades of life, merely suffering in the mortal world—better to die early and be freed!"

Hou Zhenfang also said: "The common people number in the hundreds of millions; killing them is no big deal—what harm could it do? The fourteen great sects shield them from disaster and hardship; an occasional slip, killing them, is actually their blessing!"

Heng Xian's face calmed, his tone devoid of any warmth: "Is this the doctrine of your great sect?"

"This is our own doctrine!" Dao Ba looked at the little girl's parents below and asked, "Do you harbor any hatred in your hearts?"

The little girl's parents trembled violently, clutching her remains as they stepped back bit by bit, shaking their heads desperately: "No! Not at all—please, immortal, spare us!"

"You saw that!" Dao Ba laughed out loud.

"Vast Waves—"

Heng Xian's meteoric copper sword flew from its sheath, leaping into the air with its tip pointing at the four: "All are born equal; you are merely cultivators, not yet immortals, with no exception—her life is also a life!"

"This is the funniest joke I've heard all year—one cultivator out of ten thousand; we've struggled to shed our mortal identities, cultivated these divine powers, only to be told we must be equal to them? You've lost your mind!" Hou Zhenfang threw his head back and laughed.

"Not funny at all! Today I'll take your life as a sacrifice for hers!"

Heng Xian's aura rose, climbing all the way to the sixth layer of the Qi Hai Realm, borrowing the sword's momentum while the sword borrowed his strength, he charged at the four.

Wherever he passed, sword qi howled and the air twisted.

"Good, you've come!"

Hou Zhenfang and his three companions laughed loudly, instantly raising their auras to the peak as they attacked Heng Xian from four directions.

"Hum—"

The whole sky roared with furious wind, spiritual energy surged back and forth.

Five figures, wrapped in immensely powerful energy waves, slammed together violently.

"Bang!"

The sky exploded violently, violent streams of spiritual energy ravaged the area, and the rice field soil below sprayed everywhere, a scene of utter chaos.

The little girl's parents and the gathered farmers had already dragged her corpse far away.

Heng Xian seemed unable to withstand a single blow, flipping over and flying backward.

Hou Zhenfang and his three companions' eyes lit up; they seized the moment to rush forward, poised to behead him.

Yet at that very instant, the backward-flying Heng Xian's aura surged again, reaching the seventh layer of the Qi Hai Realm; he twisted his body, spun rapidly like a mass of sword qi, his form indiscernible, and lunged once more.

The four were stunned, then swung their spiritual tools downward.

"Clang clang—"

Yet upon this contact, several of them suddenly realized that Heng Xian's sword was no longer the weak blade from before; it had become crafty and strange, hard and sharp, instantly disrupting the four's coordinated rhythm!

Moreover, with each collision, each person had to endure at least ten sword strikes, leaving their arms numb and thoroughly unpleasant.

Hou Zhenfang fumed: "This must be some kind of sword-body talent of his; he can't be fought in close quarters—we need to keep our distance and break him……"

Too late!

At this moment, Heng Xian suddenly shoved the few aside, revealed his form, flashed to the female disciple's side, allowed her sword to pierce his shoulder, brushed past her, and his sword tip sliced her neck.

"Pfft—"

That female disciple, having never seen such a fighting style in her cultivation, had her right sword tip still stained with Heng Xian's blood, yet her own neck was already severed, blood spraying as she stood stunned.

Yet this was not all,

Heng Xian seized the momentum, flashed like a soaring goshawk, appeared between Dao Ba and Hou Zhenfang, and lashed out with a claw toward the opposite Overlord Sect male disciple.

"Tsk—"

The claw mark transformed into a giant eagle, flashed to the side of that Overlord Sect male disciple, and seized him with its talons.

"Spirit Eagle Heavenly Claw!"

"Pfft—"

That male disciple never expected Heng Xian to dash between Dao Ba and Hou Zhenfang and then attack him; he didn't dodge at all, his protective spiritual energy shattered instantly, and half his body was torn into a bloody mess by the grasp.

"You……"

Hou Zhenfang and Dao Ba flew into a rage, slashing with sword and blade at Heng Xian.

Heng Xian couldn't dodge, nor did he intend to; he took a blade and a sword head-on, blood spraying, the cuts deep to the bone, then seized the chance to create distance, turned to face the four, body upright, right hand gripping his sword.

Blood dripped down—his own and others'!

"Cough cough…" The female disciple had already discarded her spiritual tool, clutching her neck with both hands, eyes wide, blood flowing ever more, her whole body soaked, she desperately coughed and gasped: "Save… save…"

The male disciple, half his body collapsed, half-kneeled on his sword, screamed in agony.

Hou Zhenfang stared wide-eyed, looked at the two fellow disciples, then turned to Heng Xian: "You're crazy!! You dog scum! What kind of hellish desperate fighting style is this?!"

"A killing style!"

Heng Xian tightened his grip on the blood-stained meteoric iron sword, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"Save..." At that moment, the female disciple uttered her last word, her eyes turned gray, and she fell face up.

A Qi Hai Realm cultivator who hasn't formed a Golden Core lacks the Golden Core to provide bodily functions; if the neck is broken, they're dead, plain and simple.

"Junior sister!" Hou Zhenfang roared with red eyes, making a move to catch her, but wary of Heng Xian's sneak attack, he simply shouted angrily and charged at Heng Xian, "Go die!"

The aura of the Qi Hai Realm Ninth Level rose to its peak, and the spiritual sword in his hand waved, filling the sky with sword shadows.

Dao Ba immediately attacked from the other side with a heavy blade, like a death scythe, chopping down from above; his aura was terrifying.

Heng Xian carefully observed their attack methods, leapt and rose higher again, and the aura of the Qi Hai Realm Eighth Level surged skyward.

"Qi Hai Realm Eighth Level?!"

"He broke through, and he even broke through two levels in succession?"

Hou Zhenfang and Dao Ba's pupils contracted slightly.

"Nine Radiance Geng Killing Form!"

Heng Xian exerted all his strength to unleash eight swords; the last sword flew out together with the meteoric iron sword.

"Hum—"

Nine sword shadows howled and surged forward with a mighty aura, straight toward Hou Zhenfang and Dao Ba.

"Boom—"

Dao Ba's blade shadow couldn't withstand a single strike; upon contact it shattered, spiritual power recoiled back, and he involuntarily flew backward face up, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.

The nine swords did not dissipate, straight toward Hou Zhenfang's sky-filling sword shadows.

"Boom..."

The sky-filling sword shadows barely lasted a breath before likewise shattering with a boom.

"Hmm—"

The powerful force recoiled, causing Hou Zhenfang to stagger backward involuntarily, and he let out a pained groan.

The nine swords had faded considerably, but they had not dispersed, and once again stabbed toward Hou Zhenfang.

Hou Zhenfang's face turned pale with fright, and he mustered all his strength to unleash a sword strike.

"Clang!"

Only then did the nine swords dissipate!

However, Hou Zhenfang was again blown back, spitting out a mouthful of old blood, flying backward dozens of meters before barely managing to land on his spiritual sword, clutching his chest, looking disheveled.

Heng Xian sheathed his spiritual sword, stepped back two paces, and looked at the two.

Dao Ba stood on his flying daggers, wobbling, his face waxen pale, looking at Heng Xian then at Hou Zhenfang, panic-stricken: 'Hou senior brother, we can't win!'

(End of chapter)