Chapter 728: Clash of Death and Ice (2/5, Autumn Subscription)

Clenching his fists, Captain Wu finally looked up, gazing deeply at Niu Zuo, his eyes filled with boundless rage.

Originally, it was Niu Zuo who struck down all the survivors of Mo Cun and forcibly took away An Dong'er!

This grudge, he deeply engraved in his heart!

Unfortunately, right now, he still lacked sufficient strength to kill Niu Zuo, and could only place his hopes on Fang Yue.

"Too weak… I am now! I don't even have the ability to assist from the sidelines!"

Captain Wu bit his teeth inwardly, suppressed his emotions, and followed Dou Hongyi, quickly leading a group away, leaving only Yang Diandian of Lan Shan to oversee the situation.

These actions were naturally all observed by Niu Zuo.

Frowning slightly, a portion of the men below already chased after the direction where Dou Hongyi and others had departed.

But the next instant, like supercooled water at freezing point that has not yet frozen, triggered by a nucleation core.

The moment those men's feet touched the ground again, their feet froze into ice at visible speed, spreading upward from soles to thighs.

Even before they could react, their bodies continued moving forward by inertia—upper and lower halves instantly severed, like torn rotting flesh, upper bodies lunging ahead while lower bodies remained frozen to the ground.

The severed upper torsos rolled onto the ground, dragging trails of blood, writhing and screaming, then fell silent within moments.

This phenomenon occurred nearly simultaneously.

To others, it was but a blink—those swift-moving martial artists split into upper and lower halves, becoming severed corpses.

This sight was horrifying, as if a sinister force had struck!

The others on the scene instantly widened their eyes, drawing sharp breaths.

"Ssshh—"

"Is this Night Lord's true strength?!"

"In a blink, he wiped out so many strong experts!"

This is the power of Martial Techniques above the Human Level—when force erupts, it produces terrifying effects akin to 【Guizu】!

The remaining members of the Phoenix Organization narrowed their pupils, momentarily frozen in place, too awed to move.

Their design against 【Nuomian Gui】 involved a specialized containment vessel—not true strength to suppress it.

They couldn't compare at all to experts like Fang Yue.

Recovery could only be attempted once 【Nuomian Gui】 was suppressed down to its core.

According to the original plan, these people were to recover all other cores of 【Nuomian Gui】, leaving only the main body for Lord Niu Zuo to personally eliminate the living core, then transfer it into the containment vessel's core to complete formal recovery.

Now, 【Nuomian Gui】 has been shattered by Fang Yue to the point it hasn't even reformed its main body—recovery is effortless.

But now…

They stared at Fang Yue in terror, too afraid to move.

As they froze, tiny hands slowly emerged from a new core near Fang Yue's position, coalescing into a brain-like shape rising from the ground.

Then, like 3D printing modeling, the tiny hands bloomed like ten thousand flowers, assembling Fang Yue's outward form.

But as soon as this form had just crafted Fang Yue's upper body, a sword's cry rang out from the city wall.

A white blade glow, crescent-shaped, slashed down from high above at blinding speed.

Boom! The newly formed form of 【Nuomian Gui】 was instantly split in two by the white blade light!

Logically, such a strike meant nothing to 【Nuomian Gui】—it could regenerate the wound in moments by wriggling its tiny hands.

But now, the 【Nuomian Gui】 split by the sword qi, its countless tiny hands withered like dead plants—their once-plump skin wrinkled, blood circulation slowed, turning into hands like those of the dead.

Every single tiny hand aged in this way, visibly decaying, then… died!

All tiny hands withered and died, shriveled and rotting on the ground, becoming piles of dry bones.

【Nuomian Gui】's main body thus began shifting again.

Clearly, whether struck by Fang Yue or Niu Zuo, 【Nuomian Gui】 could not withstand either!

Looking at the remains of 【Nuomian Gui】 before him, Fang Yue's pupils narrowed slightly.

On 【Nuomian Gui】's corpse, Fang Yue sensed potent 【Guizu】 energy—directly tied to lifespan!

As if that sword strike, once released, could directly steal another's lifespan!

Fang Yue checked his stats—right now, his lifespan was…

"Lifespan: 46 years, 2 months."

Whether by normal standards or as cultivation reserves, this amount of lifespan was extremely substantial.

He just didn't know how powerful Niu Zuo's sword strike truly was.

Looking up at Niu Zuo on the city wall, Fang Yue's pupils instantly contracted.

Niu Zuo stood on the wall like a gecko, feet planted firmly—sensing Fang Yue's gaze, he gave a cold smile, bending his knees slightly.

Boom!!

The upper section of the entire wall shattered violently, revealing a spiderweb of cracks.

And Niu Zuo himself shot toward Fang Yue like a cannonball!

Releasing sword qi doesn't mean the qi's form represents the technique's maximum power!

If internal force clings to the blade and leaves it, unless it's a special internal flow or unique sword technique,

then the sword qi's power begins plummeting the moment it leaves the blade!

Thus, the strike that killed 【Nuomian Gui】 was not yet the peak!

Close-range combat is the true peak of Niu Zuo's sword art!

This truth, Fang Yue already felt—the terrifying pressure crashing down like a mountain.

Wind howled past his ears.

Just moments ago, Niu Zuo was a tiny black dot—he now stood before Fang Yue in a blink.

"Frozen Heart Method!!"

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The extreme cold of Frozen surged backward, compressing violently.

The frost around Fang Yue retracted swiftly.

The outward force compressed inward, converging within a ten-meter radius around him!

That force of Frozen seemed capable of instantly freezing even the moisture in the surrounding air!

Only Night Rain, as if ignoring all else, fell upon Fang Yue.

As if sensing something, the black ring above suddenly expanded at that moment.

It expanded to a ten-meter radius, enveloping Fang Yue's head.

Drip! Drip!

As the black ring expanded, Night Rain accelerated sharply.

At that moment, time itself seemed to slow.

Amid the dense Night Rain, Lord Ox's sword pierced through the falling droplets; each droplet split in two, sliding down the blade's edge.

More droplets struck Lord Ox's body, deflected aside, splashing into spray and scattering into countless tiny beads of water.

(End of Chapter)