BANG!
The next moment, Ning Hanyu stomped his feet. His speed was as fast as lightning, charging at Ye Xuan in an instant. No one could catch his movements; they could only hear continuous explosions echoing from Ye Xuan’s body.
The Fire Divine Demon Statue was relentlessly attacked by Ning Hanyu. Obviously, Ning Hanyu had discovered Ye Xuan’s disadvantage. Ye Xuan’s Attack Power and Defense Power were astonishing, but his Body Technique Speed and Attack Speed were far inferior to Ning Hanyu, who was at the 9th Layer of the Frenzy Spirit Realm. In other words, in this state, Ye Xuan could only passively take a beating.
BOOM BOOM BOOM.
The power of the Divine Demon Statue was rapidly waning. Even with the augmentation of the Fire Attribute power, it began to crack.
"A gap in cultivation is a gap after all!"
"Ye Xuan, what are you waiting for? Unleash your Beast Soul Power! Could it be you haven’t awakened your Beast Soul?" Tang Long was extremely anxious, but unfortunately, he couldn’t help Ye Xuan.
"Boy, why aren’t you talking tough anymore? Can’t keep up with my speed? Don’t even have the strength to fight back? Heh, you must be feeling terrible right now. Are your internal organs churning?" Ning Hanyu’s sneering voice rang out.
Ye Xuan remained silent because he truly felt terrible. Having unleashed a top-tier Wild Beast Beast Soul, Ning Hanyu’s Attack Power had been enhanced once again. The Divine-Demonic Body couldn’t completely offset this tremendous force. A trickle of blood gradually seeped from the corner of Ye Xuan’s mouth.
Right at that moment, Ye Xuan closed his eyes, as if giving up resistance. However, the hand holding his Treasure Sword rose slightly. As he raised his sword, the Divine Demon Statue raised its sword in sync.
Just at the exact moment the Divine Demon Statue was about to shatter... Ye Xuan suddenly opened his eyes. Before him was an afterimage formed by Ning Hanyu’s rapid movements.
"One Sword Dance... Astounds the Heavens and Earth!"
The sword in Ye Xuan’s hand moved. An indescribable aura erupted from his body. In the next instant, a peerless sword strike swept forth. An auroral light descended from the heavens.
CRASH.
The Divine-Demonic Overlord Body shattered, reverting into Spiritual Qi and vanishing into the void.
Ye Xuan stood in the clearing. Behind him was Ning Hanyu, who had come to a halt. The two stood back-to-back. Time seemed to freeze in this moment; neither of them moved.
"This... what’s going on? How did the battle end?"
"Ye Xuan must have lost. His Divine Demon Statue shattered completely."
"Did he lose? But I thought I just saw a brilliant light shoot from the horizon, like a soaring immortal from beyond the heavens. In that split second, I even felt my own insignificance and incompetence!"
As the onlookers chattered, Ye Xuan suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Did he really lose?!" The spectators felt a chill in their hearts.
Just then, a muffled THUMP echoed out. Ning Hanyu’s body collapsed to the ground. Upon falling, his head lolled to the side, hanging crookedly off his shoulders as blood continuously gushed out.
"This... what’s going on?!"
"How did he die?!"
This scene stunned everyone present, including Tang Long. Ye Xuan was clearly at a disadvantage, so how did the man from the Ning Family end up dead on the ground? The Ning Family man’s pupils were wide open; it was evident he had died with a lingering grievance.
CLINK.
While the crowd was reeling in shock, the sword in Ye Xuan’s hand shattered into metallic slag.
"I know now, it was a sword! The wound on the middle-aged man’s neck was slashed by Ye Xuan’s sword."
"Could it be that the intense light and coercion from just now were from the Sword Technique he executed?"
"Impossible! What kind of sword strike is that fast and that powerful—so powerful that even the sword itself couldn’t withstand it?"
The crowd found it hard to believe. But in truth, what Ye Xuan had just used were indeed Sword Skills.
The first sword of the Sixteen Sword Poem Techniques: One Sword Dance Astounds the Heavens and Earth.
Ye Xuan had finally comprehended this first sword strike. He hadn’t learned it before because he hadn’t understood what kind of imposing aura ’Astounding the Heavens and Earth’ truly entailed. Was it an unprecedentedly domineering aura, or a fearsome battle intent? But over the past two days, he had attained enlightenment.
To astound the heavens and earth, the important thing wasn’t the aura. Rather, it was the word ’astound.’ What did ’astound’ represent? It meant that it caught everyone completely by surprise. What was the most unexpected thing of all? The answer was simple: the ordinary. The more ordinary something appeared, the more shocking it became.
Ye Xuan’s previous sword strike lacked any flashy tricks or complex sword forms. It was just an ordinary sword strike. But this strike was fast, accurate, and ruthless.
Like a solitary sword strike sweeping in from the horizon—that was its speed. Like an Immortal brandishing a sword for execution—that was its Dao state. Ordinary, rapid, yet containing a profound Dao state. How could this not leave people astounded?
This was the true meaning of the One Sword Dance Astounds the Heavens and Earth.
His ancestor hadn’t lied to him. The power of this Sword Technique was even above the Divine-Demonic Overlord Body. He wondered just how heaven-defying it would be to learn the complete sixteen swords. Naturally, Ye Xuan didn’t know that his ancestor hadn’t managed to learn the complete sixteen swords either. In fact, he had only learned eight.
"Ye Xuan, did you just execute Sword Skills?" Tang Long suddenly appeared before Ye Xuan, cradling the peacefully sleeping Xin’Er in his arms. Xin’Er was indeed far too exhausted. After sleeping deeply for an entire night, she still hadn’t awakened.
Ye Xuan nodded. "That’s right, Sword Skills. He thought his speed was fast, but unfortunately, it wasn’t faster than my sword."
As Ye Xuan spoke, he removed the Qiankun Bag hanging from the middle-aged man’s waist. This middle-aged man had a cultivation at the 9th Layer of the Frenzy Spirit Realm after all, and his status in the Ning Family wasn’t low either. There should be some good things in his Qiankun Bag.
"Ye Xuan, you truly amaze me. Just what grade of Martial Techniques are you learning? The only reason you can kill someone so many layers above you is entirely relying on the might of your Martial Techniques. Could it be... the legendary Divine Secret Techniques?" Tang Long spoke again.
Since Ye Xuan had killed the middle-aged man, others might think his foundational strength was naturally astonishing. They might assume he secretly possessed a cultivation at the 7th Layer or even the 8th Layer of the Frenzy Spirit Realm. But Tang Long knew better than anyone else that Ye Xuan’s actual strength was only at the 4th Layer of the Frenzy Spirit Realm.
Hearing this, Ye Xuan didn’t say a word, only shooting Tang Long a meaningful glance. Tang Long immediately shut his mouth. He knew that from now on, he could never ask about this matter again. Otherwise, it would bring about fatal disaster. How could Divine Secret Techniques be casually spread to outsiders?
Turning around, Tang Long leaped back onto the town wall. Ye Xuan watched Tang Long leave without making a move. He turned around and incinerated the corpse with a burst of fire. Following that, he closed his eyes and began to inwardly digest and summarize the battle.
This fight gave Ye Xuan a much deeper understanding of his own strength. He was at the 4th Layer of the Frenzy Spirit Realm. Because the Dragon Blood had remodeled his body and he cultivated the Heaven-Defying Battle Intent Technique, he could inherently fight opponents two layers higher than him. After unleashing the Divine-Demonic Overlord Body, he could even fight opponents four layers above him.
Coupled with his Fire Attribute Spiritual Qi and the Sixteen Sword Poem Techniques, within the entire Frenzy Spirit Realm, even if he wasn’t invincible, there were probably very few who could match him.
Then, if he utilized his Dragon Soul Power, and under its augmentation, unleashed the Fire Divine-Demonic Overlord Body or the Sixteen Swords of Fire Poem... could he kill a Super Spirit Realm expert? According to Ye Xuan’s estimation, it should be possible.
However, how could battles rely purely on estimation? If he estimated incorrectly, wouldn’t it result in a dead end? Not to mention, he had absolutely no idea what layer of the Super Spirit Realm the top experts of the Ning Family were at.
Therefore, Ye Xuan’s true trump card for contending against the Ning Family wasn’t his Dragon Soul Power at all, but rather *that* thing. As long as he obtained that thing again, why should he fear the Ning Family? That thing was Ye Xuan’s true reliance.
That thing was called... Dragon Blood!