Chapter 156: Shock and Awe

Chapter 156: Chapter 156: Shock and Awe

The two halves of the hemp-clothed man’s corpse fell with a thud, and a brief silence instantly descended upon the scene.

Everyone’s jaw dropped as they stared in astonishment, their gazes shifting between Yi Xiaoyao and the hemp-clothed man’s body lying in a pool of its own blood.

After all, this hemp-clothed man was at the Golden Core Eighth Layer. Even the Overlord Sword Xiang Mo had only managed to repel him with a single strike just moments ago.

But now, he had been sliced in two by a single sword strike from some unremarkable Golden Core Third Realm cultivator, without even a chance to retaliate?

"With that level of Cultivation, for someone to do that... could he be... Yi Xiaoyao!?"

"Yi Xiaoyao? You mean the guy who set an unprecedented, legendary record? The one who killed a Golden Core Eighth Layer expert in one move while at the Golden Core First Realm, and then slaughtered nine Golden Core Ninth Realm experts in one move at the Golden Core Second Realm?"

"That’s right! They say Yi Xiaoyao’s weapon is a blood-red longsword. It has to be him!"

"My god, Yi Xiaoyao is ranked thirtieth on the Hidden Dragon List!"

"Looks like Lv Mu just got onto the Hidden Dragon List only to immediately pick a fight with the wrong person!"

"There’s a good show to watch now."

Just moments ago, they had been planning to seize the spot where Yi Xiaoyao was, but Lv Mu had beaten them to it, which had left many of them feeling regretful.

But now, after guessing Yi Xiaoyao’s identity, they were all incredibly relieved. It was a good thing Lv Mu had set off that landmine for them; otherwise, they would have met the same fate as the hemp-clothed man.

Everyone turned to look at Lv Mu. Although his performance just now had been astonishing—defeating and replacing Xiang Mo who was ranked 89th on the Hidden Dragon List—Yi Xiaoyao was ranked 30th!

Anyone could understand just how vast the gap between them was.

As for Lv Mu, seeing the hemp-clothed man killed had first sent him into a rage. But when he heard the crowd reveal Yi Xiaoyao’s identity, his face went pale with shock. Now, his expression was ashen, and he had broken out in a cold sweat.

No matter how arrogant he was, he would never have considered himself a match for someone ranked 30th on the Hidden Dragon List.

GULP. Lv Mu’s cheeks twitched as he stared nervously at Yi Xiaoyao.

Meanwhile, even though Yi Xiaoyao had killed the hemp-clothed man, he couldn’t suppress the rage in his heart.

Just moments ago, he had been on the verge of pinpointing the disturbance his Sword God Bloodline had sensed, only to be interrupted by this man. How could he not be furious?

Moreover, Yi Xiaoyao had heard the hemp-clothed man say that his young master wanted this spot and had told him to scram.

"This man... whose subordinate was he?"

Yi Xiaoyao’s icy voice drifted into everyone’s ears.

The crowd’s expressions shifted slightly. They could sense the fury and Killing Intent radiating from Yi Xiaoyao, and their gazes toward Lv Mu were suddenly filled with pity.

It was normal to become a bit arrogant and act domineeringly after getting on the Hidden Dragon List.

But of all the people to be arrogant towards, he had to pick someone he couldn’t afford to offend.

’Now he’s done for. He hasn’t even been on the Hidden Dragon List for more than a moment, and now his life is on the line, isn’t it?’

Beads of cold sweat dripped from Lv Mu’s forehead, his face twitching uncontrollably. "Th-this man," he stammered, "he’s my subordinate..."

Yi Xiaoyao’s gaze swept over to him, and the bone-chilling coldness in it made Lv Mu feel as if he had been plunged into an ice cellar.

Not long ago, he had heard that among the nine Golden Core Ninth Realm experts Yi Xiaoyao had slaughtered with his Golden Core Second Realm Cultivation, three had been on the Hidden Dragon List, with the highest-ranked among them being 77th!

And he, Lv Mu, was only ranked 89th! How could he possibly dare to meet the gaze of such a ruthless figure?

Seeing Yi Xiaoyao walk toward him, Lv Mu’s legs suddenly went weak.

THUD!

"Lord Yi! I was blind! I offended you by mistake, I beg you to spare me!"

Lv Mu kowtowed repeatedly to Yi Xiaoyao, slamming his head on the ground. He knew that if he didn’t beg for mercy now, his life would be forfeit.

The onlookers were amused by this scene. They remembered how arrogant Lv Mu had been just moments before, yet now, he was like a dog.

But to Lv Mu, things like dignity and pride were worthless in the face of death. He would cast them all aside just to save his own skin.

Yi Xiaoyao was rather surprised by this. ’I never thought my reputation was this intimidating,’ he thought. ’I didn’t expect him to be so afraid of me.’

’But on second thought, it makes sense. With the records I’ve set and the Killing Intent I’m emitting, why wouldn’t they be afraid? Who doesn’t want to live?’

Yi Xiaoyao slowly walked up to Lv Mu, furrowed his brow, and barked, "Scram!"

Lv Mu reacted as if granted amnesty, scrambling away from Yi Xiaoyao.

It wasn’t that Yi Xiaoyao didn’t want to kill him, but it was inconvenient to do so. His fearsome battle records had all been achieved using the Soul Burning Forbidden Technique.

If Lv Mu saw Yi Xiaoyao make a move and decided to fight to the death, it would be troublesome for Yi Xiaoyao to handle.

Therefore, telling him to scram was the best choice.

After calming his anger, Yi Xiaoyao sat down in the spot Lv Mu had just occupied.

It was a good spot, one of the areas closest to the Stone Sword Stele, where the sword aura was even denser.

Although the hemp-clothed man had interrupted his attempt to sense the disturbance in his Sword God Bloodline, it would surely be easier to sense it again from here.

As Yi Xiaoyao closed his eyes to sense it once more, the people around him sighed in admiration. In the end, only true strength could command such reverence.

Take Yi Xiaoyao, for example. Ranked 30th on the Hidden Dragon List, he uttered a single word, "Scram!", and the weak dared not disobey.

Furthermore, although many people wanted to go and experience the spot Yi Xiaoyao had previously occupied, no one dared to. They could only watch as that spot remained empty.

Meanwhile, the other experts from the Hidden Dragon List on either side of Yi Xiaoyao were watching him with extreme apprehension.

They were all keenly aware that this cold-faced youth was no ordinary Golden Core Third Realm cultivator; he was more terrifying than even someone at the Golden Core Ninth Realm.

Among them, a young woman was also paying attention to Yi Xiaoyao. She was none other than Ye Qingqing, ranked 20th. Her rank was even higher than Yi Xiaoyao’s, and she was widely acknowledged as the strongest expert to have come to the Washing Sword Sect this time.

At this moment, Ye Qingqing’s beautiful eyes shone with a peculiar light as she watched Yi Xiaoyao. She had been quite interested when she first heard his name, and as his rank on the list skyrocketed, her curiosity had only grown.

’I never expected to meet him today. This legendary figure everyone talks about is so young... and rather handsome, too.’

However, in Ye Qingqing’s eyes, there was still a significant gap between Yi Xiaoyao’s 30th rank and her own 20th.

Yi Xiaoyao was unaware that he had become the center of everyone’s attention. At this moment, he had once again felt a trace of the source of the disturbance in his Sword God Bloodline.

As his perception deepened, he was startled to discover that there seemed to be some kind of living entity within the massive Stone Sword Stele!

And this thing possessed an incredibly evil aura.

Over the next few days, everyone continued to seek enlightenment from the Stone Sword Stele, while Yi Xiaoyao focused on sensing the connection between that evil aura and his Sword God Bloodline.

On the fifth day, Yi Xiaoyao’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and he walked straight toward the Stone Sword Stele.

He bit his index finger, squeezed a drop of blood into his palm, and abruptly pressed it against the Stone Sword Stele.

In an instant, the evil aura within the Stone Sword Stele surged frantically toward Yi Xiaoyao’s palm, as if it had discovered a delectable meal.

Moreover, this evil aura seemed to want to charge into Yi Xiaoyao’s body, its greed for his Sword God Bloodline palpable.

Yi Xiaoyao’s expression changed. The moment the evil aura touched his palm, he finally knew what it was. It was an existence similar to a soul!

’If it’s a soul, then this will be easy.’

Muttering this to himself, Yi Xiaoyao broke into a grin.

「The next moment.」

"Soul-Devouring Forbidden Technique!"

Instantly, an earth-shattering, blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the entire mountain range of the Washing Sword Sect!

...