Chapter 110 - 55: 30 Seconds of Deadly Combat

Chapter 110: Chapter 55: 30 Seconds of Deadly Combat

The thirty-second time limit for the deathmatch weighed on Jiang Xuan’s Heart like a mountain.

But this do-or-die resolve instead caused the killing intent in his chest to erupt like a dormant volcano, surging wildly and growing ever more intense.

HUM—!

The biting killing intent swept out, causing the surrounding air to grow stagnant and oppressive. As his opponent, Su Xingying naturally felt this murderous aura the most keenly.

Previously, she had relied on the essence of Venus to almost completely block out Jiang Xuan’s wintry aura.

But this time, as Jiang Xuan, who was burning away everything he had, apathetically uttered those words: "Su Xingying, I’m going to kill you!"

The killing intent, like an unstoppable avalanche, brutally tore through her mental defenses.

HUFF...

At that moment, she had the illusion of being dragged into a boundless, frosty abyss.

She felt the sky turn dim and cramped. Suddenly, Heaven and Earth fell silent. It was as if everything around her was receding into the distance, or as if she had sunk into a dark, boundless Ice Lake.

Besides the oppression, Su Xingying also felt a cold—an extreme chill that caused her Magical Power to stagnate for an instant.

BOOM!

And just as her aura faltered under his killing intent, Jiang Xuan found an opening. His figure shot forward like a meteor, charging straight toward Su Xingying!

?!

’So fast!’

Jiang Xuan’s sudden burst of speed startled Su Xingying. This speed was on a completely different Level from the Jiang Xuan she had fought before.

And soon, she discovered that it wasn’t just his speed that had surged!

CLANG!

Facing Jiang Xuan’s attack, Su Xingying still managed to react at the last moment—she was no weakling, after all, nor was she some useless cultivator built up only by resources.

She had practiced her Swordsmanship diligently for years and had endured much tempering as she grew.

This was what allowed her to break free from the suppression of Jiang Xuan’s killing intent at the final moment, raising her longsword to clash violently with his Cyan Glaze.

CLANG!

The clash of sword light and starlight shattered the dead silence of the Ancient Battlefield.

However, after that one strike, Su Xingying’s expression changed drastically once again.

The immense force transmitted through her sword made her realize with horror that Jiang Xuan’s strength had also surged severalfold.

One combatant was on a life-burning rampage, his aura overwhelming. The other’s Heart Spirit was shaken, her aura stagnant. As one’s power waxed and the other’s waned, the tide of battle was completely reversed.

This time, Su Xingying was forced back step after step.

However, her body, having been tempered by a Star Stone and countless Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, was indeed powerful, and this strength manifested in every aspect. After this clash, Su Xingying only retreated a few steps and wasn’t seriously injured.

But while her Flesh Body was unharmed, her Heart Spirit was in turmoil. This state—being flooded with distracting thoughts and having a troubled Heart Spirit—was a result of her Heart Soul being suppressed. She was panicking, growing more and more flustered.

’How can this be?! Why is he so much stronger... Could it be that he was holding back and toying with me this whole time?’

This thought appeared in Su Xingying’s Sea of Consciousness for only an instant before she dismissed it.

She saw that while she was unharmed from that exchange, blood was trickling from Jiang Xuan’s seven orifices.

Moreover, his blood vessels were bulging all over his body; he clearly didn’t look normal.

And this made Su Xingying realize what was happening.

’So, his sudden increase in strength isn’t because he was hiding it, but because he used an ability similar to the Heavenly Demon Dissolving Technique?’

This thought, too, only flashed through Su Xingying’s mind for a moment. After that, she could no longer spare any attention for anything else.

CLANG!

After knocking Su Xingying back with one blow, Jiang Xuan ignored the excruciating pain and his injuries, pouncing forward once more like a maddened Demon!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!...

The battle abruptly reached a fever pitch.

In just a few breaths, the two had already exchanged dozens of blows. Afterimages filled the Illusion Realm, and the clang of metal rang out incessantly.

Throughout the duel, Jiang Xuan, fighting like a crazed Demon, relentlessly suppressed Su Xingying the entire time.

However, the results of the battle were very unfavorable for Jiang Xuan.

After dozens of head-on clashes, Su Xingying’s aura was merely in disarray and her clothes were stained with dust.

Jiang Xuan, on the other hand, had bloodstains covering his seven orifices and skin, and his blood vessels were rupturing one after another.

And those were just the external injuries. His Heart and lungs were already roaring like war drums, BOOM, BOOM. At this moment, his heart rate had long surpassed five hundred beats per minute.

It was only because Jiang Xuan had already opened all nine acupoints around his Heart, with Magical Power protecting his heart’s meridians, that he hadn’t already died on the spot from his heart’s meridians rupturing.

Though, at this rate, it wouldn’t be long now.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Although his furiously beating Heart was at risk of exploding at any moment, running at full capacity also provided Jiang Xuan with unparalleled strength.

"Kill!"

Ignoring the sharp pain in his Heart, ignoring the blood vessels in his body that kept bursting under the pressure.

At this moment, Jiang Xuan had only one thought.

Kill Su Xingying!

Cut her down completely before he himself perished!

BOOM!

His crazed, death-defying will caused Jiang Xuan’s killing intent to climb once more. After merging with the Frosty Winter Cold Qi, this Frosty Winter Cold pressed down on Su Xingying like a collapsing snow mountain.

HUMMM—!

The avalanche-like pressure that suddenly descended upon her froze Su Xingying’s blood and qi. A glacial cold filled her body, and even her heartbeat slowed.

At the same time, trapped within this Ice and Snow Land, she felt danger lurking everywhere, as if she could die at any moment.

This extreme sense of danger also caused her danger-perceiving Magic to fail. Because danger was everywhere, she was paradoxically unable to determine where Jiang Xuan’s attack would come from.

At this moment, she could only rely on her naked eyes to track the sword in Jiang Xuan’s hands.

However, Jiang Xuan, burning away everything he had, was too fast, his attacks too ferocious. Moreover, he was wreathed in wind and snow, making it utterly impossible for Su Xingying to see the path of his blade.

SCHLICK...

And so, in the seventh breath of the battle, Su Xingying’s defense finally broke.

Jiang Xuan’s longsword bypassed her defenses and carved a long gash across her body. This had been an all-out attack from Jiang Xuan, but unfortunately, her starlight protection was too strong. His sword only managed to injure her, not kill her.

However, after this strike, the situation had completely turned in Jiang Xuan’s favor.

The wound wasn’t fatal, but the Frosty Winter Cold Qi clinging to the blade further sealed her Magical Power circulation.

More fatally, her Heart Spirit was already stretched taut, and after being wounded, she completely lost her composure.

’I couldn’t block that. Will I be able to block the next one?’

The moment such a thought arose in Su Xingying’s mind, it signified her hesitation.

Sword Cultivators valued intent above all else; once hesitation took root in her Heart, her mental defenses crumbled further. Jiang Xuan’s Frosty Winter Cold now completely enveloped her, causing her limbs to grow stiff.

In this state, the sword in her hand slowed by another thirty percent.

And in a duel between Swordsmen, being a fraction of a second too slow meant being at a disadvantage. A thirty percent difference was the gap between life and death.

SCHLICK! SCHLICK! SCHLICK!...

With her Sword Techniques now slow and somewhat chaotic, Jiang Xuan immediately seized the opening and landed seven consecutive strikes.

With the final strike, Jiang Xuan slashed directly at her neck, slicing halfway through her beautiful, fair throat.

SCHLICK...

With that, her Vitality was severed, and she died completely.

Not long after she fell, Jiang Xuan also came to a stop.

Hhhh... hhhh...

However, Jiang Xuan was in a miserable state himself. Countless blood vessels had burst all over his body, and his Heart and lungs felt as if he had swallowed burning coals. Every breath was accompanied by a tearing agony, making even gasping an arduous task.

In the end, he only lasted three more breaths than Su Xingying before collapsing to the ground.

The cause of his death was heart and lung failure.

Fortunately, this was an Illusion Realm. Not long after dying, his figure re-formed.

"Haaah..." Exhaling a long breath, Jiang Xuan murmured to himself, "So this is death. It’s awful... But I died too quickly, so I didn’t gain much insight. As expected, if you want to comprehend death, it’s best to die slowly."

Because he had gone into the fight with the intention of dying, the revived Jiang Xuan only felt the exhilarating release of having burned everything away, with little to no psychological trauma.

But it was a different story for Su Xingying on the other side. She had been completely stunned by the all-out assault from Jiang Xuan.

"I... I lost again?!"