Chapter 1822: You Dare Show Off Before Me?

"I’ve got to find a way to get out of this!"

Yun Xiao’s mind turned quickly. He might have sounded relaxed, but he had never actually planned to go three hundred rounds with a Hua Xuan Realm Peak expert. That was way beyond what he could bear.

Even with the power of Golden Snake Worm Xiao Wu, at most Yun Xiao could reach about the level of Hua Xuan Realm Early Stage, and between him and An Sou, there was still a gap of two or three whole Realms.

That was a small Realm gap within the Holy Vein Three Realms. Yun Xiao had once reached that level himself; he knew that even with all his trump cards, there was no way he could make up for such a huge difference.

Besides, this was in front of a crowd. Those onlookers all had their own agendas, and none of them were Yun Xiao’s friends. Once he fell into an extreme period of weakness, there would definitely be people eager to kick him while he was down.

These bastards had been guarding outside Yingrong Lake for so long without leaving, all just to get a piece of the pie. The Treasure inside Murong’s Tomb had very likely fallen into Yun Xiao’s hands—how could they possibly give up so easily?

Right now Yun Xiao was incredibly overbearing, and with An Sou present, no one dared to act rashly. But if Yun Xiao relied on Little Five’s power and, by sheer luck, defeated An Sou, only to then fall into a weak period, the situation would become unpredictable.

So unless it was the final, desperate moment, Yun Xiao would never use Little Five’s power. That was already his ultimate trump card. Once he used it, there would be no way to turn things around—only an Undying end.

"Brat, I advise you not to even think about running. In my hands, you’re not getting away!"

Seeing Yun Xiao seemingly trying to find himself a way out, a smile appeared on An Sou’s old, gloomy face. He greatly enjoyed this cat-and-mouse state. In his eyes, that coarse-clothed youth was just a little mouse in its death throes, there for his amusement.

"If you surrender obediently, maybe this old man will let you suffer a little less in the flesh."

To keep this brat from killing himself once he realized he wasn’t a match, An Sou spoke in a low, heavy voice laced with undisguised threat. Sometimes, endless pain was a hundred times more terrifying than death.

An Sou had never planned to kill Yun Xiao outright. This brat had humiliated Lady Xue Qi so badly, and even caused Lady Qinwan’s phantom to suffer a defeat on Tenglong Continent—there was no way he could be allowed to die so easily.

An Sou believed that if he could capture this brat alive and drag him back to Emperor Canglong Palace, then his crime of failing to protect Xue Qi this time could probably be offset by merit. That was his entire plan.

"Heh, since you don’t plan on killing me, that does give me a bit of a chance."

Yun Xiao’s gaze swept around and finally locked onto Yingrong Lake behind him. He chuckled inwardly; he had already chosen his path of escape.

After all, Yun Xiao still had some self-awareness. Even with his Thunder Wings giving him terrifying speed, there was no way he could outrun a Hua Xuan Realm Peak expert.

So no matter which direction he tried to flee, An Sou would catch up very quickly. Only that mysterious Yingrong Lake—or rather, something at the bottom of the lake—might be Yun Xiao’s final lifeline.

Whoosh!

Yun Xiao’s movement could not be called slow. The instant the thought formed in his mind, his body trembled slightly. He left a Shadow Clone where he stood, while his True Body was already shooting toward Yingrong Lake.

"Petty tricks like that, and you dare show off in front of this old man?"

It had to be said that An Sou was indeed much stronger than any enemy Yun Xiao had faced before. And with him fully focused, he noticed something amiss in just an instant.

"This type of Shadow Clone Meridian Techniques... seems a bit similar to that person’s."

Even as An Sou made his move, his heart suddenly skipped. Memories from years ago flashed through his mind. From Yun Xiao’s body, he seemed to see the shadow of a certain terrifying existence.

You had to know that the Shadow Clone Meridian Techniques Yun Xiao was using now had once been the signature move of the Long Xiao Battle God. As a house slave of no low status by Lu Qinwan’s side, An Sou had been fortunate enough to witness it a few times.

But to judge that the boy before him had something to do with the Long Xiao Battle God based solely on one Shadow Clone Meridian Techniques was too far-fetched. So that thought flashed past and vanished. In the next moment, An Sou’s figure had already appeared somewhere in the sky above Yingrong Lake.

In the eyes of the bystanders, there was nothing there at all. They had no idea why An Sou had suddenly appeared in that spot.

Because in these people’s eyes, Yun Xiao was still standing at the lakeshore. They didn’t know that what they were seeing was just one of Yun Xiao’s Shadow Clones. Such a bizarre method was truly impossible to guard against.

Bang!

Arriving in the sky above Yingrong Lake, An Sou did not move slowly in the slightest. They saw him viciously stomp at a patch of apparently empty air, leaving the onlookers utterly baffled.

But the next moment, as a loud crash rang out, everyone realized it was only their strength that was too low, so they hadn’t seen the real situation.

At the point where An Sou’s foot struck, a coarse-clothed figure suddenly appeared—one that was anything but unfamiliar to them. Who else could it be but Yun Xiao? No one had expected him to suddenly appear there.

Only at this moment did the Shadow Clone Yun Xiao had left on the lakeshore slowly fade from the crowd’s sight, making many hearts tighten. They secretly wondered: faced with such a realistic Afterimage, would they be able to tell the difference if it were them?

"Damn it!"

Compared to what everyone else was thinking, Yun Xiao’s expression as the person involved didn’t look good at all at this moment, because he knew he had ultimately still underestimated these Heavenly Realm Peak experts.

Human strength has its limits; no matter how strong Yun Xiao’s ability to fight across realms was, there was still a ceiling. If he didn’t count the added power of Little Five, the strongest opponent he could contend with was only at the Hua Xuan Realm Early Stage.

Once the opponent stepped into the Hua Xuan Realm Middle Stage, then even if Yun Xiao unleashed all kinds of Ancestor Vein Power, he could at best barely hold his own, and the final result would definitely be fleeing in defeat.

But the An Sou before his eyes was a genuine Heavenly Realm Peak expert, countless times stronger than Xue Qi earlier; he was someone Yun Xiao simply could not match.

In truth, from the very beginning Yun Xiao had never thought about fighting An Sou head-on. Against such a powerful foe, once he got entangled, it would become incomparably difficult to escape.

Right now Yun Xiao had fallen into exactly such a predicament. His Shadow Clones, which had always been Unrivaled, had their positions predicted in advance by An Sou, causing this seemingly unexpected method to end up completely useless.

"Brat, I already told you, in this old man’s hands, you have no chance at all!"

An Sou looked somewhat pleased with himself. He just wanted to see what other tricks this brat still had. Only after the other party exhausted all his methods, then knocking him into the abyss—wouldn’t that be even more fun?

Whoosh!

A sharp, wind-tearing sound rang out. It turned out that while he was speaking, An Sou had already extended his withered right hand, the five claws reaching toward Yun Xiao’s throat, his vital point.

A Heavenly Realm Peak expert was indeed extraordinary. This seemingly slow claw strike alone stirred the air along its path into violent ripples; one could well imagine the power contained within it.

"That’s the Xuanji Saint Claw!"

With Yun Xiao’s eye for things, he naturally recognized the nature of that hand claw at the first instant. Compared to the Xuanji Saint Claw formed from Meridian Qi, this Saint Claw unleashed by the True Body undoubtedly possessed far greater might.

On top of that, it was being executed by An Sou, a Heavenly Realm Peak expert; its power was far from what Xue Qi had shown before.

Yun Xiao felt the space to his left, right, above, and below all sealed off. Aside from taking this Xuanji Saint Claw head-on, there was simply no second path he could take.

"The brat has sharp eyes, but it’s useless!"

When An Sou heard the low words from Yun Xiao’s mouth, a glint flashed in his eyes. This brat’s knowledge really surprised him a bit, but that was all.

Right as An Sou’s cold voice fell, his claw was already less than a foot from Yun Xiao. The rough-clothed youth was about to fall into his grasp, and this mission would be perfectly completed.

Swish!

Yet at this moment, a blood-red flame abruptly blossomed in front of Yun Xiao’s throat. It didn’t look like much, just like an ordinary flame.

"This flame..."

But this seemingly unremarkable flame made An Sou’s heart tighten slightly, because with his powerful sensing ability, he perceived a hint of destruction from within that flame.

Under Yun Xiao’s deliberate control, the Ancestral Vein Fire formed from the Blood Moon Jade seemed to have even diminished its Blazing heat a bit. Even so, it still made the innately cautious An Sou sense something off.

"I can’t take this head-on!"

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through An Sou’s mind, and in the end he still abandoned the decision to force his way through the flame to grab Yun Xiao. In such a fight where he held absolute advantage, he would not allow himself even the slightest mistake.

"What a pity!"

When Yun Xiao saw An Sou withdraw so cautiously, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of disappointment. This Ancestral Vein Fire might have been one of the very few trump cards he had left that could possibly turn defeat into victory.

This was Ancestral Vein Fire formed from the Blood Moon Jade. Yun Xiao had reason to believe that if it really clung to him, even with An Sou’s Heavenly Realm Peak cultivation, he would suffer a heavy price.

It was just a pity that An Sou’s nature was extremely cautious. Even though this flame was unleashed by a Heavenly Realm Peak youth, he didn’t dare act arrogant in the slightest. This undoubtedly made the battle ahead grow even more difficult for Yun Xiao.

Yun Xiao’s strength was originally lower than An Sou’s by a full Great Rank. Facing an opponent who acted with such watertight caution, he only felt his path of escape grow ever more faint.

However, to have Yun Xiao give up struggling here was absolutely impossible. He was never someone who sat and waited for death, nor someone who would surrender the moment danger appeared.

All the more so since the other party was Lu Qinwan’s house slave. Yun Xiao might yield to anyone else, but he would never bow his head to the Emperor Canglong Palace, especially not to that shameless woman who had betrayed him back then.