Chapter 314 - 202: Astonishment

Chapter 314: Chapter 202: Astonishment

He didn’t dodge or evade, choosing to take the hit head-on.

Li Longxuan stood behind Su Xing, utterly shocked. He had expected Su Xing to dodge the attack, leaving an opening for him to deliver the finishing blow. He never imagined Su Xing would resort to such a brutal method.

"Are you alright?!"

The words escaped Li Longxuan’s lips almost instinctively.

Although Li Longxuan had been briefly surprised when Su Xing appeared, by now he was completely certain. This was the young friend he had been helping all along.

Therefore,

his concern for Su Xing was genuine.

"I’m fine..."

A trickle of blood ran from the corner of Su Xing’s mouth. He looked a little battered, but it added a touch of tragic grandeur to the battle’s conclusion.

As for Tong An,

he just stared blankly at Su Xing.

A Sparrow Sword had pierced straight through his abdomen, while from behind, a Black Sword had also struck him in the same spot. A wound so severe left him with virtually no chance of survival.

Even for a Tier Eight,

life still had its limits.

Tong An gazed at Li Longxuan in the distance. Li Longxuan’s body, formed from sequence energy, was already starting to fade, a clear sign it was about to dissipate. A look of reminiscence appeared in Tong An’s eyes as memories of the past slowly surfaced.

"..."

"Dying like this... isn’t so bad."

Tong An said faintly. He looked at Li Longxuan, then collapsed, falling heavily to the ground. As he fell, a wooden picture frame tumbled out from his clothes.

CLACK. The frame hit the ground.

And Tong An’s eyes,

completely lost their unique light.

「Outside the Secret Realm」

In the mortal world, where it snowed year-round due to the Spirit Realm’s emergence, the snowfall suddenly stopped. An illusory figure made of pure light appeared, standing silently beside the sun, as if looking down upon the teeming masses below.

The illusory figure was indistinct, but it seemed to smile before shattering into countless specks of light that drifted toward the sun.

If Su Xing had been there, he would have seen a small boy standing on the clouds in the direction of the sun. The boy expressionlessly collected the scattered specks of light into a bottle, then placed it in his pocket.

He gazed in the direction of the Secret Realm and murmured:

"He can kill a Tier Eight now?"

"It seems your growth rate is even faster than I predicted. I should say... that’s just like you."

"Unfortunately... there isn’t much time left."

After speaking, he stared off in a particular direction. A great distance away, in that same direction, lay the Celestial Human Tomb. Within that tomb, more and more graves were beginning to stir.

These graves didn’t seem to be for burying the Celestial Beings. Instead, they were more like a series of seals, tightly suppressing these Celestial Beings within the Celestial Human Tomb, a Secret Realm isolated from the mortal world.

「Returning to the matter at hand」

Su Xing and the others were naturally unaware of all this.

After all, the Secret Realm completely cut them off from the outside world. They had no idea what changes had occurred, but they knew this battle was halfway won. All that remained was to send someone to find the Sick Monarch and kill him for good, which should cause the Secret Realm to disappear.

"Cough..."

Su Xing coughed violently and fell to his knees. Taking a full-force blow from a Tier Eight Powerhouse was obviously agonizing. The side effects from deactivating "Shatter" only added to his torment. Fortunately, Su Xing’s ability to endure pain was second to none.

Therefore,

his expression was only a little strained.

There were no wails of pain or agonized writhing.

Of course,

this battle wasn’t just about pain.

On the system panel, invisible to everyone else, the moment Su Xing killed the Monarch, it had drained all the Celestial Being’s energy from the body. Once Su Xing returned, he could expect another huge boost in power.

Clearly, with Su Xing’s strength, every level-up was a sprint toward the absolute limit. Su Xing believed that sooner or later, he would be able to reach the true pinnacle of the Sword Dao.

And at the pinnacle of the Sword Dao,

there would be only him, Su Xing.

"Elder Li."

Su Xing’s voice was a little hoarse. He noticed Li Longxuan standing before Tong An’s body, dazedly holding the picture frame. He knew Li Longxuan and Tong An had been on good terms, so his emotions must be running high. He wanted to offer a few words of comfort.

"Oh, right... Are you alright?"

Li Longxuan seemed to snap back to his senses and quickly put the frame away. But as he did, Su Xing caught a glimpse of the photo. It was of a man and a woman.

The woman was beautiful and somewhat mature,

but you could clearly see a student’s youthful innocence on her face. The man was Tong An, who had just died a brutal death here. It was obvious they were father and daughter; the woman in the photo was Tong An’s daughter.

"I’m fine."

"Just a few minor injuries."

Su Xing struggled back to his feet. There were several large holes in his body, pierced through by that last attack. His organs and flesh were visible inside.

Li Longxuan was, of course, no stranger to such sights. He was just astounded that a child born in an era of peace like Su Xing could possess such ferocity. It was truly surprising.

"Heh heh..."

"Although I had long suspected it was you."

"I’m still a little surprised to see that it really is you."

Li Longxuan said with a sigh of emotion, looking at Su Xing.

No one would ever connect Su Xing with a mysterious expert. His family background was clean and straightforward. Aside from the strange disappearance of his uncle, he was just a rather pitiable, ordinary citizen.

As for his sword practice, that had only started within the last year. Who could have imagined that someone who had been learning the sword for less than a year could grow to such an absurd level?

In any case, it was beyond what Li Longxuan could have imagined.

"Heh, I wasn’t trying to hide it from you."

Su Xing spoke politely. At first, he had intentionally concealed his identity, but ever since Li Longxuan started being open and honest with him, Su Xing’s impression of the man had been changing day by day.

With a powerful and influential figure backing him, the need for secrecy had gradually diminished. That was why Su Xing had acted so directly in this Secret Realm, with no intention of hiding as he had before.

"You’re a Tier Six?"

Li Longxuan suddenly exclaimed in astonishment.

Previously, Su Xing had been in his "Shatter" state, and the intense energy fluctuations had concealed his true level. Now that the state had ended and he was injured, Li Longxuan’s keen perception allowed him to immediately sense Su Xing’s actual level.

But... upon learning Su Xing’s true level, Li Longxuan was struck by a sense of disbelief. A Tier Six Martial Artist had forcibly killed a Tier Eight Celestial Being and a Tier Eight Sequencer.

If he told his other Tier Eight Extraordinary Being colleagues about such a feat, they would probably just think he was joking.

"Yes."

Su Xing nodded. "I have a special Secret Technique that allows me to shatter my sword to temporarily boost my strength. That’s how I was able to achieve that level of combat power just now."

Su Xing didn’t hide this information.

Hearing Su Xing’s explanation, Li Longxuan was still amazed, but the shock in his heart lessened considerably. He knew that both Martial Artists and Qi Cultivators did have some Secret Techniques, but they all came with severe side effects, so most people wouldn’t use them.

But...

Su Xing seemed no different from usual.

In reality,

that was just an illusion on Li Longxuan’s part.

If this were the first time he had shattered his sword, the pain would have been enough to make him pass out. But after experiencing it so many times, Su Xing’s willpower had reached an absurd level. Aside from his breathing growing a little heavier, he showed almost no visible change.

"Su, you rest for a bit. After I take care of things here, we’ll go back to the Spirit Realm and have a proper chat."

"Alright."

"You’re in charge, you decide."

Su Xing nodded.