The rainbow-like sword force overflowed with murderous intent.
Xiao Jianming had been tricked twice, and his anger had grown so much he was nearly mad with rage. He no longer showed mercy or held himself back; he used his iron sword to perform the Qing-Yun Nine Swords techniques to their maximum potential, every strike aiming to kill. Fang Xing also became serious at this time while flourishing the saber in his hands, putting all of his focus on defense.
It didn’t take long before a good dozen strikes had been delivered and Fang Xing staggered a few steps backwards with a pale face, his body visibly wounded. Spurred on by anger, Xiao Jianming was using all of his might and hadn’t hesitated to pour all of his Qi into his attacks. Every strike was infused with his hatred, and he attacked Fang Xing with the most powerful methods he could, itching to kill the child with a single blow. Such attacks were terrifying to the extreme, and Fang Xing did everything he could just to defend himself; he whirled his saber like a rotating pinwheel and used quite a number of defensive Guardian Talismans, although the talismans didn’t help much.
However, this was exactly what Fang Xing had been hoping for. No matter how powerful Xiao Jianming’s attacks were, Fang Xing just had to clench his teeth and do his best to block them. He was waiting—waiting for the right moment when Xiao Jianming had used up all of his energy.
"Nn? The boy isn’t bad, but he’s swinging his saber without structure. He’s at a disadvantage against Jianming’s iron sword…." Tie Rukuang sighed with worry. He didn’t want to see what might happen to the boy.
"Hmph! Even if his Qi is more pure and he has all that abnormal super strength, it’s still no use against Jianming. It doesn’t matter how strong someone is if they’re faced with such refined sword techniques. It’s like punching at thin air; it doesn’t accomplish anything except getting yourself hurt," Elder Qin’nyao chillingly said as a hint of joy shimmered in her gaze.
Although Xiao Shanhe was expressionless, there was still a sense of contentment and pride for Xiao Jianming’s performance. There was, however, a hint of concern that Xiao Jianming would truly kill off Fang Xing with a single blow; his plans included Fang Xing being left alive so he could force out any secrets the boy might hold.
"Brat, today is the day you die!" Xiao Jianming coldly laughed, feeling rather delighted as he sent out another strike.
After so many continuous powerful attacks, Fang Xing had been suppressed so thoroughly there was no chance for him to retaliate. With the attacks strung close together and so difficult to counter, Fang Xing could only once again yell out, "Exploding Flame Talisman…."
To this, Xiao Jianming simply turned slightly and retreated ten feet and—when he saw Fang Xing’s empty hands—he quickly returned to the offense once more with a darkened face. He’d already made up his mind; even if the brat actually had the Exploding Flame Talisman in his hands, he wouldn’t flee in a state of panic like he had before.
It would take at least two breaths’ worth of time for the talisman to explode after being filled with Qi, anyway—this was more than enough time for Xiao Jianming to escape. Even if he didn’t manage to get very far, he’d only receive small wounds that didn’t matter at all, whereas the explosion would turn Fang Xing into dust.
"Damn, he’s not buying it anymore…." Fang Xing creased his brows. He’d been forcibly holding himself back for so long in the hopes of wasting Xiao Jianming’s Qi, but—even after fighting for so long—there were no signs of Xiao Jianming’s Qi running low at all. This left Fang Xing feeling somewhat depressed.
It seemed there was something extraordinary about Xiao Jianming. Although he was so angry that every strike was aimed to inflict as much damage as possible without concern for how much Qi it used, he’d been making such powerful attacks one after another and the intensity didn’t decrease at all. This was very difficult to achieve.
Fang Xing finally felt he couldn’t hold himself back any longer. If he were to continue waiting, he might actually be injured enough that his own battle prowess began to suffer. Just as Fang Xing made his decision, he saw Xiao Jianming ride atop the steel eagle to come at him from the side. Fang Xing immediately tilted his body to first dodge the attack before suddenly springing forward and surging his saber towards the steel eagle.
It seemed as though Fang Xing had finally realized attacking Xiao Jianming was too difficult and had decided to attack his mount instead. Furthermore, the steel eagle was positioned between Fang Xing and Xiao Jianming—it would be difficult for Xiao Jianming to stop this blow.
"Heh, you are underestimating my Heiyun…." Xiao Jianming released a cold laugh and pressed his palm against the steel eagle’s back, and the eagle instantly released a cry as a black light appeared between his claws. The eagle was actually activating some sort of spell and aiming it towards Fang Xing, all while its eyes revealed a terrifyingly ominous glint.
Spirit beasts develop their own consciousness and thoughts, after all, and with their bloodthirsty viciousness and simplistic mindset, their emotions were even more intense. The eagle’s hatred towards Fang Xing was perhaps not any less than Xiao Jianming’s; if it were given the chance, it would even choose to tear Fang Xing into pieces before Xiao Jianming could. Now that it was given its chance, the eagle made the most of it and stimulated all of its Demonic Qi.
"Damned livestock…." Fang Xing’s gaze chilled as well as the steel eagle directed its spell his way. The steel eagle hated him, and he also hated this eagle, and his hatred towards it wasn’t diminished just because it was a spirit beast. He remembered very clearly that this damned livestock had clawed out his eighth uncle’s heart, and that bloody scene was still etched as clearly in his mind as though it had happened just yesterday. "Today is the day I slit open your stomach..." Fang Xing yelled and gritted his teeth. The force of the saber increased even further as it sped up on its way towards the eagle.
Once the steel eagle managed to get halfway through its spell’s activation, it suddenly spasmed and fell straight down from the air with a mournful cry. Xiao Jianming was surprised and immediately activated Levitation, drawing away from the steel eagle’s back and floating up in the air like a large wild goose to avoid the fall.
With this sudden turn of events, Fang Xing’s saber sliced right through the steel eagle’s stomach, causing blood to spray all over the place. Following its mournful cry, the eagle was flung five feet away to crash heavily to the ground.
This development filled all of the onlookers with shock. One of the reasons Xiao Jianming had suppressed Fang Xing so well was because he’d been riding on the steel eagle, which had an extremely fast speed and could relentlessly change its angle of attack. Who would have imagined that what seemed like such a futile attack from Fang Xing would actually injure the steel eagle? It almost seemed as though the eagle had completely forgotten how to dodge or defend itself and had intentionally thrown itself into the blow….
"Heiyun…" Xiao Jianming loudly yelled out, his eyes wide. He hastily ran towards the eagle’s side.
However, Xiao Jianming was quite far from the eagle, and Fang Xing on the other hand was quite close. Just as Xiao Jianming started to rush over, Fang Xing let out a loud howl and immediately took off towards the steel eagle as well, and his speed even seemed to be slightly faster than Xiao Jianming’s.
By the time Xiao Jianming had gotten within thirty feet of the eagle, he could only watch on in horror as Fang Xing arrived and brandished his saber. "How dare you, brat!" he yelled out, sending forth a blow to try to stop Fang Xing.
Fang Xing did not respond to the furious call; instead, he just held up his head and showed a fierce smile. The steel eagle on the ground let out a powerless cry, its round black eyes showing a trace of fear.
"It’s your turn to die, livestock!"
The giant saber dropped, and the eagle’s torso was separated from its head while a splatter of fresh blood coated the area. The eagle’s headless body continued to struggle all the while, its wings flapping wildly about without pause.
Xiao Jianming’s eyes were so wide they were about to burst.
After cleaving off the eagle’s head, Fang Xing immediately kicked out against the corpse, sending the flailing body towards Xiao Jianming. He then followed closely behind and sent out strikes one after another without pause.
"Heiyun…." Xiao Jianming felt as though he was about to faint. This steel eagle had been with him for the past six years, and it could even be said it was his only friend. He and the eagle had always been on the same side, and it had been one of his biggest supports in combat.
He hadn’t imagined his eagle would be beheaded by this brat before his very eyes….
Although he knew all too well the steel eagle was already dead, when confronted with the corpse flying his way, Xiao Jianming still subconsciously wanted to catch it. Just as he was about to catch the eagle, a thought flashed across his mind and he immediately moved himself backwards without hesitation. Just as he stepped away, the corpse of the eagle exploded and a sword light came flying through the bloody mess.
That strike had been aimed directly at Xiao Jianming’s chest. If Xiao Jianming hadn’t retreated at that precise moment, the strike wouldn’t have missed its mark.
Xiao Jianming looked at the scattered remains of his steel eagle on the ground. His expression was cold, but his palms were slightly shaking. "Heiyun…."
"Motherf*cker, you sure can run fast!" Fang Xing’s attack had missed, so he withdrew his saber before taking a few steps back. As it so happened, intentionally or unintentionally, Fang Xing’s steps had him land on the eagle’s head, and the last remaining somewhat-intact piece of the eagle was smashed beneath his foot.
"Hehe. Well done, little brat…." Xiao Jianming’s words were soft, and his expression was strange—as though he was half-laughing, half-crying. The only thing that was clear was the killing intent between his brows. "Heiyun was with me for the past six years, yet he died under your blade today. You are really good at surprising people, aren’t you?" He began taking slow steps towards Fang Xing, then pointed his iron sword towards the ground. "Did you do something to my steel eagle? How else would it suddenly be overthrown by its own Demonic Qi while it was performing the spell, allowing you the chance to kill it?" As he drew closer and closer, his voice grew ever more dark and fierce while the killing intent surrounding him grew similarly stronger.
"Hahaha…" Fang Xing laughed, "I didn’t do anything except feed him a pellet yesterday!" He spoke as though it wasn’t a big deal, all while intentionally grinding his foot down even more against the eagle’s head to crush it even further.
The hatred within Xiao Jianming’s eyes grew excessive, and the killing intent he displayed began to grow out of control.
"Aiii, this boy is now in danger…." Chief Elder Chen Baoyan judged with a soft voice while releasing a sigh. The rest all agreed, as they could feel the very strong sense of anger surrounding Xiao Jianming. Even Tie Rukuang felt helpless upon witnessing this; he really didn’t understand what Fang Xing was trying to accomplish.
If Fang Xing had the power to face Xiao Jianming, it may have been fine, but the difference in their battle prowess was huge. Fang Xing hadn’t even had the opportunity to retaliate when he was being attacked by Xiao Jianming earlier, so why did he have to go and kill his eagle? It was obvious that doing so would leave him thoroughly enraged; wasn’t this intentionally seeking death?
"I thought so. So you did indeed do something to Heiyun. But I didn’t realize it at all; this is the fault of me, its master!" Xiao Jianming’s grip on his sword tightened, and the pace of his footsteps increased. "You’ve done it—you’ve managed to make me mad. I no longer want to kill you. I want to cripple you before smashing each and every one of your bones, one at a time. Then, I’ll cut off your flesh, little by little, and use it as offerings for my steel eagle…. It had always been fond of fresh flesh and blood, so I’m sure it’ll love it if I were to bring yours to its gravestone…." Xiao Jianming’s voice finally lowered at those last words, and his iron sword swept out towards Fang Xing.
Fang Xing laughed to himself with derision and watched with shimmering eyes. ‘Hehehe, it’s finally about time….’