The Blue Powder Seal tore through the air and shot straight at the old man. When it was less than a meter away from him, a massive shadow descended from above and slammed heavily into the barrier.
For an instant, the air seemed to freeze. Then, a thunderclap-like explosion resounded through the main hall.
Some of the people fighting upstairs were caught off guard by the sudden blast. Their ears rang, and their heads grew dizzy.
After the thunderous explosion, waves of energy rippled out from the center of the main hall. Wherever they passed, the tables and chairs in the Inn, which had only recently been replaced after the daytime brawl, shattered into pieces.
At the center of the energy ripples, the Gaunt Old Man's face had turned red. Both hands gripped his trembling cane desperately as the thick Wood Attribute Dou Qi covering it melted away at a visible speed.
Because his palms were in contact with the cane, the old man could feel an incomparably terrifying scorching Aura continuously seeping out from the Blue Powder Seal and corroding its way along the cane.
He could imagine that once the defensive barrier formed from his own Dou Qi through the weapon was completely depleted, that scorching Aura would erupt in full.
Although he understood this, he had no way to deal with it.
He could only watch helplessly as the barrier before him melted away at high speed, while the heat coming from the top of the cane grew more and more intense...
The barrier lasted less than ten seconds before melting away completely. As the Wood Attribute Dou Qi barrier vanished in full—
The cane, which had seemed to be a fine weapon, rapidly changed from pitch-black to fiery red...
"Sizzle..." An odd sound suddenly came from where the Gaunt Old Man's hands gripped the cane. Immediately afterward, he let out a muffled groan filled with pain, hurriedly released it, and threw away the cane, which had nearly become a burning coal.
The cane hit the bluestone floor heavily. At once, the fiery-red rod's temperature rapidly receded, and in an instant, it turned into an ordinary Iron Rod.
Cracks continued spreading across the Iron Rod. Clearly, this expensive-looking weapon had completely become a lump of scrap metal.
The Gaunt Old Man had no time to mourn the loss of his weapon, because the instant it left his hands, he clearly saw a streak of blue-pink light shooting toward him.
"What level of Dou Skill is this? How could it be this powerful? And with someone this terrifying here, why didn't Scarface report it? Didn't he say there were no Da Dou Shi or stronger here?!"
Amid his shock and confusion, the Gaunt Old Man had no time to dodge. He gritted his teeth and hurriedly mobilized the little Dou Qi remaining in his body, forming a somewhat thin suit of Dou Qi Armor over himself as he prepared to take the attack head-on.
The dimmed Blue Powder Seal arrived as expected and lightly struck his chest.
Xiao Ming only heard a miserable scream. The struck old man was sent flying, smashing viciously into the wall and raising clouds of dust that buried him.
"He's still not dead? What a tough life."
Xiao Ming swallowed a Qi Returning Pill while looking toward the dust in surprise.
As the one who had launched the attack, he naturally understood the terror of the Earth Tier Middle Grade Dou Technique, Three Flame Ethereal Seal. It was an explosive Dou Skill that required multiple flames to gather into a seal. The more flames used, the greater its power, and it was extremely difficult to cultivate.
If he had not previously drawn the mastery experience for it, Xiao Ming could not have unleashed this attack so quickly.
Although he had only used two Beast Flames this time, that did not mean its power was low. It was, after all, a genuine Earth Tier Dou Technique, and it had directly drained thirty percent of the Dou Qi in his body.
The amount of Dou Qi it consumed was staggering.
Its power was equally impressive.
Even under such circumstances, the opponent had not completely died. Xiao Ming could still sense a faint trace of the Gaunt Old Man's Aura.
Xiao Ming could only sigh at how tenacious the old man's vitality was.
Sighing aside, he could feel the heavily depleted Dou Qi within him recovering.
As the dust began to disperse, Xiao Ming decided to strike while the enemy was down and take his life.
With a flip of his hand beneath the black robe, a fiery-red Three-Foot Long Sword embedded with a Fifth-Tier Magic Core appeared in his grasp.
He activated the Profound Tier High-Grade Movement Dou Technique his teacher had given him before, Shadow Chasing Wind!
He stomped the ground fiercely. Fiery-red energy exploded beneath his feet, and the propulsion created by the surging energy waves turned Xiao Ming into a black shadow as he shot straight toward the center of the dust.
Earth Tier Low-grade Dou Technique, Vast Righteous Astral Flame Sword!
In midair, Xiao Ming's hand trembled slightly as he thrust the sword tip violently toward the black silhouette visible within the dust.
At once, four fiery-red sword auras containing powerful force shot forth.
"Hmph..."
The black silhouette merely trembled and let out a low muffled groan before falling completely silent.
When the gathered dust finally dispersed, a mangled corpse with a charred, blasted-open chest appeared before Xiao Ming.
This marked the official death of the Five-Star Great Dou Shi, the Gaunt Old Man!
"Phew~" Xiao Ming let out a soft breath as he looked at the corpse, whose face still carried an expression of terror, and calmed himself.
This was the first time in his life that he had killed someone. Perhaps because the other party was a human trafficker, he did not feel anything particularly special.
He did not even feel guilty about the sneak attack. Instead, he felt an exhilarating sense of release.
Upstairs.
Hearing the tremendous commotion downstairs suddenly fall silent, Ding Lao'er and the enemy facing him looked at each other.
For a moment, both sides stopped fighting.
Ding Lao'er knew that his boss was downstairs. However, such a huge disturbance just now meant that something unexpected must have happened and his boss had been fighting someone fiercely.
Fighting was one thing, but the sudden silence left Ding Lao'er somewhat stunned.
The battle had ended far too quickly, and judging by the earlier commotion, the enemy was probably not easy to deal with.
As he thought this, a sense of unease suddenly rose in Ding Lao'er's heart. The flames burning nearby cast shifting, uncertain light across his face.
Ding Lao'er's opponents were the white-bearded Strong Man Duo, who had been the first to mock the people fighting in the Inn during the day.
Both of them radiated the Aura of Eight-Star Dou Shi. The reason they had not taken advantage of Ding Lao'er's distraction to ambush him was because of the Muscle-softening Powder.
Although the fire Xiao Ming had set had awakened them in time and they had taken some antidote, the effects of the Muscle-softening Powder had not fully worn off. Even if they had, facing Ding Lao'er, who possessed Da Dou Shi strength, would still have been difficult for them.
The two had struggled greatly just now and narrowly escaped danger again and again. If Ding Lao'er had not needed to capture them alive, they would likely have already been lying on the ground.
Even so, both of them were now covered in tattered clothing. Their bodies, which were somewhat more robust than Ding Lao'er's, were covered in blade wounds, with thin streams of blood seeping out. It was clear they had suffered badly.
In contrast, Ding Lao'er's yellow clothes remained spotless.
The Strong Man Duo exchanged glances. Although they did not understand why Ding Lao'er had stopped, it was good that he had. This gave them time to catch their breath and wait for the medicine's effects to fade so they could recover their strength.
"Don't drag this out. Finish them directly."
Uneasy, Ding Lao'er no longer hesitated and loudly gave the order without turning his head.
"But Big Brother said he wanted them alive. These are all meant to be traded to the Blood Sect. If we can't produce the goods then, we'll..." one subordinate with Dou Zhe strength said hesitantly.
"Shut up and do as I say! I suspect something has happened to the boss downstairs. Those people from earlier today should be enough to deal with the Blood Sect's people. Stop dragging your feet!"
"...All right."
With no more reservations, the Inn's human traffickers launched sharper attacks. Their opponents found it increasingly difficult to hold on and fell dead one after another.
Those who had finished off their opponents joined the other unresolved Battle Groups, helping the others end their fights quickly.
Shadowless Mad Blade.
Ding Lao'er slashed the white-bearded old man across the neck, swiftly killing him. With a backhand slash, he killed the old man's companion as well. Seeing that things were nearly settled, he said,
"Go, downstairs!"
"Yes."
Before you continue