Chapter 40
"The warm-up is over."
Chen Qing's voice carried the scent of blood as it echoed through the dusk. The ice spikes in his back still trembled, blood soaking through his battle robe. His aura had fallen due to his injuries and exhaustion, yet those dark-red, vortex-like eyes burned with even fiercer battle intent.
The two remaining Azure Wolf Death Warriors, one in the lead and one behind, had their auras linked. The Annihilation Wolf Domain pressed forward once more like a frigid tide. The Death Warrior in the center had dim black light flickering at his chest; clearly, Chen Qing's earlier slash had not left him unscathed either.
The lean Death Warrior on the right changed his hand seals again. More ghostly blue ice crystals condensed in the air, crackling faintly as killing intent blazed.
Chen Qing drew a deep breath and no longer suppressed the incomparably pure and vast Deathly Silent Malevolent Energy that had surged into him after he devoured the first Death Warrior. This power was utterly different from his original Battlefield Malevolent Energy—colder, purer, carrying the meaning of all things reaching their end.
Fierce Tiger Iron Body circulated madly at an unprecedented speed, attempting to refine and merge this powerful foreign energy. Excruciating pain spread through every limb and bone as the old and new malevolent energies clashed violently within his Saber Meridian, as if they were about to burst his body apart!
Yet he guarded his mind tightly, using his masterful Black Tiger True Intent as a guide to forcibly control this violent process!
"Roar—!"
He let out an uncontrollable roar, not aimed at his enemies, but venting the pain and power within him! Fed by this newborn strength, the Fierce Tiger Domain surrounding him began to undergo a strange transformation!
The originally dark-red domain became even deeper in color, faintly revealing an eerie ghostly blue. The surging Killing Intent was no longer merely savage and murderous; it now carried a deathly silence capable of freezing souls! Although the domain's range did not expand again, its density and oppressive force suddenly rose by an entire level!
[Fusing Deathly Silent Malevolent Energy, Fierce Tiger Iron Body undergoes a mutation. Proficiency +800!] [Fierce Tiger Domain quality increased, containing the 'Annihilation' trait!]
The expressions of the two Azure Wolf Death Warriors shifted slightly. They could clearly sense that the opponent's domain had become even more dangerous, even faintly suppressing their Annihilation Wolf Domain!
"We can't let him continue!" the Death Warrior in the center rasped. His figure vanished again, and his transparent short sword shot forth like a venomous snake flicking out its tongue, stabbing straight at Chen Qing's brow! This time, a point of utter darkness had condensed upon the blade, as though it could devour all light!
The Death Warrior on the right attacked at the same time. Dozens of ghostly blue ice spikes no longer scattered apart, instead condensing into a massive, spinning ice storm. With a piercing howl, it sealed off every route of retreat!
Facing this sure-kill strike, a glimmer of madness flashed through Chen Qing's eyes. Rather than retreating, he poured the newly fused, mutated malevolent energy—along with all his blood vitality and True Intent—into his ring-pommel saber!
The saber trembled violently, letting out a hum as though it could no longer bear the strain! The dark-red-and-blue malevolent energy compressed to an extreme, making the ring-pommel saber seem to transform into a demonic blade burning with dim flames!
He used no technique at all, only the simplest and most direct motion. He drove all the power in his body from the great dragon of his spine through his arm and into the blade, then—
thrust forward!
Sshk!
The instant the saber tip stabbed out, the air ahead seemed to be sucked empty and twisted! A black-blue thread as thin as a hair, yet condensed to the utmost limit, shot out soundlessly toward that point of darkness devouring the light, as well as the enormous ice storm behind it!
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
The instant the black-blue thread touched the dark sword tip, the transparent short sword of the central Death Warrior seemed to encounter its natural bane. Starting from its tip, it shattered inch by inch and vanished! The black-blue thread did not slow in the slightest, plunging directly into his arm!
At the same time, the thread collided with the ice storm!
There was no thunderous blast. The raging ice storm was like ice and snow thrown into a blazing fire, instantly melting and vaporizing without leaving even a trace of mist!
The central Death Warrior released an incomparably shrill scream. His entire right arm, along with half his shoulder, silently turned to nothing beneath the erosion of that black-blue thread! No blood flowed from the wound; there was only a patch of deathly black scorch!
His eyes filled with boundless terror and disbelief as he retreated frantically. His aura instantly withered to its lowest point!
After piercing through the ice storm and severely wounding the Death Warrior, the black-blue thread finally exhausted its strength and dissipated into the air.
Chen Qing maintained his saber-thrusting stance, gasping violently, his face pale as paper. That strike had nearly drained every last bit of his strength, and the injuries from his successive battles erupted at this moment, leaving him swaying on the verge of collapse.
Yet he remained standing, his gaze locked tightly on the last lean Death Warrior.
Watching his companion nearly crippled, then looking at Chen Qing—weak though he was, yet with even fiercer Killing Intent and a mutated domain—the lean Death Warrior's cold, indifferent eyes showed a clear desire to retreat for the first time.
He knew the mission had already failed. If they continued fighting, all three of them might be left here.
Without the slightest hesitation, he turned into a streak of black smoke and fled swiftly toward the outskirts of the camp, not even sparing a thought for his companion.
Chen Qing did not pursue him. He had no strength left to do so.
He watched the Death Warrior vanish into the dusk, then looked at the headless corpse on the ground and the heavily wounded, dying Azure Wolf Death Warrior in the distance before slowly sheathing his saber.
It was at that moment that the surging energy within him, made turbulent by his extreme outburst and devouring fusion, finally broke through its last shackles!
Boom!
It was as if thunder from the ninth heaven had exploded in his mind!
All three hundred and sixty-five apertures throughout his body resonated wondrously with his mutated Saber Meridian! The spiritual energy between heaven and earth, along with the Killing Intent and death energy permeating the battlefield, seemed drawn by an invisible force and surged madly into his body!
It no longer flowed merely through his meridians. Instead, it directly opened and connected his apertures, allowing him to commune with heaven and earth!
A force far more vast and pure than the Meridian Condensing Realm, carrying a trace of heaven and earth's might, was born within him and began to race through his body!
The Aperture Opening Realm!
He had succeeded!
Washed by this newborn power, the wounds across his body healed at a visible rate. His aura rose steadily, instantly surpassing its previous peak and continuing to climb!
The Fierce Tiger Domain around him unfolded on its own, its range abruptly expanding to five zhang! Within the domain, the dark red and ghostly blue became even more distinct. The Killing Intent seemed to come alive, cheering and leaping with the majesty of one who ruled death and war!
[Breakthrough successful! Realm increased: Aperture Opening Realm (early stage)!] [Fierce Tiger Iron Body breaks through to the masterful realm (0/)!] [Fierce Tiger Domain advances. Range: five zhang. Contains the True Intents of 'Slaughter' and 'Annihilation'!] [Black Tiger Fist and Black Tiger Saber Technique True Intents deeply awaken, touching the edge of laws...]
Feeling the earth-shaking changes within his body and that wonderful sensation of being faintly connected to heaven and earth, Chen Qing slowly clenched his fist.
Power! This was the power of the Aperture Opening Realm!
He looked north, his gaze seeming to pierce through ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers before falling upon the Golden Wolf King's Tent.
Azure Wolf Death Warriors? They were nothing more than stepping stones on his path to a higher realm.
Next, it was time to go to the Northern Mang Royal Court and personally reclaim that "key" which belonged to him.
He believed that the secret of Shattering Void hidden within the ancestral Black Tiger Fist and Black Tiger Saber Technique was there.
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