A Desperate Blood Battle

Wu Ye might have made it sound easy, but he had not relaxed in the slightest. His recovery speed was indeed fast, and the berserk effect brought by Werewolf Transformation could dull the pain he endured. However, the pain inflicted by Dark Night was not merely physical. It felt as though his soul itself had been gnawed apart and torn to shreds. The pain still made his right hand tremble, and that brat's Dou Qi seemed to be poisonous as well...

"Heh, since you're so eager to come over, I'll grant your wish!"

"Palm Absorption!" Wu Ye shouted, aiming his wolf claw at Ling Li.

Dou Qi surged through his hand as a powerful suction force suddenly struck Ling Li. Already leaning forward, Ling Li had no time to evade and was violently pulled ahead.

This is bad!

Ling Li hastily condensed the Dou Qi around his body, forming Dou Qi Armor.

He had been on guard against Wu Ye the entire time, but he had never expected him to possess such a bizarre Dou Technique. Caught off guard, he had fallen for it.

The next moment, a black shadow flashed over. Before Ling Li could stop his forward momentum, his chest felt as though it had been struck by a massive hammer. He flew backward for over ten meters before driving Dark Night horizontally into the ground to steady himself.

Ling Li touched his numb chest. With a crack, his sternum caved in with ease. It had clearly been shattered by that punch, along with two or three nearby ribs. Fortunately, the broken ribs had not pierced his lungs.

"I was careless. As expected, anyone with even a little reputation can't be that simple..." Ling Li swallowed all the pills in his mouth. As the medicinal effects spread, the numbness in his chest gradually faded, replaced by searing pain.

"Brat, this isn't over yet!"

"Shadow Blood Flash!"

Before Ling Li could catch his breath, Wu Ye's figure abruptly dissolved into Blood Mist. By the time Ling Li caught sight of him again, Wu Ye was already behind him. Dou Qi surged over his claws and expanded into a massive blood-colored energy claw nearly a meter wide, which came slashing down.

Ignoring the agony in his chest, Ling Li rolled across the ground and narrowly evaded the strike. As he steadied himself on one knee, he swung his blade. Three streams of Blade Qi sealed off all of Wu Ye's retreat routes from three different directions.

After advancing his blade technique to the master level, Ling Li could now easily execute moves such as Swallow Return. The time needed to gather power had practically been eliminated.

"Awooo!!!"

Wu Ye let out a wolfish howl. His body swelled another size, his eyes turning even redder as madness flickered within them. He simply charged at Ling Li without regard for anything else.

The three streams of Blade Qi struck Wu Ye's left hand, chest, and knee respectively. The sharp Blade Qi instantly sliced through his skin, exposing the bones and organs beneath. Dark green Dou Qi corroded his blood with a sizzling sound, yet after the Dou Qi dissipated, those seemingly fatal wounds began healing at a visible rate!

Seeing Wu Ye charge at him, Ling Li did not evade this time. Instead, he raised Dark Night and rushed forward again, preparing for close-quarters combat. Wu Ye's strength and speed were terrifying, and with that strange Dou Technique called Shadow Blood Flash, Ling Li would surely be worn down beneath constant suppression if he kept dodging.

Facing him head-on and fully exploiting Dark Night's advantages was Ling Li's only path to victory!

A black figure and a red figure collided. For a time, dark green Blade Qi and Bright Silver claw shadows rose and fell in rapid succession. Whenever a strike landed, bones shattered and blood flew.

Under Ling Li's deliberate control, the Blade Qi unleashed by Dark Night continuously carved flesh from Wu Ye's joints, especially the elbow of his intact left arm. He intended to perform an on-the-spot amputation. Ling Li from a few days ago might not have been capable of such precise and rapid strikes, but master-level blade technique had given him a qualitative leap.

Of course, against a clear-headed Wu Ye, Ling Li could never have succeeded so easily. Yet the werewolf bloodline seemed to have the side effect of clouding one's mind while enhancing combat strength. After undergoing Werewolf Transformation, Wu Ye's moves became increasingly frenzied and simplistic. Once blood had been drawn in close combat, this became even more pronounced.

As dark-black blade flashes flickered, chunks of flesh flew from Wu Ye's body. White fragments of bone occasionally splattered out as well, but under Dark Night's devouring, not a single drop of blood was wasted.

"Slash!"

Finally, after fighting for a full two minutes, a triple Swallow Return Blade Qi strike became the last straw. A withered wolf claw spun through the air and flew far away.

"Awooo!!!"

The soul-rending pain made Wu Ye let out a miserable howl. His scarlet eyes blazed with fury as he charged at Ling Li again.

With his most threatening wolf claw severed, Wu Ye's combat power had dropped by at least thirty percent, greatly reducing the threat he posed to Ling Li.

Over the following moments, Ling Li repeated the process—first the right arm, then the left leg and right leg. Only after Ling Li had chopped him into a sealed Exodia did Wu Ye regain consciousness through the overwhelming pain.

"I'll give you thirty seconds to say your last words." Covered in blood, Ling Li sat beside Wu Ye without a shred of dignity as he spoke.

Such an evenly matched opponent, one whom he had barely defeated at death's edge, had earned his respect. At the very least, Ling Li was willing to give him time to speak his final words.

Though Wu Ye had regained consciousness and his pupils had returned to black, he had lost all four limbs and a great deal of blood. He no longer had the ability to resist. Yet there was not the slightest hint of desolation in his voice as he said, "I never thought I'd fall into the hands of some brat whose hair hasn't even grown in yet. Kill me. You'll inherit everything I have, but... good luck."

After Wu Ye finished speaking, Ling Li did not hesitate. He cut off his head with a single slash, then drove Dark Night into his heart. Dark Night trembled, expressing its excitement as it madly devoured Wu Ye's blood.

"Three hundred Experience Points... Tsk. I don't want to mistreat your corpse, but these Experience Points are just too tempting," Ling Li muttered. Wu Ye had provided Dark Night with a full three hundred Experience Points, allowing it to take a huge step toward leveling up!

After Dark Night finished devouring the blood, Ling Li flipped his hand and placed Wu Ye's head into the System Space. He then searched around for the Storage Ring on the finger of the right hand that had been severed earlier. With a thought, several Second-grade Healing Pills entered his stomach.

Wu Ye was in a miserable state, but Ling Li was not much better off. He looked as though he had been soaked in blood. Nearly all the ribs in his chest were broken, his sternum was shattered, his left shin had fractured during the direct clash with Wu Ye, and claw marks left by Wu Ye covered his back, thigh, and chest.

Ling Li planned to recuperate for several days before heading to Black Seal City to collect the bounty. Claiming it in this condition would be no different from courting death.

Just then, flames suddenly appeared not far outside Twilight City, accompanied by the frantic neighing of numerous horses.

Ling Li's expression changed as he sprinted toward the mountains outside Twilight City.

Those people were probably here with ill intent...