"How could this be? How could a mere Body Forging cultivator suppress me, someone in the mid Blood Refining Realm?"
A sliver of clarity returned to Liu Jian's mind.
He finally realized that Lin Xuan's instant killing of Liu Dao had been far more than a successful sneak attack.
Lin Xuan's combat strength had absolutely surpassed all of their imaginations.
"Hiss!"
"Clang!"
Liu Jian's blood and qi surged as he suddenly erupted with every ounce of his strength, forcing Lin Xuan back half a step with a single sword strike.
"Just you wait!"
With a furious roar, Liu Jian turned and fled.
"Heh..."
"Think you can escape?"
A cold smile curled across Lin Xuan's lips.
Concealed Breath Stride circulated as he flashed behind Liu Jian in an instant, his battle blade cleaving down.
"Damn it!"
"How are you so fast? Your movement technique... it's, it's at major mastery..."
Liu Jian hastily raised his sword to block, and fear finally flooded his eyes.
At that moment, he regretted it—regretted being tempted by that enormous reward.
He and Liu Dao should have had bright futures ahead of them.
"You only noticed now?"
"Too late!"
Lin Xuan's calm voice entered Liu Jian's ears.
Then, he burst forth with even greater speed. With every shift and turn, the blood-red battle blade struck from bizarre angles.
Liu Jian struggled to fend him off. After several breaths, he carelessly slipped up in his panic, and one slash severed an arm clean off.
"Aah!"
Liu Jian let out a heart-rending scream as his body staggered backward.
"No, don't..."
He howled in terror, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
Before his eyes, the blood-red battle blade grew larger and larger, until it split his upper body apart.
"Thud!"
The two halves of his corpse fell to the ground. Liu