Mutual Destruction

The scabbard heavily struck the carapace above the closed giant maw, emitting a thunderous clang! That part of the carapace was actually dented, cracks spreading! Li Chongshan's head shook violently, and he let out a pained roar.

And in the split second between the approaching sickle legs about to touch Commander Chen's scalp, the lower sickle legs about to sever his legs, and the scorpion tail's venomous stinger about to pierce his back—

Commander Chen's hunched body suddenly folded backward at an angle that defied all logic! Almost touching the ground! At the same time, the hilt he had been holding in his left hand, never used, had its safety catch flicked open for the second time by his thumb.

"Clang!"

A dark light reappeared! But this time, it wasn't a slash.

The profound black straight saber was drawn half a foot from its sheath. The chilling blade intent, condensed to the point of being tangible, did not move forward. Instead, centered on Commander Chen's folded body, it spread outwards like ripples on water, especially towards the rear, swirling!

"Netherworld Bone Erosion - Thousand Needle Rain!" Li Chongshan's enraged roar sounded simultaneously with the scorpion tail's movement! The stinger, like a blooming flower bud, exploded, and countless needle-thin, dark green venomous lights, like a torrential downpour, enveloped Commander Chen's back as he lay on the ground! This was a true killing move, covering all angles!

Commander Chen's face, as he folded backward, was directly facing the downpour of venomous needles. His face remained expressionless. Only on the profound black saber, drawn half a foot, did the dark light suddenly flare brightly for a moment.

Time, as if stretched and frozen once more.

The torrential downpour of venomous needles, upon touching the ripples of chilling blade intent spreading and swirling from Commander Chen's center, struck an invisible wall of absolute zero.

"Ding ding ding ding ding...!!"

The intensely dense, crisp sounds, like pearls falling on a jade plate, merged into a continuous, pleasant yet fatal melody.

All the dark green venomous needles, still a foot away from Commander Chen's body, were frozen by the invisible blade intent domain, halted, and then shattered inch by inch, turning into the finest dark green ice crystal dust, which drifted down.

Utilizing the subtle gap created by the blade intent domain's eruption and his folded posture, Commander Chen's body, close to the ground, slid several feet like a boneless entity, narrowly dodging the fatal pincer attack of the upper and lower sickle legs. The sickle legs missed, embedding deeply into the ground.

Commander Chen supported himself with one hand on the ground, his body springing up like a taut spring, and stood up again, facing the Spider Scorpion. His chest rose and fell slightly, a wisp of black blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and several new wounds, caused by the force of the sickle legs, marked his body. But his eyes shone terrifyingly, like two burning cold stars.

He slowly raised his right hand, gripping the hilt of the saber that was already drawn half a foot.

"Warm-up is over." Commander Chen's hoarse voice echoed, carrying a long-lost, ancient battlefield-like killing intent.

He gripped the hilt and, inch by inch, drew the long, narrow, profound black straight saber completely out of its ancient sheath.

The instant the blade completely left the scabbard, the wind stopped above the ruins of the entire General of the Middle Army's mansion, silence fell, and even the flickering residual candlelight froze.

Only the saber, dark and silent, seemed to have become the sole center of this world.

Li Chongshan, transformed into the Spider Scorpion, his eight compound eyes flashing with dark light, let out a low, uneasy growl from his giant maw. His scorpion tail retracted, trembling slightly. From the fully drawn saber, he felt an unprecedented aura of danger, capable of threatening the very origin of his "perfect body."

Commander Chen held the saber with both hands, slowly raising it above his head. His hunched back straightened completely at this moment. An indescribable, ancient, and vast aura, as if carrying mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and endless battle smoke, surged from him towards the heavens! Merging with the blade intent, it shot straight into the sky!

His clouded eyes, looking through the Spider Scorpion's ferocious exterior, seemed to see something deeper: the anguished cries beneath the twisted bloodline, the boundless resentment of devoured beings, and the dirty, mad ambition driving it all.

"This strike," Commander Chen's voice was no longer hoarse but grand and solemn, like the clash of metal, echoing in the dead silence of the ruins, "Is for heaven and earth, for all beings, and for... the blade in my hand."

As his voice fell, the blade light rose.

There was no sound, no visual effects.

Only a line.

A straight line that seemed to have existed since the creation of the world, falling from an infinite height, as if to cleave chaos anew.

Where the line passed, space itself seemed to be silently cut, leaving a dark, unhealable wound that lingered.

If you find this book to your liking, remember to add it to your bookshelf to avoid losing it next time.

Li Chongshan, the Spider Scorpion, let out an extremely terrified, inhuman shriek. His eight legs thrashed wildly, his giant maw spewing out his final venom and demonic energy, his scorpion tail exploding all remaining venomous needles to form a final defense. Simultaneously, his massive body desperately tried to dodge to the side.

But that line seemed to have locked onto its very essence, onto the twisted core within it, a mixture of countless demonic beasts and human souls.

The line landed precisely in the center of the Spider Scorpion's ferocious torso, a fusion of various carapaces.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment.

The next instant.

The Spider Scorpion's massive, ferocious body, a fusion of terrifying features, silently split in two along the trajectory of the line.

The cut was smooth as a mirror, shimmering with a dark, faint light. Not a single drop of blood flowed out. All life force, demonic energy, and venom were utterly annihilated the instant they were cut by the blade intent contained within the line, which erased all existence.

The severed halves of the carcass slowly slid to the sides, crashing down into the ruins with a boom, kicking up a sky full of dust.

As the dust settled.

In the center of the ruins, Commander Chen still held the saber with both hands, maintaining his downward chopping posture. However, his straightened back had hunched over again, even more so than before. His face was as pale as paper, his chest heaved violently, black blood continuously trickled from his mouth, his saber-holding hand trembled slightly, and the profound black straight saber's glow had dimmed considerably. A minuscule, almost invisible crack had even appeared on the blade.

Cough, cough, he coughed violently, expelling large chunks of dark red clotted blood. The wounds on his body, corroded by the scorpion venom, began to spread their blackness again, much faster than before.

He laboriously raised his eyes, looking towards the direction of the Spider Scorpion's remains. Between the two halves of the giant maw and carcass, a bloody, mangled figure, barely maintaining a human shape but with distorted limbs and torso covered in grotesque flesh buds and carapace fragments, was twitching slightly. This was Li Chongshan's surviving original body, revealed after the Spider Scorpion form was destroyed. A deep, bone-visible saber mark ran from his left shoulder diagonally to his right abdomen, his internal organs faintly visible. His aura was weak and chaotic, clearly suffering a fatal injury as well.

Commander Chen leaned on his saber and, step by step, staggered towards the figure.

Upon reaching it, he lowered his head, looking at Li Chongshan's face, a mixture of endless pain, fear, unwillingness, and a sliver of lingering madness.

Li Chongshan's unfocused eyes met Commander Chen's clouded but cold gaze. A gurgling sound came from his throat, as if he wanted to say something.

Commander Chen gave him no chance. He slowly raised the profound black straight saber in his hand, the tip pointed at Li Chongshan's forehead.

But the instant the saber tip was about to strike, Commander Chen's body swayed violently, and he spat out a mouthful of black blood. The saber tip deviated slightly, only piercing Li Chongshan's shoulder blade, failing to be fatal.

Li Chongshan let out a muffled groan, a flicker of desperate madness flashing in his eyes.

Commander Chen wanted to deliver another blow, but the scorpion venom within him and the backlash from over-exerting his blade intent erupted simultaneously. His vision went black, and he almost fell. He braced himself on the saber, falling to one knee, gasping for air, each breath accompanied by bloody foam.

Li Chongshan seized the opportunity to writhe with difficulty, attempting to distance himself, but his injuries were too severe, only moving an inch.

Finally, Commander Chen used his last ounce of strength, staggering to his feet. He no longer looked at Li Chongshan, dragging his heavy steps, one by one, toward the outside of the mansion. His retreating figure swayed at the boundary between the ruins and the dawn, as if he might fall at any moment, yet he never looked back.

Li Chongshan lay in a pool of blood, watching the direction Commander Chen disappeared. Venom in his eyes was almost palpable. He opened his mouth, but only spat out more bloody foam. Finally, he weakly closed his eyes, his breath growing fainter.

The ruins returned to a deathly silence, only the strong smell of blood and the acrid stench of poison lingering.

On a distant rooftop, Mr. Yin's figure flickered in and out of the morning mist. He glanced at the dying Li Chongshan in the ruins, then looked in the direction Commander Chen had left, muttering to himself.

"Both sides are injured, the vessels are ruined. However, the real show has only just begun."

After speaking, he merged with the brightening sky like a phantom and vanished.

Commander Chen didn't know how he had made it back to the Garrison. He pushed open the door to the duty room, his scabbard dragging long bloodstains across the bluestone floor. Shi Zhu rushed over to help him but was pushed away by his blood-stained hand.

"Close the door. No matter who knocks, don't open it."

The sound of the bolt sliding shut was heavy. Commander Chen slid to the ground, leaning against the cold door panel, his hand tightly pressing the wound at his waist, pierced by a scorpion's tail and now oozing black blood. The cawing of crows drifted in from outside the window, hoarse and unpleasant. He suddenly remembered many years ago, on a snowy night with similarly desolate crow calls, he had lost the qualification to wield a sword, and also lost the person who would wait for him to return in the snow.

He slowly closed his eyes, but the corners of his mouth pulled into an extremely faint, almost invisible arc.

"Old friend, this time, I didn't disgrace you."