Desperate Blood Battle (Part 1)

The eight hundred enemy soldiers formed a pincer, like an iron bucket.

Ahead, Elder Zhao's three hundred private soldiers drew their bows, their arrowheads glinting with a faint blue light under the setting sun, clearly poisoned.

Behind them, five hundred wolf riders raised their sabers, the fangs of their snow wolves still stained with flesh and blood.

In the middle were six hundred Crimson Firmament Sect disciples.

Senior Sister Yun stood at the front of the formation, her green robes fluttering in the wind.

She slowly drew her long sword. The blade was as red as blood, reflecting the sunset as if it were burning.

"Zhao Jinglong," she said, her voice icy, "colluding with barbarians and assassinating fellow disciples. Today, as an enforcement disciple of the Crimson Firmament Sect, I sentence you—to death."

"Death?" Elder Zhao threw his head back and laughed. "Yun Qingxuan, who do you think you are? This is the Northern Territory, not Crimson Firmament Mountain! If I kill you all and blame it on the barbarians, who will know?"

His smile vanished as he waved his hand. "Fire!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh--

Poisoned arrows rained down like locusts!

"Defend!" Senior Sister Yun slashed her long sword.

Five hundred Crimson Firmament disciples swung their swords in unison, their sword light weaving into a net that shattered most of the arrows.

But dozens still slipped through, piercing the formation and eliciting muffled groans.

Three disciples fell, their wounds rapidly turning black.

"The arrows are poisoned!" someone exclaimed.

"Don't pull them out!" Li Xuan shouted. "The poison has entered the bloodstream; pulling the arrows will kill you faster!"

He tore off a piece of his robe and quickly wrapped it above the wound of the nearest disciple, slowing the spread of the poisoned blood.

But Elder Zhao wouldn't give them a moment's respite.

"Wolf riders! Charge!"

Tuoba Shan grinned menacingly, pointing his saber forward. "Kill all the Southerners!"

Five hundred wolf riders surged forward like a black torrent!

The ground trembled, and killing intent filled the air!

"Change formation! Crimson Flame Burns the Heavens!"

Senior Sister Yun raised her sword high, and the five hundred disciples quickly shifted their formation. Sword light surged like flames, forming a crimson barrier at the very front.

The wolf riders crashed into the barrier!

BOOM!!!

A wave of energy erupted, and the wolf riders in the front row were thrown from their mounts!

But there were too many wolf riders.

They charged forward relentlessly, fearless of death.

The Crimson Flame Sword Array began to waver.

"Hold the line!" Senior Sister Yun slashed down three wolf riders, but she herself was forced back three steps by the impact, blood trickling from her lips.

She was at Body Tempering Layer Seven, but with continuous combat and lingering poison, her strength was only at sixty percent.

"Senior Sister Yun!" Li Xuan rushed to the front of the formation, his Black Scale Saber sweeping horizontally, slitting the throats of two snow wolves. "You command from within the formation; I'll hold them here!"

"You..."

"Stop wasting time!" Li Xuan forced back a barbarian centurion with a saber strike. "If we delay any longer, we'll all die!"

Senior Sister Yun gritted her teeth and retreated into the formation.

Li Xuan stood alone at the front.

Facing five hundred wolf riders.

And... Elder Zhao's three hundred private soldiers.

"Kid, your courage is commendable," Tuoba Shan rode his horse forward, pointing his saber at Li Xuan. "But courage won't save you. Today, I will avenge the young chieftain!"

He moved.

His Body Tempering Layer Seven aura unleashed fully, his saber like a crescent moon, cleaving towards Li Xuan's head!

Fast! Ruthless!

Li Xuan dared not meet the blow head-on. His Shadow Step erupted, and he sidestepped.

The saber grazed the edge of his clothes, gouging a three-zhang-long trench in the ground.

"Dodging?" Tuoba Shan sneered. "Let's see how many strikes you can dodge!"

His saber slashed again, the blade light like a waterfall, blocking all escape routes.

Li Xuan gritted his teeth and parried upwards with his Black Scale Saber.

CLANG!!!

The twin sabers collided.

Li Xuan's tiger's mouth split open, and the Black Scale Saber almost flew from his grasp. He was sent flying backward, knocking over three disciples of Chi Xiao before he managed to steady himself.

At this moment, Tuoba Shan's second saber strike arrived.

This time, Li Xuan didn't dodge.

He activated the Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique, guiding the battlefield's malevolent energy into his body.

His bones let out cracking sounds.

His strength surged!

"Slay--!"

The Black Scale Saber met the curved saber!

BOOM!!!

This time, Li Xuan only retreated two steps.

Tuoba Shan also stepped back half a pace, surprise flashing in his eyes.

"Interesting," he licked his lips, "but not enough!"

The curved saber rose again, its momentum like a raging storm.

Li Xuan could only struggle to hold on.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Thirteen saber strikes in a row, each heavier than the last.

Li Xuan sustained three more wounds.

His left arm was cut open, bone visible. His right leg took a saber strike, blood pouring out profusely...

But with each strike he endured, more malevolent energy flowed into him.

The Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique churned wildly.

[Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique Level 1: Great Accomplishment → Perfection] [Effect: Bone Hardness +100%, Strength +50%]

Done!

Level 1 Perfection!

Li Xuan felt as if his entire skeleton had been reforged, as hard as profound iron.

His strength had also surged by fifty percent; his current single-arm strength was at least a thousand jin!

"Again!"

He attacked proactively!

The Black Scale Saber surged like an angry dragon emerging from the sea, directly cleaving towards Tuoba Shan's face!

Tuoba Shan's expression shifted slightly, and he blocked with his saber.

Clang!!!

This time, Tuoba Shan, along with his horse, was forced back three steps!

"How is this possible?!" he exclaimed in shock.

Li Xuan gave him no chance to breathe.

His saber light was like a tide, continuous and unending.

Wind Breaking Style! Stream Breaking Style!

Although they lacked the explosive power of the Mountain Slaying Style, they excelled in speed and relentless continuity.

Tuoba Shan was suppressed for a time!

"Trash!" Elder Zhao saw this, his face darkening. "General Tuoba, do you need assistance?"

"No need!" Tuoba Shan roared. "I can kill him!"

He bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of vital blood onto his curved saber.

The saber blade glowed with a blood-red light.

"Blood Wolf Slash!"

The curved saber chopped down, its light like a blood moon, accompanied by a mournful wolf howl!

This was a secret saber technique of the Blood Wolf Tribe, burning vital blood to multiply its power!

Li Xuan's pupils contracted.

He couldn't dodge!

He could only meet it head-on!

He channeled all his vital energy and blood, raising the Black Scale Saber!

CLANG--!!!

A thunderous roar!

Li Xuan was sent flying, crashing through a tree as thick as a bowl, and landing on the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The Black Scale Saber flew from his grasp, embedding itself in the ground ten paces away.

"Hahahaha!" Tuoba Shan roared with laughter, "Kid, now let's see you..."

Before he could finish speaking.

Li Xuan stood up.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes as cold as iron.

"Is that all?"

Tuoba Shan's smile froze.

That one strike was enough to kill someone at the seventh layer of Body Forging. Li Xuan had taken it head-on and was still standing?

A monster!

"My turn."

Li Xuan walked step by step towards the Black Scale Saber.

With each step, the malevolent aura around him intensified.

The deathly aura, the smell of blood, the lingering resentment from the battlefield surged into his body like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea.

His bones were transforming.

[Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique Second Layer: Novice]

[Effects: Bone Hardness +150%, Strength +80%]

The second layer of the Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique—breakthrough!

Li Xuan gripped the hilt.

He drew the saber.

Turned around.

And faced Tuoba Shan.

"Round two."

He moved.

This time, there were no fancy techniques.

Just one saber strike.

A simple, straightforward strike.

Direct slash.

But this strike was as fast as lightning and as heavy as a collapsing mountain!

Tuoba Shan didn't have time to react and could only instinctively raise his saber to block.

CLANG--!!!

His curved saber shattered!

The Black Scale Saber continued its momentum, entering Tuoba Shan's left shoulder and exiting his right ribcage!

Cut in two!

Blood sprayed like a fountain!

Tuoba Shan's eyes widened as he looked at his own cleaved body, his expression filled with disbelief.

"You... you..."

He fell.

Dead!

Li Xuan turned and looked at Elder Zhao.

"Your turn."

Elder Zhao's face turned ashen.

He hadn't expected Tuoba Shan to die.

Killed by a young man at the fifth layer of Body Forging with a single saber strike!

"You... don't come any closer!" Elder Zhao retreated, "I am an elder of the Iron Fist martial arts school. If you kill me, the martial arts school will not let you go!"

"Martial arts school?" Li Xuan chuckled, "If the sect master knew you were colluding with the enemy, he would kill you himself."

He advanced step by step.

Elder Zhao's three hundred private soldiers wanted to intervene, but Li Xuan's glare sent them retreating.

That was a gaze forged in mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Like a demon god.

No one dared to stand in his way.

"Li Xuan!" Senior Sister Yun shouted from within the formation, "Leave some alive! We need evidence!"

"Evidence isn't necessary," Li Xuan replied.

He had already reached Elder Zhao.

Elder Zhao gritted his teeth and drew his sword, lunging forward.

He was at the sixth layer of Body Forging, his swordsmanship honed by years of experience.

But Li Xuan simply raised his hand.

He caught the blade with his left hand.

Crack.

The fine steel longsword was crushed in his bare hand!

"Impossible..." Elder Zhao exclaimed in horror.

Li Xuan's right hand gripped his saber, and he slashed down.

Elder Zhao tried to dodge, but his body felt pinned to the spot, unable to move.

Swoosh.

His head flew off.

Blood sprayed three feet high.

Elder Zhao's headless corpse swayed for a moment before falling.

Seeing this, the three hundred private soldiers immediately broke and scattered.

"Kill!" Senior Sister Yun seized the opportunity to order.

The disciples of Chi Xiao charged like tigers into a flock of sheep, pursuing the fleeing soldiers.

And the Wolf Riders, seeing their commander dead, lost their will to fight and began to retreat.

A battle that had been a desperate situation was thus reversed.

But Li Xuan did not let down his guard.

He looked to the north.

There, dust billowed.

Greater trouble was coming.

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