Never Missing a Target!

"Plotting right in front of me? You've got some nerve." Cold killing intent surged in Wang Xuan's eyes.

The arrogance of these Royal Clan members was carved into their bones.

Ten thousand years of accumulation had long made them instinctively look down on ordinary Players. In their eyes, discussing how to use the God-Splitting Spike to kill him right before his face was probably as casual as chatting about what wine to drink with dinner.

Since they possessed something capable of threatening him, close-quarters combat was naturally not worth it.

His figure flickered, and he drifted backward on the force of Free and Unfettered Wind. In an instant, he opened a distance of dozens of yards. Then countless Invisible Sword Qi poured from his fingertips. With the stacking effects of the True Martial Seven-Section Formation and the amplification of Xiantian Qi, the power of the Six Meridian Divine Sword increased severalfold.

Sharp whistles tore through the air in succession. Sword Qi plowed deep furrows across the beach, sending sand flying everywhere.

The expressions of several Royal Clan members changed drastically. They hurriedly swung their weapons, their flashing blades barely blocking the incoming Sword Qi. Every clash numbed their arms and forced them steadily backward.

Yet after Wang Xuan retreated, the pursuit they had expected never came.

He frowned slightly, somewhat surprised.

The Royal Clan members exchanged glances, then all abruptly leaped more than a yard backward. They immediately turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. Though they had just looked ready to fight to the death, weapons in hand, their feet did not hesitate in the slightest. They ran faster than anyone.

Wang Xuan froze for a moment, then laughed angrily and muttered, "They actually played me."

He casually picked one of them and turned into a streak of green smoke as he gave chase.

The moment he moved, the remaining Grandmaster Players on the beach erupted into chaos. Like a hornet's nest that had been poked open, they surged toward him, trying to entangle him and buy time for the Royal Clan members to escape. A dark mass of people flooded in from all directions.

Wang Xuan did not even raise an eyelid. He casually swept his left hand backward, and Six Meridian Sword Qi swept out, cutting the foremost Players in half at the waist. Yet he did not slow in the slightest, continuing to pursue his target.

"Yin Mingchen, you're still as treacherous as ever." Chu Lingtian sneered while running for his life. "Whenever you pretend to be crazy and act dumb, it means you're planning to run. Good thing we figured out your temperament long ago."

All his talent lay in swordsmanship. He was nowhere near as fast as Yin Mingchen, and was soon left behind.

"So what?" Yin Mingchen pushed Wind God Leg to its limit beneath his feet and shouted without turning his head, "We can't deal with the target anymore. We need to meet up with the others first. Gathering everyone's strength is the proper way."

The moment he finished speaking, piercing whistles of Sword Qi suddenly rang out behind them. Dozens of Invisible Sword Qi skimmed past their scalps and blasted a huge boulder ahead into pieces. Shattered rocks scattered everywhere. The Royal Clan members looked awful, but their feet moved even faster.

Wang Xuan circulated Free and Unfettered Wind, his figure as unhurried as drifting clouds and wild cranes. Though he had not cultivated this art to the ninth level, in terms of long-distance pursuit, almost no one at the same realm could match him.

Lingbo Micro-steps could still accumulate inner power while running, yet Lingbo Micro-steps was merely a superficial fragment split from Free and Unfettered Wind.

Free and Unfettered Wind could follow the nature of heaven and earth, harnessing the changes of yin and yang, wind and rain, darkness and light. While running, it consumed almost no True Qi. Instead, through its fusion with heaven and earth, it even provided additional benefits. His once-silent dantian sea of qi seemed to have been infused with living water, growing more agile the farther he ran.

As he ran, his senses entered the newly seized Storage Bag in his robes. The contents inside were a chaotic mess. He rummaged through a pile of clothing for a moment, and his fingertips suddenly touched an icy-cold object.

When he pulled it out, a notification immediately appeared on the System Panel:

[Name: God-Splitting Spike]

[Category: Heavens Tower Forbidden Secret · Single-Use Killing Artifact]

[Item Origin: A certain Xianxia World on the fourth floor of the Heavens Tower]

[Secret Note: This spike uses the laws of the Heavens Tower to alter the rules. It can pierce the barriers of the flesh and lock onto the origin of the soul. Those struck by it will immediately suffer destruction of body and soul, expelled from the Plot World; after returning to Earth, their souls will endure the pain of being torn apart day and night, a torment that cannot be dispelled within three days. Once the time limit is reached, their true spirit will be completely annihilated. Note: This item is fragile and easily shatters upon striking hard objects.]

"That's vicious enough." A cold smile curved Wang Xuan's lips.

Expelling someone from the Plot World was not enough; it even made them return only to be tortured to death. This thing was vicious indeed, but that depended on whose hands held it.

Since the Royal Clan wanted to use it against him, it was not excessive for him to return the favor in kind.

With a thought, he One-Click Maxed the hidden weapon Ultimate Art on the System Panel that he had never used before.

[Skill: Little Li Flying Dagger (Maximum)]

[Traits: Heart Fasting and Maintaining Unity, Condensing Intent to Forge the Blade, Never Missing a Target]

Heart Fasting and Maintaining Unity followed the Daoist path of "attaining utmost emptiness and guarding profound stillness." Its essence had never been about training arm strength or practicing techniques, but about casting aside distracting thoughts, focusing the mind, and merging one's essence, qi, spirit, and blade intent into one.

Condensing Intent to Forge the Blade meant holding fast to the original conviction that "one blade breaks ten thousand techniques," gathering intent as fine as silk and keeping blade intent pure and unstained.

And Never Missing a Target was the communion between one's true heart and heaven and earth. The blade moved with thought; where intent arrived, the blade followed.

A warm current instantly spread through his entire body, followed by a sensation of crystalline clarity rising in his mind.

The divine intent empowered by the Arhat Demon-Subduing Divine Skill was tempered once again. All distracting thoughts vanished, leaving his heart clear and empty. With a single thought, an awe-inspiring blade intent naturally emerged. Before this utterly lucid heart and blade intent, every subtle flaw in heaven and earth had nowhere to hide.

He had never practiced throwing daggers, yet at this moment, he possessed absolute confidence: with a casual throw, he would hit.

This was Little Li Flying Dagger.

It seemed like an unpresentable hidden weapon technique, but in truth, it was the supreme method of cultivating the heart and intent. Like Li Xunhuan, who had immersed himself in carving day after day for ten years, seemingly wasting his ambitions on trifles, while in truth polishing his heart every moment.

Now, in a single instant, Wang Xuan had surpassed Li Xunhuan's years of bitter cultivation. The strength of his heart was enough to perceive all beneath the heavens.

The God-Splitting Spike rested in his hand, dark and without luster, icy to the bone.

He raised his eyes toward the fleeing Royal Clan members in the distance. Though those figures were extremely far away, they seemed close at hand in his eyes.

Xiantian Qi slowly circulated within him as the supremely rigid and pure True Qi gradually poured into the God-Splitting Spike.

This single-use artifact was so fragile that it would shatter upon encountering anything hard, yet wrapped in his pure blade intent and Xiantian Qi, it became as steady as Mount Tai, showing not the slightest sign of breaking apart.

Like the flying dagger in Li Xunhuan's hand, it was merely ordinary iron forged by a common blacksmith. The weapon itself was unimportant. What mattered was the person holding it, and the intent carried upon the blade.

Wang Xuan's gaze settled on Chu Lingtian. That strange long sword intertwined with black, crimson, and blue, along with that terrifying Sword Separating the World, had left an extremely deep impression on him. This sword was powerful enough. If he could seize it, he would have more confidence when facing other unforeseen dangers in the future.