Calculations (Part 2)

Calculations (Part 2)

The blade came swift and fierce, vicious and ruthless—a desperate strike with no way back.

Even Ning Ye hadn't expected Li Baidao to dare fight back with his life on the line in such a situation, let alone strike with such ferocity.

He truly was worthy of being Chang Duanhun's disciple.

Facing this strike, Ning Ye had nowhere to dodge, nowhere to hide.

So he neither dodged nor evaded. He charged straight into the blade.

In that instant, his entire essence, energy, and spirit surged to their limits. Several talismanic lights appeared across his body, enveloping him in golden radiance.

Li Baidao's blade came down. The shield vanished, the barrier shattered like exploding rain and mist. At the same time, an astonishing blade intent burst from Ning Ye's body, radiating from every inch of him.

With nowhere left to retreat, he would fight with his life!

Clang!

In the battlefield, where smoke and dust whirled, the crisp clash of metal rang out. Sparks flew, and Ning Ye was sent hurtling away, blood gushing from his body like a spring.

At the same time, countless blade marks appeared across Li Baidao's body, as though a thousand blades had raked him from head to toe. He truly lived up to his name, "Hundred Blades."

But even so, Ning Ye's injuries were far worse than Li Baidao's.

That strike had pierced right through Ning Ye. If not for the talisman shield protecting him and the golden body fortifying him—and if Li Baidao hadn't squandered his strength on wine and women in the illusion, leaving his power greatly diminished—Ning Ye would have been cut in two by that single blow.

As expected, being a whole major realm behind was no joke!

Blood sprayed wildly from Ning Ye's body. He didn't even look down, instead stabbing himself several times to stem the flow. Li Baidao cried out in shock, "Body Killing Blade? How is that possible?"

He had finally seized his chance. He'd thought his opponent was skilled in illusions and formations, but weak in close combat. He hadn't expected him to be a tough fighter who cultivated the Body Killing Blade. As a result, that strike hadn't killed his opponent outright.

After missing this chance, it would be difficult to kill him again.

The next moment, Ning Ye charged at him once more.

Since he'd already used the Body Killing Blade, he might as well use it to the end. In an instant, Ning Ye struck with fists, feet, elbows, and knees, putting every part of his body and every joint to work. Blade energy swept in every direction, filling the sky with yellow sand.

If Zhang Liekuang had been here, he would have been delighted—Ning Ye had truly done it. When it was time to use a trick, he used one; when it was time to risk his life, he fought with everything he had!

But Ning Ye wanted to fight. Li Baidao no longer did.

Ning Ye was more badly injured, but his momentum surged and his strength didn't wane. Li Baidao, on the other hand, was at the end of his tether and could no longer unleash another strike like the one before.

Now that he knew who his opponent was, Li Baidao had no desire to keep fighting. He gave a long howl, and a black-and-white wheel of light appeared behind his head. It was the Hualun Realm Dharma Form.

As the Dharma Form manifested, a vast, rumbling thunderclap rang out.

Li Baidao drew power from his Wheel Realm like a madman, even at the cost of greatly weakening himself. The blade in his hand burst apart, its countless fragments sweeping outward.

Blade edges fell like rain, whirling in clusters of crimson light. Under their force, the yellow sand and giant trees all crumbled to dust.

With a sharp howl, Li Baidao retreated. "I'll remember you!"

"Won't do you any good!" Ning Ye spat blood and spoke in a voice cold as frost.

He gently pressed one hand downward. Space seemed to freeze along with the motion, and Li Baidao found himself unable to take a step.

"The Sun Shadow Xuanji Array?" Li Baidao cried in alarm. "That's a formation of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect! So you're one of the Heavenly Mechanism remnants!"

At that moment, Li Baidao finally understood.

The Sun Shadow Xuanji Array was one of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect's formations, and the most powerful formation Ning Ye could currently control. Once deployed, its mysteries were endless.

Ning Ye still couldn't bring out the array's full power, but it was more than enough to deal with Li Baidao.

Seeing Ning Ye charge at him again, Li Baidao was both shocked and enraged.

He had no desire to keep fighting, so he took a talisman from his body: an Escape Light Talisman!

It was indeed a fine treasure for fleeing. Unfortunately, after his battles with Li Guiling and Yue Xiuxiu, how could Ning Ye have failed to prepare for it?

The instant Li Baidao transformed into a streak of light and fled, Ning Ye gave a feral grin. "Sun Wheel, slash!"

The great array lit up. A shaft of light rose like the sun and cleaved down toward Li Baidao.

Li Baidao had already turned into light and fled, yet the Sun Wheel Slash likewise transformed into light and pursued him, merging with his streak. A scream rang out, and Li Baidao was torn from the light escape, one leg flying away from his body.

Ning Ye walked over. "You know about the Sun Shadow Xuanji Array, but you don't know that the sun is for killing and the shadow is for illusion. And yet you dared to flee as light. Weren't you just throwing yourself into the net?"

"I'll fucking kill your grandmother!" Li Baidao roared, slapping the ground and springing into the air. The Wheel behind his head spun, unleashing endless blade rays.

The deadly strike of a mid-stage Hualun cultivator was boundless in power. It pierced through Ning Ye's body in an instant—only to find that it was an illusory image.

Ning Ye's voice drifted over like a ghost's. "I already told you: the sun kills, the shadow creates illusions. And you still haven't learned your lesson."

Whoosh!

Blade light rose behind Li Baidao's head.

Li Baidao tried to fight back, but mud and stones surged up from the ground, clinging to him. Strange Tianji was using its full strength to bind him with earth and stone.

The blade flashed. His head flew, blood arcing through the air.

Li Baidao's head spun through the sky, his eyes wide with fury.

He died with his eyes open!

"Phew! We finally did it."

Watching Li Baidao fall, Ning Ye let out a long sigh.

This fellow really hadn't been easy to deal with. To kill him, Ning Ye had used every trick at his disposal.

Tianji's small head poked out of the ground, looking a little embarrassed. "I was useless. I couldn't help much."

In terms of cultivation realm, Tianji was far above Ning Ye and should have been the main force.

But in truth, Ning Ye had been the main force in this battle, while Tianji had played a supporting role.

Ning Ye didn't blame it. "That's not your fault. You may be in the Hualun Realm, but you lack the methods to match that realm. Don't worry. I'll teach you little by little. Study hard, and you'll make up for what you're missing."

"Yes!" Tianji was overjoyed.

Now that Li Baidao was dead, Ning Ye said, "All right. Let's move on to the next step."

Before dawn, Luo Qiuzhen received the news.

When he arrived beside the pavilion, he saw that people had cordoned off the area around the body and were keeping everyone away.

A subordinate named Xi Jiang came over to Luo Qiuzhen. "The deceased is Li Baidao. He was dismembered. The corpse is in a terrible state. It may have been a revenge killing."

Luo Qiuzhen walked toward the body. "Until we've found out what happened, don't make wild guesses. Have you still not learned that lesson?"

His tone wasn't harsh, but his words were stern. Xi Jiang lowered his head and said nothing.

Luo Qiuzhen had reached Li Baidao's corpse.

The body had been piled on a stone. The head, arms, torso, and thighs had all been cut apart, then pieced back together. It looked like a human jigsaw puzzle.

The attacker had been so vicious that it was no wonder Xi Jiang had jumped to that conclusion.

But Luo Qiuzhen didn't see it that way. What mattered more to him were the wounds on Li Baidao's body.

"There are traces of spell attacks. The highest-grade talisman was seventh grade. He fought a bitter battle before he died. His true essence was exhausted, and his Hualun had collapsed. That suggests his opponent was somewhat stronger than him, but not by much... No, his opponent may not have been stronger. His vital essence was depleted. The boy had been on quite a spree before his death... His opponent probably chose this moment deliberately. Have someone find out which brothel he visited before he died."

"So you think it was probably an early-stage Hualun cultivator?" Xi Jiang asked.

"That's possible." Luo Qiuzhen looked around, frowning. "The trees around here have all been cut down. There are signs of disturbance in the ground, and traces of magic power remain. The attacker used at least wood- and earth-type spells... Hmm?"

Luo Qiuzhen suddenly thought of Huaiyin Mountain.

When Li Guiling and the others died back then, the trees in the area had also all been cut down, leaving no traces behind.

Judging by the method, it was very likely the same person.

But the strength didn't add up!

The people at Huaiyin Mountain couldn't have been above the mid-stage Cang Xiang Realm. To kill Li Baidao, even with Li Baidao exhausted, the attacker would have to be at least in the Hualun Realm.

Unless the opponent had some other trump card he didn't know about.

Luo Qiuzhen examined the scene carefully and suddenly realized that although every trace here had been destroyed, one thing remained.

The stone on which Li Baidao's body had been arranged.

Luo Qiuzhen walked over to examine it, probing it with magic as he murmured, "This stone was moved here from somewhere else. Why go to the trouble of bringing in a stone..."

Luo Qiuzhen suddenly remembered the strange incident from earlier. A sense of danger abruptly rose in his heart. "Oh no!"

Boom!

The boulder suddenly exploded, its fragments spraying toward Luo Qiuzhen like a storm of blades.

At the critical moment, Luo Qiuzhen's body shifted from solid to ethereal. It was the Black and White Divine Palace's Yin-Yang Rotation Method, the Return to Void Spirit Body Technique.

The terrifying rain of stone passed through him and struck several other disciples of the Inspection Hall, sending a towering fountain of blood into the air.

Just as Luo Qiuzhen thought he had escaped disaster, blood also gushed from Li Baidao's scattered corpse before him.

Black blood!

The Corrosive Blood Black Tide swallowed Luo Qiuzhen whole...