Scheming (Part 2)

Chapter 39: Calculation (Part 2)

This strike came with lightning speed, vicious and ruthless—it was a blade of absolute desperation.

Even Ning Ye had not expected Li Baidao to risk his life with a counterattack in such a situation, let alone one so ferocious.

He was truly worthy of being a disciple of Chang Duanhun.

Facing this strike, Ning Ye had no way to dodge and nowhere to hide.

So he neither dodged nor retreated; he charged straight into the blade.

In that instant, all his essence, energy, and spirit were pushed to the limit. Several layers of talismanic radiance manifested on his body, enveloping him in golden light.

Li Baidao slashed down. The shield vanished, the barrier shattered like bursting mist, and at the same time, an astonishing blade intent erupted from Ning Ye's body. Every inch of him radiated a terrifying sharpness.

With no retreat left, he fought with his life on the line!

Clang!

The dust-filled battlefield erupted with the crisp sound of metal clashing. Amidst the flying sparks, Ning Ye was sent flying, blood spraying from his body like a fountain.

Simultaneously, countless blade marks appeared all over Li Baidao's body, as if a thousand blades had scraped across him, truly living up to his name.

Yet, even so, Ning Ye's injuries were far more severe than Li Baidao's.

The strike had pierced through Ning Ye's entire body. Had it not been for his talismanic shield, the infusion of his golden body, and the fact that Li Baidao's strength had been greatly sapped by his hedonistic lifestyle and the exhaustion of the illusions, he likely would have been cut in two.

As expected, being a full major realm behind was simply impossible to overcome!

Blood sprayed wildly from Ning Ye's body, but he didn't even look at it. He poked several points on his body in rapid succession to stem the bleeding. Li Baidao, meanwhile, exclaimed in shock, "Body Killing Blade? How is that possible?"

He had finally seized an opportunity, thinking his opponent was skilled in illusions and formations but weak in physical combat, yet he hadn't expected him to be a tough nut who practiced the Body Killing Blade, preventing him from killing his opponent in one strike.

Having missed this chance, it would be difficult to kill him again.

The next moment, Ning Ye lunged forward once more.

Since he had already used the Body Killing Blade, he would see it through to the end. In an instant, Ning Ye unleashed a flurry of punches, kicks, elbow strikes, and knee thrusts, utilizing every joint and part of his body. Blade energy surged, and yellow sand filled the sky.

If Zhang Liekuang were here, he would surely be pleased—Ning Ye had indeed succeeded; he knew when to use trickery and when to fight with his life!

But while he wanted to fight, Li Baidao no longer did.

Ning Ye was more severely injured, yet his momentum was soaring and his strength remained undiminished, while Li Baidao was at the end of his rope and could no longer unleash a strike like the one before.

Realizing his opponent's identity, he had no heart for the fight. He let out a long hiss, and a black-and-white wheel of light appeared behind his head—it was his Hualun Realm manifestation.

Once the manifestation appeared, it hummed with a thunderous roar.

Li Baidao drew power from his Hualun Realm with near-maniacal intensity, even at the cost of suffering severe damage to his own cultivation. At the same time, the blade in his hand shattered, turning into countless fragments that swept outward.

The blade edges were like rain, dancing in streams of blood-red light. Under the influence of this light, all the yellow sand and giant trees were ground into powder.

Li Baidao shrieked as he retreated, "I will remember you!"

"It's useless!" Ning Ye spat out in a cold, icy tone, blood still seeping from his wounds.

He pressed one hand downward, and the space seemed to solidify, leaving Li Baidao unable to take a single step.

"Sun Shadow Xuanji Array?" Li Baidao was horrified. "This is a formation of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect? So you are a remnant of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect!"

In that moment, Li Baidao finally understood.

The Sun Shadow Xuanji Array was indeed one of the formations of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect, and it was the strongest one Ning Ye could currently master. Once deployed, its mysteries were infinite.

Ning Ye could not yet fully unleash the power of this array, but it was enough to deal with Li Baidao.

Seeing Ning Ye lunging at him again, Li Baidao was both shocked and furious.

Having no desire to continue the battle, he pulled a talisman from his body: an Escape Light Talisman!

This item was indeed a great treasure for escaping, but having gone through the battles with Li Guiling and Yue Xiuxiu, how could Ning Ye not be prepared?

The moment Li Baidao transformed into light to flee, Ning Ye sneered, "Sun Wheel, slash!"

A radiance lit up from the array like a rising sun, cleaving down toward Li Baidao.

Even though Li Baidao had already turned into light to escape, the Sun Wheel strike similarly transformed into light to pursue him, merging with his trail. A miserable scream rang out as Li Baidao was forced out of his light-escape, one of his legs severed from his body.

Ning Ye walked over. "You know of the Sun Shadow Xuanji Array, but you don't know that the Sun is for killing and the Shadow is for illusion. To dare to flee by turning into light—isn't that just throwing yourself into the net?"

"Go to hell!" Li Baidao shouted as he slapped the ground and flew up, the Hualun behind his head spinning and unleashing endless blade light.

This desperate strike from a mid-stage Hualun cultivator was immensely powerful, instantly piercing through Ning Ye's body, only to reveal it was merely an illusory phantom.

Ning Ye's voice drifted over like a ghost, "I already told you: Sun for killing, Shadow for illusion. You still don't know your mistake."

Slash!

Blade light rose behind Li Baidao's head.

Li Baidao tried to resist, but countless mud and stones from the ground climbed up his body; it was the Strange Tianji exerting its full power to bind him firmly in place.

The blade light rose, the head flew, and blood sprayed into the air.

Li Baidao's head rolled in the air, his eyes wide with rage.

He died with his eyes wide open in resentment!

"Hoo! Finally done."

Watching Li Baidao collapse, Ning Ye let out a long sigh of relief.

This guy was truly difficult to deal with; to kill him, Ning Ye had been forced to use every single one of his methods.

Tianji's little head poked out from the ground, looking somewhat embarrassed: "It is my incompetence; I couldn't be of much help."

In terms of cultivation realm, Tianji's cultivation was much higher than Ning Ye's, so logically, it should have been the main force.

But the reality was that in this battle, Ning Ye was the main force, while Tianji acted as support.

Ning Ye didn't blame it: "This isn't your fault. Although you have the Hualun Realm, you lack the techniques corresponding to that level. But don't worry, I will teach you slowly. As long as you study hard, you can make up for your shortcomings."

"Yes!" Tianji was overjoyed.

Having killed Li Baidao, Ning Ye said: "Alright, let's move on to the next step."

Before dawn had even broken, Luo Qiuzhen received the news.

Arriving at the small pavilion, he saw that the area around the corpse had already been cordoned off, with no one allowed to approach.

His subordinate, named Xi Jiang, came to Luo Qiuzhen's side: "The deceased is Li Baidao. He was hacked to pieces; the state of the body is horrific. It might be a revenge killing."

Luo Qiuzhen walked toward the corpse: "Do not make casual assumptions before the truth is verified. Do you still not understand this principle?"

His tone was not heavy, but the content was stern, and Xi Jiang lowered his head, not daring to speak.

Luo Qiuzhen had already reached Li Baidao's corpse.

Li Baidao's body was piled onto a rock; his head, arms, torso, and thighs had all been severed and then pieced back together, looking like a human jigsaw puzzle.

With such ruthless methods, it was no wonder Xi Jiang had made that deduction.

Luo Qiuzhen, however, thought otherwise; he was more concerned with the injuries on Li Baidao's body.

"There are traces of spell attacks, the highest being a seventh-grade talisman. He experienced a bitter battle before death; his true essence was drained, and his Hualun Realm foundation collapsed. This shows the opponent's strength should be slightly stronger than his, but not by too much... No, wait. The opponent might not even be as strong as him. His essence was depleted; this kid had a long bout of debauchery before he died... The opponent likely chose this timing on purpose. Have someone investigate which brothel he visited before he died."

"So, that means it should be someone in the early Hualun Realm?" Xi Jiang asked.

"It is possible." Luo Qiuzhen looked around, his brows slightly furrowed: "The surrounding trees were all cleared away, there are traces of fluctuations on the ground, and residual magic power... at least wood-type and earth-type spells were used... Huh?"

Luo Qiuzhen suddenly thought of Huaiyin Mountain.

Back when Li Guiling and the others died, it was the same; all the trees in the vicinity had been cleared, leaving no traces behind.

Judging by this technique, it was very likely the same person.

But the strength didn't match!

The person in Huaiyin Mountain could not have had strength exceeding the mid-Cang Xiang Realm. To kill Li Baidao, even if Li Baidao was over-exhausted, one would need at least the Hualun Realm.

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

Luo Qiuzhen observed carefully and suddenly realized that although all traces here had been destroyed or vanished, there was one thing that hadn't.

That was the rock upon which Li Baidao's corpse had been placed.

Luo Qiuzhen walked over to examine it, probing with spells while muttering to himself: "This rock was moved here from elsewhere. Why go to the trouble of moving a rock over..."

Luo Qiuzhen suddenly recalled the previous strange incidents, and a sense of warning flared in his heart: "Not good!"

BOOM!

The giant rock suddenly exploded, and the shattered fragments showered toward Luo Qiuzhen like sharp blades.

At the critical moment, Luo Qiuzhen's form shifted from solid to void—it was the Yin-Yang Rotation Method of the Black and White Divine Palace, the Return to Void Spirit Body Technique.

The terrifying rain of stone passed through his body, striking several other disciples of the Inspection Hall and spraying a fountain of blood into the sky.

Just as Luo Qiuzhen thought he had escaped the disaster, he saw a spray of blood erupt from Li Baidao's scattered corpse.

Black blood!

The Corrosive Blood Black Tide completely engulfed Luo Qiuzhen...