Kill

A streak of sword light burst forth from the rubble. Although Yan Chihuo had been struck a few times, he twisted and turned his body in mid-air, dissipating most of the force and sustaining only minor superficial wounds.

The old man had never expected Yan Chihuo to be so ferocious, nor that his luck would be so good. He hurriedly attempted to use Earth Shrinking Step, but the cave was narrow, and he had retreated into an even tighter corner to avoid Yan Chihuo's previous strike, which inevitably compromised the technique's effectiveness. Had they been on open ground, he would have traveled dozens of feet in an instant and unleashed Falling Rock Art; Yan Chihuo would have been beaten to death without any chance of closing the distance.

But the space was cramped, leaving him little room to dodge, allowing Yan Chihuo to engage him in a mutual-destruction style of combat.

Unexpectedly, Yan Chihuo anticipated his move. The moment the old man initiated Earth Shrinking Step, Yan Chihuo thrust his sword into empty air. With a clang, the old man blocked the strike with his Green Jade Staff, but his Earth Shrinking Step was disrupted.

Yan Chihuo knew this was a rare opportunity and must not give his opponent any breathing room; otherwise, with even a few feet of space, the power of Earth Shrinking Step would increase significantly.

His escape from the Falling Rock Art earlier had relied on his Spiritual Eye to find gaps in the debris, but breaking the old man's Earth Shrinking Step was purely a matter of judgment, as the old man had been fleeing toward the only spacious area in the cave.

Yan Chihuo swung his longsword rapidly, sending waves of Sword Qi surging outward. At this moment, his years of experience as an assassin were fully unleashed. Every strike was either a move that forced the enemy to defend or a calculated block that cut off the opponent's path, preventing him from advancing. Even though he was wounded, he seemed not to feel it at all.

In terms of cultivation and spells, he was far inferior to his opponent, but when it came to battlefield adaptability and accuracy of judgment, the old man was far behind; after all, as a cultivator, he was accustomed to relying on spells, not these methods.

The old man grew increasingly frustrated. His opponent's predictions were nearly always accurate, forcing him to weaken his own attacks. Furthermore, he could not freely use Falling Rock Art in this space, as both he and Yan Chihuo were within its range.

That was not all; the opponent's mutual-destruction tactics were a massive headache. "Mutual destruction" was easy to say but difficult to execute. To show no hesitation when facing life and death—what kind of courage was that?

Moreover, the opponent had already launched dozens of attacks, each one following this same style. Even the most fearless person would see their sword technique fall into disarray under such high-tension nerves, yet Yan Chihuo's strikes were fluid and flawless. The old man cursed inwardly, wondering if the boy's nerves were made of steel.

Just as the old man was debating whether to risk injury to break through the sword blockade, he saw Yan Chihuo wave his left hand. Five rays of light emerged from his fingertips, forming a giant hand that grabbed the Green Jade Staff, while his right hand thrust his sword directly at the old man's head. This was a lethal blow!

The old man let out an angry snort, a layer of stone armor manifesting over his body. He lunged forward, forcibly yanking the Green Jade Staff from the giant hand, while Yan Chihuo's sword struck his head.

Sparks flew, but the sword failed to pierce the stone armor. The old man was stunned; while Stone Armor Art was quite defensive, it shouldn't have been strong enough to withstand a full-force strike from a peer.

A thought flashed through his mind: the boy's Talisman Artifact was too weak. But then he saw Yan Chihuo slam his body into him, clearly intending to block his path. It seemed that since the sword strike hadn't suppressed him, the opponent was now truly fighting for his life.

Having finally gained this opportunity, the old man would not risk any mistakes. He struck out with his palm, colliding with Yan Chihuo's, and used the force to leap away, landing in a more open area.

The old man laughed heartily. Although this clearing was less than ten feet across, his opponent's mutual-destruction style would no longer work here, and it was impossible to injure him with Sword Qi. After all, Yan Chihuo hadn't even been able to break his Stone Armor Art with his sword, let alone with Sword Qi.

He dispelled his Stone Armor Art and waved the Green Jade Staff, causing countless rocks to fall from the ceiling. Yan Chihuo swung his sword to parry and block, a layer of stone armor appearing on his own body, looking extremely disheveled.

The old man felt a surge of triumph. As he waved the jade staff again, his expression suddenly changed, and he cried out, "You..." He saw that the skin exposed outside his clothes—his face, hands, and neck—had turned completely black. He had clearly been poisoned. His body swayed twice before he collapsed to the ground, dissolving into a puddle of black liquid within moments.

Yan Chihuo finally let out a sigh of relief. When they had collided earlier, he had struck the old man with his palm, transmitting the potent poison. Had the old man not dispelled his Stone Armor Art, the toxin would have taken longer to invade his body; but by removing the armor, the poison entered his system and acted rapidly, killing him instantly.

Yan Chihuo sat on the ground, gasping for air, drenched in sweat, with blood seeping from his wounds through his tattered clothes. This was the most desperate situation he had faced in years. On the surface, he had maintained the initiative, but he knew deep down that if his judgment had faltered even slightly, it would be he lying on the ground instead.

He picked up the Green Jade Staff and examined the restrictions on it. As expected, they were similar to the snake scale he possessed, containing only the composite restrictions for Falling Rock, Stone Armor, and Earth Shrinking, but lacking the Imprisoning Earth restriction. Had the old man used Imprisoning Earth, even if Yan Chihuo's calculations had been ten times more precise, he would have been walking to his death. Although the Green Jade Staff had eighteen layers of restrictions, the jade core itself was mediocre, far inferior to his Soul-Breaking Sword.

He still couldn't figure out how the old man had discovered him entering the cave; he guessed that the senses of a Body Forging Late Stage cultivator must be much sharper.

He stood up and walked over to the old man's corpse. Although he didn't care for looting the dead, the man had been a Body Forging Late Stage cultivator and likely possessed treasures left by his elders, so his belongings should be substantial.

He searched the body, only to be quite disappointed; the old man had nothing on him. He glanced at the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon and decapitated him with a single stroke. This was not out of cruelty, but to present the head to his sect as proof of the kill.

Next, he untied the bulging pack from the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon's waist, and his eyes lit up. The pack contained eight Jade Crystals and a stack of silver notes worth at least a hundred thousand taels. But what caught Yan Chihuo's attention most was a yellow Talisman and a Yellow Jade Blade.