Su Zhenglong listened to the voices around him, and his eyes dimmed again.
Suddenly, Sikong Jing ignored the swaggering Su Shan and pointed the tip of his blade at Su Xuefeng.
"Su Xuefeng, the only reason I've held back until now is that my father-in-law wanted to give you a statue. He hoped it would change your heart."
As he spoke, Sikong Jing shifted the tip of his blade toward the statue that had been reduced to rubble. His voice brimmed with killing intent. "Now that you've personally destroyed Grandmother Yuexi's statue, it's as if you personally killed Su Shan."
"You have no heart and no conscience. So there's no reason for me, Sikong Jing, to show you any more mercy."
His calm yet furious voice rang across the entire hall. Sikong Jing stood with his blade in hand, his domineering aura bursting forth!
Everyone stared at Sikong Jing, then burst into thunderous laughter.
"This criminal sure knows how to talk big. Anyone who didn't know better would think he was the one at the fifth level of the Dark Realm."
"And he won't show any more mercy? Does he mean he won't show any mercy as he goes off to die?"
"Su Zhenglong, your son-in-law sure is entertaining. Even when he's about to die, he wants to make a grand spectacle of it, spouting such bold words!"
Once again, Luo Tong delivered the last remark.
He could barely keep from clutching his stomach. He was laughing so hard it hurt.
Su Zhenglong could only give a bitter smile. Mei Xiaofang couldn't utter a word. She cursed under her breath, then looked at her daughter, Su Yuexi, in her miserable state and couldn't help breaking into tears again.
Sikong Jing, however, listened to the voices around him with cold eyes, completely unmoved.
Suddenly, he pointed his blade again. "Su Xuefeng, I'll show you right now what martial skill was hidden inside the Green Jade Slate that you personally ordered Su Yun to smash... Combat Art: Mad Blade Rage!"
With a low shout, Sikong Jing shot forward like a clap of thunder. His blade swept out like the wild charge of a battle horn, slashing toward Su Shan.
Su Shan was laughing too, but the moment he felt the power in Sikong Jing's blade, his expression changed abruptly. He instinctively unleashed the second of the Golden Thunder Eight Blades to block Sikong Jing's Mad Blade.
Boom!
Blades flashed in all directions. Though Sikong Jing had only Bright Realm ninth-level true qi gathered in his blade, he sent Su Shan's blade aura flying apart.
Su Shan staggered back three steps, and the whole hall was stunned!
Sikong Jing landed expressionlessly. Under the horrified gazes of everyone present, he shouted again, "Su Xuefeng, do you know why I gave you a gift?"
"Because I didn't want my father-in-law and you to turn against each other, father and son. I also hoped Yuexi could receive the love and care of her elders."
"But you refuse to repent!"
As his words fell, Sikong Jing raised his blade and charged again.
He fixed his gaze on Su Shan and continued, "Even among Profound Grade Low Tier martial arts, there are different levels. The Su Clan's Golden Thunder Eight Blades is merely the lowest-grade Profound Grade Low Tier art. Now, take a good look at the strongest Profound Grade Low Tier martial art."
His blade aura flashed and trembled. Sikong Jing surged forward with invincible momentum and roared, "Mad Blade Suppress!"
Su Shan roared at the oncoming blade, "No matter how powerful your martial art is, you're still just a little nobody at the Bright Realm. I don't believe—argh!"
Before he could finish speaking, Sikong Jing's Mad Blade struck. Su Shan felt a sharp pain in his tiger's mouth as the true qi of his fifth-level Dark Realm was crushed beneath it. Sikong Jing's blade weighed as heavily as a thousand catties.
Su Shan staggered backward again and again, blood flowing from his tiger's mouth. He stared fixedly at Sikong Jing, who had just landed lightly on the ground once more.
By now, the entire hall had fallen silent. There was no more laughter. Everyone stared at Sikong Jing with wide eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing.
Just two strikes, and Su Shan had been beaten back twice!
Su Xuefeng was stunned. He couldn't believe it, and his old face flushed red.
Su Zhenglong trembled violently, gaping in shock, his heart surging like a tide.
In Mei Xiaofang's arms, Su Yuexi sat upright. She saw hope that her husband would survive, saw him standing invincible.
"This Profound Grade Low Tier combat art is a slaughter technique from the battlefield. It's called Wild Blade Rampage."
Sikong Jing's voice rang out again. He had received this combat art in his second year in the Great Shang army, when he entered the Elite Battalion. He had been only thirteen years old, yet he had rampaged through the ranks with his blade.
That was when he first revealed his brilliance!
Wild Blade Rampage was the foundation of Sikong Jing's true rise. Back then, his enemies had been terrified into fleeing before the young him.
"Wild Blade Rampage has only six strikes. The extraordinary martial intent on the Green Jade Slate was carved by an... unknown general from the Great Shang Dynasty."
As Sikong Jing said this, pain and longing flashed through his eyes.
He was that unknown general.
Within the territory of the Great Shang Dynasty, few people outside the imperial capital knew him by the name Sikong Jing. They knew only the Invincible Divine General, only that legendary, invincible man. His name, however, had scarcely been passed down.
Looking back now, perhaps Emperor Yan Tianmo had done this on purpose, to keep his reputation from growing too great.
Putting those thoughts away, Sikong Jing looked at Su Shan again. "There are four strikes left. Let's see if you can take them."
"Third strike: Mad Blade Annihilate!"
His blade flashed again, its force seeming to split the heavens. Slash!
Su Shan gritted his teeth. He refused to believe that someone at the fifth level of the Dark Realm could truly lose to someone at the ninth level of the Bright Realm. He unleashed the Golden Thunder Eight Blades in a frantic flurry.
Boom!
Another thunderous crash rang out. The violent golden thunder in Su Shan's blade was chopped into pieces, and with a cry, he crashed heavily to the ground.
He spat blood and was defeated.
"Xiaoshan!"
Su Zhengtao lunged in front of Su Shan, shouting in shock and agitation.
At the same time, Su Xuefeng strode over. He couldn't let them keep fighting. Otherwise, Su Shan would surely die from the next strike.
"Too bad you only managed to take three strikes. You're truly weak. But Su Zhengtao can take your place." Sikong Jing's gaze fixed on Su Zhengtao, the chief culprit behind the misery of Su Yuexi's family.
Then Sikong Jing raised his head and said, "Father-in-law, help me hold off Su Xuefeng."
Su Zhenglong froze. Su Shan had already been defeated, and Sikong Jing still wanted to fight?
Did Sikong Jing mean to fight Su Zhengtao too?
He opened his mouth to dissuade him, but beneath Sikong Jing's terrifying aura, Su Zhenglong couldn't say a word. In the end, he unleashed his true qi, reaching the Human Realm, and darted sideways to block Su Xuefeng.
"Father, since this is a life-and-death duel between the younger generation, you should watch from the sidelines."
Su Zhenglong's voice was low and resolute. The moment his mother's statue was destroyed, his heart had all but died toward his father.
Hearing this, Su Xuefeng stopped. Human Realm true qi surged toward Su Zhenglong as he snapped coldly, "Get out of my way!"
Just then, Sikong Jing's voice rang out again. "Mad Blade Absolute!"
Aimed at Su Zhengtao and Su Shan, Sikong Jing unleashed his fourth strike with brutal force. If any soldiers from the army had witnessed such a display of Wild Blade Rampage, they would have cried out in astonishment.
This was no longer the same Mad Blade as before. It seemed to roar like a monster, its claws tearing through the void.
Su Zhengtao's face twisted into a grimace. He grabbed Su Shan's blade and swept it across, still using the Su Clan's Golden Thunder Eight Blades. But Su Zhengtao was at the eighth level of the Dark Realm, and his strength was greater.
Thunderous crashes echoed through the banquet hall as countless tables and plates shattered.
Su Zhengtao stood coldly. He had blocked Sikong Jing's fourth strike without taking a step back.
"What a life-and-death duel! What a fight between the younger generation! Could you people be any more shameless?"
Mei Xiaofang's shrill voice rang out, full of scorn.
This was practically a joke. They had agreed to a life-and-death duel, yet Su Zhengtao, an elder, had stepped in.
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