An Eye for an Eye

"The Feng Household!"

Kong Wenxuan roared in anger and turned toward the source of the pair of "wind wings" that had slashed at him. A Feng Household man at the Qi Refinement Eighth Layer was charging over like a gust of wind, shouting as he came:

"Kong Household brat, I had my eye on that fire spirit first. Step aside!"

As he spoke, the pair of blade-like "wind wings" that had cut through the Azure Wood sword light wheeled around and slashed at the fire spirit that had escaped.

"Hmph! You're asking for a beating!"

Kong Wenxuan snorted coldly. The Yellow Earth Divine Sword guarding him shot out in an instant, crashing down like a massive sword-shaped stone stele. Though the Feng Household man cultivated the power of wind and moved with great speed, dodging left and right in the air, he could not escape the Yellow Earth Divine Sword's lock and was struck on the spot.

A heavy sword had no edge; Great Skill Appears Unrefined! It excelled at using clumsiness to overcome finesse. No matter how swiftly or deftly one dodged, it was hard to escape the attacks of Great Skill Appears Unrefined.

"Wah..."

The Feng Household man had only a feather robe for defense. The Yellow Earth Divine Sword smashed through it on the spot and grievously wounded his body, making him spew a great mouthful of blood.

"Kong Household brat, you're courting death!"

Grievously wounded, the Feng Household man flew into a rage. He immediately recalled the pair of blade-like "wind wings" that had already grievously wounded the fire spirit, wheeling them around in midair to slash at Kong Wenxuan.

By then, however, Kong Wenxuan had also recalled the Yellow Earth Divine Sword. It bloomed with earthy yellow sword light, shielding him like a stone door and blocking the incoming "wind wings."

The "wind wings" delivered hundreds upon thousands of slashes in an instant, cutting even the wind apart, yet they could not break through the Yellow Earth Divine Sword's defense.

At the same time, Kong Wenxuan divided his attention to control his other two divine swords. The Azure Wood Divine Sword continued using Sword Light Differentiation, enveloping and trapping the fire spirit grievously wounded by the Feng Household man, then raining down an unbroken succession of Azure Wood sword light upon it. The Black Water Divine Sword changed direction, its Sword Momentum Like the Tide thrusting straight at the Feng Household cultivator.

The Feng Household cultivator's only defensive Law Artifact, his "feather robe," had been destroyed. Faced with the Black Water Divine Sword's thrusts surging toward him like waves, he did not dare resist them head-on. He could only curse and recall the pair of blade-like "wind wings" formed by his bloodline Divine Ability to fend off the sword.

But Kong Wenxuan had no intention of letting him off so easily. As the man recalled his "wind wings," Kong Wenxuan also sent his protective Yellow Earth Divine Sword after them, slashing at him.

Faced with the Black Water Divine Sword's tidal assault and the Yellow Earth Divine Sword's Great Skill Appears Unrefined slashes, the Feng Household cultivator could not escape the two divine swords' attacks, no matter how swiftly his blade-like "wind wings" slashed or how he wrapped himself in azure wind and dodged from side to side. He was struck and grievously wounded time and again.

Kraa!

The first to give out, however, was not the Feng Household man, but the First-Tier Late Stage flamingo fire spirit he had already grievously wounded. Under the continuous slashes of the sword light split off from the Azure Wood Divine Sword Kong Wenxuan controlled, it ultimately failed to escape. With a shriek, it was slain on the spot.

The Azure Wood Divine Sword used Sword Light Differentiation to sweep back the First-Tier Late Stage spirit fire left when the flamingo fire spirit broke apart. Kong Wenxuan put it away, then immediately urged the Azure Wood Divine Sword to use Sword Light Differentiation again, slashing at the Feng Household cultivator.

The Feng Household man had already been hard-pressed to defend himself against the Yellow Earth Divine Sword and the Black Water Divine Sword. Now, with the Azure Wood Divine Sword using Sword Light Differentiation joining in, he found it even harder to hold out and was knocked to the ground on the spot.

Had the circumstances been different, he would have had no qualms about delivering a killing blow and would surely have slain the man outright.

Even so, Kong Wenxuan did not let him off lightly. Not only did he grievously wound him and temporarily deprive him of the strength to fight again, he also drove the three divine swords' Sword Qi into his body. Expelling that Sword Qi would be no easy task.

Though the cultivators of the various households present paid attention to the fight between Kong Wenxuan and the Feng Household man, none intervened.

Even the cultivators of the Kong Household and Feng Household merely kept watch on one another as they slaughtered fire spirits, wary of the other side joining forces to gang up on someone.

They were all servant cultivator households of the Du Household. The various households naturally formed and broke alliances and clashed over conflicting interests from time to time, but as long as there was no large-scale fighting or loss of life, the Du Household would not interfere much.

But now they were exterminating enemies under the Du Household's leadership, so Kong Wenxuan could hardly kill someone in front of the Du Household and Feng Household cultivators.

Thus, he had merely grievously wounded the man and left him unable to fight.

He then looked up and swept his gaze over the other Feng Household members, quickly locking onto a Feng Household cultivator who was killing a First-Tier Late Stage fire spirit. The fire spirit was humanoid and had already been grievously wounded by the cultivator; it would not be long before he killed it.

Without the slightest hesitation, Kong Wenxuan immediately sent out both the Azure Wood Divine Sword and the Black Water Divine Sword. The Azure Wood Divine Sword split its sword light in midair, blocking the pair of blade-like "wind wings" controlled by the Feng Household cultivator, while the Black Water Divine Sword's sword force surged like a tide straight at the grievously wounded humanoid fire spirit.

At the same time, he gave him a taste of his own medicine, shouting, "Feng Household brat, I had my eye on that fire spirit first. Step aside!"

Kong Wenxuan had chosen to snatch a fire spirit from a Feng Household cultivator partly to retaliate in kind, and partly because there were no unclaimed First-Tier Late Stage fire spirits left on the field.

Not many First-Tier Late Stage fire spirits had emerged from the volcano to begin with, and more than forty Qi Refinement cultivators from the Du Household and its four servant cultivator households were surrounding and killing the fire spirits. Those at the First-Tier Late Stage, which could yield First-Tier Superior-Grade spirit fire, were naturally their primary targets and had swiftly been divided among them.

Otherwise, a Feng Household cultivator would not have tried to snatch Kong Wenxuan's target just as he had locked onto his third First-Tier Late Stage fire spirit.

The First-Tier Late Stage fire spirits on the field had now either been killed by the various households' cultivators or locked onto by others who were in the process of killing them. There were no unclaimed ones left for him to kill.

So if he wanted to collect more First-Tier Superior-Grade spirit fire, he could only snatch someone else's prey.

"How dare you!"

"Kong Household brat, don't go too far!"

Seeing that Kong Wenxuan had not only grievously wounded one of their own but also tried to snatch their prey, the Feng Household cultivators could no longer sit still. They shouted angrily, and some even abandoned the fire spirits they were fighting, ready to attack him.

"Feng Household cultivators, don't you dare!"

As soon as the Feng Household cultivators made a move, the Kong Household members immediately confronted them, squaring off against those who had stirred as though ready to start a free-for-all on the spot.

For a moment, the battlefield where they were slaughtering the fire spirits grew tense and chaotic. Some fire spirits even seized the chance to break free and attempt to flee.

"Enough! Focus on the task of exterminating the fire spirits first!"

At that moment, the Feng Household head looked up at Du Zikai and the Kong Household head, Kong Changgeng, who were besieging the Second Tier flamingo Demon Beast into which the Lie Household head had transformed. Then he held back the Feng Household cultivators from acting and gave the order in a low voice.

Though the Feng Household cultivators still looked resentful, they ultimately obeyed their household head. They stopped confronting the Kong Household members and turned to vent their anger on the fire spirits that had escaped.

Seeing this, the dozen or so Kong Household members gave a few cold laughs and likewise resumed slaughtering fire spirits.

At that moment, the humanoid fire spirit let out a furious roar. Kong Wenxuan finally snatched it from the Feng Household cultivator and killed it on the spot, successfully obtaining his fourth portion of First-Tier Superior-Grade spirit fire.