Battling Ming Xiao

In an instant, the aura surging from Li Guanqi sent a shiver through everyone's souls. Beneath this torrential pressure, the crowd's very breathing faltered. Sensing the shift in Li Guanqi, Ming Xiao's gaze gradually turned solemn as well. If previously on the entire Lingxu Continent Xuan Lin had been the only one below the Soul Formation stage who caught his eye, then now, the person before him would likely have to be counted as another. *Rumble!* "Ghost King: Heaven Slayer!" *Boom!* In a flash, the sky full of yin-nether qi surged wholly into Ming Xiao's body. His features twisted into a ferocious grimace, making him resemble a ravenous fiend. The sword in his hand unleashed an unparalleled, terrifying might. "Soul Release: Shadowless!" As the low shout left Ming Xiao's lips, an unimaginably terrifying, razor-sharp sword intent rose up from the earth. The already invisible longsword now faded into something utterly illusory and ethereal. Suddenly! Ming Xiao flicked his wrist slightly! Li Guanqi's eyes widened instantly. Pouring fierce power into his feet, he snapped his body three feet to the side. *Swish!* Yet he still failed to dodge completely. The robe over his left shoulder was instantly sliced open, and a sizable chunk of flesh was sheared away from his shoulder! Immediately following, the void on Li Guanqi's left—spanning several dozen zhang from his position all the way to Ming Xiao's front—was torn apart with a sharp ripping sound. Circulating the primal energy in his body to stop the bleeding in an instant, Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes slightly and looked toward Ming Xiao's palm. "The sword... grew longer!" Indeed. At that very moment, the sword in Ming Xiao's hand had instantly extended to a length of over twenty zhang! That was why, even though Ming Xiao had merely moved his wrist, the blade had already swept past Li Guanqi. Li Guanqi licked his lips and murmured softly, "Is this the ability of that sword's Soul Release?" Judging by this... the grade of Ming Xiao's Sword Ruins was likely extremely high as well. *Whoosh!* In Li Guanqi's perception, Ming Xiao's body instantly dissolved into a wisp of black smoke and vanished from where he stood. *Buzz!* Li Guanqi's divine sense surged out to cover the heavens and earth! Following the integration of the Heavenly Thunder Bead, the growth speed of Li Guanqi's divine sense had become terrifyingly fast. Likely not even an alchemist at the half-step Void Refinement Realm possessed a divine sense as powerful as his. "Found you!" Li Guanqi whipped his head around and thrust violently with his sword toward a spot a hundred zhang to his side. *Boom! Clang!* Ming Xiao stood ten zhang away from Li Guanqi's flank, his right hand thrusting fiercely forward. In an instant, the tip of Red Lotus collided with the tip of the Shadowless Sword. A terrifying force erupted outward, centered on the two combatants. The blast wave swept across heaven and earth, scattering even the dense, heavy storm clouds gathered in the sky above. The onlookers raised their primal energy barriers one after another to withstand the relentless waves of fearsome shockwaves. Li Guanqi and Ming Xiao exchanged glances, both seeing a searing battle intent in the other's eyes. *Thud!* A muffled blast rang out, sending both hurtling back over ten zhang from the impact. Almost simultaneously, they planted their feet in midair to force their bodies to a halt. The moment they steadied themselves, they lunged forward once more to clash. The void beneath Li Guanqi's feet was stomped into a crater; Ming Xiao's strength at this moment was equally formidable. Employing their movement techniques, both moved with extreme speed, their forms utterly impossible to catch with the naked eye. They could only rely on their powerful divine sense and battle instincts to judge each other's moves. Sword light flashed like lightning with every raise of their hands. Li Guanqi's attacks poured down upon Ming Xiao like a tempestuous storm. Ming Xiao's expression was grim beyond measure as wounds appeared on him one after another. Fortunately, the Ghost King Body possessed tremendous regenerative power. Even so, he had to expend dozens of times more energy than usual to suppress Li Guanqi's lightning power, as well as the might of the two heavenly flames that filled him with dread. Ming Xiao's footwork was exceptionally ethereal, carrying a spectral quality. Even though Li Guanqi's onslaught was ferocious, only thirty to forty percent of his strikes actually landed. Yet Li Guanqi's speed was so overwhelming it truly suffocated Ming Xiao. Every strike seemed on the verge of cleaving into Ming Xiao, only to miss by a hair each time. A cold glint flashed in Ming Xiao's eyes. In an instant, every hair on Li Guanqi's body stood on end, goosebumps breaking out across his arms. An inexplicable chill crept up his spine. Stomping hard against the void, his body—which had been charging straight toward Ming Xiao—abruptly snapped backward by a zhang. *Squelch!* Li Guanqi looked down at his pierced chest, breaking into a cold sweat. Had he been a fraction of a second slower, he would likely have been severely wounded. Yet glancing at the wound gave Li Guanqi a clear grasp of the situation. "Twenty-two zhang!" That was likely the limit of how long Ming Xiao could extend the Shadowless Sword. A flicker of disappointment crossed Ming Xiao's eyes. He had not anticipated Li Guanqi's reaction speed being this fast, managing to evade a thrust delivered from such close quarters. *Whoosh!* Ming Xiao's heart lurched as the afterimage of Li Guanqi before him gradually dissipated. Immediately after, bizarre black flames flared up all around! *Bang!* Ming Xiao discovered in horror that an uncanny flame had ignited deep within his dantian, rabidly devouring the yin-nether power inside him. *Slash! Slash! Slash!* Several terrifying arcs of sword light tore toward him in rapid succession. Without a second thought, Ming Xiao bolted. His body turned into a wisp of black smoke, darting continuously within the sword domain's space. Waves of pitch-black yin-nether power erupted violently. Like a rising tide, the black energy instantly occupied half the void within the Sword Prison. Having unleashed his Yin-Nether Domain, Ming Xiao's speed spiked once more. His hands formed an arcane hand seal, and as his violent yin-nether power churned, it forcibly sealed Li Guanqi's Yinming Profound Flame. Yet just as Ming Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, Li Guanqi's figure materialized behind him. Swinging his sword downward with vicious force, Li Guanqi let out a low, fierce shout: "Demon Shadow Slash: Dark Night!" *Rumble!* The sword light erupted, plunging heaven and earth into sudden gloom, as if all light had vanished for an instant. In the eyes of the crowd, only that abruptly detonating streak of thunderous sword light remained! Ming Xiao's soul shook violently. Forcing his body around, he gripped the hilt with both hands and slashed upward with all his might! Under this explosion of terrifying force, the Shadowless Sword elongated to its absolute limit. "Myriad Ghosts Devour: Netherworld!" The moment this sword strike was unleashed, the phantom of an ebony hall abruptly manifested behind Ming Xiao. The hall doors swung open, and myriad ferocious ghosts swarmed forth. As ten thousand souls shrieked, an arc of pitch-black sword light detonated! Wild winds howled and the earth quaked as the surrounding peaks shattered. The watching cultivators held their breath, transfixed by the sight. Li Guanqi's pupils constricted as well. Without the slightest hesitation, he unleashed another sword strike, twisted his waist, stomped hard upon the void, and drew his blade once more! "Heaven-Shattering Sword Slash: Demon Subduer!" *Boom!* A world-illuminating sword light, entwined with the blistering Purple Dragon Thunder Flame, roared into being. Wherever the radiance passed, all the shrieking ghosts were incinerated into nothingness in an instant. Ming Xiao's pupils shrank to pinpricks, leaving him no choice but to pour out his yin-nether power like mad! "Die!" *Rumble!* *Crash!* The sword light shattered. A darkened figure slumped, kneeling weakly in the void. His torso had been slashed through diagonally. With his head hanging low as he knelt in the air, Ming Xiao's eyes were filled with sheer disbelief. He stared at his body, which had been impaled and slashed through by the sword, heavenly flames burning fiercely along the wound. A feeble murmur slipped from his lips. "I... I act... actually l-lost..." Li Guanqi's chest heaved violently, the robes on his front long since shredded to rags. Having revealed his true form, Li Guanqi's chest was covered in blackened wounds, two of which were through-and-through injuries. Li Guanqi walked toward Ming Xiao and slowly raised Red Lotus.