Killing Xia Tao

"Why are you here?" Fang Yu furrowed his brow, showing no anger. "If you want to blame anyone, blame your own bad luck," Xia Tao said with a smile. Stains of blood lingered on his body alongside two fresh wounds. Clearly, carving his way through the wolf tide to escape had been far from easy. "I saw your rank shoot way up." Xia Tao stared fixedly at Fang Yu. "And the rest of you—your total score rankings all jumped quite a bit... and of my three teammates, only one died." Xia Tao's gaze swept over the others. "I knew right away that you must have driven back the wolf tide. In all likelihood, it was you who killed the wolf king." Fang Yu listened in silence. Though vicious and foolish, Xia Tao had reached this level of cultivation, meaning his powers of observation were by no means poor. Being a fool was not the same as being braindead. "Mm, and this loot confirms my suspicion." Xia Tao pointed at the fiery-eyed black wolf pelt on Bai Chen's back. "Lucky me! "I guessed there was no way you came out unscathed, and you'd most likely take the shortest route back to the space base." Xia Tao sneered. "So I waited here—and what do you know, you actually showed up." Bai Chen and Xiong Meng exchanged a glance, sensing deep trouble. Knowing Xia Tao's character, there was no chance his waiting here meant anything good. "You took so much loot, and your rankings all skyrocketed. "You also took my treasure, and not a single person in your squad died. You made a killing." Xia Tao's eyes turned chillingly cold, his voice dropping into a sinister tone. "And what about me? My coefficient score dropped so much I nearly fell out of the Earth Academy. I lost my treasure, my teammate died... Who's going to make up for my losses?" "If you hadn't run..." Xiong Meng ground out through gritted teeth. Fang Yu abruptly raised a hand, cutting Xiong Meng off entirely. "Xia Tao." Fang Yu looked at him calmly. "Out with it. What do you want? Since you've talked this much, I take it you're not planning to slaughter us all and take the treasure." "Haha." A smile broke across Xia Tao's face. "Good. I like dealing with smart people. Right, I don't blame you, and I won't make things hard for you. I won't ask for anything else—just give me back the Star Jade. "It's what I'm owed anyway," Xia Tao added. Fury flared across the faces of Bai Chen, Xiong Meng, and the others. Fang Yu merely frowned slightly. "What? "Don't want to hand it over?" Xia Tao glared at Fang Yu. "Fang Yu, you're strong enough to kill a wolf king, but your Life Level can't be that high—otherwise, you wouldn't have joined the Scarlet Flame Squad... How long has it been since the battle with the wolf tide? How much of your strength have you even recovered? "My loss is so massive, it must be compensated. If you really force a bloody fight with me, don't blame me if my hand slips later." Xia Tao's eyes were icy. It was a naked threat. "Fang Yu, let's take him on! I can't stomach this anymore," Xiong Meng growled through clenched teeth. The honest, simple man's eyes were rimmed with red. He was closest to Xia Yao, and a bellyful of rage had already been burning inside him. Bai Chen and Qin Yang looked toward Fang Yu as well. Fang Yu shook his head gently and whispered, "We can't beat him." Xiong Meng's face flushed crimson, yet he had nowhere to vent his fury. Bai Chen clenched his fists, equally powerless to let it out. With that, Fang Yu began taking off his backpack and laid down his battle saber. Then, unzipping the pack, he seemed about to retrieve the Star Jade. "That's more like it. Just give me what's mine; I'm not asking for extra." Xia Tao smiled and strolled casually toward Fang Yu. He had done this sort of thing far too many times. Less than twenty meters separated them now. "Xia Tao, here you go." Fang Yu pulled the Star Jade from the backpack and tossed it straight toward Xia Tao. The Star Jade traced a perfect arc through the air, and Xia Tao reached out to catch it. The exact instant his fingers closed around the jade— *Boom!* Fang Yu, who had seemed utterly yielding, moved in a flash. Vertebrae detonated down his spine like a great dragon ascending to the heavens. Dark Force erupted. Swift as lightning, he crossed the twenty meters in a single bound, his fist hurtling toward Xia Tao's skull. "What?" "Fang Yu!" Bai Chen and Qin Yang froze in dazed shock for an instant. They never imagined Fang Yu would strike so decisively. The explosive speed, the raw ferocity of that fist—both surpassed anything they could have imagined. "Damn it!" Xia Tao's expression changed drastically. A gale of fist-wind crashed toward him, rattling his composure. He realized he had miscalculated; agreeing to his demands, even setting down the battle saber, had all been feigned weakness—all for this single explosive moment. "Get lost!" In the end, Xia Tao was a Level 29 expert who had achieved the Great Accomplishment of Entering the Minute. His reflexes were remarkably swift. With no time to draw a weapon and knowing he had lost the initiative, he thrust out a palm, surging with force, to meet the strike and deflect Fang Yu's ferocious punch. *Thud!* Fist collided with palm! Yet there was no dull explosion as Xia Tao had anticipated. At the very last instant before impact, Fang Yu's seemingly unstoppable fist shifted abruptly, deftly slipping past the front of the palm. Then, like a giant python, his arm coiled instantly around Xia Tao's arm. Force pierced into his body like needlepoints. It dug in like steel talons sinking into flesh, sending a wave of agonizing pain through Xia Tao and forcing him to step forward to neutralize the leverage. *Whoosh!* Yet, as though having foreknown the move, Fang Yu raised a leg and kicked upward. With an eruption of Dark Force, a terrifying force of over ten thousand kilograms detonated squarely against Xia Tao's chest. *Crack!* The sound of breaking bone rang out. Even with his combat suit dispersing part of the impact, Xia Tao's bones still shattered. At the same time, a surge of metallic sweetness rushed into his throat, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. That brutal kick had clearly damaged his internal organs. "Ahhh!" Xia Tao howled in agony, his eyes filled with disbelief, as if screaming, *Fang Yu, how dare you—* Xia Tao bit the tip of his tongue, forcing his mind clear. He unleashed his Dark Force with all his might, violently shaking his entrapped arm. The surging power immediately broke Fang Yu's coiling hold. Yet before Xia Tao could even rejoice— *Whoosh!* A metal arrow tore through the air and struck his shoulder in an instant. Its terrifying penetrative force punched straight through the combat suit, plunging deep into flesh and bone.