Divine Descent

"You..." Zhao Sheng glared fixedly at Yaoguang. "Cough, cough... Who on earth... are you..." *Chrrk!* Yaoguang withdrew his sword and stepped back. "You don't need to know..." "Heh..." He stared at Yaoguang, seemingly desperate to sear his face into memory. "Yao... guang? This isn't the end..." His body, not yet fully demonized, slid down along the wall and slumped onto the floor. Dark crimson blood quickly spread, soaking and darkening the carpet. The aura of life rapidly drained from him. Yaoguang picked up the Soul-Capturing Orb and, guiding it with spirit intent, swiftly drew a remnant-soul-like wisp into the orb. Outside, however, clamor and rumbling were already resounding, accompanied by the rat-tat-tat of gunfire. Clearly, now was not the time to look through Zhao Sheng's memories. He flicked the bloodstained sword in his hand, perceiving an abnormal blood-and-qi entity rapidly closing in. The instant the room door was violently shoved open... He drew a gun from his clothes. *Bang! Bang! Bang!* Three consecutive shots. Even though the demon barging in had almost completed its transformation, suddenly taking hits from such large-caliber bullets still sent its frame swaying uncontrollably, several blooms of blood bursting across its chest. At the exact moment he fired, Yaoguang lunged forward. Like a cheetah bursting out to hunt, he charged with thunderous speed right before the two-point-three-meter-tall demon. As the demon swayed from the gunfire, its balance unsteady, the gleam of the Shenying Sword swept past in a flurry of sword shadows... This time, the demon did not treat the sword shadows trailing the Shenying Sword as nonexistent like Zhao Sheng had. Reaching out, it seemed to want to seize the blade, but caught only an illusion. Its grasp hit nothing. Before shock could even set in, the demon felt its surroundings spin wildly. In its soaring, rapidly spinning vision, it seemed to catch sight of a vaguely familiar headless figure... Was that... "My body?" The next second, it saw a figure sprint past as gunshots rang out once more. Only then did it suddenly realize its own condition. *My head... fell off?* Terror, mingled with chill, numbness, and the darkness that swiftly followed, quickly swallowed its consciousness. ... On the other side. Yaoguang burst straight out of the room. Directly ahead, several figures were rushing toward him. Yet as they raised their firearms to aim, Yaoguang aimed and pulled the trigger a step faster than them. A Grandmaster's reaction and firing speed might only be half a second faster than a Martial Artist or Martial Master, but a half-second advantage... Was already enough for Yaoguang to face these armed men poised for combat as though walking through an empty field. Meanwhile, at the entrance of the manor, the men Zong Yan brought had already engaged the remaining Xie Family Manor elites. Because Yaoguang was breaching from within, these prepared elites were forced to divert part of their forces upstairs to intercept him, taking a massive load off Zong Yan and his team. As for the elites rushing upstairs... Ordinary armed personnel could not even fire a shot before Yaoguang. Some demons reacted sharply, but before Yaoguang, they had nowhere to hide. Using the terrain for cover, whenever a demon tried to lead the charge, it inevitably met Yaoguang's ambush-like lunges. Though gunshots gave away Yaoguang's location first, when they came face-to-face, one could lock onto his opponent's position instantly, while the other still needed that half-second to search and acquire the target. This created an initiative gap. Seizing this split-second opening, Yaoguang would typically suppress them with gunfire first, then burst forward at top speed to execute an up-close assassination. One step faster meant every step faster! With such a simple, unadorned tactic, by the time he reached the main hall, five of the twelve red dots across the battlefield—including Zhao Sheng—had already been extinguished beneath his blade. Such rapid losses seemed to finally make Xie Yusheng below, who was also a vice-leader tier figure, sense the danger. While Yaoguang was clearing out the other demons, Xie Yusheng's aura surged relentlessly, directly manifesting his true body nearly three meters tall. An aura far surpassing that of a Grandmaster emanated from him. *Boom!* Seizing the opening when Yaoguang struck down the fifth demon, the second-floor flooring was ruptured as if struck by an artillery shell, instantly fracturing and collapsing. Yaoguang, standing right above that section, lost his footing and plunged toward the ground floor. However, every demon's movement trajectory was clearly laid out in Yaoguang's perception under his Perception secret technique. Though Xie Yusheng, having manifested his true body, brought down the second-floor flooring with a thunderous blow to force Yaoguang into a freefall, Yaoguang had already adjusted his balance as he plummeted. Gripping the sword with both hands, he rode the falling momentum and thrust down straight toward Xie Yusheng's head. "Die!" Amid the chilling sword gleam, Xie Yusheng let out a low roar. His explosive demon arm, churning up shattered masonry, swung straight up at Yaoguang—clearly intending to tear Yaoguang apart even if it meant taking a sword strike. No! Because of the angle and the length of Xie Yusheng's transformed arm, nine times out of ten, his sky-rocketing punch would strike Yaoguang's body before the sword could pierce his skull. Outside the doors, Zong Yan, who was facing off against a demon, couldn't help shouting in alarm at the sight. "Watch out!" Yet Yaoguang was currently in free fall, suspended in midair with nothing to push off. Perhaps by twisting his body he could narrowly evade Xie Yusheng's punch, but if he did... A tempest of follow-up attacks from Xie Yusheng would inevitably crash down on him next. Realizing this, Zong Yan's aura blazed furiously, unleashing his Martial Saint power without holding back anything. Yet the demon blocking his path had also manifested its true body. Although its demonic physique could not match a Martial Saint's, its consummate combat skills still pinned him down tightly for the moment. Furthermore, another demon that had manifested its true body coordinated its assault alongside it. No matter how Zong Yan gave his all, he was still too late to save Yaoguang. ... In contrast to Zong Yan's frantic anxiety. The falling Yaoguang had made up his mind in an instant. He did not dodge in the slightest! Allowing the demonized Xie Yusheng's skyward punch to hurtle straight toward his body, Yaoguang violently hurled the Shenying Sword downward from his two-handed grip in midair. The split second before Xie Yusheng's fist force could strike his body, the blade of the Shenying Sword pierced through Xie Yusheng's skull first, sinking all the way to the hilt. When the brave meet on a narrow path, the bolder prevails! In a life-and-death struggle, every split second had to be fought for! For life and death hung on a single fleeting instant. One step back meant eternal damnation! *Boom!* Carried by inertia, Xie Yusheng's soaring strike slammed into Yaoguang's body with undiminished force. In an instant, the exploding kinetic force dispersed all the floating dust overhead, forming a shockwave of swirling debris. Under the onslaught of this savage force, Yaoguang was blasted backward instead of hitting the floor. Not only did he shoot back up to the second floor through the gaping hole, but the residual force slammed him hard against the second-floor ceiling, shattering its decorations to pieces. Immediately after, his body began to fall once more... Below, two demons that had manifested their true bodies snarled, lunging straight toward him as he fell. Yet, just as he was about to crash back down to the first floor after taking that heavy blow and face the combined assault of the two demons, a terrifying glint burst from his eyes. Guided by spirit intent, the injuries from the punch that had nearly torn his body apart were instantly suppressed. A chilling sword light carrying boundless sharpness slashed down toward the two pouncing demons. Divine Descent!