Slain

Lei Ao was fast, but Yaoguang was faster. As Lei Ao's right foot lashed out toward the wrist holding the sword, Yaoguang flicked his wrist. The thrusting blade snapped ninety degrees in a sharp twist, shifting instantly into a reverse grip. With the grip reversed and the blade turned, the sharp edge pivoted from a horizontal thrust to point straight down. Just as Lei Ao tried to kick off the B-pillar to recoil and disengage, the cold, glinting blade brutally impaled his lunging right calf. *Squelch!* The downward blade, combined with the opposing force of Lei Ao's violent retreat, ripped right through his calf muscle in an instant, sending blood spraying in every direction. Such agony contorted Lei Ao's face into something more hideous than ever before. Yet he forced himself to endure the excruciating pain of his shredded calf. With a low roar, his recoiling body smashed through the opposite car window, bursting through a shower of shattered glass like a trapped dragon bursting from the depths. "You're going to die!" His savage, muffled roar detonated like thunder. Yet almost the instant Lei Ao broke free from the car's confining disadvantage, Yaoguang pounced forward from the other side. He did not pursue him through the interior, however. He took the roof. The moment he lunged, power coiled and sprang from his feet. His body bounced a meter and a half into the air like a compressed spring, skimming over the sedan as though pressed flat against the roof. Lacking enough forward momentum to clear the vehicle, Yaoguang freed his left hand right before he could drop onto the roof and slammed his palm down. Force erupted from his hand. The steel roof yielded under his bare palm, leaving behind a deep handprint that caused visible deformation even from inside the cabin. Borrowing the thrust from that palm strike, Yaoguang shifted two meters forward in midair, swiftly clearing the width of the sedan. By the time Lei Ao burst out of the car thinking he had freed himself to mount a counterattack, Yaoguang had already closed the distance. Like a tiger swooping upon an eagle, he hung in the air barely a meter above him. "You—!?" Lei Ao's pupils dilated in shock. Yaoguang gave him no quarter. The invisible sword in his right hand thrust downward again, aimed straight at Lei Ao's heart. "Damn it!" Lei Ao snarled. A terrifying power seemed to awaken within him at blinding speed. Just as the invisible sword was about to plunge into his flesh, Lei Ao swept his right arm across with impossible speed, gripping the blade of the invisible sword in the nick of time! No! It wasn't a normal hand! Lei Ao's entire right arm had mutated, swelling to nearly twice its original thickness. It looked far more like the claw of a demonic beast than a human limb. Even the sharpness of the invisible sword failed to cut through that thick, scale-covered arm right away. Yet right at that moment, Yaoguang's internal organs vibrated in unison. The force throughout his entire body coalesced in a split second, surging down through his arm to crush downward like Mount Tai itself. Dan jin! This was dan jin—a power mastered only by Martial Saints who had condensed their qi into a core and begun challenging the "inhuman" realm! Sheer terror flashed through Lei Ao's eyes. An instant later, the torrential force blew his claw wide open. The razor-sharp edge tore through his muscle, shattered his ribs, and pierced his heart. At that exact moment, the forward momentum of both men ran out, and they crashed heavily into a puddle on the ground. The impact sent water splashing in all directions. With the blade embedded in his chest, Lei Ao's feral nature broke free completely. He let out a frenzied screech, his frame surging with seemingly endless strength. Yet Yaoguang used grappling locks to pin his entire weight firmly onto Lei Ao's body. He drove a knee hard against Lei Ao's thigh, denying his muscles any room to extend or generate leverage. At the same time, the instant they hit the ground, Yaoguang whipped his left hand high into the air and brought it down like lightning, slamming his open palm viciously against the pommel of the invisible sword held in his right hand. *Thud!* Though driven through Lei Ao's heart, the invisible sword had still been on the verge of being ripped out by his monstrous claws. But under the heavy blow from Yaoguang's left palm, the blade punched clean through the heart, impaled the man's entire torso, and pinned him directly into the ground beneath. His left hand dropped down beside his right, both gripping the hilt together—and twisted with a brutal wrench! *Squelch!* Lei Ao's violent thrashing, strong enough to nearly throw Yaoguang off him, came to an abrupt halt... All strength drained from that faintly demonized body. Gradually, his struggles ceased, and all sound died away. Demonic possession could mutate the flesh and grant an explosive surge in physical strength. Yet as long as he maintained a human form, he remained subject to human vulnerabilities. *Schink!* Yaoguang drew the invisible sword from Lei Ao's mangled heart. Without the slightest hesitation, he thrust the blade down once more, piercing clean through the skull. This time... This Martial Master didn't try to play dead like Xia Li to launch a desperate counterattack. Because he was as dead as dead could be. Yaoguang exhaled a long breath, sweat beading over every pore of his body. He rose to his feet with his sword in hand and turned around. Behind him, the driver, A'bao, had only just snapped out of his stupor. The clash sounded protracted in description, but in reality, it had unfolded with the speed of lightning. From the moment Yaoguang struck—piercing and tearing Lei Ao's calf, stabbing into his chest, and shredding his heart—the entire encounter had taken less than three seconds. This was how peak martial artists fought. There was no room for flashy flourishes. Life and death were decided in a single breath. Under such circumstances, even though A'bao possessed considerable skill—likely holding the rank of a third-grade Martial Artist—he only processed what had happened after the dust had already settled. The moment he realized that Yaoguang's ferocity was far beyond anything he could face, this loyal driver didn't hesitate for a fraction of a second. He turned on his heel and fled at top speed! His decisiveness was astounding. He knew full well that his only hope of avenging Master Lei lay in immediately rallying all of Master Lei's subordinates to swarm the attacker together. Facing this monster alone... He would die without a doubt. *Whoosh!* Just as he bolted for his life, a faint sound brushed past A'bao's ear. The sound of a thrown weapon cutting through the air. The thought barely had time to form in his mind before his body felt as though it had been struck by a battering ram, forcing him to pitch forward into several involuntary, stumbling steps. As he stumbled, he caught sight of a sword-like weapon slamming violently into the wall ahead of him. Concrete debris flew, and the hilt quivered, slick with fresh blood. And that blood... A'bao lowered his head slightly... Only then did he realize that during that heavy impact moments ago, a bloody hole had been punched clean through his chest. That sword just now... "I..." He parted his lips, wanting to speak. Yet after a few momentum-driven steps forward, his pitching body finally lost its balance and slammed hard against the ground. Those few movements had completely drained whatever strength remained in him. He couldn't even keep his thoughts coherent. In the end... He closed his eyes in agony and weakness. In the final moment before his consciousness sank entirely into darkness, he faintly caught a voice. "Number one in Shanlong? Nothing special."