Bloodline Exchange

Xinghong Ancient City. Su Yu touched down before the stone statue in the rear hall. He turned his head to look outside, gazing in the direction of Xia Longwu. *How foolish!* Su Yu said silently to himself. All the efforts they had poured in, fighting for so long in the Great Xia Prefecture—all of it had in truth been meant to tie down enemies for Xia Longwu's Dao breakthrough. Yet Xia Longwu continually delayed merging his three incarnations, delayed taking that final step... He was waiting! Waiting for others to achieve their Dao, waiting for Invincibles to surround and attack him. He too had been tying down all sides. Xia Longwu was cold and overbearing, yet at this moment, Su Yu could sense it clearly: he was stalling for time for everyone else. If Xia Longwu had begun his breakthrough when the great war in the Human Realm broke out, or when the Great Han King and the others set their trap, perhaps... there would have been a great chance of success. He had kept waiting, pinning down Invincibles from every quarter. Now, almost every other front had grown quiet; everyone else was safe, but he... he was finished. When the Xia family orchestrated this scheme and forged the fake ruins, the original intention was to draw away formidable enemies for Xia Longwu. When Su Yu took out the Tombstone of Civilization, Wan Tiansheng had not stopped him. Wan Tiansheng clearly knew how vital the tombstone was, yet he had still let Su Yu take it out. Evidently, he had also wanted to lure a few more Invincibles over to relieve the pressure on Xia Longwu. And in the end... Xia Longwu still did not attempt his breakthrough at that moment. Su Yu had not known; he had not known Xia Longwu had further preparations. If he had known, he would have cursed him as an utter idiot! At that moment, if Xia Longwu had summoned the nine cities to descend, he would have had an immense chance of success. Yet he had chosen not to. Some people never spoke of what they did. Wan Tiansheng was like that, and so was Xia Longwu. Wan Tiansheng slaughtered all those Shanhai and Sun Moon cultivators and earned the curses of tens of thousands. He never explained why he slaughtered them. After all, not everyone in the human race understood, and they were bound to revile him. Xia Longwu fought to win chances for others to attain the Dao, yet he spoke no word of it either. Because he said nothing, people might simply think he was incapable of breaking through so quickly. It was as if these men truly did not care what others thought, nor did they care whether anyone felt gratitude. "He is finished." Xinghong had returned long ago. Seeing Su Yu looking back, he said indifferently, "A siege by a hundred Eternals—this is likely the first time in many years such a thing has happened. Even if he has some preparations left, even if he reached an accord with a few holy city lords... there is no way he can succeed." Su Yu looked at the stone statue. Lowering his head, he bent forward and bowed with clasped hands. Xinghong watched him in silence, saying nothing. "My Lord!" Su Yu remembered what Wan Tiansheng had told him: do not interfere, do not exhaust the stone statue's favor to help Xia Longwu, for it would bring him no benefit whatsoever. Su Yu knew that. Yet he... was a man of the Great Xia Prefecture after all! He was born in Great Xia, raised in Great Xia, and ever since childhood, the hero in his heart had been Xia Longwu. His father had been a soldier under Xia Longwu's command. The Dragon Martial Guards, Xia Longwu, the Dragon Martial Academy... In the Great Xia Prefecture, Xia Longwu was a myth; he was the sky itself. When Su Yu was eighteen and defected from Great Xia, fleeing the prefecture, he had never harbored hatred toward this manor lord. A myth who had campaigned for decades, killing until all the heavens lost color. Because this was faith. The faith of the Great Xia Prefecture, the faith of billions of common folk. He was the first manor lord capable of replacing a founding lord. In Great Xia, King Daxia was heaven, and Xia Longwu was heaven as well. In some prefectures, people knew only the founding lord and had no regard for the current lord. Yet in the Great Xia Prefecture, even if King Daxia did not return for a century, the people remained untroubled—our prefecture still has Xia Longwu! Seeing Su Yu bow, Xinghong understood his thoughts and said calmly, "We guardians of the holy cities do not participate in these disputes. Slaying three Eternals for you before was already a major taboo! We guardians bear far more important duties! If I strike again and provoke the wariness of all races, holy cities are not indestructible." Su Yu nodded. "I understand your difficulties, My Lord, and I know you already took great risks on my behalf. Su Yu is eternally grateful! There are only a few things I wish to ask, to see if they are feasible." "Speak." "Could we draw out some dead spirit monarchs?" Su Yu said in a heavy voice, "For instance, Monarch Xingyue and others I've seen before. Dead spirit monarchs are also Invincibles. If we could draw a few out, it might give Manor Lord Xia a fighting chance to survive. And if those dead spirit monarchs were slain, would even stronger Half-Emperor monarchs descend?" Xinghong looked at him without a word. *Kid... you're pretty ruthless.* Right at that moment, the passageway jolted. Even Xinghong was jostled slightly from below! From the passage beneath, a chilling voice of a dead spirit monarch sounded: "Su Yu, why don't you try setting me up to be slaughtered?!" "..." Awkward! Utterly awkward! Su Yu felt excruciatingly embarrassed. He looked at Xinghong, somewhat dumbfounded. *Why... why is this monarch right under you?* *Holy crap!* Xinghong said nothing. Xingyue... had been here the entire time. When he left earlier, Monarch Xingyue had arrived. Ever since, she had stayed down there having her death qi absorbed by Su Yu and hadn't left yet. Naturally, she heard every word Su Yu said. Monarch Xingyue was nearly driven mad, barking coldly, "Su Yu, what on earth did you do? Why can you endlessly absorb death qi without limit?" Su Yu could not see her, but he could hear that chilling, grim voice. He cursed inwardly! Quickly, he smiled and said, "It's just an exclusive life-saving method of mine. Your death qi is simply too formidable, My Lady, so I had no choice but to find other ways to keep it in check." Bullshit! Monarch Xingyue was furious. *Too formidable?* *To save your life?* *Absolute bullshit!* Su Yu had no time to bicker with the monarch and hurriedly asked, "Lord Xinghong, if Manor Lord Xia is in mortal peril during his Dao breakthrough, can I relocate the ancient city over there and let him enter to shelter him?" Xinghong said impassively, "Relocating an ancient city... within the All-Heavens Battlefield, that is permissible, so long as you endure greater backlash from death qi. As for entering the city... the holy city does not bar anyone from entering. However, once he steps inside, his Dao breakthrough will terminate. Furthermore, death qi will surge wildly. Attaining the Dao draws upon the power of the heavens; the dense death qi in the city may erode him and cause him to absorb excessive death qi, turning him into a dead spirit." Su Yu took a deep breath and asked again, "Then if Manor Lord Xia enters the city and the Invincibles of all races forcibly breach the city..." The stone statue said calmly, "Within the bounds of the rules, the guardians fear nothing. Breaching the city is a provocation. However... if you attack first, the guardian will not lift a finger to protect you." Su Yu understood. If he struck first and was killed, so be it. If the enemy forced their way into the city and attacked him, the stone statue would intervene. Once more, Wan Tiansheng's words echoed in his mind: do not throw away all your life-saving trumps; do not squander the stone statue's favor over and over. Xinghong had repeatedly made it clear that he had no desire to take part in the wars of the all-heavens. Su Yu sighed inwardly... *Headmaster, I'm sorry, but let me do this just once more.* *Xia Longwu...* The hero of his childhood, his spiritual pillar—today, facing the peril of death, Su Yu simply could not let it go. "Thank you, My Lord!" Su Yu offered his thanks, turned, and departed. Xinghong watched him leave, saying nothing. In the underground passage, Monarch Xingyue asked in an eerie, frigid voice, "That fellow... do you feel it? He's constantly devouring my death qi. What is that?" Xinghong said indifferently, "Likely the Heavenly Aperture." "Impossible!" Monarch Xingyue was utterly astonished and shaken. "The Heavenly Aperture... How could that be? Isn't that aperture merely legendary?" Xinghong could not be bothered to argue. *Just because you say it's impossible makes it so? What's wrong with opening the Heavenly Aperture?* Still, he added, "It may not be complete. From what I see, he can only absorb and cannot stop it. Legend says the Heavenly Aperture is the supreme aperture of all things, and in ancient times, people did open it." Beneath the passage, Monarch Xingyue fell silent for a long while before suddenly speaking: "Absorption through the Heavenly Aperture must have its limits. I refuse to believe a mere Lingyun can drain away all the death qi of a monarch like me!" What a joke! The power she regenerated every moment was far greater than what he absorbed. His absorption was merely comparable to that of a Sun Moon cultivator, whereas she was an Invincible! At this moment, it felt as though she had a parasite attached to her body. A Sun Moon-tier parasite! Constantly siphoning off her death qi, which felt exceedingly irritating! Other castellans resisted; they did not absorb. Other monarchs forcibly channeled it in, while those castellans wished they didn't have to take a single drop, expelling death qi as they resisted. Su Yu, however, welcomed all comers—the more, the merrier. "Even the Heavenly Aperture has a limit!" Xingyue muttered coldly. No matter how powerful an aperture was, it had a threshold. *Fine, playing tricks on me, are you? Then I'll gorge you until you burst!* Xinghong said nothing. That was their business. That Su Yu had opened a partial Heavenly Aperture surprised him as well. Of course, the boy had already opened the Great Circulation Apertures and could even reverse death qi; knowing a few more tricks was hardly shocking. As for the limit... Xinghong had never opened the Heavenly Aperture himself, so how would he know where the limit lay? They would just have to wait and see. …… The Sea of Stars. Xia Longwu was still gathering his strength. An Invincible of the myriad races could no longer restrain himself and snapped, "He's stalling for time! Xia Longwu, at this point, what is the use of delaying? Do you truly believe the others stand any chance of attaining the Dao?" Someone added grimly, "A few more of us should go slay those attempting to attain the Dao! Xia Longwu, give up now and you might still have a slim chance of survival... Otherwise, we are attacking with full force!" They could not let him stall any longer! Xia Longwu looked at the crowd, inhaled deeply, and spoke: "What's the rush? If your numbers thin out, will you still be able to kill me? Careful that you fail, for once I succeed, I will slaughter every last one of you!" He said this with utter calmness. Yet a chill ran through their hearts. This madman was truly capable of doing just that. A Demon Invincible lost his patience and shouted, "All-out attack!" What were they waiting for?! Did they really have to wait until Xia Longwu fully achieved the Dao before making a move? In truth, it was not that they didn't want to attack; they were wary. They feared the human experts would fight to the death. In particular, figures like King Daxia were terrifyingly powerful. At that exact moment, an overwhelmingly formidable figure shattered space and arrived. Blood-red hair whipped in the wind as demonic qi billowed outward, enveloping the surroundings. The expressions of many changed. "Blood Fire Demon King!" Blood Fire! Lord of the Blood Fire Demon race! The Blood Fire Demon race was the most warlike and fierce in combat, exceptionally powerful. And right now, the one arriving was not just any demon king of their clan, but the Blood Fire Demon King himself! If the Blood Fire Demon clan were an independent race, this man would be their emperor. The red-haired Blood Fire Demon King descended upon the scene and said calmly, "Qin Guang, Xia Wushen, one of you step forward and spar with me!" King Daxia's gaze turned chillingly cold as he said sharply, "Blood Fire, if you have a death wish, I'll grant it!" Boom! The void tore open, and both figures vanished in an instant. He had no choice but to fight! King Daxia did not wish to leave, but the Blood Fire Demon King was immensely powerful and unmatched in combat. While King Daqin or King Dazhou could also face him, King Daxia was here to guard the path for his own grandson. If he didn't step forward, could he expect others to do so? King Daxia had been lured away! Many breathed a sigh of relief. What they feared most was King Daxia risking his life, after all Xia Longwu was his grandson. In the next moment, a God King and an Immortal King descended. "Thunder God King!" "Jiutian Immortal King!" Stirred by their presence, many realized—the full-scale assault was beginning! Sure enough, as the two powerhouses arrived, King Daqin let out a sigh and stepped forward, saying coldly, "Since both of you are here, let's play together!" Boom! The void shattered. The two foreign powerhouses said no more; they had come specifically to eliminate everyone's lingering concerns. King Daqin and King Daxia! Qin's spear and Xia's blade—reputations forged in blood! As long as those two remained, even though everyone knew that joining forces could kill them, each was terrified of being taken down first. Now, both Qin's spear and Xia's blade were gone. On the perimeter, the Invincibles of all races breathed a collective sigh of relief—a genuine, heartfelt sigh of relief. With those two away, everyone's eyes turned predatory. At that moment, yet another powerhouse descended. "Tianyi God King!" Another God King arrived, looking toward King Daming and saying indifferently, "King Daming, let us spar!" "Think I'm afraid of you?!" Heaven and earth spun as the two powerhouses vanished. A moment later, three formidable Invincibles arrived, though slightly weaker than the previous ones. One of them remarked faintly, "King Dazhou, the human race should be satisfied. Two in your Zhou family have attained the Dao, giving one clan four Eternals. Why meddle in this? Come over here!" King Dazhou remained utterly tranquil. He glanced around, took a step forward, and vanished into the void; the three powerhouses followed and vanished as well. One after another, several immensely powerful human Invincibles had vanished, instantly exciting the rest. These human figures were beings capable of slaughtering Invincibles. They were the very ones everyone feared. Now that they were gone, the others needed no further words and roared, "Sever the battlefield!" Hum! Patches of void trembled and were sliced apart. Human Invincibles gritted their teeth and plunged into the dark reaches of the void. A battle of dozens or a hundred Invincibles could not erupt here, or Xia Longwu would have zero chance of attaining the Dao. In the blink of an eye, the human Invincibles before Xia Longwu had almost entirely disappeared. Only a few remained, while more than thirty foreign Invincibles lingered on the perimeter. Xia Longwu let out a sigh. "Seniors, please depart!" If they stayed any longer, they would be surrounded and slaughtered! King Tianzhu and the few others looked at him, feeling helpless. There was no hope left. King Tianzhu cast a frigid glance at the surrounders. "A few of you step up, let me show you the scenery of the void!" In an instant, seven or eight foreign Invincibles trailed after the remaining human Invincibles, vanishing from the spot. "Xia Longwu!" At this moment, the foreign Invincibles broke into smiles. "Are you... still going to struggle?" From every direction, more than twenty Invincibles manifested their forms. They truly held Xia Longwu in high regard! The speaker chuckled and unleashed a fist. Xia Longwu was dead for sure. Yet right at that instant, ripples perturbed the void as heaven and earth shifted. Many turned pale. The next moment, ancient cities materialized one after another. Nine of them! An Invincible roared in shock and fury, "The ancient cities are joining the battle too?!" The thirty-six ancient city guardians were all ancient Invincibles. If the ancient cities entered the fray, Xia Longwu's Dao breakthrough was all but guaranteed. Just then, a figure appeared above one of the ancient cities and said calmly, "The ancient cities are not participating in the battle. We are merely participating... as friends of Xia Longwu!" In the blink of an eye, nine castellans rose into the air above their ancient cities. Castellan Tianhe, clad in snow-white robes, looked around with a smile before sighing deeply. "Brother Longwu... you... you are asking for our lives!" More than twenty Invincibles! *Are you kidding us?!* They never expected—truly never expected—there would be this many. This time, the human Invincibles had been quite unified, almost all of them taking action and drawing off most of the foreign Invincibles. Even so... this was still way too damn many! *We are only ancient city castellans, at the ninth level of the Sun Moon Realm or quasi-Invincible at best. You brought dozens of Invincibles down on us—how the hell are we supposed to fight that?* *Are we just throwing our lives away?* All nine castellans felt helpless. At this moment, the nine ancient cities formed a ring around Xia Longwu, causing the surrounding Invincibles to hesitate with a degree of wariness. Just then, the void rippled, and a grandiose voice carried across the space: "Do the honored guardians... intend to intervene as well?" It was the voice of the Demon Emperor. The next moment, from Tianmie Ancient City, Tianmie's frigid voice rang out: "This is a private grievance of the holy city castellans. So long as the cities are not breached and the rules are not broken, we shall not interfere!" The Demon Emperor fell silent for a moment. Then he transmitted his command: "Pay no heed to the ancient cities. If the castellans obstruct you, kill them on the spot!" Since the stone statue had put it that way, the Demon Emperor had no desire to say more. Xia Longwu paid no attention to anything else and pressed forward with his Dao breakthrough. In the blink of an eye, the majority of his three incarnations had fused together. On the perimeter, the Invincibles could wait no longer. They feared the stone statues, but they certainly did not fear these castellans. What did these castellans count for? As long as the cities were not breached, the stone statues would not interfere. If these castellans wished to fight, they could at most tie them down near the ancient cities; there was no need to take them seriously. Boom! A Demon King appeared before Tianhe and punched out, splitting the void apart. Tianhe cursed under his breath. Hovering above his ancient city, he let a dead spirit fuse into his body, let out a low roar, and slashed out with his sword! With a deafening crash, Tianhe was thrown backward, death qi running rampant in his body. He gritted his teeth. *Fuck!* Against an Invincible, they were vastly outmatched. Stalling briefly was fine, but over time, they were doomed. If they weren't killed by the Invincibles, they would be eroded to death by death qi. In the center of the ancient cities, four or five Invincibles broke through the perimeter and charged toward Xia Longwu! This was a checkmate! Right at this moment, another ancient city descended. Su Yu stepped forth. He glanced at Xia Longwu without attacking—intervening would do nothing against an Invincible and would only get him killed. Ignoring the Invincibles, he looked at Xia Longwu and said in a deep voice, "Manor Lord Xia, if you are overwhelmed... you may take temporary shelter in my city!" The attackers had thought he meant to join the battle, but hearing this, someone sneered. *Temporary shelter?* Midway through his Dao breakthrough, if Xia Longwu truly entered the city, he would be ruined. Even if they didn't kill him, he would be consumed by death qi. Xia Longwu glanced at Su Yu without a word. *Temporary shelter?* A Xia Longwu who hid in an ancient city and turned into a dead spirit would no longer be Xia Longwu. He said nothing. It was fine that Su Yu had come; so long as the boy didn't leave his city, the danger wasn't too great. At that moment, Xia Longwu's voice sounded in Su Yu's ears: "Watch closely and see what the true Heaven-Cleaving Blade is! Learn well!" Long ago, he had instructed Marquis Xia to pass on the word: on the day he attained the Dao, Su Yu could come observe. Blade qi surged into the heavens! Hum! "Cleave the Heavens!" Xia Longwu slashed out with his blade, shaking the stars. The blade qi ripped through the heavens, hurtling toward one of the Invincibles. Boom! A thunderous roar echoed across the myriad realms. With a muffled bang, that Invincible stumbled back several steps. A bloody gash appeared on his forehead, oozing blood. Shock flickered in his eyes. "The Heaven-Cleaving Blade comprises Nine Transformations!" Xia Longwu said with absolute composure, "Today, I will show you how formidable the true Heaven-Cleaving Blade, the Blade of Nine Transformations, truly is!" He raised his blade, and the blade qi shifted to gold. A single strike split into countless blades, then merged back into one in the blink of an eye, cleaving toward another Invincible. That Invincible wielded a sword and thrust outward. Rumble! Another titanic roar erupted. Abruptly, several more Invincibles swarmed him from all directions, attacking simultaneously! All were shaken! This man was terrifyingly powerful, far stronger than expected. Fifth on the Dao Attainment Ranking... he was truly on par with an actual Invincible, possessing the might to battle Invincibles. "Third Transformation!" Xia Longwu barked again. Sweeping his blade around, he slashed toward all directions! "Fourth Transformation!" Murderous intent shook the heavens, so dense that Su Yu felt choked even within the city! Boom! Rumble! Explosions resounded endlessly. Heaven and earth trembled as rosy auroras radiated across the sky. This was only the beginning of Dao attainment, far from completion. Those Invincibles roared furiously, throwing punches, palms, blades, and swords... Thunderous crashes echoed continuously. In an instant, Xia Longwu unleashed seven strikes, each more formidable than the last. Yet there were simply too many Invincibles. Squelch! A palm pierced right through Xia Longwu's chest. An Invincible sighed with emotion, "Xia Longwu... exceeding all expectations, you are strong. Does the Great Xia Prefecture specialize in producing monsters?" Specializing in quasi-Invincibles capable of battling Invincibles? If an Invincible faced Xia Longwu alone, it was genuinely uncertain who would kill whom. Meanwhile, only blade shadows remained in Su Yu's eyes. He felt utterly powerless! With the stone statue unwilling to intervene, there was practically nothing he could do. Once again, he experienced this overwhelming helplessness, feeling as though he had returned to that day in the past when the Single Divine Character faction besieged his teachers. He had been powerless then, able only to howl in despair, begging for help. Today, he did not cry out. Because he knew that no matter how desperate he became, no matter how loudly he shouted, no one would step forth to help him. On the perimeter, the nine castellans were also being beaten until they spat blood. Helplessly, they dropped back into their ancient cities, only to charge back out shortly after. These ancient city castellans also possessed means of self-preservation. Once they retreated inside, the Invincibles would not pursue them. However, the Invincibles would then move to kill Xia Longwu. These castellans had an agreement with Xia Longwu, so they could only use their cities to survive momentarily; whenever the Invincibles tried to break away, the castellans were forced to charge out again to pin them down. After several clashes, all of them were gravely wounded, death qi boiling within them. At this moment, Su Yu took out his castellan token and transmitted a message: "I, Su Yu, Castellan of Xinghong Ancient City, request the lords of all cities to descend and tie down the Invincibles for a short time! I possess two carriers. Though they cannot be divided equally, afterward, you may split the two carriers among yourselves!" Excluding him and the nine castellans present, twenty-five other cities had castellans. He sent out his transmission. After a moment, six ancient cities appeared in the void. A burly man hovered in the air, laughing, "Little brother, a gentleman keeps his word! Those items are ours. We can only do our best; if our lives are genuinely threatened, we will retreat!" Su Yu said calmly, "Of course. Two carriers in exchange for your intervention! Just tie them down for a while. If you face the threat of death, you may leave of your own accord!" "Hahaha, fine!" From within the circle, Xia Longwu suddenly barked, "Fool!" He cursed at Su Yu! Was this how carriers were supposed to be squandered?! He knew that today his Dao breakthrough was hopeless; having a few more castellans come was futile. After all, these people were not Invincibles. At best, they could stall the Invincibles briefly. Even if all thirty-five castellans arrived and attacked together, they could only delay the inevitable for a while. Once injured a few times and suffering the backlash of death qi, every one of them would flee. This was merely an alliance of convenience, not a suicide pact. Su Yu said nothing. *Let me be willful just this once!* *Two carriers in exchange for peace of mind. I'm sorry, I cannot save you, nor can I force the stone statue to intervene on your behalf.* He had actually contemplated transmitting the technique for reversing death qi to Xia Longwu... but leaving aside whether Xia Longwu could learn it, even if he did, would he ever be willing to enter a city and become a castellan? With the six castellans joining in, Xia Longwu's situation improved slightly. Yet he was still pinned down by five Invincibles. He was only a quasi-Invincible! Had these Invincibles not feared him fighting desperately to drag one of them down, they would have slain him long ago. The group was simply grinding him down. Xia Longwu's Heaven-Cleaving Blade was formidable, unbelievably formidable, yet at this moment, it still could not match five Invincibles. No exaggeration—even a Half-Emperor would struggle to handle five Invincibles at once. Xia Longwu was simply fighting with his life on the line to instill fear in them. Every move he made drained him completely, while his opponents suffered no serious harm! The outcome was already set in stone! …… A predetermined outcome. Beside the passageway. Marquis Xia muttered for a while, stood up, and looked into the distance. Grumbling and rambling, he cursed, "Eldest nephew... you ran way too damn far..." After cursing Xia Longwu a few times, Marquis Xia muttered again, "Running into someone like you, I really have no choice. Forget it, forget it..." He burned his blood essence drop by drop. Before him, a River of Time opened. Success or failure hinged on this very moment. Whether you make it or not depends on your luck. As your uncle, this is the most I can do for you. I hope... you succeed. He opened the River of Time wider and wider. Marquis Xia grew thinner and weaker as his blood essence burned away drop by drop. He wanted to look back toward the Human Realm, but alas, it could not be seen from the passageway. Marquis Xia cursed under his breath! *Wait a little longer, just a little longer!* *Let my eldest nephew fuse his three incarnations a bit further.* He sensed it silently. He could already feel his eldest nephew's aura beginning to wane. If this dragged on any longer... the boy would be a dead man. Marquis Xia did not remain at the passageway entrance, but flew into the distance, away from Xia Longwu. He was merely a quasi-Invincible; there was nothing he could do. He could not join the battle, nor could he assist Xia Longwu directly. He didn't even have an ancient city to rely on; everything depended on Xia Longwu himself. He didn't know how much time he could buy his eldest nephew. He only knew he wanted to try. The Xia family had sacrificed everything—wasn't it all in hopes that he would succeed? *I've taken the blame for him for so many years. If he dies, what am I supposed to do?* He flew far, farther and farther. Marquis Xia's blood essence was nearly exhausted, and the River of Time opened wider and wider. Not far away, an Invincible pursuing Niu Baidao suddenly looked toward him. *Attempting Dao breakthrough?* The Invincible felt suspicious. *Is this guy trying to attain the Dao too?* It didn't quite look like a breakthrough. Rather, he seemed utterly frail and drained. Was he committing suicide? Yet the River of Time opened up impressively wide. Niu Baidao, who was being pursued while cursing up a storm, suddenly looked toward Marquis Xia in utter bewilderment. Then, as if realizing something, he wanted to speak, yet hesitated... Marquis Xia looked over, bared his teeth, and grinned. "Not breaking through, don't misunderstand... I'll fly farther away. You go ahead and keep killing Niu Baidao, he's the one trying to attain the Dao..." "I—!" Niu Baidao was speechless. *Is that even something a human would say?!* Yet... forget it. This fellow... the Xia family... Niu Baidao's heart was a tangle of emotions. *Forget it, forget it. I'll let you run your mouth one last time before you die.* …… At this moment, Xia Longwu's three incarnations merged into one, brilliant light radiating outward. Yet his aura was in decline. Like a desperate madman, he swung his blade continuously, strike after strike, but his injuries only mounted. The Invincibles toyed with him as if watching a spectacle, landing punch after punch! Xia Longwu roared repeatedly, yet his wounds grew ever more catastrophic. Several castellans were already preparing to withdraw, feeling helpless. *Forget it, he's a dead man.* *Give up!* *There's no counting on him!* Su Yu watched with his own eyes. Xia Longwu's blade qi was also completely transforming, yet Su Yu had no mind to pay attention to that. *Xia Longwu... is going to die,* Su Yu thought. Right then, Xia Longwu's expression shifted drastically as he roared in fury, "Get lost!" He wasn't roaring at the others, but at someone specific. He was furious, in agonizing pain. "Get lost!" "Xia Xiao'er, get the hell away!" "I'm about to croak..." At that moment, the void trembled. From Xia Longwu's body, a slender passage through time suddenly emerged, carrying Marquis Xia's weeping voice: "It hurts so bad, I'm gonna die... Eldest nephew... in the next life... don't hit me anymore... I'm your uncle..." "We... we're flesh and blood... Be decisive, hurry up, will you..." Xia Longwu roared maniacally! A roar of absolute despair! The next instant, with a deafening boom, the passage of time tore open, and Xia Longwu was swiftly pulled into it. At the same time, millions of li away, Marquis Xia grinned, turned into a phantom, and vanished from where he stood. In a flash, Xia Longwu materialized there. And Marquis Xia appeared instantaneously where Xia Longwu had just been standing. Bloodline inversion, transposition of forms! Using the power of bloodline, he swapped their positions. In the distance, Xia Longwu howled and roared, instantly charging toward the Invincible closest to him! "Xia Xiao'er! Fuck your ancestors!" Xia Longwu wept tears of blood as he shrieked. That was his own uncle! He had reversed their locations! All just to buy him a fraction of time—at such a vast distance, it would take time for the Invincibles here to pursue him. All just to let him escape the encirclement! …… "Heheh... my ancestors... are your ancestors too!" Marquis Xia abruptly appeared where Xia Longwu had been, emaciated, exceedingly frail, like a candle flickering in the wind. Even sharing the same bloodline, he was only a quasi-Invincible. To swap positions across millions of li, even though both he and Xia Longwu were quasi-Invincibles, he had burned virtually all of his blood essence. Had Xia Longwu already been an Invincible, he wouldn't have been able to make the swap at all. He smiled. At this moment, he looked handsome. Faintly visible were the traces of his younger years. Dashing, suave. The Invincibles who had been attacking Xia Longwu turned pale with shock. "Damn it!" Boom! A fist smashed out, instantly obliterating Marquis Xia's physical body. Marquis Xia didn't care. His voice echoed, ringing with hearty laughter: "Furious, aren't you? Mad, aren't you?! Come hit me, hit me, beat me! My eldest nephew... will succeed! Fuck, it really hurts a bit though... Father... it hurts..." He cried out in mournful pain; it truly hurt terribly. *Eldest nephew, there's no one left to take the blame for you. You must succeed!* *The distance is vast.* *Yet these Invincibles will catch up quickly. Your uncle is useless; spending this life of mine could only buy you this sliver of a chance. I'm sorry.* *Big brother, I see you!* *Your son... I took decent care of him, he's just a little rebellious.* In a daze, he heard someone calling his name. He saw—he saw that hateful old woman of the Wu family, who had once beaten him until he scurried away with his head in his hands. And why had she beaten him? Wasn't it just proposing marriage at her doorstep? *Your Wu Yuehua only looks so-so anyway, I didn't even fancy her that much, yet you actually beat me!* He saw—he saw General Zhao glowering at him with a dark face. *What are you glaring at? Your Zhao Mingyue was already an old maid; taking a liking to her was doing you an honor!* He saw Chief Hu telling him with a forced smile that Hu Ping's heart already belonged to another, so the Marquis should look elsewhere... *Look elsewhere my ass!* *Why?!* *Am I not handsome?* *Am I not strong?* *In what way is that Liu Wenyan better than me?!* *So what if I proposed to three families at the same time?* *Why reject me? Who am I? I'm King Daxia's son, Marquis Xia! I propose marriage, and you actually reject me?!* "Liu Wenyan... fuck your ancestors!" With his dying grievance, Marquis Xia poured out every ounce of his remaining strength and bellowed that final curse. *If you didn't fucking want them, leave them to me!* *I wanted them!* *Back then, I wasn't this fat.* And in the distance, Xia Longwu went insane. Utterly berserk, he slashed with his blade—one strike, two strikes, countless strikes, tears of blood streaming down his face. His uncle was dead! He had calculated everything, yet he never anticipated that his cowardly uncle would, at this moment, reverse time and exchange their bloodlines! "I'll kill you!" The Invincible before him was shaken by his madness. How had Xia the Second suddenly turned into Xia Longwu—and a raving mad Xia Longwu at that? Even though Xia Longwu was critically wounded right now, that heaven-spanning blade glow still chilled an Invincible to the bone. So strong! "Merge!" Xia Longwu bellowed, uniting his three incarnations into one as he cleaved outward. With an earth-shattering boom, that Invincible couldn't help cursing inwardly: *What does this have to do with me? Fuck! The ones besieging you are over there! I only came here to kill Niu Baidao!*