Bisected

As soon as Dong Rui spotted him, he asked He Lingchuan through an eyeball spider, "Jin Bai has come alone. What do we do?" He Lingchuan possessing origin power was something outsiders could not be permitted to know. Fortunately, there was still some distance between the pass and He Lingchuan, Nangong Yan, and the others, keeping it outside the reach of the yin tornado. Looking from here, violent gales churned inside the valley, reducing visibility to almost nothing. Even Dong Rui could only make out vague, shadowy figures and could not tell who was who. Thus He Lingchuan's reply came at once: "Lure him away!" Over there, the golden-armored bronze guard turned, letting two more Feather Guards slip past. Dong Rui pointed at the ones that got away and called out to Jin Bai, "Commander Jin, I leave them to you!" Jin Bai had arrived burning with fury. Seeing the two already breaking out of the valley, he drew his saber and gave chase without a second thought. Inside the valley, this battle had to be ended quickly. He Lingchuan's gaze shifted slightly as he ducked a coordinated strike from the Golden Feather Guards, then suddenly flicked his saber upward into empty air. To anyone else, this motion seemed utterly baffling, yet Nangong Yan's face paled drastically, and he blurted out: "How is this possible?!" There had been a faint, wispy grey thread, barely thicker than a human hair and practically imperceptible in the raging storm, yet He Lingchuan had cleanly severed it! The moment the grey thread broke, the nearby Golden Feather Guard's attack stalled instantly. Stumbling back two paces, his face went completely blank, as if having no idea what had just happened. The red glow in his eyes vanished at the same time. How could He Lingchuan let such an opportunity slip by? With a throat-slashing stroke, blood vessels and windpipe were severed in one go, cutting halfway through the man's neck. Blood sprayed three feet away, nearly splashing onto Nangong Yan's face. Just as another Golden Feather Guard charged in, He Lingchuan kicked the corpse toward him. When the guard dodged aside, Fusheng thrust forward, lightly hooking and flicking three feet in front of the man's waist. Another grey thread snapped without a sound. Sure enough, this man also froze in his tracks like one suddenly awakening from a deep dream. He Lingchuan closed in from behind, driving the blade through the back of his skull and out the front of his neck. The burst of blood was whipped away by the gale, scattering a pungent stench of iron. Next, He Lingchuan severed five grey threads in one breath and cut down five Golden Feather Guards in rapid succession. His movements flowed like drifting clouds and flowing water; it looked as if the Golden Feather Guards were deliberately offering themselves up to his blade, none requiring more than two strikes. The most merciful He Lingchuan got was simply reaching out and snapping a man's neck. Though it was slaughter, there was a brutal, clean grace to it. With grit and stones flying everywhere, fighting while keeping careful watch was no easy feat. But He Lingchuan had finally seen clearly: these wispy grey threads directly connected the grey shadow behind Nangong Yan to the Golden Feather Guards. No—to be precise, the spirit behind Nangong Yan was puppeteering the Golden Feather Guards, coordinating their advances and retreats and making them fight as a single seamless unit of offense and defense. It was like a marionette show, only the shadow's skill was exceptionally masterful, and by some unknown means, it endowed the Golden Feather Guards with strength far beyond ordinary mortals. Relying on this very technique, Nangong Yan had run rampant across the Bo Kingdom, eliminating countless rivals for the King of Bo in the past, and even now, he scarcely had any match in all of Xun City. Unfortunately, his luck had run out; today, he had kicked an iron plate. No one else could see the grey shadow behind him—except He Lingchuan. Yet these threads were also elusive and fleeting. He Lingchuan had observed them for quite a while before he could pinpoint the timing of their emergence. What terrified Nangong Yan out of his wits was that He Lingchuan not only saw the grey threads, but could sever them with an effortless flick of his blade! Those were formless, traceless things nearly invisible to the naked eye! Even he himself could only see them when the grey shadow possessed his body. Between the two sides, the difference in caliber was stark. He dared not be arrogant any longer and immediately roared, "Heavenly Venerable, aid me!" If they kept fighting like this, all the Golden Feather Guards would be gone, and so would he. While He Lingchuan watched the grey shadow, it glared viciously back at him, then suddenly let loose an enraged shriek. The screech was piercingly harsh, sounding like the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves. He Lingchuan couldn't help frowning, genuinely tempted to clap his hands over his ears. The grey shadow seemed to make a gesture. Out on the perimeter, dozens of Feather Guards suddenly slowed their steps. Wisps of red silk-like mist seeped from their facial orifices, carried by the wind onto Nangong Yan, vanishing instantly. A second ago, these Feather Guards had been bursting with vitality, yet once the red strands were extracted, they couldn't take more than two steps before collapsing limp to the ground. Some died on the spot, while others were left clinging to a thread of life, their bodies noticeably shriveled. All their spirit, vital energy, and blood had been drained away and funneled into their commander. The soul-snatching mirror went "ooh": "Blood bead extraction! Besides a ba, there are actually other things that possess this divine ability!" A ba could consume humans to nourish itself by relying precisely on this skill. These Feather Guards were accustomed to swaggering and abusing their power across Xun City at Nangong Yan's heels; how could they have imagined that one day they would end up as their superior's meal? The grey shadow had also realized that they could hardly pose a threat to He Lingchuan, so they might as well serve one final purpose. Yet He Lingchuan had been holding back all along, waiting precisely for this opportunity. The moment the grey shadow began casting its spell, he took a step forward and vanished from where he stood. The blades of two Golden Feather Guards behind him struck empty air. Things looked bad! The grey shadow was alert as well; breaking off its spell, it lunged forward, seeking to burrow into Nangong Yan's orifices. Sure enough, in the next instant He Lingchuan materialized behind it, unleashing a strike packed with consummate vigor and spirit that bisected both it and Nangong Yan together! The grey shadow seemed to have plenty of tricks up its sleeve. Not wanting complications from delay, He Lingchuan's Falcon Strike was truly like a sparrowhawk hunting a bird—vicious and swift. His saber gang surged five feet out, momentarily stalling even the howling wind. Outside the storm circle, Dong Rui happened to look back, almost thinking stern lightning had sparked inside the yin tornado, as the flashes of silver lightning could be seen even from afar. Nangong Yan, also puppeted by the grey shadow, managed to half-turn his body and swing his mace to parry. The blood bead that concentrated the vital essence of over a dozen Feather Guards had just entered his body. Before its full effects could even take hold, his strength had already amplified twofold or threefold. Yet it was useless. As Nangong Yan turned his head, a sheet of snow-bright blade light flashed in his pupils like thunder, and the heavy mace in his hand was knocked flying. The opponent's strength was like that of a wild elephant! Then, the blade light swept across his midsection, cutting all the way through from front to back without catching a single bead of blood. Nangong Yan felt only a chill across his waist. All strength drained from his body, and suddenly he could no longer stand. The grey shadow behind him could no longer cling either, letting out a shriek of agony. He Lingchuan's strike had sheared through it as well; with Fusheng's Void Breaker ability, it had easily bisected the entity at the waist. The lower half dissolved into smoke, while the upper half tore away from Nangong Yan, intending to slip into the wind and flee. Who knew that He Lingchuan would smoothly draw out the divine bone necklace and thrust it forward— A black hole appeared at the center of the necklace, sucking inward with whooshing force. No matter how fierce the winds of the yin tornado were, they couldn't compare to this pull. Having just suffered grave injuries from Fusheng—wounds scarcely less severe than Nangong Yan's—how could the grey shadow muster any power to resist? It struggled against the suction to flee outward, but how could an arm wrestle a thigh? Little by little, it was rapidly dragged closer to the divine bone necklace. The harder it fought, the more despair it felt. Throughout He Lingchuan's battle with Nangong Yan, the necklace had been running hot. It had been starving for months, and now that dinner was served, it was insatiably ravenous.