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Old Monster of Mount Ding immediately turned around to glare at Xiao Chen. "Where did you come from, kid? You dare go against Grandpa Ding?!" Before his voice had even faded, he aimed a fearsome palm attack at Xiao Chen. The nearby five or six Heartless Palace disciples were sent flying from the force of the attack.
Li Muxue swiftly reacted, producing a blue barrier with both hands and blocking the attack. Old Monster of Mount Ding narrowed his eyes. "Well, well, well. I see you people have hired help. Tell me your names! That way, I can grant you two an honorable death later!"
Xiao Chen stepped forward and said placidly, "I am who I am and I'm not ashamed. I'm Xiao Chen. I wonder if you have any advice for me, senior." He stared at Old Monster of Mount Ding like he was shooting ice arrows out of his eyes. Many disciples standing behind Old Monster of Mount Ding took a step backward.
Old Monster of Mount Ding narrowed his eyes. "You're that Xiao Chen who punched the Elder of the South Chamber and hacked Yunya Zi? Hehe! Your Grandpa Ding didn't grow up being frightened! I refuse to believe that you'll be able to unleash that sort of top-notch skill today!"
Xiao Chen smiled faintly. "You'll know once you try me." Old Monster of Mount Ding grinned. "Come then, kid. Do you think I'll be afraid of a rookie like you?" He beckoned the people behind him. "Get him!"
However, the group of several tens of disciples behind him exchanged glances. None dared to advance. Old Monster of Mount Ding said angrily, "Shameful! What are you afraid of when I'm here?!"
Only then did the disciples took action and charged at Xiao Chen, all of them wielding strange bladed weapons. Xiao Chen inserted himself in front of Li Muxue and swiftly spun his Qi nine times. The True Energy shrouding his body jolted and a majestic force surged out.
Crashing sounds reverberated as the earth-shattering force swept the group of disciples and sent them flying. They lost grip of their weapons, prompting the weapons to scatter all over the ground.
Old Monster of Mount Ding looked vexed. Beside him, Depraved Man said coolly, "Old Monster Ding, can you do this? If you can't, I'll handle the kid." The muscles in his face didn't move as he spoke. He was undoubtedly a walking corpse.
Old Monster of Mount Ding said in a strange tone, "Go ahead then. Everlasting Spring Rogue and I will slaughter the girls! You'll be able to nourish your demonic body!" He instantly attacked Chu Lingjiao and the others. Meanwhile, Depraved Man aimed for Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen dared not underestimate him after seeing how strange his attacking stance looked. He instantly used the Immortal-override Steps and secretly moved behind Depraved Man. Even though he was wielding the Unsullied Immortal's Sword, the weapon could only injure his opponent in one spot while his palm attack could hurt his opponent's meridians.
Unfortunately, Depraved Man appeared to have made precautions for this a long time ago. He abruptly turned around and thrust his palm. His palm attack was shrouded in steaming black Qi. When it hit Xiao Chen, he felt half of his body go numb and he was thrown backward by more than ten Chinese feet. Not only did his opponent possess strange and demonic cultivation method, but his cultivation was high too. He was likely at Level 5 or 6 of the Core Forming Realm.
Depraved Man followed up the first attack with a second one at an incredible, ghost-like speed. Seeing as Xiao Chen was caught up in another attack, Li Muxue chanted an incantation and a long sword appeared in her hand. The sword emitted the cry of a bird and following her thoughts, it turned into a white light charging at the heart of Depraved Man's back.
Realizing that a flying object was about to hit his back, Depraved Man whipped around. He placed his fingertips together and emitted a black mist that jolted Li Muxue's flying sword away before launching a palm attack at her. Even though Li Muxue's cultivation had been improving by leaps and bounds these days, she was no match for a Core Forming Realm cultivator. Just as she was dodging the palm attack, another cold light flew toward her as one of Old Monster of Mount Ding's disciples tried to ambush her.
Xiao Chen unleashed his Immortal-override Steps and instantly appeared in front of her. He launched a palm attack at the disciple who tried to ambush her and broke down his heart meridians. Then, he thrust his palm again to counteract Depraved Man's attack. He exchanged glances with Li Muxue. She swiftly flew backward while remotely controlling her flying sword to attack Depraved Man. Meanwhile, Xiao Chen chose to attack his opponent at close quarters rather than having his opponent's attacks tie him down.
Their battle continued for nearly 10 minutes without a clear victor emerging. Chu Lingjiao's side, however, was experiencing devastating casualties. The Heartless Palace, 50 or 60 of its nearly two to three hundred disciples were now severely injured or killed. The entire public square was dyed with bright red blood. Were it not for their concealed weapons and sword formations, they would be even more powerless to resist Everlasting Spring Rogue and Old Monster of Mount Ding.
Right then, Old Monster of Mount Ding yelled, "Enough! Old Depraved, hurry and release your treasured object!"
After hearing this, Depraved Man stopped fighting Xiao Chen and chanted an incantation. He took flight and hovered in midair. Following the movements of the cold wind, a demonic hissing resounded. Everyone who heard the sound felt their scalp go numb.
Depraved Man fished out a dark red banner out of nowhere. Unleashed in its entirety, the banner was nearly ten Chinese feet long. It hissed nonstop in midair and appeared incredibly strange.
Xiao Chen focused his gaze on the banner and found the object to be rather familiar-looking. It was none other than Blood-thirsty Banner! It was a demonic object forged out of the blood of countless living people.
Out of the blue, the bloody glow of the banner intensified and sucked in all of the Blood Essence inside the bodies on the ground until nothing was left. It even took in the blood of many disciples who weren't dead but merely heavily injured. After having its fill of blood, the large banner expanded twofold and countless human skulls dripping with blood materialized out of thin air. Gale picked up violently in the public square, wailing and howling.
The surviving Heartless Palace disciples turned deathly pale. They had never seen such a terrifying scene in their lives. With a wave of Depraved Man's hand, the Blood-thirsty Banner immediately produced several human skulls that threw themselves at several female disciples. Unable to escape in time, the female disciples became dried corpses after having their blood sucked dry.
The rest of the disciples, frightened out of their wits, began fleeing all over the place. Xiao Chen was astonished as well, now understanding how formidable the object was. In the air, Depraved Man wore a smirk on his face. It was as if his power was growing along with the blood the Blood-thirsty Banner consumed.
Shortly, another dozen of Heartless Palace disciples had their blood consumed. Xiao Chen knew that the situation was becoming dire. If Huashang saw this after coming out of her closed-door meditation, she would likely put the blame on him out of anger. When that time came, they could forget about convincing her to return to the Jade Qing Sect.
Right then, he heard a strange voice saying, "B-blood..."
The voice didn't originate from the Blood-thirsty Banner but the Blood Lotus Demon Blade inside his Divine Vessel. An idea hit him and he immediately summoned the blade.
The blood-red sword emanated a boundless demonic light. When Depraved Man focused his gaze on the weapon, his eyes gleamed as if he had seen a precious treasure. He laughed sinisterly. "Blood-thirsty Demonic Spirit is indeed a great tonic!" He manipulated the Blood-thirsty Banner to throw itself at the Blood Lotus Demon Blade in Xiao Chen's hand.
Blood-thirsty Banner trembled nonstop as if it had seen a great tonic. The demonic hissing sound became even louder. In an instant, the banner appeared in front of Xiao Chen and wrapped itself around the Blood Lotus Demon Blade.
Right then, the Blood Lotus Demon Blade began shaking. The two objects seemed to be alive. Xiao Chen's hand trembled, prompting him to hastily let go of the hilt. He retreated several meters backward.
A blinding blood-red light enveloped the area as the two demonic objects tremble nonstop in the air. Suddenly, a jeering sound reverberated as a small crack appeared on the Blood-thirsty Banner. This was followed by a screeching sound. The screech originated from the banner and sounded like the scream of a living being. Those who heard the sound felt their scalp go numb.
Depraved Man immediately turned pale. He hastily chanted a spell to summon the Blood-thirsty Banner. However, the moment the banner pulled away from the Blood Lotus Demon Blade, it struggled in the air as if it was bound by a mysterious force. The demonic hissing sound instantly turned mournful.
Then, something unexpected happened. The blood-red light of the Blood Lotus Demon Blade grew sharply while the Blood-thirsty Banner gradually became warped until it was entirely absorbed by the blade. There was nothing of the banner left.
Blood sprayed from Depraved Man's mouth. The Blood-thirsty Banner was a magic treasure that he refined and now that it was absorbed, he was naturally suffering a massive counterattack. Right then, the Blood Lotus Demon Blade trembled and unexpectedly flew toward the Heartless Palace disciples on the ground, all of whom were heavily injured but not dead.
Xiao Chen was startled. Knowing what the blade wanted to do, he yelled, "Stop right there!" The Blood Lotus Demon Blade shook twice in midair to indicate its agreement as if it could understand his words. It then flew back into his hand.
With the blade in hand, Xiao Chen felt like tossing the weapon away. He had long realized the strangeness of the weapon but it had never acted as if it was alive. Moreover, it was emanating a demonic aura.
In the air, Depraved Man was seething. He abruptly attacked Xiao Chen with his palm. Li Muxue cried in alarm, "Watch out, Brother Xiao!"
Xiao Chen recovered his senses. Seeing the approaching Depraved Man, he instinctively thrust his blade upward. Unexpectedly, the moment he waved the blade, it tore into Depraved Man's Body-protection Qi and cut off his arm.
"Argh!" Depraved Man screeched in great pain. He retreated while holding his bloodied shoulder. Blood had soaked half of his body. Right then, Xiao Chen moved forward and stabbed him in the chest.
Depraved Man's face convulsed with fear and began to warp. Before long, all of his blood was absorbed by the Blood Lotus Demon Blade. He fell to the ground, now a dried corpse.
Closeby, Everlasting Spring Rogue and Old Monster of Mount Ding were grappling with shock. Depraved Man, a Blood-thirsty Method practitioner, had taken in the blood of countless people for decades. Today, however, his blood was absorbed until he was left a dried corpse. It was indeed shocking.
Xiao Chen himself was somewhat frightened. He didn't kill the Depraved Man. His blade had acted on its own.
Everlasting Spring Rogue gave Old Monster of Mount Ding a look before whispering, "Old Monster Ding, Old Depraved is now dead. Do we continue?"
He had just started speaking when the Blood Lotus Demon Blade in Xiao Chen's hand suddenly moved and produced an explosive strange and demonic red light. Old Monster of Mount Ding got such a bad fright that he hastily retreated, his eyes fixed on the strange blade.
"Why don't we call it a day? We can come again when this kid is gone..."
Everlasting Spring Rogue nodded, finding his words to be reasonable. Just as he was about to turn around and flee, a sharp and mournful voice drifted from a faraway place. "Do you think you'll be able to escape after killing a dozen of my disciples?"
Before the voice faded, a white light reached Everlasting Spring Rogue. Before he could turn around, the light struck him and reduced him into a bloody mist. Old Monster of Mount Ding went pale with fright. He turned into a blood-red light and dived underground.