Chapter 633: Xu Lang vs. the Blood Empire Royal Guard!
Xu Lang had seen that look in the eyes of the host and the five contestants before—its name was Wild Nature!
This seemed to be the national character of the Blood Empire, somewhat reminiscent of a certain region from a game called League of Legends.
"Three? All at once?" Xu Lang spoke slowly.
The moment these words left his mouth, all ten gazes locked onto Xu Lang!
A suffocating wave of pressure crashed down on him!
Among them, one gaze was especially deep and dark, its owner being Adams—Adams before he had degenerated into a Ghostly Deity.
Two of the ten were Xu Lang's "old acquaintances"!
"One by one, of course." The man with the deer-antlered helmet crossed his arms. Though his face showed no emotion, the muscles in his arms pulsed and twitched, revealing he wasn't as calm as he appeared.
This challenger had actually dared to look down on them.
Raphael spoke seriously, "Kid, we are all elites of the Blood Empire, experts in dueling. This barbarian brute here even beat me to take the championship of the 108th Master Tournament—by luck!"
"Not by luck!" A seven-meter-tall man with a long sword at his waist stepped forward, looking down at Xu Lang from above. "Pick me. I'll send you packing in the first round and crush all your hopes of advancing!"
Xu Lang swept his gaze over the man and immediately used the Nightmare Eye to probe for combat-related information.
[Nightmare Eye·Blood Commander·Barbatos: A dueling expert with Legendary-tier swordsmanship, of mixed ant-human lineage, possessing explosive power...]
"Raphael, Barbatos, why waste words with him? Just drag him into the battlefield and beat him down!" The petite witch pressed down on her hat brim and chuckled softly.
The way they looked at Xu Lang was like a bunch of veterans sizing up a fresh recruit.
Xu Lang narrowed his eyes, quickly ran calculations in his mind, and settled on a challenge order.
"Let's start with you." Xu Lang pointed at an old man holding a scripture book with black feathered wings sprouting from his back.
"An honor!" The old man's eyes flickered with a hint of surprise, then he gave a slight bow.
"After a victory, the interval for choosing your next opponent cannot exceed ten minutes." After saying this, the man with the deer-antlered helmet faded into the Void along with the other eight Blood Empire warriors.
Only the old man and Xu Lang remained in the arena.
The Coliseum stretched out as vast as a barren wasteland, with scarlet Blood Mist drifting in the sky—strangely reminiscent of the Blood Mist World.
Just by standing there, the old man exuded an invisible pressure that radiated outward like an insurmountable wall. Even more impressive was that he remained completely calm even in the face of the blade of Purgatory's Master.
Xu Lang had already drawn his blade, but the old man spoke calmly, "My name is Rasputin, one of the thirteen guards of the great Blood Empire's royal court, and... an Apostle of the Black Goat!"
As he said the word "and," Xu Lang had already appeared before him.
The blade slashed down. The old man continued speaking while simultaneously raising a withered index finger to meet the edge.
"You're too impatient, young man..." Rasputin's finger collided with Purgatory's Master in midair.
The shockwave erupted like a tornado, rippling outward for thousands of meters in an instant!
Rasputin's expression shifted slightly. A drop of blood was visibly dripping from his fingertip.
Moreover, the small wound showed signs of widening as it bled!
"Damn it!" Rasputin hadn't expected such a sudden turn of events. As he withdrew his hand, he rapidly retreated.
Xu Lang followed like a shadow, moving like a whirlwind.
Boom!
The two clashed in rapid combat, with continuous sonic booms echoing through the air.
Suddenly, a surge of towering Blood Qi erupted from Xu Lang. As the Seven Killings Blood Qi swirled, it faintly formed a ferocious Rakshasa Ghost Mask that roared with wild laughter at Rasputin.
Rasputin's face remained calm. He stopped speaking politely, waving his black-bound scripture book to clash with Purgatory's Master in midair. Rolling black energy poured out, scattering across the battlefield.
Xu Lang saw through this little trick of scattering energy across the battlefield at a glance. In the midst of their exchange, he suddenly lashed out with an unexpected kick, forcibly sending Rasputin hurtling to another part of the battlefield.
Whoosh~!
The scattered black energy converged and surged toward Xu Lang.
But by then, Xu Lang had already left his original position and appeared right in front of Rasputin!
This was Xu Lang's first formal battle with a high-level existence like Rasputin, so he naturally went all out, not daring to show the slightest carelessness.
Full power unleashed!
The shock in Rasputin's heart was beyond words.
He was getting pushed around!
Retreating step by step!
Among the stars, across the countless worlds ruled by the Blood Empire, he was a top-tier combat genius. Yet now, standing before this challenger, he somehow appeared inexperienced.
His tactics, his techniques, the way he channeled power in every attack and defense—it all seemed completely laid bare, easily seen through by the opponent!
After a long battle, the distant black mist finally swept in.
Rasputin instinctively glanced toward it, and right at that moment, Xu Lang kicked out again with perfect timing.
There was absolutely no wind-up—it was as if the kick had been instant!
Blocking the kick with pure instinct, Rasputin was sent flying backward again. Midair, his eyes darted rapidly, spotting numerous black afterimages on the ground ahead.
At first glance, they were all Xu Lang!
"Fakes, fakes, all fakes!"
"I can't track the real body's trajectory!"
"He's probably already right in front of me!"
Unable to determine Xu Lang's true location, Rasputin finally opened his scripture book. Countless black fireballs materialized out of thin air and rained down upon the ground ahead!
The earth churned and collapsed, completely devoured by the black fireballs.
But Xu Lang's figure had vanished!
A chill ran down Rasputin's spine. He had actually lost track of a blade-wielder!
Blade-wielders were among the top-tier lethal forces across all realms.
A melee-oriented, high-burst blade-wielder who was also as elusive as an assassin—how was he supposed to fight that?
Just as Rasputin was contemplating a countermeasure, Xu Lang struck again!
From the Void, a crack of light split open the Grave Pasture, and scarlet Herding Chains flew out with a whoosh, now less than three meters from Rasputin!
A Shepherd in the Initial Awakening stage could already use the Grave Pasture to avoid damage and perform phase shifts by leveraging the advantages of alternate dimensions.
The downside was that the phase shift's landing point was imprecise, and the wind-up time was too long.
"Sequence Holder power!" Rasputin's pupils contracted. His black wings spread wide, and with a single flap, he shot over a hundred meters away.
Xu Lang stepped on the scarlet Herding Chains and gave chase without letting up!