Chapter 214: Dugu Sheng
In Shen Daoxing’s hand were top-grade Rejuvenation Pills, elixirs that could rapidly restore a practitioner’s Spiritual Power. He had acquired them from that young master of the Xu Family.
He had to admit, the Xu Family was incredibly wealthy. ’To think a single young master would have two entire bottles of top-grade Rejuvenation Pills on him. This is a huge help,’ Shen Daoxing thought.
After swallowing nearly half a bottle of the top-grade Rejuvenation Pills, Shen Daoxing’s Spiritual Power recovered significantly.
Immediately, he raised two fingers and pointed toward the Taiyi Demon-Slaying Sword Array.
"Taiyi Demon Suppression, strike from all directions!"
Shen Daoxing felt the Spiritual Power being rapidly drained from his body.
The giant Treasure Swords surrounding Xu Xing’an trembled a few times before shooting up from the ground with a WHOOSH. They spun around, their tips now aimed at Xu Xing’an.
Then, the nine giant Treasure Swords erupted in a brilliant glow and, in a flash, flew forward to strike.
Meanwhile, the aura of the Sword Intent Celestial Soldier, locked in fierce combat with Xu Xing’an, suddenly surged. Countless streams of Sword Intent erupted from its body, forming a veritable tornado. As the giant Treasure Sword in the Celestial Soldier’s hand fell, the vortex of power swept toward Xu Xing’an.
"Cyan Cloud Sword Technique! Breaking Through the Clouds!"
Xu Xing’an roared, his giant sword slashing out horizontally.
In that brilliant instant, the air filled with the thunder of a thousand armies charging across the heavens, a torrential tide of power that threatened to overwhelm everything.
BOOM!
The sound of a massive explosion reverberated through the white space.
Shen Daoxing saw the very heavens and earth tremble from the impact.
Then—
SPURT!
An arc of blood flew high into the air.
Xu Xing’an’s figure shot backward from the center of the explosion like an arrow.
His body had returned to its normal size. His clothes were in tatters, and he looked utterly wretched.
Shen Daoxing could no longer maintain the Taiyi Demon-Slaying Sword Array.
A gentle breeze blew past. Suddenly, the ten giant Treasure Swords and the Sword Intent Celestial Soldier dissolved into a brilliant radiance and vanished.
But Shen Daoxing knew the battle wasn’t over. He slowly rose to his feet, raised his sword, and channeled the last dregs of his Spiritual Power.
"Forbidden Sword Technique, Kunlun Duanyue!"
The Great Ming Demon Sparrow flared with a brilliant light. A dazzling, seven-colored radiance surged into the sky, piercing through the clouds as if to tear a hole in the firmament itself. The very color of the heavens and earth seemed to shift.
"Strike!"
Shen Daoxing brought his sword down.
A colossal beam of sword light, powerful enough to cleave mountains and span the heavens, descended.
At the same time, the red-clothed girl was not idle. Leaping high into the sky, she called out, "Celestial Thunder God!"
For a fleeting moment, a graceful, celestial silhouette seemed to materialize behind her, and a sacred aura enveloped her body.
The red-clothed girl’s expression changed. Her eyes became completely devoid of emotion, like a deity in the heavens gazing down upon all mortals.
She resolutely raised her sword, then swung it down with cold indifference. A brilliant beam of sword light, charged with endless lightning, came crashing down.
The crackling arcs of lightning seemed powerful enough to shatter space itself as the world trembled.
One yellow, one blue—two imperious beams of sword light struck Xu Xing’an at the same time.
CRACK!
CRACK!
Xu Xing’an was first sliced in two at the waist, then cleaved vertically from head to toe, falling into four pieces.
In his final moments, Xu Xing’an stared at Shen Daoxing in stunned disbelief.
"Just who are you?"
’I may not know every young prodigy in the East Continent, but I certainly recognize those at the very top. And yet, I have no impression of this man whatsoever.’
’If it had just been that fiendish girl, I would have captured her with ease. I am a Spirit Transformation master, after all.’
’But I never expected a strange man to appear out of nowhere.’
’Who in the world is he?’
But it was a question he would never be able to answer.
With Xu Xing’an’s death, the surrounding white space began to fracture like a spiderweb, revealing the familiar sight of Taoyuan Town behind the cracks.
Shen Daoxing couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. That final attack had consumed almost all of his Spiritual Power. If it hadn’t been enough to kill Xu Xing’an, he would have been completely out of options.
At that thought, Shen Daoxing quickly took out the top-grade Rejuvenation Pills, uncorked the bottle, and poured half of its contents into his mouth.
Just then, the red-clothed girl walked over and said coolly, "You didn’t have to interfere. I could have killed him on my own."
Shen Daoxing looked up at her pale face and couldn’t help but shake his head. He was suddenly struck by how stubborn this girl was.
’Still, she’s truly incredible,’ he thought. ’If she weren’t so seriously injured, she might have actually been able to defeat a Spirit Transformation master while being at a lower realm.’
’To possess such power at her age... ’ A strange thought occurred to Shen Daoxing. He’d met practically every young prodigy from across the East Continent back in Ancient Moon City, yet he had no memory of this girl at all.
Realizing that after all this time, he still didn’t even know her name, he couldn’t help but ask, "What’s your name?"
"Dugu Sheng," the red-clothed girl replied coolly.
’Dugu Sheng?’
Shen Daoxing froze. ’What a masculine name for a girl.’
’Wait a minute... Dugu Sheng?’
Suddenly, a realization struck him. ’Dugu Sheng? As in, the greatest genius in the history of the East Continent?’
Completely baffled, Shen Daoxing looked at the red-clothed girl again. "Wait, what did you say your name was?"
"Dugu Sheng," she repeated coolly, giving him a strange look.
"Are you the Dugu Sheng from the Daqi Empire?" Shen Daoxing pressed.
The red-clothed girl nodded.
"The Dugu Sheng who single-handedly entered Thundering Volcano, one of the five great Forbidden Lands of the East Continent, at the age of fourteen?" Shen Daoxing asked again.
The red-clothed girl nodded.
"The Dugu Sheng who wreaked havoc in the Great Yong Empire and single-handedly fought an army of a hundred thousand soldiers?" Shen Daoxing pressed on.
Suddenly, the red-clothed girl grew wary. "How do you know so much about me?"
Shen Daoxing was dumbfounded. "You really are Dugu Sheng?"
’Wait... the Xu Family... Grand Commandant and Duke of Wu’an, Xu Xiong?’
Shen Daoxing suddenly recalled something. ’Isn’t that Xu Xiong from four hundred years ago? The one who monopolized the imperial court, usurped the Royal Family’s power, and nearly seized the Daqian throne? But in the end, he was cut down by Dugu Sheng.’
’Aren’t all of these people from four hundred years ago?’
’Why would figures from four hundred years in the past suddenly appear here?’
Shen Daoxing was utterly bewildered.
「While Shen Daoxing was still reeling in confusion.」
"RAAAGH! DAMN YOU!"
With a furious roar, a beam of light shot into the sky from a distant mansion in Taoyuan Town. The figure of a burly old man materialized in the air.
He spotted Shen Daoxing and the red-clothed girl in the alley, then his gaze swept over the bodies of the Xu Family Descendants littering the ground. His eyes looked ready to split with rage. "How audacious! You dare kill the descendants of my Xu Family? Not a single one of you will leave here alive!"
The battle between Shen Daoxing, the red-clothed girl, and Xu Xing’an had been fierce, creating a massive disturbance that inevitably attracted the attention of Patriarch Xu.
Fortunately, they had finished off Xu Xing’an quickly enough.
Seeing Patriarch Xu about to descend upon them, the red-clothed girl didn’t try to act tough this time. She grabbed Shen Daoxing’s arm and pulled him along. "We have to go! That’s the Patriarch of the Xu Family, Xu Hua! We’re no match for him!"