Chapter 098: Total Annihilation

Thanks for the tips from "Ge Fei Little Demon," "Lin the Great Beauty," "I Am the Emperor," and "Kang the Little Rogue."

The chaos lasted for less than the time it took to brew a cup of tea before it came to a temporary end. From the very beginning, this had been destined to be a mutually ruinous slaughter.

Even those few bare-chested men who had tried to slip away amid the confusion were cut down by Wei Xiaoran, who stood guard on the perimeter.

All over the ground lay severed limbs and broken bodies, the grievously wounded still clinging to life. It was a scene of blood and wreckage, most of it pale skin, with a few black-clad figures scattered among them.

Heiwu leaned on the Moon-Cleaving Blade that he had been forced to draw in the midst of the melee, for palm techniques alone were no longer sharp enough to kill. Blood still streamed along the edge of the blade, running down the long shaft and over the hand that gripped it, yet he did not seem to notice.

His body trembled without stop. The scene before his eyes far exceeded what he could bear.

Not far away lay Heier, his head completely distorted and covered with bite marks.

On the left, Heiqi had been crushed into a bloody pulp beneath more than ten men.

In the pile of bodies on the right, Heiliu had only just managed to wriggle out half his body, trying to rise, only to discover that his left leg had snapped. He collapsed again.

Heiwu turned desperate eyes toward his family master, a trace of anger showing in them, as if he wanted to say something, yet in the end he remained silent.

If he could, he truly wanted to ask, "Why do you not strike, Family Master?"

Yes, why not strike? Was this truly a trial meant to temper the elite of the clan, to forge the bloodlust of the last survivor at the cost of blood and lives?

But Heiwu no longer needed to struggle with the question, because Elder Bailishan Puding had somehow slipped behind him at some point, gripping a sharp broken bone and thrusting it into his back.

Heiwu turned, smashed Puding's head to pieces with one palm, then fell heavily to the ground, his eyes still open.

Lin Zhan's healing had now entered its final stage. At the start, there was no fast way to recover; he could rely only on the spiritual power supplied by the Nine Stars Diagram and the healing ability of his own star body, but even so the process was not especially quick. Later, thinking of the heavenly treasures and superior spirit stones within the Nine Stars space, Lin Zhan made a decision he would deeply regret afterward.

He began absorbing the spiritual energy within the heavenly treasures and spirit stones, for that kind of energy was the purest, with the most direct and obvious effect whether on cultivating inner power or on healing.

The potent medicinal items he had bought at the trading hall of the Heavenly Goods Pavilion, along with the spiritual herbs and elixirs he had previously seized, were all selected by Lin Zhan so that, through the extraction of the Nine Stars Diagram, they could be drawn into his body.

Then came the huge pile of superior spirit stones. When Lin Zhan sent out that intention, the Nine Stars Diagram seemed to receive some sort of encouragement, and the once tranquil space immediately became filled with hidden currents.

A cyclone of air suddenly rose, sweeping up the pile of superior spirit stones, all except those built into the structure, and swallowing them up completely.

Lin Zhan had previously stored hundreds of thousands of superior spirit stones here. Out in the outside world, that would have been a fortune enough to buy a city, enough to purchase an entire sect.

But within the Nine Stars space, such a staggering fortune was reduced to nothing in the blink of an eye. No, not even dust remained.

Still, Lin Zhan gained tremendous benefit from it. After that vast and pure spiritual energy gushed into his body, the repair and restoration of his damaged meridians and injured internal organs proceeded at a breathtaking pace.

Although Lin Zhan was sitting in meditation and healing rapidly, his divine sense was naturally watching the courtyard at all times.

He was not exactly surprised by the result there, though he had more or less expected it.

The groups that had come earlier to rob him were all wretches who deserved to die, and for them to meet such an end was only retribution. As for the black-clad men of the Wei household, they could be said to have committed crimes worthy of ten thousand deaths.

The young master of the family came out to bully others, and when he was given only a small lesson, he summoned the family experts to show off their power and slaughter recklessly. Their deaths were well deserved.

Wei Xiaoran slowly walked up to Heiwu, gave a slight nod, then reached out to close his eyes.

At this moment, the courtyard of the Fuyang Inn had already collapsed along with its walls, turning into an open space piled high with more than a hundred corpses.

"Come down, and I'll give you a quick death!" Wei Xiaoran's roar shook the buildings until they creaked.

Lin Zhan sprang to his feet and leaped down. His internal injuries had already healed in that final moment.

The time bought by those bare-chested cannon fodder was, to Lin Zhan, precious recovery time.

Facing Wei Xiaoran, Lin Zhan was calm as still water. He had encountered formidable opponents before, but this time the one before him was the strongest yet.

Without another word, Lin Zhan summoned the white bone tower and held it inverted in his hand like a hammer, just as handy as ever.

At the same time, he infused spiritual energy into the Cloud-Swallowing Demon Armor, activating its best defensive state.

For Lin Zhan knew that even in peak condition, facing a Yellow Rank mid-stage expert like Wei Xiaoran would surely still be a bitter struggle to the end, a battle of life and death.

Lin Zhan raised the white bone tower in his hand and smashed it toward where Wei Xiaoran stood. This was not merely the simple act of hurling a heavy object downward; it was the activation of the tower's own power as a magical weapon, causing it to transform into a towering, massive form as it crashed down with overwhelming force.

"Oh? So it's a high-grade magical weapon. This brat has quite the fortune. But after this battle, I wonder whether he'll still have a life to use his treasure!"

Wei Xiaoran strode forward. Each step he took carried traces of some profound art; though it seemed irregular, it flowed with a faint aura of the Great Dao. He flipped his palm, and his weapon, a silver-gray staff, appeared in his hand. With a low grunt, he shouted, "Go!"

The silver-gray staff flew from his hand at once, charging toward the white bone tower. As it moved, it swelled violently with the wind until it became a colossal pillar that seemed capable of propping up heaven and earth.

The appearance of the staff made Lin Zhan's heart tremble. It was clearly also a magical weapon, and moreover a high-grade one.

Given the Wei household's arrogance and tyranny, it would have made no sense for them not to possess one or two prized weapons of their own.

Clang!

The staff and the bone tower collided in the sky with a deafening crash. The barrier above the protective formation also began to ripple under the shockwaves.

The moment Lin Zhan hurled the bone tower, he had already brought out the Ink Sword. At this instant he pushed his speed to the limit and charged at Wei Xiaoran with the sword raised.

The contest of magical weapons was temporarily balanced. What mattered most now was the life-and-death struggle between Lin Zhan and Wei Xiaoran himself.

Seeing Lin Zhan rush in, Wei Xiaoran flicked a finger into the air, and a dazzling white wave of light shot straight toward Lin Zhan from afar.

Whoosh!

Lin Zhan crossed his sword before him, using the broad blade to shield his vital points while driving the power of creation within the sword to its utmost.

He felt a scorching heat, and even his arm was jolted numb.

The explosive sword radiance Lin Zhan had previously awakened upon the Ink Sword, with its silver lightning and golden flames, had never burned him at all. But under Wei Xiaoran's white wave of power, it instantly became chaotic beyond control.

Even the straight path it had been taking forward was forcibly deflected by several yards from the shock.

This was the first time Lin Zhan had experienced the true combat strength of a Yellow Rank fifth-stage expert. With a single move, he was clearly no match for Wei Xiaoran.