Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Two: Complete Susanoo Form (Please Subscribe, Please Tip)

Xun’er looked at Xiao Xie’s bare upper body. It was not the swollen, explosive kind of muscle seen in Western men, but the sharply defined lines of his physique gave off a quiet, formidable strength. Xun’er and Xiao Yan had always shared a close bond, yet their relationship remained pure; of course, what had happened in childhood did not count. Up to this point, this was the first time she had ever seen a man’s semi-naked form so near, and that man was Xiao Xie, the one she held in such favorable regard.

Unable to stop herself, Xun’er touched her cheek and found it burning hot, as though her face were being seared. Men could not help looking more than once at women with fine figures; by the same token, women could not help stealing a few extra glances at strong men. Though she knew this was hardly the time to admire Xiao Xie’s body, she still could not resist her curiosity.

Yet Xun’er did not dwell on it for long before she noticed, with surprise, that a suit of armor covered in sharp spikes had appeared upon Xiao Xie, sealing off his entire upper body.

This was the Thorn Armor, a piece of defense equipment Xiao Xie had once obtained from the world of the game League of Legends. It granted a hundred points of armor and could rebound thirty percent of physical damage. Xiao Xie had worn it all along, but until now he had never encountered a true master of physical combat, so its power had never been revealed. This time, in order to deal with Hun Moyan, a three-star Battle Saint, Xiao Xie had to go all out and expose the Thorn Armor as well.

“I really hate using this form, but it seems I have no choice now,” Xiao Xie said with a trace of helplessness. Then he lifted his head and let out a roar: “Meow!”

“…”

Xun’er, Ling Ying, and Hun Moyan were all stunned by Xiao Xie’s sudden cat cry. At a moment like this, you start meowing—are you trying to be funny?

As Xiao Xie’s cry rang out, the short hair on his head lengthened into waist-length locks, his ears transformed into a pair of black cat ears, and a black tail even appeared behind him.

Although the Nine-Life Mystic Cat Devil Fruit was a fantasy-type Devil Fruit, it was also an animal-type one. In this half-human, half-beast form, Xiao Xie’s speed and strength were five times greater than in human form. If he took on the fully beastly form of the complete Nine-Life Mystic Cat, his speed and strength would increase to ten times that of his human form. However, in that complete beast form, many of Xiao Xie’s abilities could not be used, so in terms of overall combat power, it was actually inferior to the half-human, half-beast state.

The cat-human form was Xiao Xie’s strongest battle state, but because he would turn into a cat-eared man after using it, he disliked it very much. Every time he assumed that form, he would remember the cat-eared maid girls from anime, and an inexplicable sense of awkwardness would rise in him.

“Interesting. Is that some sort of secret technique?” Hun Moyan gazed with amusement at Xiao Xie’s transformed body. Feeling the astonishing aura radiating from Xiao Xie, his interest only grew.

Ling Ying said in shock, “Young Master Xiao Xie’s secret technique is incredible. If I did not know that both of his parents were human, I would almost think the young master was a half-human, half-beast hybrid!”

“I feel like it would be so soft... I want to touch it,” Xun’er thought to herself, looking at Xiao Xie’s upright cat ears and the fluffy-looking tail behind him.

“Since you are my opponent, then I will have to go all out!” Xiao Xie said solemnly, raising his eyes to stare at Hun Moyan. As he spoke, a black pattern formed of three shuriken appeared in his pupils. The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, manifest!

Hun Moyan frowned slightly. For some reason, although Xiao Xie was still nothing more than an ant in his eyes, being stared at by those eyes filled him with an odd sense of unease.

“Complete Susanoo, activate!” Xiao Xie shouted, and a surge of golden energy erupted from his body. In the end, it formed a three-hundred-meter-tall golden giant clad in a suit of armor covered with spikes. Xiao Xie stood within the golden barrier at the giant’s brow, his arms crossed over his chest. Those crimson eyes looked down upon all living things with the indifference of a god.

“It is not over yet!” Seeing the playful look in Hun Moyan’s eyes, Xiao Xie immediately moved his mind. The formation of ten bone beasts merged wholly into the giant’s body, and in the end a layer of beastly armor spread over the golden giant. The giant’s aura surged yet again.

“How is that possible?” The amusement in Hun Moyan’s eyes vanished, replaced by shock. At first, when Xiao Xie transformed into that half-human, half-beast form, his aura had surged sharply, but it had only reached the level of a nine-star Battle Sect. The golden giant Xiao Xie had then conjured emitted an aura no more than that of a five-star Battle Venerable. But after the giant fused with the ten bone beasts, its aura had actually risen to that of a one-star Battle Saint.

To Hun Moyan, anyone below the Battle Saint realm was merely an ant, even if they possessed semi-Saint strength. But now Xiao Xie’s beast-covered, complete Susanoo already had an aura comparable to a one-star Battle Saint. Once one reached the level of a Battle Saint, they were worthy of Hun Moyan’s full attention.

Hun Moyan took a deep breath and said with some emotion, “Little fellow, to have reached this point is indeed beyond my expectations. I truly have no qualification to be your teacher. However, if you are willing to join the Soul Clan, I can recommend you to the clan leader. With your talent, the clan leader would certainly be very happy to take you as his disciple.”

Hun Moyan genuinely thought highly of Xiao Xie. If before he had valued only Xiao Xie’s potential, then now he valued Xiao Xie’s strength. Although using a secret art to raise one’s cultivation could only sustain combat for a short time, the fact that Xiao Xie could, while at the Battle Sect level, use a secret technique to raise his strength to something comparable to a Battle Saint meant that Hun Moyan had no choice but to call him, in his heart, a little monster.

“Cut the nonsense. I will not join the Soul Clan. I am coming for you now!” Xiao Xie drew the soul-slaughtering blade at his waist, and the golden giant likewise drew the massive saber hanging at its own side. With a thought from Xiao Xie, the golden giant bent its knees and shot upward into the sky, then swung its enormous saber with brutal force at Hun Moyan.

“Have I failed to persuade you?” A hint of helplessness flashed in Hun Moyan’s eyes. He had sincerely wanted to invite Xiao Xie into the Soul Clan, but Xiao Xie did not appreciate the offer. Hun Moyan shook his head, then looked at the golden blade coming down with thunderous momentum. His gaze turned icy as he said coldly, “In that case, I can only kill you here today. Otherwise, you may well become a great enemy of my Soul Clan in the future!”

If recruitment failed, then it had to be eradicated. The continent of Dou Qi never lacked geniuses, but not all geniuses could grow to maturity. Just like this time, in order to snuff out Xun’er, that genius of the Ancient Clan, while she was still in the cradle, the Soul Clan had dispatched a Battle Saint expert.

With a sweep of his right hand, a pitch-black greatsword appeared in Hun Moyan’s grasp. He slashed with it to meet the golden giant’s descending blade.

Boom!

The greatsword and the giant saber collided, releasing a tremendous burst of energy that directly shattered the surrounding space. It took quite a while before the space slowly recovered.

Bang!

Gripping the greatsword, Hun Moyan forcefully struck and sent the golden giant reeling backward. Although the golden giant stood three hundred meters tall and Hun Moyan was only a little over one meter eighty in height, it was Xiao Xie who had fallen into a disadvantage in this direct clash.

“What a bizarre attack!” Hun Moyan frowned. When swords met with Xiao Xie just now, he had only felt a force rebound against him, amounting to roughly thirty percent of his own attack. Such damage could not hurt him, but during battle, this sudden rebounding force could still affect the flow of combat.

After being forced back, Xiao Xie controlled the golden giant to open its mouth. In an instant, a black energy sphere dozens of meters wide condensed and hurled itself violently at Hun Moyan. The power of a black Cero was a hundred times that of a red one, an embodiment of energy compressed to its absolute limit.

Feeling the terrifying energy contained within the black sphere, Hun Moyan stamped the ground and used a brief spatial movement to evade the attack. The black energy sphere did not slow, instead slamming into a small mountain dozens of miles away.

Boom!

A colossal mushroom cloud rose into the sky. When the dust finally settled, the hundred-meter mountain that should have stood there was gone, leaving only a vast crater behind.