Chapter 257: Slay

Eleven True Masters of the Martial Dao from the Wu Country had come, and Nangong Bo had killed one of them.

Besides Xu Changfeng and Jiang Qingsong, eight remained.

The eight had originally planned to snatch some Spiritual Elixirs, but seeing Xu Changfeng and Jiang Qingsong in peril, they abandoned the thought of looting and charged back toward Nangong Bo.

If they couldn’t defeat him, they wouldn’t be able to take any Spiritual Elixirs with them, no matter how many they seized.

“Excellent timing. I’ll finish you all in one fell swoop!”

Nangong Bo chuckled lightly.

The two True Masters of the Martial Dao from the Great Li Country standing behind him were about to step forward and assist, but Nangong Bo shot them a sidelong glance and said coldly, “I don’t need your help. Go get the Spirit Pills!”

Before his voice had even faded, Nangong Bo’s Blood Qi flared. He brought his longsword up to block, and the blade trembled, emitting a strange phoenix cry.

“Allow me to show you the Celestial Phoenix Sword Dao!”

Nangong Bo pointed his longsword forward.

BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!

Blood Qi surged into the blade, instantly erupting into dozens of crimson streams of Sword Qi. They resembled phoenix feathers as they enveloped Xu Changfeng, Jiang Qingsong, and the others.

“Be careful!”

Xu Changfeng’s expression grew solemn as he shouted a quick warning.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

A series of sharp clashes rang out.

Although Xu Changfeng and Jiang Qingsong were at the forefront, blocking the majority of Nangong Bo’s attack, a few of the crimson, feather-like Sword Qi streams still shot toward the men behind them.

Even for experts like Xu Changfeng and Jiang Qingsong, both at Golden Core Realm Perfection, blocking this one sword strike was a struggle.

To say nothing of the eight True Masters of the Martial Dao behind them, some of whom were only at the Middle or Late Stage of Golden Core.

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

Three True Masters of the Martial Dao had their defenses pierced by Nangong Bo’s attack. Their Blood Qi scattered as the Sword Qi tore through their armor, leaving gruesome, bleeding wounds.

The three men fell directly to the ground.

Though their years of military training and battlefield experience allowed them to avoid fatal blows, that single strike had robbed them of their ability to fight.

“Heh heh.”

A flicker of mockery crossed Nangong Bo’s eyes as he said disdainfully, “The Huben Army? The Longxiang Iron Cavalry? You’re just a bunch of worthless rabble!”

“Retreat for now!”

Xu Changfeng and Jiang Qingsong exchanged a look and made a snap decision to change their plan.

‘If we continue this head-on clash, we might be able to take down one or two of the Great Li Country’s Military Generals, but the cost will be far too great!’

“Trying to leave?”

With a flash of movement, Nangong Bo appeared, blocking the entrance to the Pill Room. He stood in the air, longsword in hand, and stared down at Xu Changfeng and his men. “Without my permission,” he said coldly, “no one here is leaving!”

Xu Changfeng’s expression shifted, and he suddenly shouted, “Nangong Bo, no matter how strong you are, can you stop the hundred-plus True Master Golden Cores in this Pill Room?!”

‘Our small group is no match for Nangong Bo.’

‘If we can rally the other True Master Golden Cores in the Pill Room, not even Nangong Bo, with all his combat strength, could withstand the assault of over a hundred of them.’

However, the other True Master Golden Cores were all captivated by the Spiritual Elixirs on the jade shelves, each with their own agenda, unwilling to get involved.

“What nonsense!”

Nangong Bo saw through Xu Changfeng’s intentions and sneered. “I’ll be standing right here today. Let’s see which of you can kill me!”

“Senior Brother Lu, we’ve taken these Elixirs, but what do we do if that Nangong Bo blocks the exit and won’t let anyone pass?”

Su Muxue of the Seven Stars Sect furrowed her lovely brow and asked in a low voice.

“We’ll wait and see how things develop.”

Lu Mingyuan whispered, “This is a grudge between the Wu Country and the Great Li Country. It’s best if we don’t interfere. When they start fighting for real, we can look for a chance to slip away.”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Elsewhere, Nangong Bo was once again locked in a fierce battle with Xu Changfeng, Jiang Qingsong, and the other True Masters of the Martial Dao.

Xu Changfeng and his men knew that if they couldn’t get past Nangong Bo, they wouldn’t leave this place alive.

Every one of them fought with desperate, life-or-death ferocity.

Nangong Bo, though fighting many at once and still holding the upper hand, was also consuming a great deal of his Blood Qi.

“ROAR!”

Just then, a deafening tiger’s roar suddenly echoed through the Pill Room!

The roar came without any warning.

Its sheer volume, amplified as it reverberated within the Pill Room, made it even more potent.

Nangong Bo was the one most affected by the blast.

The tiger’s roar had sounded right next to his ear, as if from inches away.

Nangong Bo shuddered, as if struck by lightning. A dazed look flickered in his eyes as his consciousness went blank for a moment.

In that instant, a flaw appeared in the powerful Blood Qi that surrounded him.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The next moment, accompanied by the roar of a great tide.

A brilliant, blinding flash of sword light appeared, slicing down through the opening in Nangong Bo’s Blood Qi!

SCHLICK!

A head flew high into the air!

The scene drew the eyes of all the True Master Golden Cores in the Pill Room.

Their faces were filled with shock, their eyes wide with disbelief.

‘The sudden tiger’s roar had been terrifying enough.’

‘What was that sound of a great tide?’

‘Nangong Bo is dead?’

Everyone could see it clearly: the head tumbling through the air, its eyes wide open in death, belonged to none other than the once-invincible Nangong Bo, the True Master of the Martial Dao ranked among the top ten fighters of the Great Li Country!

‘Who killed him?’

‘Did a Nascent Soul True Monarch intervene?’

Before anyone could react, as Nangong Bo’s headless corpse fell, a figure materialized in mid-air beside it.

He was tall and powerfully built, with a pair of enormous wings shimmering with golden light sprouting from his back. The circulation of his Blood Qi produced a continuous rumbling sound. He held a longsword, his gaze was like a torch, and he stood upon the air itself.

“It’s that senior!”

Su Muxue was the first to recognize Lu Bai, and the words escaped her lips instinctively.

“Something’s not right.”

Yun Yifeng frowned slightly. “Isn’t this senior a Nascent Soul True Monarch? How come his Blood Qi isn’t even overflowing? Forget the radiant aura of a Nascent Soul True Monarch; his Blood Qi hasn’t even reached the level of a burning flame.”

“True.”

Lu Mingyuan observed him carefully and said, “This person has not entered the Alchemy Dao. He’s still just an Innate Martial Artist.”

“An Innate Martial Artist with such abilities?”

Su Muxue was startled.

‘Sprouting wings, walking on air, and having a Body Technique fast enough to rival a Nascent Soul True Monarch is one thing…’

‘…but to kill Nangong Bo of the Great Li Country with a single sword strike, right before everyone’s eyes!’

“Although this man is an Innate Martial Artist, his Blood Qi Cultivation is simply terrifying.”

Lu Mingyuan was secretly amazed and whispered, “Even for a peak Innate Martial Artist, cultivating one’s Blood Qi until it’s like a great river is considered the absolute limit.”

“But this man has actually cultivated his Blood Qi to be like a great ocean tide. That’s something unheard of, in all of history!”

“Blood like a tide?”

Yun Yifeng asked, “Even if his Blood Qi is like a tide, it’s not overflowing. Surely it can’t compare to a True Master of the Martial Dao whose Blood Qi burns like a flame, right?”

“It’s hard to say.”

Lu Mingyuan said, “By my estimation, some True Masters of the Martial Dao in the Early Stage of the Golden Core Realm might not be his match.”

Su Muxue said, “Forget the Early Stage of Golden Core; he just killed a True Master of the Martial Dao at Golden Core Realm Perfection!”

“That was different.”

Lu Mingyuan explained, “He likely used a method similar to an Invisibility Talisman to bypass Nangong Bo’s perception, then used a Sound Strike Secret Technique to force an opening in Nangong Bo’s Blood Qi, allowing him to succeed in one blow.”

“Even so, this person is still terrifying. If he were to enter the Alchemy Dao, I can’t imagine what his Blood Qi would become.”