Book 4: Near Blood - 25: Substitution
Even though he was running for his life, he felt the bliss of being able to release all the power in his body.
At the same time, he was spending a lot of energy to run.
This was for the sake of his freedom, for his right to live on.
He was so caught up in the excitement and bliss of running that he was completely caught unawares when another person appeared in front of him, blocking his path forward.
He was completely caught off-guard by the surge of blade light.
He didn’t even have time to slow down as he rushed forward to impale himself.
Running to greet the glowing blade, to embrace the killing intent washing over him.
In that instant, a single thought flashed across You Tianyang’s brain.
Am I going to die?
What a joke! I just awakened my bloodline power, but now I’m about to be killed.
He hadn’t even finished that train of thought when he suddenly saw that blade pause in mid-swing.
The blade’s momentum was halted, as if something was stopping it in place.
This halting gave You Tianyang an opportunity.
He finally came to his senses.
Just as the blade was about to collide with his body, a powerful burst of energy suddenly surged from You Tianyang’s body. Every muscle he had flexed simultaneously, causing his skin to become as hard as steel.
At the same time, the blade stabbed into You Tianyang, penetrating his body.
Crunch, crunch!
The sound was like that of metal being crushed.
Next, a powerful wave of energy exploded within You Tianyang’s body.
Boom!
You Tianyang was sent flying.
But as he was flew into the air, he opened his mouth and let out a howl. A torrent of energy surged from his mouth and slammed into Feng Xihuo, who cried out in pain.
He spat out a mouthful of blood and retreated.
But just as he began to retreat, the door of one of the nearby residences shattered. A sharp blade swung through the air, chopping at Feng Xihuo’s midsection.
This attack was so vicious and sudden that it seemed like Feng Xihuo wasn’t going to be able to dodge. However, he let out a strange yell, and his figure twisted strangely as he shot straight up into the sky.
The Mountain Beheading Blade followed him upwards, seeking to draw blood.
Feng Xihuo dodged again. He took a number of steps in midair, causing the Mountain Beheading Blade which threatened to cleave him in two to narrowly whizz past him. An instant later, however, a wave of black flames surrounded Feng Xihuo and pressed in on him.
Feng Xihuo rapidly changed directions for the third time, this time shooting straight towards the ground. The black flames singed his hair but didn’t harm him at all.
Feng Xihuo rolled as soon as he landed, drawing his blade and swinging it in one fluid motion at his opponent as he retreated simultaneously.
Even though that move of his seemed simple, it was a sequence that he was incredibly proud of. Now that he had used all these skills in rapid succession, he wouldn’t be able to use them again for a time, so his main goal with this blade strike wasn’t to inflict any major harm but to force his opponent to retreat.
However, the greatest benefit of ambushing someone was that you could prepare yourself.
You could make very thorough preparations!
Su Chen charged forwards without stopping, allowing Feng Xihuo’s blade strike to land on his body.
The Moon-Shattering Blade destroyed his Meg’s Guardians and penetrated his Arcana Heavy Armor but was stopped by the Thread Coral Robe and Adamantine Battle Body.
The Mountain Beheading Blade’s edge once again descended, and a mountain-cleaving momentum descended once again.
Feng Xihuo still had tricks up his sleeve.
A red light shone on his body, allowing him to block the Mountain-Beheading Blade. Even though it had only protected him against this single fatal blow, Feng Xihuo had still managed to hold on for one more exchange of moves.
Feng Xihuo retreated once again.
He was so fast that by the time Su Chen took one step forward, he had already taken three back.
The distance between them was pulled apart once again.
An instant later, however, Su Chen opened his eyes wide, letting off an intense light from them. Feng Xihuo was immediately frozen in place.
Su Chen took advantage of the opportunity to charge forward again. The Mountain Beheading Blade descended once again.
Whoosh!
The streak of blade light narrowly missed.
Feng Xihuo’s body shattered into millions of dots of light. At the same time, another figure leapt into the air on the other side of the alleyway. It was Feng Xihuo.
This person had a shocking number of escape techniques. Even under these kinds of circumstances, he was able to get away.
Upon seeing that Feng Xihuo was just about to leave the alleyway, Su Chen’s figure swayed slightly before he reappeared right next to Feng Xihuo and struck out with his blade.
This time, Feng Xihuo had no way of dodging.
“AHH!”
Following this tragic cry, an arm flew through the air.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
Feng Xihuo didn’t slow down; rather, he sped up, as if the pain gave him even more strength.
“I’ll remember you!” he cried out as he charged out of the alleyway and disappeared without a trace.
“You don’t need to remember me.” Su Chen raised his Mountain-Beheading Blade. The blade suddenly expanded and carved through the nearby wall. “Because you’re about to die.”
Pu!
Feng Xihuo’s body was bisected. His lower half took a few steps forward before it fell onto the ground.
Su Chen reached out and gave the wall a push before it collapsed.
Su Chen walked over.
“You...... how did you...... know...... I......” Feng Xihuo said as blood burbled from his mouth.
Su Chen replied, “You shouldn’t have said anything. My hearing is very good. As soon as you spoke, I knew that you hadn’t gone far; instead, you had doubled back as soon as you left the alley and was standing on the other side of the wall. This is the only way you could immediately disappeare after leaving the alleyway...... Don’t forget that that’s how I disappeared on you as well.”
“I was...... too clever...... for my own...... good!” Feng Xihuo’s head sagged as he died.
Staring at his corpse, Su Chen said, “Even if you ran as fast as you could, I wouldn’t have let you get away.”
With the Flood Dragon Emperor Shuttle, how could he let Feng Xihuo escape?
However, this person’s ability to get out of tricky situations was really quite something. No wonder Yue Longsha and the others couldn’t do anything to him.
He turned around to look and found You Tianyang still lying on the ground.
Su Chen ran over to inspect him. He confirmed that You Tianyang wasn’t dead yet, though he was very close.
Su Chen laughed, “You’re lucky to have run into me here, but you’re also quite unlucky.”
He pulled out a vial of medicine and gave it to You Tianyang to drink.
After doing this, Su Chen thought for a moment, then pulled out a blade and put it in his hands. He moved Feng Xihuo’s corpse over to the side so that it seemed like the two of them had fought a battle to the death before he turned around and left.
Because he was in a hurry, he had made a lot of mistakes. However, Zhu Xianyao and the others weren’t professionals and probably wouldn’t notice.
Su Chen had just left when Zhu Xianyao ran over behind them.
When she saw You Tianyang lying on the ground, she yelled, “Tianyang!”
She ran over to him and hugged him tightly.
“Young Master!” Ba Lieyuan howled as he charged over. “Who was the one who injured you? Tell me!”
Unfortunately, You Tianyang was unconscious. How could he respond?
Zhu Xianyao shoved him aside. “If you keep shaking him like that, you’ll shake him to death! Jingwen, hurry and take him back. Right now, only Old Ye can save him.”
Zhao Jingwen walked over and picked You Tianyang up.
“Do you know who did this?” Culler asked as he approached.
“We’re not sure yet.” Zhu Xianyao glanced at Feng Xihuo, but unfortunately Su Chen had bashed his face in, making it impossible to determine that person’s identity. “It seems like they should be related to the group of people who tried to assassinate us earlier.”
Culler said darkly, “No matter where these people are from, they must pay a price if they are willing to stir up trouble in the Sand Race’s territory. Leave it to me, Young Miss. I will definitely find the bastards who did this.”
“May it be so.”
Zhu Xianyao stared at You Tianyang, worry written all over her face.
If she had been suspicious of You Tianyang at one point, all her suspicions had been wiped out now by the traces of his bloodline that still lingered.
Right now, all she cared about was whether or not You Tianyang’s life could still be saved.