Chapter 161: Ignoble Bloodline

"Senior Brother Xia, it's you! Sob..."

Duanmu Wan let out a whimper. Almost instinctively, she held Xia Jiuxuan tight.

"Sob, Senior Brother Xia, I really saw my father just now. What should I do?" she choked out through her sobs.

"That was merely an illusion. You were able to see him simply because your heart yearned for him," Xia Jiuxuan said calmly.

"Brat! You're courting death!"

At that moment, the middle-aged man let out a furious roar.

In the surrounding air, runes surged and condensed into flying swords, hovering all around him.

"Be a good girl, step back. We'll talk in a moment." Xia Jiuxuan patted Duanmu Wan's shoulder.

Only then did Duanmu Wan suddenly realize the current perilous situation she and her senior brother were in.

"Senior Brother Xia, I'm sorry!"

She finally realized that she seemed to have dragged Senior Brother Xia into this disaster! These people and corpse vessels were unimaginably powerful; with just the two of them, defeating these monsters was completely impossible.

"Hush, don't speak."

Xia Jiuxuan temporarily ignored Duanmu Wan, fixing his gaze directly on the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man glared at Xia Jiuxuan, gritting his teeth.

"You scoundrel killed my son! I hadn't even gone to settle the score with you, yet you delivered yourself right to my doorstep!"

This man was none other than Shen Yu's father.

"Can we put the matter of vengeance on hold for a moment?" Xia Jiuxuan smiled instead.

"You piece of trash, you can still smile? It seems you have no idea how grave the situation is! Very well, this deity shall sever one of your arms first before we speak further!"

The middle-aged man's hatred burned to the heavens.

He formed hand seals, and the mana swords shot toward Xia Jiuxuan like a torrential downpour.

"Senior Brother Xia, watch out!" Duanmu Wan cried out in alarm.

"Step back!"

Xia Jiuxuan uttered a soft command, his figure suddenly darting forward.

Swish, swish, swish!

Those mana sword projections flashed right past his sides, yet not a single one managed to strike him.

After charging forward a dozen or so feet, Xia Jiuxuan brought two fingers together and thrust them sharply into the empty air.

Crack, crack, crack!

Lightning flashed and runes shattered. All the mana sword projections instantly dissolved into nothingness.

"You! You actually found the core of the array!" The middle-aged man was greatly astonished.

His mana sword formation had been imparted to him by his supreme master. It was intricate and moved with bizarre unpredictability. How could this brat so easily locate the array core and effortlessly shatter it?

"Use whatever other tricks you have left, quickly. Otherwise... you are going to die."

Xia Jiuxuan stood aloft, speaking with cold detachment.

"Brat, you truly possess some skill. Corpse soldiers, heed my command! Kill him!"

On both sides of the grand hall, two rows of corpses simultaneously opened their eyes. Thick, oppressive ghostly aura and corpse miasma emanated from their bodies.

Thud, thud, thud...

The two rows of corpses stepped forward in unison. Among them were humans, fierce beasts, and half-beast overlords! Every single one of them matched the previous corpse-monkey in physical strength and combat power.

"Stand down."

Just as the corpse vessels were about to charge at Xia Jiuxuan, the Asura seated at the head of the hall spoke coldly.

From the moment Xia Jiuxuan entered this place, the creature had been closely observing him.

"This... My Lord, this boy and I share a blood feud; he killed my son. I wish to—"

Swish!

A flash of crimson light, and the Asura's figure was already standing directly before the middle-aged man. It extended its bloody claws and lifted the middle-aged man into the air.

"This deity intends to slay him with my own hands. Understood?" the Asura said chillingly.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Feeling the bone-chilling killing intent, the middle-aged man nodded repeatedly. Then, under the man's command, the corpse soldiers retreated, plunging back into a dormant state.

"Tell me, how did you journey from Purgatory into this world?"

As the Asura stared at Xia Jiuxuan, it also sensed the icy gaze fixed upon it.

"Mortal, you actually know of Purgatory!" The Asura was visibly startled by Xia Jiuxuan's words.

"Hmph." Xia Jiuxuan let out a cold snort, looking the Asura up and down. "A lowly, mixed-blood beast. Answer my question."

Mixed-blood! Beast!

The Asura was incensed by these two words! True, within Purgatory, it was situated at the very bottom, the most humble and lowly of existences. Yet no matter how humble it was, it was still a hundred times superior to a mortal!

At this moment, this lowly mortal brat dared to hold such contempt for it! Damnable!

"Mortal, your contempt for this deity will plunge you into endless torment!"

Xia Jiuxuan's gaze darkened.

"Ignorant creature, if this were the past, an ant like you wouldn't even be worthy of staining my sword!"

With that, Xia Jiuxuan summoned the Blood Bone Sword and slashed forward with a single stroke.

Clang!

The Asura raised its claw and grabbed Xia Jiuxuan's sword with a tight grip.

"You have no idea what the glorious Asura bloodline signifies!"

The next moment, a violent surge of Asura power channeled along Xia Jiuxuan's blade. Asura power, also known as the power of destruction, was far more formidable than the spiritual energy cultivated by mortals.

"Kneel before this deity!"

Having unleashed the power of destruction, the Asura looked at Xia Jiuxuan with a ferocious grin. It could already foresee this mortal boy's arms shattering into dust.

However, the next moment failed to unfold as it had imagined.

Instead, a terrifying force impacted its claw.

Feeling a searing agony shoot through its arm, the Asura was sent flying backward involuntarily. Retreating a fair distance, it steadied its stance and raised its hand to look.

Its bloody claw was already covered in fractures! Within those cracks, wisps of microscopic sword intent were still actively tearing apart its flesh and blood.

"Hiss!"

The Asura instinctively recoiled two steps. "What kind of power is this?!" it shrieked in terror.

This bizarre sword intent was completely different from any mortal sword cultivator it had ever encountered!

The power Xia Jiuxuan had just wielded was none the less than the sword intent of slaughter. Having absorbed the killing intent from the Blood Bone Sword over the past few days, the Blood Slaughter Dan within his body had finished condensing. He could now freely deploy the sword intent of slaughter at will, though its grade currently remained merely at the threshold level.

"Frightened?"

Xia Jiuxuan's lips curled into a smirk as he stared mockingly at the Asura.

In truth, Xia Jiuxuan was secretly counting his blessings at this moment. This Asura possessed a very low-tier bloodline; otherwise, given his current strength, even utilizing the sword intent of slaughter would not have been enough to injure his opponent.

"Good, very good!"

The Asura raised its claw, its scarlet tongue licking the blood from its wounds. Its expression twisted malevolently as it said coldly, "It seems you are far more suited to be offered as a sacrifice to the great Supreme Master than this female."

Xia Jiuxuan swept a disdainful glance over it. "Rest assured, after I kill you, I shall offer my own soul in sacrifice. As for whether he dares to accept my soul, that will be his own concern!"

"Arrogant."

The Asura suddenly grew eerily calm. "I have slaughtered countless disobedient, lowly mortals, yet I have never witnessed one as arrogant as you. It is time for you to witness my true combat power!"

Finished speaking, a single droplet of blood materialized before the Asura. The entire grand hall was suddenly enveloped in a crimson glow.

"Oh?"

Xia Jiuxuan raised an eyebrow. He could sense that this droplet of blood contained supreme, boundless might! It was a pure droplet of Asura primordial blood!

The next moment, the Asura opened its mouth and swallowed that drop of primordial blood.

"Aaargh!"

Blood qi surged across the Asura's entire body, its features contorting hideously in excruciating agony. Simultaneously, its aura underwent a drastic transformation—a true, pure-blooded Asura was about to be born!