Chapter 162: Slain the Asura

A thick, suffocating aura of blood spread through the air.

The grand hall was chillingly quiet, and even the middle-aged spell cultivator and his companions felt a suffocating pressure weighing upon them.

Within the span of a few breaths, the Asura completely assimilated that single drop of primordial blood, completing its profound transformation.

"You truly deserve a thousand deaths for forcing this sovereign to use such precious primordial blood."

The Asura raised its head, its cold eyes locked onto Xia Jiuxuan.

At this moment, Xia Jiuxuan’s expression turned grave.

Even a single drop of primordial blood was enough to empower this half-blood Asura with strength comparable to that of a human at the peak of the Sea-Splitting Realm.

More importantly, that drop of primordial blood immensely reinforced its physical defenses.

Even if an opponent's cultivation level exceeded his by one or two tiers, shattering that defense would remain an impossible dream!

However, absorbing primordial blood in such a manner had its distinct drawbacks.

The burst of power lacked endurance.

A single drop of primordial blood could sustain its peak state for at most half a quarter of an hour.

Once that time elapsed, the primordial blood would dissipate, leaving the Asura in an extremely weakened state.

"Die!"

Xia Jiuxuan hesitated no longer.

Rather than waiting for the creature to initiate the attack, he preferred to strike first.

The slaughter energy within his body surged frantically, pushing his sword intent to its absolute limit.

Whoosh!

In an instant, Xia Jiuxuan appeared right before the Asura.

"Courting death!"

The Asura sneered in utter disdain, lifting its claw and lashing out casually.

Xia Jiuxuan raised the Blood-Bone Sword, dispensing with any fancy maneuvers, and brought it down in a fierce slash.

Instantly, the entire hall was saturated with the intent of slaughter.

Rays of crimson light surged like a raging river.

Bang!

The Asura's claw struck Xia Jiuxuan’s blade.

Reeling back a dozen paces from the impact, Xia Jiuxuan immediately charged right back!

One strike!

Two strikes!

...

Within the span of a few breaths, he had unleashed well over a hundred sword strikes upon the Asura!

Yet, all of these fierce attacks were effortlessly deflected by the Asura.

"Vile human, it is my turn!"

The Asura let out a shrill roar, its figure vanishing from sight.

Swish!

A streak of blood-red light materialized directly behind Xia Jiuxuan.

A claw strike!

It seemed to tear an opening straight through the void itself.

Yet, hovering in the air with his back turned to the Asura, the corners of Xia Jiuxuan’s mouth curved into a chilling smirk.

"Seal!"

A wave of spatial magic swept outward.

The space within a radius of a hundred zhang instantly froze.

The Asura’s descending claw suddenly encountered immense resistance, forcing Xia Jiuxuan’s figure to sink downward and causing the blow to hit nothing but empty air.

"Damn it! Spatial magic!"

The Asura hissed in fury, its voice laced with intense rage.

Had it not been for the sudden stagnation of space, it would have already pierced straight through this brat's back!

The next moment!

Xia Jiuxuan unleashed his power to the absolute maximum.

A swordsmanship technique that surpassed the normal limits of his physical body was finally unleashed!

"Double-Impact Sword Strike!"

This swordsmanship possessed only a single move.

It concentrated every ounce of energy within the dantian into one strike, exponentially multiplying the sword's might.

The intent of slaughter crashed violently against the Asura's body.

This single sword strike drained almost all the slaughter energy residing in Xia Jiuxuan’s dantian.

Sensing the deadly crisis, the Asura frantically circulated the blood qi within its body.

Boom!

Unable to dodge, it simply chose to charge head-on toward Xia Jiuxuan.

Crash! Dozens of arcs of lightning flickered as the blood qi detonated violently.

The Asura’s physique was breached by the slaughter sword intent, shattering the majority of the scales covering its body.

Sent flying backward, it crashed heavily into the wall of the grand hall, nearly shattering the protective array runes inscribed upon the stonework.

"Hah."

Xia Jiuxuan let out a soft sigh of relief.

Had that strike failed to repel the creature, he would likely have been slain by its palm strike in return.

"Brat!"

Just as Xia Jiuxuan let down his guard, the battered and bloodied Asura dragged itself back up from the floor.

Whoosh!

The Asura vanished from its spot.

The next instant.

A bloody claw lashed out toward Xia Jiuxuan’s chest.

"Senior Brother Xia, watch out!"

Duanmu Wan, who had been standing to the side all this time, decisively flashed forward.

"Blazing Fire..."

Bang!

Before she could execute her swordsmanship, the bloody claw struck her shoulder.

Flesh and blood splattered everywhere!

Duanmu Wan’s shoulder was shattered entirely by that single blow.

Puff!

Duanmu Wan spat a mouthful of blood as her body was sent flying backward, dragging Xia Jiuxuan along with her from the force of the impact.

"Hahaha!"

Witnessing this scene, the middle-aged man from the Shen family let out a hearty laugh.

"In the end, this brat is still no match for Lord Asura."

"My lord's martial might is truly peerless; we are filled with awe."

Meanwhile, the Asura stood in place, its unblinking eyes locked onto the sent-flying figures of Xia Jiuxuan and Duanmu Wan.

"Take them down. Use the Holy Art to force a mandatory sacrifice."

The Asura instructed the others present.

"Understood, my lord."

Generally speaking, their master despised souls obtained through forced sacrifice.

Because such souls yielded no true benefits for their master, they usually resorted to various schemes to make their targets offer themselves willingly.

However, there were exceptions.

When encountering individuals with formidable physiques and strength far exceeding the norm, one merely needed to force a ritual sacrifice and seize control of their physical vessel.

Take the various great demonic beasts within this hall, for instance.

Their souls were useless to humans.

Thus, the Necropolis Vale simply compelled them into forced sacrifice, utilizing solely their powerful physical bodies.

"Move in and capture them!"

At the middle-aged man's command, several hazy, misty figures along with a number of corpse soldiers flew forward to seize Xia Jiuxuan and Duanmu Wan.

"You little brat are truly tough. Had Lord Asura not intervened, none of us would have been your match."

One of the misty figures approached Xia Jiuxuan first.

Swish!

Suddenly, a flash of sword light swept across the air.

The misty figure was cleaved clean in half!

"He still has combat strength!"

The severed misty figure cried out in shock, attempting to retreat.

Streams of slaughter sword shadows cut horizontally across the air, slicing it to shreds.

"Suppress!"

Spiritual soul power surged forward.

The misty figure let out a miserable scream before bursting apart entirely, dissolving into a pool of grey, blood-stained fluid.

"Roar!"

Devoid of any sense of fear, several demonic corpse soldiers charged relentlessly forward.

Rumble!

A flare of intense fire erupted.

Xia Jiuxuan refined spirit crystals, converting the boundless, masterless spiritual energy into fire-attribute spiritual energy.

With a single downward slash!

A sky-full of blazing sword shadows crashed down upon the corpse soldiers.

Bang, bang, bang...

Pierced through by the sword shadows, their skeletal frames were instantly ignited by the raging flames.

Shielding Duanmu Wan behind him, Xia Jiuxuan cast an icy, murderous gaze upon the remaining foes.

It was true that he had exhausted all his slaughter energy just moments ago.

Yet, he could still harness pure spiritual energy; as long as he had spirit crystals, his spiritual attacks were practically inexhaustible!

Both the middle-aged man and the Asura were utterly dumbfounded by Xia Jiuxuan’s current combat prowess!

"How is this possible? Why does he still possess such terrifying fighting strength?!"

The middle-aged man found it entirely unbelievable.

Clearly, he had depleted all his energy moments prior and should have been completely left without any power of resistance!

"Half a quarter of an hour is almost up."

Griping his Blood-Bone Sword, Xia Jiuxuan stepped forward.

Through his perception, he could feel the Asura’s blood qi rapidly diminishing.

Coupled with the heavy injuries it had already sustained, the creature was no longer capable of unleashing attacks at its peak state.

Seeing Xia Jiuxuan approach, the Asura actually trembled in fright.

"Human, you..."

Driven back step by step by the overwhelming pressure of Xia Jiuxuan's momentum, the Asura pressed its back firmly against the wall behind it.

The Asura was completely bewildered.

This defied all its understanding.

How could a low-realm human cultivator possess such terrifying strength?

"Half-blood beast, weren't you acting quite arrogant just a moment ago?"

Xia Jiuxuan raised an eyebrow, staring at it coldly.

"Even if this sovereign is severely injured, a lowly creature like you cannot kill me!"

With nowhere left to retreat, the Asura forced a front of bravado.

"Lowly trash, still running your mouth!"

Turning into a blur of afterimages, Xia Jiuxuan closed the distance.

Bang, bang, bang...

Over a hundred consecutive punches landed squarely on the Asura's face.

The scales shattering across its visage, every single tooth within its mouth was pulverized.

"Ah, this..."

The middle-aged man and the remaining human cultivators grew stiff with terror, utterly speechless.

The mighty Lord Asura was being beaten in such a miserable fashion?

If this were a human expert of the Dao-Origin Realm launching an assault, it might be somewhat understandable, but this brat was merely at the Mortal-Leaving Realm!

How terrifyingly absurd was this?!

"Brat, don't you dare act so rampantly!"

At that moment, the middle-aged man seemed to notice something.

With a flash of his figure, he materialized directly beside Duanmu Wan.

"Bind!"

Threads of magical energy shot forth from his palms, instantly sealing the injured Duanmu Wan in place.

Clang!

Condensing a blade of wind in his palm, he pressed it directly against Duanmu Wan’s throat.

"Kneel down immediately, or I'll kill your woman!"

Feeling as though he had grabbed hold of a life-saving straw, the middle-aged man's expression twisted into a ferocious snarl.

"Did you hear me? If you don't kneel right now, I'll hack her into a thousand pieces!"

Seeing that Xia Jiuxuan remained entirely unmoved, the middle-aged man began to lose his nerve.

Xia Jiuxuan chuckled. "You must have taken the wrong medicine today, haven't you?"

"Fine! If you won't save her, at the very least I'll drag someone down to hell with me! Die, your man doesn't care about you at all!"

With a ferocious expression, the middle-aged man thrust the wind blade toward Duanmu Wan's throat.

Clang!

A sharp, piercing intent of the sword spiraled outward from within Duanmu Wan’s body, instantly shattering the magical bindings.

Swish, swish, swish!

The sword intent coalesced into distinct sword shadows that circled the middle-aged man’s neck a few times.

In an instant, the middle-aged man’s eyes widened in horror as his head tumbled to the floor.

"Idiot, did you really think this young lady was an easy target?"

Duanmu Wan kicked the middle-aged man's corpse aside with her foot.

While she lacked the strength to resist that Asura, her overall combat power was more than sufficient to slaughter ordinary Saint-Entering Realm cultivators.

For this middle-aged spell cultivator to actively close in for close combat—was that not actively seeking death?

Therefore, the moment Duanmu Wan was captured, Xia Jiuxuan had not panicked in the slightest.

"Human, you... you won't walk out of here alive!"

At that moment, the bloodied Asura flew into a frenzy, launching itself directly at Xia Jiuxuan.

Roar!

Letting out a shrill shriek, its bloody claws clamped firmly onto Xia Jiuxuan’s shoulders.

"Go to hell, vile human."

Staring intently at Xia Jiuxuan, the Asura let out a dry, harsh chuckle.

At that very moment, a wave of destructive energy surged wildly from within the Asura's body.

"Self-detonation?!"

Xia Jiuxuan’s expression turned stern.

Swish!

He swung his sword, aiming directly for the Asura's arms.

Clang!

To Xia Jiuxuan's surprise, his blade was deflected by a powerful barrier of force.

Without hesitation, Xia Jiuxuan unleashed a full-powered palm strike instead.

"Viscera-Breaker!"

Bang!

That tyrannical palm strike landed squarely on the Asura’s torso.

The force bypassed its tough external defense and invaded its internal organs.

That single palm strike pulverized its internal organs into mush.

Yet, the Asura continued to grin hideously, its claws refusing to loosen their grip.

Now things were getting a bit troublesome!

Should an Asura detonate itself, the resulting explosive power would undoubtedly be sufficient to tear Xia Jiuxuan to pieces.

As the Asura’s aura grew increasingly violent, its soul began to burn as well.

"An opening!"

The exact moment before the Asura initiated its self-detonation, its soul and physical body were momentarily in a state of separation.

"Ant, kneel!"

Behind Xia Jiuxuan, a towering phantom of slaughter materialized.

Spiritual soul power invaded the Asura’s sea of consciousness.

Within that vast, empty void of consciousness, an Asura burning with bloody flames floated in the center.

That was its very soul!

"Raaah!"

Upon catching sight of the slaughter phantom, the Asura’s soul shrieked in frenzied terror.

"No!"

It roared in despair, completely unable to believe the entity standing before its eyes.

That silhouette was far more terrifying than even the King of Purgatory whom it revered above all else.

"Suppress!"

The slaughter phantom uttered the single word in an icy tone.

The bloody flames blazing upon the Asura’s soul vanished instantly.

All of the violent, volatile energy ebbed away from the Asura’s body.

The Asura’s shattered corpse collapsed limply onto the ground; its soul had been thoroughly pulverized into nothingness.

Drawing out his Blood-Bone Sword, Xia Jiuxuan drove it straight into the creature's chest.

A continuous stream of slaughter qi was absorbed by the Blood-Bone Sword and funneled back into Xia Jiuxuan’s body.

"We beseech our sovereign to descend and slay this brat!"

While Xia Jiuxuan was occupied with the Asura, the remaining Shen family spell cultivators frantically hoisted an altar into place.

Using their primordial blood as a medium and their souls as a catalyst, they were attempting to communicate with a mysterious and formidable entity.

"Quickly, hasten the sacrifice!"

Seeing the Asura slain before their eyes, the Shen family spell cultivators grew frantic.

The sacrificial ritual was on the verge of completion.

Whoosh!

Right at that moment, Duanmu Wan flashed forward.

With a single sword strike, she severed the heads of the remaining men.

The altar, glowing with a greyish light, instantly dimmed and faded away.

"Let's go!"

Scooping Duanmu Wan into his arms, Xia Jiuxuan immediately flew out of the grand hall.

He was well aware that the Necropolis Vale certainly housed more than just these few individuals.

There might even be far more powerful existences lurking within.

Thus, lingering here any longer was out of the question.

Before long, Xia Jiuxuan arrived back within the crystal-walled prison and located Mu Feng.

"Miss Duanmu, you... you're injured!"

Seeing Xia Jiuxuan and Duanmu Wan return, Mu Feng was initially overjoyed.

However, upon catching sight of Duanmu Wan’s blood-soaked, mangled shoulder, anxiety immediately replaced his relief.

"It's fine. Fortunately, Senior Brother Xia arrived in time, or I might not have survived." Duanmu Wan cast an apologetic glance toward Xia Jiuxuan.

"Let's get out of here first!"

Given Xia Jiuxuan’s usual temperament, after slaughtering those people, he would have definitely looted whatever valuables were available before leaving.

Yet this time, he dared not tarry.

After all, his current cultivation realm remained far too low; should some ancient monster appear, his entire second life would come to an abrupt end here.

Hum.

With a thought from Xia Jiuxuan, the teleportation jade talisman floated up into the air.

Before the three of them, ripples of spatial energy began to swirl.

"Let's go!"

Holding the other two close, Xia Jiuxuan prepared to step into the spatial ripples.

Yet at that very moment!

An unexpected anomaly occurred!

As the three of them made contact with the spatial ripples, their feet stepped into empty air!

The spatial ripples vanished entirely!

Snap!

The spatial jade talisman hovering before Xia Jiuxuan shattered into pieces with a crisp crack.

"Hmm?"

Xia Jiuxuan’s gaze sank as a bad premonition arose in his heart.

Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle...

A sound akin to silver bells echoed softly through the crystal-walled prison.

The next moment, an aged figure materialized before the three of them.

The elder’s weathered face was covered in intricate, eerie tattoos, and his entire body radiated a powerful aura of magical energy.

"My Shen family has served our sovereign for hundreds of years, yet we have never encountered ignorant fools daring enough to court death like you!"

Lifting his drooping eyelids, the old man stared apathetically at Xia Jiuxuan.

Xia Jiuxuan understood the situation instantly.

This person must be the legendary patriarch of the Shen family!

"Old fogey, the one courting death here is you."

Xia Jiuxuan forced himself to remain calm.

"Pitiful brat, in front of this old man, you aren't even worthy of being called an ant. How dare you spout such arrogant nonsense?"

Rumble!

The earth trembled slightly.

The old man unleashed his full aura.

Boundless magical energy instantly locked down the surrounding space, pinning Xia Jiuxuan and his companions firmly in place, rendering them completely unable to move.