I Have a Compass for Opportunity
Chapter 236 - 152: One Lineage Must Be Exterminated
After Liou Yuan swung that sword, "Broken Rain Traceless," he quickly closed the Evil Eyes, and the purple Spiritual Power dissipated from his body.
He held the sword, panting slightly for several breaths, his face slightly pale.
The Evil Eyes always severely depleted his Spiritual Power, and with such a high-intensity attack, if he couldn’t defeat Zhan Huaping soon, he would be the one to lose.
Fortunately, the last strike of Silent Rain Cutter did not disappoint him.
Liou Yuan had honed his swordsmanship in Erosion Land for so long, and this was the first time he executed that final strike in actual combat, proving that the Silent Rain-Slaying Sword Skill had been perfected. The next step was the Great Achievement Realm of merging Green Tide with Sushui Sword Aura.
"Indeed, actual combat is the fastest way to improve cultivation."
After resting for a moment, exhausted, Liou Yuan looked at the fallen Zhan Huaping.
Then, with a flicker, he appeared in front of Zhan Huaping and struck a palm at his chest that had been pierced by his sword skill.
"Spare me!" Zhan Huaping, thinking Liou Yuan was going to kill him, screamed with none of a master’s demeanor.
Never had he imagined Liou Yuan did not strike to kill; instead, his palm sucked out a wisp of blue sword aura from Zhan Huaping’s wound, which condensed in Liou Yuan’s palm into a blue lotus.
That was the hidden force of the sword’s aura left in Zhan Huaping’s body by Broken Rain Traceless.
If Liou Yuan had been a bit slower, once that hidden force erupted, Zhan Huaping would undoubtedly have perished.
"Consider yourself lucky."
Liou Yuan sneered at Zhan Huaping, absorbing the blue lotus back into his body.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to kill Zhan Huaping, but he didn’t want to do it in front of others.
He had already noticed the golden-robed youth in the field and numerous eyes drawn by the battle around him.
Killing Zhan Huaping now would mean turning the Artifact Refining Pavilion into an enemy.
Dealing with Xiangshan the Liou Family was already headache enough for his big brother; killing Zhan Huaping would only further burden him.
Of course, Liou Yuan wasn’t someone to suffer losses; after all the effort to defeat Zhan Huaping, there was no way he’d leave empty-handed.
Under the pale gaze of Zhan Huaping, Liou Yuan picked up the pair of Cold Star and Moonlight Bracelets lying on the ground and unapologetically pocketed them.
"Heh heh, gained a pair of top-quality magical artifacts!"
Zhan Huaping watched helplessly as his treasured items were taken by Liou Yuan, his face twitching from the heartache. As he opened his mouth to speak, Liou Yuan’s fierce glare shut him up instantly.
"Speak again, and I’ll slaughter you."
Liou Yuan’s voice was cold and chilling, terrifying Zhan Huaping into silence.
"That’s more like it." Liou Yuan smiled brightly, bending over and taking Zhan Huaping’s storage bag as well.
No time to count the contents, Liou Yuan strapped it to his waist, quickly scanning his surroundings.
When Zhan Huaping showed signs of defeat, Liou Tao had already fled ahead of time.
After Liou Yuan defeated Zhan Huaping, that guy had long disappeared without a trace.
"You won’t escape." Without sparing another glance at Zhan Huaping, Liou Yuan wielded the Canglan Sword and chased in the direction where Liou Tao fled with Treading Flowing Waves.
Liou Yuan’s act of taking the pair of top-quality magical artifacts and robbing Zhan Huaping’s storage bag was witnessed by the Outer Sect disciples lurking around.
They watched with envy, yet none found it unfair.
The rules of Five Extremes Mountain vividly illustrated the phrase ’survival of the fittest.’
Most disciples would fight at a slight disagreement, though the sect rules often deterred lethal outcomes.
For the losers, losing some belongings was almost inevitable.
However, Liou Yuan’s haul this time was exceptionally enviable.
A matching pair of top-quality magical artifacts, plus Zhan Huaping’s storage bag.
Besides the star stones and spiritual objects within, Zhan Huaping, as one of the strongest in this batch of Outer Sect trials, surely had a substantial collection of stone beads.
By taking his storage bag, Liou Yuan could very likely rank within the top three.
Yet the onlookers dared not be covetous; no one dared entertain any greedy thoughts.
Having witnessed Liou Yuan’s triumph over Zhan Huaping, they knew approaching him meant suicide.
Except for one individual.
The golden-robed youth followed immediately as Liou Yuan, wielding the Canglan Sword, pursued in the direction of Liou Tao’s escape.
His eager demeanor suggested he feared missing out on a grand spectacle.
Liou Tao’s speed was no match for Liou Yuan’s, especially with severe injuries, and he found no chance to heal under Liou Yuan’s relentless pursuit.
Previously, escaping Liou Yuan’s hunt was only possible with the aid of a Foundation Establishment Talisman bestowed by a family elder.
Now that the talisman was used, evading Liou Yuan seemed nearly impossible.
"Impossible, how could that brat defeat Zhan Huaping!"
Liou Tao, in the form of gray mist, rushed through the night of Erosion Land, the spiritual lamp above casting faint light on his pallid face from excessive blood loss.
His eyes still held lingering shock.
Liou Yuan’s Silent Rain-Slaying Sword penetrating Zhan Huaping’s defenses replayed in his mind.
"That was Zhan Huaping."
Someone with a matching pair of top-grade magical artifacts, said to be a standout among Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer of the Outer Sect, even considered a formidable figure among the Ninth Layer — defeated just like that by Liou Yuan.
This witnessed battle crushed Liou Tao’s confidence to face Liou Yuan again.
Besides shock, there was deep-seated fear in his eyes.
"Run, I can’t let him catch up, or I’m as good as dead if I fall into his hands."
Liou Tao took out several healing medicines, disregarding their conflicting properties, and stuffed them into his mouth directly.
Fortunately, after Liou Yuan used the ability of those Mutated Spiritual Eyes, he is now definitely in a weakened state, so there may still be a sliver of hope for survival.
Liou Tao’s fantasy was quickly shattered by reality.
Just after escaping for a short while, a bright azure light suddenly appeared on the horizon, engulfed in layers of darkness behind him.
The speed of that spiritual light was far beyond Liou Tao’s full-speed sprint.
And who the source of that light was, needless to say.
At this rate, it wouldn’t take long before he was caught.
Liou Yuan has now retracted the ability of the Evil Eyes, with more than half of his spiritual power depleted, leaving less than a fifth.
Fortunately, he’s able to absorb the Spiritual Qi of the Erosion Land, holding a Star Stone to continually restore spiritual power, so the situation wasn’t as dire as Liou Tao imagined.
He was recovering his spiritual power while using the Evil Eyes to gaze into the darkness ahead.
In the Evil Eyes’ vision, Liou Tao’s spiritual power was as dazzling as a beacon in the dark.
"You can’t escape."
Liou Yuan murmured softly, and his Treading Flowing Waves speed accelerated once more.
After the time of an incense stick, Liou Yuan could already see Liou Tao’s back.
This distance was just within Liou Yuan’s attack range for the Celestial Calculation Skill for Taming Objects.
"Die!" The Canglan Sword exploded with a bright azure golden radiance in the darkness, tracing a path through the void and instantly arriving behind Liou Tao.
Liou Tao had already formed a magic seal in hand as Liou Yuan approached.
At the moment the Canglan Sword was about to strike him.
Hoo!
The Cloud Manipulation Skill was activated.
His figure twisted in place, turning into mist and disappearing.
Boom! The Canglan Sword missed, smashing into the Erosion Land, leaving a deep sword mark.
At the same time, a hazy gray mist spread across the vast land of the Erosion Land.
Liou Tao was difficult to kill, and this was something Liou Yuan knew very well.
But all the methods of Cloud Manipulation were already well understood by Liou Yuan. He ignored the obstruction of the gray mist and shot his figure into it.
The gray mist could not hinder Liou Yuan’s vision at all. He quickly locked onto Liou Tao’s position within the mist.
Roar! The Lion’s Roar Spell paved the way, shattering the surrounding mist.
The Silent Shadow Shattering Wave illusion conjured three Rain Swords, successfully striking Liou Tao hiding in the gray mist.
Severely injured by Liou Yuan, Liou Tao could not even mount a decent resistance, being pierced by the three Rain Swords and pinned to the blood-red earth of the Erosion Land.
The Cloud Manipulation Skill dissipated.
Liou Yuan, holding the Canglan Sword, walked towards Liou Tao, full of killing intent.
Puff! The latter’s body was pierced through by the Rain Swords, adding new wounds to the old ones, with blood continuously gushing from his mouth.
Seeing Liou Yuan’s slowly approaching figure, this genius of the Liou Family showed a terrified expression for the first time, shouting with a fierce yet weak voice, "How dare you kill me!?"
"Kill me, and the Foundation Establishment of my Liou Family will surely spare no effort to wait for you outside the Erosion Land."
"You’ll die too!"
Liou Yuan smirked coldly and had already arrived in front of Liou Tao.
He seemed to relish the expression shown by Liou Tao, the more he was like this, the more Liou Yuan felt a sense of revenge.
"What you said makes sense."
Liou Yuan bent slightly, observing Liou Tao’s hysterical behavior at close range, laughing unscrupulously.
"So what?"
This rhetorical question left Liou Tao stunned, as he assessed the young man who should have been his kin, feeling a chill reaching his heart.
The next moment.
Clang! The dazzling azure sword radiance flickered in the darkness.
That was the last color Liou Tao saw in this world.
Then a coldness around his neck, and his head slowly slid off his shoulders.
He was originally a genius of the Liou Family, and his birth and aptitude were envied by countless others.
From birth to now, he had never faced any setbacks.
Only upon entering the Five Extremes Mountain did he encounter this formidable rival, Liou Yuan, suffering a great loss.
In fact, he did not understand why two people who should have been of the same family reached such a point of no return.
Perhaps it was due to jealousy, or perhaps because of the teachings constantly instilled by family elders since childhood.
Now, in the last moments of consciousness after being beheaded by Liou Yuan, a ridiculous emotion rose in Liou Tao’s heart.
Perhaps if given another choice, he wouldn’t have cared about the Liou Family’s trivial matters at all.
As Liou Tao’s head fell, the last color vanished from his eyes.
Liou Yuan stood blankly, watching the gradually cooling headless corpse in front of him, until he could see clearly through the Evil Eyes how the spiritual power within the corpse began to dissipate, returning to the earth. Only then did Liou Yuan confirm the conclusion of death.
Slowly sheathing the Canglan Sword, he muttered, "Both you and I know that one branch of the Liou Family must perish."
"What do I have to fear?"
This statement was a response to Liou Tao’s words before dying.