Slaying the King

The words of that King Realm expert were like the ravings of a dying man, filled with extreme fear and disbelief, leaving a faint echo in the air.

However, Xiao Ruobai's eyes were ice-cold, and the movements of his hands did not pause for a single moment.

Ever since they returned from the secret realm last time, his master, Gu Changge, had been nagging him and his junior brother every other day. His ears were practically growing calluses from listening to it.

"Ruobai, remember this: in the cultivation world, the ones who die the fastest are those who love to show off!"

"So many people could clearly slap their opponents to death with one strike, but they just have to ask, 'Do you know who I am?' or 'Do you know your crime?'"

"And the result? The opponent either crushes a distress jade talisman, suddenly breaks through in the heat of battle, or awakens some old grandpa in their body... All those plot twists where the show-off gets slapped in the face come from exactly this!"

"And those who win but don't finish the job, insisting on striking a pose and spouting harsh words—the grass on their graves is already several feet high! When you cut the weeds, you must pull out the roots. Otherwise, when the spring breeze blows, your enemy's son will come back with an even more badass ancestor to catch up with you. Wouldn't that be annoying?"

"Villains die from talking too much. If you can use your hands, don't use your mouth! It's never too late to philosophize about life to a corpse after you've killed them! You must absolutely never give your opponent the chance to catch their breath, call for help, pop pills, power up, or cry for their daddy!"

Although he didn't understand some of the words his master used, it didn't stop him from grasping the core meaning: just kill them and be done with it.

The moment the King Realm expert's voice fell, before the shock and despair in the man's eyes could even fully surface, Xiao Ruobai moved!

The Nine Heavens Dragon Soul Halberd transformed into a golden lightning bolt tearing through the sky. Without the slightest hesitation, carrying absolute killing intent, it pierced precisely through the King Realm expert's forehead!

"Pfft!"

The tip of the halberd went straight through his brain. Berserk battle qi instantly surged in, thoroughly shredding and annihilating his remaining divine soul and consciousness!

The King Realm expert's eyes widened to the extreme. The light in his pupils rapidly dimmed, like a candle blown out by a fierce wind.

His final consciousness was filled with regret and unwillingness: This King... a dignified King Realm expert... who has roamed unhindered for hundreds of years... actually... actually died just like this... at the hands of two Cave Heaven Realm brats?!

Carrying this final, unresolvable shock, his body completely went limp, and his aura faded away.

Xiao Ruobai's eyes were cold, not showing the slightest carelessness.

With a flick of his wrist, the Dragon Soul Halberd turned into several golden afterimages, stabbing like lightning toward the three vital points of the King's corpse: the center of the brows, the heart, and the dantian.

Every strike contained berserk battle qi, completely shredding any lingering vitality.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

After three soft sounds, confirming that the opponent had absolutely no possibility of revival, Xiao Ruobai finally bent down to inspect the corpse.

His fingertips moved like the wind, swiftly snatching the storage ring at the waist, the bracers on the wrists, and not even missing a jade talisman engraved with King patterns hidden behind the ear.

He casually handed the looted treasures to Fang Hanyu: "Keep these for now."

Fang Hanyu took the storage ring, a wisp of primal chaos sword qi already rising from his fingertips.

The sword qi acted like a broom, sweeping gently to completely erase all battle traces and residual auras within a hundred-zhang radius.

At the same time, Xiao Ruobai formed a hand seal with his left hand. A wisp of golden true fire leaped from his fingertips and landed on the King's corpse.

The true fire ignited upon contact but did not spread an inch. In the blink of an eye, it incinerated the corpse into nothingness, leaving not even a speck of ash behind.

The two cooperated tacitly. Their actions of destroying the corpse and erasing all traces flowed like water, clearly having become even more professional.

Meanwhile, Fatty Wang was still frozen in place, his fingers maintaining the posture of pinching a talisman.

He watched this outrageously professional "aftermath cleanup" scene, his small eyes widening into perfect circles as he muttered inwardly.

'This... this technique of looting corpses and erasing traces is so smooth and clean-cut, it's practically on par with mine! I thought my own methods were pretty good, but I didn't expect these two big shots to also be masters of this art!'

He subconsciously touched his own storage ring, which contained all sorts of spoils of war he had "painstakingly accumulated" over the years, and instantly felt like he had found kindred spirits.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, his whole body stiffened violently.

The two names the King had roared right before his death exploded in his mind like thunder.

"Battle Asura? Sword in White? Wait!" Fatty Wang's brain spun rapidly.

"Aren't those the two mysterious prodigies who have been causing an uproar in the Eastern Region recently?!"

He suddenly recalled the rumors he had heard before.

It was said that there were two young prodigies—one wielding a halberd like an Asura descending to the world, and the other using a sword like a banished immortal gracing the mortal realm. Joining forces, they had once swept through the heroes in a secret realm, and even the Demon Heaven Sect and the Blood Soul Sect had suffered at their hands!

He had originally thought it was just an exaggerated rumor, but seeing it with his own eyes today, he realized that not only were the rumors true, they were actually an understatement!

To cross two major cultivation realms to slay a King—what kind of world-shocking combat power was this!

"So the rumors are true! And they are right in front of me!" Fatty Wang's heart pounded wildly.

"That's it... that's it... I knew it! Who else would have such heaven-defying combat power to dare attack a King while at the Cave Heaven Realm, actually win, and annihilate their divine soul... So... so it was you two!" The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.

"I, Fatty Wang, have traveled the martial world for so many years relying on my sharp eyes and my ability to cling to powerful thighs! If I miss out on these thick thighs today, I'll have to slap myself eight hundred times when I get back!"

Fatty Wang suddenly jumped up, his chubby face flushed bright red. Not even bothering to dust himself off, he sprinted over to Xiao Ruobai and Fang Hanyu in just a few strides.

"T-Two big brothers! No! Two big shots! War God! Sword God!"

His chubby face was piled with smiles, looking as if he wanted nothing more than to hug their thighs on the spot.

"Do you two big shots need someone to serve tea and pour water? Do you need someone to scout the path and carry your bags? This little brother isn't good at much else, but I've got thick skin, I can take a beating, and I've got great eyesight! Please take me in! Please carry me to greatness!"

He looked at them eagerly, looking as if he wanted to bow down immediately and tightly hug these two unimaginably thick golden thighs!

Xiao Ruobai and Fang Hanyu were slightly taken aback by the fatty's enthusiasm. Watching him desperately try to cling to them with absolutely zero shame, they were both left speechless for a moment.

The two then slightly raised their eyebrows. Outside rumors? Battle Asura? Sword in White?

"Battle Asura"?

"Sword in White"?

Is this talking about us?

When did we get these titles?

"Where did these two titles come from? We clearly went straight back to Purple Bamboo Peak after getting our revenge. Aside from the battle in the secret realm, we haven't shown our faces much in the Eastern Region."

A flash of surprise and confusion crossed Xiao Ruobai's eyes.

A hint of doubt also flickered in the depths of Fang Hanyu's eyes as he gently shook his head. "I don't know. Perhaps it was passed by word of mouth, and eventually, the titles just stuck."

But these titles...

Xiao Ruobai subconsciously weighed the Nine Heavens Dragon Soul Halberd in his hand. "Battle Asura"... it seemed to fit his indomitable and unmatched, fierce battle intent from just now quite well?

Fang Hanyu's fingertips silently brushed across the cold scabbard of the Absolute Beginning Sword. "Sword in White"... sounded quite... cold and sharp?

The trace of surprise in their eyes quickly transformed into a strange sense of approval.

Hmm... although they didn't know where they came from, these titles... seemed to sound... pretty impressive?