Your intent to kill... is too scattered.

Pfft—!

Xiao Ruobai looked as if he had suffered a heavy blow. His entire body flew backward, smashing heavily onto the ground and plowing a deep trench.

He looked down at his left arm, only to see a strand of black energy, as fine as a hair, coiling around it. It did not penetrate deep into his flesh and blood, but it clung to him like a maggot in his bones.

It exuded an uncomfortable aura of death and annihilation that hindered vitality, continuously grinding against and neutralizing the majestic, vigorous, and boundlessly vital War God bloodline within his body.

Although the speed of recovery was slow, the black energy was indeed being worn away bit by bit.

Venerable Withered Bone was dead! But his dying counterattack had heavily injured the incredibly arrogant Battle Asura!

This sudden turn of events caused the entire battlefield to stagnate once more.

Big brother! Fatty Wang cried out in alarm from within the cocoon of light, his heart leaping into his throat.

Fang Hanyu's sword momentum paused as he looked in Xiao Ruobai's direction, a flash of worry in his eyes. However, facing Murong Qiu, who was acting like a mad demon, he couldn't immediately pull himself away.

Ling Xi's cold and clear eyes also flickered slightly. Looking at the wisp of death energy carrying a faint trace of Saint Intent on Xiao Ruobai's arm, her brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

A piercing pain came, but rather than making Xiao Ruobai depressed, this pain made him look up to the sky and let out a hearty, unrestrained laugh!

Hahaha! Exhilarating! Truly exhilarating!

Feeling the clash between the trace of Saint Intent on his left arm and his own War God blood, his eyes filled with the light of excitement.

Old bone, being able to touch the threshold of Saint Intent before dying means you didn't live these past thousand years in vain! This kind of pure slaughter, this kind of life-and-death pressure, is exactly the best nourishment to hone my War God Halberd Intent! This remnant Saint Intent is perfect for sharpening my blade!

This injury was not fatal, and couldn't even be considered a severe wound, but the trace of higher-level power contained within it acted like the finest whetstone, allowing him to clearly feel the operation and deficiencies of his own strength.

This kind of comprehension and tempering gained in extreme combat was far more precious than easily crushing an opponent!

This was the first time since he came down the mountain that he had been injured in pure frontal combat, yet it was also the battle he found the most heartily satisfying!

Big brother! Are you alright? Seeing Xiao Ruobai laughing, Fatty Wang inside the light cocoon felt a bit relieved, but still couldn't help shouting out.

Seeing this, Fang Hanyu felt slightly relieved in his heart, knowing his senior brother was fine and had even gained something from it. He tightened his grip on his Absolute Beginning Sword, suppressing Murong Qiu even more fiercely.

Ling Xi's cold eyes swept over the stubborn black energy on Xiao Ruobai's left arm, which was slowly being worn down, and a hint of understanding flashed in her eyes.

Eldest Senior Brother's War God Physique was indeed profoundly mysterious to be able to temper himself in such a way. This battle had brought him no small benefit.

And Shadowless, at this very moment, seized this perfect opportunity!

The instant Ling Xi was distracted by Xiao Ruobai's injury was the opportunity he had been waiting for!

His figure, like a completely melted shadow, vanished silently. In the next moment, a killing intent more condensed and freezing than any before, like a spike from the Nine Netherworlds, aimed straight at the back of Ling Xi's heart!

This time, he used his true trump card, swearing to kill with a single strike!

However, facing this lethal strike that was enough to make an ordinary peak-stage King Realm cultivator die with grievances, Ling Xi's cold and clear face showed no trace of panic. She didn't even turn around.

Right at the instant that wisp of pale gray shadow was about to touch her green dress—

Buzz!

A slight hum that seemed to reach straight to the origin of the Great Dao quietly rippled outward with Ling Xi at the center.

There appeared to be nothing around her, but the space in that area seemed to become viscous and distorted.

The flow of time also seemed to undergo a subtle change. The lightning-fast Soul-Shattering Needle seemed to slow down for a split second in the eyes of onlookers.

In that very split second, Ling Xi's left hand, which was resting by her side, gently flicked upward with extreme elegance, as if plucking a flower.

There was no massive commotion, nor blinding light; only five strands of green energy, fine as hairs yet condensed to the extreme, escaped from her fingertips.

These five strands of energy did not strike the shadow directly. Instead, as if possessing a life of their own, they traced five incredibly profound trajectories in the air, instantly weaving into a seemingly fragile small net that contained endless intent of sealing and dissolution, drifting lightly toward the shadow formed by condensed killing intent.

Sizzle...

A strange noise, so soft it could barely be heard.

The Soul-Shattering Needle, capable of piercing through divine souls, touched the small green net. The terrifying killing intent, shadow laws, and soul shock it contained were like mud oxen entering the sea.

They were instantly decomposed and absorbed by a formless, intangible, yet supremely domineering devouring power, transforming into the most primordial energy. They dissipated silently, even feeding back a microscopic trace of pure soul power that merged into Ling Xi herself.

The entire process was discreet and highly efficient. To outsiders, it just looked as if that fatal strike had been easily neutralized by an incomparably exquisite technique.

Shadowless's true body, which had merged into the shadows, felt as if struck by lightning the moment his killing move was broken. He suddenly tumbled out of the void with a muffled groan, staggering back several steps. His face beneath the mask instantly turned as pale as paper, his eyes filled with unbelievable shock and terror!

He could only feel that his strike, condensed from a lifetime of cultivation, was like a stone sinking into the ocean, vanishing without a trace. Yet he couldn't see at all how it had been broken. This unknown brought an even deeper despair.

How is this possible?! My Soul-Shattering Needle... was actually... erased so easily?! What kind of monster is she?!

Only then did Ling Xi slowly turn around. Her clear gaze calmly landed on the breath-disordered Shadowless. Her red lips parted, speaking to him for the first time. Her voice remained cold and plain, yet it carried an unquestionable judgment.

The minor Dao of shadows. You merely possess its form, but have not grasped its spirit. Your killing intent... is too impure.

These words struck Shadowless's heart fiercely like a final judgment, causing his Dao heart to violently tremble and nearly shatter!

Pfft—!

Under the violent shock to his mind, Shadowless could no longer suppress the backlash of blood and Qi in his body caused by the breaking of his killing move. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of pitch-black blood, his aura instantly withering.

The look in his eyes as he stared at Ling Xi had changed from shock to utter despair.

Flee! I must flee immediately! This thought burned through his entire body like wildfire!

Without any hesitation, Shadowless's figure suddenly burst apart, transforming into dozens of shadows that were difficult to distinguish between real and fake. Like a school of startled fish, they shot off in all directions!

This was his ultimate life-saving secret technique, the Thousand Shadows Evasion. Every single shadow contained a trace of his origin aura, making him extremely difficult to lock onto. As long as a single shadow escaped, he could reconstruct his physical body!

However, while his speed was fast, Ling Xi's speed... was even faster!

So fast that it exceeded the perceptual limits of everyone present!

At the exact same instant Shadowless's figure burst apart, Ling Xi's figure seemed as if it had never moved, yet also seemed to appear in every direction simultaneously. It was not an afterimage, but an absolute speed that surpassed the ability of visual capture!

She didn't even use any weapon, simply putting her fingers together like a sword. At this moment, those slender, jade-like fingers contained a domineering sharpness capable of severing laws and annihilating all things!

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

A series of faint yet teeth-aching tearing sounds rang out almost simultaneously!

The dozens of streaking shadows suddenly froze in midair, as though pierced with pinpoint accuracy by invisible blades. Then, like bursting bubbles, they instantly shattered and dissipated!

In less than one-hundredth of a breath, every single fleeing shadow had been completely obliterated!