Chapter 90: The Killing Blow, Part 5

A single Recovery Pill was practically a life-saving elixir. At Le Kai’s present level, he could not possibly withstand the full force of even one pill, so in order not to waste it, he had to vent that power as quickly as possible. Zhang Lang naturally became the best target.

Once the assault began, Le Kai was like a cheetah locking onto its prey, refusing to let go until it was brought down. Vast inner power poured into the curved blade, erupting into a beam of blade-light nearly a foot long. This blade-light, born of true energy, was even sharper than a direct strike; the white jade steps before had been severed cleanly by it, and had the curved blade been used alone, it might not have been nearly so effective.

“Try my three desperate strikes!”

Le Kai roared and swung the curved blade. His movements seemed utterly unstructured, like a child thrashing about in a brawl, hacking and slashing at random. But only Zhang Lang knew how terrifying that apparent chaos truly was. Every strike was lethal, every move aimed at his vital points, forcing him to save himself. The angles were treacherous, the shifts bizarre, beyond ordinary patterns and impossible to predict.

Even though Zhang Lang’s strength and cultivation surpassed Le Kai’s by two whole realms, at that moment he could only retreat under Le Kai’s frenzied onslaught. This left him both suffocatingly frustrated and seething with rage.

Le Kai had no fixed pattern at all. His only reliance was his peculiar talent: an instinctive ability to strike at the weakest point in an enemy’s defense. Simple, direct, and, together with his footwork, forming a blade technique that left no trace to follow.

“Has Xiao Kai gone mad?” Lan Bo stared in shock at Le Kai’s whirling curved blade, the madness of it nearly frightening him senseless.

Seeing Zhang Lang driven back step by step, Zhang Ba already felt regret and resentment. After all, he had possessed the foresight to know this wild little savage was unimaginably vicious, which was why he had used women to threaten him. Zhang Lang was simply an idiot; now he was getting what he deserved, and being hunted down had to feel wonderful. How disgraceful.

And the beings quietly watching this from the shadows were also deeply shaken: first by Le Kai’s wild ferocity, and second by his cruelty. The boy looked so harmless, yet in battle he was a complete madman.

It felt exhilarating to suppress and beat Zhang Lang down, but once the surge of inner power began to ebb, the situation reversed.

Zhang Hai had an exquisite grasp of true energy. Sensing that Le Kai could no longer sustain himself, he naturally ceased retreating and began organizing a counterattack. A yellow-brown glow surfaced along the ancient sword, its sharpness in no way inferior to Le Kai’s curved blade. If struck, death would be certain. Zhang Hai’s swordsmanship differed greatly from conventional styles; it was fantastically strange, as though made specifically for his unusual pair of arms. Many of his techniques required the arms to twist to their limit. Naturally, such attacks were even more elusive and venomous, impossible to guard against, like a viper lying in wait. Before it struck, one could not know where its target would be.

Had Le Kai’s ability not been so unusual, he would likely have already died by this point.

It had to be admitted: this was the most troublesome opponent Le Kai had ever faced. Yet that only stoked his fighting spirit further. Only by battling a powerful foe could one grow faster. Under Zhang Hai’s pressure, he had repeatedly driven his movement technique to its limit, unlocking several previously blocked pathways. By now, he wielded his footwork with far greater freedom, crossing space like a ghost.

Sword aura swept through the air, blade-light flashed brilliantly, and the two of them leapt and shifted back and forth through the villa. Countless decorations were ruined in the process. Whether it was hard granite or ordinary bluestone, all became no different from tofu beneath sword aura and blade-light—touch it and it rotted, strike it and it shattered. A once exquisitely arranged villa was reduced to a wreck, as though it had become a field of broken stones. Whether Le Kai had done it on purpose or not, in any case he had no intention of sparing a single blade of grass or a single tree within the villa.

In the end, they flew straight into the living room, and with several slashes everything in sight was turned to trash. Zhang Ba watched with heartache so severe that his brows twisted into a deep furrow.

Just as the villa was on the verge of collapse, Le Kai finally left it with a flash and arrived in the small garden outside.

“Zhang Lang, thanks for playing along. This birdcage villa is full of filthy birds, and if I didn’t smash it, I’d never get this knot out of my chest. Now it’s time to handle the real business. Are you ready to die?”

With a long howl, Le Kai landed on the edge of the shattered steps, full of swagger and spirit, as though the one who had just been chased all over the sky was not him, but the other side.

Zhang Lang was indeed a master of the highest rank, but first, he was a newly risen one whose realm had not yet fully stabilized; second, he had no divine medicine like the Recovery Pill. Every bit of inner power he spent was one bit less, and unless he stopped to sit and restore it, he would only continue to weaken. Provoked endlessly by Le Kai’s taunts, and occasionally struck by psychic attacks, he too became enraged. Without thinking of consequences, he unleashed a storm of attacks at Le Kai. The result was that the entire villa nearly collapsed, and his own true energy was almost completely exhausted.

Likewise, Le Kai had already consumed his final Recovery Pill, and his true energy recovered instantly. His aura naturally changed dramatically.

Five Recovery Pills, equal to the total true energy of five Le Kais, had already been nearly spent. The consumption in this battle was truly horrifying. Without such a divine medicine, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Zhang Lang was furious to the point of vomiting blood. Not only had his true energy been completely drained, but his physical strength was also nearly gone. His imposing presence was far inferior to Le Kai’s. Seeing that revenge was hopeless and having suffered repeated humiliation, he was close to collapse.

“Le Kai, if you’ve got guts, don’t run! Let’s settle this with a fight to the death. If I don’t kill you, Zhang Lang swears he is not a man.”

Zhang Lang burst forward, leaping high from the steps. The final trace of true energy flooded into the ancient sword in his hand, and he shot forth like an arrow.

Le Kai laughed heartily. With abundant true energy at his disposal, he gave no thought to consumption. His body, driven by that power, sprang backward and shot straight up into the air. Just as Zhang Hai’s attack was spent, he swung his curved blade at precisely the right moment and hacked viciously down upon the ancient sword.

Clang!

A crisp metallic ring rang out. Evidently, the true energy Zhang Hai had infused into the sword had already been exhausted. Relying only on physical strength, he could no longer withstand Le Kai’s violent strike combined with true energy. The ancient sword was knocked flying from his hand, and by sheer coincidence it flew straight toward Zhang Ba.

Zhang Ba was instantly terrified out of his wits. Crying out in panic, he no longer had any mind to continue holding Wu Meitian hostage. He rolled and scrambled wildly to the side.

Swoosh!

The sword stabbed directly into the ground beside him. Its gleaming blade kept trembling right where his crotch had just been, frightening him so badly he nearly wet himself. His face turned deathly pale, and his lips trembled without forming a single word.

Wu Meitian had also nearly been pierced through. Fortunately, when that wastrel threw himself down, he had crashed into her as well, allowing her to escape disaster by the narrowest margin. Now, having survived a brush with death, she was both shocked and enraged. She abruptly snatched up the ancient sword and was just about to thrust it toward Zhang Ba.

“Don’t...”

Seeing this, Lan Bo was horrified, but it was already far too late to stop her.

If a noble were killed in public, even Lan Bo would not escape the severe punishment of imperial law, let alone a second-class citizen like Wu Meitian.