Chapter 42: The Combination of Flame and Battle Technique

Chapter 42: The Combination of Flame and Battle Skill

"Damn it, this brat is actually using me to temper his sword techniques." At this point, how could the experienced Mu She fail to realize that he was being used as a whetstone by his opponent? The opponent's unpredictable sword techniques might not be overwhelmingly powerful in terms of raw strength alone—he could easily block them or even gain the upper hand—but in terms of intricacy and refinement, they were entirely unprecedented to him. Layered upon one another, they gave him, a fighter of superior foundational strength, a profound sense of exhaustion and mental fatigue.

The two fought from inside the courtyard to the outside, and then from outside back to the courtyard.

Staring with a gloomy expression at the high-spirited Xiao Se, Mu She directly abandoned his proud close-quarters combat. He raised his heavy broadsword high, and the formidable Dou Qi of a Dou Shi rank surged from within his body, covering his surface before finally forming a thin veil of Dou Qi.

"Dou Qi turning into a veil, is it?" Looking at Mu She, who had finally unleashed his true strength, Xiao Se's facial expression suddenly grew a bit more solemn; he knew Mu She was going to fight him to the death.

Immediately, he quietly took a Qi-Recovery Pill from the storage belt around his waist and popped it into his mouth, gripping the magic sword tightly with both hands and assuming his stance.

"Brat, you are indeed strong. Give you another year or two, and I truly might not be able to deal with you. It's a pity, though, that you are too impatient. Today, I'll let you taste the price of sticking your neck out."

"Wind Blade Sword Dance."

Exhaling deeply, Mu She violently brandished the heavy broadsword in his hand, and dense afterimages of massive blades suddenly emerged in front of him, finally forming an impenetrable web of blades.

Wind Blade Sword Dance, a Low-tier Xuan-rank battle skill. Relying on this move, Mu She had once firmly secured the throne of the strongest person in Qingshan Town.

"You think only you have high-tier battle skills? I have them too."

Looking at the dense web of blades enveloping him, Xiao Se sneered. The Qi-Recovery Pill held in his mouth slid silently into his stomach, and a sinister, pale-cyan flame ignited in his hand.

"Fierce Lion's Roar."

Following the explosive roar in Xiao Se's heart, a giant, rapidly charging energy lion emerged from the tip of the magic sword, its entire body covered in pale-cyan flames. A ferocious roar of the lion resounded through the heavens and the earth. Some of the mercenaries who were closer and had collapsed to the ground due to the poison had their eardrums instantly ruptured, thin trickles of blood flowing from their ears.

The surrounding space appeared somewhat blurred and distorted under the scorching high temperatures emitted by the flames wrapping around the energy lion. Wherever the energy lion passed, the soil on the ground was scorched, leaving behind pitch-black footprints.

This was one of Xiao Se's achievements from his cultivation over the past few months: combining beast flame with battle skills to unleash even greater power. However, every coin has two sides; while the power increased, the consumption of Dou Qi also multiplied exponentially. If not for the Qi-Recovery Pill, given his current Dou Qi reserves, he could have executed it at most once.

The scorching temperature and oppressive aura transmitted through the air caused Mu She's pupils to contract violently. He never imagined that the mysterious young man before him was hiding such profound depth.

Biting his lower lip fiercely, at a time like this, whoever retreated died. What it came down to was who could unleash greater power from their battle skill and who could hold out longer. He desperately poured all the Dou Qi within his body into the heavy broadsword, and then collided head-on with the flaming energy giant lion.

"Rumble!!!"

The colossal flaming energy lion collided with the blade web, and was quickly intercepted and entangled by it. However, it was only for a fleeting moment that the flaming energy lion relied on its violent force and scorching temperature to tear the blade web completely to shreds and annihilate it. Breaking through the blockade of the blade web, it slammed fiercely into Mu She's chest.

The lion's head sent Mu She's body flying backward with undiminished momentum, shattering the courtyard wall before finally slamming heavily into a thick earth slope several feet high outside the wall, halting his retreat. Then, with a muffled "bang," the energy lion exploded. The earth slope shattered, the sound was deafening, and dust filled the sky.

Inside the courtyard, a gentle breeze blew past, and the figure of Xiao Se holding his longsword slowly emerged, a faint smile visible at the corners of his mouth.

High in the sky, looking down at the young man who had overwhelmingly defeated the Dou Shi Mu She, the Little Doctor Fairy covered her red lips with her delicate hand, her beautiful eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

Seeing the earth slope, several feet high, blasted to ruins for the most part, the Little Doctor Fairy only snapped back to reality after a long moment. She gently stroked the blue hawk's feathers and commanded it to descend slowly into the courtyard.

Lightly leaping off the hawk's back, looking at Xiao Se, who was full of smiles yet somewhat pale in complexion, the Little Doctor Fairy walked to his side, gently patted his back, and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

Xiao Se smiled faintly and shook his head, saying, "I'm fine, it's just that my Dou Qi is almost bottomed out."

"As long as you're okay." Seeing that Xiao Se was safe and sound, the heart the Little Doctor Fairy had been hanging in suspense instantly relaxed. She turned her head to look at the earth slope where Mu She had been sent flying and asked softly, "How is Mu She?"

Xiao Se carefully perceived with his Soul Power, shook his head, and said, "I can no longer sense any sign of life. However, I still need to deliver a finishing blow."

As he spoke, Xiao Se glanced at Mo Li, who was collapsed on the ground dozens of meters away to his side. With a slight curl of his lips, he took five steel needles laced with neurotoxin from his storage belt and threw them with an extremely tricky technique, pinning Mo Li's four limbs and torso to the ground.

"Ah!" A shrill, miserable scream soared into the sky. Mo Li was jolted awake from unconsciousness by the pain, but because his limbs were pinned to the ground and unable to move, he could only cry out in agony and wail.

"I'll leave Mo Li to you. Old grievances and new scores can be settled together. I'm going to finish off that old bastard Mu She." Xiao Se pointed at Mo Li, then slowly walked toward the direction where Mu She was located.

The Little Doctor Fairy nodded slightly, her pretty face sullen as she slowly walked toward the direction Xiao Se had pointed out.

Before long, Xiao Se finished off Mu She and harvested a jade card worth one hundred thousand gold coins from his body. Mo Li also stopped howling.

Xiao Se walked to the side of the Little Doctor Fairy, looked down at Mo Li, who had completely lost his breath, and asked in confusion, "What did you do to him?"

"He's already crippled, so I just fed him a poison that makes one sleep forever." The Little Doctor Fairy sighed softly and smiled helplessly.

"You really are kind-hearted. He caused you plenty of trouble, after all." Xiao Se smiled, feeling a bit emotional.

"Kind-hearted?" The Little Doctor Fairy gently stroked her lower abdomen, turned around, her rosy lips parting slightly as she softly repeated the words Xiao Se had just uttered, falling into deep contemplation.

Noticing the Little Doctor Fairy's action of stroking her lower abdomen, Xiao Se frowned and thought to himself, "Could it be that the Woeful Poison Body has already awakened in the Little Doctor Fairy?"

Immediately, he gently patted the Little Doctor Fairy's delicate shoulder and smiled, "Don't think too much about it. If people don't harm me, I won't harm them. Faced with someone like this who tried to harm you, there's no need to blame yourself."

"Mm, thank you, Xiao Se." Looking at the fair hand resting lightly on her shoulder, a soft smile bloomed on the Little Doctor Fairy's delicate and pretty face.

"Alright, let's go." Xiao Se smiled, wrapped an arm around the Little Doctor Fairy's slender waist, and leaped onto the hawk's back.

The Little Doctor Fairy gently stroked the blue hawk's feathers and waved her delicate hand. The blue hawk let out a cry, circled in the air a few times, and flew toward the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Not long after Xiao Se and the Little Doctor Fairy left, the news of the defeat and death of Mu She and his son quickly spread throughout the entire Qingshan Town. Everyone was struck with utter shock; who could have imagined that the Little Doctor Fairy, who usually appeared gentle on the outside yet kept people at a distance, actually had a friend of such formidable strength?

Mr. Yao, the master of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion, recovered from his unconsciousness. Upon learning of Mu She's death, he completely cast aside any thoughts of revenge and resigned himself to bad luck.

Of course, these matters were of no further consequence to Xiao Se. Barring any accidents, even if he returned to the eastern part of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, he would not come back to Qingshan Town, choosing instead to wait near the lair of the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King.