A Demon's Path Volume 1 Chapter 42

Cheng Yu had long since felt Xue Lian's turbulent murderous aura. Her stalwart and unyielding personality shone through as she abruptly raised her head and stared at Xue Lian with a penetrative gaze, tightly gripping her sword. When he got close to her, she would unleash a counterattack that would be a surefire kill!

Lan Xiuhua had her eyes fixed on Cheng Yu from the start. She naturally knew what Cheng Yu was planning to do. When Xue Lian's fist violently struck toward Cheng Yu, Lan Xiuhua dashed toward Cheng Yu from behind. Lan Xiuhua couldn't make herself lose face in this kind of situation by letting Cheng Yu retaliate.

Cheng Yu was determined to drag one of them down as a scapegoat even if she was going to die from their pincer attack. Wisps of orange soulforce poured out from her body. She gathered all her energy into her sword.

"Die, you wild countryside bumpkin!" Xue Lian roared as he struck her with his thunderous fist. Lan Xiuhua enveloped Cheng Yu within her sword shadows from the other side. It didn't matter what direction Cheng Yu moved in, death had her backed into a corner.

Just as Cheng Yu was about to launch her attack, her focus wavered. Against her expectations, both opponents had brandished their weapons and were charging at her. A moment later, she regained her senses and realised she wasn't in the middle of the pincer attack, but a good 10 meters away from Xue Lian and Lan Xiuhua.

"You're alive!" An assortment of feelings bubbled inside Cheng Yu's heart when she saw Ling Xiao alive.

"Aaahhhhhh!" While Cheng Yu was shocked by Ling Xiao's revival, blood-curdling screeches rang out behind her. Caught off guard, she turned her head and sucked in a sharp breath.

Xue Lian and Lan Xiuhua couldn't stop mid-attack and collided into each other. Even though the both of them managed to restrain a portion of their strength at the very last moment, the inertia from their collision created passionate sparks. Lan Xiuhua's sword shadows sliced Xue Lian's hand into five chunks, whereas Xue Lian smashed Lan Xiuhua's dominant hand to pieces. Her whole arm seemed to be devoid of bones as it naturally drooped down!

"Little Hua!"

"Lian'er!"

Elder Xue and Elder Lan simultaneously cried out in alarm. The injuries on their children pierced their hearts!

"Ling… Xiao!" Elder Xue and Elder Lan were more or less in the same frame of mind as Elder Luo. They wished they could dismember Ling Xiao into a million pieces. Contrary to their feelings, Cheng Qiantai and Li Yuanhuan felt as though a load had finally been lifted from their shoulders.

Ling Xiao had a calm look on his face as he glanced at Xue Lian and Lan Xiuhua who were both heavily injured. "Do you still want to fight? If you do, all that awaits you is death."

The duo flared up in anger when Ling Xiao threatened them. They'd always been the ones to threaten others, but the tables had turned on them today. However, a shiver ran down their spines when they saw Luo Feikai's headless corpse. He dared to kill Luo Feikai, so he definitely wouldn't mind killing me too!  

"Fine! We concede! Xiuhua, let's go!" Xue Lian felt the world spinning around him when he stood up. It took him a good few breaths before he could firmly find his footing. Lan Xiuhua wasn't much better off. The both of them left the arena, supporting one another.

Slap!

Cheng Yu bluntly slapped Ling Xiao across the face. "You son of a bitch! You pretended to be dead! You lied to me!"

Slap!

Ling Xiao politely returned Cheng Yu the favour. He hit her straight into a daze. H-He actually dared to hit me?

"Senior Sister, people will die even though this is the newcomers tournament. If you feel like your life is of little value, just kill yourself. Dying by the hands of your opponent? How embarrassing," came Ling Xiao's cold voice.

Ling Xiao's slap seemed to have made Cheng Yu faint. She couldn't retaliate despite Ling Xiao's berating. "Also, don't cry in front of your opponents. Every drop is one too many."

Cheng Yu immediately blew her top when Ling Xiao brought up such a sensitive subject. She pointed her sword at Ling Xiao and raged, "Ling Xiao, fight me!"

Ling Xiao pushed Cheng Yu's swords aside. "Qian Hai is still injured. If you want to fight me, I'll wait for you at the ranked matches."

Cheng Yu fell silent. She knew if it wasn't for Ling Xiao, winning the first round of the team battles would already be considered a really good outcome with her strength alone.

Qian Hai was struggling to get up. Seeing this, Ling Xiao voluntarily stuck his hand out. "At the very least, we're still teammates."

After Qian Hai took his hand, Ling Xiao hoisted him up. He carried Qian Hai on his back and left the field.

Cheng Yu followed suit behind them. In her eyes, his back seemed to be much broader than before.

…

In a conference room somewhere in the Sunken Wind Valley. Xue Lian had managed to stop his detached arm from bleeding and had taken a Soul Replenishing Pill. After his complexion improved a little, he hatefully asked, "Father, I clearly struck that brat. Why didn't he die?!"

Elder Xue, Elder Luo, and Elder Lan attentively examined the match with the Soul Shadow Reflection Mirror and slowly shook their heads. "This brat is really devious. He purposely endured your attack, although I reckon he could've dodged it altogether," Elder Xue furiously said.

A cold glint flashed across Elder Lan's eyes, revealing her murderous intent. "Why did he do that for? Is he purposely showing off?"

"No, this boy is definitely doing an experiment. He just learned the Blood and Acupuncture Points Movement technique," a voice suddenly floated over.

They had strange expressions on their faces as they looked out the door to see who it was. "Elder Hua, how do you know?"

An old man with white hair and a beard walked in, neither fast nor slow. "This boy has done his research on the art of healing. I heard he's a pill cultivator too. I reckon this is his first time using medical techniques to fight, so he was using your daughter as an experimental subject."

"He's too arrogant!" Elder Xue was so angry he smashed a table beside him to pieces. But he quickly exercised control over his emotions and warmly smiled at Elder Hua. "I wonder what Elder Hua is here for."

Elder Hua was Sunken Wind Valley's only green ranked pill cultivator. He was only an Elder in the Sunken Wind Valley by name, since he actually belonged to the Blue Moon District. He only stuck around all these years because Valley Master Shen Nanfeng treated him extremely well. The disciples received the pills he concocted to increase their cultivation and the Elders received many benefits from him, too. As a result, Elder Hua's standing in the Sunken Wind Valley was exceptionally high and was second only to Valley Master Shen Nanfeng's family.

Elder Hua had a small smile on his face. "Naturally, I'm here to treat Maiden Lan's arm. I just so happened to run into the boy you call Ling Xiao on my way over. I apologise to have interrupted your discussion. Please, forgive me."

Elder Lan didn't expect Elder Hua to personally come and treat her daughter's arm uninvited, so she felt immensely grateful that he did. After all, there were so many seeking his assistance. It would generally be impossible to beseech his treatment. "Many thanks to Elder Hua. How could you be taking the liberty of my time when I have yet to express my gratitude to you?"

After hearing that Lan Xiuhuao's harm had hope for remedy, Elder Xue was extremely excited. "Lian'er's arm-"

Elder Hua chuckled. "As long as his detached arm is still intact, I can assure you, I'll restore your esteemed son's arm to how it was before the fight."

Once Xue Lian heard how his butchered arm could be reattached, he immediately kowtowed toward Elder Hua. "Many thanks to Elder Hua!"

Lan Xiuhua also gratefully bowed toward Elder Hua to express her gratitude. But he merely waved his hand dismissively in response. "There's no need to thank me. Young Master Xue, Maiden Lan, let's start."

…

Back at the Joker Hotel, curiosity got the better of Cheng Qiantai as he asked, "Xiao'er, that fellow's fists struck you straight on. How did you survive?"

Ling Xiao looked at Li Yuanhuan, Cheng Yu, and Qian Gui who were all staring at him with equally curious eyes before leisurely saying, "Blood and Acupuncture Points Movement. Humans sustain injuries when they're attacked because the attack passes through the surface of our body and attacks our acupuncture points, blood, and organs. This causes us to sustain internal injuries. If we can move these important areas away when we're attacked, it's equivalent to dodging said attack. At most, we'll only be in physical pain. That fellow attacked my back with his fists. I used the power of my Strength Soul to slightly alter my body so his attack struck nothing inside of me. I simply went along according to his wishes and pretended to be dead for a little. I actually wanted to do to him what he did to me, but Senior Sister was in danger and letting her die was out of the question."

Cheng Yu hatefully glared at Ling Xiao, but didn't make a peep.

At this moment, Qian Gui heaved a long sigh. "But you killed Luo Feikai and injured the family members of two Elders. Those three won't let you get away with this."

Ling Xiao smiled without saying a word, yet series of sarcastic laughter rang out in his mind. What's killing an Elder’s son when I'm preparing to kill Li Yuanchong?

Chapter end