Chapter 1134: Waist Cut

As soon as Dong Rui saw him, he immediately communicated to He Lingchuan via the eyeball spider: "Jin Bai is coming alone. What should we do?"

He Lingchuan's innate primal power must not be known to outsiders. Fortunately, the pass was still some distance from He Lingchuan and Nangong Yan, outside the range of the Yin Dragon Whirlwind. From this vantage point, fierce winds swirled in the valley, making visibility extremely poor. Even Dong Rui could only make out vague figures and couldn't distinguish one person from another.

So He Lingchuan's reply came immediately: "Lure him away!"

Just then, a golden-armored copper guard turned around, allowing two more Feathered Guards to slip past. Dong Rui pointed at the escapees and called out loudly to Jin Bai, "Commander Jin, please!"

Jin Bai, brimming with rage, saw the two men had already rushed out of the valley and immediately drew his saber, pursuing them without hesitation.

Inside the valley, they had to finish the fight quickly.

He Lingchuan's gaze shifted slightly, dodging a combined attack from a Golden Feathered Guard, then suddenly extended his saber and flicked it in the air.

This action bewildered others, but Nangong Yan's face changed dramatically, and he exclaimed, "How is this possible!"

There was a faint, almost invisible gray line, barely thicker than a human hair, even less noticeable in the roaring storm. Yet, He Lingchuan had severed it!

As soon as the gray line broke, the nearby Golden Feathered Guard's attack immediately faltered. He even staggered back two steps, looking bewildered, as if he didn't know what had happened. The red glow in his eyes also vanished simultaneously.

How could He Lingchuan miss such a good opportunity? With one strike to the throat, blood vessels and windpipe were severed, and half his neck was cut through.

Blood splattered three feet away, nearly hitting Nangong Yan's face.

Just as another Golden Feathered Guard charged closer, He Lingchuan kicked the dead man towards him. As the guard dodged, Floating Life Saber extended, lightly tapping and hooking the air three feet in front of his waist.

Another gray line broke silently.

This person indeed paused, stunned, as if waking from a dream. He Lingchuan closed in from behind, and the blade pierced through the back of his skull, emerging from the front of his neck. The bursting blood flowers were scattered by the fierce wind, filling the air with a腥 stench.

Next, He Lingchuan consecutively severed five more gray lines and swiftly killed five Golden Feathered Guards.

His movements were fluid and seamless, as if the Golden Feathered Guards were deliberately rushing toward him. Each required no more than two strikes. The most "merciful" He Lingchuan was, was when he simply reached out and twisted someone's neck.

Although it was slaughter, there was a cruel yet swift beauty to it.

With sand and stones flying all around, it was difficult to observe while fighting. But He Lingchuan finally understood: these faint, elusive gray lines directly connected the gray shadow behind Nangong Yan to the Golden Feathered Guards.

No, to be precise, it was the spirit entity behind Nangong Yan that was controlling the Golden Feathered Guards, making their advances and retreats orderly and their offense and defense seamlessly integrated.

This was like a puppet show, except the gray shadow's skill was exceptionally refined, and it had somehow made the Golden Feathered Guards' strength far exceed that of ordinary people.

Nangong Yan had relied on this ability to dominate Bo State, eliminating countless adversaries for the King of Bo, and now had few rivals in the entire City of Merits.

Unfortunately, his luck ran out today, as he had hit a formidable opponent.

The gray shadow behind him was invisible to everyone else, except He Lingchuan.

But these lines were also fleeting and hard to discern. It took He Lingchuan a while to observe and pinpoint the exact moments they appeared.

What terrified Nangong Yan was not only that He Lingchuan could see the gray lines, but that he could effortlessly sever them with a single stroke!

Those were intangible, invisible things, difficult for the naked eye to perceive! Even he himself could only see them when the gray shadow was possessing him.

The difference in their levels was immediately apparent.

He dared not be overconfident any longer and immediately roared, "Celestial Venerable, help me!"

If the fight continued like this, the Golden Feathered Guards would be annihilated, and he himself would perish.

As He Lingchuan watched the gray shadow, it, too, glared fiercely at him, then suddenly let out an angry roar.

The sound was particularly piercing, like the wailing of ghosts and wolves. He Lingchuan couldn't help but frown, truly wanting to cover his ears.

The gray shadow seemed to make a gesture. The dozens of Feathered Guards on the periphery suddenly slowed their steps, and several wisps of red threads seeped from their seven apertures, floating with the wind towards Nangong Yan and vanishing instantly.

The Feathered Guards who had been full of vigor moments before, collapsed to the ground within two steps after their red threads were extracted. Some died on the spot, others were barely clinging to life, and their bodies visibly shrank. All their vitality, energy, and blood had been drained and injected into their leader.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror murmured, "Blood Bead Extraction! Besides the *ba* (drought demon), something else also possesses this divine ability!"

The *ba* (drought demon) could consume people to nourish itself, relying on this very ability.

These Feathered Guards, accustomed to swaggering about in City of Merits under Nangong Yan's command, could never have imagined that one day they would become their superior's meal.

The gray shadow also realized that they could hardly inflict harm on He Lingchuan, so it decided to extract their last bit of usefulness.

However, He Lingchuan had been patiently waiting for this exact opportunity. The moment the gray shadow began casting its spell, he took a step forward and abruptly vanished from his spot.

The blades of the two Golden Feathered Guards behind him immediately struck empty air.

Bad news! The gray shadow was also alert. It interrupted its spell, lunged forward, intending to re-enter Nangong Yan's seven apertures.

Sure enough, He Lingchuan appeared behind it the next instant, unleashing a perfectly executed strike that bisected both it and Nangong Yan at the waist!

It seemed the gray shadow had many more tricks up its sleeve, but He Lingchuan didn't want to prolong the situation. This "Falcon Strike" was truly like a hawk pouncing on its prey—ruthless and swift. His saber aura surged five feet, even causing the howling wind to momentarily stall.

Dong Rui, outside the storm circle, happened to look back and thought a fearsome lightning strike had occurred within the Yin Dragon Whirlwind, seeing flashes of silver light from afar.

Even under the gray shadow's control, Nangong Yan managed to half-turn his body and swing his mace to block.

The blood beads, condensed from the vital essence of over ten Feathered Guards, had just been absorbed into his body. Before they could fully take effect, his strength had already magnified two or three times.

It was useless, however.

Nangong Yan turned back, and his pupils reflected a dazzling saber light like a clap of thunder. The heavy mace in his hand was knocked away.

The opponent's strength was simply like that of a savage elephant!

Then, the saber light swept across his abdomen, passing through from entry to exit without a single drop of blood.

Nangong Yan only felt a chill at his waist, his entire strength drained, and he suddenly couldn't stand.

The gray shadow behind him could no longer cling. It let out a painful shriek—He Lingchuan's saber had also passed through it, easily cleaving it into two at the waist with Floating Life's "Void Break" ability.

The lower half dissolved into smoke, while the upper half shook off Nangong Yan and tried to flee into the wind.

To its surprise, He Lingchuan casually grabbed his Divine Bone Necklace and thrust it forward—

A black hole appeared at the center of the necklace, beginning to suck things in with a whooshing sound.

No matter how strong the Yin Dragon Whirlwind's power, it couldn't compare. The gray shadow had just been severely wounded by Floating Life, its injuries not much lighter than Nangong Yan's. How could it possibly resist?

It tried to escape against the suction, but how could a small arm out-wrestle a thigh? It was rapidly pulled closer by the Divine Bone Necklace, inch by agonizing inch.

The harder it struggled, the more despair it felt.

The necklace had been heating up throughout He Lingchuan's fight with Nangong Yan. It had been hungry for several months, and now that it was "mealtime," it was ravenous.