Chapter 73: Good Dish……

A strong wind rose, sending the clouds scattering.

Feng Kong had made up his mind. Without further hesitation, he was about to ascend into the air.

Little did he expect that as the wind blew, the tree in front of him swayed twice and then dropped something.

"Clang!"

Feng Kong glanced at it dismissively, but then his entire body stiffened, and he fell from the air.

A broken sword?

No, this was...

Shao Yi's sword!

His pupils constricted violently, and Feng Kong trembled uncontrollably. Although he had long known of Shao Yi's death, seeing his surviving relic truly shocked him, a feeling that surged like ocean waves.

"Xu Xiaoshou!"

A ragged scream tore from between his clenched teeth. Overwhelmed with grief, Feng Kong instinctively walked towards the broken sword, only to be abruptly jolted back to reality.

How did Shao Yi's sword end up here?

Could it be that he had escaped the courtyard, made it to Goose Lake, but was still powerfully struck down by Xu Xiaoshou right here?

If so...

Where was Xu Xiaoshou now?

Feng Kong became deeply unsettled. He had just deduced that Xu Xiaoshou was in the small grove, but this scene before him was a tremendous shock.

"Buzz!"

Before he could ponder further, the broken sword on the ground suddenly vibrated. Feng Kong instinctively knew something was wrong and quickly retreated, pushing off the ground.

Too late!

The broken sword exploded violently, and an invisible ripple instantly spread outwards.

"Sizzle!"

Feng Kong was caught in the ripple in an instant. As his heart trembled, he realized his body was being scorched by invisible flames.

The pain was excruciating!

He instinctively used his spiritual energy to protect himself, but the spiritual energy was also instantly burned away.

"What in the world..."

Feng Kong was utterly bewildered. He had never seen such invisible flames before, but it didn't stop him from confirming one thing...

Xu Xiaoshou was right here!

But how was that possible?

The area before him was wide open; where could Xu Xiaoshou be hiding?

And if he was far away, how could he control this broken sword from a distance?

"He broke it here!" Feng Kong was pushed back onto the white jade railing by the explosion, but his heart trembled when his toes touched it.

Not in front of him...

Could he be behind him?

But he had just flown over Goose Lake; how could he have failed to spot him?

"Wait!"

He suddenly trembled all over, staring at the lake surface in disbelief.

Xu Xiaoshou...

At the bottom of the lake???

As if to confirm his thoughts, a series of bubbles burst on the lake surface, causing a disturbance in the water. A column of water shot up, from which a dark silhouette launched itself.

Feng Kong had no time to turn around. His body had just stabilized, suspended between the dissipation of old momentum and the generation of new. He could only manage to send out a desperate slash.

Blood-Hand Feng Kong furiously slashed at the dark silhouette.

"Whoosh!"

A crisp sound, like cutting vegetables, rang in his ears as the dark silhouette split in two. Only then did Feng Kong clearly see what had attacked him.

A head!

Shao Yi's head!

"Ahhh!"

Feng Kong was utterly distraught. He had...

...split his teammate's head in two?

"Xu Xiaoshou!"

"I'll kill you!!!"

Blinded by rage, his usual composure shattered. Feng Kong's blood-red hands swept through the air, sending two crimson streaks of light towards the spot where the head had emerged.

"I-I'm over here."

A trembling voice, however, rose from the other side of the lake. Xu Xiaoshou had already moved his position the moment he threw the head.

Feng Kong looked sharply, seeing Xu Xiaoshou shivering, his eyes wide and vacant, standing knock-kneed on a nearby railing, looking as if he might slip at any moment.

Yet, his right hand rested on the scabbard at his left hip, and the astonishing sword intent contained within it sent shivers down Feng Kong's spine.

"Innate Sword Intent?"

Feng Kong felt a wave of dizziness. What level of Innate Sword Intent was this?!

How much terrifying energy had been compressed within that scabbard? If the sword intent inside were released, even a Spirit Realm expert probably couldn't withstand it!

Feng Kong instantly understood how Shao Yi had died.

A dense aura of death instantly enveloped him, and a chill shot up from his feet to the crown of his head. Without a second thought, he retreated instantly.

"T-too late..."

Xu Xiaoshou's lips trembled. Having swallowed ten Spirit Refinement Pills and compressed his Innate Sword Intent at the bottom of the lake for over fifteen minutes, how could this guy possibly dodge it?

Let alone at such a close distance, even if Feng Kong were standing in the small grove right now, he might not be able to evade it.

Xu Xiaoshou's body sank slightly, his waist arching.

"Draw Sword Style!"

No sword emerged, yet fallen leaves swirled violently.

The lake surface surged with waves several *zhang* high, and weeping willows were instantly severed at the trunk. Rain was blown through the forest path, and blood splattered across the sky.

"Aargh!"

Feng Kong had nowhere to dodge, and his heart-wrenching roar echoed in all directions.

By the time he saw the white sword light, half of his body, including one ear, had already been sliced away. The excruciating pain nearly made him pass out on the spot!

"Devil!"

"This is a demon!"

Feng Kong's eyes were filled only with terror; he had completely lost all will to fight.

Xu Xiaoshou's combat power had no relation whatsoever to his cultivation level. Just this single sword strike was enough to contend with a Spirit Realm expert, and even challenge one of the thirty-three inner disciples.

The question was...

Why had he waited until now to strike?

Why had he acted as he did back in the courtyard?

Feng Kong was dazed with shock. He frantically used his spiritual energy to staunch the bleeding. If he hadn't instinctively tilted his head at the critical moment, he would have been bisected!

...

"Missed..."

On the other side, Xu Xiaoshou's mouth twitched. Seeing half of Feng Kong's body severed, he was almost moved to tears of frustration.

He had actually trembled slightly from the sheer thrill at the last moment. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been just half his body, but a direct cut into two halves!

Even so, he was astonished by his own sword strike.

How could it be this powerful?

It shouldn't be!

That day, even Mo Mo had been able to parry a sword strike bare-handed, and then directly withstand another. Although it wasn't boosted by ten Spirit Refinement Pills, the difference in power shouldn't be this immense!

Without further thought, and with spiritual energy still remaining in his body, Xu Xiaoshou unceremoniously drew his sword again.

The massive waves by the lake hadn't receded, surging up once more. The accumulated water on the forest path hadn't flowed back yet, as it was sent flying a second time.

Feng Kong, with his debilitated body, instinctively dodged one flash of sword light, but before he could react, the second flash had already struck.

"Whoosh!"

Another arm flew into the sky.

The rainy night was deathly silent, blood splattering against the dark sky.

Feng Kong's eyes were dull and lifeless. He never imagined that a single misstep would lead to such utter defeat.

Simply because he had miscalculated Xu Xiaoshou's ambush location, simply because he had been caught off guard, he was now facing death without even managing to launch a single effective attack.

He stood rooted to the spot in despair, giving up all resistance.

The hunter who hunts geese all day will eventually be pecked by a goose.

In this moment, he realized this was a fate he had anticipated the day he embarked on the path of an assassin. The only thing he hadn't foreseen was dying at the hands of someone like this.

"Unwilling..."

Feng Kong's blood gushed like a fountain, leaving him thin and upright like a pillar, his eyes hollow as he stared at Xu Xiaoshou...

Huh?

He wasn't attacking anymore. Had he run out of spiritual energy?

As far as he could see, Xu Xiaoshou had released his sword-drawing stance, as if deciding to let him go?

Overjoyed, Feng Kong abruptly turned and was about to leave.

"Whoosh!"

A flash of green light vanished from his sight, instantly piercing through his skull.

What...

What in the world was that?!

Feng Kong crashed to the ground with a thud, bewildered even in death. Only with his last breath did he seem to understand.

Shao Yi's... sword?

No one could answer him now.

Under the ash glow, no trace of his body remained.

"I thought you were strong. I miscalculated..."

"The moment you severed the head and still didn't notice this sword, you had already lost, even if you could have avoided my subsequent 'Draw Sword Style'..."

"What's more, you couldn't even avoid the 'Draw Sword Style'."

Xu Xiaoshou slowly walked over, picked up the sword from the ground, and turned to look at Goose Lake.

"So weak..."