15: Chapter 15: Boiling Battle Spirit

Ling Hao raised his head, his golden eyes staring directly into the eyes behind the man in black's mask.

Then, he took a deep breath, and the mass of crimson-gold Origin of War inside his body burned frantically!

"Battle Intent: Boiling!"

"Boom—!!!"

Crimson-gold flames erupted from all over Ling Hao, painting him like a flaming god of war. The flames were not hot, but they contained a monstrous will to kill, as if an ancient battlefield had reappeared in the mortal world!

"Crack!"

With his left hand, the short sword directly in front of him was snapped in half by brute force.

With his right hand, the short sword to his upper left was twisted into a spiral.

As for the short sword in the bottom right that was still stuck in his abdomen... Ling Hao exerted force with his muscles, using his own flesh and blood to snap it!

"Impossible... impossible..." The man in black's three shadow entities merged back into his original form. Looking at the hilt remaining in his hand, his voice trembled.

What kind of monster is this?!

Clashing with a Magical Artifact using his Physical Body? Snapping a blade with his flesh? And those eyes... those eyes that could see through the Thousand Shadow Pierce...

"Escape!"

This was the only thought in the man in black's mind.

He let go of his sword, retreated violently, and simultaneously performed hand seals, wanting to detonate the Illusion Kill Formation to buy time.

But Ling Hao was faster than him.

In the Battle Intent: Boiling state, his speed, strength, and reactions had all soared several times over. Almost the instant the man in black retreated, he followed like a shadow.

One punch.

A simple punch, without any flourishes, containing only the purest power.

His fist passed through the three spiritual energy shields the man in black had hastily deployed, as if passing through three layers of thin paper. Then, it slammed into his chest.

"Pfft—!"

The man in black's entire chest collapsed, and a bloody hole exploded out of his back. Fragments of heart and spine, mixed with blood, sprayed several yards away.

He lowered his head, looked at his hollow chest, and then looked up at Ling Hao, his eyes filled with incomprehension and terror.

"What... are... you... exactly..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he breathed his last.

The corpse fell from the wooden stake and crashed heavily onto the ground.

Ling Hao slowly landed, the crimson-gold flames around him gradually extinguishing.

At that moment, Ling You quickly began to clear the battlefield. He knelt by the man in black's corpse and skillfully searched it—this was the standard procedure for handling an assassin's body, both to find clues and to prevent any tracking or self-destructing Restriction left on them.

Suddenly, Ling You's movements paused.

From the inner layer of the man in black's close-fitting pocket, he pulled out a jade pendant.

It was a light green jade pendant with exquisite carvings. The front was engraved with cloud patterns, and the back... was engraved with the two tiny characters for "Nangong."

The characters were extremely small, almost impossible to recognize without looking closely, but Ling You's Shadow Origin granted him extraordinary vision. He stared at the jade pendant, his pupils suddenly contracting.

"Nangong..." Ling You murmured to himself, and then his expression changed drastically. "Young Lord! This assassin has a token of the Nangong Family on him!"

Ling Xiao turned his head at the sound. When he saw the jade pendant in Ling You's hand, his face instantly turned ashen. "It's the Nangong Family?"

Ling Hao closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the gold in his eyes had faded. He glanced weakly at the jade pendant, a cold arc forming at the corner of his mouth.

"Nangong Waner just broke off the engagement, and the Nangong Family is already impatient to silence you?" Ling Xiao gritted his teeth. "Are they that afraid of you growing up?"

"No..." Ling Hao shook his head. "It's not necessarily an order from the Nangong Family; it could be someone's personal agenda. But regardless, this debt has been noted."

A sense of weakness surged like a tide. The emptiness of his depleted Origin power made his vision darken, and he almost couldn't stand steadily.

"Young Lord!" Ling You carefully put away the jade pendant and rushed forward to support him.

"Brother Hao!" Ling Xiao also arrived, his expression changing sharply.

"I'm fine, I just need to rest for a while," Ling Hao shook his head, his voice weak.

"Let's go home first. Keep the jade pendant safe, destroy the Formation, and clear all traces."

Ling You quickly cleared the battlefield. The Ling Shadow Guards worked together, destroying all the Formation stakes within three breaths, erasing the traces of battle, and dragging away the man in black's corpse.

While moving the corpse, Ling You specifically checked the three black-light hidden weapons that had been fired at Ling Hao initially—they were three pitch-black poison needles. He carefully picked them up with a cloth and found a tiny, almost invisible flame mark at the base of the needles.

That was a mark unique to the Nangong Family's Artifact Refiners.

There was now one more piece of evidence.

Ten breaths later, when Ling Zhentian arrived as a streak of light, only a messy battlefield and the lingering scent of blood remained in the dense forest.

The group turned into streaks of light and flew toward the Ling Family at full speed.

In the night, the dense forest returned to silence.

Only the ancient tree corroded by the poison darts and the blood on the ground that had not yet dried proved the brief and tragic slaughter that had just occurred.

And at this moment, Ling Hao's consciousness gradually sank into darkness.

The night grew deeper.

The lights of the Ling Family stayed on for the entire night.

Inside Ling Zhentian's study, the light green jade pendant and the three poison needles with flame marks lay quietly on the desk.

Beside the desk, Ling Zhentian's face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water. Grand Elder Ling Shanhe, the Second Elder, and the Third Elder were all present, and the fire of anger burned in everyone's eyes as they looked at the evidence.

"Nangong Family..." Ling Zhentian squeezed the words through his teeth. "What a Nangong Family! Breaking the engagement wasn't enough; you even want to pull up the roots?!"

"Patriarch, calm your anger," Grand Elder Ling Shanhe said in a deep voice. "Although the token and poison needles point to the Nangong Family, it may not be Nangong Xiong's intention. It could be some individuals within the clan acting on their own..."

"Is there a difference?" Ling Zhentian smashed his fist onto the desk, causing the sandalwood surface to instantly crack in several places. "Assassinating my son is declaring war on the Ling Family! Whether it was authorized by Nangong Xiong or not, the Nangong Family must give us an explanation!"

"But..." the Third Elder hesitated, "the Nangong Family is powerful, and now they've established a connection with the Qingyang Sect. If we fall out with them directly..."

"Then investigate in secret!" Ling Zhentian said coldly. "Find out exactly who sent this assassin, and find out who within the Nangong Family wants my son dead! When Hao'er wakes up and recovers... we will settle this debt, one account at a time!"

Inside the study, the killing intent was chilling.

And a greater storm was quietly brewing over Qingyun City.

Meanwhile, Ling Hao, who had already woken up but was still weak, was sitting in his study with a yellowed beast skin map spread out before him.

The map marked seven locations connected by a winding line, ultimately pointing to... a region marked as a "Forbidden Ground" deep within the Qingyun Mountain Range.

That was the final information the Ancient War Spirit had transmitted to him before dissipating.

Seven locations, seven ancient battlefield remnants.

They formed the Origin of War of the final Valley of Buried Weapons.

Ling Hao's finger lightly traced the map.

In his eyes, the crimson-gold Battle Intent burned fiercely.