176: Chapter 176 Killing the Shadow Demon

Lin Tian stopped his footsteps.

His heels were already treading on the edge of the lake; one more step back would be the icy lake water.

Moonlight spilled onto the surface of the lake, and night mist flowed slowly over the water. The surroundings were so quiet that only the occasional cry of a night owl from the distant dense forest remained.

He turned around to face the tall, thin figure that had slid out from the tree shadows, the expression on his face slowly relaxing.

There was only one person.

When he was sprinting through the dense forest just now, he had sensed several auras pursuing him from behind, but at this moment, only this one had chased him to the lakeside.

The other Black-Robed Men had likely been shaken off by him, or had gone to pursue other captains.

Since there was only one person, there was no need to run anymore.

He would finish off the pursuer here and then leave leisurely.

The Demon Shadow stood on the roots of a gnarled old pine tree, watching as Lin Tian suddenly stopped and turned around, the cold curve of his lips deepening slightly.

"Young people are young people after all; driven to a dead end, he finally knows fear."

He slowly drew a long, narrow scimitar from his waist. The blade was entirely dark red, as if soaked in blood, shimmering with an eerie blood-colored light under the moonlight.

Blood Shadow Saber Technique—the killing move he relied on to make his name. There were at least eighty, if not a hundred, Martial Artists who had died under this saber technique, and the Evil Qi on the blade was so thick it could not be dissolved.

Lin Tian moved first.

He did not passively wait for his opponent to make a move—having been chased through the dense forest all the way, he had long been holding back a burst of energy. Now that the opponent had delivered himself to his doorstep, it was the perfect time to test his sword against him.

The moment the autumn water sword was unsheathed, seven sword lights shone simultaneously. With the Xiaguang Sword Technique at the Major Achievement Realm fully unleashed, the seven colorful sword lights spread out into a fan shape in the night sky and slashed towards the Demon Shadow.

The night mist on the lake surface was torn open by the sword lights, and the sword wind pressed down, causing ripples to spread across the lake.

The cold sneer at the corner of the Demon Shadow's mouth deepened.

"Is that all?"

He slashed his saber, and the dark red blade light traced a strange arc in mid-air, wrapping a thick aura of Evil Qi as it collided head-on with the seven sword lights.

With a boom, the sword lights and blade light exploded simultaneously.

Lin Tian only felt a fishy and sticky aura pass through the sword body; that aura coiled around his Internal Energy as if it were alive, desperately trying to bore into his Meridians.

His Xiaguang Sword Technique was completely suppressed; the seven sword lights had scattered their force and simply could not block that highly concentrated Blood Shadow Saber Technique light.

He retreated several steps to steady his figure and looked down at the autumn water sword in his hand; the blade was still humming and trembling.

The Demon Shadow did not give him any chance to breathe; the second strike followed immediately, then the third, and the fourth.

The blood-red blade lights wove into an airtight net on the lakeshore, each strike carrying a pungent smell of blood, pressing down on Lin Tian until he could almost not breathe.

Lin Tian gritted his teeth and blocked a few strikes, the web between his thumb and forefinger already numbed from the shock—using the Xiaguang Sword Technique to go head-to-head with the Blood Shadow Saber Technique was too scattered in force; it wouldn't work.

He took a deep breath and held the autumn water sword horizontally in front of him.

The seven-colored glow on the sword vanished instantly, replaced by a searing white, blinding thunderous light.

Thunderclap Sword Technique—five thunderous sounds exploded simultaneously.

With a loud boom, the lake surface was violently churned by the sound wave.

The blood-red blade light slashing towards him was hit head-on by the thunderous light; the Evil Qi, facing the might of the thunder, seemed to have met its nemesis, and the fishy, sweet aura trying to bore into his Meridians was torn to shreds by the crackling thunderous light.

The Demon Shadow's expression changed slightly—he had not expected Lin Tian to have a second sword technique, and even less did he expect the power of this sword technique to be so much stronger than the previous Xiaguang Sword Technique.

Lin Tian seized the opportunity and thrust his sword out; the sword tip, wrapped in thunderous light, tore through a gap in the Blood Shadow Saber Technique net and accurately pierced towards the Demon Shadow's left shoulder.

The Demon Shadow dodged sideways in a hurry, but was still a fraction of a second too slow; the sword edge grazed his shoulder and cut open a bleeding wound.

The black robe was slashed, and blood seeped out from the wound, shimmering with a dark red luster under the moonlight.

Although this sword strike only grazed the skin, it enraged the Demon Shadow—he had not been injured by anyone in single combat for a long time.

He looked down at the bloodstain on his shoulder, and when he raised his head again, his expression became incredibly ferocious. He slashed out crazily, one strike after another, and the power of the Blood Shadow Saber Technique suddenly soared by a large margin.

Each strike carried a thicker aura of Evil Qi than before, and the saber momentum was more violent than before.

Lin Tian's Thunderclap Sword Technique was actually suppressed again; the aura of Evil Qi permeating from the blade was fiercer than before, shaking him until he retreated repeatedly.

Lin Tian blocked while using the Thunderclap Sword Technique, while also utilizing the Cloud Shadow Step to dodge and maneuver on the lakeshore, avoiding a head-on collision with his opponent.

He was looking for the Demon Shadow's flaw—although the Blood Shadow Saber Technique was ferocious, there was a very subtle recovery gap after every seven strikes.

He silently counted the opponent's strikes in his heart, preparing to counterattack during that gap.

But before he could make a move, the Demon Shadow's left hand suddenly flicked upward.

A streak of black light flew out from his sleeve, as fast as lightning, aiming straight for Lin Tian's throat.

Lin Tian did not expect the Demon Shadow to be proficient in using hidden weapons; in his haste, he tilted his body sharply, and the black light flew past his ear, nailing into the sandy ground behind him—it was a poisoned throwing dart.

He dodged the hidden weapon, but his foot stepped into empty air—having retreated several steps just now, he had already reached the soft sand on the edge of the lakeshore; as he tilted his body, he lost his balance and fell backward into the lake.

With a splash, water sprayed up.

The Demon Shadow quickly chased to the shore, flicked his left hand repeatedly, and several more streaks of black light flew out from his sleeve, 'pu pu pu', nailing into the spot where Lin Tian had fallen into the water.

Ripples spread across the water surface, and several throwing darts were embedded in the sand and stones at the bottom of the water, their tail feathers still trembling slightly.

He stood on the shore and waited for a moment; the water surface gradually returned to calm. No bubbles floated up, no blood churned, nothing.

He frowned—he hadn't hit him; this kid had dodged underwater.

He walked back and forth on the shore holding his scimitar, not entering the water.

He was not good at swimming; fighting someone in the water was equivalent to cutting off his own arm.

However, he was not in a hurry; no one could stay underwater forever. The opponent would have to surface to catch his breath sooner or later, and he would just wait on the shore.

He held his scimitar horizontally in front of him, his gaze fixed tightly on the water surface.

An incense stick of time passed, and the water surface remained as calm as a mirror.

The Demon Shadow's frown deepened. "What is going on? How can this kid hold his breath for so long?"

"An ordinary Martial Artist should be unable to hold their breath after an incense stick of time underwater."

He patiently waited for another incense stick of time, but there wasn't even a single bubble on the lake surface.

He finally became anxious and began to frequently lean over the shore to peer into the lake water.

The moonlight shone on the lake, but the situation underwater was blurry and unclear. Unknowingly, he leaned closer and closer, his entire upper body extending past the edge of the lakeshore.

The moment he lowered his head to look, a tiny black line flew out silently from the water.

The moyuan flying dagger, forged from the scales of a black dragon, was entirely pitch-black and did not reflect any light in the night.

While the Demon Shadow's eyes were still fixed on a shadow under the water, a tiny hole appeared in the center of his forehead.

The flying dagger shot out from beneath the water surface, accurately piercing through the center of his forehead, exiting from the back of his head, and bringing out a fine mist of blood.

His entire body stiffened abruptly, his eyes widened into circles, and the scimitar in his hand clattered onto the stones on the shore. Then, his body fell forward stiffly, splashing into the lake with a thud, and blood instantly stained the lake surface red.

Lin Tian sprang out from the lake water.

He had seen it clearly underwater; the moment the flying dagger pierced through the Demon Shadow's forehead, the opponent's pupils had dilated.

But he did not lower his guard—the people of the Demon Sect had mysterious methods; who knew if they had some evil technique to save their lives.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Demon Shadow's corpse was still floating on the water and had not yet sunk, he drew the autumn water sword with a backhand grip and pierced through the Demon Shadow with one strike.