35: Chapter 35 Ling Shanxiao in Despair, This Coffin is Just the Right Size

The three characters "Emperor of the Underworld" instantly sent cold sweat pouring down the injured Second Elder, who was lying on the ground.

Forcing himself to suppress the roiling Qi and blood within his body, he stood up, stared fixedly at Xia Jin, and retreated step by step.

On the high platform, aside from the Seventh Elder who had already recognized Xia Jin's identity, the remaining five Elders of the Qingyun Sect exchanged glances almost simultaneously, a look of horror appearing on their Faces.

"W-what are you afraid of? With the Sect Master here, this brat can't stir up any trouble!" The Grand Elder swallowed involuntarily, gripping the hilt of his sword with a fierce expression that masked his inner cowardice.

"The Grand Elder is right! No matter how strong this brat is, as long as he hasn't stepped into the Xiaoyao Heavenly Realm, he must die today!" The Third Elder beside him also gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

Ling Shanxiao scrutinized Xia Jin carefully, then suddenly burst into laughter.

The Aura radiating from this so-called 'Emperor of the Underworld' seemed to have merely touched the threshold of the Xiaoyao Heavenly Realm.

If he were truly just a half-step into the Xiaoyao Heavenly Realm as rumored in the outside world, he would indeed suffer a great fall today. Unfortunately, his true strength was at the second level of the Xiaoyao Heavenly Realm.

"This Sect Master has long wanted to meet you, the legendary 'Emperor of the Underworld' of the Great Xia, to see if you live up to your reputation! I didn't expect that before I could even set out, you would deliver yourself to my doorstep!"

"Speak, where are Elder Zhao of my Qingyun Sect and Young Master Lin who accompanied him now?!" Ling Shanxiao put away the smile on his Face and looked coldly at Xia Jin.

"Elder Zhao of your Qingyun Sect?" Xia Jin raised an eyebrow, then, as if remembering something, he patted the pitch-black coffin beside him and looked at the other with a smile: "This Prince remembers now. Are you talking about that old ghost who didn't know when to die, and that young dandy?"

He sighed and shook his head.

"Why didn't you say so earlier? This Prince thought those few people were deliberately disguising themselves as members of the Qingyun Sect to sabotage the relationship between our two sides, so I couldn't help but slaughter them right then and there."

"What?"

"You just said... you killed Elder Zhao and Young Master Lin!?" The Grand Elder and the other Elders stared at Xia Jin in astonishment, while Ling Shanxiao, who was standing in front of them, saw his expression turn completely grim.

The veins on his forehead were visible, and the Aura emanating from his body began to roil uncontrollably.

"Good!" "Good!" "Good!"

Ling Shanxiao gritted his teeth and said "Good" three times, each one colder and fiercer than the last, the killing intent in his eyes almost solidifying.

"You killed an Elder of my Qingyun Sect and a guest of our Sect, and you even dared to bring a coffin to this Sect Master's succession ceremony... Brat, do you really think my Qingyun Sect can do nothing to you?"

"Today, you will stay here and be buried with Elder Zhao and Young Master Lin!"

Ling Shanxiao slowly drew his sword, the tip pointing obliquely at the ground, and walked step by step toward Xia Jin.

With every step he took, the pressure grew stronger.

"Not only you, but the Great Xia Dynasty behind you will also be buried together because of your stupidity, for the humiliation brought upon my Qingyun Sect today!"

"Just you?" Xia Jin tilted his head slightly, his tone carrying a trace of mockery, "A mere second level of the Xiaoyao Heavenly Realm?"

"What? The Sect Master is at the second level of the Xiaoyao Heavenly Realm?"

"That can't be right, wasn't it said that the Sect Master was at the half-step Xiaoyao Heavenly Realm?"

"Maybe the Sect Master was hiding his strength!"

The Qingyun Sect Disciples nearby began to whisper to each other. To these ordinary Disciples, a half-step into the Xiaoyao Heavenly Realm was already a supreme expert capable of suppressing a region; the second level of the Xiaoyao Heavenly Realm was simply unimaginable.

However, the expressions of the several Qingyun Sect Elders on the high platform changed instantly the moment Xia Jin spoke.

They thought further—the Sect Master had hidden his Realm so well that even they hadn't noticed, yet this Xia Jin could see through it at a glance! Wouldn't that mean... his strength was likely even above that of the Sect Master?!

Ling Shanxiao's footsteps stopped abruptly the moment Xia Jin's voice fell.

His gaze was fixed on Xia Jin, as if he wanted to see through him completely from the inside out, and for the first time, a look of wariness appeared in his eyes.

"Eh? Why did you stop?" Xia Jin's lips curved slightly upward as he waved at Ling Shanxiao, "Didn't you just say you wanted to kill this Prince and destroy my Great Xia? Don't tell me... you were actually scared by one sentence from this Prince?"

"Brat, you...!"

The trace of wariness in Ling Shanxiao's eyes was directly washed away by anger.

Showing fear before fighting was not his style!

"Playing tricks! Die for this Sect Master!"

The cultivation of the second level of the Xiaoyao Heavenly Realm erupted with full force. Before the sword momentum even arrived, the stone slabs spanning the dozens of meters between him and Xia Jin cracked inch by inch, and the terrifying pressure made the Qingyun Sect Disciples nearby retreat uncontrollably.

"The Aura is passable, but the Sword Intent is too crude."

Before the words faded, a flash of cyan sword light had completely engulfed him!

"Boom—!"

Amidst the deafening roar, smoke and dust shot into the sky. The several Qingyun Sect Elders held their breath.

However, as the dust cleared slightly, a scene that made everyone's scalp tingle emerged—Xia Jin was still standing in the same spot, his body shrouded in a layer of faint golden light!

"Did you not eat?" Xia Jin said calmly.

"Hmm?" Ling Shanxiao's eyes narrowed, his heart filled with horror; he hadn't seen clearly how the other had blocked his sword strike.

But to be able to take this sword strike without any damage, it was clear that the other's cultivation was not weaker than his own.

The surprised gazes of the surrounding Qingyun Sect Disciples made him lose Face, so he turned his eyes blood-red and poured all the True Qi in his body into the sword!

The sword in his hand shone brightly with cyan light, and a hideous phantom of a cyan dragon could vaguely be seen, killing toward Xia Jin!

"Is this your full strength? What a pity, it's still lacking." Xia Jin shook his head, seeming somewhat disappointed.

He raised his right hand, splayed his fingers, and gently grasped toward that sword light.

"Crack—"

Everyone seemed to hear the phantom of the cyan dragon let out a wail, and it shattered instantly.

The long sword in Ling Shanxiao's hand, which had accompanied him for decades, was actually gripped by the blade by Xia Jin's bare hand.

This wasn't the end; his left hand, the moment Ling Shanxiao's defenses were wide open, reached out directly toward the other's chest.

"Puchi!"

Ling Shanxiao's whole body shuddered, and he looked down in disbelief.

He saw a slender, fair hand that had already pierced through his chest.

"You... Xiaoyao Heavenly Realm... four..." Before his consciousness faded, Ling Shanxiao looked at Xia Jin with some terror, and a trace of regret.

If he had just run away earlier, would he have had a chance to live?

"Too weak!!" Xia Jin slowly withdrew his hand, and Ling Shanxiao's body slumped down limply.

He casually picked up the other's corpse and tossed it lightly into the black coffin beside him.

"Thud."

The corpse landed in the coffin with a muffled sound.

Xia Jin looked down into the coffin, and that chilling smile appeared on his Face once again:

"Not bad, this size... is just right."

The entire scene fell into dead silence.

On the high platform, the sword in the Grand Elder's hand fell to the ground with a "clatter," his Face as pale as paper.

The remaining Elders also felt a chill down their backs, as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

Among the hundreds of Qingyun Sect Disciples in the square, not a single one dared to make a sound.

They could only stare fixedly at the smiling figure standing beside the coffin.

"The Sect Master is dead!!"