81: Chapter 81 A Life for a Life! In the end, I, the King, still won.

Lu Tiancheng hovered above the valley, his gaze fixed on the churning fog below, and he could not help but frown.

"The place where that aura finally vanished should be right down here! But to think he could use this to escape my pursuit? What a delusion!" A cold sneer curled Lu Tiancheng's lips.

He gently raised his hand and pressed down toward the valley below with an understated motion.

"Boom!"

With a thunderous explosion, the thick fog in the valley below instantly churned and scattered, revealing the scene at the valley floor.

In the center of the valley, lying supine on a remarkably conspicuous bluestone, was a man wearing a bright yellow tattered robe, his figure strikingly similar to Emperor Lu Hao.

"Could it be that the rat felt he could not escape my grasp while carrying Emperor Lu Hao, so he abandoned him here and fled alone first?!" Lu Tiancheng did not go down immediately; instead, he suspiciously surveyed his surroundings. However, after a thorough check, he found no one else besides 'Emperor Lu Hao'.

"That rat's aura really did disappear!"

A flash of doubt crossed Lu Tiancheng's eyes. He took a step forward, his figure instantly vanishing from the air, and in the next moment, he appeared directly beside the bluestone.

"What a useless fellow! If it were not for the need to keep you as blood food, I would not even bother whether you lived or died!!" Lu Tiancheng looked at the disheveled 'Emperor Lu Hao' with a hint of disgust on his face.

He grabbed the air, and the unconscious 'Emperor Lu Hao' was lifted from the bluestone by an invisible force and brought before him. As the mountain wind gently blew away the messy long hair, it revealed his true face.

The revealed face, which bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to Emperor Lu Hao, instantly made the killing intent on Lu Tiancheng nearly uncontrollable!

"You bastard! How dare you toy with me!!"

Think of him, Lu Tiancheng, a dignified existence in the Land Immortal Realm. Who in the entire Central Region did not know of him? When had he ever been toyed with like this?

Extreme rage caused the large rocks beneath his feet to vibrate continuously, and a powerful atmospheric pressure caused the surrounding towering trees to snap at the waist as if unable to bear the weight.

Now is the time!

Hidden in the shadows of the nearby mountain forest, Xia Jin's lips curled slightly upward. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

When Lu Tiancheng saw the true face of the fake 'Emperor Lu Hao' and realized he had been played, there would very likely be a momentary opening where his mind would slip and his rage would take over! This was his best chance to strike.

"Kill!!"

Two copper-purple streams of light shot out directly from Xia Jin's left hand, one after the other! At the same time, the seventh-level Saber Intent, brewed to its limit and endured for so long, finally erupted completely!

Xia Jin swung his long saber fiercely toward Lu Tiancheng, and a blade light appeared, bright enough to illuminate the valley as if it were daytime.

Wrapped in purple lightning, the blade light arrived first despite being launched later, reaching Lu Tiancheng a step ahead!

Lu Tiancheng was, after all, an existence in the Land Immortal Realm. Even though he had a momentary lapse, he reacted before this seventh-level Saber Intent could strike him, instantly waking from his blind rage.

"What?! The power of this strike..." He was immediately shocked.

The power contained in this sudden strike had clearly touched the threshold of the Land Immortal Realm! How could a rat hiding in the shadows unleash such a strike?

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Tiancheng curled the five fingers of his right hand into a claw and brazenly grabbed toward the blade light that was enough to cut down any existence in the Spirit Wandering Realm!

But to his surprise, although he had caught this blade light, it was not as easily crushed as he had imagined.

Instead, the seventh-level destructive force contained within the blade light and the tyrannical lightning Protective Aura swirling on its surface made his arm go numb, and his figure was even forced back three steps by this power!

"This Saber Intent, how is it so solid?"

Just as all his energy was focused on countering the blade light in front of him, suddenly, two streams of light followed in succession, colliding with his back.

The first copper-purple fragment was only an inch away from Lu Tiancheng's back heart when it was blocked by his Protective Aura, spinning violently with sparks flying.

But the second copper-purple fragment immediately followed, striking the tail end of the first fragment with even more violent speed and power!

Crack!

A faint cracking sound rang out, and Lu Tiancheng's Protective Aura was forcibly pierced with a small hole by this concentrated secondary impact!

"Not good!" For the first time, Lu Tiancheng felt a chill down his spine and forcibly twisted his body.

Blood splattered!

Two copper-purple metal fragments pierced directly through his lung lobes, exited from his chest, and shot into the ground nearby!

"Damn it, to actually wound me!!"

This fear of impending death made Lu Tiancheng suddenly roar, and the power of the Land Immortal Realm exploded without reservation!

Veins bulged on his right hand that was gripping the blade light, and even though blood was dripping, the violent spiritual power within his body surged out and gathered entirely on his right hand.

Boom!

The seventh-level Saber Intent, which condensed almost all of Xia Jin's power, was actually crushed by the enraged Lu Tiancheng! The scattered Saber Qi ground the rocks and trees within several hundred zhang into powder.

But just as the blade light shattered and smoke, accompanied by the fog in the valley, completely enveloped Lu Tiancheng, Xia Jin, who had just unleashed the seventh-level Saber Intent, finally moved again!

"Demonic Heart Crossing" had been pushed to the limit that his own Meridians could withstand. At this moment, Xia Jin's entire skin was crimson as blood, steaming, and with the blessing of the Shenxiao Lightning Technique, his speed broke through the limit once again!

Fast! So fast that the naked eye could not see it at all!

In an instant, he had approached Lu Tiancheng!

"Old ghost, today this Prince will kill you!!" Xia Jin bared his teeth, and the long saber in his hand stabbed toward Lu Tiancheng's chest with full force.

Even though Lu Tiancheng was an existence in the Land Immortal Realm, his time was up, and he had just been wounded by Xia Jin's sneak attack! If he were to be stabbed in a vital spot by Xia Jin again, he would likely die on the spot today.

Lu Tiancheng's pupils shrank, and a flash of imperceptible panic finally crossed his eyes. This kid was clearly using a suicidal strategy of trading a life for a life!

"Want to kill me? You go die first!!" Lu Tiancheng's beard and hair stood on end. Facing this desperate strike from Xia Jin, his left hand brazenly grabbed toward the incoming blade tip! At the same time, his right fist, which caused space to tremble, slammed toward Xia Jin's abdomen!

"Is that so? Then let's see whose life is tougher!" A look of madness appeared in Xia Jin's crimson eyes.

Without dodging or evading, two sounds of piercing flesh rang out almost simultaneously.

Xia Jin's saber stabbed fiercely into Lu Tiancheng's left chest, piercing through the ribs until the entire blade was buried in the opponent's body!

And Lu Tiancheng's enraged heavy punch also landed solidly on Xia Jin's abdomen.

The terrifying fist energy penetrated his body, and a shocking fist-shaped bulge instantly appeared on Xia Jin's back!

"Urgh, ah!" Both let out a painful roar almost at the same time.

Blood surged wildly from their wounds and mouths, splashing onto each other's faces.

Xia Jin only felt his vision go black. Even with his Vajra Indestructible Body, his internal organs seemed to have been shattered by that punch. He gripped the hilt of the saber tightly, using the last bit of his strength.

"Shenxiao... Lightning Technique!!!"

Above the valley, dark clouds churned! A bucket-thick lightning pillar struck directly onto the two of them!

The blinding lightning light instantly drained the entire valley of color, leaving only endless purple-white light.

I do not know how much time passed, but at the edge of a huge crater, a charred and broken figure swayed slightly.

"Cough, cough..." Xia Jin knelt on one knee and violently coughed up several mouthfuls of stagnant blood.

He slowly raised his head and looked toward the center of the crater.

There, Lu Tiancheng's figure was long gone.

"Heh... hehe..." Xia Jin bared his teeth, and blood continuously overflowed from the corners of his mouth.

"Old ghost, did not expect that, did you? In the end... this Prince... won!"

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing Task One: Slay the Great Qian Dynasty Earthly Immortal 'Lu Tiancheng'.]

[Task reward distributed: Soul Weapon Forging Technique (Entry-Level), six hundred years of cultivation!]

However, Xia Jin had no strength left to finish listening to the task completion notification before he fell over and completely lapsed into a coma.