Clang!
With a single sword strike, the protective aura of Wang Xingde cracked!
The second strike!
The cracks widened, Wang Xingde gritted his teeth, his face contorted in a grimace!
The third strike!
The fourth strike!
Until the fifth strike!
The protective aura let out a deafening explosion and shattered completely.
Wang Xingde, with his hair disheveled, looked like a mangy old dog.
"With my next strike, I'll take your dog's life!"
Chen Xiao stood tall and proud, his gaze condescending, like a god descending from heaven.
Wang Xingde trembled, the fear of death engulfing the old man.
By the sea, Gu Zhendong said calmly, "It seems the dust has settled."
Li Qin, however, bit her lip, a hint of uncertainty in her eyes, "I have a feeling this old dog still has a trick up his sleeve!"
"Oh?"
Gu Zhendong's gaze sharpened, as if he had noticed something.
At that very moment, Wang Xingde suddenly sprang back, retreating frantically.
"Hahahaha, boy, you think you've already won? I tell you, you're still far from it!"
"Great Desolation Qi Net, rise!"
Wang Xingde slammed his palms onto the sea surface. The water began to tremble, then to bubble as if boiling.
Countless dead fish and shrimp floated to the surface, their bellies upturned, their bodies covered in frost—they had been frozen to death.
"Screech!"
The seawater churned, and a crystal-clear giant net appeared on the surface.
The net was composed of countless ice crystal threads, dense and interwoven. Each thread was condensed with an almost tangible ice filament, appearing harder than steel yet more pliable than silk!
Even more terrifying was that this net covered a sea area of over a thousand meters, engulfing the entire region.
At this moment, Chen Xiao was like a sea bird trapped within a colossal net.
"You brat, I've spent thirty years weaving this Great Desolation Qi Net. Every thread within it is an ice filament condensed from my internal Qi!"
Wang Xingde's expression shifted from pride to a long sigh, "This Great Desolation Qi Net is my ultimate trump card. I thought I'd never have the chance to use it, but I never expected to use it on a young whippersnapper like you today!"
"Insolent Chen Xiao, come and taste the power of my Great Desolation Qi Net!"
As his words fell, the giant net soared into the air, lifting off the sea. Centered on Chen Xiao, it spread out in all directions and leaped upwards.
It was like a fishing net cast to catch a shark, and Chen Xiao was that shark.
Witnessing this, Li Qin's heart clenched again.
She silently prayed in her heart, "Chen Xiao, you must be alright..."
Gu Zhendong was also filled with trepidation, sighing, "Wang Xingde has poured thirty years of his Qi into this giant net. Even Chen Xiao might not be able to withstand it..."
However, Chen Xiao, standing on the sea surface, faced the sky-obscuring net with an unchanged expression.
He chuckled playfully and said dismissively, "Wang Xingde, you think you're the only one who can use a flying sword!"
With that, Chen Xiao flicked his wrist, and the Sky-Breaking Sword flew out!
The Sky-Breaking Sword whistled through the air and struck the giant net.
Gu Zhendong and Li Qin, along with Wang Xingde, expected a collision of titans, their eyes narrowing, unsure of what would happen next.
However, what followed was beyond their expectations. The moment the Sky-Breaking Sword touched the Great Desolation Qi Net, it exploded, transforming into a surging tidal wave!
As a net, the Great Desolation Qi Net naturally had countless mesh openings. The mighty tidal wave naturally passed through these openings and rolled away.
Only after completely escaping the range of the Great Desolation Qi Net did it reform into a sword and slash down towards Wang Xingde!
"You crazy bastard! What grudge do I have with you that you're willing to fight me to the death like this?"
Wang Xingde was utterly shocked. Chen Xiao's move was completely unexpected.
In his original plan, Chen Xiao, trapped within the Great Desolation Qi Net and knowing he couldn't resist, would beg for mercy.
Having heard that Chen Xiao was a highly skilled divine physician, capable of even reviving the dead, Wang Xingde thought Chen Xiao might have a way to prevent the backlash from the Dragon Tiger Blood Burst Pill, which would cause him to explode.
In short, he only wanted Chen Xiao to surrender, not to truly fight to the death.
But who could have imagined that Chen Xiao would disregard his own life, preferring to be strangled by the Great Desolation Qi Net, just to kill him!
With the Sky-Breaking Sword now mere inches away, Wang Xingde had no time to ponder and quickly defended himself with all his might.
Screech!
The protective aura Wang Xingde had barely managed to gather was easily pierced.
With a sword thrust, Wang Xingde sprang backward like a meteor.
This allowed Wang Xingde to avoid being decapitated by the Sky-Breaking Sword. Though he narrowly dodged the strike, the cascading Qi still left him in a sorry state, his Qi depleted, and he fell onto the beach.
Wang Xingde lay on the sand, disheveled and pathetic, yet he burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha, you brat, even if you pushed me to this desperate situation, what of it? I'm still alive, and you'll be minced into meat paste in the next moment!"
Not far away, Gu Zhendong and Li Qin were startled by his words.
They quickly looked towards the sea, only to see the thousand-meter-long ice crystal net had closed completely, its space constricting and moving towards Chen Xiao.
"Great Desolation Qi Net, gather!"
Wang Xingde channeled the last trace of his internal Qi and let out a low roar.
The Great Desolation Qi Net made cracking sounds, its contraction accelerating. The steel-like ice crystal net threads became thicker.
Gu Zhendong and Li Qin could imagine that when the Great Desolation Qi Net finally condensed into a ball, it would act like a meat grinder, shredding Chen Xiao's body into pulp.
This was Wang Xingde's final trump card, the last resort of the entire Hidden Sword Pavilion!
Although this Great Desolation Qi Net, woven over thirty years, could only be used once, Wang Xingde felt it was worth it to use it at such a critical moment.
Since death was inevitable, if he could witness his son's killer being minced into meat paste before he died, he could die with a smile.
"Alas..."
Chen Xiao sighed. Facing the constricting Great Desolation Qi Net, he seemed helpless, having given up resistance. His hands hung down, and he stood on the sea surface, indifferent to the giant net.
"Heh heh, Chen Xiao, it seems you've given up resisting. If you still want to live, I can give you a chance. You're so young, you surely don't want to die, do you?"
Wang Xingde tempted him.
"I really don't want to die."
Chen Xiao nodded.
"Haha, as long as you do as I say, I can guarantee you won't die!"
Wang Xingde laughed maniacally, immensely proud.
Chen Xiao smiled slightly, "But, even if I don't do as you say, I won't die..."
Saying this, Chen Xiao reached out his hand towards the Great Desolation Qi Net...