Overlord's Nine Nether Steps!
Xiang Shaoyun moved as swift as the wind, as his lithe body warped before vanishing from the incoming attacks. He had finally unleashed a tiny bit of the actual prowess the Overlord's Nine Nether Steps was capable of. After dodging the two attacks, he swung his Overlord Skyslaying Saber toward Dongfang Shuo again.
Dongfang Shuo was still struggling from the intense pain he was suffering after losing his arm, and coupled with the light injuries he accumulated during his battle with the old silverscale elephant, he was unable to avoid Xiang Shaoyun's attack. But due to his many years of combat experience, he still launched a counterattack by instinct alone.
"Even if I die, you will die together with me!" Dongfang Shuo ignored his injuries and mustered all his remaining strength before stabbing his sword at Xiang Shaoyun.
A beam of green flame shot out again, destroying all the trees in its path.
"Shall I dodge or keep on going?" Xiang Shaoyun hesitated. If he was able to dodge this attack, Dongfang Shuo would no longer have any energy left to keep on fighting. And if he could not dodge this attack, the only thing he could do was take it head-on, but he had no idea if he would survive the head-on collision.
His hesitation only lasted a split second before his eyes turned resolute. He shouted, "I have been breaking through limit after limit. Now, let me break through yet another limit!"
Innate purple lightning surged out of Xiang Shaoyun's lightning bone. At the same time, he also drew a large amount of lightning energy from his first star. Instantly, the Overlord Skyslaying Saber shone brightly. Then, the saber and the sword collided.
Rumble! Rumble!
A massive shockwave rippled outward, destroying numerous trees in the vicinity. The two newly arrived Transformation Realm experts were also forced to halt their advance and erect their respective defensive barriers to protect themselves against the shockwave.
Fear was plastered all over their faces, as they had not expected that the person assassinating their leader was actually so powerful. The two opposing sources of energy dispersed, and two figures were sent flying in two opposite directions.
Xiang Shaoyun coughed up a mouthful of blood as he flew through the air. The sleeves on his arms had been completely torn into shreds. That was all that happened to him after taking Dongfang Shuo's attack head-on—a mouthful of blood and ripped sleeves.
In other words, he had completely survived the attack.
As for Dongfang Shuo, he was in a far worse condition. He was already badly injured, and after the collision, his entire body was badly charred, with smoke billowing up from his hair. His body twitched without stopping, and he looked to be on his dying breath.
A late-stage Transformation Realm expert was actually pushed to such a state by a seventh-stage Astral Realm cultivator. Nobody would believe this if they did not witness it themselves. Even the two Mad Lion Hunting Group members nearby were finding it hard to believe, and they had personally witnessed it unfold.
"Deputy commander!" shouted one of them who had finally recovered from his shock.
They darted over toward Dongfang Shuo. They no longer dared to try anything against Xiang Shaoyun. As far as they were concerned, Xiang Shaoyun was most likely someone far stronger than them and was merely pretending to be weak to catch his opponents by surprise. Thus, they did not dare to chase after him.
They only hoped to leave and ask for reinforcements after saving their deputy commander. Little did they expect, Xiang Shaoyun had no intention of letting them leave at all. Xiang Shaoyun’s current battle intent was surging.
He could sense the explosive power in every fiber of his being, and he could also sense the might of his innate purple lightning. There was no fear in his heart, and he longed for an intense battle right now. He caressed his saber, calmed his surging battle intent, and turned into a series of afterimages as he charged the two with his Nine Overlord Skyslaying Saber Technique.
Berserk Lightning Blade!
An overbearing saber energy shot forward with a layer of berserk lightning energy affixed to it, leaving a boundless purple radiance wherever it passed. Xiang Shaoyun's battle intent had reached the absolute limit, and in his current state, he seemed to have become one with his Overlord Skyslaying Saber.
As an overlord, he should be incomparably overbearing, be capable of defeating opponents nobody could defeat, and be unequaled. A fanatical belief suddenly rose in his mind, and like a bright lamp, it pointed him upon a bright path he shall tread in his future cultivation.
Of the two Transformation Realm cultivators, one was at the third stage while the other was at the second stage. Both of them were no pushovers either, and when they saw Xiang Shaoyun charging toward them, they were left with no choice but to face him.
"You dare assassinate a deputy commander of the Mad Lion Hunting Group? You won't survive this!" roared one of them before waving a massive saber at Xiang Shaoyun.
As for the other person, he slammed a massive hammer toward Xiang Shaoyun from a different angle. The two formed a pincer attack, each of them sending an incredibly powerful attack, filling the entire area with their aura.
Xiang Shaoyun activated his gift of instincts to give his eyesight a sharp increase. Two electrical currents could be seen snaking out of his eyes, giving him a rather sinister look. His attack arrived right at the blind spot of the two, destroying both their attacks.
Even though he was attacking their blind spot, he could still sense an intense shockwave from the impact. Fortunately, after reforming his body with the help of lightning energy, his flesh had become much stronger.
After forcing the two into a retreat, Xiang Shaoyun did not stop. He continued advancing with a wondrous footwork straight toward the weaker of the two. Then, he swung his saber forward mercilessly. His innate purple lightning was the purest of lightning energy and immediately destroyed his opponent's defensive barrier, forcing his opponent to stay on the defensive.
A thought of using offense as defense did surface in this person's mind, but when he thought of how Xiang Shaoyun was able to defeat his deputy commander, he concluded that Xiang Shaoyun was much stronger than him. It filled his heart with fear and caused him to give up all thoughts of attacking.
If he actually dared to attack instead of defend, he wouldn't have been suppressed so badly. The other expert rushed over in hope of saving his companion.
Xiang Shaoyun started fighting the two opponents at the same time. The energy revolving around him was no weaker than an actual Transformation Realm expert. With the addition of the powerful innate purple lightning, the gap between him and the two had been greatly reduced.
Xiang Shaoyun launched attack after attack. The more he fought, the more excited he became. At the same time, his innate purple lightning was becoming increasingly terrifying.
His two opponents found that it was becoming harder to hold on as they could sense the suppression of a king pressing down upon them, causing their battle intent to drop to the point they were considering to escape.
"What are you waiting for? Die!" Xiang Shaoyun did not wish to drag this out. He thus drew more power from his lightning bone. Instantly, projections of dragon and tiger appeared behind him while a majestic aura roiled out of his body. Fear filled the hearts of his two opponents, and their momentum dropped to the lowest point since the start of the battle.