"King of Ten Thousand Slaves, thank you for clearing up the doubts that have always plagued my heart... Now, everything is clear, go ahead and strike!"
Zhong Shenxiu slowly removed his gloves.
"Strike? I, the Saint Heir, don’t need to lift a finger... don’t you understand? The Ten Thousand Slaves Divine Skill, commanding the four great Slave Skills, anyone who cultivates these skills is powerless before me. A mere glance from me, and you will crumble, obediently kneeling in submission."
The King of Ten Thousand Slaves sneered, his demon-like purple eyes fixed on Zhong Shenxiu, radiating an evil aura, "Now... kneel before me!"
Two beams of purple light shot from his eyes like piercing swords aimed directly at the heart of Zhong Shenxiu.
This was the ’Ten Thousand Slave Divine Eye’. Anyone who cultivated the four Slave Skills had an innate flaw in their technique; usually, it was inconsequential, but once targeted by the Divine Eye, they would immediately be enslaved in spirit, treating the cultivator of the Ten Thousand Slaves Divine Skill as their master.
Even more, it could serve as a strange incarnation, bearing a part of the master’s personality and memories.
In terms of eeriness, it surpassed even the Thousand Spiders and Ten Thousand Puppet Hands by far!
But as the Sect Hierarch and Saint Heir’s secret technique, passed only between themselves, it had never been revealed to the world. Otherwise, it would have a place on the list of extraordinary skills and unique arts!
Seeing that Zhong Shenxiu seemed to stand still, the King of Ten Thousand Slaves moved forward with joy.
A wild ecstasy began to consume his heart, and his thoughts started to scatter.
’Tonight, I will achieve the level of Great Grandmaster!’
’The Sect Hierarch has prepared for my emergence and made moves to invade Lingnan, subtly restraining several of the empire’s Great Grandmasters... after all, compared to me, his desire to enter the Central Plains is what the empire fears most...’
’Those laughable folks of the Divine Capture Sect are clueless; the Sect Hierarch is merely covering for me... No, the entire Five Poison Sect is covering for me. Once I break through to the level of Grandmaster tonight, the Five Poison Sect will immediately leap above the Six Void Sect, completely suppressing the Lingnan Song family. Then, in alliance with the Evil King Sect, we will completely change the world’s power dynamic!’
’The key to this operation is secrecy; only the Sect Hierarch and I know of the Ten Thousand Slaves Divine Skill and the four great Slave Skills, even the Black Widow is in the dark... The second key is swiftness.’
’Right now, it seems the plan is going smoothly...’
The King of Ten Thousand Slaves approached Zhong Shenxiu, ready to inject a part of his spirit into him through the Ten Thousand Slaves Divine Skill, utterly transforming the Yin Yang Hand Xun Liuyi into his slave!
Just then, his Spiritual Sense suddenly sensed an intense danger.
His spirit felt like it had crashed into a wall, crumbling helplessly beneath the iron defense, and the backlash from the failed manipulation even caused him a moment of dizziness.
Next, the King of Ten Thousand Slaves saw Xun Liuyi’s lips curled into a mocking smile, followed by a slap across his face.
The loud smack echoed as the King of Ten Thousand Slaves was violently thrown away, crashing into a wall.
Bricks and stones fell, covering him in dust and dirt, and on his previously handsome face, a charred palm print emerged.
Even more striking than his physical pain was the King of Ten Thousand Slaves’ emotional turmoil: "This is impossible!"
"Sorry... I didn’t break through using the Yin Yang Conquest Sky Demon Great Transformation Hand at all. Even the power of the Five Elements Thief Palm has been integrated and replenished into the Liangyi Huaji Hand."
Zhong Shenxiu stepped forward, his expression cold, "All I wanted was to quietly lie low, waiting to break through the divine threshold before challenging the Heavenly List Martial Artists. Why did you have to force me? Why?"
He raised his hand and swung out another palm.
The bricks and stones turned to dust, and the King of Ten Thousand Slaves disappeared without a trace.
He himself was a Grandmaster, and had he attempted to rise in the rankings, he might have placed high!
Only because his Ten Thousand Slave Divine Eye had been broken and he was momentarily stunned had Zhong Shenxiu succeeded in ambushing him.
Reacting swiftly, as soon as Zhong Shenxiu made his move, he used a strange movement technique, transforming his body into a boneless snake, slipping out of the rubble.
Black peelings fell from the dark handprint on the King of Ten Thousand Slaves’ face, the pain in his heart fiercer than the wound on his face.
If Xun Liuyi hadn’t advanced using the Yin Yang Conquest Sky Demon Great Transformation Hand, then his plan to gather the four great Martial Slaves and break through the divine threshold had completely fallen through!
"You... know the secrets of our sect?"
The King of Ten Thousand Slaves stared intensely at Zhong Shenxiu. Previously, based on personal tests by the Black Widow, the other’s mastery of the Five Elements Thief Palm was undoubtedly genuine.
So why would he abandon the Heavenly Demon Great Transformation Hand, that best suited his martial arts, and even discard the power of the Five Elements Thief Palm?
Could there be a spy within the Five Poison Sect?
But this secret was known only to the Sect Hierarch and the Saint Heir, so how could outsiders possibly know?
"It was just... a fortunate coincidence,"
Zhong Shenxiu replied calmly.
In truth, had he not dissolved the Five Elements Thief Palm, facing the Ten Thousand Slave Divine Eye might have affected him somewhat.
But now, his martial arts foundation had no relation to the Ten Thousand Slaves Divine Skill at all.
"Are you trying to force me to kill you?"
Up to this point, the grudge had been set, and it was a fight to the death with the Five Poison Sect; he had no intention of letting this Saint Heir go.
The King of Ten Thousand Slaves took a deep breath, and his body suddenly emanated a metallic sheen.
His canines turned slightly sharp, and for a moment his face seemed to morph into that of an Asura, his skin took on a faint golden color, and even the black palm print on his face was slightly suppressed.
"Golden Corpse King Fist?!"
Zhong Shenxiu recognized this scene, slightly surprised, he exclaimed.
"Heh heh... that’s not all."
The King of Ten Thousand Slaves beckoned with his hand.
By his side, a peach wood instantly split in half, the invisible force cut like a blade, carving the wood into a strangely shaped curved blade that fell into his hand.
The blade was curved, the hilt was curved, resembling the crescent moon in the sky, yet it possessed an incomparable demonic nature.
This was... the Demon Sword technique of Ding Wuming, the Demon Sword!
"Every time I take in a Martial Slave, I gain their lifetime of learned martial arts and experience,"
the King of Ten Thousand Slaves gently caressed the blade. "After I manipulate them with the Ten Thousand Slaves Divine Skill, these techniques for swords, fists, palms... have truly complemented my own, turning into a Great Grandmaster level Heavenly Person Divine Skill!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than he swung the blade.
This sweep of the blade curved, bringing an extremely chilling coldness, seemingly intending to annihilate all sentient beings in the world.
With a single slash, all sentiment is cleaved!
This was the Heartless Dao Blade Technique!
The curved blade light twisted and turned, taking on a strange arc, breaking through the natural defenses brought by Zhong Shenxiu’s integration with heaven and earth as a Grandmaster, aiming to kill him in one stroke!
This was a swordsmanship capable of killing Grandmasters!
Zhong Shenxiu’s feet tapped lightly, his knees unbent, his whole body retreating as if sliding.
Below his feet, layers upon layers of stone flooring flew up, like overlapping peaks of steel armor, shielding him in front.
The stone slabs were evenly split in the center, both sides were of exact mass, as if measured with a ruler before being chopped.
In front of that blade light, be it stone slabs, bricks, even fallen leaves, dust, or Inner Strength... everything was evenly split in two, severed by a single stroke!