At that very moment, Wang Qiang's voice cut through the air, cold and absolute.
"Kill everyone in this city. No one should live to hear what happened here."
His words rang out with terrifying clarity, like a verdict handed down from the heavens. As his voice faded, the rain fell with it, carrying the despair of the entire city.
The instant those words reached Liu Long's fading consciousness, something ignited deep within the dying depths of his soul.
No…
I can't die yet.
His body trembled violently. With the last shred of control he had left, he forced his jaw to move, crushing the pill hidden deep inside his back molar. The four men in black who had been tearing his body apart paused instantly, pulling Wang Qiang back as they retreated.
Boom!!!
A violent surge of power erupted from Liu Long, twisting the air itself. The law of space within his body roared to life, transparent strands of light splitting away from him like fractures in reality. His Saint King Fourth Level cultivation exploded outward.
His power surged wildly out of control. Veins bulged across his body, the sound of bones grinding echoed sharply as his cultivation broke past its limits and climbed at a terrifying pace.
Fifth Level.
Sixth…
Seventh…
Eighth…
Ninth…
His eyes turned a dull silver, like a void devouring everything in its path. His wounds rapidly closed, flesh knitting back together, though his severed arm did not return.
"All of you… die!"
Spatial power burst outward in a massive wave. Black fractures split open in midair, slicing the surrounding space into fragments. Houses, walls, and streets were severed as if cut from paper.
The four Saint Kings twisted away in a split second. Four streams of black sword energy lashed back toward Liu Long at the same time.
But before they could reach him, the space in front of him warped. Spatial force swallowed the attacks whole like an endless abyss.
Boom!
The sword waves rebounded, crashing back into the men in black and forcing one of them to cough up blood.
Liu Long's figure distorted and vanished in an instant.
Wang Qiang, now standing safely at a distance, spoke in a cold voice.
"You four, hunt down Liu Long. The other ten, gather every resource in the city from all the commerce guilds."
"Understood!"
Their reply rang out in unison before they split apart.
At the same time, the sky above Heavenly Sword City darkened even further. Ashen rain began to fall in a ring around the city, a strange power sealing both inside and outside. No one could enter. No one could leave.
The poison within the citizens spread. Their bodies stiffened, unable to move. Soft sobs, cries, and wails echoed throughout the city.
Despair covered everything.
…
…
Inside the Seven-Colored Peacock Commerce Guild, Liu Long's figure warped back without warning.
Their original plan had been to hold the fourteen men in black in place, then seize the chance to take Wang Qiang hostage. Everything had been so close to success.
But that poison… had shattered it all.
Even now, after consuming a pill that burned away his life force and lifespan in exchange for power, he still could not unleash his strength at its fullest.
Yet something about the poison puzzled him. At first, it had felt as though it would claim his life entirely, but now, for reasons he could not understand, its effects seemed to be weakening.
More importantly, he was certain those men in black were not from the Wang family. The techniques they used were clearly not of Wang lineage. But he had no time to care who they really were.
He had only one goal.
Take Guo Ning and escape.
Boom!!!
A massive wave of sword energy slammed down from the sky. The defensive formation of the Seven-Colored Peacock Commerce Guild shattered into dust. Walls collapsed, smoke and debris erupted, and four dark figures shot inward at once.
Liu Long thrust out his right arm to meet the attack. The space before him twisted, swallowing the first strike from one of the men in black.
But a shadow surged in from the side. Another blade drove straight toward his throat with terrifying speed.
Slash!
Blood sprayed.
"Aaaah!"
Liu Long warped back a single step, blood pouring down his neck, yet the madness in his eyes only deepened. Blood streamed from the wound on his head, from the severed arm, from the hole through his heart.
The four Saint Kings surrounded him in a square formation. Their sword intent linked into a single technique, waves of blade energy merging into a sword domain that crushed down around him.
"Kill!"
All four blades came down at once.
Liu Long roared. Spatial fractures burst beneath his feet as his body vanished in an instant, reappearing above one of them.
His palm came crashing down.
Boom!!!
The space there split into a long black rift. A shockwave tore across the man in black's shoulder, blood spraying as his right arm was ripped from his body.
But in the next instant, the other three shifted their formation. Their blades crossed through the air, forming a massive black cross as a colossal wave of sword energy surged toward Liu Long.
Liu Long opened a spatial gate in front of him, swallowing part of the attack, but the recoil still broke through. He coughed up another mouthful of blood as his body slammed into the ground, nearly collapsing the guild hall.
The four men in black gave him not even a fraction of a second. They moved as one shadow, blades piercing through the air with a shrill whistle that cut into the ears.
Liu Long rose amid the dust and smoke, the veins on his forehead throbbing.
"If you want my life… then pay for it with yours!"
He stomped down with violent force. The ground around him collapsed into a wide circle as dozens of spatial rifts burst outward without direction, slicing through everything in their path.
One of the Saint Kings was cut across the torso, a deep gash tearing open his body, while another was thrown back by the recoil and slammed into a wall.
But at the same time, two blades drove straight through Liu Long's side and shoulder.
Blood sprayed into the air.
The sound of metal tearing into flesh rang out with chilling clarity.
Liu Long roared, both hands clamping down on the blades before opening small spatial gates at their tips, twisting the flow of power and reflecting it back toward their owners.
Boom!
The collision between spatial force and sword energy detonated, collapsing the guild hall as dust and debris swallowed everything.
…
…
One of the men in black swung his sword violently, a gust of blade wind sweeping through the hall and tearing apart the clouds of dust like a curtain of mist ripped open in an instant.
But when the air cleared…
Liu Long was gone.
Only faint distortions in the air remained, trembling softly as proof that space itself had just been torn apart moments ago.
In another corner of the guild, within a hidden formation Liu Long had prepared earlier, a spatial rift opened in silence.
Liu Long stepped out, his body drenched in blood.
His breathing was so heavy it came in broken gasps. Blood dripped from every step he took, falling to the floor in slow, steady drops.
He forced himself to remain standing before staggering toward Guo Ning, who lay on the sofa.
The moment he saw her, his eyes softened. With great effort, he raised his other hand to activate the teleportation formation he had prepared in advance.
Lines of glowing runes lit up one by one. A low hum of energy vibrated through the air.
At the same time, outside, countless waves of sword energy slammed against the barrier without pause, like an endless storm.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The defensive formation trembled violently. Liu Long coughed up another mouthful of blood, dark crimson flowing from the corner of his lips.
The strange poison in his body gnawed at every meridian. A bone-deep chill spread through him, rapidly weakening his strength.
The life-burning pill he had taken earlier was mercilessly draining his vitality and lifespan. The fragments of his inner world were beginning to crack, his body like a flame consuming itself.
But he still had something he had to do.
He had to get Guo Ning out.
Whoosh!
A bright light flared as the teleportation formation activated. A circle of light wrapped around the four of them.
Liu Long smiled in relief, a smile filled with exhaustion yet touched with quiet happiness.
At last…
But that moment of peace lasted only a fraction of a second.
Pierce!
A blade suddenly drove through the back of his head.
The sound of steel punching through bone rang out with horrifying clarity. Bright red blood spilled across the floor instantly.
Liu Long's eyes widened, his entire body freezing.
A trembling voice echoed out.
"I… I didn't do it… I didn't… my body moved on its own…"