173: The master of the Demon Sect marches eastward into the Central Plains!

Before his voice fell, his figure had already vanished from the bamboo chair.

One moment he was lounging lazily, the next, that blood-stained azure figure was pressed against Baixiaosheng like a ghost!

They were no more than two feet apart.

Baixiaosheng's triumphant smile hadn't even had time to turn into astonishment, his fanning hand froze mid-air, and his pupils reflected Lu Jiuyuan's unfathomably deep, bone-chilling eyes.

“You…”

Baixiaosheng felt a chill shoot from his tailbone straight to his crown. All his intelligence and all his schemes seemed so pale and ridiculous in the face of this absolute speed and close-range Killing Intent.

He wanted to retreat, to block, to cry for help... but his body's reaction was far too slow to keep up with his thoughts.

Lu Jiuyuan's right hand seemingly casually lifted, fingers joined like a sword, a barely perceptible cold gleam, yet one that caused the surrounding air to solidify, lingered at his fingertip.

There was no grand display, no sharp whoosh of air, only an extreme precision and a death-like silence.

The fingertip gently tapped out.

“Pfft—”

A muffled sound, so faint it was almost inaudible.

Lu Jiuyuan’s fingertip was already pressed against Baixiaosheng’s glabella.

Baixiaosheng's body trembled violently, his eyes instantly widened, his pupils rapidly contracted, filled with an unbelievable horror and bewilderment.

All his movements, all his expressions, were frozen at this moment.

At his glabella, a tiny red dot quietly appeared. No blood flowed out, but all his vitality had been completely extinguished in an instant by that supremely condensed finger force.

“But I hate smart people! Especially smart people who scheme against me!”

Lu Jiuyuan’s figure flickered slightly, then he retreated to his original spot, sitting back down on the bamboo chair.

He even coughed lightly, a trace of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth again, and his face seemed even paler.

It was only then that Baixiaosheng’s stiff body swayed, then toppled straight backward.

“Bang!”

His body hit the ground, kicking up a small amount of dust.

Baixiaosheng, who had proclaimed himself the “Number One Strategist in the World” and intended to reap the benefits, still had that frozen horror etched on his face, and was already dead.

The entire scene was dead silent.

Protector Linghu Yuan's relaxed expression completely vanished, replaced by immense shock and a trace of unconcealed horror.

The dozen or so elite Demonic Sect members behind him subconsciously took half a step back, gripping their weapons tightly, as if facing a formidable enemy.

They had anticipated that Lu Jiuyuan might still have the strength to fight.

But they never expected that, even in such a heavily injured and exhausted state, he would still… so easily… kill a master like Baixiaosheng!

It was like crushing an ant!

This was not at all how someone at the end of their rope should perform!

Lu Jiuyuan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze slowly turning to Linghu Yuan, whose face was pale green as if he had eaten a dead child, his voice calm yet carrying a chilling sense of oppression:

“My wisdom tells me that one force can break all methods! Flashy tricks are useless.”

“Now, it’s your turn.”

“Demonic Sect Protector, Evil Blade Linghu Yuan, how do you wish to die?”

Linghu Yuan’s face turned from green to white, then from white to red, his fingers gripping the hilt of his blade creaking from the force.

He stared intensely at the seemingly weak, yet unfathomably deep young man on the bamboo chair, a chill mixed with humiliation and fury rushing to his head.

He had roamed the Western Regions, striking fear into the Demonic Sect; when had he ever been so belittled, so directly asked “how do you wish to die”?

“Lu Jiuyuan!”

Linghu Yuan's voice was filled with extreme rage, “You are too arrogant! Do you really think killing a fan-waving nobody can scare me, Linghu Yuan?”

“You're just putting on a show, trying to scare me away! I've read 'The Art of War' too.

Such a tactic is too crude and laughable.

That finger strike to kill Baixiaosheng just now probably aggravated your internal injuries, bringing you one step closer to death. I'm right here, can you kill me?”

“Everyone, listen to my command!” Linghu Yuan abruptly drew the Evil Blade from his waist, its blade like a willow leaf, dark red in color, as if it had drunk its fill of blood.

“Form a Formation! We'll wear him down even if it kills us! Whoever can injure him will be rewarded with a thousand gold, whoever severely wounds him can choose any one of the Ten Demonic Techniques from the Treasure Pavilion!

Whoever kills him, I will personally request a reward from the Sect Leader for you!”

Under heavy rewards, there are bound to be brave men, especially since these were already carefully cultivated death-sworn warriors of the Demonic Sect.

The dozen or so Demonic Sect elites moved simultaneously, suppressing their fear of Lu Jiuyuan, their figures flashing as they quickly spread out, subtly encircling Lu Jiuyuan and the others with a strange footwork.

Blade light flickered, Killing Intent intertwined into a net, and a chilling, sinister aura permeated the air.

A Fei and You Longsheng instantly tensed their bodies, their swords already half-drawn, though covered in scars, their eyes were as sharp as ever, ready to fight to the death.

“Lu Jiuyuan, do you dare to step into the Formation?”

“Formation?”

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the moving Demonic Sect disciples, finally landing on the wary Linghu Yuan, the mocking curve of his lips becoming even more pronounced.

“Has no one told you? In the face of absolute speed, a Formation… is merely a cumbersome joke?”

Before his voice fell, a sudden change occurred!

Linghu Yuan only felt his vision blur, the azure figure on the bamboo chair swayed slightly like a reflection in water, then vanished!

The next moment, a bone-chilling Killing Intent struck from behind without warning!

Linghu Yuan cried out in terror, without thinking, he swung his Evil Blade's strongest move, “Blood Slaughtering Ten Thousand Miles,” wildly backward!

The blade wind was mournful, bringing with it a dazzling crimson blade light, enough to completely shred a large area behind him.

But he swung at empty air.

That deadly Killing Intent, like a ghost, vanished again.

“Left!” a Demonic Sect disciple screamed in terror.

Linghu Yuan's blade abruptly changed direction, sweeping to the left, but again it missed, only slicing through the air.

“Above!”

“No! He’s to the right!”

“He seems… to be everywhere.”

Terrified shouts came from all directions, and the Demonic Sect disciples in the Formation were completely thrown into disarray.

They couldn't capture Lu Jiuyuan's true form at all, only seeing an extremely faint azure afterimage flickering left and right, front and back, as if eight or nine Lu Jiuyuans were moving simultaneously.

Fast! Unfathomably fast, beyond the limits of visual perception.

“Pfft!”

With a soft sound, a Demonic Sect disciple who was frantically wielding his weapon suddenly had a burst of blood blossom from his throat, and he fell to the ground without even a grunt.

“Crack!”

With another crisp sound, another man's neck was twisted to a grotesque angle by an invisible force, his eyes bulging, instantly dead.

“Ah—!” The third person let out a short, tragic scream, a finger-sized hole mysteriously appearing in his chest, blood gushing out.

Death, like an invisible plague, spread precisely and efficiently among the Demonic Sect disciples.